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Stephen King is famous for writing novels that have redefined the horror genre, from Carrie to The Shining and dozens more, but he’s also widely known as a devoted cinephile.
The horror novelist loves movies of all kinds, and he’s quick to tweet his latest musings about current films, like Weapons.
On Monday, September 8, he did something he’s never done before — he revealed his 10 favorite movies of all time via X.
His post went viral and became a source of good-natured debate. Why Mean Streets and not Taxi Driver? And why no movies from the 1980s?
Watch With Us has assembled King’s list and included helpful links to where you can watch all 10 movies on Netflix, Prime Video and more.
‘Sorcerer’ (1977)
A loose remake of the French classic The Wages of Fear, Sorcerer chronicles four men’s perilous journey as they transport highly combustible dynamite across Central America. With their cargo sensitive to any disturbance, the four strangers must work together to complete their mission and survive to collect their paycheck and flee the country.
A notorious box office flop, Sorcerer has been reassessed in recent years as a cult classic. It’s not just King who loves it — Quentin Tarantino has called it one of the greatest movies ever made.
Rent or buy Sorcerer on Amazon Prime Video.
‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974)
The Godfather is a superb film, so the fact that The Godfather Part II is somehow even better is nothing short of a movie miracle. Continuing the saga of the Corleone family, the film tells two stories: one set in the 1950s as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) becomes the new head of the family, and the other chronicling his deceased father, Vito (Robert De Niro), as he immigrates from Sicily to America at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an American epic like no other, tracing one family’s evolution from scrappy immigrants to a powerful mob organization.
The Godfather Part Two is streaming on Pluto.
‘The Getaway’ (1972)
An action thriller based on a novel by the great Jim Thompson, The Getaway is probably the most ordinary movie on King’s list. Less a classic and more of a really well-made — if dated — genre film, The Getaway stars Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw as husband-and-wife criminals who are on the run after a successful robbery turns bloody. Can they outwit the criminals they double-crossed as well as the law? And can they trust each other?
Rent or buy The Getaway on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)
The movie that made “I Got You Babe” an earworm song again, Groundhog Day is one of the funniest comedies ever made. When cynical weatherman Phil (Bill Murray) discovers he’s reliving the same day over and over again, his initial joy at doing whatever he wants with no consequence soon turns into existential despair. Does the key to escaping this eternal time loop lie with Rita (Andie MacDowell), Phil’s co-worker, who hates his guts?
Groundhog Day is streaming on Netflix.
‘Casablanca’ (1942)
A timeless classic, Casablanca is a love story set before and during World War II. Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is an American cafe owner working in Morocco. One night, his former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), arrives and asks a favor — help her Resistance fighter husband escape Casablanca so he can fight Nazis abroad. There’s only one problem — Rick still loves Ilsa, and she seems to have lingering feelings for him, too.
Casablanca is streaming on HBO Max.
‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (1948)
Greed isn’t so good in this powerful John Huston drama, which won three Oscars in 1949. When three men discover a gold deposit in the unforgiving Sierra Madre desert, their initial elation soon transforms into mutual distrust as each man believes the other wants to steal his share. As bandits surround them the three men’s paranoia grows, resulting in more than one death. Will anyone be left alive to enjoy the treasure of the Sierra Madre?
Rent or buy The Treasure of the Sierra Madre on Prime Video.
‘Jaws’ (1975)
The movie that made everyone afraid to go into the water still terrifies audiences, with a recent re-release outgrossing the horror hit Weapons and Superman. When a giant terrorizes the touristy town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) teams up with two other men to stop the shark before it strikes again.
‘Mean Streets’ (1973)
Mean Streets put Martin Scorsese on the map and helped launch a career that’s still going strong. Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) is a reckless hoodlum in Little Italy whose only redeeming quality is that his best friend is the respected Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel). But even Charlie has his limits, and Johnny’s criminal behavior threatens not only their friendship but their lives.
Buy or rent Mean Streets on Prime Video.
‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977)
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece came out the same year as Star Wars, and it has arguably held up better than George Lucas’ space opera. In Muncie, Indiana, ordinary father and husband Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) sees a UFO in the sky. He soon becomes obsessed with tracking it down, which causes him to push his skeptical family away. He eventually crosses paths with several scientists and the US Army, who are also convinced humanity’s first contact with sentient extra-terrestrial life is imminent.
Buy or rent Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Prime Video.
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‘Double Indemnity’ (1944)
Both the prototype and the apex of classic film noir, this classic suspense movie stars Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, a rich Los Angeles housewife who’s eager to get rid of her husband — permanently. She enlists gullible insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) to kill her husband, make it look like an accident and collect the double indemnity insurance payout, but Neff’s boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), suspects foul play.
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