I am often asked “What movies would you recommend ?” Of course anybody’s answer to that is likely to be highly subjective. There are likely to be movies that have almost universal appeal eg the original Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. However I’m not your usual movie watcher -I’m renowned for being rather ‘Marmite’: if I don’t like a movie within minutes I’ll up and walk out eg The Lord Of The Rings, but those I do like I really do like.

Thus below is not a collection of popular movies but one of movies that I consider to have broken new ground and/or tickled me in some way and might indeed do the same for you. In drawing your attention to these I will try to avoid giving too much of the plot away. In no particular order here goes..

Being John Malkovich (1999, 1h52, RT 94%)

John Malkovich, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, druggie cameo by Charlie Sheen. 

Director debut: Spike Jonze, Depty Producer Michael Stipe (REM).

Yes the title could be a spoiler but that premise is joyously fulfilled brilliantly early on. I freely admit that I just love JM and as you get into it you think that it’s just incredible that he agreed to make this movie because in the early stages it seems to be sending him up. But stick with it and you’ll realise that you are visiting a concept that no film has ever explored before. Yes it’s got sexual references - it has to. But it also deals with JC’s wife’s monkey’s early childhood traumas. Can it get any weirder ? Just wait; it is like no other movie you will ever see !

Local Hero (1983, 1h51, RT 100% - how can this be !)

Fulton Mackay, Peter Riegert, cameo by Burt Lancaster & special guest star: Aurora Borealis.

Director Bill Forsyth. Producer David Puttnam.   Followed by the equally simple: Gregory’s Girl RM 95%

Can a low budget (£2.6M of which 1/3 went to BL) movie be any good ? You bet it can. There’s an old codger who lives on a windswept beach in western Scotland. The area is pretty -very pretty. The people are ordinary -very ordinary. However there’s a big interest in the place - a very big interest. But surely the sacrifice of one bay is worth it ? If you love atmosphere Bill’s got it in dollops. If you love music Dire Straits wrote this specially. If you know humanity v greed it’s got it heavily laid with the tonic irony. But you’ll never guess why the old codger is important..

Blues Brothers (1980, 2h13, RT 93%)

John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, plus a huge number of blues musicians.

Director: John Landis. Producer: Robert Weiss.  

It’s cool, real cool. It’s dangerous, so dangerous I doubt they’d make it this way these days. And it’s the feel good movie to trump all feel good movies. An ex-con and his mate upset Mother Superior, the Police, Jake’s girlfriend (who follows them with a bazooka), a vicious Country & Western band, the Nazis, the entire city of Chicago, the US Army & Air Force. Along the way never have so many cars been smashed up, roadblocks set, clichés been coined nor Blues musicians contributed to the craziest drama/musical you will ever see. In 2020 it was placed in the US National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically & aesthetically significant."

But in the finality everybody caught up with them - but the State Of Illinois Tax Office were happy !

The sequel was panned by the critics but Dan Ackroyd & John Goodman made it cool and fun: Blues Brothers 2000 (2h03 RT47%)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, 1h32, RT 95%)

Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal.       Remake 2008 staring Keanu Reeves RT20% !

Director: Robert Wise. Producer: Julian Blaustein.

It’s not an invasion movie, like War of The Worlds, but tells the story of super-power beings who have come with a profound message. In order to know how to deliver this message Klaatu must discover what humans are like by blending in. Sadly the US Army responds like any other American would: by killing. However our hero being can solve that but can he stop the all powerful, giant Gort robot from taking ‘protective measures’ ? It still has this message for us today. Iconic from the outset it was way ahead of it’s time on so many levels.

The Forbidden Planet (1956, 1h38, RT 96%)

Walter Pigeon, Leslie Neilsen, Anne Francis 

Director: Fred Wilcox. Producer: Nicolas Nayfack.

Having seen the above SciFi movie how d’you follow that ? Well I reckon this does just that with bells on. It has an even cleverer all-powerful robot, it has gigawatts of alien super-power, it has goodies, innocence, romance, animals, mystery, secrets, amazing controls and a baddie. A very bad baddie -but who actually is the Id ? Based upon Shakespeare’s The Tempest earths best crew venture where most are forbidden. It’s their job to find out why they die ?

It’s brilliant special effects sparked numerous shops around the world and even a long running stage show.

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986, 1h33, RT90%)

Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, Ellen Greene.

