If so, consider some of these.
First, though . . . rewind eight days. Picture me having an e-conversation last week with a writer friend, about favorite books and movies. What happened was, we both had so many, we were categorizing them by genre. (Can you see that my life is sometimes less than exciting?)
Back to the present. The result of that recent discussion is the following list of my favorite movies, novels, TV series, and short stories in each of several genres of fiction. Note: They go beyond the basic five genres (mystery/crime, SF/fantasy, romance, Western, and horror) to include ten subgenres. If the subgenres aren't familiar to you, that's okay. I made them up.
Another note: While I hope you'll agree with a few of my reading/viewing choices, I'm sure you won't like some--you might not like any--so be aware of one thing: These are not necessarily what I consider to be the BEST movies. They're just the ones I enjoyed the most. I do recognize that Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Nosferatu, The English Patient, etc., are great achievements, but it'll be a cold day in Jamaica when they show up in my favorites list.
For better or worse, here are my personal choices:
MYSTERY/CRIME
Favorite movie: L. A. Confidential (1997)
Novel: Plum Island, Nelson DeMille
TV/streaming series: The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007)
Short story: "Man from the South," Roald Dahl
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
Favorite movie: Aliens (1986)
Novel: The Stand, Stephen King
TV/streaming series: Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011-2019)
Short story: "A Sound of Thunder," Ray Bradbury
ROMANCE
Favorite movie: Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Novel: The Princess Bride, William Goldman
TV/streaming series: The Thorn Birds (ABC, 1983)
Short story: "The Gift of the Magi," O. Henry
WESTERN
Favorite movie: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Novel: Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
TV/streaming series: Deadwood (HBO, 2004-2006)
Short story: "Three-Ten to Yuma," Elmore Leonard
HORROR
Favorite movie: Psycho (1960)
Novel: Magic, William Goldman
TV/streaming series: Stranger Things (Netflix, 2016-2025)
Short story: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," Richard Matheson
ADVENTURE
Favorite movie: Jurassic Park (1993)
Novel: Sands of the Kalahari, William Mulvihill
TV/streaming series: Lost (ABC, 2004-2010)
Short story: "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut," Stephen King
COMEDY
Favorite movie: Blazing Saddles (1974)
Novel: One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
TV/streaming series: Cheers (NBC, 1982-1993)
Short story: "The Kugelmass Episode," Woody Allen
DRAMA
Favorite movie: Casablanca (1942)
Novel: From Here to Eternity, James Jones
TV/streaming series: Mad Men (AMC, 2007-2015)
Short story: "The Last Rung on the Ladder," Stephen King
HISTORICAL
Favorite movie: Gladiator (2000)
Novel: Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
TV/streaming series: Rome (HBO, 2005-2006)
Short story: "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson
FAMILY
Favorite movie: It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Novel: The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
TV/streaming series: Little House on the Prairie (NBC, 1974-1982)
Short story: "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," Aesop
ESPIONAGE
Favorite movie: Goldfinger (1964)
Novel: Eye of the Needle, Ken Follett
TV/streaming series: Slow Horses (Apple TV+, 2022-)
Short story: "Deep Down," Lee Child
SOUTHERN
Favorite movie: Deliverance (1972)
Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
TV/streaming series: Evening Shade (CBS, 1990-1994)
Short story: "Poachers," Tom Franklin
SPORTS
Favorite movie: The Natural (1984)
Novel: The Hustler, Walter Tevis
TV/streaming series: G.L.O.W. (Netflix, 2017-2019)
Short story: "The Swimmer," John Cheever
LEGAL/COURTROOM
Favorite movie: 12 Angry Men (1957)
Novel: Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow
TV/streaming series: Goliath (Amazon Prime Video, 2016-2021)
Short story: "Witness for the Prosecution," Agatha Christie
WAR
Favorite movie: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Novel: The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
TV/streaming series: Band of Brothers (HBO, 2001)
Short story: "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," Ernest Hemingway
Before you ask . . . Yes, there was a lot of indecision in coming up with these. For example, I almost chose The Godfather for favorite crime movie, Galaxy Quest and Raising Arizona for funniest, Somewhere in Time for romance, Shane for Western novel, the first few seasons of The Walking Dead for TV horror, etc., etc., and if I'd waited until next month to make this list, it'd probably look a lot different. And yes, I also made a list of what I thought were the worst movies, novels, etc., in every category, but decided to keep those to myself. There's already enough acid indigestion in the world.
Which brings us to my question: What are some of your favorite movies, novels, TV series, and shorts? Do we agree on any of them?
Now, where'd I put that remote . . . ?
John, I seem to be nodding to your second choices! Shane, for me (so romantic), Somewhere in Time for romance. And yes, 12 Angry Men (I used it in the classroom for years). For comedy - I'm usually with the Brits. The Wrong Box is my fave. The Russians are Coming for second. Best in Show... And for comedy TV - have you seen the Scottish show Still Game? It's on Acorn or Britbox. See it if you can. If you are over 65, I guarantee you will chuckle.
ReplyDeleteMel, any list of favorites should have several picks for each of the "best." It's so hard to narrow it down to only one for each. I bet I've watched Shane a dozen times and I always get a tear in my eye at the end. Love love love 12 Angry Men, and Somewhere in Time is one of those often-forgetten gems of a movie--I find myself humming that main theme all the time. Thank you, by the way, for the suggestion: I have NOT seen Still Game. But I will . . .
