I know I’m late to the party, but hours before Inception would win 4 Academy Awards, I had the opportunity to finally plug my brain into the fantastical journey of dreams within a dream.
Without going into too much detail and review, Christopher Nolan’s world of visionary bliss was awesome!
Now, in light of my recent rare cinematic experience, I spent the rest of Oscar Sunday thinking about my top 25 films of all time. And, in NO particular order with room for edit, here is my list of favorite movies.
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. The Back to the Future Trilogy
5. Unbreakable
6. Inception
7. Big Fish
8. The Jersey Trilogy
9. The Five Heartbeats
10. Where the Wild Things Are
11. The Dark Knight
12. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
13. Bamboozled
14. Blazing Saddles
15. The Princess Bride
16. Crash
17. Elf
18. Empire Records
19. Finding Neverland
20. Juno
21. Swingers
22. Spaceballs
23. Reservoir Dogs
24. Pleasantville
25. Office Space
How about you? What are your top films?
Let’s talk.
derrickengoy.us 
Wasn’t Inception great? Ray couldn’t figure out why I loved it so much. He said it was good but not as good as I was making it out to be but he doesn’t have crazy dreams like I do. Your movie list is almost similar to mine except I have the LOTR trilogy, Amazing Grace, Wristcutters: a Love Story, and Lars and The Real Girl. LOL.
It’s funny, after your tweet last night I got to thinking about what are my top 10 movies of all time (partly because I love making Top # lists thanks to John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity, which didn’t make the cut) and I couldn’t get it down to a top 10, heck I had a hard time getting it down to a top 35.
So after some time I abandoned my list and got to work on what I should’ve been doing the entire time: studying. But then I see your list for a top 25 and now I just can’t help myself. And now after much deliberation and study I now present my top 25 movies of all time (and in order I might add, which took the most time funnily enough)…
1. The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan’s quintessential masterpiece. I love this movie so much I have it on my iPhone and I watch it when I’m at work on my break if I have no books to read. I can quote it pretty much backwards and forwards and literally at this point I could write a paper on how great TDK is. …I think I just might.
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I don’t know what compels me toward this movie, it actually surprised me how high it ended up on the list. This movie has a lot of heart, and a lot of laughs, and it has a 10 on the rewatchability factor. I’m excited to see what Jason Segel writes next, I like his story sensibilities.
3. Heat. Michael Mann’s finest achievement. I love this movie from top to bottom. A story of how policemen and the criminals they chase aren’t really all that different. Great action, great actors (Pacino AND De Niro) and a great story.
4. Inception. Yeah, I’m not even going to bother trying to write why I love it, I think this is one of those polarizing movies that you either enjoy immensely or can’t stand.
5. Lethal Weapon 2. Riggs. Murtaugh. I was like five years old sitting in front of my mother’s HBO subscribed cable television hanging on their every word. This movie taught me two really important things: how to cuss, and the significance of a bromance.
6. That Thing You Do. The movie that made me want to be in a band. I have no shame saying that if it weren’t for Tom Hanks (who wrote, directed AND starred in this movie) and The Wonders I would’ve never picked up an instrument. Yes, God can use movies too, ya know.
7. Big Trouble In Little China. Another movie from my childhood. I still love it as much now as I did then. The best thing about this movie is Kurt Russell’s character, who doesn’t realize he’s really the sidekick of the movie. Such a mix of genres in this movie: action, tons of comedy, horror, mystery, kung-fu…AWESOME.
8. The Usual Suspects. Yeah I was late this movie but wow, I think this movie is why I like crime movies (man that reminds me, I haven’t seen The Town yet).
9. The Thing. The only horror movie you’ll find on this list. I love this movie mainly because of the story, it’s such a nailbiter at times. Not a lot of people have watched this movie, but it still holds up even in today’s world of great special effects. Give it a try and see if you can unravel the mystery.
10. Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber. Okay honestly I’m kinda cheating here but I couldn’t really figure out which one I enjoyed more. I think this is where the biggest hold up and indecision was last night, which is why I abandoned this project to go back to studying…… only to come back to it the next day and lump them together. “Big gulps huh? Well…… see you later!”
