Favorites, Genrewise

FYI, today's post is sort of a continuation of--or at least is related to--a SleuthSayers column I posted a month ago called It's Still a Mystery. The subject of that post was mystery-fiction subgenres, and the subject of today's post includes all kinds of genres and subgenres. This one came about because of a discussion I had last week with several of my relatives (actually my wife's relatives) about favorite movies. 

I have mentioned before at this blog that I love movies, and my discussion with our kinfolks went beyond overall favorites and into which movies are our favorites in different genres. (We focused more on movies than on written fiction because there was more common ground there--we were more likely to have seen the same movies than to have read the same novels or stories.)

So, for what it's worth, I came up with a list of my favorites, not only of mystery/crime movies but of movies across the board. Be aware, though, that in this case favorite does not always mean best. I do recognize the excellence and quality of films like Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Rashomon, Sophie's Choice, Sunset Boulevard, and so on--but alas, those are not my favorites. My favorites are those I enjoyed the most, and that I find myself watching over and over again. (Yes, I do that, because I have all these on DVD--it's enough to run my wife crazy).

Having said that, here's my list. Please note that I've invented all kinds of subgenres to put them in, which was almost as much fun as picking the favorites.

Movies:

Crime -- L.A. Confidential (1997) 

Science Fiction -- Aliens (1986)

Western -- Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Romance -- Casablanca (1942)

Horror -- The Thing (1982)

Comedy -- The Big Lebowski (1998)

Fantasy -- Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Adventure -- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Drama -- 12 Angry Men (1957)

War -- Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Sports -- The Natural (1984)

Swords & Sandals -- Gladiator (2000)

Traditional Mystery -- Knives Out (2019)

Horrific Mystery -- Psycho (1960)

Noir -- Double Indemnity (1944)

Neo-Noir -- Body Heat (1981) 

Gangsters -- The Godfather (1972)

Spies -- Goldfinger (1964)

Buddies -- Lethal Weapon (1987)

Serial Killer -- tie: Dirty Harry (1971) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Prison -- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Heist -- Die Hard (1988)

Con-game -- The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

Medical -- Medicine Man (1992)

Romantic Comedy -- Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Romantic Crime -- Witness (1985)

Romantic Fantasy -- Always (1989)

SF Comedy -- Galaxy Quest (1999)

Western Comedy -- Blazing Saddles (1974)

Laugh-Out-Loud Comedy -- Airplane! (1980)

Musical Comedy -- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996)

Australian Western -- Quigley Down Under (1990)

Neo-Western -- No Country for Old Men (2007)

Time Travel -- Back to the Future (1985)

Time-travel Romance -- Somewhere in Time (1980)

Superheroes -- Superman, the Movie (1978)

Monsters -- Monsters (2010)

Futuristic -- Escape from New York (1981)

Creature Adventure -- tie: Jaws (1975) and Jusassic Park (1993)

Kids' Adventure -- Third Man on the Mountain (1959)

Coming-of-Age -- Stand by Me (1986)

Dogs -- Old Yeller (1957)

Horses -- The Black Stallion (1979)

Animated -- Dumbo (1941)

Christmas Movie -- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Journalism -- Broadcast News (1987)

Disasters -- The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Alien Invasion -- Signs (2002)

Another note: It's probably obvious that many of the above picks are cross-genre and could fit into several different categories. Some, like the following, are so genre-mixed I couldn't decide where to put them. But they're still favorites:

The Man from Snowy River (1982) -- Australian Western romance

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) -- Southern courtroom-drama coming-of-age mystery

The Princess Bride (1987) -- Comedy fantasy adventure romance

To finish off this silliness, here are my favorite TV and cable/streaming series.

Weekly network TV series:

Crime -- Hill Street Blues (NBC)

Mystery -- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS and NBC)

Western -- Have Gun Will Travel (CBS)

Neo-Western -- Justified (FX)

Western mini-series -- Lonesome Dove (CBS)

Science Fiction -- Star Trek (NBC)

SF/Fantasy -- The Twilight Zone (CBS)

Drama -- Lost (CBS)

Comedy -- Cheers (NBC)

Spies -- The Man from U.N.C.L.E (NBC)

Medical -- ER (NBC)

War -- Combat (ABC)

Cable/streaming series: 

Crime -- The Wire (HBO)

Mystery -- True Detective (HBO)

Western -- Deadwood (HBO)

Neo-Western -- 1923 (Paramount+)

Fantasy -- Game of Thrones (HBO)

Horror -- The Walking Dead (AMC)

Drama -- tie: Mad Men (AMC) and Landman (Paramount+)

Comedy -- Bad Monkey (Apple TV+)

Journalism -- The Newsroom (HBO)

War -- Band of Brothers (HBO)

Swords & Sandals -- Rome (HBO)

Spies -- Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Gangsters -- The Sopranos (HBO)

I'm hoping all these might at least bring back some memories--they sure do for me. Another FYI: I'm well aware that I left out many movies that I love, like Pulp Fiction, Fargo, Shane, Chinatown, The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke, Forrest Gump, High Noon, Star Wars, Tombstone, Rocky, etc., and series like The West Wing, M*A*S*H*, Seinfeld, Frasier, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, Better Call Saul, and Yellowstone, but I had to stop somewhere, and I wanted to try for only one entry per category. Just shoot me.

My question for you is, what are some of your favorites, for both the big and small screens, and which favorites of mine did you hate? (I won't be offended; anyone who admits that he loved Blazing Saddles and The Man from U.N.C.L.E is used to criticism. But hey, confession's good for the soul.)

Next time, I plan to stop playing and get back to the subject of writing. Stay cool!