Yes, I have come up with a top 50 list of favorite movies, despite my disdain for lists. I've wanted to make a top movies list from the moment I started this blog because it would be an opportunity to show off and promote my favorite movies, but I knew it wasn't time yet. As I have said before, a list by itself is just shallow name-dropping and a form of non-content. I knew I needed to write some serious essays before dropping a list so I decided that after I had fifty posts that were not videos, movie or book reviews, or links to other people's work, I would post up a list. This gave me motivation to write more essays. The list here allows the reader to see how my ideas play out in practice and to critique whether my actual tastes follow my theoretical musings. It also gives me an opportunity to cite and promote movies that I definitely, genuinely like. The citations on the blog are normally brought up as conventional examples of specific ideas and thus a mixed bag in terms of overall quality.
How did I come up with this list? A number of years ago, I made up a list of all the movies I feel I like. I later put them in order as well as added new choices, usually as I watched them. The list is not as absolute as it seems because I wasn't going to spend hours mulling over individual choices, especially considering my favorite movies transcend country, time-period and genre. There's a lot of apples and oranges comparisons. The list is now a secret list on imdb.com. I do intend to re-watch and re-rank some of my choices. I've just taken the top fifty choices for here because I frankly have not seen enough movies to make a great list of much greater length and this blog is not meant to be about lists anyway. I don't need to have a list including Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror. For the time being, I intend to update this list every time my blog gets a new official follower so please sign up.
In going over this list, I have noticed a few obvious trends. First, I like awesome movies. I tend to like conventional-choice classic Hollywood movies and classic European arthouse, so basically your film school viewing and Criterion Collection-type movies. I think the film "canon" is largely correct. These movies are famous and popular for a reason. I also tend to be partial to movies from my childhood, especially the Star Wars saga. Once again, I know it's not particularly original. In all honesty, though, most of the movies I liked as a kid are genuinely wretched. Lastly, I'm into Bollywood movies which until recently was very rare for many diversified film buffs. The anti-Bollywood bias is still quite common, but I won't go into that now. For any deeper insight into the list, read the rest of the blog.
Last of all, I want to note that this is just one man's opinion. This is not a definitive list. It represents what I like as much as it represents what I've gotten around to seeing. There are certainly hundreds, probably thousands of great movies out there-- more than I will ever watch. These are not the only fifty good movies ever or even the only fifty movies I like. Oh, and sorry to those who just wanted a list and not an explanation. You could have just scrolled down.
How did I come up with this list? A number of years ago, I made up a list of all the movies I feel I like. I later put them in order as well as added new choices, usually as I watched them. The list is not as absolute as it seems because I wasn't going to spend hours mulling over individual choices, especially considering my favorite movies transcend country, time-period and genre. There's a lot of apples and oranges comparisons. The list is now a secret list on imdb.com. I do intend to re-watch and re-rank some of my choices. I've just taken the top fifty choices for here because I frankly have not seen enough movies to make a great list of much greater length and this blog is not meant to be about lists anyway. I don't need to have a list including Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror. For the time being, I intend to update this list every time my blog gets a new official follower so please sign up.
In going over this list, I have noticed a few obvious trends. First, I like awesome movies. I tend to like conventional-choice classic Hollywood movies and classic European arthouse, so basically your film school viewing and Criterion Collection-type movies. I think the film "canon" is largely correct. These movies are famous and popular for a reason. I also tend to be partial to movies from my childhood, especially the Star Wars saga. Once again, I know it's not particularly original. In all honesty, though, most of the movies I liked as a kid are genuinely wretched. Lastly, I'm into Bollywood movies which until recently was very rare for many diversified film buffs. The anti-Bollywood bias is still quite common, but I won't go into that now. For any deeper insight into the list, read the rest of the blog.
Last of all, I want to note that this is just one man's opinion. This is not a definitive list. It represents what I like as much as it represents what I've gotten around to seeing. There are certainly hundreds, probably thousands of great movies out there-- more than I will ever watch. These are not the only fifty good movies ever or even the only fifty movies I like. Oh, and sorry to those who just wanted a list and not an explanation. You could have just scrolled down.
50. The Passion of Joan of Arc*
49. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge*
48. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
47. Sholay*
46. Yankee Doodle Dandy*
45. Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones
44. Amar Akbar Anthony*
43. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
42. North by Northwest
41. Strangers on a Train
40. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
39. The Lion in Winter*
38. The Searchers*
37. Casino Royale
36. The Last King of Scotland
35. Raging Bull
34. Gone with the Wind
33. Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith
32. Boys Town
31. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
30. Saving Private Ryan
29. Midnight in Paris
28. Angels with Dirty Faces
27. Singin' in the Rain*
26. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
25. Princess Mononoke
24. The Sandlot
23. King Kong*
22. What About Bob?
21. Home Alone
20. Planet of the Apes
19. Psycho
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox**
17. Barefoot Gen
16. Rocky*
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey*
14. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
13. Freaks
12. Remember the Titans
11. The Bicycle Thieves*
10. Into Great Silence**
9. The Godfather
8. On the Waterfront*
7. Casablanca*
6. L'Atalante*
5. Metropolis*
4. Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi
3. Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope*
2. It's a Wonderful Life**
1. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back*
*already cited on blog
**reviewed on blog under movie reviews
