Top Ten Favourite Movies

While writing is one of the best ways to share a story, movies also tell a compelling tale, and, as a writer, I've found I can learn a lot from watching films. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday subject is my top ten favourite movies. This was a very difficult list to make, because I have so many favourite movies and narrowing my options down to ten took a while. I watch a large variety of movies, from animated films, to superhero blockbusters and period drama mini-series.  Here are ten of my favourite movies, excluding whole series and, sadly, mini-series.

1. Beauty and the Beast 

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This is my absolute favourite movie, the only one I can watch three days in a row without getting bored of. It’s got everything I love most; a fairy tale plot line, songs that make you want to sing along with, a hilarious cast, and a loveable beast who often acts more like a child than a terrifying beast. I love everything about this film.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

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The best thing about this movie, apart from the fact that it’s about pirates has to be Captain Jack Sparrows. He’s crazy, clever, unlucky, and definitely one of the best main characters I’ve seen in a movie. I like all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but The Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favourites out of all of them.

3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

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The Hobbit: And Unexpected Journey is one of my favourites of The Lord of the Ring trilogies. It’s more light-hearted than the other movies, which makes it so much easier to sit down and watch casually. Bilbo Baggins makes a great main character, and the supporting cast of dwarves are surprisingly distinct considering the number of them (I still can’t remember all their names though.)

 

4. Megamind

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This movie is one big cliché turned on its head. It has the cliché invincible superhero, the villain gone bad when the world was against him, a devoted minion and a romantic interest who gets kidnapped all the time. And all this stuff is completely turned upside down and turned into an amazing movie just by making the bad guy the hero. It’s also got heaps of quotable lines, which I love.

5.Tangled

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Disney has always made amazing videos out of fairy tales, and this is one of my favourites. The characters all have amazing personalities, the animal characters are just as good as the human ones, the music is, of course, fantastic, and the actual adaptation from Rapunzel to Tangled is pretty much perfect. Plus there are frying pans.

6. Les Miserables

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I wasn’t sure at first whether I was going to like this movie. I tried reading the book and put down in the space of a few chapters. But, having the story set to music, and cutting out all the chapters of history really brings this story to life. I love all the songs, the drama of the historical time period, and especially the amazing characters.

7. Love Comes Softly

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This is a slightly older movie and an adaptation of a book. I read the book a while ago, and really enjoyed that, and I was very pleased to find that there was also a movie. While it deviates from the novel in several places, it doesn’t ruin the story at all. I really like the historical setting and the problems that arise from that. It’s a really sweet story.

8. The Avengers

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I am a big fan of superhero books and movies, and The Avengers is the ultimate superhero movie. It has not one, but several big name heroes, a massive global threat, a truly amazing villain, and answers the question of what would happen if you had to get several big heroes to work together. The answer is chaos, mayhem, and an epic battle scene or two.

9. Hercules

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It took me a long time to actually get around to seeing this movie, watching it for the first time this year. And now I regret that I didn’t see it years ago. There are so many awesome things in it, like the female lead Megara, Hades’ flaming hair, Pegasus, and the muses who turn up every now and again to explain ancient history or to join Hercules’ fan club.

10. Thor

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I’ve watched a lot of awesome superhero movies, and Thor is one of my favourites. Thor himself is so awkward when he first comes to Earth, and watching him make mistakes is very funny. Loki is one of the best villains I’ve ever seen. And Asgard and the Rainbow Bridge are all stunningly beautiful. All round, it makes for an amazing film. 

What is your favourite film? What genre do you prefer to watch? Have you got any good movies to recommend? Watched any of these movies? What have you learnt writing-wise from watching movies?