A while ago, a friend of mine handed me a list of the AFI (American Film Institute) top 100 films of all time. I thought, "I'm a movie guy, I like movies with depth...I should see all these movies." I prided myself that I had already seen something like 36 of them. So I loaded them all into Netflix.
Boy, were they wrong.
Granted...there are some films that I agree with, like Star Wars, Schindler's List, The Godfather, etc. Probably 70% or more of the movies were before 1970. Not that old movies are a bad thing, there are some excellent ones out there (I have one from the 1920s in my list)...but most of them are beyond outdated. For instance, the #1 movie. Citizen Kane. BORED ME TO TEARS. I understand that for 1942, it was so phenomonaly ground-breaking, nobody could stop talking about it. But that was 1942.
Maybe I've been desensitized. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the movie to appreciate it. Or maybe the AFI should fire all the blue-haired old bags and denture-wearing geezers.
So fed up was I that I decided to create my own list. Unforunately, shortly after beginning, I discovered that it would be impossible to truly put it in order. What I came up with is as follows...
The following list is not in any sort of preference order, except the top 25. These, separate from the rest, are my 25 favorite, but are also not really in any sort of order…I mean, they sort of are, but not enough to be definitive…because that would be impossible. These are "must-watch" movies. (#-# infers a series, watch in order)
- The Passion of the Christ
- Saving Private Ryan
- Schindler’s List
- The Godfather (4-1)
- Braveheart
- We Were Soldiers
- The Matrix (5-1)
- The Patriot
- Usual Suspects
- The Last Samurai
- Fight Club
- Black Hawk Down
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1-1)
- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1-2)
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (1-3)
- Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back (2-2)
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (2-3)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (3-3)
- Pulp Fiction
- Scarface
- The Matrix: Reloaded (5-2)
- The Matrix: Revolutions (5-3)
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (see #1 for story)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Gladiator
Star Wars: A New Hope (2-1)
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (3-1)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (3-2)
Akira
Aliens (6-2)
The Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
Alien (6-1)
American Beauty
American History X
Bad Boys 2
Bad Boys
Back to the Future
The Bourne Identity (8-1)
The Bourne Supremacy (8-2)
Clerks (9-1)
Sin City
Die Hard (10-1)
Die Hard with a Vengeance (10-2)
Dogma (9-3)
Enemy at the Gates
Equilibrium
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Good Fellas
Casino
Fifth Element
Spiderman 2
The Fugitive
X-Men 2
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost Busters
The Shining
The Goonies
The Green Mile
Hero
The Hunt for Red October
The Boondock Saints
Independence Day
Three Kings
Jurassic Park
Kill Bill vol. 1
Kill Bill vol. 2
A Knights Tale
X-Men
Leon: The Professional
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith*
Se7en
Apocalypse Now: Redux
Men in Black
The Messenger
Miracle
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Godfather 2 (4-2)
Stigmata
O Brother Where Art Thou
Ocean’s Eleven
Office Space
Pearl Harbor
Pirates of the Caribbean
Mall Rats (9-2)
The Rock
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Underworld
Snatch
Sleepy Hollow
Spiderman
Tombstone
War of the Worlds (2005)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Chronicles of Narnia: TLTWATW
King Kong (2005)
Requiem for a Dream
Vanilla Sky
Resident Evil
V for Vendetta
Reservoir Dogs
And so you have it. As mentioned, I'd like to have a movie party sometime...just a get together at my house, watch 3 or so movies, have some food, etc. So I can know what movies to line up, I'd like people to look over the list, and post the movies they HAVEN'T seen. If there is a movie that you feel is phenomenal, isn't on this list, and you think it should be (I enjoy films from most all genres), please let me know.
The idea is to get a list of movies that at least 3 people haven't seen.
Online Cheaters: Only one level more noble than rapists. So don't cheat, smacktard.
I believe in the theory of intellectual osmosis, so if I abruptly leave our conversation, you'll know why. Have a Nice Day.
