My 100 favorite movies – not necessarily ones I would pick as the “best” of all time. This was precipitated by a group vote on the Blu-ray.com Forum – results were posted on Oct. 29, 2017. I have underlined the titles that made the top 100 on Blu-ray.com and placed a mark at the end of the entries in superscript.^{e.g. 50}. Four from my list made the top ten, marked in green. 50 runner-up results have also been posted on the forum. The discussion thread was a great online community experience.

This list is also available on Letterboxd.

(Image courtesy of Esteban²)

1. Cloud Atlas (2012) – Connects the human experience across the entire globe in six different eras (from 1849 to 2321). The use of yellowface is a problem for some viewers, but otherwise, I consider this to be the Wachowskis’ masterpiece.⁽¹²²⁾
2. Rain Man (1988) – One of those movies I grew up watching repeatedly on VHS. This made autism relatable to the world with Dustin Hoffman in the titular role and Tom Cruise as his brother. This was Hans Zimmer’s first Oscar-nominated score. Directed by Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam; Sleepers; The Natural).
3. The Princess Bride (1987) – Written by William Goldman and adapted from his hilarious and bizarre book. Rob Reiner made it even more popular on the big screen. Every element of this film is fantastic – it remains my family’s favorite.¹⁰⁰
4. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – The second film in George Lucas’s epic, this one directed by Irvin Kershner. It’s hard to pick a favorite in the Star Wars saga, but I’ll go with this, the fan favorite. Look for the “Despecialized Edition.”¹
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – Stanley Kubrick’s outer space special effects still hold up. Check out the 1996 version of the soundtrack, too, with the proper versions of both Strauss’s (unrelated) Also Sprach Zarathustra and The Blue Danube.¹²
6. Rocky IV (1985) – At the top of my guilty pleasure list, this was the most financially successful entry in Sylvester Stallone’s series. Features Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago, the steroid-pumping, undefeated Soviet boxer.
7. There Will Be Blood (2007) – Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, music by Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead). Need I say more?¹⁷
8. A Trip to the Moon (1902) – The most well known movie from the innovative French film-maker Georges Méliès. There is no official score for the film, but I recommend the version recorded by Air in the 2011 restored release.
9. Alien (1979) – Ridley Scott makes consistently top-knotch films, like Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Blade Runner to name a few, but none match the frightening saga of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) vs. the H.R. Giger-designed alien world.⁵
10. The Babadook (2014) – All the pieces fit together to make this creepy children’s book character come to life. From Australian first-time director, Jennifer Kent.

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