10 Movies my wife and I can watch over and over

My wife Stephanie and I love watching movies together. Over the years, we have begun to watch certain movies over and over again, just like you look at old family photos. Here are ten movies my wife and I love watching--

10) Rear Window: A classic Hitchcock story. Maybe not his greatest work, but certainly terribly fun and entertaining-and my wife has always loved Jimmy Stewart.

9) Stranger Than Fiction: When we first saw this movie, we saw something rare. We saw something that seemed truly original to us. It still feels that way. Will Ferrell is wonderful in this movie, and he has Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson to back him up. It is an unusual romantic comedy in that it is original. Romantic comedies can be tough to make original, but this one accomplishes that. Finally, seeing Chicago (our temporary home town) on screen is always wonderful.

8) Fargo: While there are always scenes that Steph would rather skip (a lot of blood is shed in this film), the simple decency of Marge Gunderson and her husband always brings Steph back, and the sharp Coen Brothers dialogue with a Minnesota touch gets me every time.

7) Babe: Simple, sweet storytelling with a slight edge. A great work of cinema that is fun to watch with kids.

6) Pride and Prejudice: This BBC miniseries really made Colin Firth a household name well before his glory in "The King's Speech". It is 5 hours long, but somehow it always seems to fly by (though we have never watched it in one sitting). The amount of lines we quote are numerous..."And yet I am unmoved.", "Are we to be murdered in our beds?!?" "By modest equipage", etc. The performances are great, and it shows the depth of Jane Austen's storytelling, as well as the drama that can come out of such seemingly mundane social meandering.

5) Steel Magnolias: Wayne and Garth dismissed this movie as a "chick movie" on "Wayne's World", and there is truth in that. But even though it is horribly sad at times and lacking in testosterone, it has some of the funniest dialogue and situations you can see on film. Witness Tom Skerrit attempting to frighten the birds in his tree with his gun, or listen to the sassy dialogue delivered by Olympia Dukakis ("If you don't have something nice to say, come sit by me.") It is the rare movie that evokes many different emotions because its characters are at so many stages in life. And the cast (Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, Darryl Hannah, Shrley Mclane, Olympia Dukakis, etc...) is outstanding.

4) The Bourne Triology: Steph has a soft spot for Matt Damon, and I love watching because it's a great travel log. These movies all do a wonderful job of cranking up the action and never letting up. And each movie features not only Damon, but a wonderful cast of supporting actors which lend gravitas to the story, and make an otherwise standard action plot into something truly special.

3) Notting Hill: Another movie that may mean a lot to us because of when we first saw it. We saw it just after I had popped the question, and the dialogue written by Richard Curtis continues to make us laugh. Lately, this movie has sort of been replaced in our regular viewing by "Love Actually", but I think this one deserves a place on this list because it was more formative for us. Also, you simply cannot beat Hugh Grant surprising his friends by bringing the world's biggest movie star to dinner as his date.

2) Almost Famous: We saw this movie for the first time at a movie theater in Boston with an old friend, and we loved it. Since then, it has aged very well. Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical ode to rock music has so much nuance and poignance that it is always watchable. There is so much familiarity as well, even though my upbringing was so different.

AND NUMBER 1:

1) Good Will Hunting: I think we have watched this movie together more than any other. We took two trips to Boston early in our relationship, and so the setting is very evocative for both of us. Also, the movie shows characters that are on the verge of adulthood but still have a lot of residue from their adolescence. When we first saw this movie, Stephanie and I were in that stage. The stage of having a job, but spending evenings at diners or fast food restaurants chillin' with friends. Also, Robin Williams' monologue in the garden is one of the best written scenes of which I can think. We always love watching it together.

What are some of your special favs with your significant other or friends?

Read my blog entries on 3 of these movies:

Babe: http://joelsmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/babe.html
Fargo: http://joelsmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/fargo.html
Almost Famous: http://joelsmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/rock-and-roll-part-2- almost-famous.html

Marley and Me

On our recent trip to the lake in Brainerd, Minnesota, Stephanie and I put our feet up and watched this movie. Great movies are often times described as being greater than the sum of their parts. To me, this movie had great parts that did not add up to a great sum. It follows the adventures of a newspaper columnist and his wife as they move to Florida and begin their newlywed life together. Along the way, they adopt an incorrigible Labrador and begin their family. The movie follows the life of the dog as this couple adjusts to the enormous challenges of raising children on one income. Unfortunately, it lacks direction and feels more like a slide show than a movie.

The movie has a lot going for it. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are both very good in their roles. Alan Arkin is hilarious as Owen Wilson's boss. The dog is cute. The kids are cute. And the depiction of adjusting to the grind of being a parent does indeed have some familiarity. What the movie seemed to be missing is a coherent narrative. In fact, it seemed like a group of newspaper columns, which I suppose it was. It seemed a bit disjointed, even though many moments rang true. I think it could have used some greater cohesion and it would have made it more unified. As it stands, the movie is not a deep movie. It doesn't need to be. But sometimes, movie masterpieces need not be deep at all, just done with cohesion (think "Airplane"). Here, by the time we get to the end of the movie, the dog seems to be the story again, just like he was at the beginning. The only problem is, the dog sat on the sidelines for the middle of the movie.

It is hard to pick this movie apart too much. It is out to warm the heart, not change the world. But I think my heart would have been warmer if there had been a story I was more involved in.

ANSWERS!!!

THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED...THE WINNER IS A FRIEND FROM TJ'S...SHE GOT 14 ANSWERS CORRECT. I'LL KEEP WORKING ON ORGANIZING SO THAT ON THE NEXT QUIZ YOU CAN'T SEE OTHERS' ANSWERS. :)

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

1. Truman Show

2. Psycho

3. Return of the Jedi

4. Good Will Hunting

5. Casablanca

6. Fargo

7. The Lives of Others

8. This is Spinal Tap( though the line is actually "What're the hours?"-hat tip to the winner on her correction)

9. Raising Arizona

10. The Princess Bride

11. City Lights

12. Hard Day's Night

13. Babe

14. What's Up Doc?

15. E.T.