Director: Frank Oz (Kermit the frog). Producer: David Geffin.          It started life as a musical in New York.

Perhaps at some point you’ve been worried that a particular house plant might take over a corner of your house. Well this is your worst nightmare to hilarious effect. Like most house plants it starts off with romance -really. However it’s not that the characters are over the top, nor the idea of a singing house plant normal but it’s its thirst for blood will give you dreams of vegetable carnage. It’s got to go but would get in its way !

Meanwhile, just when you thought that even a visit to the Dentist would pale, you realise that it’s not only the maniac plant that’ll play on your mind it’s the man with the drill. And he’s coming to a mouth near you !

Love, passion, unstoppable desire, music, song, dancing, hilarity all the way through -how can it work so well. Feed me, Seymour !

The Man With Two Brains (1983, 1h33, RT78%)

Steve Martin (Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, Roxanne, Parenthood, etc), Kathleen Turner, David Warner.

Director: Carl Reiner (The Jerk, Lunch, Oceans 11 etc).  Producer: William McEuen

It’s about love: so much love that you’ll ignore everything around you to express your undying love -even when what you’re expressing it to ought to be dead. It’s about accidents: little ones with giant consequences. It’s about unselfishness and romancing your brain in a punt. It’s about selfishness, revenge, protection, jealousy, good v evil.

Steve Martin is our hapless brain surgeon trying to keep everyone else normal when he is just off the scale -in a sweet kinda way. The concept following the very first accident will keep you away from any shrink in the future. And it’s not just a clever story the names of the people will just hurt those tummy muscles. Put your laugh-ometer away cuz you’ll break it.

The Italian Job (1969, 1h41, RT 85%)

Michael Caine, Noel Coward, John Le Measurier, Benny Hill, Irene Handl.

Director: peter Collinson. Producer: Michael Deeley. 

No movie list should miss out this best-bank-robbery-ever. It’s cool, it’s daring and everyone knows the story of Cool Britannia that keeps you on the edge of your seat -and finishes with a cliff-hanger literally. It blows your doors off !

The original cost $3M but the 2003 remake cost $106M. They had to bring in Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, etc in order to earn its rating of RT80%.

The Terminator (1984, 1h48, RT 100%)

Arnold Swarzenegger , Linda Hamilton

Director: James Cameron. Producer: Gale Anne Hurd.

No SciFi movie list should miss this out. In the future there’s a desperate war: men v cyborgs. The machines just can’t win so they decide to kill the rebel leader -back in time when he’s just a kid. To do this an impossibly strong, indestructible cyborg is sent with one focussed mission -no matter what. Destruction is the only way; that kid has to die. Mama’s a junkie but she’s got instincts, courage and a lot of street savvy. We know the Terminator is just around the corner so with so many near misses the kid won’t survive much longer and surely the machines will win the war in the future..

Some claim the series are the greatest action movies of all time. The first was so brilliantly done that it created it’s own genre. Many other spinoffs came but the direct follow ups were: Terminator 2 -Judgement Day (1991, 93%), Terminator 3 -Rise Of The Machines (2003, 69%), Terminator 4 - Genesys (2015, 26%), Terminator 5 - Dark Fate (2019, 70%)

The Name Of The Rose (1986, 2h10, RT85%)

Sean Connery, Christian Slater, F Murray Abraham.

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Told from the point of view of a young novice (Slater) under the tutelage of a very experienced monk William Of Baskerville (Connery) in the Middle Ages. He’s been called in to a remote monastery in Europe to investigate another monk’s death. However others die in devilish ways and the young Adso discovers a hidden labyrinthine library. Why is it secret ? Why are people dying ? Soon William himself is blamed for the murders and the Spanish Inquisition are called. They already hate William’s renown. Who dunnit ?

Umberto Eco, Italian polymath, philosopher, semiotician writes the most incredible stories -this remarkably creepy and atmospheric film adaptation is just one.

Beware cheap and foreign language copies of this DVD !

Hunt For Red October (1990, 2h17, RT88%)

Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn.

Director: John McTiernan. Producer: Mace Neufeld.

The Russians have a new class of nuclear submarine which leaves no wake even when moving at full speed. It has been sent out for testing in the hands of the most experienced captain the Russians have (Connery). This machine is a serious threat to world peace and Captain Ramius has second thoughts about loyalty to his masters. However he doesn’t want them or his crew to know that he has another plan. The American’s find it and see it heading towards them. They must destroy it; except one diplomat realises that there’s something more to this than meets the eye. The footage is stunning; the drama could happen tomorrow..

