Ross: “Rachel claims this is her favorite movie.”
Chandler: “Dangerous Liaisons.”
Ross: “Correct. Her actual favorite movie is?”
Joey: “Weekend at Bernie’s.” From the Friends episode “The One with the Embryos”

I have, for a long time now, been trying to come up with a list of my top five favorite movies. I’ve been able to list favorite movies by category, but I’ve always been too wishy-washy to narrow the whole field down to just five. I finally decided, after having a conversation with someone about what my favorite movies are and flailing about, looking for an answer like someone without any intelligence, that I should just figure it out.

Sounds easy, right?

First, I had to figure out what makes a movie a true favorite. For some, it may be a movie that they’ve seen that’s a classic, or an Academy Award winner, (or both!), that they liked OK, and sounds good when asked. Or it could be a movie that’s been seen many times, to the point of being memorized. Or a movie that always makes you laugh…or cry, (if that’s what you’re looking for).

I finally decided that for me, a favorite movie is one I can watch over and over, and never get sick of. Something I can watch every month, (or maybe even every week, in extreme cases), and still want to watch again. Once I figured out this criteria, finding the movies to fit was easy!

• Apollo 13–This is my number one favorite movie ever.
• The King’s Speech–Such a moving story, and yet occasionally hilarious. Plus, I’ll never forget the correct pronunciation of “ma’am!”
• Ocean’s 11–The remake. I still haven’t gotten around to seeing the original.
• Hoosiers–This has been a favorite of mine for almost 20 years now, (or maybe it’s already been 20 years…man do I feel old!), and I still haven’t tired of it.
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding–This one almost got bumped in favor of Gone With the Wind, until I realized that as much as I love that movie, it’s way too depressing to watch frequently! Greek Wedding, in contrast, makes me laugh until I cry every time I see it!

That being said, I do reserve the right to also have a Christmas movies list. Christmas is so important to me, and there are so many good movie out there for that time of year, that they really have to be listed separately…it’s just the only fair way to do it! (Hey, they’re my lists–I can cheat a little if I want to!)

• White Christmas–This comes close to Apollo 13 in the favorite movie ever category!
• San Fransisco Ballet Nutcracker–I will confess to watching this year round, if only to fall asleep to the music.
• Elf–Bob Newhart as an elf. Ed Asner as Santa. What else is there to say?
• Muppet Christmas Carol–surprisingly faithful to the original story, and it has muppets in it!
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation–Hey, I need one guilty pleasure!