Bob Racine's 100 Favorite Movies

Introduction

                                     

Those of you who read my blog entries with any regularity are aware of the fact that most of what I write about (though far from all) has to do with the movies – reviews of them, comments about them, essays that touch upon them, etc.  What I am about to do starting tomorrow and proceeding for seven consecutive days is share with you my favorite one hundred.  I have done this twice before on my church’s (KC’s) e-mail, long before I had a blog or had any expectation that I would ever have one.  That means that many of you have heard from me before on this subject.  The last time I sent forth a list was five years ago, and that one was the first since 2005.  So it seems I have started the habit of revisiting the selection process every half decade.  At 82 years old, I am not sure how many more half decades are left to me to keep up the habit or to update, but while I last, I expect the blog will most likely last.

                                     

For the sake of the newcomers, and as a reminder to the long time readership, let me be very clear about the category of media I am addressing.  These are my FAVORITE – ENGLISH – LANGUAGE – THEATRICAL – MOVIE – FEATURES, and ONLY those.  Not entered in this competition are foreign language films, short subjects, documentaries, movies made directly for DVD, network TV movies or TV miniseries.  I am dealing strictly with those dramatic and/or comedic feature films made in English for showing on the big theater screen.  Some refer to them still as “movie movies.”  (Actually the choices the American Film Institute has made in its previous listings, ones that were announced on television, were likewise limited to these criteria, even though nobody from the AFI has ever publicly said so.) 

                                     

Please do not interpret the absence of a film from my list as an indication that I do not like it.  These are nowhere near all the movies I have ever seen over my lifetime that I am fond of.  They would probably range in the hundreds.  It would take a multiple volume catalog to cover them all.  These are only my top 100, not a total list of what I would recommend. 

                                     

A great movie by my definition is one that has staying power, lasting value and lasting appeal.  Its richness beckons to my taste countless times; I gladly keep it in my sights, either purchasing my own copy to be kept on my shelf or at the very least keeping my finger on the sources from which it can be rented or borrowed or streamed.  They are jewels to be valued and revisited.  These are in great contrast to merely commendable movies I have somewhat enjoyed but would not go out of my way to watch a second time.  Once seen and experienced they become just a pleasant memory.   Poor and/or disappointing, commendably good or first rate great!  All that you will read about in the coming week in these postings fall into the third category.    

                                     

Any film evaluation, even on the part of a seasoned critic, is of necessity subjective.  You would not find any two reviewers on this planet who would pick out the same list of one hundred.  So I do not claim to speak for anyone but myself.  The remarks I make are mine alone.  The choices I have made were not made in committee with any other viewers or in collaboration with any source outside my own mind.  Nor do I call these “the best”.  They are FAVORITES of mine, not my divine, Sinai, Olympian, judgmental rulings.  Only God knows what is best, absolutely speaking, and God is not likely to tell me or any of us any time soon.  I am speaking out of my own mind and experience, not the mind of God. 

                                     

To be worthy of a place in my top drawer of quality a movie must transcend time and period and region.  It must be inspired and magical and substantive.  All the ones you will read about on the following list meet these tests to my satisfaction.  I judge them in terms of how effectively they reflect upon those humanistic values that give meaning and resonance to life’s struggles, tragedies, triumphs, blights and rewards.

                                     

Each movie will be treated in a short, thumbnail blurb.  There will be no in depth analysis this time around.  And there is one major difference in my arrangement from the first two listings.  EVERYTHING, I repeat EVERYTHING will be printed out in alphabetical order.  In those other years I displayed some or all in an order of priority.  Each title had a number next to it.  Not so this time!  All will be read in alphabetical order by title, A-Z.  And the same amount of space will be used for each and every blurb. 

                                     

The publishing will be spread over seven days, beginning tomorrow.  About fourteen or fifteen will show up each day, until I finish the list. 

                                     

I hope my comments about these selected motion pictures will be stimulating and enjoyable enough to take with you and ponder.

To read other entries in my blog, please consult its website:  enspiritus.blogspot.com.  To learn about me consult on the website the blog entry for August 9, 2013.