My Favorite Movies

A dear friend of mine worked so hard in her job for over thirty years, she saw very few movies during that time. Now that she's retired, she has time to watch movies, so I told her I would make a list of my favorites to save her from having to weed through the bad ones. I thought my list would probably be a dozen or so. Not so. And I'll probably keep coming back and adding to them as more come to mind.

The librarian in me is listing them by genre, and some titles will appear in more than one genre. And here's my caveat: I am not an expert in reviewing movies. I don't know all the technical stuff that goes on behind them. I usually go to a movie for entertainment, not torture, so the only heartrending or uncomfortable ones I list are movies I think are important to see*, usually involving some historical event or courageous person. The movies are in alphabetical order within each genre.

Adventure - 
Back to the Future - all
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Hook
Indiana Jones - all but the last one
The Jungle Book (not the animated one)
Knight & Day
Mission Impossible (w/Tom Cruise)
Pirates of the Caribbean - all

Animated - 
Brave
Cars
Finding Nemo
How to Train Your Dragon
Monsters Inc.
Shrek - all
Tangled
Toy Story - all
Up
WALL-E

Biographical - 

Braveheart*

Coal Miner's Daughter

Lincoln*

The Miracle Worker (w/ Anne Bancroft)

Schindler's List*

Fantasy - 

Enchanted

The Fall

Harry Potter - all

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Princess Bride

The Wizard of Oz

Historical Drama - 

Australia

The Fall
Far & Away

Gladiator*

Good Ol' Boys
The Help*

Last of the Mohicans

Saving Private Ryan*

Schindler's List*

To Kill a Mockingbird*

Zero Dark Thirty*

Humorous - 

Big
Christmas Vacation

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Good Ol' Boys
Nacho Libre

Princess Bride

Musical - 

The Sound of Music

Mystery/Suspense - 

The Client

The Firm

Witness (w/ Harrison Ford)

Romance - 

Australia 

Ever After

Far & Away

Lady Hawke

Last of the Mohicans

Man From Snowy River

Pride & Prejudice (w/ Keira Knightley)

The Princess Bride

The Scarlett Pimpernel

The Sound of Music

Sci-Fi - 

Avatar

Sixth Sense

Star Trek - (the prequel with Chris Pine)

Star Wars - (the early ones)

Thor (I can hear my son-in-law groan at this one, but I enjoyed it)

I didn't choose these for the actors or an outstanding performance or an original idea. I chose them for the stories they told, and for most of them, they made me feel good walking out of the theater. I wouldn't mind seeing some of them again and again. I don't mind admitting that I like happy endings. I want a movie to surprise me, thrill me, bring me to tears, and/or to make me laugh. The Pixar movies almost always hit every range of emotion in me-- they are all so well done. Avatar blew me away with the technology and creativity. I didn't go see it for all the subtle and blatant environmental messages. I went to watch a good story, and it didn't disappoint me.

I like a good romantic movie, but I don't like to watch graphic nudity or sex in a movie. It makes me feel like a peeping Tom, and I believe most stories can be told just fine without it, or leave it to our imaginations, please. One of the most romantic scenes that I've seen in a movie is in The Last of the Mohicans when Hawkeye and Cora are hugging each other. [And I realize the book is very different from the movie]. Every time I see Pride and Prejudice, I love it even more. 

I'm sure there are other movies that I can add to this list, but these will keep my friend busy for a while.