Films I Never Tire of Watching

Despite the multi-channel world we live in these days, there was nothing on the television last night that I considered worth watching. Watching Z list celebrities fall on their collective arses on ice was a non-starter; the cringe-inducing Jonathan Ross hosting the British Academy Film Awards was another. However, the latter did make me consider sticking on an old film and set me thinking on films I never tire of watching.

People tend to ask what your favourite film is. I don't have a particular favourite but there are a few that I have watched several times and will doubtless watch again. In no particular order these are:

Schindler's List: An epic and one of the most powerful depictions of the Holocaust. This film was in my mind last July when I visited Auschwitz in Poland, one of the most moving experiences in my life.

It's a Wonderful Life: James Stewart was never better than in this, a tear-jerker usually shown at Christmas. I know my good friend June in Seattle also loves this film.

Fever Pitch: It's not often a film version matches an outstanding book but author Nick Hornby - one of the best there is - must have been delighted that the big screen version captured his story perfectly. A film I can relate to in so many ways.

Comfort and Joy: Bill Paterson is quite superb in this humourous story of an ice-cream war in Glasgow. Memorable for the scene where Paterson - playing the part of a local DJ - is chased by a baton wielding thug shouting 'It's you, isn't it? It's Dickie Bird! Gonnae play us a request on yer show? Montovani, something like that?' Also memorable for me is the appearance of the gorgeous Clare Grogan. I wonder what's she doing now?

Gregory's Girl: Like Comfort and Joy, this is a charming film by Bill Forsyth. Set in the place I spent my early childhood, Cumbernauld, this film has a special place in my heart. And it also stars Clare Grogan. I wonder....

Monty Python's The Life of Brian: The Pythons at their best. 'All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health.........what have the Romans ever done for us?'

The Fly: Not the gruesome Jeff Goldblum remake but the original 1958 film with Vincent Price. Quite magnificent.

The Incredible Shrinking Man: From the same era, when Scott Carey is exposed to a combination of radiation and insecticide he begins to shrink - his encounter with a spider in the basement is the stuff of horror legend!

There are other films which take my fancy including most of the Carry-On films and many of the British black and white dramas from the 1960s such as A Taste of Honey, Saturday Night Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life.

It's Monday morning, it's snowing heavily and I have a day off work. I'm off to dust off another dvd...