My Favorite Movies

This is, quite literally, my favorite movie ever. Never before have I ever seen a film in which every single aspect ranks among the best ever. The most beautiful cinematography ever committed to celluloid, a pitch-perfect musical score, perfect pacing, epic storytelling, and some of the best ensemble acting ever. No other movie has done it for me like this one.

Akira Kurosawa is probably my favorite director of all-time, and this incredible film is one of the reasons why. This, along with "Rashomon", "Yojimbo", "Ran", and "Throne of Blood", are the crown jewels of Japanese cinema. And the story is as timeless as they come, having inspired films such as "The Magnificent Seven" and, more recently, "A Bug's Life". The absolute best film in an amazing body of work by one of the great masters of cinema.

What can I say about "Casablanca" that hasn't already been said a thousand times by others a whole lot more eloquent than I am? This is one of the best movies ever made and probably the best romance movie ever made. Humphrey Bogart's at the top of his game in this picture. This movie is probably the reason why Bogey is my favorite actor.

When compiling a list of the most influential motion pictures in history, "Blade Runner" should probably be near the top. It's influenced probably 90% of all futuristic science fiction films today (although it owes a great deal to Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"), but that's not what makes this picture a classic. This is probably one of the most beautifully made movies in history with some of the most deeply affecting storytelling ever. Too bad that Ridley Scott has sold out so badly ever since.

There are very few pictures that packs an emotional punch like this one. This is a movie that needs to be viewed multiple times in order to get the full experience, and what an experience it is! A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. Toshiro Mifune gives arguably his best performance in this film. One of Kurosawa's best.

How this picture lost the Academy Award to "Ordinary People" I'll never know. This is Martin Scorsese's quintessential masterpiece. Some of the best direction you'll ever see in your life, this movie is a real example on how movies should be made. Watching this, you just know you're watching a true master at work. Simply amazing.

I don't know whether or not I consider this the best picture ever made, but I can certainly understand why film historians consider it so. There's no doubt that it's the most influential. It's just an all-around incredible motion picture; great acting, directing, and one the best screenplays ever written. Simply amazing.

I've never been a very big fan of musicals, but this is one of my all-time favorite movies. Perfect in almost every way imaginable. The best musical ever made.

Attention all you silent film haters out there: do yourself a favor and check this one out. It's just an all-around great movie. Any serious film buff needs to watch this movie at least once. It's as fast-paced and exciting as any of the modern blockbusters.

It's hard to believe that this is the only Federico Fellini picture that I've seen, but it definately ranks as one of my top ten favorite movies ever. It's one of the sexiest movies I've ever seen, and Marcello Mastroianni is such a cool actor! His coolness definately ranks up with the likes of James Dean, Steve McQueen, and Marlon Brando. And Anita Ekberg is one of the hottest women in the history of the movies.

This is by far the most epic film in Akira Kurosawa's entire body of work, and considering that he's responsible for films like "Seven Samurai" and "Throne of Blood", that's no small feat. It's also quite possibly the best film ever based on the works of William Shakespeare (it's "King Lear" set in feudal Japan). And for the record, Mieko Harada is the nastiest villainess I've ever seen in a movie.

C'mon! It's the fucking Godfather people! How can this not be one of my all-time favorites? From Nino Rota's awesome score to some of the most classic scenes ever committed to film, this is one of the essential must-sees. A lot of people prefer "The Godfather Part II" to the original, but I beg to differ (for the record, Part II is still one of my favorite movies as well). This is the greatest crime movie ever made, even if it isn't the most true to life. It's also one of the most quotable.

Along with "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago", "The Bridge on the River Kwai" is one of David Lean's monumental directorial achievements. Alec Guinness gives an amazing performance as Colonel Nicholson, in my book his best ever (yes, it's far superior performance to Obi-Wan Kenobi). It also won him an Academy Award for Best Actor. However, I would be committing a grave misservice if I failed to mention William Holden, whose Commander Shears anchors the entire picture. I love this movie! Can't get enough of it!

The only word that can be used to sum up "King Kong" is 'timeless'. However, if you need another word, try this one on for size: 'genius'. This is a picture that has stood the test of time like no other, loved by cineastes and average moviegoers alike. Even though the Peter Jackson remake is technically superior, nothing about it can even be compared to the original, which is the very definition of perfection. The special effects still hold up, even by today's standards. The energy never lets up for a second, and even the acting (not the sort of thing you watch a picture like this for) is a delight. One helluva an achievement.

"The Great Escape" is probably the greatest and most classic action picture I've ever seen. Thematically, it shares a lot in common with "The Bridge on the River Kwai", but unlike "Kwai", "Escape" is a pure action flick -- and an action flick that has never been topped at that. On the other hand, there has probably never been any other picture that is so unfairly underrated by critics and yet so innovative. A lot of imitators have tried (and failed) to recapture the magic of "The Great Escape". The only film that has even come close is Robert Aldrich's "The Dirty Dozen", but even that falls way short of the mark.

When taken together as a whole, the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is one of the most monumental achievements in the entire history of the movies. And if the trilogy isn't the most ambitious undertaking of all-time, it's certainly ranks up there. They're the "Gone With the Wind" or "The Godfather" of our generation. Of the entire trilogy, however, "The Return of the King" is by far the best. The battle sequences alone would make even Akira Kurosawa green with envy.

Not since Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" came out almost 25 years earlier has a futuristic science fiction film made such an impression. While both films, in essence, are morality tales centered around societies ruled by a fear of the unknown, the dystopian cyber-metropolis of "Blade Runner" is the exact polar opposite of the contemporary war-torn ghettos seen in "Children of Men". "Blade Runner" was about the destruction of life whereas "Children of Men" is about the preservation of life (however, the moral of both films is that life is precious). However, I think that both films are, more than any other films of their genre, products of their generation. The future of "Blade Runner" is one ruled by the Cold War paranoia of the Reagan-era whereas the future of "Children of Men" conveys a feeling of post-9/11 uncertainty and intolerance. However, where "Children of Men" truly shines -- and this is something that was lacking in "Blade Runner" -- is in its ability to tell a human story (interestingly, the most human characters in "Blade Runner" were the Replicants themselves) without losing its focus. The cinematography in this picture is outstanding (you'll never see tracking shots more effective than these), Alfonso Cuaron's direction is impeccable, and the pacing couldn't be better. I'm glad to finally see a science fiction film that can truly be placed on the same pedestal as "Blade Runner". My only regret is that it took 25 years for it to arrive.

Pixar did what I thought was impossible and topped "WALL-E!" It must be incredibly frustrating for other animation studios when the newest Pixar feature turns out to be even better than the one that came before it... year after year! I guess that all the other studios will have to wait yet another year before they can win an Oscar for animated feature.

This is a terrific little film told entirely in stills and freeze frames but nevertheless completely engrossing. It was later remade over 30 years later as "12 Monkeys" (which I haven't seen). It's not very long (by my estimation, around 30 minutes), so it won't take you too long to watch it. For all I know, it could even be on YouTube by now. Check it out.

It's official: Louis Malle can truly be considered one of the great masters of cinema. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a really long time. It's one of those movies that not only stays in your head, but also touches your heart and sticks in your throat as well. It tells the story of a French boy in a Catholic school who befriends a Jewish boy that the headmaster is hiding from the Nazis. It's one of the most poignant (and devastating) pictures made during the 1980s.

I watched this movie for the second time last night. This is one of those pictures that gets better with repeat viewings. Expertly directed by David Cronenberg with terrific performances from the entire cast. Viggo Mortensen is perfect, truly one of the best leading men today. It's a real mind-job of a movie.