Ah, good topic, thanks for bringing it back, Rosie, I woulda missed it!
I'm a bit older than most here, so here's my favorites, most of which I doubt you've even heard of!
1. Dirty Harry (1971). (Clint Eastwood...do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, DO ya? Bad-a**, streetwise LA homicide cop goes up against a shadowy psycho killer named Scorpio (based on the famous still-uncaught Zodiac killer and played brilliantly by Andy Robinson) while bucking the system at every chance he gets. He breaks the rules constantly and tells his boss, the Chief of Police and the Mayor to get ****ed all the time, because he's not the type to let mere laws get in his way of getting punks off the streets. He's got a job to do and he's bad-a** enough to get it done, HIS way, with his longbarrel 44 Magnum).
2. The Shining. (Jack Nicholson gets a job as a winter caretaker at a haunted, lonely hotel and becomes possessed by the evil spirits. Two REALLY creepy little ghost girls hang out in the hallways always giving Jack's lil son a few premature white hairs as he cruises the creepy, empty halls on his big wheel).
3. Neil Simon's 'Murder By Death' ( A parody of detective mysteries, an all-star cast. All the famous detectives of the day are invited to 'dinner and a murder' at a rich dudes' mansion, with a million bucks going to the one who solves it. It has Peter Sellers, David Niven, Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, Elsa Lanchester, James Coco, Nancy Walker, Estelle Winwood, Alec Guiness as Jamessir Bensonmum the blind butler, and a rare appearance on film by Truman Capote as the guy who sets it all up. All the detectives are take offs on actual detectives, like Ms. Jessica Marbles is really Agatha Cristie's Miss Marple, Peter Sellers is Sidney Wang, really Charlie Chan, etc....).
4. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World.(Another all-star comedian cast. 'Smiler' Grogan stole a few hundred thousand in a heist and hides the money, keeping his secret all through his jail time. When released from jail, he ends up driving his car off a cliff while being chased by cops who are shadowing him to try and get the money back and a bunch of regular shmoes driving by who see the accident go down to see if they can help the guy after the crash. Smiler tells these folks of the money then kicks the bucket (literally) and the race is ON to Santa Rosita park to score the cash. All they know is it's 'hidden beneath a giant 'w''. Complete insanity follows as they all try and be first to get to the park, while the cops are secretly tailing them all the whole time. Spencer Tracy is the head cop, but he got screwed in his retirement, is henpecked at home beyond belief and secretly plans to find the money himself and hoof it to Mexico. Too many greats to list, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Jonathon Winters, Sid Ceaser, Ethel Merman, Don Knotts, Spencer Tracy, Buddy Hacket, Mickey Rooney, Terry-Thomas, Jim Backus, **** Shawn.....one of the greatest all-time comedies ever made...)
5. Wow, hard to pick only 5.....guess I'll have to go with the war classics..a tie between 'Where Eagles Dare' (1968) and "The Battle of the Bulge' (1965). Great war action with fantastic all-star casts! Made back before movie making turned into a big bunch of greedy money making, back when plot and talent made the movie, not hype and gore.
All-time favorite TV show, The Black Adder series with Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, a true English comedy classic. Blackadder I wasn't that funny, but II, III and IV (Goes Forth) are some of the funniest sarcastic comedy ever written. After ol Edmund comes a bunch of Adult Swim shows like the Aqua Teens, Harvey Birdman, Sealab 2021, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Minoriteam, Stroker and Hoop, Perfect Hair Forever, Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast...all great, really twisted stuff!
And special mention to Rob Reiner's 'This Is Spinal Tap', my all-time favorite take-off comedy (crank that amp up to 11!) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, one of the top ten greatest comedies ever made, in my opinion...
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