James

This isn’t my first top 100 favorite movies list, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. I enjoy doing these lists every few years just to see what movies have really affected me, which movies have become less relevant to me, and what that says about where I’m at in my life. Several movies that failed to make the list seemed like sure things. No Gremlins? No Monster Squad? No Total Recall? Impossible! If I did a top 110 list I’m sure these movies would have come into play, but in a top 100 they just couldn’t quite make it.

Now, before I get to the list itself, a few things: First off, this was supposed to be a 10 part series. For the first time in my life I was going to actually edit together a video, using clips. 10 videos, 10 movies represented in each. Then I ran into what so many of my video producer friends have experienced in their professional lives: YouTube censorship. Despite the fact that many of the clips in the videos can be found posted all over YouTube, my videos were flagged and blocked. There is a very entertaining 2 1/2 hour cut of this video that only I’ll ever see, and that is a shame. Still, I think this much shorter cut, accompanied by music from my Manic Expression: The Movie composer and good friend, Ichabod Todd, brings out my love of film even more so.

Second: This movie could have been dominated by franchises, and so I decided to only include one movie from each film series. Do I love the first Terminator? The second Godfather? All the Marvel movies? Yes, but I wanted to show more of a variety in this video, so only one movie per film series is included.

Finally, and obviously, this is my list. I’m not saying these are the best movies ever made. Any list of the greatest films of all time would have to include Network, All the President’s Men, The Seven Samurai, and so many others. These are simply the movies that have most affected me, and that I go back to time and time again. This is my celebration of the art form I love, and how it has shaped my life.

THE LIST

#100 12 Angry Men (1957)

#99 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

#98 Reservoir Dogs (1992)

#97 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

#96 Modern Times (1936)

#95 The Birdcage (1996)

#94 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

#93 Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

#92 Stand By Me (1986)

#91 Chinatown (1974)

#90 Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)

#89 The Public Enemy (1931)

#88 Lenny (1974)

#87 Young Frankenstein (1974)

#86 Ford v. Ferrari (2019)

#85 Robocop (1987)

#84 Hereditary (2018)

#83 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

#82 Groundhog Day (1993)

#81 Dead Poets Society (1989)

#80 The Dark Knight (2008)

#79 The Old Dark House (1932)

#78 The Exorcist (1973)

#77 Tropic Thunder (2008)

#76 Avengers Endgame (2019)

#75 JFK (1991)

#74 Saving Private Ryan (1998)

#73 Se7en (1995)

#72 Paths of Glory (1957)

#71 The Apostle (1997)

#70 The Graduate (1967)

#69 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1931)

#68 Ed Wood (1994)

#67 Jurassic Park (1993)

#66 The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

#65 Rocky Balboa (2006)

#64 Apollo 13 (1995)

#63 Taxi Driver (1976)

#62 Sunet Boulevard (1950)

#61 Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

#60 Evil Dead 2 (1987)

#59 Watchmen (2009)

#58 The Thing (1982)

#57 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

#56 The Goonies (1985)

#55 Tombstone (1993)

#54 The Big Sleep (1948)

#53 Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

#52 Annie Hall (1977)

#51 The Shining (1980)

#50 The Fountain (2006)

#49 Inception (2010)

#48 First Blood (1982)

#47 Apocalypse Now (1979)

#46 Schindler’s List (1993)

#45 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

#44 Aliens (1986)

#43 Jaws (1974)

#42 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

#41 Cabaret (1972)

#40 The Truman Show (1998)

#39 Pulp Fiction (1994)

#38 Stranger than Fiction (2006)

#37 Airplane! (1980)

#36 Crimes & Misdemeanors (1989)

#35 Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

#34 White Christmas (1954)

#33 Double Indemnity (1944)

#32 Rear Window (1954)

#31 The Maltese Falcon (1941)

#30 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

#29 A Face in the Crowd (1957)

#28 Magnolia (1999)

#27 Love and Death (1975)

#26 It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

#25 Beetlejuice (1988)

#24 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

#23 Gods and Monsters (1998)

#22 Blazing Saddles (1974)

#21 Fight Club (1999)

#20 Braveheart (1995)

#19 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

#18 Citizen Kane (1941)

#17 Road to Rio (1947)

#16 Field of Dreams (1989)

#15 Psycho (1960)

#14 Amadeus (1984)

#13 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

#12 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

#11 Duck Soup (1933)

#10 The Godfather (1972)

#9 The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

#8 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

#7 Die Hard (1988)

#6 Back to the Future (1985)

#5 Ghostbusters (1984)

#4 Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

#3 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

#2 Superman (1978)

#1 The Third Man (1949)