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My Favorite Movies

mike

MICHAEL J DOWSWELL'S
TOP 185 FAVOURITE FILMS

The list I?ve always wanted to cobble together for many a year, it is of course (when you actually get round to it) quite a bit of work to put a list together. Just in terms of shear time, but here it finally is.

These are the films that I love the most, very carefully selected out of everything I've seen.

Bare with me as it will keep on growing.

	MikeDowswell's Rating	My Rating
1	American Movie 1999, R) Wonderful stuff. I saw this one at round about the same time as Adaptation (same week I think) and again it floored me. The visits to his uncle and trips out with his uncle are very memorable...and Marks determination to get it done, combined with being depressed and wanting to drink the night away...and having a very good honest friend by his side are all things I could relate to. Making a film is just such a huge undertaking, and its all captured here so well. But not only that, we get to see people in their current situation here in real life too, small bits of their private lives, even if its just a glimpse...it fascinated me. and its honestly is much respected. But not only that we have some great guitar music on the soundtrack..again memorable. This is one of the all time greats.
2	Adaptation 2002, R) This was one of these films that I sat down to watch and was just totally, totally blown away by it...its definitely one of the best films ever made. Maybe its a kind of a personal thing to say this, but i could relate to a lot of what I saw in this films, thus making it well...very relate-able for me, its a truly wonderful film.
3	Comfort and Joy 1984, PG)
4	Alien 1979, R) So well, you have to talk about Alien at any opportunity you can, and well, I saw it not all that long ago finally on the big screen. Man o man does this film not just keep getting better and better? Its such a great build up and well I love Weaver and Holm...well I love Stanton and Kotto, ah dang, I just love the entire cast, as Ridley Scott says himself its a perfect cast who are all masters of acting. They\re all on screen gold. The detail in it is wonderful, and it just blows me away that this was done in 1979. Ridley also puts the 2.35:1 ratio to great use, cramming as much as he can into the compositions. It honestly makes me think that it really doesn;t matter what ratio you pick, I mean this is beautifully shot.
5	Local Hero 1983, PG)
6	Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964, PG)
7	American Beauty 1999, R)
8	Sideways 2004, R) Really loved this one a lot. And very sadly did not know anything about Alexander Payne until now. I will be trying very hard to see more by this man.
9	Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai 1999, R)
10	The Graduate 1967, PG)
11	The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951, G)
12	Apocalypse Now 1979, R)
13	The China Syndrome 1979, PG)
14	Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) 1981, PG)
15	Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1974, R)
16	2001: A Space Odyssey 1968, G)
17	The Terminator 1984, R)
18	Full Metal Jacket 1987, R)
19	Predator 1987, R)
20	Die Hard 1988, R)
21	Léon (The Professional) 1994, R)
22	The Fifth Element 1997, PG-13)
23	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope 1977, PG)
24	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 1980, PG)
25	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 1983, PG)
26	Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999, PG)
27	The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de Motocicleta) 2003, R)
28	Into the Wild 2007, R)
29	The White Diamond 2004, Unrated)
30	Grizzly Man 2005, R)
31	Little Miss Sunshine 2006, R)
32	Topsy-Turvy 1999, R)
33	Enemy Mine 1985, PG-13)
34	Sexy Beast 2001, R)
35	The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957, PG)
36	Thief 1981, R)
37	The Incredibles 2004, PG)
38	Cars 2006, G)
39	Monsters, Inc. 2001, G)
40	Lost In Translation 2003, R)
41	Finding Nemo 2003, G)
42	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003, PG-13)
43	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002, PG-13)
44	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001, PG-13)
45	Jaws 1975, PG)
46	Outbreak 1995, R)
47	City on Fire 1987, R)
48	High Fidelity 2000, R)
49	Grosse Pointe Blank 1997, R)
50	The Silence of the Lambs 1991, R)
51	Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home 1986, PG)
52	First Blood (Rambo: First Blood) 1982, R)
53	Star Trek - First Contact 1996, PG-13)
54	Contact 1997, PG)
55	Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan 1982, PG)
56	Star Trek III - The Search for Spock 1984, PG)
57	White Heat 1949, Unrated)
58	Angels with Dirty Faces 1938, Unrated)
59	The Shining 1980, R) I really do hope that people know that there?s three or possibly four versions of Stanley Kubricks "The Shining".
