I'm Making a List
or at least trying to
I’d guess that about 25% of these Musings consist of lists of one sort of another. I enjoy compiling them, and I enjoy reading lists compiled by others, to argue or agree (or both) with them, and to seek out experiences enumerated within them. For example, Boston Globe TV critic Chris Vognar recently shared his Top 10 Ken Burns Documentary Series, which bypassed two I enjoyed (The National Parks: America’s Best Idea and Country Music), reminded me of one I’ve never seen (Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery) and surprised me with its #1 (Baseball; my top three are The Civil War, Jazz, and The Vietnam War).
Some friends and relatives that know I’m a movie lover as well as a list compiler ask me about my favorite movies, and while I’ll indulge them by naming one or two, I’m reluctant to go further, with any sort of Top 10 or Top 25, for fear that I’ll announce the list only to realize I’d forgotten a film that absolutely, positively, needs to be on it. How to address this deficiency? If I start with categories in which to place films and then come up with candidates for all-time favorites within those categories, perhaps I can manage to slight no worthy film. So, let’s try…
Continental European Films:
8 1/2 (1963) - Fellini’s masterpiece checks off so many of the boxes that make a film a favorite. I adore its meta concept: the story of a filmmaker (based on Fellini himself) stuck on how to proceed on the very film he’s making in real-life. I can (and have) watched it many times and seen something different each time. I love reading about it: the story of its making, the attempts by film analysts to explain its mysteries. Add to that its score (if you’ve never clicked on a YouTube link in any of my Musings, click on the link above of Carla Bley’s rendition of a suite from the score), and its final scene, perhaps my favorite finale in all of film, and its place in any Top 8 1/2 Films of mine is secure.
Honorable Mention: Wings of Desire (1987); Fanny and Alexander (1982); Three Colours Trilogy (1994-1995)
Asian Cinema:
Parasite (2019) - If I listed as a category Best Picture Oscar Winners, Parasite might head up that list up too. Bong Joon Ho’s movie is beautiful to look at, thought provoking, and full of surprises in how it develops its story of one family down on its luck (the picture above is a model of the family living space from a Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, exhibit on Korean culture) infiltrating the lives of another family in a much higher economic sphere.
Honorable Mention: Perfect Days (2023) I know, Wim Wenders is German, not Japanese, but it’s in Japanese, and it’s my list, so there.
Spanish-Language Film:
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - Guillermo del Toro’s fairy tale for adults (and children mature enough to handle it) does what all the best fairly tales do, simultaneously enchant and horrify. I’m eager to see his newest, Frankenstein, on Netflix, as del Toro continues his exploration of monster figures, some sympathetic and some, like Pale Man (pictured above) not so much.
Honorable Mention: Babel (2006)
British Films:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Stanley Kubrick moved to England in the early 1960’s and remained there for the rest of his life, so forgive me if I consider his movies in this category. 2001 makes my list if only for how mesmerized I was when first seeing the film as a teenager. Sci fi films previously featured cheesy special effects and stories that contained worn-out narrative tropes. 2001 was different. If I were an imbiber of drugs, this is the film I would want to see high.
Honorable Mention: Gosford Park (2001), (I know, Altman is even more American than Kubrick, but this is a quintessential British movie)
Family Movies:
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Movies from 1939 could be their own category (Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and more. I like the latter two films, not so much the first two). Any movie that I watched every year and thrilled to every time has to be on this list. It would even top a buddy-movie list, if I was so inclined to make one.
Honorable Mention: Fly Away Home (1996); Wonderstruck (2007); please note that I struggle in vain for an animated film that would crack my all-time-favorites list.
Holiday Movies:
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - Movies that dare go extremely dark before becoming uplifting appeal to me very much. When I first saw this Frank Capra classic, very few people knew of it; its constant presence on TV at Christmastime was far in the future. I rooted so much for George Bailey, thanks to Jimmy Steward’s performance, that his suicidal moment was all the more powerful.
Honorable Mention: A Christmas Carol (1951); Love Actually (2003)
War Movies
The Great Escape (1963) - You’ll note there’s no other war film in the honorable mentions. So, I’m herewith expanding this category to include movies about certain settings that occur in movie after movie: courtrooms, hospitals, crime scenes, classrooms, sports venues. The more a film follows traditional genre lines, the less l tend to like it (although I am a bit of a sucker for movies about teachers). The Great Escape shares in common with many of my favorites an uncommonly good cast. The picture above is of course Steve McQueen, but the character and performance that wins my heart is the Forger, Donald Pleasence. Which reminds me: another reason I love this movie is the sense that you don’t know and can’t guess who will live and who will die.
Honorable Mention: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962); Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995); The Class (2008); Field of Dreams (1989)
Conversational Films:
Women Talking (2022) - I have more patience than many people I know for films that feel like they are mostly conversation, so Sarah Polley’s take on Miriam Toews’ novel about, yes, women talking, was bound to be appealing to me. The song placement in this film (about Mennonite life) of the Monkees’ Daydream Believer is out of left field.
Honorable Mention: My Dinner with Andre (1981); I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020); Drive My Car (2021)
Musicals:
Stop Making Sense (1984) - It may not seem to make sense that, with my love of musicals, I’m generally unimpressed with the Hollywood versions of same. Plus, I find the old-time MGM-style musicals to be devoid of compelling story. Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film doesn’t have to go up against all those prejudices of mine. And certainly a good concert film, like a good record album, craves to be watched again and again.
Honorable Mention: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001); Moulin Rouge! (2001); In the Heights (2021)
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Supernatural Elements Film:
Groundhog Day (1993) - In thinking about comedy-romances, I realized most of the ones I enjoy have a touch of fantasy or the supernatural. It’s no pun for me to say that Groundhog Day is a film I could watch over and over again. It’s a Twilight Zone concept married to a character development fable with touches of cynicism, whimsy, philosophical conundrum, romance, and Bill Murray being amazing.
Honorable Mention: Minority Report (2002); Heaven Can Wait (1978); Edward Scissorhands (1990); The Truman Show (1998); The Thief of Bagdad (sic) (1940)
Comedy-Romance:
Dave (1993) - This may be the film with the least chance of being on your list, but I find the basic premise so rich: a well meaning Everyman can effectively lead this country as President and then be willing to revert to Everyman (and still get the girl). There’s a number of charming performances among the films I love; Kevin Kline’s here may top them all.
Honorable Mention: Tootsie (1982); Annie Hall (1977)
Documentaries:
My Architect (2003) - Straightforward documentaries might enlighten me about people, places or events, but generally don’t have the same richness as the best fiction films. Nathaniel Kahn’s complex look at the life and career of architect Louis Kahn rises to the heights not only thanks to the magnificent buildings we get to explore (including the library at Phillips Exeter Academy above, the one Louis Kahn building I’ve seen up close), but also because Nathaniel is the architect’s son, and their relationship is complicated indeed.
Honorable Mention: Stone Reader (2002)
Ensemble Casts:
Nashville (1975) - I may feel challenged to come up with a Top 25 Films without forgetting one, but I can tell you what’s on my Top 1 Film list: This one. It speaks to our time as cogently as it did to its time 50 years ago.
Honorable Mention: Magnolia (1999); Short Cuts (1993)
Finally:
Movie genre types where I have a strong favorite, but no runners up:
Hollywood classics of the black-and-white era: Casablanca (1942)
Satire: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Horror: The Birds (1963)
Race relations: Do the Right Thing (1989)
Multi-generational epic: Giant (1956)