Sean’s Top 100 Favorite Movies

I just want to highlight something about this list.  This is not my 100 “Best” Movies or my 100 “Greatest” Movies.  That is too vague of an expression when I love half of these movies equally.  These are just my favorites.  If you don’t see a movie on here, before you flip your s***, understand that either I just didn’t care for the movie, I don’t think it’s earned a higher ranking yet, or I haven’t seen it yet.  I know I still have a lot of great films left to see and I have an impressive list to take care of in 2012.  For now, however, this is where my list of favorites stands:

Sean’s Top 100 Films

  1. Schindler’s List (1993)
  2. 2001:  A Space Odyssey (1968)
  3. Citizen Kane (1941)
  4. Blade Runner (1982)
  5. Casablanca (1942)
  6. The Star Wars Saga (1977)
  7. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
  8. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001)
  9. Spirited Away (2001)
  10. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  11. The Godfather Trilogy (1972)
  12. No Country for Old Men (2007)
  13. On the Waterfront (1954)
  14. The Killing Fields (1984)
  15. City of God (2002)
  16. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
  17. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  18. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
  19. Metropolis (1927)
  20. The Exorcist (1973)
  21. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
  22. Apocalypse Now (1979)
  23. Brazil (1985)
  24. Annie Hall (1977)
  25. Forrest Gump (1994)
  26. Rashomon (1950)
  27. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
  28. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  29. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
  30. The Shining (1980)
  31. Akira (1988)
  32. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
  33. Fight Club (1999)
  34. The Lives of Others (2006)
  35. Seven (1995)
  36. Some Like It Hot (1959)
  37. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
  38. Amadeus (1984)
  39. It Happened One Night (1934)
  40. Raging Bull (1980)
  41. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
  42. Good Will Hunting (1997)
  43. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  44. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
  45. City Lights (1931)
  46. The Incredibles (2004)
  47. Blazing Saddles (1974)
  48. The Pianist (2002)
  49. The Princess Bride (1987)
  50. District 9 (2009)
  51. Gone with the Wind (1939)
  52. The Thing (1982)
  53. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  54. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  55. Do the Right Thing (1989)
  56. The Toy Story Trilogy (1995)
  57. Children of Men (2006)
  58. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
  59. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
  60. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
  61. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
  62. Fargo (1996)
  63. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
  64. Alien (1979)
  65. The King’s Speech (2010)
  66. The Apartment (1960)
  67. Rocky (1976)
  68. Beauty & the Beast (1991)
  69. Being John Malkovich (1999)
  70. Tootsie (1982)
  71. Precious:  Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (2009)
  72. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  73. Unforgiven (1992)
  74. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
  75. Chinatown (1974)
  76. A Night at the Opera (1935)
  77. The Aviator (2004)

  78. The most unappealing poster or DVD cover of all time for a movie that is actually completely different from the snooze fest this image would suggest.

    The Queen (2006)

  79. All About Eve (1950)
  80. Groundhog Day (1993)
  81. Porco Rosso (1992)
  82. Downfall (2004)
  83. Magnolia (1999)
  84. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
  85. Let the Right One In (2008)
  86. Water (2005)
  87. Kill Bill (2003)
  88. Back to the Future (1985)
  89. Ed Wood (1994)
  90. Midnight in Paris (2011)
  91. 127 Hours (2010)
  92. Battle Royale (2000)
  93. Double Indemnity (1944)
  94. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
  95. The Artist (2011)
  96. In Bruges (2008)
  97. Watchmen (2009)

  98. Porco Rosso…Yes, that is a pig in a trench coat flying an airplane. See this movie. I swear it’s awesome.

    Poltergeist (1982)

  99. The Descendants (2011)
  100. Love Actually (2003)

HONORABLE MENTION:

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

The Dark Knight (2008) * I tried to find a spot for it on the list.  I wanted it on the list.  Still couldn’t place it.  And I know, I know, I know…”Watchmen” made the cut (barely).  So sue me.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Taxi Driver (1976)

The African Queen (1951)

Memento (2000)

Run, Lola, Run (1998)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Fifth Element (1997)

Die Hard (1998)

E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982)

The General (1927)

The Departed (2006)

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Psycho (1960)

Airplane! (1988)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Titanic (1997)

V for Vendetta (2005)

Apocalypto (2006)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

46 thoughts on “Sean’s Top 100 Favorite Movies”

  1. Nice list. I’ve got a lot of those films on my unwriten best 100 list. But you can put The Dark Knight in for Citizen Cane. and Momento in for Dr. Strangelove, and you could move Princess Bride and Unfogiven way up the list. IMHO.

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  2. Can’t fault the list at all–most of my favorites are on there, even the original: Let the Right One In. Here’s a few more: Glory, Hannah and her sisters, the sleeper, Planes, Tains, and Automobiles, Sounder, Cooley High, Fright Night(original), Dog Day Afternoon, The Deerhunter, Marathon Man, Boys in the Hood, Bridesmaids, Network, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Jurassic Park, Being There, The Barkleys of Broadway, Black Sheep, George M., and…I’ll stop or this will go on forever (Not the name of a film).

