opinion :: LORIE’S FAVORITES :: SHORT LIST
by Looperloll | created - 02 Dec 2019 | updated - 03 Dec 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 451,019 | Gross: $30.86M
The best movie ever made.
2. Enchanted April (1991)
PG | 95 min | Drama
Four English women, after World War I, who are unhappy with their lives, and their time away on vacation in a beautiful Italian villa.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker
Votes: 7,135 | Gross: $13.20M
Redemption
3. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,134 | Gross: $210.61M
I even made myself a Mind Reading Helmet.
4. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 815,101 | Gross: $148.10M
Archetype of Christ’s Sacrifice.
5. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,053,654 | Gross: $171.48M
Mr. Keanu Reeves.
6. Loving Vincent (2017)
PG-13 | 94 min | Animation, Drama, Mystery
In a story depicted in oil painted animation, a young man comes to the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
Directors: DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Stars: Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Robert Gulaczyk, Helen McCrory
Votes: 63,680 | Gross: $6.74M
A work of art of works of art.
7. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,861 | Gross: $322.74M
I stood in a line at Spokane’s Fox Theater that went clear around the block. When those words marched up the screen I forgot where and who I was. Life seemed completely different when we walked out of the theater...
8. Time Bandits (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, John Cleese, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 68,363 | Gross: $42.37M
One of the best sleepers there are.
9. Groundhog Day (1993)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 685,220 | Gross: $70.91M
Mr. Murray. At his finest.
10. Brigadoon (1954)
Passed | 108 min | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland become lost. They encounter a small village, not on the map, called Brigadoon, in which people harbor a mysterious secret, and behave as if they were still living two hundred years in the past.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart
Votes: 9,371
Paradise found.
11. The Quiet Man (1952)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead whose brother is contemptuous of their union.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
Votes: 42,408 | Gross: $10.55M
Will watch this again and again lifelong...
12. White Nights (1985)
PG-13 | 136 min | Drama, Music
A Russian American ballet dancer's airplane is forced to land in USSR, where he's "repatriated". He stays with an American man married to a Russian. Will the American help him flee USSR?
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren
Votes: 8,223 | Gross: $42.16M
Such rarely seen juxtapositions.
13. Lonesome Dove (1989)
TV-14 | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.
Stars: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane
Votes: 25,918
Mr. Duvall, you’ve done it again.
14. The Black Stallion (1979)
G | 118 min | Adventure, Family, Sport
After being shipwrecked with a magnificent horse off the coast of Africa in the 1940s, a boy bonds with the stallion, and trains him to race after their rescue.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse
Votes: 14,043
Gorgoeus.
15. School of Rock (2003)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Music
After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, Adam Pascal
Votes: 330,923 | Gross: $81.26M
Classic Jack Black. A perfect venue for him to shine.
16. Treasure Planet (2002)
PG | 95 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
Jim Hawkins is a teenager who finds the map of a great treasure hidden by a space pirate. Together with some friends, he sets off in a large spaceship, shaped like a caravel, on his quest.
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emma Thompson, Martin Short, Roscoe Lee Browne
Votes: 133,079 | Gross: $38.18M
So awesome, a real trip for the imagination... Love the animation...
17. Meatballs (1979)
PG | 94 min | Comedy
Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch, Russ Banham
Votes: 23,874 | Gross: $43.05M
It Just Doesn’t Matter!
18. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,700 | Gross: $17.22M
Mr. Irons, the cinematography, the depth. Our friend Randy grew up among the Guarani as a missionary kid, and told us some interesting things they were actually saying...
19. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,210 | Gross: $95.86M
Unforgettable...
20. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman
Votes: 330,907 | Gross: $45.51M
Who knew Clooney was a physical comedian???
21. Stand by Me (1986)
R | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Votes: 441,726 | Gross: $52.29M
Timelss... The Barforama especially.
22. Jackie & Ryan (2014)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama, Family, Music
A modern day train hopper fighting to become a successful musician, and a single mom battling to maintain custody of her daughter, defy their circumstances by coming together in a relationship that may change each others lives forever.
Director: Ami Canaan Mann | Stars: Katherine Heigl, Ben Barnes, Clea DuVall, Emily Alyn Lind
Votes: 4,721
Sweet sweet story. Ben should record more...
23. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 240,213 | Gross: $52.77M
I watched this with my Best Friend Merilee in 1983, in Costa Rica: It was in Hindi with Spanish Subtitles. We forgot where we were and had double culture shock when it was over.
24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,034 | Gross: $248.16M
Groundbreaking relentless adventure.
25. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,386,686 | Gross: $760.51M
Another world...
26. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer
Votes: 216,895 | Gross: $156.45M
Such voice acting! Such animation! What a tightly woven story! Pppplease!
27. The Horse Whisperer (1998)
PG-13 | 169 min | Drama, Romance, Western
The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 43,542 | Gross: $75.38M
Oh Mr. Redford...
28. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
Approved | 210 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A group of motorists witnesses a car crash in the California desert, and after the driver's dying words indicate the location of a hidden stash of loot, they turn against each in a race across the state to get to it.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 46,136 | Gross: $46.30M
We ROFLOL every time as if it were the first time we watched it...
29. Black Beauty (1946)
Passed | 74 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A young English girl is raising a horse named Black Beauty into a prize-winner. The motherless girl is thrown into a panic after Beauty disappears.
Director: Max Nosseck | Stars: Mona Freeman, Richard Denning, Evelyn Ankers, Charles Evans
Votes: 298
Fond childhood memories, lived out when I rode my own Ginger.
30. The Goodbye Girl (1977)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict
Votes: 16,192 | Gross: $102.00M
The Original feel-good Rom Com.
31. The Gnome-Mobile (1967)
Approved | 84 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
In the Redwood Forests of California, a multi-millionaire lumberman and his two young grandchildren encounter two gnomes who are supposedly the last of their kind.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Walter Brennan, Matthew Garber, Karen Dotrice, Richard Deacon
Votes: 2,435
It just makes me so happy.
32. The Monuments Men (2014)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, War
An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from German thieves and return them to their owners.
Director: George Clooney | Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 141,210 | Gross: $78.03M
Truth
33. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 502,759 | Gross: $179.80M
How many times in our 20s did we watch this, with tub of ice cream in hand???
34. Split (IX) (2016)
PG-13 | 117 min | Horror, Thriller
Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula
Votes: 554,024 | Gross: $138.29M
Mind Blown.
35. What About Bob? (1991)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 74,480 | Gross: $63.71M
Extemporaneous much?
36. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 240,018 | Gross: $114.97M
Inventive
37. Strange Brew (1983)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Sci-Fi
Canada's most famous hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie, get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery, only to learn that something is rotten with the state of it.
Directors: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas | Stars: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Max von Sydow, Paul Dooley
Votes: 18,672
Beer & Hockey & Moranis
38. McHale's Navy (1962–1966)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy, War
The misadventures of a misfit PT boat crew during World War II.
Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn, Tim Conway, Carl Ballantine
Votes: 3,275
A favorite childhood memory. I thought of this movie every time I diagnosed someone with appendicitis through the years of my career...
39. Local Hero (1983)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay, Denis Lawson
Votes: 26,703 | Gross: $5.90M
It never gets old. I wish I lived somewhere that quirky...
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