As promised, here’s my list of Movie Marathons!

Here’s the link to the list of film genres that I used for this post: Film Site – Main Film Genres.

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I’ll admit, this was a really tough post to write. It’s taken me nearly two full months to go through these genres and narrow down these lists to 3-5 movies per genre. Through this process, I also made sure to not exclusively list any full series/trilogies, although it was very tempting!

I’ve always liked movies. I’m one of those people who can watch certain movies more than once. I’m excited to watch a lot of these movies again because of this post.

Let me know what you think! Comments are always welcome, and appreciated!

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Without further ado, here they are!

Action

GoldenEye (1995)

Die Hard (1988)

Batman (1989)

GoldenEye is one of my all-time favorite 007 movies. It’s probably because it’s one of the first Bond movies that I saw from beginning to end. Brosnan isn’t my favorite Bond, however. I love Sean Connery and Daniel Craig.

Bruce Willis absolutely delivers in Die Hard. And Alan Rickman – Need I say more? I’ve seen the entire series.

Batman. My first true introduction was the The Dark Knight trilogy in theaters, but this one takes the cake. I wish I could have seen this in the theaters. Michael Keaton is amazing, Jack Nicholson gave me nightmares for a while, and his Batmobile is bad-ass.

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Adventure

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

The Perfect Storm (2000)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Apollo 13 (1995)

To me, there are only four true Star Wars movies, for now. I have seen all of them under that name, however. I can’t remember the first time I saw Episode IV, but I loved the adventurous spirit from the beginning.

For some reason, I enjoy most disaster movies. The Perfect Storm is one of my favorites. A grand adventure trying to catch fish turns tragic.

I love the Pirates series. Seeing this in high school, I wanted to sail to the Caribbean too. And Johnny Depp was the perfect choice.

I saw Apollo 13 from beginning to end for the first time about 15 years after it premiered. I’m a sucker for movies based on true stories. The casting was great too.

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Comedy

Ghostbusters (1984)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Airplane! (1980)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Coming to America (1988)

I’ve dressed up as a Ghostbuster, and I’ve been to the firehouse in New York where the movies have been filmed! One of my favorite movies, hands down. I can’t wait to show Ghostbusters to my kids.

I was skeptical of Blazing Saddles, at first. But I love Mel Brooks and his brilliant mind!

I love Leslie Nieslen, but I didn’t see Airplane! for the first time until Al and I started dating. I think we watched it together right before or right after he passed away in November 2010.

I love all of John Hughes’ movies. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an excellent choice. Matthew Broderick is amazing!

Coming to America is another movie I hadn’t seen until Al and I got together. We watched it on a Sunday night about a year ago and I loved it. Eddie Murphy has several great movies from the 1980s and 1990s, but this is one I will watch over and over.

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Crime & Gangster

JFK (1991)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Departed (2006)

This is one of Kevin Costner’s best movies. Like I said, I’m a big fan of historical movies and those based on true stories. If  you haven’t seen it, JFK is one of those that you should watch.

I’ve enjoyed most of Stephen King’s books, and Shawshank is one of the best movie adaptations.

I wasn’t sure about The Departed. I’m not a big fan of violence, but I gave this one a shot (No pun intended). It was tough to get through, but it left an impression on me.

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Drama

All The President’s Men (1976)

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

The Pelican Brief (1993)

October Sky (1999)

This was one of the toughest ones to narrow down. I’ve watched so many movies on their genre list!

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman make a great team in All The President’s Men. Neither Al nor I had seen it before we watched it together a couple years ago, despite hearing about it. It won’t disappoint!

To Kill A Mockingbird is based on the great book. Gregory Peck is a perfect choice.

Al had not seen The Pelican Brief before we watched it together recently – A rare feat for me! John Grisham is one of my favorite authors, and he’s part of the inspiration for me studying to be a paralegal. This is one of the best movie adaptations of his books.

October Sky is based on another book, and a true story – Do you see a trend? I fell in love with Jake Gyllenhaal, and I wanted to learn more about the author’s history, having extended family from West Virginia.

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Epics / Historical

Jurassic Park (1993)

The Mummy (1999)

The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

King Kong (2005)

Australia (2008)

I remember being terrified by The Lost World and Jurassic Park as a kid. Now, it’s one of my favorite movies. I even learned the theme and played it as my solo for my last high school orchestra concert.

I didn’t see The Mummy in the theaters, but I’ve seen it several times. I love Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Check it out!

It was tough to narrow down The Lord of the Rings movies – They’re all awesome. The first one is my favorite.

Some people may scoff, but I like the way King Kong turned out. It definitely has the feel of the older movies.

Australia is memorable for me because I went to see it with my friend Shelby, smack in the middle of final exams! Since then, I’ve always admired Baz Luhrmann’s movies.

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Horror

Psycho (1960)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Birds (1963)

Horror movies are not my thing. These are the only three that I can think of that I have enjoyed.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors/producers. Psycho and The Birds were the two of his movies that truly scared me.

Just thinking of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal gives me the creeps.

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Musicals / Dance

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Grease (1978)

Footloose (1984)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Al and I dressed up as Elwood and Jake a few years ago for Halloween. I love the music and the story, even though it’s about criminals.

The music from Grease always gets me energized.

I’ve always sang along to Footloose, although I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t see the original until 2011. I enjoyed the remake as well – Al was such a good sport and went to see it with me!

Ah, Dirty Dancing. I’ve been to the resort in Virginia where it was filmed! Patrick Swayze was one of the best – May he rest in peace.

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Science Fiction

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Tron (1982)

Contact (1997)

Like Jurassic Park, I was terrified of E.T., at first. I remember my parents had a VHS copy that was black and green. I watched it – and then didn’t watch it again for years. I think I watched it again after going to Universal Studios and riding the E.T. ride.

I had never seen Tron until Al and I started dating. I really enjoyed it! We liked the reboot/sequel, too.

Same thing with Contact, but it’s one of my favorite movies now. I immediately connected the radio telescope from GoldenEye, and I fell hard after that.

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War

Casablanca (1942)

Top Gun (1986)

Patriot Games (1992)

Casablanca is a classic. If you haven’t seen it, well …You should!

I always get a thrill when I see movies with our U.S. military. I’m partial to the Coast Guard, but Top Gun is one of the best with Navy pilots.

Tom Clancy was one of the best writers. Harrison Ford plays a great Jack Ryan! Patriot Games is one of my favorites.

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Westerns

Maverick (1994)

Hidalgo (2004)

Back to the Future, Part III (1990)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Like many of the movies mentioned, I hadn’t seen Maverick until Al and I started dating. We watched it on TV with his parents. I’ve noticed a trend, too – I really Jodie Foster movies!

Hidalgo is one of the only Westerns I’ve seen in the theaters. It was impressive, although I was sensitive to the horse!

You may scoff, but I really like Back to the Future Part III with its Wild West theme!

My mom and I watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid together, years ago, before Paul Newman died. I’m not a huge Western fan, but this one, it’s good.

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What did you think? Did one of your favorites not make the list? Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