DeleteIt is wild and bawdy - very very Scottish :) Miranda is also a great Brit-wit comedy series. Closest stuff to what I write. oops - Melodie
DeleteWonder if I can find it, now or later, on Prime or Netflix or Apple+. I'll find it somehow. If it's close to what you write, I'll like it. Thanks again.
DeleteOh, John, you're so cute. Your list made me smile, though as you know, my tastes don't match yours. I loved the TV series Rome, which I watched with my husband (can't get him to do that any more), and still think The Hobbit is Tolkien's best book, because it has a leaven of humor. Charlotte's Web is a short story? It's a Book! So doesn't it count as a novel? Or was that the only way you could fit it in? And do you cry at the end?
ReplyDeleteYou got me, Liz: Yep, CW was a book, though I remember it as shorter--and of course I cried. Doesn't everybody? That would be like watching Old Yeller and not crying.
DeleteThanks to you, I've updated it to a shorter story (actually a fable), about the boy who cried wolf. And yes, I know our taste in movies isn't the same--after all, you're a poet (a real poet, not the kind of poet I am). But I suspect you secretly loved The Godfather and Blazing Saddles, though you would never admit it.
I cheerfully admit to chuckling through Blazing Saddles. But I did not like The Godfather or the Godfather II—saw 'em only once each, never got to III, and have recurrent senioritis over Al Pacino's name. I keep saying to my husband, "Who's the Italian actor? Not Robert DeNiro." On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed The Sopranos. My favorite, of course, was Lorraine Bracco, not usually an actress I like, who did a terrific job as the therapist who gets a kick out of having a mob boss client (though she'd never admit it) and then realizes that, like everyone else who has to deal with Tony, she's in over her head and can't get out.
DeleteLiz, I'm glad you never made it to Godfather III. It was, compared to the first two, terrible--so I think you'd have liked it even less. And I enjoyed just about EVERYthing about The Sopranos. (Even the finale was okay with me, and most folks didn't like that.) I'm also crazy about Lorraine Bracco, especially in movies like Goodfellas and Medicine Man. I could pick that voice out of a crowd.
DeleteJohn, I love this list! So much fun. Many of these would make my own "best of" -- especially movies like LA Confidential and The Natural, which I've seen dozens of times. Also love many of your novel choices--Magic and Lonesome Dove are long-time favorites--but a few I haven't read/seen: never read a Ken Follett novel, never seen Deliverance. Will have to add those to my list!
ReplyDeleteAdam Meyer, you've never seen Deliverance?!? Get yoself to a DVD store, chop chop. Seriously, you'd love it. And oh my, do I love The Natural, and Lonesome Dove, and LA Confidential. As for Magic, that's one of those hidden gems I was talking about in another comment. Very few folks seem to have read that novel or seen the movie adaptation, and both are great. It's interesting, to me, that Magic (like Misery and The Silence of the Lambs) is often categorized as horror--and rightly so--but the monsters involved are human only. Scarier, to me, than any kind of otherworldly creature.
DeleteThanks as always!
Agree with lots of your choices, John. Here's a coincidence! I just watched "Psycho" on TCM last night. One of my favorit movies. Love Hitchcock. "Sound of Thunder." I remember reading that story aloud in my high school public speaking class. Loved "Eye of the Needle," my introduction to Ken Follett. And for many years now, I have always considered "Pillars of the Earth" the best novel I have ever read.
ReplyDeleteBob
Hey Bob! Glad to hear we agree on some of these. There are so many things about Psycho I love--and one thing I don't love: the long, long explanation at the end, after the point of highest tension. But the movie was so good I think everybody in the theatre was still sitting there stupefied during the wrapup, so it didn't much matter. And WOW I loved the Eye of the Needle novel, and its movie adaptation too. Unfortunately, the big-screen adaptations of "Sound of Thunder" and Pillars of the Earth were not so good.
DeleteMany many thanks for stopping in, Bob. Keep reading and watching the good stuff.
In addition to Psycho, there are so many Hitchcock films deserving to be listed. Rear Window, North By Northwest, Vertigo, Dial M For Murder, Shadow of A Doubt, and Rope to name a few. In The Heat of The Night was also a good Southern work transcending Film/TV/Books. Cape Fear ranks up there and is about to be adapted into a TV Series.
ReplyDeleteImagine how Hitchcock's works would've been impacted if he were a Southerner.
Justin, I'm with you on (almost) all Hitchcock movies. FYI, In the Heat of the Night was the Southern movie I listed as best and then changed it just before publication to Deliverance. I loved 'em both, and have both right here in my home office. As for Cape Fear, I'm pleased to hear that another version is upcoming. (I thought the first movie version was better than the second.)
DeleteImagining Hitch as a Southerner is hard to do . . .
Some of my favorites made your list! Blazing Saddles is as funny and quotable a comedy that was ever made. It skewers everything from social justice to fart jokes. My favorite "thinker's comedy" films are The Big Lebowski and The Life Acquatic and Catch-22 for a novel. I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was a kid, and I'm not sure I've read anything better since.
ReplyDeleteCan I pick two comedies, in addition to the ones you mentioned? Those would be "Idiocracy" & the original version of "The Producers" with Zero Mostel. The runner-up would be "The Inspector General" with Danny Kaye. In the Southern category I would choose "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" for short story, but I suspect it's more of a novelette. In science fiction I would vote for the short story "The Great Slow Kings" by Roger Zelazny.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have a category for Movie Musicals, but if you did...I'd suggest The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.
ReplyDeleteFor comedy, I might pick Young Frankenstein instead of Blazing Saddles.
And exactly what category would include The Princess Bride—romance, comedy, adventure?