Regardless of how old or how new, some movies just never lose their "snap".
Ketel One has an interesting advertisement in Interview Magazine. They've listed their top 50 movies of all time. So of course, I had to browse the list and see if I agreed. On some, they were right on the mark. But on others...hmm...
Those I agreed with? Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, It's a Wonderful Life and American Graffiti to name just a few. But also on the list was Battleship Potempkin. Never heard of it and had to go look it up. Apparently, it's a silent film from 1925 that depicted the real-life uprising of a Russian battleship crew against oppressive leadership. Okay, maybe that might be a good movie. But I've still never heard of it.
So, that got me to thinking. What movies do I think are all-time classics? And more importantly, what movies do you think should be on the list?
Here's my top 50 (um... make that 52 - 55 if you want to count Indiana Jones separately) all-time movie greats, in no particular order:
- The Breakfast Club
- Pleasantville
- Grease
- Indiana Jones Trilogy
- Star Wars
- Silence of the Lambs
- Pulp Fiction
- Terminator
- The Matrix
- It's A Wonderful Life
- My Name is Nobody
- Shrek
- National Treasure
- Goodfellas
- Blow
- Blade Runner
- The Godfather
- Ladyhawke
- Unforgiven
- E.T.
- Finding Nemo
- Roots
- Braveheart
- The Scarlet Letter
- True Romance
- Austin Powers
- Interview with A Vampire
- Hitch
- True Lies
- Adventures in Baby Sitting
- Aliens
- American Werewolf
- Back to the Future
- Batman
- Better Off Dead
- Can't Buy Me Love
- Clue
- Titanic
- Die Hard
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Ghostbusters
- Goonies
- Lethal Weapon
- Lost Boys
- Never Ending Story
- Poltergeist
- Private Benjamin
- Romancing the Stone
- Somewhere in Time
- Terms of Endearment
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- Young Guns
How did I chose?
First and foremost, I picked movies that stood out: ones that I remember; ones that stuck with me no matter how much time had passed. I also took into consideration those movies that were just classic greats - The Godfather for example - and last but certainly not least, I chose movies that can still make me smile when they come on late-night cable.
And really, that's the thing that makes a movie great, isn't it? Its the one that can be 20 or 30 years old, but still causes you to kick back and tune in as if you were seeing it for the very first time. It's the one that you don't stop watching even though you know all the dialog word for word and the one that can still bring a tear to your eye or make you jump out of your seat, even though you know exactly what's coming next.
That's what movies are supposed to do... make us think, make us react, make us connect.
Okay, so what do you think? What movie did I leave out?
