My Favorite Movies List

What makes a movie special? Why is it that one man's four star film is another man's bomb? As with most creative projects, personal taste certainly comes into play. Given the subjectivity of people's movie tastes I don't expect you to agree with my list of favorite films. However, I wanted to share my list with you any way. Over the next several weeks I am going to talk about the movies I like to watch and discuss why I like them. I probably won't be able to explain why I like some movies (my reasons are beyond understanding), but I will do my best. Notice also that this my list of FAVORITE movies, I won't pretend to think that these are the BEST movies ever made. For a sample of a list of best movies ever made check here and here.

I acknowledge up front that my list is very limited given that I have seen only a small portion of the total number of movies ever made. I also acknowledge that my list favors the more recent releases, although I am working on seeing more older movies. One other thing, since some of these movies were rated R when they were released, I am recommending that if you choose to see one of them, you look for the edited versions on one of the broadcast channels (or AMC, Turner Classic Movies etc.). Remember too, not all R rated movies are created equally.

Here is my list of favorite movies by category.

Dramas
To Kill a Mocking Bird
All about Eve
Family Man
Amadeus
The Passion of the Christ (R)
Goodfellas (R)
The Godfather Pt. 1 (R)
The Godfather Pt. 2 (R)
The Godfather Pt. 3 (R)
Crimson Tide (R)
Something Wild (R)
A Face in the Crowd
Casablanca
The Shawshank Redemption (R)
Gone With the Wind
Soylent Green
Lawrence of Arabia
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
LA Confidential (R)
Double Indemnity
Witness (R)
The Notebook
Crash (the Paul Haggis) (R)
Mr. Holland’s Opus
The Hustler
The Ten Commandments

Westerns
High Plains Drifter (R)
Silverado
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Big Jake
Hombre

Musicals
Guys and Dolls
Oklahoma
The Wizard of Oz
White Christmas
Robin & the Seven Hoods
Les Miserables

Comedys
When Harry Met Sally
You’ve Got Mail
The Princess Bride
Groundhog Day
Into the Night (John Landis)
My Blue Heaven
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Animal House (R)

Action
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
First Blood (the first Rambo)
Die Hard 1 (R)
Die Hard 2 (R)
Rocky 3
The Mask of Zorro
Big Trouble in Little China
Master and Commander the Far Side of the World
Lethal Weapon (R)
Payback (R)
Road House (R)
The Patriot (R)