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My Favorite Movies

© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy

Click on DVD or VHS below, to order any of these movies from amazon.com. Also see Academy Award Winning Movies.

****** (6 stars) The very best:

Amelie
French with English subtitles. Strange, amazing, and very funny movie. You will have to watch the subtitles intently to get many of the jokes. But what a story! DVD VHS
A Beautiful Mind
I think the movie is even better than the book. You are inside the character's (John Nash's) mind, in a clear and startling way. See the movie, and see what I mean. Academy Award for best picture. DVD VHS
Charly
Cliff Robertson plays a mentally handicapped man who has an operation that turns him into a genius. From the award winning short story, Flowers for Algernon.VHS
Cirque du Soleil: Quidam
Visually stunning circus performance filmed live in Amsterdam. I rewound it and replayed it two more times, the day I bought it. There are now seven or eight Cirque du Soleil videos; Quidam is the best, so far; it won an Emmy. DVD VHS
The Dish
A funny, amazing, low-key, movie about Australia's contribution to the Apollo 11 moon flight. DVD VHS
The English Patient
Great movie (Academy Award for Best Picture). A sad movie that everyone should see. DVD VHS
The Lord of the Rings (parts 1, 2, and 3)
Three great movies from these three great books. Part 1: DVD VHS, Part 2, Part3
The Mighty
An inspiring, sad, happy story for adults and older children (as it involves death). "Every word is a part of a picture; every sentence IS a picture."
The Perfect Storm
A thrilling, exhausting movie; I was actually on the edge of my seat. DVD VHS
Der Ring des Niebelungen (by Wagner)
Performed by the Metropolitan Opera. Every human should see these four operas (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Die Götterdämmerung). Many hours long, best seen over a period of weeks. Parts of Siegfried drag on and on. VHS: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Die Götterdämmerung (probably on DVD as well)
Spirited Away
Amazing animated fairytale. DVD VHS
Titanic
Overwhelming, on several levels. This may be the best movie ever. DVD VHS
The Usual Suspects
Very clever, brutal story. Won Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Wonderfully confusing, and is cleared up beautifully at the end. DVD VHS

***** (5 stars) I highly recommend the following rental movies:

Antarctica
English narration. Japanese reenactment of the amazing story of sled dogs who survived an Antarctic winter on their own. Great soundtrack by Vangelis. VHS
Apollo 13
Real life space exploration, even better than Star Trek. DVD VHS
Das Boot (The Boat)
The boat (a German submarine in WWII) is the main character. A thrilling, and emotional movie. DVD VHS
A Brief History of Time
Not based on Stephen Hawking's book of the same name. Instead, it is about Hawking, himself. The tape, The Making Of A Brief History Of Time is good too. VHS
Cats
Not much of a story on paper. Wonderful story on the stage. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. DVD VHS
City Of Lost Children
English subtitles. Very weird. I really like this surrealistic movie about a villain who kidnaps children to steal their dreams. DVD (subtitled), VHS (dubbed)
Conspiracy Theory
Mel Gibson plays a lunatic who believes all of the conspiracy theories. Someone is trying to kill him. Which conspiracy did he guess right about? I love this movie. DVD VHS
Evita
Great movie, great actress and singer (Madonna), great music (Andrew Lloyd Webber), essentially an opera. You must see this movie. DVD VHS
Fargo
Amazing true story of a multiple murder in North Dakota and Minnesota. Wonderful lady sheriff (Frances McDormand). DVD VHS
Fight Club
A really amazing movie. What is real, and what is not? This movie is a huge surprise. DVD VHS
Gettysburg
Stunning. Seeing this movie, I have seen history happen. Also see the prequel Gods and Generals.DVD VHS
Good Morning Vietnam
Robin Williams, as Adrian Cronaur, is a delight. DVD VHS
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Delightful. May be even better than the books. Several hours long. DVD VHS
L. A. Story
Starring Steve Martin (written by Steve Martin). This movie makes me really want to believe in miracles. DVD VHS
Life Is Beautiful
A very funny (silly), and a very sad movie. Italian, subtitled in English. I had to watch it twice to appreciate some of the humor. DVD (subtitled), VHS (dubbed)
The Life of Emile Zola
1937 Academy Award winner. Inspirational. This is what a real hero is like. VHS
Memento
Amazing movie about a man with no short term memory. All of the scenes are shown in reverse order. DVD VHS
The Opposite Sex (and how to live with them)
Very clever dialog. Good story. Very funny. VHS
Rosenkranz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Surrealistic sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet. See Hamlet first. Try to guess who is the evil genius responsible for setting up Rosenkranz and Gildenstern. Click here for the answer. VHS
The Shawshank Redemption
Wonderful prison story by Steven King. DVD VHS
Singin' in the Rain
Widely aclaimed as the best musical ever. High energy dance and music. Donald O'Connor's Make 'Em Laugh is worth the price of the movie. DVD VHS
Spellbound
Follow some wonderful kids as they compete in the National Spelling Bee DVD
Sphere
Michael Crichton thriller, with a clever twist. I love this movie. Just what is real, and what is not? DVD VHS
Stand and Deliver
The inspiring, true story of super-teacher Jaime Escalante, who performs miracles in a backwards school district. DVD VHS
Swimming to Cambodia
Spaulding Gray sits at a desk, before an audience, and tells a story. This particular story is about his experiences while acting in the film, The Killing Fields. It is amazing. See his other monologues (Monster In A Box and Terrors Of Pleasure and others), too. VHS
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The true story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Stunning Japanese air attack. DVD VHS
The Truman Show
An amazing concept, very well done. DVD VHS
Wit
A woman bravely (and otherwise) faces death by cancer. Shockingly real, and shockingly humorous. DVD VHS

