There are some films you can never get enough of, right? Some are pure comfort food, some are annual seasonal delights, some are visually stunning, some bring back happy memories and others you, well, just find some indescribable need to just watch repeatedly. The pleasure of watching a favorite film over and over again fills your pleasure dome like an excellent piece of Belgium chocolate. If you are a serious student of film, repeatedly watching a film will reveal what makes it so powerful by studying the editing, the lighting, how the music is used and much more. On a lighter note, it’s simply the joy of being with an old familiar friend. There is the anticipation of knowing what’s coming next. It could be Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot when he sees Marilyn Monroe for the first time at the train station saying, “Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It’s like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it’s a whole different sex!” Or it could be Edward G. Robinson as Rico, in Little Caesar, shot down and uttering his last words, “Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?” However you want to look at it, people do love watching favorite films over and over and over.
I have been working on my own list for a while, longer than I want to admit. I attempted to put the list in some kind of order finally succumbing to the simplest…alphabetical. As the title states, I have come up with 101 favorite films. The key word is “favorite.” The list was actually was a lot longer, but I limited it to 101. It was tough and this resulted in many films I love having not made the final cut. In the end, these films are my go to movies that I never get tired of watching.
A final note: This occasional series will be in ten parts, ten films per post except for the final post which will contain eleven entries. Like all lists, at least my own lists, this one is always subject to change. You will also note, the list consist of all English speaking films, mostly American. Originally, I included foreign language films, however, I decided that would be a list for another occasion. And now… Continue reading