Spending so much time being able to watch television and movies more I found myself pondering this question. I sent out a group text to my brother and sister in-law wondering how different our choices were going to be. Also secretly gearing up to make fun of my sister in-law for her Disney picks. She hasn’t seen a lot of movies and growing up if it was Disney they really weren’t allowed to watch it.  So, just how many Disney ones did she pick? Only one! Her picks were The Little Mermaid, The Hunger Games (she loved the books so this was not a surprise), and Dirty Dancing. I loved Dirty Dancing and she was a year old when it came out.

My Top 3

My Three movies were pretty easy and I didn’t even have to think about it. I did say of all time and while none of my movies are newer ones it doesn’t mean there haven’t been some pretty amazing movies. These are just my all time favorites that I will watch again and again. 

Amadeus (1984)

This is the story of Mozart as told by Antonio Salieri who was another composer that not only was deeply jealous of Mozart but claims to have murdered him. It is of course not known if he actually did as he suffered a mental breakdown when he made that claim. My father rented this movie when it came out because I loved Mozart’s music and I was enthralled. Let me tell if F. Murray Abraham’s portrayal of Salieri was beyond perfect then Tom Hulce’s as Mozart takes the cake. 

I can still hear the laugh that Hulce has as Mozart. It is a sound that I have always associated with Mozart and there is something uplifting about it whenever I hear it. This movie defined my childhood. I was eight when it came out and it was the movie that drove my desire to learn to play the piano and my love for music. To this day I will listen to Mozart anytime I am feeling down and it will life me right up.

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

Unless you have been living under a rock then you already know this is the story of Luke Skywalker who  joins forces with Obi-Wan, Han Solo. Chewbacca, C-3P0, and R2D2 to save the galaxy from the Empire’s world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from Darth Vader. 

This came out the year after I was born but let me tell you when I was growing up this was the best sci-fi movie out there. I remember my parents renting a VCR (those things that played movies and yes you could rent the machine because they were expensive to buy at the time) and renting this movie for us to watch. We all piled on their bed with popcorn and watched this movie. It is one of the first where I found my love for science fiction and imagined what it would be like to live in space. Although it was just called Star Wars when it was released in 1977. It didn’t get the title of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope until 1981 when it was re-released in theaters.

Streets of Fire

Okay this cult classic is the story of a mercenary hired to rescue his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a motorcycle gang. It is a rock ‘n roll fable and the music is awesome!It stars Michael Paré, Diane Lane, and Willem Dafoe with plenty of other famous secondary characters.

It’s gritty and misunderstood in my opinion. It’s more of a comic book action movie. It was set up to be the first of three movies but sadly it didn’t do well commercially and the other two never came about. It is sort of an old Hollywood western and 50’s movie clash. You either love it or hate it. I loved it. It has that Blade Runner (another movie I love) feel. Like nothing is real but you want to be a part of it all anyway.

Those are the three movies I will watch again and again. Of course there are plenty of others that I love. The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, Spartacus, Cleopatra, The Bible, to name a few. As you can tell I love old movies far more than newer ones. My brother’s picks were totally different from mine but I wondered if we might have had one or two that were the same. His picks were Smokey and the Bandit, Days of Thunder, and Kelly’s Heroes. Although he did say it was hard to select just three because there are so many that he enjoys.

What are you three favorite movies of all time?