What are your top 25 favorite films?

I don’t know if I can recall 25 right now but here are some favorites:

Grand Illusion
The African Queen
A Night at the Opera
Cinema Paridiso
La Strada
The 400 Blows
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The 39 Steps
Room
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Kubo and the Two Strings
My Left Foot
Mrs Dalloway
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Million Dollar Baby
The Night of Shooting Stars
Fantasia
Seven Samurai
Wild Strawberries
The Blue Angel

There – that’s 20.

My fave film has gotta be that plastic stuff I wrap the left-overs in.

Donnie Brasco. The Godfather. Lawrence of Arabia. Spartacus. Casablanca. Rio Bravo. Lives of a Bengal Lancer. Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). Schlinders List. In no particular order, I like them all. There are probably a few more if I have time to think about it.

That list of yours is pretty solid.

I would add these: The Wild Bunch, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Yojimbo, The Hustler, Rules of the Game, Five Easy Pieces, The Americanization of Emily, The Duelists, Gilda, Black Narcissus, The Caine Mutiny, The Nun’s Story, Bullitt, The Loved One, Vera Cruz, Five Fingers

It’s tough, but I’ll try to see what comes to mind…

Synecdoche, New York
Goodfellas
Darjeeling Limited
The Big Lebowski
Stranger Than Paradise
Dead Man
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
No Country For Old Men
The Shining
Mulholland Drive
Jacob’s Ladder
Pulp Fiction
Fight Club
The Godfather
Memento
Snatch
Fargo
Donnie Darko
12 Monkeys
Adaptation
The Royal Tenenbaums

I’m skipping past everyone else’s answers, first, so I won’t be influenced. These will not be in order of preference, because my preference often changes. These are off the top of my head, and in no particular order, but they are pretty much the same movies at any given time, that are my favorites.

1. The Sound of Music

2. The Wizard of Oz

3. Rear Window

4. Star Wars (Episode IV)

5. The Jungle Book (Disney cartoon version)

6. Peter Pan (Disney cartoon version)

7. Mary Poppins

8. Love Actually

9. Psycho

10. Singing In the Rain

11. Star Trek 2009

12. Star Trek The Search for Spock

13. Snow White

14. Young Frankenstein

15. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

16, High Anxiety

17. Dark Shadows

18. A Hard Day’s Night

19. Toy Story

20. A Bug’s Life

21. Shall We Dance (the original Japanese version)

22. Simply Ballroom

23.The Nightmare Before Christmas

24. The Stuntman

25. My Favorite Year

@janbb Oh my yes, Fantasia and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. How could I forget those?

As you’ll be able to see below, to me this is an invitation to obsession, trying to make this list. There are too many. I can’t remember them all. They’re all different. There are great ones I can’t remember their names or choose which of the many good films of a series I like best, such as Harold Lloyd, Fred Astaire, or Laurel & Hardy. Also, dates are important because Hollywood keeps making inferior remakes.

I am amazed I managed to actually more or less pick a somewhat order of personal favorite-ness.

An attempt was made, as they say – the top 25:

Harold and Maude (1971)
Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977)
Lawrence of Arabia

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Charade (1963)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The Apartment (1960)
Goldfinger (1964)

The Wild Bunch (1969)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Maltese Falcon
Rear Window (1954)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Diva (1981)
Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
Young Frankenstein (1974)

But I feel like the list is odd because I have so many, so I think for completeness and because I did it, I should list the others I consider favorites.

The Longest Day (1962)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Meaning of Life (1983)
From Russia with Love (1963)
The Road Warrior (1981)
The Thin Man (1934)
Fistful of Dollars (1964)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
Duck, You Sucker (1971)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972)
Repo Man (1984)
Kick-Ass (2010)

Aliens (1986)
Casablanca (1942)
Yojimbo (1961)

The Third Man (1949)
The Bridge on the River Kwai

The 39 Steps
Being There (1979)
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Serenity (2005)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The African Queen
The French Connection (1971)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Bullitt
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Das Boot
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Seven-Ups (1973)
Wild Strawberries
The Duelists
All the President’s Men (1976)
The Conversation (1974)
Sliding Doors (1998)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
The Big Sleep (1946)

Fight Club (1999)
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
Jaws (1975)

Fantasia
Alien (1979)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Animal House (1978)
The Matrix (1999)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
The Terminator (1984)
Silent Running (1972)
Fargo (1996)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Heat (1995)
Lord Jim (1965)

In no particular order:

1. The Fire Within
2. Detective Story
3. Stormy Waters
4. On Dangerous Ground
5. He Who Must Die
6. Rififi
7. Night and the City
8. Out of the Past
9. Ace in the Hole
10. The Man Who Sleeps
11. Such a Pretty Little Beach
12. Deadlier than the Male
13. Le Samourai
14. City by the Sea
15. Elevator to the Gallows
16. The Night of the Hunter
17. Mr. Nobody
18. Perfect Blue
19. This Gun for Hire
20. The Red Circle
21. Le Doulos
22. Chinatown
23. Max and the Junkmen
24. Dirty Harry
25. Report to the Commissioner

Not in order:

