Favorite movie and why.

I'll let you list your top two favorites. But no more, or bannings will commence.

My favorite movies would be the subject of ridicule by true film buffs I'll wager. Action and comedy films don't tend to be high on their lists, and those are the kinds I enjoy the most. I don't truly have a "favorite one" though, there are many I return to again and again.

Being John Malkovich

Hands down.

Second would probably be Batman Begins.

It's A Wonderful Life has been my favourite film since I was young. My wife bought the dvd for me a couple of Christmases ago and it hasn't faded one jot. Capra's most typical and typically heart warming tale.

As Good As It Gets is a closish second - for similar reasons, and for Helen Hunt's most winning performance

Rocky IV.

Very tough call. Probably a tie between Seven Samurai and Lawrence of Arabia.

I'd find room for Hitchcock, but picking one is too painful.

Today, my two favourite films are: Apocalypse Now: Redux and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Both films address the notion that human life is struggle, the war of all against all. What is it that keeps a man sane in an impersonal world of death, suffering and risible meaninglessness? Do we do what we do, do we persist, out of merely selfish egoism, or is there genuine goodness in the human heart, mind and will? These are two philosophical films that always stimulate my thought on the difficult nature of life in a tough world. Watch them, reflect on them, and then live life.

To Sir With Love and the 1966 Batman movie, for obvious reasons.

The Accidental Tourist - William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis (Oscar-Best Supporting Actress) , Bill Pullman and many others.

This is he movie that made me love movies in general. It showed me what a movie didn't have to be, It doesn't shy away from its slow pacing and it's one of the most faithful novel adaptations I've ever seen.

My two favorite movies (and to break my own rule, movie series) that have meant the most to me my entire life, and largely have one primary creative force behind them, are:

Star Wars Trilogy
Rocky

The most important thing Star Wars and its sequels gave me was imagination and dreams of other worlds, beings. Star Wars opened the universe to me. It made everything BIG. There is no more exciting fictional experience for me than watching a Star Wars movie.

Rocky (and its sequels) is everything SMALL. It is the intensely personal, and yet universal story, of one man's fight for dignity and worth despite his upbringing and limitations, one man's struggle to realize his dreams and better himself, one man's desire to prove, as I think to some extent we all want to prove, or at least I do, that we "weren't just another bum from the neighborhood."

Plus Part 4 has a talking robot.

Man....No way I can narrow it down that much.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Why? Well, they're both just perfect, all-around fun with great characters, humour balanced with action, and a high rewatchability factor.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Yes, it was slow ... it was long ... it took itself way too seriously ... and all those things work for me. Even as a kid, I loved sitting there and marveling at all the detail in the ships and machines. HAL was the greatest leading man (machine) of all time. And the 'dawn of man' sequence never gets old for me.

Paths Of Glory

Yeah, another Kubrick. This film was the true precursor to 'Full Metal Jacket' and Kirk Douglas was the shit. ... I may come back later and edit this post so as to have something more light-hearted. Like most people, my favorites change depending upon my current mood. 2001 is almost always #1 for me though.

-LP

I can barely narrow it to 20. And even when I do, they always go in alphabetical order, since I can't choose among them, even in such a large group, with any significant distinction.

Feel free to ban me, Rob.

Oh, wait. You can't. You have no power here whatsoever.

Frank is banned.

....

Working yet?

Well, that was about it.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, for the reason Kevin said.

It's the most perfect movie in every way.

Citizen bannings are allowed at IMWAN

Oh screw it....The best movies ever made

Superman: The Movie
Heist
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Empire Strikes Back
The Shawshank Redemption
Donnie Darko
Jaws
Star Wars
Rear Window
Planet of the Apes
Snatch
The Iron Giant
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The Shining
Patton
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Mulan (Best Disney cartoon made after 1960)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Fight Club ("I'd fight William Shatner")
Die Hard
The Usual Suspects
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reservoir Dogs (City of Fire can kiss my fucking ass)
Sneakers
Full Metal Fucking Jacket
Fargo
First Blood
The Goonies
The Hunt for Red October
Lord of the Rings (all fucking 3, baby)
The Matrix
Dr. Strangelove
Dazed and Fucking Confused
2001: A Space Odyssey
Aliens
The Big Lebowski
Citizen Kane
Dances with Wolves
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
Goldfinger
The Blues Brothers
A Clockwork Orange

*pant pant pant*

That's all I can think of right now, and my fingers hurt.

Its one of my faves too but as I get older I find it more poignant and less upbeat - you?

A Hard Day's Night.