All-Time Favorite Films

  1. Dances With WolvesIt's of the most powerful films I've ever seen. At the time, it was brave to portray the U.S. Cavalry and the United States in general as the "bad guys." Be that as it may, it's closer to the truth than what most Americans have been spoon-fed for the last couple centuries.
  2. Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders is hands down the best action-adventure ever made.
  3. HeatIt's a film about crime, the discipline required to keep from being caught and the consequences of losing that discipline.
  4. The Empire Strikes Back (original version)It's dark. The good guys get their collective asses kicked. It ends on a downer. And yet it's the best of all the Star Wars films.
  5. The Road Warrior"My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos: ruined dreams, this wasted land. But most of all, I remember the Road Warrior."
  6. Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanJust how much do I love this movie? Let's put it this way: I can recite most of the script from memory. "You still remember, Admiral. I cannot help but be touched. I, of course, remember you."
  7. The Right Stuff"There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. Their controls would freeze up, their planes would buffet wildly, and they would disintegrate. The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter, seven hundred and fifty miles an hour, where the air could no longer move out of the way. He lived behind a barrier through which they said no man could ever pass. They called it the sound barrier."
  8. The MatrixI still get shivers up my spine when Neo awakens to find himself connected to a pod, his life force slowly sucked for energy.
  9. The ShiningThe creepiest movie ever made, by one of the creepiest filmmakers who ever was.
  10. Once Upon a Time in the WestA classic tale of revenge told by the master of Spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone.
  11. The NaturalThis movie --along with Pete Rose-- helped spark my love for baseball.
  12. Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeIt's an adventure. It's a comedy. It's a "Save the Whales" flick. It's pure Trek genius.
  13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonSubtitles or not, the movie's magic sticks with you forever.
  14. 48 Hrs.My favorite Eddie Murphy movie, showcasing both his comedic and acting talent.
  15. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (original 1977 version)Mounds of mashed potatoes would never be the same again.
  16. The Princess Bride"You keep saying that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." This movie made me feel warm in my belly. It made me wish I had a grandpa who read stories to me while I was sick in bed.
  17. The BountyA great take on the famous mutiny, with memorable performances by a young Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. Most haunting and memorable of all is the musical score by Vangelis, who also did soundtracks for Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire.
  18. Major League"Look at this fuckin' guy!
  19. Time After TimeAs is usually the case with time travel movies, the most interesting aspect is always when the visitor explores and adapts to the new period. When H.G. Wells orders a Big Mac at a McDonald's, you can't help but cheer him on.
  20. Logan's Run"There is no sanctuary." It's a great, classic, cheesy 70's sci-fi flick depicting a society whose members are supposed to kill themselves on their 30th birthday. If the little red dot on your palm is blinking, it's your time to go, Runner! And who can forget Farrah Fawcett's cameo?
  21. The Silence of the Lambs
  22. RobocopPaul Verhoeven's violent and satiric take on corporate life in the future is well worth a look.
  23. Die HardAlan Rickman steals the show as one of the 80's great villains.
  24. The Last Samurai"A man does what he can until his destiny is revealed."
  25. ScarfaceAs a young teenage lad, I spent many an hour replaying the ending to this movie, beginning with Al Pacino's "Say hello to my little friend!"
  26. First BloodThe only Rambo movie worth watching again and again.
  27. FletchIs there any movie out there more quotable than Fletch? I'm convinced there's an appropriate line to fit any situation.
  28. National Lampoon's Vacation"Who's the moosiest moose we know? Marty Moose!"
  29. Léon
  30. Desperado"And your beer tastes like piss." "We know!" "Because we pissed in it!"
  31. The Wedding SingerA hilarious 80's retrospective that got everything dead-on right.
  32. The TerminatorIt's eerie to think how much more relevant the plotline has become over the years.
  33. Romancing the Stone
  34. Gladiator
  35. Pulp Fiction
  36. The Godfather
  37. The Abyss
  38. Back to the Future
  39. ExoticaExotica haunted me for quite a while. The unique way in which its dark plotline slowly unfolds is gripping and fantastic.
  40. The Shawshank Redemption
  41. Field of DreamsIf you're male and your father is gone, the ending of this movie will make an enormous impression on you.
  42. Wargames
  43. Blade Runner"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe: Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion; I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time...like tears in the rain."
  44. ET: The Extraterrestrial
  45. Aliens
  46. SpartacusBefore there was Gladiator, there was Spartacus, a sprawling epic Stanley Kubrick had completed after the original director was fired.
  47. Midnight Run
  48. Stripes
  49. All of Me
  50. L.A. Story
  51. TronOne of the first movies to extensively use CGI, it is still visually stunning today.
  52. 9 to 5"You're a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot!" I was 10 years old when this movie came out and it's still fun to watch a quarter of a century later.
  53. High Plains DrifterA haunting Western with a town painted red and renamed, "Hell."

Top Guilty Film Pleasures

  1. Roadhouse"You're too stupid to have a good time!"
  2. A Christmas Story
  3. Operation Petticoat
  4. Blast from the Past
  5. Armageddon
  6. Office Space
  7. Coming to America
  8. Young Guns
  9. Legally Blonde
  10. You've Got Mail