I have invited a few fellow bloggers to pick their Desert Island DVDs, a variation on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs. Each participant must pick just eight movies to be stranded on a desert island with. For some people it is just a matter of picking their favourite movies for me it is far more complicated. Having gone through numerous drafts and not being happy with my list I deleted it all and started again with a new philosophy. My eight movies are the ones I have watched the most in the last ten years. Interestingly this new approach has resulted in me leaving some of my favourite movies an home: Fandango, North By Northwest and Fight Club to name just a few. Anyone who saw my 24 hours to go notice may have spotted a little sneak preview of my eight movies.
Casablanca (1942): A perfect film that never gets old or tied no matter how many times I watch it. If anything I appreciate it more each time I see it.
Some Like it Hot (1959): Possibly my all time favourite movie, as a kid I saw it countless times as it is one of very few movies that the whole family loved and could watch over and over again.
Two Lane Blacktop (1971): Most people I know haven’t seen this movie, those that have probably only saw it because I forced my copy of the DVD onto them, and most of them didn’t really like it. I watch this movie a lot and I get more out of it every time I see it.
Goodfellas (1990): The Godfather and The Godfather part II are as good if not better than Goodfellas but I watch Goodfellas more than either of the Godfather movies. It also happens to be my favourite movie from one of my all time favourite directors.
Dazed and Confused (1993): I am a big fan of Richard Linklater, whist this isn’t my favourite of his movies it is the most watchable and it has a real feel-good factor about it. It’s a movie anyone can relate to, we were all young once. 
Pulp Fiction (1994): I can never decide what my favourite Tarantino movie is but the fact I watch Pulp Fiction more than any of his others speaks volumes. This is a movie I will never get bored of.
Oldboy (2003) This is the subject of a late change. I nearly didn’t include Oldboy as I haven’t seen it as many times as the other movies on the list but it is my favourite movie of the past ten years and I couldn’t live without it on my desert island. So sorry to Fight Club and Fandango and all the other movies that missed out! 
Serenity (2005): If pushed I would say when it comes to Sci-Fi I prefer Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Alien and Aliens but since it came out nearly five years ago I have probably seen Serenity more than any other movie. I am only sorry I can’t take the whole Firefly TV show to go with it.
Great list! There’s a good mix in there.
Have Goodfellas in mine too, great minds think alike and all that:)
Was going to include Pulp Fiction too, but left it out last minute.
not bad Fands. good shout on Dazed and Confused.
Some Like It Hot, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction? is this a Desert Island selection or Most Overrated Movies Ever list…?
“overrated” I’m not even going to rise to that, you’re just clutching at straws because there are no Costner movies to take the piss out of. Fandango lost out to Dazed and Confused.
damn you for not rising to the bait. whats the point in blogging if we all dont do that once in a while.
sad at the lack of Costner actually, especially the absence of The One Where He Dances With Wolves
I couldn’t remember the name of that one! The Mad Hatter did pick (one of) the one(s) where he plays baseball.
Hatter? hes out of the family now for breaking the embargo
I very nearly picked Casablanca for miy list. It was basically a toss-up between that and North by Northwest, as I view both of those as the ultimate adverts for classic Hollywood filmmaking at its best. In the end, Cary Grant trying to shave with the tiny razor just tipped the balance.
North by Northwest was on my list right up until the day before.
Goodfellas and Oldboy! Nice one!!!
Good choices, Casablanca was a very close choice for my list was difficult to leave it out.
Damn, Serenity is popping up all over the place on these lists. Guess I should jump on the Joss Whedon bandwagon and check out Firefly one of these days for starters. Gotta check out Two Lane Blacktop too. Good stuff, man. This was a kickass project.
Serenity? Great minds as they say, eh?
I love this list! Except for the first 3, it looks like it could be one of mine. I just chose to do my list a bit wacky! Dazed and Confused really wanted to come with me but, ultimately, got left behind… glad somebody brought it. You’ll have to have me over for Coconut Milk and a viewing. Also, was very interested in Two Lane Blacktop… Have heard of it actually… will check ‘er out!
Good job throwing this together, Andy!!!
