Mary Bertelson's Top Ten Movie List

1. "Star Wars"
   The first and the best. I've loved all the the episodes in the series but none has captured my attention like the first one.
   
   
2. "Patton"
   I was a teen-ager when this came out and leaving the theater I knew that George C. Scott would get the Best Actor Oscar. His performance just blew me away.
   
   
3. "Alien"
   The first of the series. I think there are still marks in the theater seat arm rests from me gripping them so hard. This was the first movie in my life (and I was well into adulthood) that actually scared me so much, I almost left.
   
   
4. "Ladyhawke"
   Michele Pfieffer in an early role, Mathew Broderick for comic relief, and Rutgar Hauer on that black horse. One of the few fantasy movies that Hollywood actually got right. I watch it when I need to lift my spirits.
   
   
5. "Casablanca" and/or "The African Queen
   OK, I'm slipping two into one slot. I love just about all of Bogart's movies, but these are standouts.
   
   
6. "What's Up Doc"
   I've never really liked Barbra Streisand or Ryan O'Neal all that much, but this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.
   
   
7. "Jane Eyre"
   The version with Timothy Dalton as Rochester (not the abomination with William Hurt or the just OK one with George C. Scott). Charlotte Bronte's book has never been done better. I once watched it twice on the same day and it's 4 hours long!
   
   
8. "Shindler's List"
   Steven Spielberg finally got the recognition he should have had for The Color Purple. The use of black and white photography (with one tiny bit of color to bring the horror of the story home) was stunning. Liam Neeson gives a remarkable performance as the ordinary man who single-handedly saved a lot of people from the Holocaust.
   
   
9. "The Silence of the Lambs"
   Who can overlook the man you never want to invite over for dinner.
   
   
10. "Hamlet"
    The Olivier version is impressive and the Mel Gibson one isn't bad, but the Kenneth Brannagh one is the best. It's one of the few times the play was done in its entirety. This changes it from a family squabble to a political struggle with the barbarians (or at least Fortinbras and his army) literally at the gate. The "To Be or Not To Be" speech placed in the Hall of Mirrors was a wonderful piece of staging.