So I just watched Bubba Ho-Tep for I think the 15th time today and I still found myself laughing at some scenes.😂

Sometimes I go looking in my movie collection to see which one I could re-watch without getting bored. Only a few stand out which I can actually see for the 10th time and still enjoy. I don't know what it is about this one, maybe the very catchy yet fitting music which they actually had to create because (if memory serves correct) they couldn't get the license for the original Elvis music. Maybe it was the well acted Elvis accent with the hint of humor it needed, the sad reality of elderly homes and life in general, or perhaps the ridiculously unbelievable yet hilarious story line. But I think in the end it's just a well fitting combination of it all.

I could talk for hours about it but not seeing it yourself wouldn't do it justice. So which others are there? I think if I had to make a list there would be five movies that would make this list and oddly enough now that I actually made it, I realized the movies couldn't be more diverse and different from each other, varying from drama to comedy, from mainstream to arthouse films from all across the world.

5. 12th fail (Zero Se Restart) 2023

We all like inspirational stories where good people beat the odds, on never giving up, that the truth will prevail, succeeding where failure seemed destined, but this movie based on real events takes it to another level. And I guess that's why I have it in the top 5, specifically because it is so inspirational and based on real events.

4. Baradaran-e Leila (Leila's Brothers) 2022

This Iranian movie is not only about the struggles in life we all face regarding family, money and senseless traditions. But it portrays so well what scummy geo-politics and careless buffoonery can do to ordinary people. If you noticed the year it was released you'll know it was regarding trump's 2020 disastrous Iran policy, not the more recent one he created which had similar effects but this time literally to everyone on the planet. 

I'm not even exaggerating on that, notice how European insurances have all gone up in recent months? How poor countries like the Philippines are at a constant threat to be running out of fuel? How bail outs on a national level are occurring left and right?

I guess that's what makes this a worthy re-watch every now and then and thus deserves to be on the list as it is still very relevant today.

3. Bubba Ho-Tep 2002

Yes the same one that started this post 😉  Reason it is rather high on the list is because it also withstood the test of time. I first saw it in 2002 and it is still as entertaining today as it was back then.

2. Dvizhenie vverkh (3 seconds) 2017

A marvelously well made movie about the events that led to the Soviet promise to defeat the US in their own game: Basketball. Though I also think that making it a bit overly dramatic like putting the illness of Aleksandr Belov in the movie amidst the Olympics while in real life he found out about his condition after the final was not really adding much to the movie. But anyways still a solid script, acting and production which makes it earn its spot.

1. EO 2022

I warned you it would be a diverse list. This one is not for everyone, but just the core message it tries to deliver and the way it tries to do so, from the perception of the lives itself, is why I would describe this as a must see movie.

Now yes, there are several movies who I feel I have done an injustice to. Worthy mentions would be of course Hachi 2009, Ip man (1 & 2, all the rest was just dragging it out imo), Goodfellas 1990 from which I actually just recently found out that the character Joe Pesci played was somehow a much bigger scumbag in real life than he was in the movie, Grave of the Fireflies 1988, The Voice of Hind Rajab 2025 which is truly difficult to watch, PK 2014, Dead End 2003 which was brilliantly made for the budget it had, Braveheart 1995, Gangubai Kathiawadi 2022 which would make anyone appreciate her efforts to change this horrendous tradition in India, Mullholland Dr. 2001 and I could go on for quite a bit. But I think that we are then talking about good movies you like and could watch more than once rather than those few unique ones.

I guess the reason these made it in the top 5 is because I have seen these the most or they left a bigger impression on me for some reason. I can't explain it any better than that, I am somehow someway drawn to them again from time to time and thus they will always be more special to me than others.

Have any of those yourself? Do tell, maybe I can expand my own list a bit :)