What I Do When I’m Not Reading: Favorite Movies & TV Shows

July 15, 2014 Top Ten Tuesday, TV shows 19

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Top Ten Favorite Movies/TV Shows.

These are all movies or shows I’ve watched more than once — favorites I return to, rather than necessarily “best” in a critical sense. (“Best” would generate a different list, though there would be some cross-overs.)


MOVIES:

  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy
  • the Harry Potter movies (I can’t name a favorite. Prisoner of Azkaban comes close, though.)
  • the original Star Wars trilogy (now Episodes IV, V, and VI). Especially The Empire Strikes Back
  • The Sound of Music
  • Henry V (the Kenneth Brannagh version)
  • The Secret Garden (the one with Maggie Smith playing the housekeeper)
  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (one of my comfort movies!)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Beauty and the Beast (or maybe Tangled or Aladdin, for the Genie)

I left it at nine, because there were about 15 movies vying for the 10th slot, and frankly, I couldn’t choose between them. Mary Poppins? Stardust? The King’s Speech? The Princess Bride? Hunt for Red October? Apollo 13? Fiddler on the Roof? The Wizard of Oz? Too many good ones and no way to narrow it down.

TV SHOWS:

  • Sherlock 
  • Foyle’s War
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  • the Miss Marple series starring Joan Hickson
  • the Poirot mysteries with David Suchet
  • Campion
  • Cadfael
  • both Lord Peter Wimsey series (one with Ian Carmichael, and one with Edward Petherbridge)
  • West Wing  
  • Anne of Green Gables (TV movie)  

Yes, that’s eleven, if you’re counting. I figured I saved one on the movies, so I added an extra to TV.

And in case you’re wondering why Dr Who isn’t on there, it’s because I’ve only just started watching it (I’m still in season 2), so it isn’t yet one I watch and rewatch. Give me a year or two, and it will probably turn up on the top ten!
 

Related Posts

19 Responses to “What I Do When I’m Not Reading: Favorite Movies & TV Shows”

  1. Bea

    I haven’t watched many of your TV shows but we agree pretty much on movies. 🙂

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      Which shouldn’t surprise either of us – the movies, I mean! 🙂

      I do watch a lot of British TV, especially mysteries. I have a lot of those shows on DVD: the Miss Marples, the Campions, the Lord Peters, and the Cadfaels (actually those belong to my husband, but we share.) Oh, and Foyle’s War – those were presents to my husband, too.

  4. Katherine P

    Can anyone but David Suchet play Poirot? Every time I see anyone but him in the role it just seems wrong! Loved the first 2 Anne movies but hated #3. It just wasn’t Anne. I’ve been wanting to try Foyle’s War. I love Doctor Who but I’ve been watching it awhile. Season 2 is great and has one of my favorite episodes (the Madame du Pompadour) but I got kind of tired of Rose. I was never one that wanted a romance there.

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      The only one who has come even vaguely close for me was Albert Finney in the movie version of Murder on the Orient Express. And as good a character actor as he is, his Poirot doesn’t hold up to Suchet’s. Suchet is frankly amazing. Have you ever seen any of the interviews where he talks about being Poirot? You can watch him put on the mannerisms right there.

      I haven’t even seen the third Anne movie. I was too mad at all the changes in the second one, and they were clearly taking humongous liberties with the third, so I avoided it. But I love the first one, and the second one is good as long as I overlook the changes.

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      We’re big-time PBS fans here. Unfortunately, we gave up cable a year or so ago, so I have to either catch things when PBS streams them or wait until they’re available through Netflix or Amazon. (NF has better picture quality.) I’ll probably watch Downton Abbey at some point, because Maggie Smith (and period drama and all that); I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

  7. Jennifer

    I’m so excited to see Star Trek: NG on here…I love finding re-runs of that show on BBC or Syfy. I’ll have to check out the Miss Marple series and Foyle’s War. For movies, yeah for LoTR, HP, and all the Disney ones!

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      Netflix has all the STNG episodes on streaming. (We have the DVDs, but sometimes it’s just as easy to stream them.) Foyle’s War is amazing. Michael Kitchen is one of the best actors I’ve seen; he can do more with a slight change of expression and a terse word than anyone I know of. (And those are or were on Netflix streaming, too, except maybe the newest season. I’m not sure about that one.)

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      It really is. I had my drama students watch it for a number of reasons. I love the Herald. Such a tiny part, yet by the end of it, you KNOW the man. I used it to illustrate that there are no small parts.

  9. Cheryl @ Tales of the Marvelous

    Wow, I’ve actually seen all of your top movies (with the possible exception of Secret Garden–not sure which version I saw many years ago). That doesn’t usually happen when I read people’s lists!

    And I’m excited for you that you’re on Season 2 of Doctor Who! So many wonderful things to come…!

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      Well, there’s nothing particularly obscure on movie list, which says something about me, I expect. Doctor Who is good, but so far, the 9th Doctor is my favorite. But the 10th is growing on me. It took a little while to get over thinking, “But wait, that’s Barty Crouch Jr.,” though!

  10. Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic

    I don’t know how I missed so many good movies for my list–Harry Potter?!! How did I not put those on my list? And Kenneth Brannagh in Henry V and other Shakespeare films. He’s so good. And then the ones vying for 10th spot. I guess I was concentrating on TV and coming up with more than 10! Great list, Lark.