Movies and Facebook

There is currently a phenomenon cruising around Facebook called 15 Movies (at least it is new to me!). Friends post the top fifteen movies that have affected their lives, trying to do it in 15 minutes. Very hard to do in that amount of time. I am very happy with my list but then I look at my friends movies and always see a movie that could have made my list, too! So many movies, so little time! Here’s my list:

1- Lawrence of Arabia (1962) I can’t believe Peter O’Toole didn’t win the Oscar for this one!
2- Usual Suspects (1994) If anyone ever deserved their Oscar, it was Kevin Spacey as Verbal Kint.
3- Donnie Darko (2001) Culty time travelling mind blower! I love this film!
4- Jaws (1975) Ruined the ocean for everyone of my generation! It is also one of the very few movies that I liked more than the book!
5- Cinema Paradiso (1988)The film that set me on the road of foreign film appreciation.
6-The Miracle (1959) (Carroll Baker and Roger Moore) Corny, yes, but it is the film that my mother and I would watch together every time it was on TV.
7- Truly Madly Deeply (1990). I know very few women that don’t think that Alan Rickman is sexy. If you need some convincing, watch this film!
8- Beauty and the Beast (1991) Not the wise cracking animated films that are now coming out of Disney Studios. This is a lovely, heartfelt film.
9- Glory (1989) Denzel Washington certainly deserved the Oscar for his performance in this film. However, for me, the surprise of this film was how good Matthew Broderick can be if given a great role.
10- Touching the Void (2003) Amazing book! I had the good fortune to see this film at the Toronto Film Festival. In attendance was the author and subject, Joe Simpson. If you want to see a film about mountaineering and the strength of the human spirit…this is the one!
11- Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) This masterful piece of stop motion animation should be on everyone’s favorite film list. Although the plot is engaging, the details in every scene are spectacular!
12- White Christmas (1954) (watch it every year!) Yes, even to this day, a Christmas doesn’t go by that I don’t watch this film.
13-12 Monkeys (1995) Interesting, twisted plot that proves that Bruce Willis has more acting chops than Die Hard. And who knew Brad Pitt could play crazy so well!
14- Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) (Gerard Depardieu) I have already sang this films glory in earlier blog postings. This and Cinema Paradiso brought to life my appreciation of foreign films. I just re-watched it recently and it stands the test of time.
15- The Producers (1968) The original is so much better than the remake. Although I do like Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, they don’t hold a candle to Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind brought a comic level to this film that Will Ferrell could never duplicate.

Anyone want to share their 15 movies with us??