We've all had this conversation, if you were stranded on a desert island and could bring one movie with you, which one would it be? Well, for this thread, let's pick a movie from every genre. We'll keep the genres broad and not get too nitpicky like your favorite post modern horror. It'll just be horror. I'm curious to see what people's favorites are. And try to write at least a sentence on why, not just the title. So, here's the categories:

HORROR
DRAMA
ACTION
COMEDY
SCI-FI
MUSICAL
WESTERN

Are these broad enough? Am I missing an obvious one? I'll put mine up later. Just wanted to get a thread started.

I wouldn't pick desert island movies based on represented genres though. If I could have seven, more than one of them would be a "drama." I would gladly sacrifice the "horror" and "western" slots for more dramas.

That said, Amadeus would be a drama. Off the top of my head, I would probably pick Sideways for the comedy (a debatable assignment of genre, but close enough) and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for a musical.

Also, since we are talking about a desert island here, I would think there would need to be a PORN category as well.

porn

/obvious

I'll play.

HORROR - Magic
DRAMA - The Conversation
ACTION - To Live & Die in LA
COMEDY - Duck Soup
SCI-FI - Planet of the Apes
MUSICAL - Pink Floyd The Wall
WESTERN - The Quick & The Dead (Raimi)

Jules starts threads so rarely that I'd feel bad if I didn't throw up a post for him...

HORROR - The Thing (1982)
DRAMA - Mulholland Dr.
ACTION - Death Wish III
COMEDY - Three Amigos
SCI-FI - Aliens
MUSICAL - Singin' in the Rain
WESTERN - Once Upon a Time in the West

HORROR - The Thing
DRAMA - Shawshank Redemption
ACTION - Shogun Assassin
COMEDY - Friday
SCI-FI - Starship Troopers
MUSICAL - The Lion King (not sure if it counts)
WESTERN - Pale Rider

If I couldn't sacrifice my Horror pick for another Drama, I would probably pick The Thing as well.

I'm sure my answers will change if I start thinking about it but right now:

HORROR - Jaws (debatable if this is Horror but whatever)
DRAMA - Lawrence of Arabia
ACTION - The Rock
COMEDY - Airplane!
SCI-FI - The Abyss
MUSICAL - I'll never watch a musical more than once so I'm going to stick Seven Samurai in the Moulin Rouge DVD case and hope no one notices...
WESTERN - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Horror - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
Drama - Barry Lyndon
Action - Wages of Fear
Comedy - The Producers
Sci Fi - Alien
Musical - Singin' in the Rain
Western - Red River

HORROR - The Shining
DRAMA - The Godfather
ACTION - Raiders of the Lost Ark
COMEDY - Blazing Saddles
SCI-FI - 2001: A Space Odyssey
MUSICAL - Meet Me In St. Louis
WESTERN - The Wild Bunch

and since we're missing a genre, I'll throw this out there:
ANIMATION - Fantasia

HORROR- PSYCHO
DRAMA- The Godfather
ACTION- Raiders of the Lost Ark
COMEDY- Monty Python and The Holy Grail
SCI-FI- Back To The Future
MUSICAL- A Hard Day's Night
WESTERN- Seven Samurai
FOREIGN LANGUAGE- Le Quai des brumes
ANIMATED- Spirited Away

Okay, Animation was definitely missing. I guess if you have a favorite porn title, go ahead and name it but watching sand crabs doing it on the beach would be good enough for me.

Horror: Dawn of the Dead(original)-Even though it doesn't really scare me anymore. It's a ton of fun and a favorite.

Drama: Pulp Fiction-Not really a drama but I would have a hard time classifying it as any particular genre. I guess it would've closest to drama and I must bring it.

Action: Raiders of the Lost Ark- It's between this and Die Hard but Raiders is more joyful I think. It would help get me through the days.

Comedy: Anchorman-It's just so fucking silly.

Science Fiction: Twelve Monkeys- I really like Twelve Monkeys. Plus it has some scenes from Vertigo in it so I can take some Hitchcock as well.

Musical: Singing in the Rain-It's great, that's why.

Western: For a Few Dollars More-Always liked it slightly more than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Animation: Up- The opening kills me. It would be this or Pinocchio but if I were by myself, Up would remind me of my wife since it is special to us.

P.S.-Thanks for responding to one of my rare threads, Killer Cannibal. Finding Bigfoot would be easier than finding a Jules thread.

You left off porn. Which is important on a desert island.

HORROR - The Silence of the Lambs
DRAMA - The Right Stuff
ACTION - Raiders of the Lost Ark
COMEDY - The Jerk
SCI-FI - The Matrix
MUSICAL - The Nightmare Before Christmas
WESTERN - The Outlaw Josey Wales

Does that mean you're not going to post your list?

My favorite desert island movies:

Robinson Crusoe
Hell in the Pacific
Swiss Family Robinson
Blue Lagoon
umm Return to the Blue Lagoon

HORROR - 'Let The Right One In'
DRAMA - 'It's A Wonderful Life'
ACTION - 'The Wild Bunch'
COMEDY - 'A Christmas Story'
SCI-FI - 'Stalker'
MUSICAL - 'The Wizard of Oz'
WESTERN - 'Shane'
ANIMATION - 'Finding Nemo'

No categories for me. Just my top movies:

Star Wars / The Empire Strikes Back
Jaws
Superman: The Movie
Goodfellas
Rocky / Rocky II / Rocky III

These are the first that came to mind. It could probably change at the drop of a hat.


HORROR - Dawn of the Dead

DRAMA - Taxi Driver

ACTION - Die Hard

COMEDY - Raising Arizona

SCI-FI - Alien

MUSICAL - The Wizard of Oz

WESTERN - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Horror- John Carpenter's The Thing
Drama-Taxi Driver
Action- Aliens
Comedy-Young Frankenstein
Sci-Fi- Blade Runner
Musical-Singin' in The Rain
Western- Once Upon A Time in The West
Animated- Monsters Inc.
Superhero- The Avengers

Castaway?

If I was stuck on a desert island, I'm sure I would spend a lot of time in the water. As good as Jaws is, I'm not sure I would want to be reminded so often about sharks.

Since animation was added after I replied, I'd be tempted to say The Incredibles but I'd probably actually go with Watership Down (1978).

HORROR-The Thing (1982)
DRAMA-Pulp Fiction
ACTION-Raiders of the Lost Ark
COMEDY-The Big Lebowski
SCI-FI-Back to the Future
MUSICAL-South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut
WESTERN-Unforgiven

HORROR - The Mummy (1932) - Karloff the Uncanny!
DRAMA - Hamlet (1996) - Kenneth Branagh version
ACTION - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Errol Flynn
COMEDY - Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
SCI-FI - The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
MUSICAL - Not a big fan of musicals, but if I have to pick one, Showboat (1936) - Paul Robeson
WESTERN - The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) - "By what name are you called?"

Honestly, I can't pick just one for most of these categories...

HORROR - Jaws; Aliens
DRAMA - The Big Sleep; Goodfellas
ACTION - Die Hard; Dr. No
COMEDY - I don't know, Office Space, maybe
SCI-FI - Star Trek II TWOK; Forbidden Planet
MUSICAL - The Blues Brothers
WESTERN - Open Range; Warlock

Superhero - Iron Man; Spider Man 2