1. Casablanca––Do I have to explain this one? It's a classic movie. THE classic movie. It's a great tale of heartbreak, romance, yadda yadda. There is no description I can give this movie that will do it justice. It's one of the greatest films of all time, and my favorite movie.
Favorite Quote: There's too many. Every line in this movie is a famous quote. I'll go with "Here's looking at you, kid," or "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
2. Shakespeare In Love––Another of my favorite movies. It is about William Shakespeare falling in love with a Lady Viola. They begin a passionate romance. Events that follow inspire Shakespeare to write Romeo and Juliet, as well as Twelfth Night. It is indeed a modern Shakespeare story, with men dressing up as women and women as men. At first Shakespeare is writing a comedy, but as events happen in the movie, he makes it a romance, and then finally a tragedy. Simply a great movie that anyone can enjoy. If you are a Shakespeare fan, there are many sly references to his works throughout the movie. If not, you can enjoy it all the same. Bonus: Gwyneth Paltrow's boobs.
Favorite Quote: "You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die." or "It is not a comedy I'm writing now."
3. Citizen Kane––Not one of my favorite movies per se, but one that you need to see nonetheless. It is often credited as being the greatest film of all time. It's basically the story of the life of a douchebag. Kane was a total douche, a nazi sympathizer. But in this movie, we get to see why he was such a douche. The story is interesting, and the camera angles, lighting, the whole cinematography is just awesome. It reminds me of comic books, mainly because many comic books at that time took their cues from this film. Not the best movie ever, but one you need to see. Also, Orson Wells is awesome.
Favorite Quote: "Rosebud"
4.The Great Escape––Another of my favorite movies. It's (based on) a true story, which is what makes it so remarkable. It's the story of Allied POWs escaping from a German POW camp. It's truly an amazing movie. I've read the book that it was based on and the characters are pretty accurate to their real life counterparts. The way they escape is 100% accurate. They dug three tunnels: Tom, Dick, and Harry. The way they dig these tunnels using what few resources they have, and without getting caught s remarkable. The real life Great Escape had a large impact on WWII; Hitler was so angry that so many men escaped, he diverted a lot of troops from other places to find the escaped men. It was right before D-Day, so there was a significantly lower amount of German troops in Normandy than had been intended. With Steve McQueen and other famous actors from the 60s, this is a great tribute to the great men who died in the Great Escape. Bonus: Motorcycle chase, extremely catchy theme song.
Favorite Quote: "Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability."
5. Good Will Hunting––I love this movie. It's basically a character/psychological study of the main character, Will Hunting. Will has a simple life: he goes out and gets drunk with his buddies, and he's a janitor at Harvard by day. One day, he sees a near-impossible math problem out on the chalkboard, and he solves it. At this point we learn that Will is a fucking genius. After getting bailed out of jail by the math professor who saw him solve the problem, he has to do two things: become the professor's protégé of sorts, and see a therapist. That therapist is Sean, the professor's old college frenemy. Through his sessions with Sean, we learn that Will is afraid of attachment, or more specifically, afraid of not being loved back of being abandoned, which is why his relationships never work out. The movie is about his relationship with Sean, his friends, and his girlfriend, and about the relationship between Sean and the professor. It's truly a fascinating movie, with some great, humorous lines. I highly recommend it. Bonus: Robin Williams and Matt Damon are great here. As is Ben Affleck, who co-wrote the script with Damon and plays Will's best friend.
Favorite Quote: "I have to go see about a girl."
6. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade––Indiana Jones rocks. He's sort of like a superhero. Most of the time he's Professor Henry Jones Jr., but when the time comes, he puts on his fedora and whips Nazis' butts. Literally. The Indiana Jones movies are great adventure stories. Harrison Ford is perfect. I didn't include Temple of Doom on here because watching that movie makes me want to throw up. So does the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Raiders is the best of the four by far, in which Indiana Jones goes on a quest to find the ark of the covenant. And beats up Nazis. And gets the girl. Last Crusade is also quite good. It features Indiana and his father on a quest to find the Holy Grail. And beat up Nazis. He doesn't get the girl. But we do see some of the underlying issues that Indiana Jones has, all which stem from having an absent father. And we see where his fear of snakes comes from.
