What Are Your Ten Favorite Movies?

My wife and I were driving in a nearby community which invited people to sit on the grass and watch Casablanca. I admit it's a little surprising to cruise along and suddenly see a big, unexpected black and white movie playing in the great outdoors.

Casablanca

While outdoor movies leave a bad taste in many cineastes' mouths, I enjoy them. My favorite outdoor venue was a ruin in the center of Rome. A large crowd watched an old, British-style horror movie, complete with mad scientists. I didn't think the movie and the crowd violated the setting; in fact, Romans have done far worse to their patrimony than hoisting a movie screen where emperors once ruled.

Seeing Casablanca in New Jersey made me think about favorite movies. I freely admit Casablanca is among them. In the film discussion group I facilitate, we came up with the idea of listing our ten favorite movies. They didn't have to be highbrow films or certified "winners." We just wanted to name names. Well, a warm summer dog day is a good time to have a dialogue about the movies.

With that in mind, here are my ten faves, along with Casablanca. (I have more than ten, but I'm trying hard to avoid greediness.) They are in no particular order.

John Huston (left) and Jack Nicholson, from Chinatown

a. Before Sunset. I'm sentimental, and especially so about this movie.
b. Chinatown. Yes, A-list movies can be special. John Huston "gets" evil.
c. L'Avvenutura. Antonioni's most fully realized picture, where story and directorial perspective are flawlessly matched. No American could have made this picture.
d. The Tall T. A Randolph Scott-Budd Boetticher western. Spare and splendid.
e. LA Confidential. Stylized truth. Acting, sets, story, sleaze....everything, really.
f. The Horse's Mouth. Alec Guinness wrote and stars in it. The more I see it, the more I like it. Think of the movie as a darkly funny meditation on being an artist.
g. The Palm Beach Story. Preston Sturges unleashed. Witty and human.
h. In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-Wai's valentine to a vanished Hong Kong. Visually beautiful, imaginative directing, superb acting.
i. The Bourne Identity. I like the first of the Bourne trilogy the best. Movie hinges on buying into Franka Potente's character. She doesn't get enough credit for her performance, especially given her pairing with a very strong Matt Damon.

Kieslowski (left) with Jean-Louis Tritignant and Irene Jacob

j. Red. Kieslowski's meditation on the heart, the soul, and the role of chance in human affairs. I enjoy Red far more than The Double Life of Veronique.

As I wrote, I could easily add another twenty movies. (I'm going to sneak in Orson Welles' critically unloved Mr. Arkadin for honorable mention.)

Feel free to comment and/or add your own top ten faves.