Top 10 movies for a year

Written by Curtis J. Phillips
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 12:44

You’re stranded on a desert island for a year. Walking the beach you discover a genie in a bottle who grants you the following wish: “You are allowed to watch 10 movies for the next year. Which movies would you choose?”

Surprisingly my own Top 10 rolled off the tongue in smooth succession. In no particular order they are.

• Godfather (1972): First off you have plenty of time to kill and at 175 minutes it is time well spent.

Marlon Brando and Al Pacino at their very best with director Francis Ford Coppola bringing us inside the New York Mafia family run by “Don” Vito Corleone.

• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): Peter Sellers is simply brilliant with his many roles in this dark apocalyptic comedy which also features George C. Scott.

The scene with Slim Pickens riding the atomic bomb is a movie classic.

• Ben Hur (1959): Always a big fan of Charlton Heston.

At 212 minutes long there is never a dull moment in this bloc k buster which won 11 Oscars. The chariot race scenes alone are worth the watch.

• Dark Star (1974): Directed by one of my favourite directors John Carpenter. This low-budget spaced out comedy

• Casablanca (1942); One of the best stories ever told on the silver screen and no doubt one of the most quoted films. “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine”, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, “Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake” and “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

• Forest Gump (1994): Winner of six Oscars a feel good movie with Tom Hanks at his best. At 142 minutes a pleasant ride.

For some reason Hanks reminds me a lot of Heston?

• Apocalypse Now (1979): Lie back in the sand and grab some rays for 153 minutes for what is one of the best ever war dramas. Second film of Francis Ford Coppola to make my list. Also second film to have Marlon Brando as the lead. Dark and moody with a great performance by a young Martin Sheen.

• The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957): Believe it or not your parents have a huge influence on the movies you watch. This was my late mother’s favourite flick and by osmosis it becomes yours.

Another epic with a 162 minute run. Seven Oscars to its credit and total brilliance by Sir Alec Guinness in the role of prisoner of war Colonel Nicholson.

• Planet of the Apes (1968): Heston is back is this sci-fi thriller which was campy at its best. No matter how many time I have seen this time always get a kick when Chuck says to the Gorillas… ”Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

• Zulu (1964): Another classic passed down this time by my dad.

Without a doubt I have watched this movie more than any other.

A young Michael Caine in the lead role of British officer Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead facing the Zulu warriors at Rorke’s Drift.

See you on the silver screen in 2012.