I enjoy all kinds of movies and it was hard to narrow it down to just 10 favorites. I watch everything including rom-coms, romance, action, thrillers, adventure and epic fantasy. I have even been known to watch horror movies, but I’ve been watching less and less horror and more and more comedy. I love to laugh.
So, although many of these have comedy in common, more than one genre is represented here, in no particular order:
1. Wedding Date – Although this list in general isn’t in any specific order, this is my #1 all-time favorite movie. What’s not to love about Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney in England? The story line is terrific, the humor is right up my alley, and Kat’s (Messing’s) character and situation is so relatable, at least to me. If I could only watch one movie over and over for eternity, I would have no problem watching this one, and the reality is that I have watched it over and over. I enjoy it so much, I’ve given it to several friends and relatives as a gift.
2. Sixteen Candles – The 80’s (and a few 90’s) movies that show up on this list will date me, so it’s a good thing I don’t identify with any specific age. The entire cast is filled with my favorite actors, and the ensemble nailed it as far as carrying their individual story lines. And, really, no matter who you were in high school, you’re sure to relate to your counterpart in the movie. Everyone has their secret private self, and this movie exposes all of it, from the shy, brainy nerds to the geeks to the jocks and the popular kids, John Hughes did a fine job of developing the characters. He really set the bar for himself with this one, and IMO none of his other movies tops it.
3. Splash – There’s talk of a reboot of this 1984 classic, but I can’t imagine it will come anywhere near the original. The story is delightful and the cast is amazing–Daryl Hannah, Tom Hanks, John Candy, Eugene Levy… They’re a dream team, for sure. And although Hanks has proven himself to be versatile enough to play dramatic and period roles, I love him most when he’s doing comedy.
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – I saw the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when it came out in 1971, and hated it. Although Gene Wilder is one of my favorites, it was too weird for my young mind at the time. But! Johnny Depp is also one of my faves, so when the remake came out in 2005, I was willing to give it a go, and I’m so glad I did. Depp did his usual amazing job of stealing the show and taking the movie up a notch. My husband and I still toss around quotes from this one. “Mumbler!”
5. Dusk Till Dawn – I’m not sure how I originally missed that this was a movie about vampires when it first came out, but somehow I did. I can’t remember seeing any of the trailers before I watched the movie. We probably decided to see it because it stars George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, and Harvey Keitel, and went in blind not really knowing what we were gonna see. Since I have a secret vampire fetish (who doesn’t, right?), imagine my surprise and delight when the fangs came out. Cheech Marin was in it, too, playing 3 different roles, so, bonus! I ended up not only buying the movie, but also buying the soundtrack, and this film turned me into a huge Robert Rodriguez fan.
6. So I Married an Axe Murderer – Mike Meyers is one of those guys I would definitely be friends with if he lived anywhere close by. His sense of humor is just enough askew and silly that whatever he does gets a laugh out of me. I loved his character, Charlie, and he did a terrific job playing Charlie’s father, too. The movie has it all: a love story, a mystery, and Scottish accents. Score!
7. Steel Magnolias – Talk about an all-star cast: Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Dylan McDermott, Tom Skerritt… frick, the list could go on for ages. It isn’t the cast list that hooked me, though. It’s the relatable slice-of-life storyline that unfolds over a period of years, woven together with humor and southern sensibilities and charm. As you can see from the list so far, not many tear-jerkers made the cut, but if I’m ever in the mood for a few laughs and a good cry, this one is my go-to.
8. The Help – Rarely do I actually like a movie when I’ve read the book first, but I enjoyed reading The Help so much that I couldn’t resist watching the movie. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Emma Stone starred in it. Love her! Some feel the story’s topic was controversial, and that serious issues were candy-coated to soften them or that they were just outright mis-portrayed. Not having grown up in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s I can’t address that, though I do think it’s important not to pretend certain things didn’t happen or ignore them just because they were horrible. George Santayana’s words are true. If we don’t learn from history, we’re doomed to repeat it. However, stepping down off my soapbox, the thing that impressed me most about The Help was the writing, specifically the structure. When I started studying screenwriting, I realized that the reason I usually don’t like a movie when I’ve already read the book is that the story’s structure often has to be changed and sometimes events have to be shuffled around or left out in order to create a good, workable screenplay. It’s not often a writer can just lift their story from the book and set it down directly in a script. But Kathryn Stockett did such a good job that next to nothing was lost in translation when The Help was adapted to the screen.
9. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar – Okay, the title alone (which is a mouthful!) is enough to land this movie on my favorites list, but there’s more than that to it. Drag queens fascinate me, and I love John Leguizamo, so I was sold. I knew going in, however, that my husband wouldn’t necessarily want to see this one on those merits. So, since the cast is usually what gets him to say yes, I told him nothing about the story line and only revealed that this one stars Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and Leguizamo. He thought it was an action flick. God bless him, he was a good sport about it and sat through the whole movie, but this isn’t one he’ll rewatch with me.
10. An Affair to Remember – Wouldn’t call myself a classic movie buff, but I do enjoy the old, oldies enough to subscribe to AMC, and this is one I can watch over and over and over. (If I can have two movies on my eternity watch list, it would be the Wedding Date and this one.) The turn of events that occur to throw the star crossed lovers together and then keep them apart is the kind of thing that sets me to thinking. You know, stuff like what if I’d left the dentist’s office 2 minutes later, or what if I had followed my instinct to talk to the cute neighbor guy all those years ago. Plus, never has there been a more charming, debonair, charismatic, and just outright sexy leading man than Cary Grant, and, I fear, never will there ever be again.
I still occasionally watch all of these–some more than others. It depends on the mood I’m in and whether my husband is on board with it. He tends to only watch a movie once–except Dumb and Dumber… he could watch that once a month and still not get enough.
Once I started writing my own books, and especially since I started tinkering with screenplays, every movie I watch is useful. Some spark creativity or give me an idea for a story, all of them are a study in different ways to approach telling a story, and I learn something from every single one. That holds even more true for the movies on this list–they’re my favorites, and I get something new out of them each time I watch them.
