My 100 Favorite Movies of All Time

After watching Tokyo Story, I suddenly felt embarrassed that I placed Memento so high on this list. This movie is the greatest movie I have ever seen, no doubt about it. There have been many movies that I've seen that were proclaimed to be the greatest movies of all time, although I didn't particularly like them too much. Aguirre: The Wrath of God, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Persona, and yes, even Citizen Kane. There's no doubt they were fantastically filmed movies but they would never top my favorite's list. Persona almost did, but after a second viewing, I didn't like it as much. This movie is special. I believe that Tokyo Story will be one of the movies that I will be seeing repeatedly for generations to come. It is a quintessential film, with a quintessential message that will never lose importance.

Okay so the reason why this is number one, for now, is primarily because it has to be the movie that blew my mind the most. The twist at the end flipped the entire movie upside down and added so much insight and depth to the movie. Honestly, I've only seen this once, and it's part of the reason why it's so high up. Watching it again might take away some of the magic of that first viewing, but I probably will one day, and see if the movie holds up.

From the wonderful performances of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet to the extremely original screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, this movie has to be one of the main reasons why I watch films in the first place. There is a great chemistry between the two main characters, and watching their journey through this movie is breathtaking. The unique plot, and the way everything was presented truly makes this one of the most memorable movies I have ever seen.

A movie for those who love cinema. I remember watching this when I was 13 and although it was Italian, and I was just following subtitles, the movie truly resonated with me. Throughout all the amazing scenes in this movie, the one that stuck with me the most was the touching final scene. I'd love to say what happened, but that would spoil too much if you haven't seen it yet. It would suffice to say that this was around this time that I realized that I love movies.

As much as this movie plays every year during Christmas, I only saw it in 2010, and was delightfully surprised by how moving it was. The movie introduced me to James Stewart, and had such amazingly written characters like George Bailey and Henry Potter. What really had me in this movie was the fantastic ending. I have to say, if you weren't moved by the end of the movie, you probably have no heart.

I'm honestly not exactly sure why I love this movie so much. I just remember that when I first watched it, my eyes were glued to the screen and a smile was stuck on my face. It was probably because this movie is about another interest of mine, music. I mean wouldn't it be cool to be a 15 year old touring around the country with a band and writing about it on Rolling Stone magazine? A dream come true.

As of now I'm contemplating on whether I should have one space for movies of a series to save space to be able to add more movies to the list... But either way, as much as I enjoyed the first Godfather, I liked the second one slightly better. I'm not sure if it had something to do with the inclusion of Robert De Niro as a young Vito Corleone or simply because it was longer, but for some reason I remember liking it more. Marlon Brando was definitely missed but Al Pacino does a great job with his transformation into the new Don.

Speaking of Marlon Brando, wow. They really aged him for this movie, but he surely did an amazing job making sure he would be remembered for it. The name Marlon Brando and The Godfather has become quite synonymous and there is a great reason for that. He, along with the performance of Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, truly make this movie. Just as The Godfather II had "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer", the first Godfather had one of the most unforgettable quotes in movie history: "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.", truly cementing this movie as a bonafide classic.

I saw this when I was 13 too and I felt really emotionally attached to the movie. Before this, I had only bits and pieces of knowledge of the horrors that World War II brought. This movie, along with The Pianist, really helped me in understanding the terrors in Nazi-Occupied Germany and Poland. Technically this was the first black and white movie that I had seen, but it didn't detract from the experience at all. Most of all, this was a true story, there really was an Oskar Schindler. By the end, the film had affected me in so many ways words couldn't do them justice.

Ever since I was really young, I always had a great affinity towards superheroes in general. From action figures to posters, I collected them all. Well not really, but I remember I had a whole lot of Batman. Sure the older Schumacher Batman movies weren't particularly good, but when I was younger none of that mattered. It would suffice to say that right after The Dark Knight came out, I went through a phase in which I was really obsessed with the movie and the praise Heath Ledger had gotten for his performance. I saw the movie two more times in the cinemas and it truly sparked my interest in fantastic acting and directing in film.

ps. This represents the entire trilogy, including Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.

What an extremely fascinating movie. This, along with Reservoir Dogs, put Quentin Tarantino on the map as one of the most innovative directors of the past 20 years. I loved it when I first saw it, and it just gets better the more times I watch it. Recently, I read the screenplay of Pulp Fiction, written by Tarantino and Roger Avary, and I was amazed by how much of the movie was visualized on the screenplay. From its non-linear narrative to the scintillating dialogue, Tarantino truly set the bar in modern filmmaking.

