Monday, September 04, 2006

Walk on by...


...when it comes to certain movies, I simply cannot do that.
I have, built into my internal system, a list of watch-anytime-and-watch-often movies. Those that warrant repeated viewings, any place, anywhere. They are 'effortless' to watch, if you know what I mean - with no more rhyme or reason as to 'why?'. ..

Oddly enough, these movies may or may not top my 'Fave Movies List'. They may not be award-winning, or highly touted by the critics (though many are). Comedies and drama, contemporary and classic. More than anything else, Watch-Anytime movies have me doing a double-take when I come across their imagery on the television screen (I'm either doing some casual channel surfing, or the TV is on as background to accompany my house-cleaning). These movies prompt me to drop (if at all possible) whatever I'm planning to do next, plop into the nearest chair - and watch. No matter if the film is at the beginning, middle or even near the end.
I simply cannot walk on by...

Mind you, this is the short list:
  • 'The Magnificent Seven' (Steve McQueen, Yul Brenner)
  • 'The Great Escape' (Steve McQueen)
  • 'Dave' (Kevin Kline)
  • 'Auntie Mame' (Roz Russell)
  • 'Shop Around the Corner' (Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart)
  • 'King Kong' (Fay Wray)
  • 'Jurassic Park' (Sam Neill, Laura Dern)
  • 'Mogambo' (Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Clark Gable)
  • 'It Happened One Night' (Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert)
  • 'Back to the Future' (Michael J. Fox)
  • 'Indiana Jones & ...' (any of them)(Harrison Ford)
  • 'Gaslight' (Ingrid Bergman)
  • 'Blast From the Past' (Brendan Fraser)
  • 'Some Like it Hot' (MM, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis)
  • ''The Odd Couple' (Walter Matthau. Jack Lemmon)
  • 'Parent Trap' (Hayley Mills)
  • 'The Apartment' (Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine)
  • 'Boy's Night Out' (Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall)
  • 'The Philadelphia Story' (Kate Hepburn, James Stewart, Cary Grant)
  • 'Men In Black' (Tommy Lee Jones/ Will Smith)
  • 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' (Audrey Hepburn)
  • 'Random Harvest' (Ronald Coleman/ Greer Garson)
  • 'The Pink Panther' (Peter Sellers)
  • 'Wuthering Heights' (Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon)
  • 'Places in the Heart' (Sally Field, Ed Harris)
  • 'Jezebel' (Bette Davis, Henry Fonda)
  • 'Hawaii' (Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow)
  • 'The Naked Gun' (Leslie Neilsen)
  • 'Singing in the Rain' (Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O' Conner)
There are so many more! New ones, old ones, good ones, even bad ones.
Annette and Frankie surf flicks, Elvis movies, Pixar animations, Star Wars, the Harry Potters, Disneys...

Without a doubt, there are movies that you can't 'walk by' either.
The ones that beg you 'set a spell' for another viewing right here right now.
Care to toss a title or two my way?

[I'm only providing one link in this post, or I'll be here alllllllll night!]

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

HI B

NOW HERE'S A SUBJECT NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
I TOO, HAVE THOSE MOVIES THAT I MUST SEE OVER AND OVER, NO MATTER AT WHAT POINT I CATCH IT. EVEN IF I OWN THE MOVIE, AND CAN WATCH IT ANYTIME I WANT, IF WHILE CHANNEL SURFING I SHOULD COME ACROSS IT...WELL, THERE I SIT, GLUED TO THE TUBE.
MANY OF THE FILMS YOU NAME, ARE ON MY LIST ALSO, LIKE BLAST FROM THE PAST, KING KONG, SOME LIKE IT HOT. I GUESS STOPPING TO WATCH THESE MOVIES THAT CAPTIVATE US, IS RATHER LIKE HOW EVERYONE STRAINS TO SEE THAT ACCIDENT ON THE ROADWAY...SHOULDN'T, BUT CAN'T HELP IT. WHAT IS IT ABOUT OUR PSYCHE THAT COMPELS US?
HERE'S SOME OF MY PICKS.

IN THE NUMBER ONE POSITION, AND PROBABLY THE ONE MOVIE I'VE SEEN MORE THAN ANY OTHER IN MY LIFE...