Dazed and Confused is the one film that when I recommend it to people nobody has ever come back to say they didn’t like it.
Two-Lane Blacktop is a strange film you either love it or hate it.
Excellent list! There’s a really good variety, which is something I strove for as well. I haven’t seen Two Lane Blacktop but it’s been in my Netflix queue for a while, and I’ve heard it’s great (one of my favorite singers recommended it to me actually).
As mentioned above people tend to love or hate Two-Lane Blacktop. I will be interested to hear what you think once you have seen it. Who was it that recommended it?
Excellent list Andy and thanks for organizing this awesome event. We should definitely have those movie blog community events more often!
Love the inclusion of Oldboy, which might well be a parallel between with your own situation, prisoner of your little island.
Oldboy only made it in at the end but it is my favourite movie of recent years how could I leave it out.
Pulp Fiction seems to be a popular choice, for obvious reasons. The only reason I didn’t take it is because I’m so familiar with it already that it’s pretty much burned into my head as it is and I’d have rather used it’s choice elsewhere. Still, had I a few more choices, it’d be there.
Of the rest, I’d have liked to take Dazed and Confused, if only because no other movie would give me that feeling of camaraderie. I’d feel like I was hanging out with 20 of my best friends for two hours (and a couple jerks, but I’d probably miss them, too, on this lonely island).
Interesting idea. I did have a similar thought about Star Wars
My favorite choices of yours are Dazed and Confused and Serenity.
This was such a great idea Andy. I had so much fun going through everyones lists today.
We should do something similar to this again!
Dazed and confused has to be good, it is keeping out Fandango and American Graffiti. Serenity just gets better with each viewing, I watched it last week to confirm its place on the list.
I’m amazed at the turnout. A few people have suggested doing something similar in future, we will have to think of something.
[…] April 11, 2010 at 10:54 pm (memes, movies) Over at the Fandango Groovers Movie Blog, Andy has challenged movie bloggers and bloggers who love movies to come up with the eight movies they’d want if they were stuck on a desert island and somehow miraculously had a working DVD player. You can find a list of participants here, along with Andy’s own picks here. […]
It’s cool that we’ve got one in common! And I agree on the rewatchability of Casablanca as well. I’m a classic film lover though so I’m biased toward those on your list.
Andy, this was a great idea and it went off swimmingly! I love seeing what everyone else picked and comparing their lists to mine. Mostly, that just means I’ve spent a lot of time kicking myself for what I forgot or left out!
Your own list is faultless sir, from “Pulp Fiction” (must-see/must-own) to “Some Like It Hot” (the best drag comedy ever) to “Serenity,” which may be my favorite sendoff to a defunct TV show. Well done.
Just wondering, does everyone love Serenity because of it’s heritage with Firefly or is it really a great stand-alone film? Interested after seeing it on several lists but don’t want to have to sit through a fanboy film if I can avoid it! 🙂
I saw serenity first having missed the TV show. I went and got the DVD box set after seeing the movie.
Wow…those are the list I need to watch one day. I haven’t watched any of those
Serenity again? I still havent seen it. Is everyone who likes Serenity a Firefly fan? Will I have to watch the whole TV series afterward? I hate committing to these things.
Great job on the DIDVD movement BTW Fandango, got us all chatting!
I saw Serenity having never seeing or knowing anything about Firefly. I loved the movie so much I went out and got the DVD box set of the TV series. The movie stands up on its own without any prior knowledge of the show but you will probably want to see the show once you have seen the movie.
There must be a cultural barrier I’m coming up on, because this is the second list I’ve seen Oldboy on and I can’t for the life of me call up the strength to watch that film again, no matter how good I thought it was. The ending and twist just rendered it a one-time only film for me. I bow to your ability to keep screening it, especially in forsaking all other movies in front of it. Crazy.
I love that Dazed & Confused and Serenity made it onto this list – they are both endlessly watchable and exactly the kind of thing your TV made of coconuts to be playing every other Thursday.
Great list! A nice melange of titles here.
McD.. you dont need to have seen Firefly to enjoy Serenity.
you also don’t need to watch Gerard Butler movies, but i know you do.
yes, thanks again Fands for your list
you must have been feeling kinda basic today