Three spine surgeons discuss their all-time favorite movies.
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Question: What are your favorite movies?
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: One of my favorite films of all time has to be "The Departed." Partly based on Whitey Bulger, who was finally found within a mile of my office, the movie is truly a consummate thriller, and a great tale of faith, loyalty and dedication to a purpose. My second favorite would have to be "The Revenant," as it is Leonardo DiCaprio's finest work. It also takes place in a fascinating time in history, right after the birth of our nation, as the West began to open and the nation began to spread its wings. It's also a shockingly realistic depiction of how crude life still was in the early 19th century.
Isador Lieberman, MD, Director, Scoliosis & Spine Tumor Center, Texas Back Institute, Plano: "Kelly's Heroes," starring Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Don Rickles.
Renato V. Bosita, Jr., MD, MBA, Texas Back Institute, Plano: Choosing a movie is a hard decision. The list of my favorite movies is a very personal choice, especially now that I need to balance time with my family, time at work, etc. Choosing a movie which can take two to three hours to watch is a tremendous investment for me, but that having been said, I will now try and list some of my favorite movies.
I think it is difficult to compare movies, for instance, can "Stripes" really be compared to "Casablanca" or "Bridge Over the River Kwai" or "Friday the 13th?" So, I will try to categorize movies and give a little bit of explanation for why I like each one. My favorite movie of all time is "Raiders of the Lost Ark." I could watch Indiana Jones literally every day. This is still one of the coolest movies that I have ever seen and I still look up to Indiana Jones as one of my role models and certainly, I like the World War II and Bible themes that are integrated in this awesome action adventure.
Best sequel of all time is "The Empire Strikes Back." Before sequels were in vogue, most sequels were really kind of horrible and "The Empire Strikes Back" is that first exception of a movie that eclipsed an already incredible movie in Star Wars.
Best chick flick, "Titanic." I will admit it, I cried during "Titanic." I also like "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" and "Fried Green Tomatoes."
Best teenager movie; yes, I admit, teenager movies can be really funny. I really enjoyed "Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Sixteen Candles," "Say Anything" and "American Pie." They are all great teenager movies.
Best war movie, "Saving Private Ryan." It was an awesome story about D-Day and the invasion of Europe during World War II in 1944. I also really enjoyed the movie, "Glory," which is about first African American regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War.
The movie I have seen the most number of times in my life, "For Your Eyes Only." Back when I was kid and there were only a few TV channels, for some reason, "For Your Eyes Only" would always be on TV, so I had memorized almost every line in that classic James Bond movie starring Roger Moore.
My favorite comedies are "Zoolander" and "The Hangover," and my favorite superhero movie is "The Avengers." Since I read the Avengers, X-men and Iron Man stories in comic book form when I was kid, I really enjoy seeing Robert Downey, Jr., as Iron Man especially in "The Avengers series."
Best foreign film, some people would say "Cinema Paradiso," but I have never seen it, so I would have to say the movie, "Flirting," starring a young Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in Australia is a pretty cool movie about being a teenager at a boarding school in Australia.
"Any Given Sunday" is my favorite football movie and for baseball, I really enjoyed "Field of Dreams," which also made me cry. "Varsity Blues" is a movie I have a difficulty categorizing because it could fit either here or under a teenage movie.
My favorite martial arts movie is "Karate Kid 2" because people say that my wife looks like Tamlyn Tomita and we have been stopped in the airport and people have asked if my wife was in "Karate Kid 2."
My favorite movies to watch with my kids are "Big Hero 6" and "Despicable Me 2." My sons and I can recite most of the lines in this movie. And what list of movies would be complete without "Fletch" and "Coming to America."