My Top Ten Most-Favorite Movies {at the moment & for some time now}

This is fairly self-explanatory. ;)

{However, I will point out that, as usual, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia don't make this list because they're kind of on this whole "other plane," in my mind, when it comes to fictional stories.  This list is for those movies that I watch regularly and am almost always in the mood for.  (And they're in no order. ;))}

✾ The Swan Princess ✾

How come?

• childhood nostalgia
• gorgeous animation
• SONGSSSSS <3
• This Is My Idea:  "What if Odette doesn't go for the merger?"   "Urge her!!!"
• Far Longer than Forever
• No Fear, etc.
• CHARACTERSSSSSS <3 <3
• Jean-Bob, Mr. Lorenzo Trudge-along ("Friends call me Speed"), Puffin, Odette, Derek (bless his heart), Uberta, Rothbart, Rogers . . . 
• also, for the record, those names ^^
  
• witty lines
• "I'm gonna die; I knew it!  I'm on a mission with a lame turtle!"
• "You should write a book: 'How to Offend Women in Five Syllables or Less.'"
• "Acknowledge.  ACKnowlEDGE!"
• "Duck!"  "What?"
• "This kind of thing doesn't bring me any pleasure.  Well, maybe a teensy bit, but--"
• the traditional Swan Lake but lighter and happier and altogether more fun
• one of probably only two or three on the list that I will actually, regularly turn to when I'm feeling sad

✾ The Parent Trap ✾

How come?

• everythiiiiiiinnnngggggggg
• *sigh*  Okay, I will be coherent.
• great characters
• Chessy deserves her own mention
• so does Martin
• so do all of them honestly
• again, childhood nostalgia
• fun locations
• the balancing act of sufficiently exploring all those different relationships (Annie/Hallie, Nick/Lizzie, Annie/Hallie/Nick/Lizzie,  etc.) so that we're invested in each (which the makers did successfully!)
• classic (but modern) feel
• the SOUNDTRACK, HELLO 
• "Here Comes the Sun," "There She Goes," "L-O-V-E-," "Never Let You Go" . . . honestly it all makes me so happy <3
• another one that truly does cheer me up when I'm down

✾ My Fair Lady ✾

How come?

• Audrey Hepburn
• m u s i c 
• seriously the music is great
• Rex Harrison (the man deserved that Oscar SO MUCH, I'm so glad he won it)
• c o s t u m e s
• Higgins's lines
• "What, that thing?  Sacred, I assure you."
• any of his spoken-sung song lyrics ever
• s e t s 
• Colonel Pickering and Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins
• honestly Eliza Doolittle is my dream role

✾ Penelope ✾

How come?

• not to be dramatic or anything, but THIS COUPLE IS MY LIFE
• I mean not really but kinda
• Penelope herself is sassy and adorable
• Johnny himself is sassy and adorable
• the dialogue
• the quirky color palette + aesthetic
• seriously like the Gothic family estate and Penelope's happy room and then the greasy newspaper offices and then the bubbly nighttime fair in the park, and just . . . *happy sigh*
• all the secondary characters: the parents ("I think your father could use some cocoa, too!"), Annie ("I'm done dating crazy--done.  Unless it's meant to be, right?"), Lemon ("Edward . . . don't lick Max."), etc.
• the "You Are My Sunshine" scene

✾ Letters to Juliet ✾

How come?

• the banter between Charlie and Sophie is everything
• Case in point:  "Forgive me.  Where are my manners?"  "You know, I've been wondering that since I met you."
• Claire is a lovely presence as well 
• "Okay, darling, have a good sleep."
• (and the actors for Claire and Lorenzo are married in real life <3)
• almost all of it takes place in Italy, and it's loverly (plus the soundtrack features a bunch of Italian tunes)
• Sophie's outfits are cute
• Victor is adorable, and the fact that he's a chef makes for some fun foodie aspects
• it's happy and sweet

✾ Broken Trail ✾

How come?

