15 Movies In 15 Minutes

(By Richard Goodman, 2010)

I did a list like this a while back on Facebook, where you pick the first 15 favorite movies you think of in 15 minutes or less, but I inadvertently deleted it one day so here is my current list.  I know there are some changes from last time (I was mentally swayed by seeing Serenity recently) but life isn’t static and a list of favorites shouldn’t be either.  You have to keep discovering new, enjoyable things every day.  So, here is my current list:

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

(My all-time favorite movie.  It had everything a 14-year kid wanted in a movie and when a 40-year adult watches it, he sees the nuance of the characters and how their life experiences motivate their decisions.  Plus the action scenes are still some of the best ones ever put on screen.)

Terminator & T2 (How can you resist Linda Hamilton?  I’d cross time for her too and if I needed someone to protect me from a killer cyborg, she’d be my first choice.  My favorite movie “bad-ass” scene is her doing the one-handed shotgun cock & shoot to put down the T-1000.)

Serenity (Injected humor and compassion into the SF genre when it was desperately needed.)

His Girl Friday (I still want to be Cary Grant and I still want a woman like Rosalind Russell.  Sometimes I really enjoy a movie just because of the conversations the character have- great lines, great delivery, great ideas.  I also considered adding The Philadelphia Story.)

Austin Powers  (The first one only- incredibly funny but with a sense of longing and melancholy in between the gonzo sight gags.  The next two got a bit stupid and/or gross although Mini-Me was a great character.)

Adaption or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (My choice depends on whether I’m feeling unlovable- Adaption- or that my life has no meaning- Eternal Sunshine.)

Lethal Weapon (An awesome cop movie with massive amounts of edginess that elevates it above genre, and in fact redefines the genre.)

Memento (Sad and funny at the same time and a fantastic way of telling a story.)

Star Wars (the whole series- minus Jar Jar Binks- because a classic becomes one for a reason.)

While You Were Sleeping (I’m a sucker for gorgeous people pretending to be as romantically challenged as me.  Plus, I love Sandra Bullock in almost anything she does.)

Aliens (For a five movie stretch, James Cameron could do no wrong and created five masterpieces.)

Forrest Gump (I can relate to Gump in more ways than I like to admit.)

Office Space (If you ever worked in an office, you have to love this movie.)

Princess Bride (A great spoof that works on multiple levels because it’s good.  Same thing applies to Shaun Of The Dead.)

Casino Royale (The whole James Bond series actually, even the lame ones like A View To A Kill.)