Selection of my Favorite Movies

The whole notion that I would have a set number of favorite movies is bound to raise some eyebrows, particularly from my ex-wife. During the height of my Blu-ray buying phase I would frequently, in all honesty, protest that the movie I was purchasing was one of my favorite movies. It’s true – I have a lot of favorite movies

I think that comes from what a rare treat going to see a movie was for me growing up. Our local village Town Hall was converted into a cinema once a month when one entrepreneur happened on the notion of touring around my local county showing a fairly recent film at local village halls, I seem to recall the program was called “Movie-Go-Round” though I could be wrong.

FLASH GORDON (1980)

Other opportunities to see a movie at the cinema was occasional visits to relatives in Berwick-Upon-Tweed. They had a single screen cinema (which was the norm in the pre-multiplex era) called ‘The Berwick Playhouse’ (which I understand is sadly no more) and I would eagerly await learning what movie was playing. I still remember pestering my mother in October 1977 to see the first “Star Wars” movie as my birthday present at Berwick. Other movies I saw at Berwick included “The Jungle Book” (1967), “Warlords of Atlantis” (1978) and “Return from Witch Mountain” (1978).

The whole practice of the Berwick pilgrimages to see a movie slackened off when a cinema opened 17 miles away in the town of Hexham in 1980 (which has also since shuttered it’s door). I remember seeing a double-bill “Star Wars/The Empire Strikes Back”, “Condorman” (1981), “Gandhi” (1982) and being sneaked into a AA rated feature (for which you had to be 14 years old) at the age of 11 to see “Firefox” in 1982.

So, coming up with a definitive list of favorite movies is definitely a challenge. As you might have gleaned from my website I have a passion for James Bond and the filmed work of Scottish novelist Alistair MacLean. In addition to the original (theatrical release versions) of the “Star Wars” trilogy, and the adventures of Indiana Jones, the list is already becoming fairly long and has barely scratched the surface.

Therefore below may not represent precisely my top favorite movies (a list that seems constantly in flux) but rather the movies that are mostly likely to find their way into my Blu-ray player or streaming on VUDU or Amazon Instant Video.