April 19, 2020
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BobLee’s Favorite Movies
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Last week Reader “Dick” asked for a List of My Favorite Movies. Like all of us… with way too much discretionary time on our hands these days… he was looking for entertainment suggestions.
I obliged … giving it about ten minutes thought … and in no particular 1st 2nd 3rd order. Just “a bunch of” movies that come to my mind that I have enjoyed over the years.
My Litmus Test is…
“if I am channel-surfing and see that ______ is coming up. I stop to watch it or hit RECORD to watch it later regardless of how many times I’ve seen it.
I stopped counting “# times” a long time ago with Road House and The Green Berets. I’m up to 9/10 with Casino and Clear Present Danger
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I am sure I left out one or more of Your Favorites. Thats OK… Your Favorites are every bit as legitimate as My Favorites … so long as your list also includes Road House of course.
Mine is THE Only Favorite Movie List that does NOT includes Shawshank Redemption. What can I say?
A lot of testosterone in this list. “Kid” learned early the term “It’s a Dad-will-like Movie”.
Here It Is.
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The Outlaw Josey Wales
Casino
Road House
A Clear & Present Danger
Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean
Green Berets – (w/ John Wayne)
The Vikings – (w/ Kirk Douglas & Tony Curtis)
Godfather One
Where Eagles Dare
Entrapment – (Heist movie w/ Sean Connery & Catherine Zeta-Jones)
A Field of Dreams
The Bishop’s Wife – (Blondie’s All-Time Favorite Movie)
Princess Bride
Dirty Harry
Last of The Mohicans
Shenandoah – (w/ Jimmy Stewart)
Goldfinger
Die Hard – One
Gone With The Wind
Oceans 11 – The Clooney / Pitt version
Young Frankenstein
Lara Croft 1 & 2 – (NOT #3. Different Lara… It was awful!)
Raising Arizona
The Dirty Dozen
Pretty Woman – HA, surpised you didn’t I!
Braveheart
Paint Your Wagon
Lonesome Dove – (technically a TV mini-series)
O Brother Where Art Thou
Magnificent Seven – (original w/ Yul Brynner)
John Wick 1-2 & 3
Silverado
Delta Force One – (w/ Chuck Norris)
Watership Down – (on Every BobLee’s Favorite Books list)
Rambo – (The Viet Nam one)
The Patriot
Inglorious Bastards
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If you asked for this list a month from now, I might come up with 5-6 more.
Feel free to add your choices to the list... for the common good.
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More BobLeeSays – Click HERE
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You mentioned some great ones no doubt about it. I’ll add a few if you don’t mind: ‘The Spy Who Came in From the Cold’ has to be on some list. ‘Witness for the Prosecution’, ‘Hurry Sundown’, “Chariots of Fire’, ‘Empire of the Sun’, ‘Michael Collins’ and ‘The Dinner Game’. I also liked ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Odessa File’ (Frederick Forsyth adaptations).
You know what, I could do this for hours.
“Doing this for hours…” was The Why I did it! … I thought about Day of Jackal a few days ago… the Book more so than the movie. Thanks for the additions to the list …
I didn’t even mention any westerns, which is almost un-American. ‘Winchester 73’ is one of my favorites and both True Grits. Clint Eastwood’s ‘Unforgiven’ was a very entertaining movie as well. Also if you like war films an overlooked gem is ‘Sahara’ with Humphrey Bogart, Dan Duryea and a very young Lloyd Bridges. My guilty pleasure is just about any bad sci-fi from 50s era floating pie tins, cyclopes in radiation zones, giant insects and lizards to something more recent like ‘Battlefield Earth’. But if the film takes itself too seriously like some of the recent Star Wars permutations I… Read more »
For 50s Westerns I’ll go with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Shane. MY Classic Clint Eastwood has to be Josey Wales. Creature From The Black Lagoon being my 50s Creature Feature. Tremors 1 with Kevin Bacon also a good recent one.
