Best Movies of All Time. The List.

Posting Monday about WarGames and how it's my favorite movie of all time got me thinking. What would be my top ten movies of all time? So I compiled a list and I will share it with you here.

1) WarGames: (1983)

Which you already knew if you're reading this blog. You can see all the reasons why on my post from June 3rd

This is where it starts getting tough. Picking the best is easy but ranking the rest is difficult because from week to week the positions would change depending on my mood. This week they are in this order:

2) Star Wars - Episode IV A New Hope: (1977)

To me, this movie will always be just Star Wars. The version that is my favorite? The original theatrical edition. Don't get me wrong, I am not in the "George Lucas ruined our movie" crowd. To begin with, it isn't our movie it's his. He can make any changes he wants to. Truth be told, I like most of the changes he made, certainly, the movies are more fleshed out than they were originally.  But this movie made a big impression on me when I first saw it in 1977, and the 6 or 7 times I saw it during the next year or two during its long run in the theaters. When I see the original cut that I have on the limited edition DVD set I am still affected by it. While I like the new version as seen on the Blu-ray, it doesn't have the same impact.

3) The American President: (1995)

What can I say, I love this movie. I think the romantic in me would love to see our government run the way it is in this movie [and even more so Sorkin's follow-up The West Wing]. The writing is superb, the acting is top-notch and it's a story that has something for everyone. This movie along with Star Wars and WarGames are in the main storage of EVERY device I have capable of displaying movies.

4) Waking Ned Devine: (1998)

While the idea behind this movie is actually quite morbid, a village in Ireland tries to claim a lottery ticket that belonged to a resident who died when he discovered he won, It is done with such a light touch that you find yourself laughing and enjoying it more than you probably should. I can watch this movie over and over again and still laugh at it.

5) Casablanca: (1942)

What can you say about this movie that hasn't already been said? Everyone loves this movie. It's got war, Nazis, music, murder, police chases, seedy underground, freedom fighters, romance. How can it NOT be a favorite? Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

6) Aliens: (1986)

I really didn't care for Alien. It was OK but to me, it seemed to be missing something. Apparently that something was SPACE MARINES. Because Aliens just got it RIGHT! it's sci-fi no doubt, but well written, acted and directed sci-fi. I love the characters, especially Hicks and Hudson. The movie just keeps adding tension getting faster and faster until the finale. Great film.

7) Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship of The Ring: (2001)

Yes, they are all good in their own way, but I really like Fellowship best. While I will watch them all marathon-style once a year or so, I watch Fellowship many times a year. I enjoy the look at the Shire, the action of the "escape from the Shire". All of it. I think if The Hobbit had been a single film instead of a trilogy it would have knocked this off the list but I don't see any one of the three being enough film to do it.

8) A Knights Tale: (2001)

This is a movie I can watch over and over. I always stop on it when channel surfing and I watch the DVD a few times a year. The characters are great and the plot is good enough to keep your interest. Throwing in Geoffrey Chaucer is just classic. Humourous when it needs to be, enough action to keep anyone interested and I love the way they blended modern music into the film.

9) Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: (1989)

Yes. Yes. I know. But Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blah Blah. Raiders is a great movie and is battling for the 10th spot but I really like Crusade better. Crusade has more humor, I like the peek into Indy's past. It has Sean Connery in it, and they named the dog Indiana. I watch this movie at least a few times a year.

10) Singin' In The Rain: (1952)

I know I said above that Raiders was battling for 10th. Well, it lost. Basically, I decided by pretending they were both on TV at the same time and my DVR was broken. Which one would I watch? Turns out it would be Singin'. 

Here you have the list of my 10 most favorite movies. It is a very good thing I stopped at 10 and didn't try for 20 or 25 because it really gets muddled from here down. You would have 5 more Star Wars Films, the 2 other Indy films (does anyone include Crystal Skull? ALL the Star Trek Movies, the rest of the LoTR films, etc. But these are the 10 movies I would want on the solar-powered video player I was stranded on a desert island with.