# Your Personal Top Ten Favorite Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453 "2008-12-09T21:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/81 "2008-12-11T21:12:57Z")
not in order Dr. Strangelove Casablanca Night of the Living Dead Terminator 2 Empire Strikes Back Lawrence of Arabia Heathers The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Battle Royale City of the Lost Children ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/82 "2008-12-13T03:44:58Z")
In no particular order 1. Shane 2. The Magnificent Seven 3. Unforgiven 4. Event Horizon (I know a LOT of people think it sucks but I like it) 5. Army of Darkness 6. Blazing Saddles 7. Jaws 8. Tombstone 9. A Soldier’s Story 10. V for Vendetta 11. Casino Royale ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/83 "2008-12-13T06:37:46Z")
When my wife and I do top-10 movie lists, we do allow for the rule that one can count series’ as one movie, especially in those cases where the “sequel” is a continuation of the first movie (LOTR, Kill Bill). Cheating? Perhaps, but at least you get the whole story and aren’t left with lists that, for example, have FOTR and ROTK, but don’t include the middle third of the tale. :rolleyes: Anyway, here are the films that made it on this list, at this time. Next time, you’ll see another list (but with many of the same films). And since somebody mentioned _Spinal Tap_, I’m takin’ it to 11: Kill Bill (1+2) The Godfather trilogy Chinatown Yankee Doodle Dandy Gone With the Wind The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert MacNamara LOTR Moulin Rouge! (2001) Pulp Fiction Amadeus Beauty and the Beast (1991) ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/84 "2008-12-13T07:54:54Z")
No order: 1. Ikiru 2. The Bicycle Thief 3. Airplane! 4. Withnail & I 5. Mystery Train 6. The Godfather 7. Dazed And Confused 8. Mean Streets 9. Miller’s Crossing 10. Ghost World ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/85 "2008-12-13T08:13:12Z")
1. The Matrix 2. Field of Dreams 3. Swingers 4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 5. Three Kings 6. Toy Story 7. Back to the Future 8. Defending Your Life 9. Braveheart 10. Dead Man Walking ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/86 "2008-12-13T08:30:08Z")
Casablanca Amélie The Philadelphia Story Pulp Fiction North By Northwest L.A. Confidential Moulin Rouge! Unforgiven The Princess Bride Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas In no particular order there, just as my gut told me to list them. Now excuse me, I have to go cry a tear or two for the twenty or thirty favorites that I left off the above list. (Picking just 10 is a very difficult task.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/87 "2008-12-13T19:46:25Z")
One stands out above all the rest. My all time favorite movie is… 1. I Heart Huckabees This movie was made for me. It fits me like an intellectual and spiritual and existential glove. My love for this film is infinite. Then, in order: 1. The Color Purple 2. The Sound of Music 3. Ghostbusters 4. The Royal Tenenbaums 5. EVITA 6. Goodwill Hunting 7. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 8. Finding Nemo 9. Groundhog Day (Heh, three of these ten movies have Bill Murray in them. Cooincidence? I think not.) Kill Bill almost made the cut, but it didn’t fit my criteria of having been watched over and over again to delighted effect. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/88 "2008-12-13T21:20:48Z")
Some of these might suck the next time I see them. In no particular order: 4. Choose Me 8. Princess Bride 1. Fargo 2. Miller’s Crossings 3. The Incredibles 4. North by Northwest 5. Midnight Run 6. McCabe and Mrs. Miller 7. Satyricon 8. Terminator II Oldest movie that still works damn well: Nosferatu. Special recommendation for timeless comedy (non-silent): Duck Soup ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/89 "2008-12-14T09:09:14Z")
I have a list of my one hundred favorite films that I chose the following films from. Doubtlessly my choices would be slightly different at any time I tried to pick my ten favorite films. This list is in alphabetical order: _After Hours_ (1985, U.S., dir. Martin Scorsese) _Blood Simple_ (1985, U.S., dir. Joel Coen) _Casablanca_ (1942, U.S., dir. Michael Curtiz) _Chungking Express_ (1994, Hong Kong, dir. Wong Kar-Wai) _The Great Dictator_ (1940, U.S., dir. Charles Chaplin) _La Jetée_ (1962, France, dir. Chris Marker) _Play it Again, Sam_ (1972, U.S., dir. Herbert Ross) _The Seven Samurai_ (1954, Japan, dir. Akira Kurosawa) _Slacker_ (1991, U.S., dir. Richard Linklater) _The Usual Suspects_ (1995, U.S., dir. Bryan Singer) ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/90 "2008-12-14T09:32:06Z")