**** (four stars)

All the Pretty Horses
The Mexican girl was boring. But the rest of the movie was very good, in my opinion. DVD VHS
P. D. Q. Bach, The Abduction of Figaro
About as silly as you can get. Captain Kadd hijacks a bed to Cuba. Figaro's wife is Susanna Susannadanna. VHS
Blade Runner
I'm not sure why, but this is really good. The music by Vangelis is very good. DVD VHS
The Bourne Identity
A thriller, very well done. DVD (VHS = $79.99)
Chicken Run
A full length claymation movie by Nick Park of Wallace and Gromit fame. DVD VHS
The Competition
Richard Dreyfus and Amy Irving play the piano. Dazzling. VHS
The Favor, the Watch, and the Very Big Fish
Oddball. Very good. VHS
Finding Nemo
One of many great Disney cartoons. Very funny. DVD VHS
The Game
Very complicated, confusing movie, which is cleared up nicely at the end. But it is hard to believe. DVD VHS
To Hell and Back
Audy Murphy in his own story, how he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, and a dozen other medals. VHS
House of Games
Fascinating look at con artists. Who is being conned here? Is it you? DVD VHS
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Beautiful visually and musically. But it is a poor, empty-headed story. VHS
Jurassic Park
New standard in amazing visual effects. Study that fight, at the end, between the Tyrannosaurus and the Velociraptors. How did they do that? The third movie in this series may be as good as the original. DVD VHS (Jurassic Park III: DVD VHS)
The Linguini Incident
Very good. Strange. VHS
My Left Foot
Inspirational, eye-opening, and entertaining. DVD VHS
The Mission
Dazzlingly beautiful movie. A sad, emotional ending for me. DVD VHS
The Onion Field
An upsetting movie about the murder of a cop. DVD VHS
Pulp Fiction
What is flashback and what is not? DVD VHS
The Princess Bride
I love this fun movie. DVD VHS
Searching For Bobby Fischer
True story of a supportive parent, gone overboard. DVD VHS
Sorcerer
Nothing to do with magic. Roy Scheider transports nitroglycerin, in a truck, across a rope bridge. Great soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. DVD VHS
The Spanish Prisoner
Smart, complicated, movie about a con. I liked it, but was not confused. DVD VHS
Terminator
Good villain. Schwarzenegger is like Jaws on land. DVD VHS
Wallace & Gromit
Absolutely amazing claymation (clay animation) by Nick Park. Three stories: The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave (my favorite), and A Grand Day Out. Two of the stories won Academy Awards. DVD VHS

**** (4 stars, maybe 5) Popular movies, which I liked:

2001, a Space Odyssey DVD VHS
All the President's Men DVD VHS
Amadeus DVD VHS
Annie Hall DVD VHS
Breaker Morant DVD VHS
Chariots Of Fire DVD VHS
Citizen Kane DVD VHS (considered by many to be the greatest movie ever)
Color Purple DVD VHS
Dances With Wolves DVD VHS
Fantasia DVD VHS
Fantasia 2000 DVD VHS
Forest Gump DVD VHS
Gone With The Wind DVD VHS
Good Will Hunting DVD VHS
Harry Potter (all of these movies)
Home Alone DVD VHS
The Killing Fields DVD VHS
A Man For All Seasons DVD VHS
Marty DVD VHS
An Officer and a Gentleman DVD VHS
Rain Man DVD VHS
Schindler's List VHS
Silence of the Lambs DVD VHS
Sophie's Choice DVD VHS
Sound of Music DVD VHS
Star Wars (all 5 episodes)
Star Wars 1 - The Phantom Menace DVD VHS
Star Wars 2 - Attack of the Clones DVD VHS
Star Wars trilogy VHS
Star Wars 4 - A New Hope (the original Star Wars) VHS
Star Wars 5 - The Empire Strikes Back VHS
Star Wars 6 - Return of the Jedi VHS
Unforgiven DVD VHS

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