My Top Movies

Origninally posted 4/3/08:
I’m doing basically the same thing I did with albums a while back, mostly because it’s fun and it created a fun conversation last time.

The same stipulations as last time apply, and please read them this time so you don’t get pissed at me over a misunderstanding:

1) This rating is a combination of how much I like it and some attempt at “intrinsic goodness” which I don’t put too much stock in. Maybe it would be better to say it’s a combination of how much I love the movie along with how much I appreciate it as art. So because I have Little Miss Sunshine above Goodfellas does not mean I think it’s “better.”

2) Just because a movie isn’t here doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It probably means I either haven’t seen it, forgot it or didn’t remember it well enough to assign an opinion.

3) The movies aren't in any particular order within the categories though I did try to put my favorite/most appreciated ones in the first 1-3 spots (Through A-, the top 1-3 are generally the ones I appreciate most--yes, this means I think Network is the best movie I've seen--after that it's generally more my favorites. Though again, I caution you not to make too many assumptions from this.)


A+
Network
Adaptation
Casablanca
American Beauty

A+/A
Memento
Saving Private Ryan
Pulp Fiction
Ordinary People
The Lives of Others

A
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Shawshank Redemption
The Matrix
21 Grams
Juno
Little Miss Sunshine
Letters from Iwa Jima
Full Metal Jacket
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Braveheart
The Royal Tennenbaums
The Godfather

A/A-
The Usual Suspects
Goodfellas
Into the Wild
V for Vendetta
This Is Spinal Tap
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Rushmore
2001: A Space Odyssey

A-
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Sixth Sense
Spiderman 2
Batman Begins
Ocean’s Eleven
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi
Stars Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

A-/B+
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Blues Brothers
The Prestige
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
No Country for Old Men
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
Best in Show
Under the Same Moon
A Simple Twist of Fate
The Hours
Love Actually
Resovoir Dogs
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Spiderman
Being John Malkovich
3:10 to Yuma
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
The French Connection
The Big Lebowski
Gladiator
The Graduate

B+
Titanic
Young Frankenstein
In Bruges
Starting Out in the Evening
Thirteen
The Illusionist
Kinsey
The Departed
It’s A Wonderful Life
The Aviator
Mean Girls
Borat: Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kasakhstan
The History of the World Part 1
Garden State
A Clockwork Orange
I Heart Huckabees
The Family Stone
Forrest Gump
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Die Hard
Die Hard 2
The Terminator
The Lion King
The Truman Show
Meet the Parents
Unbreakable

B
Back to the Future 1
Back to the Future 2
Clue
The Last King of Scotland
Crash
The Wedding Singer
Atonement
I Am Legend
Alladin
Cloverfield
There’s Something About Mary
Human Nature
American Pie
Animal House
Double Jeopardy
Signs
The Matrix Revolutions

B-
American Pie 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Big Daddy
Thank You for Smoking
Once
Back to the Future 3
The Village
Get Shorty
Million Dollar Baby
Liar Liar
Stripes
Hitch
Die Hard with a Vengeance
Billy Madison
Happy Gilmore
300
The Matrix Reloaded
High Crimes

C+
Live Free or Die Hard
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Toy Story
The Mask
Click
Wayne’s World
The Mummy

C
Superbad
Knocked Up
The Italian Job
Speed
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Van Wilder
Wayne’s World 2
The Mummy Returns

C-
Me, Myself and Irene
Mr. Deeds

D
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
The Breakfast Club
The 10 Minutes I Saw of 16 Candles
Probably All Other John Hughes Movies

F
Spiderman 3
The Golden Compass
Black Hawk Down

A Few Comments:
I obviously had a hard time thinking of bad movies to include on here, but I’m sure there are many many more I have seen that I simply forgot about, so simply remind me, and I’ll add them.

Also, A-/B+ and B+ pretty clearly the biggest categories, which doesn’t really surprise me because that’s where I generally stick movies that I think are really good and like a lot but don’t cut “great” for me. I think that there's a bigger gap between A-/B+ and A- than anything else, even A+/A and A+.

Pure comedies are going to score pretty low because I do take into account intention along with execution, which just makes Austin Powers being that high even more remarkable. I really think that’s a truly amazing movie. If you’re a comedy, it’s no shame to be even as low as a C (for instance, I like Superbad a lot, it just doesn’t have much depth), but if you’re a drama even as low as a B- (I’m looking at you, Million Dollar Baby), then you’ve got problems. That’s all for now, I’ll add more later.