it’s finally here - my list of (some of) my favorite films ...

...Not that anyone asked for it. But it’s the end of the year and it seems appropriate to make some sort of list. I divided them by genre, by date, with director and main cast. This is by no means a definitive or even comprehensive list - I’ve seen lots and lots of movies over the years. But it does represent films that have had an impact on me and ones that I have watched more than once and would be happy to watch again - and would of course recommend to others.

This all started probably when my daughter suggested that I only like a certain kind of movie - and I wasn’t sure what she meant, or what that kind of movie that might be. I think the list that I’ve jotted down over the last few days is fairly eclectic - if there are any overall themes detected please let me know. I’m not surprised at the amount of mystery and suspense titles, as that is one of my favorite categories in book and film. But I did surprise myself at the lack of movie musicals, a genre I loved as a kid. Oh well, times and tastes change.

If you ever find yourself at a loss for something to watch, feel free to try one of the films on this list. I know I will. My daughter has already seen a lot of these movies, but I may nudge her in future to try one (or many more) of these, too ...

 Horror: Not as many vampires as I expected, but they’re here, as well as some great spooky stuff.

• The Bride Of Frankenstein-James Whale 1935 Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester
• Cat People-Jacques Tourneur 1942 Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway
• The Uninvited-Lewis Allen 1944 Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey
• Curse of the Demon-Jacques Tourneur 1957 Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall McGinnis
• Village of the Damned-Wolf Rilla 1960 George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn
• The Innocents-Jack Clayton 1961 Deborah Kerr, Martin Stephens
• The Birds-Alfred Hitchcock 1963 Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette
• Rosemary’s Baby-Polanski 1968 Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes
• Spirts of the Dead (Toby Dammit)-Federico Fellini 1969 Terence Stamp
• The Stepford Wives-Bryan Forbes 1975 Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers-Philip Kaufman 1978 Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum
• The Shining-Stanley Kubrick 1980 Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers
• An American Werewolf in London-John Landis 1981 David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter
• Poltergeist-Tobe Hooper 1982 JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson
• The Company of Wolves-Neil Jordan 1984 Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Stephen Rea
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula-Francis Ford Coppola 1992 Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins
• The Ninth Gate-Polanski 1999 Johnny Depp, Frank Langella
• Only Lovers Left Alive-Jim Jarmusch 2013 Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston
• Get Out-Jordan Peele 2017 Daniel Kaluuya, Alison Williams, LaKeith Stanfield
• Sinners-Ryan Coogler 2025 Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku

Comedy: After the Fox was the first movie as a kid that I was allowed to stay up and watch with my dad after my brother had gone to bed. No surprise I became a big fan of Peter Sellers and absurdist humor after that.