#1 GREEN CARD - GERARD DEPARDIEU
CHANCES ARE - ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
FRENCH KISS - MEG RYAN, KEVIN KLINE
TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS - UMA THURMAN, JEANANE GARAFALO
CROSSING DELANCY - AMY IRVING
THE MATCHMAKER - JEANANE GARAFALO
STRICTLY BALLROOM - PAUL MERCURIO
TIME OF THEIR LIVES - ABBOTT AND COSTELLO
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS - LAUREL AND HARDY
ANY SHERLOCK HOLMES FILM, BASIL RATHBONE ONLY
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS - MINNIE DRIVER
84 CHARING CROSS - ANTHONY HOPKINS,
TO SIR WITH LOVE - SIDNEY PORTIER
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - COLIN FIRTH
THIEF OF BAGHDAD - STEVE REEVES
HERCULES - STEVE REEVES
MY COUSIN VINNY - RALPH MACCHIO
MY FATHER THE HERO - GERARD D.
WHERE THE BOYS ARE - CONNIE FRANCIS
THE KING AND I - YUL BRYNNER
RAISIN IN THE SUN - SIDNEY PORTIER

AND FOR THE REALLY BAD MOVIES THAT I CAN'T HELP BUT WATCH EVERY SINGLE TIME..
MOMMIE DEAREST - FAYE DUNAWAY
ELEPHANT WALK - ELIZABETH TAYLOR
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE - BETTE DAVIS

I'LL STOP...MY LIST COULD GO ON ENDLESSY

DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST MOVIE THAT YOU EVER SAW?
MINE WAS THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD...1958, AT AGE 4. I WAS HOOKED ON THIS FILM GENRE, AND FILM IN GENERAL, FOR LIFE.

D

Jessamyn Harris said...

it's funny, B, I was looking at your list like, "I probably won't know any of these" but I've seen 12! me and dev just watched "jurassic park" the other night : )
the clash have a great song called "magnificent seven" (I assume after the movie) but I've never seen the flick.

Anonymous said...

A couple of the greatest comedies ever?!
"The Russians are Coming, The Russian's are coming!"
and
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".
Both just full of versatile actors and comedians from an earlier era.
They really made us laugh!

baffle said...

GOOD QUESTION: What IS it about our psyche that compels us?!?

Do ya think it's just us (NorthAmericans), or does the rest of the world define themselves so strongly with their movies? It really is such a huge part of our pop culture, and so, further begs that reoccurring question:
Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

Very what-came-first-chicken-or-egg brain fodder, wouldn't y'all agree?

Anonymous said...

what about what about Bob?
momnpear

Conn said...

Well... it is so hard fro me to make a list of my favorite movies...
your's is a great list and i cannot believe you have
THE APARTMENT on there. Love that one.

Here are my top 10 in random order:
1. WHAT'S UP DOC? (Madeline Kahn's first movie)
2. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (my Mom took me to see that at the drive-in and we laughed so hard we drove away with the speaker still attached to the window)
3. WHAT A WAY TO GO (Shirley McClaine and an all-star cast)
4.COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME JIMMY DEAN JIMMY DEAN (Sandy Dennis, Cher, Karen Black)
5. HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE (Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis, Agnes Moorehead) One of the scariest movies I remember seeing.
6. AUNTIE MAME (Rosalind Russell NOT Lucielle Ball!)
7. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Well don't ask... i just like it)
8. SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER (Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift)
9. WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (Elizabeth Taylor , Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, George Segal) Well it's just TRAGIC!
10. WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (Well, then, I just HATE you... and I hate your... ass... FACE! )

Anonymous said...

Hiya B:

I've enjoyed several of your blog entries, but this is the first one I felt compelled to comment on. Of course, the attention grabber was the photo of Yul Brynner and Mr. Ultimate Cool, Steve McQueen from the Magnificent Seven. M-7 is definitely my watch over and over and over again top pick. Through the years, I've taped it from broadcast, purchased the video, prize the dvd, and even own the soundtrack on cd. Yet, as mentioned above, any time I catch it on tv, I-MUST-WATCH-IT. Strange, it's as if viewing it on tv gives the movie some validity. I also rank the original King Kong right near the top. Thanks to an earlier responder for listing two Steve Reeves movies. To the two mentioned, I would add Hercules Unchained and Duel Of The Titans. (Steve Reeves trivia: he actually appeared in one of those Frankie and Annette beach movies that B seems to enjoy.)That same earlier responder recalled his/her first movie seen as The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad in '58. Ray Harryhausen visual effects?? Bing Crosby's wife to be?? A winner, for sure! B, do you remembr your first movie? I'll have to think a bit for mine.

AF

Anonymous said...

AF

Yes, 7th Voyage of Sinbad had the Harryhausen Special effects. And yes, the future mrs. bing.

I know Hercules Unchained should have been on my list, but if i added all the movies i love to watch over and over, the list could take years to write! I'll have to look into the availability of Duel of The Titans....can't believe i'm not familiar with that one! Thanks for the trivia about Reeves. He was certainly one of the heartthrobs of my youth!

D
PS: Hi B...how have you been? it's been pretty quiet here. the cocooning season is quickly approaching. sigh. :( hope all is well with you.

baffle said...

One of my fave stories to tell about 'Young Frah-kin-steeen' is that I was eight and a half months pregnant (1975, so you-know-who was within) and went to see the movie at the theater. Laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes, just about doubled over in pain, practically fell outta my seat, couldn't breathe and almost went into labor right then and there. I too LOVE THAT MOVIE!

P.S. Another can't walk by (because it is sooooo bad) 'Jason and the Golden Fleece'.