Review-o-rama!

[megotelek]

So, I decided to take on a rather ambitious project.  I've decided to compile a list of my 25 top movies of all time.  Believe me, it wasn't easy!  But here we go, in alphabetical order, because there's no way I could rank them:

1776

A musical about the American Revolution???  Yeah, but I love it!  And William Daniels is so great as John Adams.  Great songs, great lines, and a tightly knit story.  Oh, and I would play Abigail Adams, of course, were I ever to be in the stage production.

Back To The Future: Parts I and II

I had to put these together as one entry.  The first movie is great, with the DeLorean time machine and young Michael J. Fox and the Libyan terrorists.  The whole storyline where Marty meets his mother in the past and she has a crush on him is hilarious, as is Christopher Lloyd's wonderfully eccentric Dr. Brown.  The second movie is my favorite, partly because now you have two Martys running around in the past and seeing how they overlap with each other, while kind of headache inducing, is awesome.  Also, Michael J. Fox dancing around on stage singing Johnny B. Goode is not to be missed.

Beauty and the Beast (Disney animated version)

My sister and I were OBSESSED with this movie.  Our biggest fights were about "who was Belle."  Of course, being a brunette, I always maintained that I was Belle.  The whole movie is an exercise in balancing a children's story with cleverness and just enough drama to make the movie watchable.  My only problem?  I prefer the Beast before he turns back into a human.  The "human-Beast" is too pretty-boy for me.  Also, Gaston cracks me up every single time I watch.  And the songs are great, as well.  A lot of stuff to like!

Bridget Jones' Diary

A great feel-good movie for when I'm feeling down.  A reminder that things can always get worse.  I read the book before I watched the movie, and surprisingly, wasn't disappointed!  Renee Zellweger is awesome as Bridget, and it threw me for a loop when I realized that she's actually from Texas!  And hey, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in the same movie?  Just try and keep me away!

Dumbo

Another childhood favorite that was watched over and over again.  On reflection now, I think it's interesting that the lead character never talks.  Ever.  And yet, he's still adorable and you feel for him when his mother is taken away and when he is kicked out of the circus.  The scene with Dumbo and Timothy the mouse in the tree is definitely one of my favorites, as well as the famous pink elephants.

Ever After

One of the best versions of the Cinderella story that I've ever seen.  It manages to appeal to my intellectual side (with appearances by Leonardo da Vinci) and make me cry every single time I watch it.  In happiness, of course.  I especially enjoy the frame they use with the Brothers Grimm being reprimanded for their misuse of the Cinderella story...this is how it should have been!

The Fifth Element

So many great things to say about this movie.  It's fun, endlessly quotable ("She knows it's a Multipass!"), and has Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, Gary Oldman (as a great villain, of course), and Chris Tucker in the most hilarious role of his career.  Lots of great action sequences, lines, and a great story.  It's just...great! 

Flight of the Navigator

If you haven't seen it, you must!!  General story: a boy from Florida is walking through the woods, falls into a ravine, wakes up and it is 8 years later.  He ends up finding a spaceship with a robotic pilot who he names Max, voiced by Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) and they have adventures.  Also has a very young Sarah Jessica Parker as an intern at the NASA base.  Great Disney movie with, again, just enough drama to make it worthwhile.

Galaxy Quest

If you are a Star Trek fan of any kind, you must see this movie.  It's funny even without catching the subtle Star Trek references, but if you do, you will be falling down, gasping for breath laughing.  It's great, Tim Allen is perfect as the "captain", Sigourney Weaver is hilarious, Tony Shaloub and Alan Rickman are perfect in their delivery.  It's just GREAT!

High Fidelity

I read the book first, and loved it.  Then I saw the movie and loved it more!  John Cusack is great, as always, and Jack Black is hilarious as one of his employees at their record store.  Great lines, great delivery, great story.  Makes me cry every single time I watch it!

I.Q.

Einstein and a love story?  Awesome!  Great lines ("When was the last time you went 'wahoo'?"), Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins are terrific, and one of my all-time favorite scenes is when Tim Robbins' character is taking the aptitude tests, "helped" by Einstein and his friends.  All-around great movie!

Ishtar

How could I forget Ishtar! The line that sums up the whole movie: "I have a feeling something went wrong, and now I own a blind camel." Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as two horrifically bad songwriters acting silly, and Charles Grodin as the CIA agent chasing them. I have never laughed so hard in my life!!

The Land Before Time

Another childhood staple.  The first one, not any of the subsequent gag-inducing happy musical ones.  The original, with all of the danger and darkness and friendship overcoming obstacles.  It didn't hurt that when this came out, I was deep in my "dinosaur phase"!  But really, if you haven't seen the original, what is wrong with you??

The Last Starfighter

Kid from trailer park is great at videogame which actually is testing program for real space pilots and he goes and gets to really be a fighter pilot in an interstellar war!  It's a great story, Robert Preston is hilarious as the mercenary recruiter Centauri, and the rest of the story works in a very real way, even as a space drama!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I know, I know, but I had to put it in!  It makes me laugh, and there are just so many quotable lines!  The escapades of Arthur and the knights of the Round Table in Monty-Python-land are too funny to be ignored!  Especially since they have now reworked it into a stage musical on Broadway.  Oh, pardon me, the Tony-award-winning stage musical on Broadway (best musical, best director)!!  They had to be doing something right!

