Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I remember being taken to see this film at the cinema. I was 10 years old and I fell deeply and irrevocably in love with Indiana Jones. The film had everything. Drama, spookiness, adventure, romance and a fantastic score. Everything. And I even loved the heroine - a truly worthy match for Indy. And what about the ending - was there ever a better ending to a film? What the hell was in those other boxes????
Up.
I love this film. It was the first film I took my son to the cinema to see and it was also the first film my daughter sat and watched all the way through, cuddled up on the sofa with me and her brother not moving once. It has the saddest, most bittersweet start to any kids film you could ever see and the most random assortment of character, but still manages to be truly uplifting. Beautifully animated with an amazing soaring orchestral soundtrack it is a wonderful film for all the family.
Uncle Buck.
This is frequently repeated on TV and every time I watch it with my husband we end up laughing. The downside is that upon meeting any annoying person with a facial growth we have an entirely un-pc urge to quote Uncle Buck by telling them to; "Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face". Fortunately I never have because that would just make me a very bad person.
When Harry Met Sally.
Just the perfect romcom, and the start to a huge girl-crush on Meg Ryan. My husband and I visited the famous Katz Deli when were on honeymoon (location for the faked orgasm scene). We got a bit scared by the huge choices on offer and the impatient, shouty New York deli staff so left without ordering anything, but I still managed to pay homage to Meg with a bit of a hair toss and a moan.
Gone With The Wind.
Unadulterated melodrama and tragedy. I first saw this when I was around 10 or 11 and my mum took me and a friend to see the film. She sat inbetween us and by the time of the interval (back in the days when there were such things) my friend and I had had sobbed so uncontrollably at Scarlett's civil war traumas that both of mum's sleeves were soaking and she was dreading the appearance of Bonny Blue Butler and her tragic demise in the second half. Scarlett has to be the ultimate heroine. Dazzling, beautiful, flawed and with a steely inner core. And the book isn't half bad too.
