My Advanced Students' favourite films (part 2)

Maria Jose Cuchi says:

When last Monday Jose Luis showed his favorite movies from the Universal website, one special film came to my mind: ‘Paint your Wagon’ ("La Leyenda de la Ciudad sin Nombre"- 1969), a musical distributed by Paramount pictures, starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg. Its plot is about the American Dream, so perhaps this topic that we are dealing with in unit 8 has influenced my memory.

One group of multiracial people travel in wagons to the Far West to build up their dreams in search of work and wealth, when after a crash they find gold by chance. ‘Gold’ is the magic word which changes their lives, because in that place thrives a mining town whose name is ‘No name city’.

This is a hilarious movie, whose brilliant soundtrack featuring a lot of memorable songs with poetic or comic lyrics, made me enjoy and have unforgettable memories.

My three favourite songs are: 

‘Wandering star’ by Lee Marvin.

‘They call the wind Maria’ by Harve Presnell.

Last but not least, ‘Gold fever’ by Clint Eastwood.

Paloma Rodriguez says:

I am a film buff through and through, and from my tenderest youth I have been watching all kind of films except for horror movies (since I watched The Ex …).

Among other films, I will highlight some of my favourite, which I enjoy a great deal:

The Quiet Man (1952) - An American boxer returns to the village where he was born in Ireland and where he finds love. I really like everything in the film: the story, the woods and fields that are typical features of the Irish landscape as well as the main actors, John Wayne and Maureen O´Hara - an authentic model of the Irish woman – together with Barry Fitzgerald as the friendly and likeable “boozer”.

The Bridges of Madison County (1995) - I worship Clint Eastwood. He is a marvellous  master of good-quality films and he proved it, once again, in this splendid film, which has a moving, unforgettable ending in the rain – used as a metaphor for the heartbreaking scene. The movie tells the story of Francesca, a farm housewife, whose dull life is overwhelmed by the arrival of a globe-trotting photographer.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) - The last remake, starring Keira Knightley – who I always find gorgeous - is a romantic story in which the proud Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) reluctantly finds himself falling in love with Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley), a woman beneath his class. It´s sad to see the male protagonist losing his sex-appeal nowadays!

Another two films worth mentioning are Philadelphia stories and Out of Africa. 

Of course I like thrillers and espionage films that are set in the Cold War, like Three Days of the Condor, The Mole and so on … but also science-fiction films, for example Blade Runner. All the same, I realize I am a romantic person.

Marisol Matas says:

How could I dare choose one or two films as the ones I like the most, among the "hundreds" I've already seen, without feeling that I've minimized the others? Anyway, I've picked up two, more or less at random.

Double Indemnity ("Perdición" - 1944):


This is Billy Wilder's all-time great film noir. It is a straightforward and, at the same time, thrilling production. With a superb script and few characters, Billy Wilder was able to transmit the suspense that the “Greats” couldn´t sometimes achieve.

It is a low-budget film, where all the scenes fitted together like in a puzzle. It reminds me of those Hitchcock´s movies, which likewise I love very much.
The actor who plays the leading role in the film, Fred MacMurray, finds himself involved in an ever so complicated plot, which in the end turns out to be impossible to unravel.
There is also this "femme fatale", played by Barbara Stanwick, who I really was impressed by the first time I saw her and, what is more, I haven't forgotten yet.
This is a cleverly made movie. Billy Wilder is very skilled at talking about LOVE, PASSION, FRIENDSHIP and even TREASON. It is also considered a classic model, reproduced in so many movies, such as "The Postman always rings twice", directed by Bob Rafelson.

I’ve really had wonderful times with Billy Wilder’s comedies, like for example The Apartment (1960), Some like it Hot (1959), Seven-year Itch (1955), The front Page (1974), The Fortune Cookie (1966), … But his dramas were also top of the range: The lost weekend (1945), Irma la Douce (1963), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and, above all, Double Indemnity. I really loved them all!

Billy Elliot (2000):

My second choice is not a classic film but it could almost reach that status. Billy Eliot is one of my fave flicks. It tells the story of a young boy, Jamie Bell, who wants to be a dancer. The action takes place during the violent 1984 strike against the Thatcher closure of British coal mines in County Durham, a place I'd already visited a few years earlier. I was really touched by Billy’s determination to achieve his dream, something that was innate in him and nobody, neither family, schoolmates, teachers nor neighbors would openly accept, as only girls used to attend ballet classes. This is a boy's fight whose sensitiveness provoked violent controversy. I dearly loved it, especially T. Rex´s soundtrack.