_The Big Lebowski_ - I’m pretty sure there’s no limit to how many times I can watch this film. _Casablanca_ - The one, hands down, no argument, best film ever made. _Sin City_ - even on a desert island I need to get my heart pumping from pure, unadulterated and highly effective emotional manipulation. _Dark Knight_ - only seen it twice so far, but I doubt it’ll drop off. If it ever does, I’ll just fast-forward through the non-Joker scenes. _Grosse Pointe Blank_ - one of these days I’m going to manage to describe why this film is so great. It’s feelgood AND action AND funny AND has good music AND it has a hitman in it. _Rounders_ - OK, I’m not going to say that this film is among the ten best films ever made. It’s not. But I never ever get tired of it. _Lord of the Rings_ - I’m going to pretend the entire trilogy is one film, so nuts to you. OK, if I have to pick one… I guess it’ll have to be _Fellowship of the Ring_, if only to sit and remember that magical night at the movies. _Star Wars_ - again, whole trilogy through the little known loophole in rule 18.7, subsection c, §4. If I have to pick… I can’t. _Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl_ - 143 minutes of fun and Johnny Depp. _Before Sunrise_ - I’d try to wrangle this and the sequel into the same slot. Marvellous pair of movies. I hope, hope, hope they make a third one in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/91 "2008-12-14T16:39:10Z")
Just a top 10 is tricky but I will try. I am starting with my list of movies I gave a 10 to in the IMDB. First here are my top 37 movies in alphabetical order: Airplane!, Animal House, Better Off Dead…, Big, Blazing Saddles, Braveheart, Citizen Kane, Clerks II, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Fiddler on the Roof, Field of Dreams, Forrest Gump, Full Metal Jacket, Ghost Busters, The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Harvey, The Hudsucker Proxy, Jaws, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Patton, The Philadelphia Story, The Pride of the Yankees, The Princess Bride, Pulp Fiction, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Real Genius, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Schindler’s List, The Shawshank Redemption, Singin’ in the Rain, Stand by Me, To Kill a Mockingbird, Twelve Monkeys, The Wizard of Oz, Young Frankenstein. Narrowing the list down to just 10 knowing I would have to enjoy seeing the same 10 many times over. (As of now, this could change later) ```auto Movie Year IMDB rating & short notes The Godfather 1972 9.1 Simply the best two movies The Godfather: Part II 1974 9.0 & always compelling. Animal House 1978 7.6 I love it this much. Field of Dreams 1989 7.6 It always sucks me in anyway. Forrest Gump 1994 8.5 This one too. Ghost Busters 1984 7.7 Humor & effects. Harvey 1950 8.2 Just so uplifting & funny. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 8.5 Neeee! Roman Holiday 1953 8.1 Sigh Young Frankenstein 1974 8.0 Had to have 1 by Mel Brooks **Those on the final cut** The Princess Bride 1987 10 8.2 The other Princess won out. To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 10 8.5 Airplane! 1980 10 7.8 ``` If you did not specify 10 disks I would have included the Godfather Saga as one and the complete extended edition of the Lord of the Rings as another. As it is I think I am still in trouble as I think some of these are two disc movies. I’ll assume that you’ll at least allow for a complete theatrical movie as one for the list. Jim ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/92 "2008-12-15T15:20:11Z")
Not that it matters but I notice my top 37 movies is missing several movies including Incredibles, Casablanca, Local Hero, My Favorite Year, Being There and many others. Something happened to my IMDB list. There are so many great movies listed in this thread. Sadly I seemed to have killed the thread. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453/93 "2008-12-16T03:56:49Z")
Hmm…I doubt anyone is still reading this, but I may as well memorialize my choices, assuming I can actually come up with ten. In no particular order, they are: 1. Blazing Saddles 2. Airplane! 3. Dr. Strangelove 4. The Blues Brothers 5. Tombstone 6. Memento 7. Friday 8. North By Northwest 9. The Dark Knight (I’m not sure how much this is influenced by it being current) 10. American Beauty [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-top-ten-favorite-films/476453.md?page=4)