The epitome of the gangster movie. Of course The Godfather preceded this movie nearly 20 years before, but I think that the most fascinating portrayal of the mob industry was in Goodfellas. Chronicling the rise and fall of Henry Hill, this film shows the darkest sides of being a gangster. While The Godfather portrayed Don Vito Corleone, not as a drug dealer or smuggler but a man who became respected within the community because he was able to help them, Goodfellas shows gangsters in a different light. Martin Scorsese, one of my favorite directors of all time, brings so much to this movie and really makes it stand out from the other Gangster movies. With a fantastic cast headed by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Goodfellas ranks as not only a great gangster movie, but one of the greatest movies of all time.

This movie had a lot of hype working against it before I first saw it. I first came upon Shawshank Redemption on the IMDB Top 250 list. At the time I had heard about it, it was sitting on the number 2 spot right below The Godfather. Before seeing this, I literally had no idea what it was about. All I could recognize was Morgan Freeman who I knew as God from Bruce Almighty. I tried to get rid of any expectations and simply watched it for what it was. As much as a lot of people say it is over rated, It's actually pretty amazing. And by the end, it's difficult not to be joyous, realizing what a great movie you had just seen.

I probably like this movie a lot more than I should, especially since its essentially another love story between a vampire and a teenager. But it's not. I think it's a shame if this movie would become type-casted along with the rest of the Twilight series, because it is so much better than any of them. For most who are unfamiliar with this Swedish movie, you might have heard of the American remake that was released last year called Let Me In. It was actually a pretty nice adaption but not as good as the original. I can't stress it enough, watch this movie. In Swedish. You won't regret it.

Whenever I watch a movie, I always make it a point that I know as little as I can about the characters and plot. I know most people would read summaries and the sort but I always knew that it would somehow diminish the experience. Before I saw Fight Club, I had no idea what it was about. And that is exactly how you should walk into this movie. I am not going to talk about it here, but if you are reading this and you haven't seen the movie, watch it now. It will be an experience you will never forget.

This was another movie that I had heard of because of the IMDB Top 250. I saw it initially without the knowledge that it was actually Portugese and had to be seen with subtitles. Although I have no problem with subtitled movies, it was just a tad surprising because most of the top movies in the list are in English. Nevertheless, this movie is quite simply amazing. The movie is so endlessly interesting with its portrayal of the violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. I had no idea that those sort of things were happening, and it really helped me gain a wider perspective of what happens to some youths around the world.

This has to be one of the most affecting movies I have ever seen. Affecting in the way that my jaw was still dropped halfway through the credits. This movie has been under a lot of controversy ever since it came out due to its graphic sexual violence. The sexual violence has turned away many viewers and will probably continue to in the future. Although this movie is so much more than what others make it out to be. By the end of the movie, I too was questioning my own beliefs. I was contemplating on whether the treatment was moral or not, and if it even matters. Any movie that keeps you thinking after the credits are rolling is a great film in my book.

What just happened? There hasn't been any other movie that begged this question over and over in my head while I was watching it. Except maybe Primer. Although Primer actually made sense, I just couldn't comprehend it on my first viewing, which I doubt many could. What differentiates Mulholland Dr from any other movie on this list is that it's ending is still a mystery. Usually when I get thoroughly confused during a movie, I savor the knowledge that by the third act it will all be cleverly explained. In this movie, everything makes perfect sense. Until the third act. The whole movie flips itself over and has caused years of debate over what exactly is happening in the movie. Immediately after watching it, I scoured over the internet for explanations about the ending and never found anything definite. And that's what makes it so great. The perfect enigma.

I did not see that coming. I have to say that from all the movies that I have ever seen in my life, I believe that this is the most intense one. And I've seen a lot. And it is because of all this that I like Oldboy so much. It's in Korean and is actually the second movie of a trilogy. Personally I haven't seen any of the other movies, but from what I know, they aren't directly related with each other, so it's fine to watch Oldboy as a stand-alone feature. All in all, it is definitely not for children and I don't know that you will enjoy this movie, but I do guarantee that you will never forget it. A feat that all great movies strive to achieve.

Flawless. Everything from the conception of Rashomon to its beautiful cinematography seemed so perfect. Being the first Akira Kurosawa film I had ever seen, I had no idea what to expect from this movie. I was definitely intrigued with the use of unreliable narrators in retelling the same event four different times as it was able to add a level of depth to each of the characters. They all had something they were ashamed of that they chose to conceal through lies and deception. And the most brilliant aspect of this movie: We never get to know what really happened. Although it could be argued that the most reliable character of the story is probably the woodcutter, this reality becomes unclear once we find out that he too, had neglected a key element of the event to cover up for his selfishness. The wife's dagger which was revealed to have been stolen by the woodcutter himself. Truly a brilliant film.