My ramblings on decent movies
will be thin on movies befoew 1980's
ones with "+" top notch films for some reason (storyline, acting/direction, etc)


Genres:  Comedy,Action/Sci Fi, Drama, Classic, Horror, Kids

Recommended Movies (by genre when noted), not in order, Top 25 "+" sign

The Browning Version (Michael Redgrave)+
Cool Hand Luke+
Sophie's Choice+
Remains of the Day+
Shower (subtitled)+
Das Boot (subtitled)+
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant+
Breaking the Waves
My Left Foot+
The Piano+
What's Love Got to Do With It+
Flight of the Phoenix (w/ Jimmy Stewart)
Philadelphia+
Forrest Gump+
25th Hour
A Taxing Woman (subtitled)+
Passion of the Christ (subtitled)+
Il Postino (subtitled)
Mi Familia (subtitled)
Quills
Cold Mountain
Dangerous Liasons (Malcovich)+
Of Mice and Men (Malcovich)+
In Search of Bobby Fisher
Shakespeare in Love
The Game
Wallstreet+
Platoon+
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Outlander
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Vanilla Sky
Braveheart
Open Range
Gattica
Dances With Wolves
Legends of the Fall
No Way Out
Internal Affairs
A River Runs Through It+
Sunshine (Fiennes)
LA Confidential
Driving Miss Daisy+
Shawshank Redemption+
Amadaeus+
Bladerunner
the one with Dern
movie w/ lapagligia,hershey
movie about NY Irish immigrants]
Dominick and Eugene
The Mechanic
Amelie
Silence of the Lambs

*Action/Sci Fi
Terminator series  (sci-fi)
First Blood
Predator (sci-fi)
Total Recall (sci-fi)
Soldier (sci-fi)+
Gladiator+
The Abyss
Bourne Identity (and Supremacy)
Planet of the Apes (w/ Heston) (sci-fi)
Soylent Green (sci-fi)
The Omega Man (sci-fi)
I, Robot (sci-fi)
(The Matrix series) The Matrix+
Mad Max series
BackDraft
Pulp Fiction+
Alien series (sci-fi)
Raiders of the Lost Ark series
DieHard
Million Dollar Baby
Stargate
Troy
Minority Report
Fortress
Top Gun
Traffic
Star Wars
The Untouchables
Spartacus
Adaptation
Quo Vadis

*Comedy
Broadcast News
Mrs Doubtfire
Slapstick
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Good Morning Vietnam
Dave
Bulworth
Arsenic and Old Lace


*War
Tora Tora Tora
The Big Red One
Kelly's Heroes
A Bridge Too Far
A Bridge over the River Kwai
Papillion
Das Boot
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
Platoon+
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Eiger Sanction
The Hunt for Red October
The Great Escape

*Classics
A Christmas Story
Grinch (cartoon version)
The Wizard of Oz+
It's A Wonderful Life
Ben Hur
Dr Zhivago
The Ten Commandments
The Grapes of Wrath (Fonda)

*Horror
The Shining+
Flatliners

*Subtitled
A Taxing Woman
Shower 
Mi Familia
Passion of the Christ
Il Postino

*Western/Epic
Open Range
Dances With Wolves
Legends of the Fall
A Fistful of Dollars
A Few Dollars More

*Kids
The Lion King (animated)
Babe
Shrek (animated)
ET
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (animated)
It's a Mad Mad World
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
BeetleJuice
A Bug's Life (animated)


*Movies I've Managed to Miss
Ghandi, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Goodfellas, Malcolm X, 
American Beauty, Brokeback Mountain, many horror and violent movies, Reservior Dogs, 
Kill Bill, 


*Favorite Actors
Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Ralph Fiennes, Denzel Washington, Kevin Bacon, Morgan Freeman, Chris Cooper
Michael Douglas, Sean Pean, Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Angela Bassett,
Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Walken, Bruce Dern, Will Smith, Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid,
Lawrence Fishburne, Deniro, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Charles Bronson, Harrison Ford

Other Quality Actors
Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley, Robert Duvall, Hillary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster,

*Worthy Sequels
T2
Matrix 2
Shrek 2


*specific callouts
Hanks in his work generally
Streep -amazing
Chris Cooper in Adaptation
Fiennes for his work generally
Hopkins and ** in Remains of the Day
Directors - Spielberg, 
The Matrix - groundbreaking effects
Hanks in Forrest Gump



*My Personal Favorite Actors in Approx Order

Tom Hanks - the modern Jimmy Stewart

Ralph Fiennes - contrast his performances in Schindler's List, Oscar and Lucinda, Sunshine

Anthony Hopkins

Jack Nicholson - would be higher except for his becoming "Jack"

Sean Penn - always solid

Denzel Washington - always solid

Kevin Bacon - underrated

Meryl Streep - no female really comes close, Dench one of the few

Hackman,Caine - everyman actors who can perform  to the material

Eastwood - epitome of the Western loner with conflicting qualities