60	The Right Stuff 1983, PG) One of the best films ever made. If your sat there and are unable to switch it off... then your watching one of the best films ever made. This has that.
61	Barry Lyndon 1975, PG)
62	Buddy Buddy 1981, R)
63	The Odd Couple 1968, G)
64	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975, R)
65	The Iron Giant 1999, PG)
66	Forbidden Planet 1956, G)
67	The Sunshine Boys 1975, PG)
68	Psycho 1960, R)
69	The Shawshank Redemption 1994, R)
70	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003, PG-13)
71	The Bounty 1984, PG)
72	Heat 1995, R)
73	Paths of Glory 1957, Unrated)
74	Gregory's Girl 1980, PG)
75	Outland 1981, R)
76	Blade Runner 1982, R)
77	Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987, R)
78	Uncle Buck 1989, PG)
79	My Best Fiend (Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski) 1999, Unrated) Love this one!...an absolute must for any Herzog / Kinski fan. Herzog I feel really excels when he goes into full on documentary mode. His style very much leans towards the real long archive type shots in all his films, and so when he adds narration to footage and interviews it explodes into something of shear excellence. I will say though, that you should watch the five Kinski before you see this and also listen to the commentaries on those discs too. Very easy to get into the whole thing as its fascinating.
80	Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986, PG)
81	The 39 Steps 1935, PG)
82	RoboCop 1987, R)
83	Starship Troopers 1997, R)
84	Total Recall 1990, R)
85	Das Boot (The Boat) 1981, R)
86	Planet of the Apes 1968, G) What higher praise can you think of to say about a film?.that you believe Stanley Kubrick would love this movie. I think he would...but of course I don?t know if he did. But everything is here.
87	Aliens 1986, R)
88	The Abyss 1989, PG-13)
89	Ghost World 2001, R)
90	The Ninth Gate 1999, R)
91	The Pianist 2002, R)
92	Hobson's Choice 1953, Unrated)
93	King Kong 1933, Unrated)
94	Commando 1985, R)
95	Tears of the Sun 2003, R)
96	Training Day 2001, R)
97	Predator 2 1990, R)
98	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984, PG)
99	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989, PG-13)
100	The Big Sleep 1946, PG)
101	Wallace and Gromit in the Wrong Trousers 1993, Unrated)
102	101 Dalmatians 1961, G)
103	Manhunter 1986, R)
104	The Day of the Jackal 1973, PG) One of the all time greats.
105	Marathon Man 1976, R)
106	The French Connection 1971, R)
107	The French Connection II 1975, R)
108	Amadeus 1984, PG)
109	American Graffiti 1973, PG)
110	The African Queen 1952, Unrated)
111	A Clockwork Orange 1971, R)
112	Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) 1972, R)
113	Bullitt 1968, PG)
114	Day of the Dead 1985, Unrated)
115	Monster's Ball 2001, R)
116	Duck Soup 1933, Unrated)
117	A Night at the Opera 1935, Unrated)
118	The Elephant Man 1980, PG)
119	The Hustler 1961, Unrated)
120	The Hill 1965, Unrated)
121	Manhattan 1979, R)
122	Moonstruck 1987, PG)
123	At the Circus 1939, Unrated)
124	Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) 1955, Unrated)
125	Spartacus 1960, PG-13)
126	12 Angry Men (Twelve Angry Men) 1957, Unrated)
127	The Train 1965, Unrated)
128	Trainspotting 1996, R)
129	When Harry Met Sally 1989, R)
130	Zulu 1964, PG)
131	Dog Day Afternoon 1975, R)
132	The General 1926, Unrated)
133	The Grapes of Wrath 1940, Unrated)
134	Castle in the Sky 1989, PG)
135	Some Like It Hot 1959, Unrated)
136	Armour of God (Long xiong hu di) (Operation Condor 2) 1987, R)
137	Stroszek 1977, Unrated)
138	Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe 1980, Unrated)
139	The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle)(Every Man for Himself and God Against All) 1975, Unrated)
140	The Wild Geese 1978, R)
141	Breakdown 1997, R)
142	Lost in La Mancha 2002, R)
143	Lady in the Water 2006, PG-13) What the HELL is up with the slamming of this film???...I remember at the time...we were debating what movie to see, and at the time people were writing some really nasty reviews and it was something like 2% on the rotten tomatoes metre?.anyway, I said Listen, this is a Shyamalan?everything this guy has done?everything has been great (or at least everything ive seen so far from him) it's just a automatic thing, you go along to see his films no matter what, its like default setting. Its like this, Shyamalan film comes out = go and see it So we went along and saw it, and damn me was it not probably his best film. It was freaking awesome, a very very funny film, beautifully made, great characters and genuinely funny. Now why it seems to be hated by many I just dont understand, Im never going to understand. So there it is.
144	In the Heat of the Night 1967, Unrated)
145	Jabberwocky 1977, PG) Great film with some scenes that don't work ........and could be removed..... to up this to a five star movie.
