johnlink movies – DESERT ISLAND FILMS
Here are my 8 films for the excellent DESERT ISLAND FILMS series run by headinavice.com! I’ve linked to my article about the film when applicable.
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These appear in no particular order:
This was my first favorite film, and one to which I will always return. This is a movie which fills so many categories: adventure, romance, comedy, and fantasy. Such a joy!
BECAUSE: A list of 8 movies for the rest of your life requires some whimsy.
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There has to be a Bogart film on my list, and (with apologies to the superior CASABLANCA) my choice has to be MALTESE FALCON. Just so watchable, so enjoyable, and so well toned. Love this movie!
BECAUSE: I couldn’t live forever without some Bogart.
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LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) (since I don’t have an article up for this, here is a link to the IMDB page)
I’m going to pick this even though I have never seen it. The way I look at it, I’d want at least one new experience on my desert island. Something I could save until that depressing day when I need a bit of NEW. So why not a four hour film widely regarded to be one of the best of all time? I’ll take the risk that I don’t like it, because I think it is a small risk to take.
BECAUSE: Everybody needs something they have never seen.
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The way I see it, if I spend the next several decades watching this movie maybe I’ll actually understand all of it (which I don’t) AS WELL as enjoy it (which I already do).
BECAUSE: This list needs something to activate the brain!
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This is a movie I’ve seen literally hundreds of times, and which I will still watch at the mere suggestion of doing so. If there is one movie on the list which I know will never, ever get old, it is GHOST BUSTERS for sure.
BECAUSE: Comedy perfection will brighten a life of isolation.
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MONSTERS INC (2001) (since I don’t have an article up for this, here is a link to the IMDB page)
This was a tough one to pick. I knew I needed an animated film on this list, and picking which one was a tough task. While I love ALADDIN and every Pixar film not called CARS, I think MONSTERS INC. has to be the choice, because it is just such a fulfilling experience.
BECAUSE: Maybe one of those doors will lead to my island…
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I was going to pick THE THING, but I figured that John Carpenter’s masterpiece was a little too nihilistic for someone isolated on a desert island. Instead, I went with the film overshadowed by THE MATRIX, but which is a very superior film. Looking down the list, every other entry is a little too bright. Sometimes DARK CITY will fill a certain mood, without making me want to kill myself at the end.
BECAUSE: The list absolutely needs a horror/sci-fi entry, and this is one of the best ever in that category.
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THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
How to fill that last spot? I have covered myriad genres: comedy, epic, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. And because the list is half full of fun stuff (I include MALTESE FALCON as fun), I’m not afraid to go heavy to finish it off. I thought about USUAL SUSPECTS, but leave it off only because SHAWSHANK is a perfectly themed film for this experiment. Since my plane crashed and I floated onto the island, I’ll have dreamed of escape by any means possible. The island may have turned me into a survivalist, but I’ll have to hold out hope that one day I can overcome and escape; to come out the other end of the shit-tube a better person.
BECAUSE: Yeah, I think it would be fair to say: I liked Andy from the start.
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Book: DARK TOWER
I am so going to cheat here and say that there is, somewhere, a book with the entire Stephen King DARK TOWER series as one long-ass book. Is that fair? Is that cheating? I don’t care. As ruler of my island, I declare it legal.
BECAUSE: Just the sheer number of pages makes it worthwhile. And while there are certainly better books in a literary sense, I very much enjoy the meandering journey of Roland and co.
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Inanimate Object: Fishing pole.
BECAUSE: A man’s gotta eat.
johnlinkmovies 
Great choices, John, but I would have to include Highlander on my Desert Island List.