• Bringing Up Baby-Howard Hawks 1938 Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn
• Ball of Fire-Howard Hawks 1941 Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper
• The Palm Beach Story-Preston Sturges 1942 Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea
• Arsenic and Old Lace-Frank Capra 1944 Cary Grant Priscilla Lane
• Kind Hearts and Coronets-Robert Hamer 1950 Dennis Price, Alec Guiness
• The Ladykillers-Alexander Mackendrick 1956 Alec Gunness, Peter Sellers
• Some Like it Hot-Billy Wilder 1959 Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
• It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World-Stanley Kramer 1963 Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar
• What’s New Pussycat-Clive Donner 1965 Peter O’Toole, Peter Sellers
• The Great Race-Blake Edwards 1965 Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood
• After The Fox-Vittorio de Sica 1966 Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Britt Ekland
• Young Frankenstein-Mel Brooks 1974 Gene Wilder Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn
• Life of Brian-Terry Jones 1979 The Pythons
• SOB-Blake Edwards 1981 Julie Andrews, Robert Preston
• Broadway Danny Rose- Woody Allen 1984 Mia Farrow, Woody Allen
• Repo Man-Cox 1984 Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton
• Ghostbusters-Ivan Reitman 1984 Bill Murray Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
• After Hours-Scorsese 1985 Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette
• Purple Rose of Cairo-Woody Allen-1985 Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels
• Hannah and her Sisters-Woody Allen 1986 Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, Michael Caine
• She’s Gotta Have it-Spike Lee 1986 Tracy Camilla Johns, Spike Lee
• Ferris Beuller’s Day Off-John Hughes 1986 Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck
• Down and Out in Beverly Hills-Paul Mazursky 1986 Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss
• Beetlejuice-Tim Burton 1988 Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis
• A Fish Called Wanda-Charles Crichton 1988 Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Jon Cleese
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels-Frank Oz 1988 Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
• When Harry Met Sally-Rob Reiner 1989 Billy Crystal. Meg Ryan
• The Big Picture-Christopher Guest 1989 Kevin Bacon, Martin Short
• Housesitter-Frank Oz 1992 Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn
• Wayne’s World-Penelope Spheeris 1992 Mike Myers, Dana Carvey
• Ed Wood-Tim Burton 1994 Johnny Depp, Martin Landau
• Clueless-Amy Heckerling 1995 Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd
• The Birdcage-Mike Nichols 1996 Robin Williams, Nathan Lane
• The First Wives Club-Hugh Wilson 1996 Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler
• In and Out-Frank Oz 1997 Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack
• Rushmore-Wes Anderson 1998 Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray
• The Big Lebowski-The Coen Brothers 1998 Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman
• Office Space-Mike Judge 1999 Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston
• Best In Show-Christopher Guest 2000 Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Michael Higgins
• Bring It On-Peyton Reed 2000 Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku
• Zoolander-Ben Stiller 2001 Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson
• The Devil Wears Prada-David Frankel 2006 Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci

Musicals: Musicals are big ensemble films, aren’t they? At east the ones I’m drawn to are.

• Alexander’s Ragtime Band-Henry King 1938 Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, Alice Faye
• The Wizard of Oz-Victor Fleming 1939 Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley
• On the Town-Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen 1949 Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett
• Singin’ in the Rain-Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen 1952 Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes-Howard Hawks 1953 Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn
• Guys and Dolls-Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1955 Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra
• Robin and the 7 Hoods-Gordon Douglas 1964 Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Peter Falk
• A Hard Day’s Night-Richard Lester 1964 The Beatles
• Everyone Says I Love You-Woody Allen 1996 Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore

Animation: Not just beautiful images, but great storytelling.

• Gulliver’s Travels-Dave Fleischer 1939
• My Neighbor Totoro-Hayao Miyazaki 1988
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit-Robert Zemeckis 1988 Bob Hoskins, Kathleen Turner
• Grave of the Fireflies-Isao Takahata 1988 - Amazing, but I could only watch it once
• Pom Poko-Isao Takahata 1995
• Princess Mononoke-Hayao Miyazaki 1999
• Shrek-Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson 2001 Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy
• The Cat Returns-Hiroyuki Morita 2002
• The Fantastic Mr. Fox-Wes Anderson 2009 George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
• Flow-Gints Zilbalodis 2024

Romance: “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

• Casablanca-Michael Curtiz 1942 Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
• Orphée (Orpheus)-Jean Cocteau 1950 Jean Marais, Marie Déa, Maria Casarès
• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman-Albert Lewin 1951 James Mason, Ava Gardner
• Bell, Book and Candle-Richard Quine 1958 Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon
• Shampoo-Hal Ashby 1975 Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn
• The Last Tycoon-Elia Kazan 1976 Robert DeNiro, Ingrid Boulting, Theresa Russell
• Annie Hall-Woody Allen 1977 Diane Keaton, Woody Allen
• Purple Rose of Cairo-Woody Allen 1985 Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels
• A Room with a View-James Ivory 1986 Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Daniel Day Lewis
• Wings of Desire-Wim Wenders 1987 Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin
• Moonstruck-Norman Jewison 1987 Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis
• Green Card-Peter Weir 1990 Andie MacDowell, Gérard Depardieu
• Joe vs. the Volcano-John Patrick Shanley 1990 Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks
• Doc Hollywood-Michael Caton-Jones 1991 Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson
• The Age of Innocence-Martin Scorsese 1993 Daniel Day Lewis, Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer
• Groundhog Day-Harold Ramis 1993 Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell
• True Romance-Tony Scott 1993 Cristian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman
• Reality Bites-Ben Stiller 1994 Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller
• Four Weddings and A Funeral-Mike Newell 1994 Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas
• Before Sunrise-Richard Linklater 1995 Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
• Sense and Sensibility-Ang Lee 1995 Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman
• You’ve Got Mail-Nora Ephron 1998 Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks
• Great Expectations-Alfonso Cuarón 1998 Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert DeNiro
• Runaway Bride-Garry Marshall 1999 Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack
• Notting Hill-Roger Michell 1999 Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Rhys Ifans
• Midnight in Paris-Woody Allen 2011 Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard

Drama: A lot of these could have ended up in other categories, like romance or comedy.

• The Women-George Cukor 1939 Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard
• To Have and Have Not-Howard Hawks 1944 Humphey Bogart, Lauran Bacall, Walter Brennan
• Mildred Pierce-Michael Curtiz 1945 Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Zachary Scott
• The Best Years of Our Lives-William Wyler 1946 Myrna Loy, Frederic March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright
• All About Eve-Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950 Bette Davis, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Anne Baxter
• Rebel Without A Cause-Nicholas Ray 1955 James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
• Dead Ringer-Paul Henreid 1964 Bette Davis Karl Malden, Peter Lawford
• Godfather 1 & 2-Francis Ford Coppola 1972,1974 Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino
• The Sting-George Roy Hill 1973 Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw
• Rumblefish-Francis Ford Coppola 1983 Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke
• Big Night-Stanley Tucci & Campbell Scott 1996 Stanley Tucci, Campbell Scott, Tony Shalom, Isabella Rossellini
• Jackie Brown-Quentin Tarantino 1997 Pam Grier, Bridget Fonda, Robert Forster, Robert DeNiro, Samuel L. Jackson 
• The Royal Tenenbaums-Wes Anderson 2001 Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson
• The Killing of A Sacred Deer-Yorgos Lanthimos 2017 Colin farrekk, Barry Keoghan, Nicole Kidman
• Once Upon A Time in Hollywood-Quentin Tarantino 2019 Brad Pitt, Leonardo Dicaprio, Margot Robbie
• Parasite-Bong Joon Ho 2019 Cho Yeo-jeong, Song Kang-ho
• The Banshees of Inisherin-Martin McDonagh 2022 Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan

Sci Fi/Action/Adventure:  I love some good world-building. And movies set on trains, apparently.

• The Ten Commandments-Cecil B. DeMille 1956 Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, Yul Brynner
• Planet of the Apes-Franklin J. Schaffner 1968 Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
• A Clockwork Orange-Stanley Kubrick 1971 Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee
• Logan’s Run-Michael Anderson 1976 Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Peter Ustinov, Richard Jordan
• Star Wars-George Lucas 1977 Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
• Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind-Steven Spielberg 1977 Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon Francois Truffaut
• Time Bandits-Terry Gilliam 1981 Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin
• Blade Runner-Ridley Scott 1982 Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah
• Brazil-Terry Gilliam 1985 Jonathan Pryce, Robert DeNiro, Michael Palin
• Mars Attacks-Tim Burton 1996 Jack Nicholson, Lisa Marie, Sarah Jessica Parker
• The Fifth Element-Luc Besson 1997 Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman
• The Matrix-The Wachowskis 1999 Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving
• The Mummy-Stephen Sommers 1999 Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz. John Hannah
• X-Men-Bryan Singer 2000 Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Patrick Stewart
• Lord of the Rings-Peter Jackson 2001 Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-Alfonso Cuarón 2004 Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith-Doug Liman 2005 Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie
• The Hunger Games-Gary Ross 2012 Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci
• Snowpiercer-Bong Joon Ho 2013 Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt
• Guardians of the Galaxy-James Gunn 2014 Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
• John Wick-Chad Stahelski 2014 Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick
• Bullet Train-David Leitch 2022 Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, bad Bunny

Mystery/Suspense/Noir:  I could have listed every Hitchcock film, but had to give other auteurs a chance, too.