Citizen Kane
Casablanca
City Lights
The Best Years Of Our Lives
Manhattan
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Blade Runner
Apocalypse Now
Pulp Fiction
The Big Lebowski
Memento
Fight Club
It’s A Wonderful Life
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
Kill Bill parts 1 & 2
Unforgiven
Jaws
Jurassic Park
Chinatown
Lawrence Of Arabia
2001: A Space Odyssey
Leon: The Professional
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Godfather
Payback
The Seventh Seal
Field Of Dreams
Cloverfield
Safety Last
The Navigator
The Maltese Falcon

In no particular order…

Movies

Shawshank Redemption
Runaway Train
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
When Harry Met Sally
Star Wars – A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
The Force Awakens
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel’s The Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Iron Man
Up
It Happened One Night
The Maltese Falcon
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Good Will Hunting
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Aliens
E.T.
The Wizard of Oz
The Sound of Music
West Side Story
Raiders of the Lost Arc
Rear Window
Goodfellas

So many good ones on everyone’s lists!

1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2 The Godfather (1972)
3 The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4 The Dark Knight (2008)
5 12 Angry Men (1957)
6 Schindler’s List (1993)
7 Pulp Fiction (1994)
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
9 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
10 Fight Club (1999)
11 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
12 Forrest Gump (1994)
13 The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
14 Inception (2010)
15 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
16 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
17 GoodFellas (1990)
18 The Matrix (1999)
19 Seven Samurai (1954)
20 Star Wars (1977)
21 City of God (2002)
22 Se7en (1995)
23 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
24 It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
25 Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Legends of the Fall- 1994
Best in Show- 2000
Young Frankenstein- 1974
Drop Dead Gorgeous- 1999
The Hateful Eight- 2015
Interview with the Vampire- 1994
The Lord of the Rings- Return of the King- 2003
Heathers- 1988
Jurassic Park- 1993
Fargo- 1996
Raising Arizona- 1987
What We Do in the Shadows- 2014
Freeway- 1996
True Romance- 1993
Serial Mom- 1994
Misery- 1990
Escanaba in da Moonlight- 2001
Edward Scissorhands- 1990
Tropic Thunder- 2008
Sleepy Hollow- 1999
Ed Wood- 1994
John Wick- 2014
River’s Edge- 1986
Jarhead- 2005
Kung Fu Hustle- 2004

@johnpowell: Ooh, I forgot about The Dark Knight

@janbb

Forgot about Room, just incredible. Biggest emotional catharsis I’ve ever experienced at the end of a film.

@rockfan I loved it; saw it twice!

I also liked how it avoided being lurid and sensationalized

@cookieman

Saw Close Encounters for the first time last year and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I was also fortunate enough to see it in theaters, the practical special effects in the UFO encounter scene on the highway still holds up to this day.

@filmfann

What did you think of Blade Runner 2049?

@Aethelwine

The story that Harlan Pepper does on nuts is utterly hilarious

@johnpowell

Is it considered blasphemy among cinephiles that I haven’t seen Shawshank Redemption? Lol I’ve waited way too long. I’ve been waiting to see it on the big screen, and hoping that Cinemark or Regal chooses it for their annual classic movie series. Really surprised they’ve never selected it.

The only blasphemy seems to be never having seen “Citizen Kane” or whatever it’s called and oohing and ahhing over it, lol.

I was surprised at the diversity of the lists and out of curiosity checked the totals.

228 titles appeared only once. The following 43 movies showed up more than once.

Appearances – Title
5 – Godfather
4 – Star Wars – Episode IV – A New Hope
4 – Rear Window
4 – Fight Club
3 – Pulp Fiction
3 – Lawrence of Arabia
3 – GoodFellas
3 – Casablanca
3 – Maltese Falcon
3 – Chinatown
3 – Seven Samurai
3 – Fargo
3 – Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
2 – All the President’s Men
2 – Bullitt
2 – Seventh Seal
2 – Duelists
2 – Matrix
2 – Fantasia
2 – Alien
2 – Big Lebowski
2 – Conversation
2 – African Queen
2 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2 – Sound of Music
2 – Memento
2 – Aliens
2 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
2 – 39 Steps
2 – Apartment
2 – Bridge on the River Kwai
2 – Shawshank Redemption
2 – It’s a Wonderful Life
2 – Jaws
2 – Wild Bunch
2 – Third Man
2 – French Connection
2 – Wild Strawberries
2 – Wizard of Oz
2 – Yojimbo
2 – Young Frankenstein
2 – Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2 – Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

@rockfan I didn’t like it as much, mostly because it changed the style of the original, which was a futuristic film noir. The second wasn’t.

A few more of my faves. “The Mission” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” “Lion of the Desert” “Cleopatra” 1963 (Yes, I said Cleopatra the hell with the critics) “Failsafe” “The Agony and the Ecstasy”.

I actually thought 2049 outdid the original. Better pacing and a more thoughtful story

I’m surprised these were left out: The Lion in Winter, A Place in the Sun, Cleopatra, A Man for All Seasons, Elmer Gantry.

@stanleybmanly I love A Man For All Seasons and The Lion In Winter. Easily could have been on that list.

I hate making lists. I would have done it if you had just asked my top five. So I just copy and pasted the top rated movies on the IMDB.

My real top five would look something like.

1. Shawshank
2. The Truman Show
3. Reservoir Dogs
4. Fargo
5. Sleepers