First off: I watch movies, I don't hang out at an art theatre to watch films or the cinema. So take these on that level. These are Chuckie Movies: movies to be enjoyed, not to show off with. I don't go into cultural or moral pretentions. These are not to edify, but to be entertained with.
1. Stripes -- Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Warren Oates in what has to be the classical service comedy. I can watch it over and over.
2. The Boondock Saints -- Two nice Irish boyos from Boston put the hurt on the criminal element there. William Devane plays a gay FBI agent. Think Walking Tall Goes to Southie.
3. Bring It On -- The quintessinal cheerleading comedy, with snappy dialogue and a great story line. It dukes it out to the anti-cheerleader crowd as well as satirizes the cheerleader culture, thus being a little more fair than the reflexive cheerleaders-are-bad-airheads that tends to be the usual fare that panders to the teen crowd.
4. The Kamikaze Girls -- A Japenese comedy, with a lolita girl and a biker chick finding that they have an unlikely friendship in common. It's a feel-good buddy comedy.
5. Leon: The Professional -- Jean Reno and Natalie Portman costar in this fantasy about an unsuccessful hitman who takes care (sort of) a preteen girl.
6. Sixteen Candles -- This is one of the reasons why John Hughes may have been the great American director of the 1980s; he is the only one to sympathetically and honestly portray typical teens as they are, not as adults would like to imagine themselves as being. Molly Ringwald starred. A classic line, "I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek." The wedding scene is a classic.
7. Dirty Harry -- Harry Callahan is a San Francisco cop who is rather hard on crime. Great action. I first saw it in a theatre in a crime-ridden neighborhood; after it was over, the audience cheered the movie. That was the only time I saw people cheer a movie, and it told me a lot.
8. Animal House -- I don't know how many times I've seen this comedy set in a college setting; each time was great, repeats do not cause it to lose its luster. John Belishi shined in it. Tag line: "Being fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
9. The Frisco Kid -- Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford star in this buddy comedy featuring an unlikely pairing of a hapless rabbi and a bank robber. Damn it, I'll call it heart-warming.
10. Patton -- George Scott played in this biopic; it's worth viewing.
11. Thunder Road -- You can call it a hillbilly film noir if you want; Robert Mitchum produced and starred in a movie that spoke to Southern males in the 1960's. He even recorded the title song!
12. Tampopo -- The first noodle western!
13. The Magnificent Seven -- This may be the quintessinal western. Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner recruit five other gunmen to rescue a Mexican village. Memorable theme music by Elmer Bernstein.
14. What's New, Pussycat -- A slapstick comedy from the 1960's, starring Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen, Peter O'Toole, and others.
15. Broncho Billy -- This movie of Clint Eastwood's is overlooked; but nontheless is great!
16. And God Created Woman -- You can enjoy it on different levels. Don't do it as cinema. I don't do Traffaut. Curt Jergens is surprisingly unintentionally funny; and, of course, there's Bardot.
17. Adventures in Babysitting -- Elizabeth Shue starred in this comedy that was absolutely hilarious.
18. The Loved One -- A black comedy about the Hollywood way of death, loosely based on the book of that title by Evelyn Waugh.
19. Red Dawn -- A fantasy in which high schoolers from Colorado fight against Russian and Cuban invaders. Its politically incorrect script puts some people's panties in a knot; thus it's worth it in itself.
20. Twelve O'Clock High -- Gregory Peck starred in this black-and-white movie about the Army Air Corps in World War II. It was the first to sympathetically portray posttraumatic stress disorder and was well-acted.
21. The Three Musketeers -- A slapstick rendition of Alexandre Dumas's book. It can't be better done.
22. The Outsiders -- A teen melodrama. Okay, take it as documentary if you wish.
23. The Lady and the Tramp -- Possibly Disney's finest: well-drawn dogs, sentimental and romantic story line, mandatory happy ending. No, they learned in an earlier movie that offing Bambi's mother was a BAD idea.
24. Breaker Morant -- Based on a true incident from the Boer War in which Australian soldiers served as scapegoats for an alleged atrocity.
25. Godzilla -- The best of the Japanese monster films of the 1950's.
26. Blazing Saddles -- A western classic, with Cleavon Little. Great dialogue.
27. Paths of Glory -- Movie about the pity of war, set against the mutiny in the French army in 1917. Kirk Douglas played the lead.
28. Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- It has more to offer than Phoebe Cates.
29. The Caine Mutiny -- Humphrey Bogart starred in this military drama based on Herman Wouk's book.
30. The Sweetest Thing -- Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair star in this raunchy comedy. 'The Penis Song' is a real hoot, even if they won't do it on television.
31. Witness -- Harrison Ford among the Amish, with Kelly Gillis.
32. The Searchers -- John Wayne excelled in this western of a man obsessively hunting his niece.
33. Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- Brit comedy.
34. No Country for Old Men -- Tommy Lee Jones established himself as the Great American Badass in this one.
35. The Ref -- Dennis Leary as a burglar in this satiric comedy.
36. Inherit the Wind -- Drama based on the Scopes trial; though quite more bombastic than the real life version. Frederic March and Spencer Tracy were the protagonists; with Gene Kelly as the asshole Menckenesque figure.
37. Kelly's Heroes -- Clint Eastwood in this military comedy.
38. Napoleon Dynamite -- One for the nerds.
39. Hoosiers -- Sentimental, yet action-packed. I liked it. Gene Hackman at his best.
40. Bullitt -- Steve McQueen kicked serious butt in this one.
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