Great list, Bob Lee. I agree with about 90% of your list, and I rarely agree with you to that level. I was happily surprised to find The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean on your list. Several of my buddies and I watched it, late night, back when we were at State (roughly 1980), and thought it was hilarious, and eminently quotable. My buddy Ben was even anointed with the nickname “Beano” in honor of the judge, and the nickname has stuck for 40 years. Other than you, and my crowd, I have never found anyone who appreciated,… Read more »
Don’t forget “Watch Bear” – “The Original Bad Bob” – and, of course, “Miss Lillie” Langtry – played by Smithfield’s Very Own Ava Gardner!
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I’m good with all Bonds OTHER THAN The Roger Moores. I never thought Roger Moore had enough “Machismo”. Everybody’s list BUT Mine has Shawshank.
I like your columns and now latest movie list. Good. Did you ever see “How The West Was Won” ? In Cinerama, early ’60s. three screen shots pieced together was the best when sitting down close to be engulfed in movie. All star cast and good sound tract. If you like US history.
Was that the “saga” with Jimmy Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Widmark etc etc? If so… yes!
Yes, great, very large cast. Cinerama was bypassed by the large wide screens that followed. But, the near surround feeling was mostly lost.
I just bought it on AmazPrime ($2.99) …. will watch it later tonight.
Like your list. My movie list flexes but Patton, Get Shorty, Mash, & The Natural will always be floating in there somewhere. Also like the Kill Bill movies.
I could easily add Patton. Never saw the Kill Bills.
KB 1 is on Prime for $3.99. Uma Thurman as The Bride aka former assassin, Code name Black Mamba, is a total badass. Recommended.
Consider A Beautiful Mind or The Last Samurai or Hidalgo. Each about a man struggling with his inner demons and breaking through to the other side. Those are man’s movies, like many of your favorites.
Will do. Thanks!
We watched “Knives Out” last night and it was very enjoyable. I would add “Casablanca” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” to your list for sure, and probably throw in “Goonies” and “Rudy” for good measure.
Knives Out is best movie I’ve watched in the past year or so. I feel with Casablanca like I do with Shawshank… i.e. I know I’m SUPPOSED to love both but neither “move me”. Same with Citizen Kane. Goonies ??? Really? Don’t see that one on many lists. “Rudy” sure!
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Such lists are like snowflakes… every one is different!
Why not The Godfather II? Why is Goldfinger the Bond movie? Just curious.
LIstening to Ty Cobb, A Terrible Beauty. Terrific book if you like stories about old time major league baseball. Casts doubt on a lot of the stories about Ty Cobb.
Godfather 2 was fine. But #1 was THE Godfather… so different, so special. #3 was one GF too many.
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As for Goldfinger as My Favorite Bond. It just had more memorable lines and characters. My next favorite Bonds would be Dr No and Diamonds Are Forever. Like most… The Best Bond movies are definitely the Sean Connery Collection.
I’ll second the recommendation for “Cobb: A Terrible Beauty.” I read it a couple years back during a trip to Paris and couldn’t put it down.
As for movies, I’m surprised you don’t have any Charlton Heston in this list. His epics are classics, and while his later movies may not have been great, he was always great in them.
My movie list is a living organism… ever changing. Heston is in the John Wayne / Clint Eastwood Pantheon … who doesn’t like Charlton Heston ??? Ten Comm / Ben-Hur / Planet of Apes / Major Dundee …
Wow! A fun exercise to do on a legal pad on a rainy day. That reninds me as a kid perusing the “Book of Lists” and noticing the big time (of that era) Hollywood types listing their all time favorites.
If I were pressed ro put down on paper my favorite films, I would have to categorize them by genre. It would be an ever-evolving “living breathing” list, kinda like how Algore once described rhe Constitution.
On a list of “fun exercises” this ranks somewhat ahead of (1) Going to the city dump to shoots rats with a .22 … or (2) Going to the Food Court at The Mall and picking out fans of my Hated Rival’s school.