Your Favorite Classic Movies? (Page 1 of 2)

Not sure the exact definition of 'classics', but judging from your list you're probably meaning movies from the 30s-50 that our Grandfathers would like. Usually those kinds of movie aren't my thing, but I will list a few that I do like -

The Great Escape (1963) - One of my favorite movies of all-time
The 39 Steps (1935 - Alfred Hitchcock film)
Nosferatu (1922 original silent movie)
Phantom of the Opera (1925 silent pic.)
The Odd Couple (1968 - maybe this is a little too late in the decade to be put on your 'classic' list - but this is another one of my favs!)

The Lost Weekend 1945
It's A Wonderful Life
Sayonara 1957
Cool Hand Luke

A full list would not only take forever to write, it'd take forever to read.   So I'll give my top five instead...

5.  Chinatown -- A tight screenplay by Robert Towne and terrific performances by Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Houston elevate what could have been a seedier-than-most noir thriller into a bona fide work of art.  The plot, while serpentine, is never hard to follow and the climactic showdown in LA's Chinatown is the definition of tragedy.  Great movie.

4.  Superman: The Movie -- the 1978 Richard Donner-directed, Christopher Reeve-starring adaptation of the world-famous comic character showed how truly great a work of comic-book-based fantasy can be.  By taking its subject matter seriously, and by incorporating then-groundbreaking effects and wirework -- and headed by a charmingly tongue-in-cheek lead performance by Christopher Reeve -- this flick still stands as one of the best comic book movies ever made.

3.  Touch of Evil -- the ultimate B-Movie.  Orson Welles as a sputtering, hardboiled detective, Charlton Heston as a Mexican diplomat and the beautiful Janet Leigh tormented by a greaser gang in a seedy Mexican hotel.  And let's not forget Dennis Weaver as the memorably twitchy hotel clerk.

2.  It's a Wonderful Life -- few women have been so lovely as Donna Reed in this flick.  When the young Mary leans to the deaf ear of young George and whispers "George Bailey, I'm gonna love you 'til the day you die" it tugs on my masculine heart strings.

1.  Seven Samurai --  for my money, one of the two or three very best films ever made, period.  This movie literally has it all; great writing, great direction, action, humor, pathos, drama, suspense, excitement and a strong theme of morality, integrity and honor.  Movies rarely -- very, very rarely -- get better than this.

There you go.

psycho
Harvey

Psycho
A Clockwork Orange
American Graffiti
Dr. Strangelove
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Hunter
The Bad Seed
The Haunting

you forgot to mention how great Roman Polanski is...

I'd never say Polanski is great (the dirty little child molester) but I will say that there once was a time when he was great -- and yes, Chinatown was from that time.

Yeah, I could see how both those things would make you want to molest a teenager, then hide in France for thirty-some because they don't extradite. 

Dude's trash.  I can watch his pre-kiddie-boner flicks and not feel weird, but anything after '77 and I'll read shit into it.

with the exception of Pirates, Polanski IMO really has done little wrong:
latter stuff like Frantic is under-rated; Bitter Moon was great; The Ninth Gate is some enjoyable hokum and The Pianist IS a fantastic period piece.  Pedophile or not, the guy is a master when it comes to the language of film.

personally I think it's funny as hell and Sharon Tate never looked more lovely.  good stuff.

Knife In The Water and Macbeth rarely gets props and really, really should, too

Bitter Moon is a fave of mine - very interesting couples character study

The Tenant is...weird.  I bought it on DVD a few years back sight unseen and as I sat watching it I didn't know what to make of it.  I kept thinking, "What's the point of this movie?"  The answer I ultimately came up with was, "There isn't one."