My Wasted Space » Desert Island Movies

Desert Island Directors

Paul B Womack — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:46:32 +0000

How do you choose what movies to watch? Who’s in it? What it’s about? One of the first things I do is look at who is directing the movie. If any of these guys make a new movie (excepting the ones that are dead, of course), I want to see it. Even the dead guys can get in on the act if it’s one of their films I haven’t seen before. That doesn’t mean the movie is always great, but the way these guys translate ideas into vision appeals to me.

David Lean
Billy Wilder
Tony Scott
John Lasseter
Joel & Ethan Coen
Tim Burton
John Ford
Woody Allen
Steven Spielberg
Wes Anderson

My Classic Movies

Paul B Womack — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:04:45 +0000

This is a very personal list. This is not “the greatest classic movies of all time” or anything like that. These are just old films that captured me, sometimes in just some small way – like Walter Brennan’s “You ever been stung by a dead bee?” in To Have and Have Not, or the incredible, masterpiece images of the passion of Christ in the the first minutes of Barabbas. I’m sure you’ll find yourself saying things like “Why To Catch a Thief and not Vertigo or Rear Window?” (because there have never been two more beautiful people in a more beautiful place than Grace Kelly and Cary Grant on the French Riviera), but if you haven’t seen any of these, you should take a look. Maybe you’ll find something to like, too.

Title	Director
To Have and Have Not	Howard Hawks
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Richard Brooks
The Sun Also Rises	Henry King
Sabrina	Billy Wilder
Our Man in Havana	Carol Reed
The Searchers	John Ford
Barabbas	Richard Fleischer
The Night of the Iguana	John Huston
The Killers	Robert Siodmak
To Catch a Thief	Alfred Hitchcock

Sweat Pea’s Desert Island Movies

Paul B Womack — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:25:06 +0000

I wonder what my top 10 movies were when I was nine. More live action I think – I seem to remember Herbie the Love Bug, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, even The Ugly Dachshund. But my favorites were mostly animated movies then, too – Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, The Jungle Book. Sweet Pea is only nine, and she already has a list of Desert Island Movies. I’ll keep watching and see how her list evolves.

	Film	Director
1	The Nightmare Before Christmas	Henry Selick
2	Alice in Wonderland (2010)	Tim Burton
3	Wall-E	Andrew Stanton
4	Toy Story 3	Lee Unkrich
5	Megamind	Tom McGrath
6	Bambi	James Algar & Samuel Armstrong
7	Lady and the Tramp	Clyde Geronimi
8	Madagascar	Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath
9	Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa	Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath
10	Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam	Paul Hoen

Brittany’s Desert Island Movies

Paul B Womack — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:23:03 +0000

At least I’ve seen all of these films, too, except for Como Ague Para Chocolate. They didn’t make my Desert Island Movies, but I guess if I got stuck on an island with these films I’d be okay with that.

	Film	Director
1	Pulp Fiction	Quentin Tarantino
2	Kill Bill Volume One	Quentin Tarantino
3	The Joy Luck Club	Wayne Wang
4	The Shawshank Redemption	Frank Darabont
5	Beauty and the Beast	Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
6	Como Agua Para Chocolate	Alfonso Arau
7	Almost Famous	Cameron Crowe
8	Rashomon	Akira Kurosawa
9	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence	John Ford
10	Dogville	Lars von Trier

Mark’s Top Ten of the Decade

Paul B Womack — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:48:18 +0000

Here is Mark’s top 10 films of the decade with 10 runners-up (cheater). Some of his choices seem perfectly reasonable, and others are completely baffling; pretty much his reaction to my list.

