What are your "Stop and Drop" movies?

[Worf]

When I was chewing the fat with Doc Strange on Monday I asked him "what movies make you stop and drop"? "Stop and drop" is a term I made up for films that, if they're on when you pass the tube, are so compelling that you stop going where you're supposed to be going and drop whatever it is you're started doing. How many times have you gotten your coat on to go somewhere only to find yourself an hour later with your car keys in your hands and your husband, wife or kids screaming at you to "c'mon already"! My partial list is as follows.

"Godfather I"
"The Thing From Another World"
"Red River"
"Fort Apache"
"Them"
"They Were Expendable"
"Bataan"
"Casablanca"
"Tombstone"
"It's a Wonderful Life"
"Conan The Barbarian"
"Independence Day"
"Starship Troopers"
"Aliens" (best "rear guard" action ever filmed)
"Band of Brothers"
"The Pacific"
"The Wire"
"Game of Thrones"

Worf

 

[Nathan Dodge]

The Dirty Dozen (1967). Reminds me of Sunday morning watching with my dad. Nothing like bonding with pa over twelve sociopaths on a suicide mission.

Agreed on The Godfather, as well.

 

[scottyrocks]

12 Angry Men
It Happened One Night
It's a Wonderful Life
Bad Day at Black Rock
King Kong
Mighty Joe Young

 

[AntonAAK]

Yep. The Godfather every time. I found it on TV the other night while flicking through the channels as I was just about to go to bed. Had only just started. Lots of reasons not to watch it at that time.

1. I have the DVD and can watch it anytime I like.
2. I have probably watched it once a year for all of the last twenty years.
3. I was tired and had an early start in the morning.

Could I switch it off? Nope.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Any 1930s musical, especially any early-talkie-era musical.

Anything with Wheeler and Woolsey in it, especially "Diplomaniacs," "Cockeyed Cavaliers," or "Hips Hips Hooray"

"It's A Gift" with W. C. Fields

Anything by Preston Sturges, especially "Sullivan's Travels" or "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek."

and of course

"O Brother Where Art Thou?"

 

[AmateisGal]

"Laura"
"State Fair" (the 1940s version)
"The Longest Day"
"Rio Bravo"
"Mrs. Miniver"

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh! And "Downton Abbey", of course.

 

[DNO]

Some that come to mind immediately:


"Great Balls of Fire"
"The Buddy Holly Story"
"The Big Sleep"
"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"Battle of Algiers"
"Zulu"
"The French Connection"
"The Big Lebowski"
"Dead Man"
"Ed Wood"
"Cry Baby"

 

[MisterCairo]

Withnail & I
Big Night
Casablanca
Zulu
Lawrence of Arabia
Star Wars
O Brother Where Art Thou?
High Noon
Bridge On The River Kwai

inter alia....

 

[Touchofevil]

In the Heat of the Night
Bad Day at Black Rock
12 Angry Men
The Big Sleep
The Maltese Falcon
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Pink Panther
The Lemon Drop Kid
Rear Window
and more!

Own them on dvd and yet I must always watch them for at least few minutes if they're on the television.

 

[DNO]

Two more:

Coal Miner's Daughter
The Outlaw Josie Wales

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Both good picks. Josey Wales is one of my alltime favorites.

'American Graffiti'
'GoodFellas'
'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'
'Blast from the Past.'

Two more:

Coal Miner's Daughter
The Outlaw Josie Wales

 

[Atticus Finch]

On a late-spring evening...maybe late April or early May...by myself with a glass of Blanton's...I watch To Kill A Mockingbird to remind me, again, why I choose to do what I do.

AF

 

[Lily Powers]

"Dodsworth"
"Picnic"
"Inspiration" (w/ Greta Garbo)
WWII documentary films
"How To Marry a Millionaire"
"The Opposite Sex" (1956 color remake of "The Women")
Nearly any pre-code movie that's on in the 0:dark-hundred hours of the morning... there's just something so cozy and comforting about watching those films at that time.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have to add one to my list:

The Fifth Element

Always cracks me up. I have to stop and watch it.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
Nearly any pre-code movie that's on in the 0:dark-hundred hours of the morning... there's just something so cozy and comforting about watching those films at that time.

So true.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Die Hard
The Apartment
Days of Wine and Roses
Casablanca
Hondo
True Grit (the original, of course)
Ghostbusters, Larger Than Life, and Groundhog Day
To Die For

 

[Bushman]

Star Wars
Jurassic Park
Halloween

 

[skydog757]

Rocky
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Cool Hand Luke
The Usual Suspects

 

[Edward]

Cry Baby

Rocky Horror Picture Show (complete with all the callbacks, which, after closing in on twenty years of fandom come out like Tourette's by now)

The Great Escape

Any Indiana Jones picture

Anything involving zombies, especially a Romero.

On a late-spring evening...maybe late April or early May...by myself with a glass of Blanton's...I watch To Kill A Mockingbird to remind me, again, why I choose to do what I do.

AF

It's quite incredible just how many of us were inspired to go into law by Harper Lee. THat's an angle would make for a nice documentary, imo.