Rob Reiner made the kind of movies that we all rewatch already. They\u2019re the films that we quote without having to think about it, the ones we hold up as gold standards of comedy, romance, drama and suspense, the ones we wish they made today.<\/p>\n
Before his death Sunday, it was not uncommon, or unwarranted, to marvel at his incredible streak of films from 1984, when he made his directorial debut with the mockumentary \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap,\u201d through 1995 with \u201cThe American President.\u201d Not to mention his comedic excellence in front of the camera, where he made a feast out of even the smallest roles, whether it was telling Tom Hanks about tiramisu in \u201cSleepless in Seattle\u201d or yelling at Leonardo DiCaprio for his credit card bill in \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street.\u201d <\/p>\n
When people bemoan that they don\u2019t make movies like they used to, Reiner\u2019s genre-spanning films from that decade are often the kinds they\u2019re talking about. There might not be a best picture winner in the bunch, but it hardly matters. He made films that we remember.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the best and where to watch them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Is Spinal Tap\u201d (1984)<\/h2>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a fine line between stupid and clever,\u201d Christopher Guest\u2019s guitarist Nigel Tufnel observes in \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap\u201d and Reiner\u2019s almost entirely improvised film about a British heavy metal group\u2019s disastrous tour is proof. In its unabashed commitment to silliness, it captured truths about rock ‘n’ roll, the music industry and ego. Reiner even based his documentary filmmaker character Marty DiBergi on Martin Scorsese in \u201cThe Last Waltz,\u201d which he might have been a little upset about at first but has come to love over the years. While Reiner and his friends never dared take credit for the mockumentary, he did say that perhaps they made they first \u201cmock rock doc.\u201d<\/p>\n
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cThese go to 11.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Roku, TCM, DIRECTV Stream and HBO MAX. Also available to rent or buy.<\/p>\n Rob Reiner talks on the phone at his office at Castle Rock Enterprises, seeking donations for anti-smoking campaigns, July 29, 1988, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit: AP\/Reed Saxon<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n This coming-of-age classic, adapted from a Stephen King story, follows four 12-year-old boys on a search for a missing kid in 1950s Oregon. It helped make a star out of River Phoenix, along with Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O\u2019Connell, and it came to Reiner only because Adrian Lyne had dropped out.<\/p>\n In 2021, Reiner told The Guardian that the film meant more to him than any other he\u2019d made. \u201cIt was the first time I did a film that reflected my own personal sensibility; it had a mixture of melancholy, humor and nostalgia,\u201d he said. \u201cI was 12 in 1959, so the music was the music I listened to and the feelings I had in relation to my father, I injected into the film. When it came out and was accepted it validated me.\u201d<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cI never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix, fuboTV and Philo. Also available to buy.<\/p>\n Carl Reiner, left, and his son Rob Reiner pose together following their hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre, April 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP\/Chris Pizzello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Carl Reiner famously gifted his son William Goldman’s novel, which became his favorite and set him on path to adapt it for the big screen, which many had already tried and failed to do. Norman Lear came to the rescue once more (he funded \u201cSpinal Tap\u201d) and gave Reiner the money to make \u201cThe Princess Bride.\u201d They assembled one of the great ensembles with Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Peter Falk and Andr\u00e9 the Giant to bring to life this very singular, very clever tale of love, adventure and storytelling that would have many more lives as a home video staple.<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cHave fun storming the castle!\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Hulu, Disney+ and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to rent or buy.<\/p>\n Reiner enslited Nora Ephron to help take an honest look at dating and relationships in what would become one of the most beloved romantic comedies, following Meg Ryan\u2019s Sally and Crystal\u2019s Harry across 12 years. Reiner\u2019s mother, Estelle, was the key to the most iconic scene in Katz\u2019s Delicatessen, a location which took on a new fame as well.<\/p>\n Around the film\u2019s 30th anniversary, Reiner reflected on its longevity. <\/p>\n \u201cI think people see some basic truths about men and women when they watch that movie,\u201d he told The Associated Press. \u201cTo me, the dance that happens between men and women is forever.\u201d<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cI\u2019ll have what she\u2019s having.\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Roku, STARZ and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to rent or buy.<\/p>\n Reiner re-teamed with Goldman to adapt King\u2019s \u201cMisery,\u201d about a famous novelist (James Caan) who after a car crash finds himself in the captive care of a crazed fan (Kathy Bates). Warren Beatty was initially attached to star and told Reiner that he didn\u2019t see it as a horror movie or a thriller but a prison movie. It\u2019s also kind of a comedy. When Reiner rewatched the film to talk about it earlier this year at the TCM Classic Film Festival, he said even he was surprised at how many laughs there were.<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cI\u2019m your number one fan!\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Available to buy on Prime Video and Apple TV.<\/p>\n The death of a Marine at Guantanamo Bay provides the backdrop for the Aaron Sorkin-penned courtroom drama, which went to Broadway before the big screen. In Reiner’s hands, pitting Tom Cruise as a cocky, plea-happy junior lawyer against Jack Nicholson as an intimidating commanding officer, it became a hit that would score a best picture nomination. Nicholson would reunite with Reiner 15 years later for \u201cThe Bucket List.\u201d<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cYou can\u2019t handle the truth!\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on BBC America, Philo and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to buy.<\/p>\n Working with another Sorkin script, Reiner returned to the romantic comedy to tell a story about a widower U.S. president (Michael Douglas) who begins dating an environmental lobbyist (Annette Bening). Roger Ebert wrote in his review, \u201cIt is hard to make a good love story, harder to make a good comedy and harder still to make an intelligent film about politics. Rob Reiner\u2019s \u2018The American President\u2019 cheerfully does all three, and is a great entertainment \u2014 one of those films, like \u2018Forrest Gump\u2019 or \u2018Apollo 13,\u2019 that however briefly unites the audience in a reprise of the American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n MOST MEMORABLE LINE: \u201cYou fight the fights that need fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent or buy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newsday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rob Reiner made the kind of movies that we all rewatch already. They\u2019re the films that we quote without having to think about it, the ones we hold up as gold standards of comedy, romance, drama and suspense, the ones we wish they made today. Before his death Sunday, it was not uncommon, or unwarranted, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2200009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[359676,21751,21741,21818,21912,307696],"class_list":["post-2200008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ap-a-wire","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-lifestyle","tag-movies","tag-wires-bot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/This-is-Spinal-Tap-The-Princess-Bride-and-more-Rob.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2200008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2200010,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200008\/revisions\/2200010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2200009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2200008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2200008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2200008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cStand by Me\u201d (1986)<\/h2>\n
![\"Carl](\"https:\/\/www.newsday.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AOWY4NTdjYjYtYjkzNy00%3ANTNlMWZiZDEtNGIwMi00%2Fcopy-of-obit-rob-reiner.jpeg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D768%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80\"\/)
\u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d (1987)<\/h2>\n
\u201cWhen Harry Met Sally…\u201d (1989)<\/h2>\n
\u201cMisery\u201d (1990)<\/h2>\n
\u201cA Few Good Men\u201d (1992)<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe American President\u201d (1995)<\/h2>\n