• my favorite Western
• Tom Harte.  That is all.
• Also Print Ritter.  And Sun Fu.  And Nola Johns.  And Heck Gilpin.  Those are all, too.
• THE STORY IS JUST SO POWERFUL I CANNOT ACK *cries a little*
• It's vahry intense.  Like, sometimes a little too intense for regular consumption.
• But it's still amazing and it's stayed with me for some little while, after multiple rewatches.
• TOM AND SUN FU
• THE STAGECOACH SCENE
• THE SNOWFLAKES
• THE HAND

✾ Wives and Daughters ✾

How come?

• the characters are all so flawed, but (most of them) are also so endearing
• Molly is almost perfect--she really kind of "makes" the show
• Cynthia gets too much flak; she's not perfect but she has her reasons for being the way she is, and even if that doesn't excuse some of her behavior, it does deserve recognition
• Hyacinth is hilarious
• Mr. Gibson really irritates me but my parents like him so we have a little argument every time
• but anyway
• there's not really a villain??
• I mean, Hyacinth has her problematic moments, and so does Squire Hamley
• Preston is probably the closest to a villain, but I don't think he really is one.  I like how they portray his character.
• I like that it's a miniseries, because miniseries = more time spent in the story, obviously
• pwetty settings
• the development of Roger and Molly's relationship is really sweet
• I love that it portrays just the normal, tedious, tension-fraught little moments of everyday life & living
• I don't know, it's hard to describe--there's just something about it that feels homey and sweet and a little achy 

✾ The Philadelphia Story ✾

How come?

• my favorite black-and-white movie
• this script is kind of the best thing ever, no joke
• "Oh, we're going to talk about me, are we?  Goody."
• "Just Damon and Pythias."  "No, Grant and Lee."
• "You hate me, I trust, Miss Imbrie."  "No, I'm just a photographer; I can't afford to hate anybody."
• "It's a quaint old place, don't you think?  Filled with relics.  And how old are you, Mr. Connor?"
• "That's probably so they can talk to the horses without having them in the house."
• I love Katharine Hepburn, especially in this
• I also love Cary Grant, especially in this
• Jimmy Stewart isn't a bad addition, either ;)
• I like the premise and how it plays out meanderingly across the whole movie
• the "morning after"/wedding scene is adorable
• Seth Lord is still a little rat, though

✾ Sense and Sensibility {2008} ✾

How come?

• kind of every little thing about the way it's put together is perfect and gorgeous
• like, almost every shot, almost every camera angle, almost every costume
• the four main principals are wonderful, but honestly the whole entire cast is great too
• especially Mrs. Dashwood and Margaret
• the setting of Dashwoods' new cottage is GOOOOORGEOUSSSSSSSSS
• all those rolling, towering cliffs and that crashing surf and those tiny little pools and the smoothness of the pebble beach and the mossy woods and just
• Edward and Brandon are two wonderful fictional human men
• (Like, honestly, Edward gets flak sometimes and I know he made a hasty decision with Lucy but does it really make him weak-willed or a villain??!  I think not.  I think not indeed, sir.)
• Elinor is a queen
• the way they have the "Next" and "Previously" montages at the end and beginning of the episodes
• that musical score, tho
• THE BALLROOM SCENE WHEN BRANDON BASICALLY MELTS WILLOUGHBY RIGHT INTO THE FLOOR BY THE STRENGTH OF HIS GLARE ALONE

✾ You've Got Mail ✾

How come?

• Kathleen Kelly is an absolutely adorable creature
• I mean
• her little prancing/shuffling walk when she's feeling playful or whimsical
• her apartment
• the scene when she's sick 
• Joe is great, also
• like for one thing, I love the way he reacts to things:  " . . . And getting those eggs harvested."
• Frank and George and Christina and Gertie and everybody else are awesome too
• I really love how this movie depicts the change in seasons in New York: peppy fall, melancholy winter, white-blossomed spring
• them lines, though
• "You probably rented those children."
• "I was eloquent! [forceful expletive]"
• "Don't you love New York in the fall?  It always makes me want to buy school supplies."
• and so on and so forth

What are your favorite movies, or some of them?