11. Miami Vice. Okay I’m the only guy of all the people I know that even remotely enjoys this movie and I dig it quite a bit. I kinda look at it as my modern day Lethal Weapon. The bromance taken to Miami.
12. Shaun of the Dead. Love zombie movies and this one is hilarious.
13. Die Hard. Another movie that taught me how to cuss.
14. Jackass. My guilty pleasure. I love the Jackass franchise. I can’t help it, and I don’t know what it is about Johnny Knoxville and crew going around and filming themselves being idiots, I LOVE IT. The show, the movies, I’ve seen them all, I even have the boxset.
15. Collateral. Jamie Foxx is brilliant in this. I know he won all those awards for Ray but I really thought he was better in this movie in creating a character that breathes. Ray Charles he could imitate, here he’s building from scratch.
16. Predator. “Get to the choppa!!!”
17. Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Cary Elwes and Dave Chappelle. And my favorite Mel Brooks comedy ever.
18. Seven. I think the first time I saw this movie I was at the perfect age to experience it. It was dark, bleak, and sorta depressing and I was going through middle school.
19. Bad Boys 2. Okay if you’ve seen Hot Fuzz, you know pretty much all you need to know about why this movie is on the list. …… just got real.
20. The Princess Bride. The fantasy romantic movie that even boys can enjoy. “This word you keep using… I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
21. White Men Can’t Jump. Okay, another childhood movie from HBO that really isn’t that great but I still love it. Sometimes when I’m shooting on a court I daydream about this movie. And yes, white men cannot jump.
22. Remember The Titans. I’m a sucker for Denzel Washington movies. I’m a sucker for sports movies. I’m a sucker for those movies that are anti-racism. Put them all together into one movie and you have Remember The Titans.
23. Hitch. I think this is probably the only formulaic romantic comedy on the list. And it’s here because I enjoy Will Smith in this movie so darn much.
24. Miracle At St. Anna. Spike Lee’s underrated masterpiece and in my opinion his best movie. Well Bamboozled is up there but that movie gives me nightmares to MASA it is. Just a powerful movie and one of the best endings I’ve ever seen.
25. Memento. Brilliant storytelling. I remember one of my best friends told me about this movie and it really just changed everything. Next thing you know I’m keeping tabs on the director who would end up making… The Dark Knight.
Just missed the cut: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Spider-man 2, Jackass 2. Cellular. Krull. Gladiator. Troy. Lord of The Rings Trilogy. Last of the Mohicans. Public Enemies. American Psycho. Rules Of Attraction.
So there you have it. Three Christopher Nolan movies. Three Michael Mann movies. (My two favorite directors). Two sports movies. One horror movie. Six comedies. Eight action movies. Now I have a concrete list to start editing when I see something new that needs to make the cut.
Budd – Wow!!! For a first time responder to my blog, you definitely come out swinging. I love your list, although I wouldn’t pin you for a Miami Vice remake fan. Similar to your list: LOTR, Memento, Remember the Titans, Seven, Men in Tights and That Thing You Do round out my top 35. I’d even add 12 Monkeys, Jackie Brown, True Romance and Glory to that list.
Nannette – I heard Wristcutters was awesome. Gotta watch it.
We must like different films, since I don’t see a single one on your list that is on my list. 🙂 Oh well. Here are my top 25 in alphabetical order, since I could never really rank them. 🙂
A Beautiful Mind
The Bourne Identity
Chocolat
Cold Mountain
Equilibrium
E.T.
Ever After
Gladiator
The Green Mile
Heart & Souls
Hook
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Jurassic Park
L.A. Confidential
Minority Report
The Mummy
Ocean’s Eleven
Practical Magic
Return To Me
The Shawshank Redemption
Superman: The Movie
The Talented Mr. Ripley
What A Girl Wants
What Women Want
X2: X-Men United
Your list is actually pretty good. A Beautiful Mind is really good movie and so is The Shawshank Redemption. They def make my top 50.