My Favorite 20 Movies
This is a list of my favorite movies. There are so many movies I love, but these are, in my opinion, the best.
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- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsKeith CarradineKaren BlackRonee BlakleyOver the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.One of the most important American films ever made.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsCatherine DeneuveJean SorelMichel PiccoliA frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.Luis Buñuel's finest hour!
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.Everything about this movie works for me. Gordon Willis' cinematography is breathtaking.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreyAnn-MargretOliver ReedA psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute boy becomes a master pinball player and, subsequently, the figurehead of a cult.Ken Russell meets The Who -- and it is a perfect match.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.A perfect movie.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoJean SebergVan DoudeA small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder of a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.A film that lives up to its iconic reputation.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsShelley DuvallSissy SpacekJanice RuleTwo roommates/physical therapists, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship.Robert Altman takes us into a dream. Spacek is fantastic, but Shelly Duvall is magical in this role.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsIsabelle HuppertSandrine BonnaireJacqueline BissetA newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.Claude Chabrol's movie is fascinating. But be warned - it bites.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanDon Vito Corleone, head of a mafia family, decides to hand over his empire to his youngest son, Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.Brilliant and stylistic storytelling.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.The only time I'm aware that a sequel manages to equal the first, but is quite possibly a bit better.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsBarbra StreisandRyan O'NealMadeline KahnThe accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.Classic.
- DirectorOrson WellesGary GraverOja KodarStarsOrson WellesOja KodarFrançois ReichenbachA documentary about fraud and fakery.Most feel that Citizen Kane is Orson Welle's finest hour, but this odd little film is my pick -- and one of my all time favorite movies.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.Close to 50 years later, Polanski's film is still perplexing, disturbing and horrifying.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.Brilliant from all perspectives.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsPeter SellersShirley MacLaineMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.Everything works in this satire.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.A grim study of not only the disintegration of a marriage and a metaphor for loss of identity under communist rule. There is so much more to this surrealistic horror film than first meets the eye. Isabelle Adjani's hysterical performance is unexplainable.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiRuy GuerraHelena RojoIn the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.Herzog has had plenty of magical cinematic moments, but this film is a true marvel.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJulie ChristieDonald SutherlandHilary MasonA married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.Lush. Surreal. Realistic Grief. Edited to mimic the way the brain process thought. Paranormal. Disturbing. Haunting. Visual Poetry. Magical. Unforgettable. Potent stuff. Nicolas Roeg's film is based on a short story by Marguerite Duras and elevates to something far beyond words.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.Ingmar Bergman's groundbreaking film remains one of the oddest and deeply human films I've ever seen.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreySara KestelmanPaul NicholasComposer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).There will only ever be ONE Ken Russell. Fresh off the success of adapting The Who's "Tommy," he opted to present Warner Brothers with a Surrealist Comic-Book take on not only Franz Liszt as The First Pop Star Celebrity, but his daughter's marriage to Richard Wagner as a surprisingly useful persona metaphor of Evil. It is Franz Liszt as Super Hero and armed with a very a giant phallus and an army of lovers & groupies -- he is bent on saving mankind from Nazism. Deeply weird, this film zoomed past the head's of 1970's audiences. It is flawed, but it's unbridled zest is impossible to ignore and even harder to watch without a jaws agape. Brilliant mess of a movie! A must see!