BARACK OBAMA — THE GODFATHER (1972) AND THE GODFATHER: PART II (1974)
The former US President has revealed the first two Godfather films are his favorite of all time. “There’s this combination of old world gentility and ritual, with this savagery underneath,” Obama told MTV of the Francis Ford Coppola saga. “It’s all about family. A great movie.”
JOHN LENNON – EL TOPO (1970)
A mix of spaghetti western and eastern spiritualism, the late Beatle loved the movie so much he persuaded Allen Klein, then the manager of Apple, to buy the rights to it. And composer John Barham re-recorded the score for release on Apple Records at Lennon’s request.
TOM HANKS – 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Hanks has watched the Stanley Kubrick classic dozens of times, and says: “You can look at it over and over and ponder its meaning.”
TYLER, THE CREATOR – NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004)
The music icon and creative force has been vocal in his love for the indie comedy, once tweeting to his 8.5 million followers: “I personally like Napoleon Dynamite better than the Godfather.”
Better than The Godfather? Napoleon Dynamite is Tyler, The Creator’s favorite film
STEVEN SPIELBERG – LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
The legendary director helped restore ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ for a 2000 DVD release and says the film inspired him to work in the movies.
ROGER EBERT – LA DOLCE VITA (1960)
The late, great critic says the Federico Fellini classic is his favorite of all time. He once wrote in his Chicago Sun-Times column: “I’ve seen it at least 25 times, maybe more. It doesn’t get old for me. I’ve grown so worked up just writing this paragraph that I want to slide in the DVD and start watching immediately.”
RUSSELL BRAND – THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)
Brand found a lot to relate to in the David Lynch movie. He says: “My life is a bit like The Elephant Man. Probably ol’ John Merrick had it a bit tougher than me what with the deformity and torture and bronchitis and whatnot, but there are parallels.”
MAHERSHALA ALI – NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922)
The groundbreaking Robert J Flaherty film is the Moonlight star’s favorite. “It’s about the Inuits,” he says. “We follow a family around, led by Nanook, whom we see trying to survive in those conditions. It feels like a movie to me, but it’s one of the first documentary films.”
BILL GATES – ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)
The Microsoft founder is a huge fan of Robert Redford movies. “Ordinary People is my favorite movie of all time,” he says. “I think of my top 20 movies, four or five of them either star or were directed by him.”
BRAD PITT – PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
The original version of the sci-fi thriller is the Fight Club star’s favorite movie. And his favorite film that he starred in is ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’, which he says was also “the worst performing film of anything I’ve done.”