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    • Ah, Boys in the Hood…That might be one I forgot. Really innovative social commentary for its time. Jurassic Park is another film I wanted to include, OH, and BEING THERE! (I’m typing this literally as I read your suggestions). I think I always have to cut Jurassic Park just for the scene where the little girl sits down at the computer and somehow accesses EVERYTHING and saves the day. Haha. I definitely need to put Glory on my list, too. Haven’t seen it yet.

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  5. My list would be similar to yours. An interesting list would be Top Movies that wouldn’t normally be there. Sleeper hits maybe.

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  7. You’ve seen so many movies! And your memory of them all is obviously impeccable. I agree with the Star Wars saga. Adore those. But it seems that you and I would agree on very few fave movies. I would add to the Star Wars saga: Howl’s Moving Castle (anime), Moulin Rouge, Twilight, Tangled (Disney) and Journey To The Centre of The Earth as my favourites. Probably titles that aren’t that attractive for you? Actually these are all I can remember really enjoying. I wouldn’t have thought myself a romanticist, but these are my choices.

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  8. 127 Hours? Really? It was interesting from a cinematic standpoint, but I still find the story dull and the “delusional”/”mystic” scenes awkward and out of place. And Dr. Strangelove is the greatest movie ever made / glad to see in the top 10. Have you ever seen “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!”? It’s a fantastic movie. And “Dog Day Afternoon” is a brilliant, moving film – especially if you like Al Pacino

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  10. Many many good ones, though I would have the devil of a time working my faces into a list like that. I tend to just have a series of top fives: top five war movies, comedies, animus, etc. Only way I can keep them straight at all.

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  12. It’s really a very good list. I’m a little surprised that ‘Miller’s Crossing’ barely made the list at #94. Clearly, it’s some of the Cohen Bros.’ best material – except for ‘No Country For Old Men,’ which you’ve ranked much higher. Look in your heart…and see if you shouldn’t move it up a few spots.

    I also think there’s a good possibility that Terrence Malick’s screenplay for ‘The Thin Red Line,’ incorporating bits of character interior monologues from ‘From Here to Eternity,’ makes it a better WWII film than ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ But maybe that’s just me – me and Mr. James Jones, we got an American literature thing going on. (You may also have to factor in my insane Catholic schoolgirl lust for Jim Caviezel, coupled with the fact that I’m often unimpressed by Tom Hanks.)

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  14. Oh, these were very good. I’d add Wizard of Oz and Up! Loved Up! better than any of the other movies up for best movie Oscar’s that year – of course that is just my opinion. So hard, to think of some of my other favorites. Let’s see Steel Magnolias, What Dreams May Come, Michael, Field of Dreams, Murphy’s Romance, The Santa Clause, and well there are always others aren’t there like West Side Story, Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Romeo & Juliet, Benny & Joon, Fried Green Tomatoes, Strictly Ballroom, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Shirley Valentine, etc….

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    • You might be the first person I know who hates “The Fifth Element” (don’t get me wrong, critics at the time were ruthless to it). Maybe it’s a Kentucky thing. I love it. All my friends love it. The one thing I’ll say for it is that it’s different, it’s never boring, and Gary Oldman.

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      • Nope, john hancock is right. The fifth element is an insultingly bad film. The kind of story a 12 year old would come up with. But a fun list nonetheless. Lovin’ the blogs.

    • Wow, with a title like that I have GOT to check it out, and I’ve always heard awesome things about “Real Genius”. It’s on my short list of about 1,000 movies to see, haha. Right now I’m mostly watching foreign flicks, though, to show my girlfriend how cultured I am.

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    • No, but it sounds familiar. I’m looking it up now. Hmm… Sounds really interesting. The highest grossing Bollywood film of all time? I like Aamir Khan. I’ll have to check it out!

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  19. I would venture to say it is possible to go wrong with Johnny Depp especially of late. Also, I noted there is no Fellini on your list…why? And have you ever seen The Red Shoes?

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    • I cannot lie. I adore that movie. It’s a guilty pleasure of which I’ve stopped being ashamed. I also don’t think it can be argued that “Love Actually” didn’t impact Hollywood. Look at pretty much every chick flick since. “Valentine’s Day”, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “New Years Day”, etc. I know all of those movies were lackluster, but “Love Actually” took that formula and nailed it.

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  21. Shawshank only at 10, below Dr Strangelove? Apocalypse Now below Slumdog Millionaire? Pulp Fiction below Forrest Gump? Toy Story trilogy above Full Metal Jacket? Have you lost your conkers man?

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  23. A good list Sean. A pity you put Cabin In The Woods on the list but I’ve seen most and would like to see most on the list that I’ve not seen.

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  24. “Schindler’s List” is on my list of Awesome, but I Never Want to See It Again! movies.

    Good list ;o)

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  25. Love it but no foreign films or did I miss something? Like Water for Chocolate comes to mind. Would Sleuth be considered as a foreign film? You may need to do another hit list, lol. Good job mate.

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  29. Great list! I found a lot that would have made my own, too. Mine would just have more anime. For instance, I would have Princess Mononoke, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers right up there with Spirited Away (I love Porco Rosso, too) I love all Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon films :) Now I’m curious about your favorite television shows.

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  30. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see Scott Pilgrim vs The World on this list. You listed that POS but didn’t list There Will Be Blood?

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