What are your top three movies? Well…I’m so glad you asked. 🙂
Robin Lythgoe
Author of As the Crow Flies
When Hubby and I sit down to watch a movie together, one of our top favorite genres is fantasy. (You’re surprised, right? I knew you would be.) Much to our delight, the offerings are increasing in both volume and quality. And it’s about darned time my favorite genre in the whole wide world got wider recognition! It did, however, make the task of narrowing the selection down to three fairly formidable. There are “the greats,” of course: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games (in that order), but they’re so obvious. What about the other stuff? What about the also-really-great movies like…
Patricia Reding
Author of Oathtaker
Of course, the most obvious choice of all, is Lord of the Rings. So much so, that I’m not going to include it as one of my three choices. Indeed, the LOTR trilogy is in a category all of its own. Yes, it is a great story. Still, that is not the draw for me. I am most taken with LOTR because of its cinematography, and in particular, its lighting, which I think surpasses that of any other film every produced. The mists . . .
Parker Broaddus
Author of A Hero’s Curse & Nightrage Rising
I love movies. Cinema. Film. My love of visual storytelling propelled me to get a master’s degree in film-making and digital storytelling. So to pick a favorite movie, or even three, is a hard thing. It depends on my mood. The weather. The time of year. When did I last see it?
I suppose I define a favorite as something that I watch time and again. That helps, as there are literally hundreds of wonderful, inspiring or challenging stories that I’ve watched but don’t see them over and over. With that definition in mind, the movies I mention here will end up feeling more like comfort food than world-changers. Another time perhaps I could answer the question by genre – what’s your favorite classic, live-action Disney movie, or what are your top three Westerns, or best comedy, or most painful to watch, or spiritually profound. You get the picture. 😉
Today is top repeat offenders. Which movies do I watch, (and enjoy), over and over?
The Hobbit, animated and released in 1977 is probably right at the top. It is epic, slow and thoughtful. The animation is interesting, hand drawn, and sometimes frightening. It tells a classic tale without too much embellishment or agenda. The soundtrack is appropriate and thoughtful. It was one I grew up with, and it has never tired. In fact, one of my great joys a few years ago was introducing The Hobbit to my boys. And so, the adventure continues.
Second up would be Marley & Me. Released about a decade ago in 2008, it is similar thematically to Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life – a young man works through his career, frustrated that he can’t be more, do more, travel more – only to find out, years later, looking back on his life, that the things that were so often frustrating were the very things that fills his life with love and joy. They are both stories that celebrate the long, mundane, work that is much of life, and while I enjoy both , in certain ways Marley & Me is very similar to our own family. It gets me every time. (Fun fact, Owen Wilson went to the same military boarding school I did, though at different times. I believe his time there was short-lived. Nevertheless, New Mexico Military Institute is still proud to have had him, even for a few months.)
Finally, I’ve got a tie for third place. I enjoy both The Croods, and Disney’s classic, animated rendition of Robin Hood. They are both fun, tightly written, and worth a second, third and three-hundredth viewing.
🙂
What about you? What are your top comfort-food movies? Comment below!