Welcome to Alex Cavanaugh's Top Ten Movie Countdown! Today participants list their favorite movies of all time. This was a hard list to come up with because it often changes. But right now, here are my top 10:
E.T.
This was the first movie to make me cry and the first to get me thinking about extra-terrestrial life and the cosmos.
Fantasia
This Walt Disney production came out in 1940 and required over one thousand artists and technicians to bring to life approximately five hundred characters. Aesthetically speaking, this movie is a feast for the eyes and concert for the ears. The fantastical theme and concept behind Fantasia created a motion picture event that was avant-garde at the time. It pushed the limits of animation and sound production, and was the first feature length animated movie to match animation to classical music in such an extraordinary way. It changed the way animators applied music to their projects, but unfortunately, the movie got mixed reviews when it came out. Many critics though it pretentious and with WWII underway, along with the tense political climate, many people didn't respond favorably to the movie. Years later, Fantasia was re-released and I watched it for the first time in the early 80's. I was young at the time, but it instantly transported me to a world of Sugar Plum faries, dancing mushrooms, cupids, centaurs, evil spirits, pegasi and dancing hippos. I fell in love with all the characters with one exception, the part featuring Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice. I'm not sure why, but I never really liked that segment and always wanted to skip it to see the rest of the movie. Sorry Mickey. Nonetheless, the movie has received many accolades and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (wikipedia)
As for me, Fantasia has left a life long impression that I cannot clearly explain, nor do I really want to.
My Fair Lady
This is the one movie/musical that stands apart from my usual taste in films. It has a lot of sentimental value to me and even though I doubt it would be considered PC to today's standards, I still enjoy the story, the music, and humor. And, I'm not ashamed to say I can sing along to every song and still get a kick out of lines like:
"Come on Dover, move yer bloomin' arse!"
♫"Women are irrational, that's all there is to that. Their heads are full of cotton, hay, and rags. They're nothing but exasperating, irritating, vacillating, calculating, agitating, maddening and infuriating hags!"♫
"You oughta be stuffed with nails, you ought!"
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
I remember being blown away when I first saw this movie. What really impressed me was the cinematography and martial arts scenes. Watching Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi sword fight was simply AMAZING. Want to know what else is amazing? Watching Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi fight with lightsabers:
Princess Bride
Make me laugh, that's all I ask.
This comedy had it all, action, humor, wit, and romance. And to think neither Cary or Mandy had ever had any prior experience sword fighting, yet with a lot of training and determination, managed to pull off some of the best sword fighting caught on screen. "Chapeau."
IV: A New Hope (1977),
V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980),
VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).
Three. Epic. Movies.
The other three made after Return of the Jedi (which I refuse to even name), can be listed under Star Crap. I'm not going to drone on about this series, I'm sure they will be on several lists today.
Avengers
Loki: "Enough! You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by . . . "
The Hulk:
*smash, smash, smash, smash, Loki like rag doll*
"Puny god."
I really don't need to add anything more to this either because:
Avengers = Awesome.
How To Train Your Dragon
I loved everything about this movie from the story, the animation, to the movie score. Normally, I don't like watching movies over and over again (I'm the same way with books) however, I've watched this film several times and never get tired of it. The movie also contains my all time favorite scene of any movie, the part where Hiccup touches Toothless for the first time. That scene was so well done, down to Hiccup's reaction just after making contact. It was perfect and gives me the warm fuzzies every single time. Plus, there were some great lines in the movie too:
"Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish-bone!"
Thanks for hosting this fun movie blogfest Alex, off to see what everyone else has on their list!
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