Memorable Movies

Over the years, I would say that well over 95 percent of what I have posted at Birds Etcetera has had to do with birds in one fashion or another. Today, for a change, I am invoking my privilege of indulging in the “Etcetera” side of this blog.

I here present a list of 75 movies that I can remember watching (some more than once) that made an indelible impression on me for one reason or another. Other movies could have been listed (I’m sure that I’m overlooking a few memorable ones), but these are the ones that stand out at this particular moment in time. They are listed chronologically in the order in which they were released, which more or less approximates the order in which I would have viewed them.

In reviewing the list, I am struck by three things: (1) the relatively large number of musicals, (2) the lack of movies about sports of any kind, and (3) only one movie about birds!

• 1947 – Miracle on 34th Street
  
• 1950 – Harvey
  
• 1958 – Vertigo
  
• 1959 – A Summer Place [the movie my parents wished they hadn’t taken me to see]
  
• 1960 – Inherit the Wind
  
• 1961 – Breakfast at Tiffany's
  
• 1961 – West Side Story
  
• 1963 – The Birds
  
• 1963 – Lilies of the Field
  
• 1963 – The Pink Panther
  
• 1964 – Goldfinger
  
• 1964 – My Fair Lady
  
• 1965 – The Loved One
  
• 1965 – What's New Pussycat?
  
• 1966 – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  
• 1967 – The Graduate
  
• 1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• 1969 – Easy Rider
  
• 1969 – Paint Your Wagon [my all-time favorite]
  
• 1969 – The Wild Bunch
  
• 1969 – They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
  
• 1970 – Catch-22
  
• 1970 – Little Big Man
  
• 1970 – Mash
  
• 1971 – A Clockwork Orange
  
• 1971 – Dirty Harry
  
• 1971 – Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
  
• 1972 – Deliverance
  
• 1972 – Deep Throat
  
• 1974 – Blazing Saddles
  
• 1977 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  
• 1977 – Star Wars
  
• 1978 – Grease
  
• 1979 – Alien
  
• 1979 – The Muppet Movie
  
• 1980 – The Blues Brothers
  
• 1981 – Das Boot [German]
  
• 1982 – Eating Raoul
  
• 1983 – Never Cry Wolf
  
• 1984 – Amadeus
  
• 1985 – The Color Purple
  
• 1987 – Raising Arizona
  
• 1988 – Hairspray
  
• 1990 – Dances with Wolves
  
• 1990 – The Hunt for Red October
  
• 1991 – At Play in the Fields of the Lord
  
• 1991 – Closet Land
  
• 1992 – A River Runs through It
  
• 1992 – Medicine Man
  
• 1992 – Strictly Ballroom
  
• 1994 – Il Postino [Italian]
  
• 1995 – Braveheart
  
• 1995 – Mr. Holland’s Opus
  
• 1995 – Margaret's Museum
  
• 1995 – Twelve Monkeys
  
• 1996 – Fargo
  
• 1996 – Shall We Dance? [Japanese version]
  
• 1996 – The Wife
  
• 1997 – Men in Black
  
• 1997 – Ulee’s Gold
  
• 1999 – October Sky
  
• 2000 – O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  
• 2000 – Songcatcher
  
• 2000 – The Perfect Storm
  
• 2002 – Bowling for Columbine
  
• 2002 – Chicago
  
• 2002 – Till Human Voices Wake Us
  
• 2002 – Whale Rider
  
• 2003 – Cold Mountain
  
• 2003 – Open Water
  
• 2003 – The Snow Walker
  
• 2004 – A Love Song for Bobby Long
  
• 2004 – Fahrenheit 9/11
  
• 2006 – A Prairie Home Companion
  
• 2007 – Wild Hogs