• Rebecca-Alfred Hitchcock 1940 Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, George Sanders
• The Maltese Falcon-John Huston 1941 Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet
• Suspicion-Alfred Hitchcock 1941 Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Nigel Bruce
• Shadow of a Doubt-Alfred Hitchcock 1943 Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, Macdonald Carey
• The Seventh Victim-Mark Robson 1943 Kim Hunter, Jean Brooks, Tom Conway
• Laura-Otto Preminger 1944 Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb
• Ministry of Fear-Fritz Lang 1944 Ray Milland, Dan Duryea
• Phantom Lady-Robert Siodmak 1944 Ella Raines, Franchot Tone
• Dark Passage-Delmer Daves 1947 Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead
• The Big Clock-John Farrow 1948 Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Maureen O’Sullivan
• In A Lonely Place-Nicholas Ray 1950 Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame
• Strangers on a Train-Alfred Hitchcock 1951 Farley Granger, Robert Walker
• A Place in the Sun-George Stevens 1951 Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift
• Rear Window-Alfred Hitchcock 1954 Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter
• Diabolique-Henri-Georges Clouzot 1955 Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot 
• Witness for the Prosecution-Billy Wilder 1957 Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
• Vertigo-Alfred Hitchcock 1958 James Stewart, Kim Novak
• Breathless-Jean-Luc Godard 1961 jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg
• Bunny Lake is Missing-Otto Preminger 1965 Carol Lynley, Keir Dullea, Laurence Olivier
• Wait Until Dark-Terence Young 1967 Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna
• The Last of Sheila-Herbert Ross 1973 James Coburn, James Mason, Richard Benjamin
• Chinatown-Roman Polanski 1974 Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway
• 3 Days of the Condor-Sydney Pollack 1975 Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson
• All the President’s Men-Alan J. Pakula 1976 Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman
• Death on the Nile-John Guillermin 1978 Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Peter Ustinov
• Deathtrap-Sidney Lumet 1982 Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon
• Black Widow-Bob Rafelson 1987 Theresa Russell, Debra Winger, Dennis Hopper
• The Untouchables-Brian DePalma 1987 Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Robert DeNiro
• Frantic-Roman Polanski 1988 Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, Betty Buckley
• Reservoir Dogs-Quentin Tarantino 1992 Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel
• Thunderheart-Michael Apted 1992 Val Kilmer, Graham Greene, Sam Shepard
• Speed-Jan De Bont 1994 Keanu Reeves, Sandra  Bullock, Dennis Hopper
• The Talented Mr. Ripley-Anthony Minghella 1999 Matt Damon, Jude law, Gwyneth Paltrow
• The Bone Collector-Philip Noyce 1999 Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie. Queen Latifah
• Gosford Park-Robert Altman 2001 Maggie Smith, Kristn Scott Thomas, Michael Gambon
• Phone Booth-Joel Schumacher 2003 Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland
• The Ghost Writer-Roman Polanski 2010 Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan
• Knives Out-Rian Johnson (All 3-2019, 2022, 2025)
• See How They Run-Tom George 2022 Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Ruth Wilson

Holiday: No real lessons learned, just fun times with fun people at a fun time of year.

• Christmas in Connecticut-Peter Godfrey 1945 Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan
• White Christmas-Michael Curtiz 1954 Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney
• We’re No Angels-Michael Curtiz 1955 Humphrey Bogart, Aldo ray, Peter Ustinov
• Desk Set-Walter Lang 1957 Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Joan Blondell
• Pocketful of Miracles-Frank Capra 1961 Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas - 1966 cartoon
• Die Hard-John McTiernan 1988 Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman
• The Family Stone-Thomas Bezucha 2005 Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson
• The Holiday-Nancy Meyers 2006 Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, jack Black, Kate Winslet
• Last Holiday-Wayne Wang 2006 Queen Latifah, L.L.Cool J, Gérard Depardieu

As many movies that have made this list, I’m just realizing as I go through it how many movies that I’ve seen that aren’t here - and how many more that I still need to see ...

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