I started thinking about this and it is tough. You get to name one movie that's your favorite. Just one. Not your top 10, not your top 20--just your single most favorite movie of all time.
I think this can say a lot about a person's personality. I still haven't been able to make up my mind, honestly. I am being honest with myself and whittling it down to that group of movies I watch over and over and over and over and never get bored of--I'm not going to deliberately to for artsy-farsty to try to impress. I think I have it down to 3, but I'm not saying which 3 because, again, I get to name only one--same as the rest of you.
Ok. I've thought about it a bit and my mind just keeps circling back to one movie, the one movie I've probably seen more than any other:
John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing.
I know. With all the amazing oldies and not-so-oldies out there, my favorite is in a niche genre. It'll never win a prize for most fascinating dialogue. But I've got to be honest with myself. I never get tired of the effects, which stand the test of time, the paranoia pouring off the screen, the tight scripting, the very smart decision by Carpenter not to have any women in the film and thus (in the normal world) have no love interest to detract from the main plot.
The dog scene and the vespiform version of the thing that comes out of one of the dogs; the tied-to-the-chair blood test scene...damn that's a great movie.
Now, my second favorite would probably impress more, but I can't honestly say it's my numero uno. See? This is tough.