People are drawn to the art of photography for many reasons. For some it is a way to paint a picture, for others it is the challenge of manipulating light. For me, I am drawn to telling and creating stories. I suppose this is why I have always been such a movie and literature buff. I can be sucked into a story within minutes.

When choosing a theme for the studio this year it hit me that my love of story telling for children and families plays right into my love of movies! Did you know we have themed this year Cloud 9 at the Movies? If you missed that announcement, go check out the details here.

There has been a huge running joke in my family … when I was a teenager and would go to the movies, with my friends or on dates, I would always come home and bust through the doors “MOM, DAD! That was the best movie I have ever seen!”

I am not kidding. Pretty much every single movie. Ever.
Except for The Piano … YUCK! My friends and I actually walked out of that one … first and only time that happened.

Even now … if I call my mom to talk about a movie she will ask me “was it the best movie ever?” HA! 

I am a huge Top 10 List person … hello David Letterman! So I thought it would be fun to share with you my Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Times! As you can imagine, this was really, really hard for me to narrow down. After all, every movie is my favorite!  

So curl up with a bag of popcorn and join me on a trip down memory lane for my …

Top 10 Favorite Movies

I was going to list these in no particular order, but figured I would start with my absolute favorite movie, hands down, no contest –
#1 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

When you stop to think about your favorite movie of all time there are so many factors that come in to play. Aside from the obvious (story, acting, etc) there is the nostalgia of when and who you saw it with. This movie came out when I was in middle school at a time when I had back surgery and was sidelined from school for 6 months. My parents bought me the Graphic Adventure game for my Tandy 1000 (I was hot stuff) and my friends would come over after school to watch this movie over and over and to play the game. Lets also not forget that Harrison Ford and Sean Connery were my two favorite actors! I introduced my daughter to Indiana Jones for the first time over the Christmas break and she loved them all too!! It was so much fun to share my “favorite movie ever” with my daughter!

Now here is the rest of my list … in no particular order …

Return of the Jedi – First movie I ever saw in a movie theater! I was 7 years old and posters of Luke Skywalker lived in my room for years!

Princess Bride – “Hello, my name is Indigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!” HELLO! Most quoted movie of my life!

Mary Poppins – I had to add my favorite childhood movie. According to my mother I watched this over and over and over and over. I can still sing all the songs “just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down …”

Love Actually – Favorite romantic comedy. I MUST watch this every holiday season and even a few other times during the year when I need a good smile.

From Russia With Love – I am a James Bond addict. Love everything about all of the movies, well except for a few misguided choices in who played Bond along the way. Sean Connery was my favorite James Bond and this was my favorite movie.

The Sting – My mom was a huge Robert Redford and Paul Newman fan. She watched this movie all the time and then we would watch it together. I love the storyline, the “I gotcha” at the end and of course the memories of watching it with my mom.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Was there any doubt this would be on my list? I think I could pretty much quote this one line by line. “It’s just a flesh wound!”

The Sixth Sense – When a movie has you dead to rights at the end, with a WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED moment, it has to make your top 10 list. No movie prior to this one and no movie since totally got me at the end. I will never forget the moment my friends and I started gasping and looking at each other like … wait, did that really happen?

The Godfather (I and II) – All good Italians must have this on their top 10 list. Honestly I think the second movie is better, but since I always watch them together, I listed them together.  I will never forget in college my friends and I having a Mafia Marathon … we watched all the movies, then got dressed up and went out for a fancy dinner! 

Highlander – “There can be only one!” Perhaps it was my love of Sean Connery, or the cheesy action and fantasy, I am not sure … but this movie has always been a favorite. Hello … my son’s middle name is Conner! (It would have been his first name, but I figured Conner McLeod of the clan McLeod may be a tad on the “mom why did you do that to me?” side of things).

Ok … so that is my top 10 List … but umm seriously I can’t stop! Do you know how hard this is? I challenge you to try and narrow down your favorite movies to only a list of 10! I mean how can I leave out a comedy classic like Old School or some of my favorite memories from high school with Robin Hood and Last of the Mohicans? Or my secret love affair with Mel Gibson movies and Braveheart. Then there is the emotional Schindler’s List and Shawshank Redemption, and movie series such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter which I can watch over and over. And of course my love of musicals with Grease leading the way! Can I do my top 25 list? 

I am sure you have had your fill of hearing my inner dialogue …  if you want to stop for a few minutes and put together your Top 10 Favorite Movie List, I would love for you to share it with me!! Send along an email to [email protected] … I truly am curious as to everyone’s favorite movie and why!

XOXO,
Jeanine