Favorite Quote: Either "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." or "Well Indiana Jones, you certainly haven't forgotten how to show a lady a good time." If a girl said the latter to me after I took her out on a date, I'd marry her right there.
7. The Star Wars Saga––Do I need to explain this one? Star Wars is the ultimate sic-fi story. It's something you literally cannot go through life without seeing it. It's had such an influence on Pop Culture, that you've probably seen or heard a reference to it, even if you didn't know it. Also, it's a great story. If you haven't seen these movies, first of all, how are you alive? Second of all, watch them in the order in which they were released: Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Episode I, Episode II, Episode III. The second trilogy isn't as good as the first, but it's still a great story.
Favorite Quote: "No. I am your father."
Favorite Quote: "Rosebud"
4.The Great Escape––Another of my favorite movies. It's (based on) a true story, which is what makes it so remarkable. It's the story of Allied POWs escaping from a German POW camp. It's truly an amazing movie. I've read the book that it was based on and the characters are pretty accurate to their real life counterparts. The way they escape is 100% accurate. They dug three tunnels: Tom, Dick, and Harry. The way they dig these tunnels using what few resources they have, and without getting caught s remarkable. The real life Great Escape had a large impact on WWII; Hitler was so angry that so many men escaped, he diverted a lot of troops from other places to find the escaped men. It was right before D-Day, so there was a significantly lower amount of German troops in Normandy than had been intended. With Steve McQueen and other famous actors from the 60s, this is a great tribute to the great men who died in the Great Escape. Bonus: Motorcycle chase, extremely catchy theme song.
Favorite Quote: "Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability."
5. Good Will Hunting––I love this movie. It's basically a character/psychological study of the main character, Will Hunting. Will has a simple life: he goes out and gets drunk with his buddies, and he's a janitor at Harvard by day. One day, he sees a near-impossible math problem out on the chalkboard, and he solves it. At this point we learn that Will is a fucking genius. After getting bailed out of jail by the math professor who saw him solve the problem, he has to do two things: become the professor's protégé of sorts, and see a therapist. That therapist is Sean, the professor's old college frenemy. Through his sessions with Sean, we learn that Will is afraid of attachment, or more specifically, afraid of not being loved back of being abandoned, which is why his relationships never work out. The movie is about his relationship with Sean, his friends, and his girlfriend, and about the relationship between Sean and the professor. It's truly a fascinating movie, with some great, humorous lines. I highly recommend it. Bonus: Robin Williams and Matt Damon are great here. As is Ben Affleck, who co-wrote the script with Damon and plays Will's best friend.
Favorite Quote: "I have to go see about a girl."
6. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade––Indiana Jones rocks. He's sort of like a superhero. Most of the time he's Professor Henry Jones Jr., but when the time comes, he puts on his fedora and whips Nazis' butts. Literally. The Indiana Jones movies are great adventure stories. Harrison Ford is perfect. I didn't include Temple of Doom on here because watching that movie makes me want to throw up. So does the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Raiders is the best of the four by far, in which Indiana Jones goes on a quest to find the ark of the covenant. And beats up Nazis. And gets the girl. Last Crusade is also quite good. It features Indiana and his father on a quest to find the Holy Grail. And beat up Nazis. He doesn't get the girl. But we do see some of the underlying issues that Indiana Jones has, all which stem from having an absent father. And we see where his fear of snakes comes from.
Favorite Quote: Either "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." or "Well Indiana Jones, you certainly haven't forgotten how to show a lady a good time." If a girl said the latter to me after I took her out on a date, I'd marry her right there.
7. The Star Wars Saga––Do I need to explain this one? Star Wars is the ultimate sic-fi story. It's something you literally cannot go through life without seeing it. It's had such an influence on Pop Culture, that you've probably seen or heard a reference to it, even if you didn't know it. Also, it's a great story. If you haven't seen these movies, first of all, how are you alive? Second of all, watch them in the order in which they were released: Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Episode I, Episode II, Episode III. The second trilogy isn't as good as the first, but it's still a great story.
Favorite Quote: "No. I am your father."
