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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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.
