Here are links to some of my favorite films:

Shakespeare in Love "Are you a lady, Mister Kent?" It actually is as good as they say. The winner of multiple academy awards, this film deserved them all. The film features Joseph Fiennes, Ben Affleck, Gywneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, and Judy Dench giving the best performances of their careers.

Anastasia "Life is a road, and I want to keep going..." This animated fairy tale takes liberties with history, but is an amazing ride.

Braveheart "Men dont follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I." This epic film tells the heavily dramatized story of a Scottish patriot.

The Crow "If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever." (Don't bother with the other Crow incarnations.)

Ever After "I belong to no one, sir." -Danielle de Barbarac. This film is a retelling of the Cinderella myth - with no magic!

The Harry Potter Series: MuggleNet | The Leaky Cauldron "To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever." - J.K. Rowling. What more needs be said of these films based on the children's books? Each was an instant classic.

Labyrinth, the Movie "Love me, fear me, just do as I say and I'll be your slave." - Jareth the Goblin King. A combination of the creative talents of George Lucas and the late Jim Henson, Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is simultaneously a visual feast, a children's fantasy, a Joseph Campbell-esque mythological tale, and a psychological wonder.

Ladyhawke "I talk to God all the time, and frankly, He never mentioned you." - Philippe the Mouse. Another lesser-known film that combines chivalry and romance. Aside from the presence of magic, as a period piece the research is flawless.

The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy "Battles are ugly affairs." - Father Christmas. These films adapt C.S. Lewis' children's stories. (The first was dramatized perfectly; the second two were too dramatized.)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy "The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short." - Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, 1966

The Man in the Iron Mask "THAT is your plan?" - Athos. Based on Alexandre Dumas' novel chronicling the last adventure of the Three Musketeers, this film has an all-star cast and is directed by Randall Wallace, writer of Braveheart.

Much Ado About Nothing "I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me." "God keep your ladyship still in that mind! so some gentleman or other shall scape a predestinate scratch'd face." "Scratching could not make it worse, an' twere such a face as yours were." - William Shakespeare. The brilliant film maker Kenneth Branagh made Much Ado About Nothing into a movie; it is his masterpiece.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl "I suppose you didn't deserve that?" "No, that one I deserved." - Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow. The first film of the trilogy is a fun romp. An unforgettable performance by Johnny Depp caps a enjoyable cast.

Practical Magic is a tale of the love between two sisters - with some prejudice, tragedy, abuse, murder, and romance thrown in. "I wished for you, too."

The Princess Bride "Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a great Dread Pirate Roberts." - Westley. This movie is a wondrous love story with something for everyone.

Star Wars "I'm looking for a great warrior." "Wars not make one great!" - Luke and Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy has been widely hailed as the greatest film series of all time.
Alas, Lucas' well-earned success apparently went to his head, and his prequel movie The Phantom Menace was overly long and tedious. (Subsequently, fan Mike Nichols created an "edited for television" version of The Phantom Menace called The Phantom Edit. It is a much stronger version of the original film, cutting out filler and the many attempts at juvenile humor that simply weren't funny.) Though Lucas reportedly did not approve of The Phantom Edit, he got the message, and the second and third prequel movies were better than the first. Nevertheless, they failed to recapture the imagination, majesty, and triumph of the originals.
Sadly, after completing the prequel trilogy, Lucas retired and sold Star Wars to Disney. The new owners announced a sequel trilogy the day after the deal was finalized -- before commissioning a script, hiring directors, or casting actors. The sequel trilogy proceeded to demolish the legacy of the original films by revealing that the villains hadn't really been defeated; the original heroes had failed at everything and then died in disgrace; and a new generation of heroes was needed to defeat the same villains all over again. Though the first sequel, The Force Awakens, has been rightly described as a point-by-point homage to the original Star Wars movie, it's really Return of the Jedi in reverse, meticulously undoing everything that happened in that film. The next sequel, The Last Jedi, was a terrible movie that insulted audiences, and even some of the returning actors said they didn't like it. The misleadingly-titled final film, The Rise of Skywalker, was anticlimactic and had almost no connection to anyone named Skywalker.
The disastrous sequel movies apparently derailed Disney's plan to make dozens of Star Wars films featuring individual characters' origins and backstories. Though the tragic Rogue One has its fans, Solo was the best attempt to recapture the spirit of the original trilogy. Sadly, Solo did not do well at the box office -- presumably because the previous movie had just killed off the title character! Consequently, the film Kenobi was cancelled and its script re-worked into a miniseries. Said miniseries turned out pretty well, and would probably have made a good film.
The best attempts to honor the original trilogy with more adventures in the Star Wars universe turned out to be television series: The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

Titanic "God himself could not sink this ship." I suppose I had to include this. It is a cinematographic wonder, the script has something for everyone, and is and one of the most watched films ever made. "But this ship can't sink!" "She's made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can."

Willow "I am a young and beautiful sorceress." "Say the spell, Willow!" This film is another fantasy classic from George Lucas and Ron Howard.

Young Sherlock Holmes is an intelligent film from Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter movies.

Among my other favorite films are:

The Internet Movie Database Trying to remember the name of an actor or find the release date of a movie?

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