Some of us just don't appreciate what we have, we are always looking for more or better and don't realize that we may be surrounded with luxuries. This is true in the case of commercial movies. When I was a little boy, the only way you could view a movie was in a theatre. True there were a few films available that needed a projector to view, but almost no one had one of them. Even if you did have a projector you didn't have the amount of movies available that you do today and at the cheap prices that you can get them for. Today it is possible to buy a DVD for only $2.99 although the average price is more like $18.00 to $23.00 for new releases when you shop around. Now you can buy a DVD player for only a little more than a DVD. During the Memorial Day Sale I purchased one for only $40.00 and it plays great. I guess you could get a cheap VCR for about the same price on sale. VCR tapes are now selling at a slower rate than DVDs. DVD are nice because they take up less space than tapes and because of the way the player works they are only touched by a beam of light, so they don't wear out. Just recently it was found that they will deteriorate over time due to the adhesive holding the layer together, I think that they were said to have a life span of 20 years or so.

Let me say before I start to list any movies, that I am a movie buff. I love a good movie and really like a good SciFi or Action thriller. This is not to say that I don't like other types of movies also, but these are generally my favorites. I have often thought of making a list of what I thought to be the ten greatest movies made that are available on DVD or tape. So here goes, and if you disagree with me you can drop me a line stating your top ten choices and why, but remember that they have to be available on DVD or tape. Even if you agree with this list, let me know. Email me HERE

#1 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Humphrey Bogart. This character study of an petty man just blows you away. It is a study in greed and selfishness that has yet to be equaled by any other motion picture. It was made in 1948 and is in black and white film. Bogart plays Fred C. Dobbs. It also features Tim Holt as Bob Curtin and Walter Huston as Howard. Other big names of the time that were in the film were Bruce Bennett as James Cody and Barton MacLane as Pat McCormick.

#2 Ben Hur - Charlton Heston - Written by a Civil War General, the book was made into a movie and remade again The movie I am referring to here came out in 1959. There were several powerful actors in the movie. Judah Ben-Hur a rich Jewish man who lived in the time of Christ loses everything only to find solace in the Christ. Jack Hawkins plays Quintus Arrius, the rich Roman who Judah saves and who adopts him. Stephen Boyd plays his boyhood friend who returns home as a tyrannical Roman General. Haya Haraett plays Ester the love of his life.

#3 The African Queen - Humphrey Bogart. Yes I picked two Bogart films. This film was made in 1952 and was pretty much a study of two people. It doesn't seem to be available on DVD yet, but is available on VHS tape. Bogart plays Charlie Allnut a simple man with a steam boat in Africa during the time around the beginning of the first world war. He must rescue a spinster from her mission before she gets injured or killed. Katharine Hepburn plays Rose Sayer the daughter of the missionary. The film takes you through the trials and tribulations of the two as they try and take the boat down the river to escape and finally shows their effort to try and sink a German ship.

#4 Shane - Alan Ladd. Made in 1953, I rate this as the greatest western film ever made. There were quite a few really good westerns but this is like cream on milk it just rises to the top. Alan Ladd plays Shane a gunfighter that would just like to settle down and who envies the life, and maybe the wife, of the farmer Joe Starrett played by Van Heflin. Jean Arthur plays Marian Starrett the wife. Jack Palance plays Jack Wilson, evil gun fighter. Elisha Cook Jr. plays Frank 'Stonewall' Torrey, Emile Meyer is marvelous as one of the original ranchers who hires Palance and wants to run the farmers out. Brandon DeWilde is Joey Starrett the son of Joe and Marian Starrett who worships Shane.

#5 The Godfather - Marlon Brando 1972. This is arguably the best gangster movie ever made. Brando is the Godfather who heads a powerful Mafia family. Al Pacino is Michael Corleone his son who takes over the family. James Caan is Sonny Corleone another son and wife beater and cheat. Other mobsters include Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvail, Richard Conte, Abe Vigoda. Diane Keaton as the jilted wife of Michael is terrific as is Talia Shire as Connie. Sterling Hayden as the crooked Irish police captain is so realistic that his performance sends shivers down your spine.

#6 A Clockwork Orange - Malcolm McDowell. This brutal futuristic gang movie was made in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick, one of the greatest directors of all time. McDowell plays Alexander de Large a punk who heads a gang in the future and is finally the object of an experiment to force peacefulness on him after he is turned in by his own gang to the police. The movie is British and many of the actors are unknown in this country, but all are fine actors.

#7 One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest - Jack Nicholson. Made in 1975, it is a chilling look at a person that though he would make believe he was insane to avoid prison but may have had mental problems and didn't know it. He is a problem to all in the institution and especially to Nurse Ratched who decides to discipline him for each insubordination. Louise Fletcher is Mildred Ratched.

#8 The Day The Earth Stood Still - Michael Rennie. Made in 1951 this movie is dated by today's standards but still retains its greatness. When it came out it had everyone saying Klaatu barada nikto the words that powered up a giant robot that could melt tanks and was unstoppable. The message was clear, cooperate in peace or be wiped out. The aliens showed their power by stopping all machinery on earth at a specific time for a few minutes. Patricia Neal played Helen Benson, the lady that would grow to love the alien. Hugh Marlow played Tom Stevens and Sam Jaffe played Prof. Jacob Bernhardt. Billy Gray played the child of Helen Benson, Bobby. Even the robot was played by an actor, his name was Lock Martin.

#9 Gunga Din - Cary Grant. This move came out in 1939 and is still fun to look at. It featured Cary Grant as Sgt. Archibald Cutter, Victor McLaglen as Sgt. Mac MacChesney, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Sgt. Thomas Tommy Ballantine, Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din, Eduardo Ciannelli as the Guru and Joan Fontaine as Emaline Emmy Stebbins. The British Army takes on the Thuggees. An exciting adventure film made even more so by the excellent actors who made it.

#10 Doctor Strangelove or How I learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb - Peter Sellers. This unusual movie was released in 1964, at a time when everyone was Worrying about a nuclear attack. It was basically about a general who seems to have snapped and launches a nuclear attack on Russia. Peter Sellers plays Group Captain Lionel Mandrake an air officer on loan from Great Britain. He also plays President Merkin Muffey and Dr. Strangelove, a German scientist. Others players include George C. Scott as Gen. Buck Turgidson, Sterling Haden as Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper, Keenan Wynn as Col. Bat Guano, Slim Pickens as Maj. T.J. King Kong. One of the most famous scenes in any move is when Slim Pickens is forced to ride the nuclear bomb down to the ground.

Well that it folks.