I have written probably ad nauseam about how the new Japanese film Godzilla Minus One bowled me over and got me thinking about my internal list of my all-time favorite movies in a new light. For your Saturday morning amusement (or not), I present my newly revised Top Ten, in countdown order, and with a note where they stood previously.
These are the films I could watch over and over again to recapture the emotion I feel every time I watch them, with brief explanations of why, and a note on where the movie stood on my old list.
10. To Kill A Mockingbird (formerly my #9 favorite) — As I look over my very favorite movies, most of them have at a least an element of science fiction or fantasy in them. This may be the exception, although Scout Finch’s imagination weaves a magical story as the characters navigate the story of a man wrongly accused of assault, arrested and tried for no other reason than the color of his skin. A powerful story brilliantly told. “Hey, Boo.”
9. Gojira (10) — I grew up watching Raymond Burr as a reporter who visits Tokyo just as the mystery and reality of Godzilla unravels. I became curious when I heard this was the American re-editing of a Japanese film that made it more clear the big monster was a metaphor for what Japan experienced at the end of World War II. When the original was finally released on DVD in 2004, I recognized that this is not just a classic monster movie, it’s a great movie, period.
8. Serenity (6) — To be fair, my love for this film grows in part because it’s the final installment of a 16-hour epic, as the sequel to Firefly, my favorite TV show of all time. A small pile of loose ends from the prematurely canceled series is tied up in this saga of love, a sinister government and aiming to misbehave. It’s a wonderful movie in its own right, but it makes my all-time favorite list on the shoulders of the stories that came before.
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark (7) — Steven Spielberg and George Lucas reinvented the blockbuster in the 1970s, and when they teamed up as the 1980s were getting underway, they created cinematic magic. This homage to the Saturday afternoon serials of their youth rises high above the source material with a roller-coaster adventure that keeps me coming back for another ride year after year.
6. Casablanca (3) — The single most fun night at the movies of my life was watching the story of Rick and Ilsa in a college lecture hall in 1970-something. “Major Strasser has been shot,” declares Captain Renault, and 200 college kids exploded in delight at his next words. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into Rick’s to make my all-time favorite movie that doesn’t have aliens, monsters or supernatural characters in it.
5. E.T. the Extraterrestrial (4) — This fable of a boy and his lost alien friend has charmed me from the start, and it lands high on the list largely on the strength of what I consider the most magnificent of the magnificent John Williams’ movie scores. From the opening statement of E.T.’s theme before the lights come up on the story, Williams’ music carries the viewer on a magical journey. The crescendo and fanfare that completes the story has a lot to do with why so many people are sniffling over the closing credits.
4. It’s A Wonderful Life (1) — I was not quite as desperate as George Bailey on the Christmas Eve when I first viewed Frank Capra’s masterpiece, but I sure felt George’s pain, and so I was ready to hear what Clarence had to say. I spent the last 40 years telling anybody who cared that this is my favorite movie, and I will always absolutely adore it. I even hesitate to drop it down three spots on this list, and actually I have no doubt that there will be days when I think that any of the top six movies on this list is my actual favorite. And if you want to see me melt, just ask me about Zuzu’s petals.
3. Godzilla Minus One (—) — This movie completely caught me off guard. Except for the first 1954 film (see #9), I have always approached Godzilla movies as a guilty pleasure, fun but not to be taken seriously. Writer/director Takashi Yamazaki pays loving homage to the original movie while telling a wonderfully life-affirming story of survival after complete devastation. I never expected a Godzilla movie to entertain and uplift at this level, but Yamazaki and his ensemble pulled it off. Again, it’s not just a brilliant monster movie, it’s a cinematic masterpiece.
2. Arrival (5) — I was loving this ethereal story of mysterious aliens and a linguist’s efforts to figure out their language so they can communicate before the anxious fear spreading around the world spills over. And then at the climax, Amy Adams’ character asks a question that spins it all around and reveals that the story is also about something much deeper. More than once after watching this film, I have become so overcome by emotion that I’m speechless for awhile. And speaking of “Shucks, folks, I’m speechless” …
1. The Wizard of Oz (2) — In those moments over the past 40 years that I wondered whether It’s A Wonderful Life really was my favorite, this is the one that made me doubt — the film that was my favorite movie until that fateful Christmas Eve. I am frequently known to drop a line from Oz into casual conversation — “People come and go so quickly here,” “These things must be done delicately,” and of course, “Shucks, folks, I’m speechless.” I have been enchanted from the first time I saw this story on TV as a kid.
So there’s Warren’s Top 10 All-Time Favorite Movies as revised for early 2024. Jean Shepherd’s fabulous A Christmas Story dropped off, but it would certainly make a Top 20 if I tried to go that far. Other films I considered in this rumination and/or have been in my 10 favorites over the years include The Best Years of Our Lives, Toy Story 2, Avengers: Endgame, John Carter, Singing in the Rain, Field of Dreams, Joyeaux Noel, The Lives of Others, Up, and Fiddler On the Roof.