Moulin Rouge

I had no idea what this movie was about when I went to see it in the theater.  So I was pleasantly surprised with a musical!  Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman star in this lush, lavish musical set in turn of the century France.  Baz Luhrmann directing, of course.  Kidman plays a famous courtesan at the famous (or should I say infamous) Moulin Rouge, and McGregor is a writer who falls in love with her.  And they sing!!  It's just too good for words, even when consumption threatens to tear them apart!

Office Space

If you have ever worked in a cubicle, had a truly dead-end job, or felt very possessive of a stapler, then this is the movie for you!  From MTV, there are a few language issues, but they are forgiven in a scene where the office fax machine is taken out and beaten (literally!) with a baseball bat.  Also, Jennifer Aniston is great as the waitress/love interest who has problems with her flair!

Roxanne

A Cyrano de Bergerac story retold with Steve Martin?  Sure!  Once you get over having to stare at Steve Martin's prominent proboscis, this is a great retelling of the classic story of love and being loved for who you are, not how you look!  Steve Martin brings a great balance of hilarity and self-deprecation to the role, and his nose becomes almost believable!

The Sandlot

"For...ev....er..."  The line, like the movie, will never be forgotten.  A classic tale of a young boy learning to be a young boy, playing baseball, and bonding with other kids in the neighborhood, is an instant classic.  Oh, and James Earl Jones in a great cameo as the blind neighbor with the dog known only as "The Beast."  How could you not love this movie?

Snoopy Come Home

Yet another childhood staple, but it still makes me cry!  Snoopy gets a letter from his former owner, a girl named Lila, who is sick and asks him to come visit her in the hospital.  Snoopy leaves Charlie Brown and gang to go to her, and there is a heartbreaking farewell party, as Snoopy sets off with Woodstock for the hospital.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love Snoopy even more!

Star Trek genre

Yeah, I couldn't pick just one.  So here goes:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - what's not to love?  This movie has great scenes, Ricardo Montalban quoting Melville, Kirk and Spock being torn apart in the heartbreaking death scene at the end, and even the "fight" scene between Kirk and his now-grown son, David.  Great lines, great delivery, great story.  Enough said.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - Of course Spock's not dead!  That was my mantra, anyway...granted, I saw the movies all at once, so I was only left in suspense for the amount of time it took to rewind Star Trek II and put this one in the VCR.  But still!  It was traumatizing anyway!  Besides the weird Saavik remodeling, this has a great story as well, and Christopher Lloyd gets to play a Klingon!

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - Time traveling to '80s San Francisco in search of two humpback whales?  Sure, let's go!!  It was awesome to see Kirk and Co. wandering around my hometown, and this movie had some of the best lines, what with the nuclear wessels and colorful metaphors and all...a fun frolic in the Bay Area for all!

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - This movie really brought home the parallel between the Star Trek universe and the real world.  The Klingon Empire is falling apart, and it's up to Starfleet to salvage a peace treaty from the wreckage.  The parallel to the breakup of the USSR almost smacks you in the face while watching.  Anyway, Kirk and Bones are accused of the murder of the Klingon ambassador which happens while on the way to the peace conference, as it seems there are some on both sides who do not want the peace conference to go forward.  Excellent storyline and great drama for this one.  Definitely one of the best excursions for the original series cast.

Star Trek: First Contact - Definitely one of the best for the TNG cast.  The Borg are coming to invade the Federation, and they go back in time to prevent Earth's first contact with an alien race, the better to assimilate them.  The Enterprise-E (pretty!) follows them back and they get to meet Zephram Cochrane, the pioneer of warp drive.  Great story and great acting and lines.  Also, Patrick Stewart's portrayal of Picard having a slight breakdown over facing the Borg and his need for revenge is perfect.  His quoting Moby Dick is priceless.

Star Trek: Insurrection - Definitely lighter than any other TNG movie.  It's almost fun, even!  The Enterprise becomes embroiled in a fight to keep the spirit of the Prime Directive, as Starfleet has ordered the forced relocation of the population of a planet so the fountain-of-youth like powers of its rings can be shared with the whole Federation.  Picard and Co. beam down to the planet and protect the people, and Picard gets to find a love interest...and Data gets the best line of the movie.

Star Wars genre

Yeah, I couldn't pick just one of these either.  Here goes!

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - The transformation from young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to the evil Darth Vader is done extremely well, earning this film a PG-13 rating.  Very dark themes throughout, and Hayden Christensen's portrayal of a young man dealing with his personal demons threatening to overwhelm him is very good.  Also, Yoda in his prime is always cool.  Overall, a great movie.

Episode IV: A New Hope - The one that started it all.  Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo, and they go to defeat the Empire and rescue Princess Leia.  Great lines throughout, well-constructed story, and overall fun! 

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - My favorite of the original trilogy.  The characters are more fleshed out, we get to meet Lando Calrissian in Cloud City, and Luke meets Darth Vader in combat.  Not to mention, the biggest reveal ever!  "Luke.  I am your father!"  I mean, whoa.

The Sting

Arguably one of the best movies ever.  Robert Redford and Paul Newman star in this con movie about a young grifter on the streets of Joliet, Illinois (Redford) who ends up accidentally conning someone connected with the mob.  He meets up with Newman's aged, experienced con artist and they proceed to pull the most brilliant con in the history of movie-making.

When Harry Met Sally

I have lost count of how many times I've seen this movie.  The dialogue is terrific, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are perfect in their portrayal of two people who become good friends, then lovers, then finally realize that they are meant for each other.  Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby as the best friends who end up together are excellent as well.  Just...great movie!

Whew!  Well, there it is!  Feel free to comment below on any of your favorites that might not be listed here, additions/subtractions you would make, etc.!