146	Cobra Verde (Slave Coast) 1988, Unrated)
147	Galaxy Quest 1999, PG)
148	The Andromeda Strain 1971, G)
149	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1999, R)
150	K-PAX 2001, PG-13)
151	A Night to Remember 1958, Unrated)
152	Proof of Life 2000, R)
153	2010: The Year We Make Contact 1984, PG)
154	Apocalypto 2006, R)
155	Spider-Man 2 2004, PG-13)
156	American History X 1998, R)
157	Rumble in the Bronx 1996, R)
158	The Royal Tenenbaums 2002, R)
159	Rushmore 1998, R)
160	Everest 1998, Unrated)
161	Eyes Wide Shut 1999, R)
162	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1941, Unrated)
163	Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead 1995, R)
164	Pay It Forward 2000, PG-13)
165	As Good As It Gets 1997, PG-13)
166	The Big Store 1941, Unrated)
167	Frenzy 1972, R)
168	Toy Story 1995, G)
169	Toy Story 2 1999, G)
170	It's a Wonderful Life 1946, G)
171	Lethal Weapon 1987, R)
172	Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm 1993, PG) I think this is probably the best batman film ever made. It's bold, beautiful and Kevin Conroy is the best batman out of the seven people who have played batman so far. It reminds me slightly of Raimi for some reason, like if Raimi had made a batman film then it would be like this.
173	Batman & Mr. Freeze - SubZero 1998, Unrated) wow, loved this a lot. Some problems I think with some of the CG in there..but i mean...this is 1998 and doing that was experimental back then, but other than that I found it very well made. Far better than any live action batman. Quite funny, Michael Ansara sounded a lot like Peter Weller...but great voice. Why doesn't a film like this go to the cinema???
174	The Darjeeling Limited 2007, R) Enjoyed it!...definitely!...somthing magical happened in the cinema too, great atmosphere. Big fan of Wes Anderson but first film of his to see on the big screen...better than The Life Aquatic...but I still have a large respect for The Life Aquatic's experimental approach.
175	About Schmidt 2002, R) Not quite as good as Sideways but boy there are sections of this that I feel are indeed masterpiece stuff. The conversations in this are very clever, in that its very relate-able to real life...characters are multifaceted. The film is at times very, very sad. And at other time incredibly funny. The music, cinematography and editing all first rate. And there?s some wonderful times where two characters jump in and out of being reasonably to being unreasonable regarding various topics, this to me was genius because of the way it dealt with...it would bounce back and fourth with the characters.
176	Bullets Over Broadway 1994, R)
177	Napoleon Dynamite 2004, PG)
178	Back to the Future 1985, PG)
179	American Splendor 2003, R)
180	Man on the Moon 1999, R)
181	Election 1999, R) Ive never come across films that deal with things like affairs...I honestly dont think Ive come across that until now, with Alexander Payne's Sideways and now this film Election. Its difficult to describe exactly how you feel as your watching these films...the word roller coaster ride is used a lot, but its perhaps the only way I can say how you feel as you watch this...this does play around with your emotion a lot, as did Sideways and About Schmidt. Its consistently funny and sad...showing the human condition very well, and by the end of the film your feeling that its all really quite clever. It really nails the complex nature of everything in life, things being right, things being wrong...things being right and wrong at the same time. Its a excellent film about politics and politicians summing the whole thing up very well.
182	Broken Flowers 2005, R) What can I say...I really loved this movie. Wonderfully paced, shot, edited, structured. Very Jarmusch, very funny, human and a great scene with a cat...any cat lovers out there will love this scene. I know that some people dont like me to say, but I could feel some great influences in ...or...I get the feeling that some of the big name directors who are now dead but where to me the very best (Stanely Kubrick) would love this. I don?t like to go into that perhaps...but I love what Jarmusch has done here and love Ghost Dog also very, very much.
183	I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (Saibogujiman kwenchana) 2008, Unrated)
184	Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002, PG)
185	The Wood 1999, R)
186	There Will Be Blood 2007, R) Just saw it...its good isnt it. Its beautifully shot and edited...I was so, so happy to see some wonderfully long and wide shots. Great realism and detail...very vivid. Story eventually moves into a sort of a Barry Lyndon or Raging Bull sort of a thing...which to be honest here, I was a bit disappointed with. But, all being said, at the end of the day I still maintain this is a good film. Thank god somebody out there is editing films like this.
187	The Wind That Shakes the Barley 2006, PG-13)