Recently I was in a class where, as an ice-breaking activity, the leader has us go around the room and say our name and our favorite movie. Just one. Nope. Only one. You gotta choose. I know you’ve seen hundreds – thousands – of movies over your lifetime. I know it’s like picking your favorite child. I KNOW it’s completely impossible – now CHOOSE. You’re first – go.
I picked one but I’ve been unhappy with my choice ever since. It is impossible to choose just one “favorite” movie. Even AFI is breaking them down into categories these days. So this week Friday Five goes To The Movies.
- What movies have you watched so many times that you can practically recite the entire script?
- What are your feel-good movies, the film equivalent to comfort food?
- What movies make you cry every. single. time.?
- What are your guilty-pleasure movies, the ones you know are totally cheesy but you just can’t resist watching when you find them playing on late-night cable?
- What are your favorite old movies?
Leave your responses in the comments. My Five after the jump.
- Steel Magnolias, Hope Floats, Sound of Music, The Big Chill, Breakfast Club. I’m pretty sure everyone from my generation can quote The Breakfast Club.
- I remember when I saw The American Presidentwith Michael Douglas and Annette Bening, that I didn’t want it to end. Later on, the writer of that movie went on to make one of my favorite television shows – The West Wing. So in a way, it didn’t.
- No matter how many times I watch Steel Magnolias(and surely I’ve seen it 70, 80 times by now), I still cry in the cemetery scene when M’Lynn cries out “I want to know whyyyyy! WHYYYYYYY!” Also, the scene in Hope Floats, where the dad leaves his little girl crying in the driveway. And (spoiler alert) when Tony dies in West Side Story.
- Urban Cowboy has absolutely no redeeming qualities, and yet…like a train wreck, I simply can’t. look. away…
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, West Side Story, Music Man, This Property is Condemned. Basically any film that was either 1) from a Tennessee Williams play or 2) a musical.
Responses to “Friday Five”
June 13th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
1. Dirty Dancing – I LOVE that movie!!!! Because NOBODY puts Baby in a corner!!
2. 13 Going on 30 – brings me back!
3. E.T. – I slobber like a baby every single time, and Pursuit of Happyness; although it has a happy ending, the meet of the movie is at times unbearable.
4. Any Vince Vaughn movie – especially Old School and the Breakup
5. Breakfast at Tiffanys!!!
June 13th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
1. “Pulp Fiction”, “Sideways”, “Goodfellas”
2. “Birdcage”, “Under the Tuscan Sun”, “Chocolat”
3. “It’s a Wonderful Life”, almost anything with Meryl Streep
4. “Blazing Saddles”, “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, “The 30 Year Old Virgin” which seems to be on TV weekly.
5. “McClintock” (John Wayne), “Some Like it Hot”
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 am
1. “Gone with the Wind;” “Hunt for Red October.”
2. “Field of Dreams;” “Hatari” (yes, we do the baby elephant walk at my house); “National Treasure;” “On Golden Pond;” and “A League of Their Own.”
3. When the soldiers sing, “We’ll follow the old man …” in “White Christmas.” When Beth dies in the 1949 version of “Little Women” with Elizabeth Taylor. “Platoon.”
4. “No Way Out;” “The Warriors;” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights;” “A Summer Place;” “When Harry Met Sally;” “War Games;” the original “Star Wars” series.
5. Anything with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara; “1776;” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner;” “The Sound of Music;” “The Great Escape;” “The Music Man;” “Charade.”