Why 33, you ask? Well, it’s my birthday and I’ve already posted about my top 30 books (which even now I’d probably change a little) and some favourite things from 1988. It’s not difficult to list 33 films I love – all I have to do is remember the ones I’ve watched over and over… or just look at my DVD shelf! As with books, I need to have watched a film more than once to think of it as a favourite. Here they are, in no particular order.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The greatest film of all time. Enough said.
The Matrix (1999). Action, philosophy, cool outfits, excellent special effects. The second and third films were not quite as good but I still like them. Looking forward to the mysterious 4th film…
Yellow Submarine (1968). Trippy animation, Beatles songs and a lot of bad jokes. A long-time favourite.
The Secret Garden (1993). My default ‘sick day’ film. Probably another candidate for films that are better than the book.
Chariots of Fire (1981). Classic film, oddly I can’t quite pinpoint what I most like about it, apart from the music.
Never Let Me Go (2010). It’s very sad but so well-done and a wonderful realisation of Ishiguro’s book.
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). I saw it 3 times at the cinema, that’s how taken I was with this 1st instalment.
Disney’s Aladdin (1992). Always a favourite. Perhaps not the most culturally sensitive Disney film but I do love the animation style, the songs and of course Robin Williams’ Genie.
The World’s End (2013). My favourite of the ‘Cornetto trilogy’ and absolutely my kind of humour.
AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Haunting film, based on a Brian Aldiss short story that I’ve only recently read.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979). Hilarious, blasphemous and quite brave, I think.
Elizabethtown (2005). Underrated romance and family drama film I am really fond of.
Disney’s Hercules (1997). I’ve loved this one ever since I saw it at the cinema. Not only are there are some great voice actors, wacky animation styles and brilliant songs, it also introduces you to Greek myths.
Oliver! (1968). Unlikely source material perhaps but it’s a long-time favourite musical.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962). A classic film, its greatness matching the original book.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982). Grim and amusing by turns, it seems more significant every time I watch it.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). Different to the original book in some respects, it’s a great film which I’ve been thinking of re-watching since Ratched was released.
Bicentennial Man (1999). Based on an Asimov story, this is a thought-provoking, gentle sci-fi romance.
Mary Poppins (1964). Another of those ‘sick day’ films, I’ve declared this one to be better than the book.
The Brave Little Toaster (1987). A lesser-known but amazing animated film about appliances on an adventure. I have only just discovered it was based on a book by Thomas M Disch.
Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959). Very romantic and stylish with one of the best Disney villains, a long-time favourite.
Alien (1979). The 1st Alien film is the best in the franchise and the effects still look fantastic.
Little Women (1994). I love this adaptation of one of my favourite classics.
The Railway Children (1970). Another of those films which can be considered superior to the book.
Groundhog Day (1993). I could watch this over and over again, and indeed I have.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991). Another of those classic 90s Disneys and an especially dear one to bibliophiles.
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983). Darkly hilarious and has the best Python songs.
Depeche Mode 101 (1989). Pioneering documentary / concert film with brilliant performances.
X-Men (2000). It would be tempting to say that Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is the main reason I enjoy this film but I think it’s generally impressive.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). One of my favourite things from 1988.
Disney’s Fantasia (1940). A long-time favourite – even if it did scare me – which introduced me to classical music. It was cutting-edge for the era, too.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). The style is a bit edgier than the previous HP films. Plus, it has the first appearances in the series of Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon.
Donnie Darko (2001). Strange and compulsive, with a great soundtrack. I also love that Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal play a brother and sister in the film too.
Are any of these your favourites?
Great list, I think I watched most of these and on the whole I enjoyed them. Happy Birthday xx
Thank you! I’m glad you liked most of these! š
A lot of them are on my list too (or they would be if I actually sat down and made one): Never Let Me Go, Life of Brian, The Groundhog Day, The Last Temptation of Christ, One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest.
Great choices!
Thanks – that’s great to hear we share similar taste in films! ::D
Happy Birthday! I love some of these too!
Thank you! That’s lovely to hear š
Happy birthday! š
Thank you! š
So many great movies here. I loved many of them too, especially the Disney ones.
I’m glad you love many of these! And one can never be too old for classic Disney š In fact, I watched Aladdin today.
Happy Birthday š
You’ve got some great movies on your list. I could watch Groundhog Day over and over, too.
Thanks very much! I don’t think I ever need to watch Groundhog Day again, I have seen it so many times.
Me too, but I’m sure I’ll watch it again anyway!
Happy birthdaaay!!!
We share a lot of favorite films š
Thank you! That’s so nice to know š
Happy Birthday again! Love this list and I have a few favourites in here too like The Secret Garden, Groundhog Day, The Matrix (also wondering what the 4th film will be like), Oliver, not a huge favourite but I just love the songs and was in a school production of it so obssessed about it for the whole year that I even bought an audio tape of tall the songs and still love to sing them today, lol. And i can’t believe there’s someone else who remembers and loves The Brave Little Toaster. I saw that one day and fell in love with it! š
Thank you! š I have the cassette of Oliver too, what are the chances?! I really want to get hold of The Brave Little Toaster on DVD but it’s only available in region 1. I saw the trailer for the new Matrix when I was at the cinema yesterday – it pretty much showed everything in the film but I’m excited for it anyway.
I once recorded The Little Brave Toaster when it was on channel 4, the only recording I’ve got š® Didn’t know it’s not that easy to get hold of. Hope you do manage to find a copy. Yeah, I’m still not sure if it will be brilliant or feel like it ruined the Matrix series, but no way to kknow until we see it, and excited to see where they went with a plot that’s obviously set after some time. š
This is such a great list!! Some of my favourites from here are little women, fellowship and secret garden! I also really love prisoner of azkaban- I’m rewatching it at the moment and it’s just as good as I remembered (and got my mum to watch it for the first time and she loved it too š)
Thanks! Wow I’m glad we have some favourites in common. I have seen the HP films so many times, they are not perfect but I’m very fond of them, Azkaban being the best I’m quite certain.
You’re welcome!! We do!! š Yes I agree with you! I haven’t watched them in a while and I’m really enjoying them, but the third is definitely the best
There are a lot of films on your list that I’ve never seen. You’ve given me some good viewing to look forward to. š
Oh really? Well I hope you like watching them š