	Film	Director
1	The Lord of the Rings	Peter Jackson
2	The Incredibles	Brad Bird
3	The Dark Knight	Christopher Nolan
4	United 93	Paul Greengrass
5	Billy Elliot	Stephen Daldry
6	Inglourious Basterds	Quentin Tarantino
7	Black Hawk Down	Ridley Scott
8	The Departed	Martin Scorsese
9	Amélie	Jean-Pierre Jeunet
10	Speed Racer	The Wachowski Brothers

Ten spots are not nearly enough so here are my 10 runners-up:

300	Zack Snyder
Catch Me If You Can	Steven Spielberg
The Hurt Locker	Kathryn Bigelow
In America	Jim Sheridan
In Bruges	Martin McDonagh
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World	Peter Weir
No Country For Old Men	The Coen Brothers
Ocean’s Eleven	Steven Soderbergh
Pan’s Labyrinth	Guillermo del Toro
There Will Be Blood	Paul Thomas Anderson

My Top Films of the Decade (2000-2009)

Paul B Womack — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:19:32 +0000

Some of my favorite films from the first decade of the 21st century are already on my original Desert Island Movies – Man on Fire, Stranger Than Fiction, Big Fish & The Royal Tenenbaums – so I did not include them on this list. Sort of wish it was more than a top ten. There were several films I wanted to include, but couldn’t find a place for on my list. Maybe there will be a place for them on yours.

Title	Director
Snatch	Guy Ritchie
Wall-E	Andrew Stanton
Gladiator	Ridley Scott
Lord of the Rings	Peter Jackson
Finding Neverland	Marc Forster
High Fidelity	Stephen Frears
The Passion of the Christ	Mel Gibson
Almost Famous	Cameron Crowe
300	Zack Snyder
Taken	Pierre Morel

My Animated Movies

Paul B Womack — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:34:13 +0000

Here’s a list of my favorite animated movies. Yes, I have children. But even if I didn’t, I can watch these movies over and over again.

Title	Director
Wall-E	Andrew Stanton
Finding Nemo	Andrew Stanton
The Incredibles	Brad Bird
Lady and the Tramp	Clyde Geronimi
Aristocats	Wolfgang Reitherman
Shrek	Vicky Jenson
Fantastic Mr. Fox	Wes Anderson
Antz	Eric Darnell
The Jungle Book	Wolfgang Reitherman
The Nightmare Before Christmas	Henry Selick

John Womack’s Movies

Paul B Womack — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:39:10 +0000

Some of these nearly made my list, too.

Title	Director
The Godfather: Part II	Francis Ford Coppola
The Lord of the Rings	Peter Jackson
Blackhawk Down	Ridley Scott
The Departed	Martin Scorsese
Dazed and Confused	Richard Linklater
Reservoir Dogs	Quinten Tarantino
Schindler’s List	Steven Spielberg
Raising Arizona	Coen Brothers
Unbreakable	M. Night Shyamalan
Snatch	Guy Ritchie

Punkin’s Movies

Paul B Womack — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:57:57 +0000

There was no ranking with these, so let’s guess this is Punkin’s top ten in no particular order.

No.	Title	Director
	The Royal Tenenbaums	Wes Anderson
	The Graduate	Mike Nichols
	Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?	Stanley Kramer
	Annie Hall	Woody Allen
	I’m Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan	Todd Haynes
	Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels	Guy Ritchie
	Sabrina	Billy Wilder
	To Catch a Thief	Alfred Hitchcock
	The Hustler	Robert Rossen
	To Have and Have Not	Howard Hawks

My Desert Island Movies

Paul B Womack — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:02:33 +0000

Here’s a menu of Desert Island Movies:

No.	Title	Director
01	The Godfather	Francis Ford Coppola
02	Lawrence of Arabia	David Lean
03	Bridge on the River Kwai	David Lean
04	Ben Hur	William Wyler
05	Man on Fire	Tony Scott
06	Shadowlands	Richard Attenborough
07	The Royal Tenenbaums	Wes Anderson
08	Big Fish	Tim Burton
09	Saving Private Ryan	Steven Spielberg
10	Stranger Than Fiction	Marc Forster

Top heavy with epics and a couple you may not have even seen.