Escape to a Desert Island

Every few years I like to watch Escape from New York (1981). I don't know if it's a movie lover's thing, a guilty pleasure, or merely a "guy thing." Or maybe it's Adrienne Barbeau and all that gunplay. Whatever. I try to see all the early James Bond films every four or five years. I like to see The Great Escape (1963), Hour of the Gun (1967), The Professionals (1966), Point Blank (1967), The Wild Bunch (1969), High Plains Drifter (1973), Airplane (1980), Sharky's Machine (1981), Thief (1981), and all of The Naked Gun movies every three or four years. It's just a habit, I guess. It helps me touch base. Or it's a base instinct. Last night I watched Escape from New York. It's better than ever. I don't care if Leonard Maltin only gave it two stars. I don't give a damn if they remake it or not. I don't care if someone says I should be rerunning The Seventh Seal (1957) or Amarcord (1973). Sure, I get to see Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, and The Grapes of Wrath every so often. And I enjoy them a lot. But this is my Stuck On A Desert Island list, and it includes Escape from New York. So just deal with it.




Or maybe I'm just crazy about Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine movies. . .