Bookman's Top Ten Movies

I was challenged by a friend to list my top ten movies and for each one to write one sentence explaining or showing why it's on my list.  I accept that challenge.

1.   Casablanca (1942).  This movie hits all my buttons—great script, love story, characters, cinematography, acting, musical score, plus that one great moment that pushes this movie over the top for me.

2.   Chinatown (1974).  Great story, acting, dialogue, cinematography, art direction, costuming—plus Jack Nicholson, whose characterization of Jake Gittes gives me the same high I get from watching Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon .

3.   North by Northwest (1959).  Cary Grant's character and performance and Ernest Lehman's script make this movie fun and exhilarating.

4.   The Maltese Falcon (1941).  Humphrey Bogart.

5.   West Side Story (1961).  This was the first serious movie I saw at the theater when I was a kid (age 7) and is the movie that has influenced me the most as a moviegoer.

6.   The Godfather (1972).  I love watching the transformation of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) through all three "Godfather" movies, and this is the best of the three.

7.   Annie Hall (1977).  Woody Allen has lost my vote as a father and a human being, gained my sympathy as a sick man, and I still laugh at every joke but one in this movie because I see Alvy Singer and not Allen on the screen.

8.   Rear Window (1954).  Over the years, this movie has steadily moved up in my esteem, mostly due to the acting of Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, and Wendell Corey.

9.   It Happened One Night (1934).  I never get tired of watching this movie.

10. The Philadelphia Story (1940).  Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn are hilarious and give standout performances, supported by a first-rate script and a motley crew of nutjobs.