2001: A Space Oddessy (1968, 2h19, RT 92%)

Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Leonard Rossiter 

Director: Stanley Kubrik. Producer: Stanley Kubrik.

Obviously no SciFi movie list should miss this out. The techniques used to portray weightlessness and scale went way beyond any movie before. Not only were the sets iconic, setting the look of all future movies of this type, the classical music iconically large scale -now much mimicked, but Arthur C Clarke’s story of a computer being the lead character with an intent was ground breaking. As Alexander Walker, London Evening Standard, said “Man has shrunk space, but Kubrick has expanded the cinema !” Starting with the dawn of man we see the wrestling between a spaceship’s minimal crew and its computer raising many questions about how we got to this point (there’s a big hint) and where we might be going.. if we can.

The follow up 2010 (1984, 1h54, RT66%) with Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren & Keir Dullea in my humble opinion was an impossible task but does as well as any sequel could in the shadow of it’s remarkable predecessor. It’s not enigmatic but it is a good story, well shot.

Insider

A really big list with persuasive arguments to watch:  111 Movies You Need To See In Your Lifetime

Blade Runner (1982, 2h02, RT 91%)

Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, M. Emmet Walsh

Director: Ridley Scott. Producer: Michael Deeley.

Based upon Philip K Dick’s engrossing book Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen this -I have to get my fix every few years. Yes it’s one of my few addictions because I thought its production was so way ahead of it’s time. It’s a movie that others are judged against and placed Rutger Hauer as a baddie on the map. Set wayyy in the future Deckard (Ford) has a job to do but the end you can feel sorry for the Replicants that he has to deal with but make no mistake this movie is tough on your emotions.

There’s a follow up, with Ford, Ryan Gosling and the sweet Ana de Armas. Some say that it’s better than the first one but it’s very long: Blade Runner 2049 (2019, 2h44, RT88%)

Rooftop Clup

Again I don’t know what their criteria were but each has a two second moving clip and a very brief synopsis:  Bucket List Films

Marie-Claire

Aimed more at the ladies there are a few good ones here. Each has a reason to watch:  89 Must Watch Films (Before You Are 30)

IMDB

I thought that they ought to remain unopinionated but they’ve put an interesting list together:  40 Movies To Watch Before You Die

Time Out

In their own rather peculiar order. Some I’d agree and others no; but each with it’s own synopsis:  100 Best Movies Of All Time

Guardian Newspaper - Recent

Picked only from 21st Century:  100 Best Movies Of 21st Century

The Numbers

And finally all movies ranked by their box office takings (ie not disks or online screenings):  Worldwide Box Office Income

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1967, 2h41, RT 97%)

Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach.

Director: Sergio Leone. Producer: Alberto Grimaldi.  Music: Ennio Morricone.

I’m not into Westerns but I am into ones shot in Italy and Spain by Italian directors. The so-called Spaghetti Westerns carved out their own cult viewing because the stories were so gripping, unpredictable and set to such rousing music. Set in the US Civil War these guys operated behind the lines of both sides for themselves and against each other. Were there loyalties, was there honour among thieves, who are the betrayed casualties going to be, could anyone actually win and not get caught ? The stories explore so many what if’s you need to keep fully awake to predict where we go from each set back. Yet recover they do, err sometimes ‘he’ just keeps coming back.. Of all The G, B & U is probably the greatest but they’re all good. 32 are described in detail by Wikipedia but here are the most infamous classics:

A Fist Full Of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965).

British Film Institute

I start with the classics on this wiki list not just because I’m British but because, as above, these films show talent above their peers:  BFI Top 100 British Films

Rolling Stone Magazine

This is a vast media, culture news site but don’t let that put you off this is a list with thought out descriptions: The 150 Greatest Science Fiction Movies of All Time

Do take time to check out the rest of the site. If you want lists they have a list of Top AAA of BBB lists -which is quite thought provoking for a US site !

Rotten Tomatoes

Love ‘em or hate ‘em they rate film, tv, streaming, actors and realisation staff. Just enter any name into their search engine:  Rotten Tomatoes

Last time I looked they rated 22,000 movies, 2000 TV shows and 16,000 celebs. Their servers must grind real hard to keep you happy.