1. Jurassic Park
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. 28 Days Later
4. The Dark Knight Trilogy
5. Forrest Gump
6. The Godfather
7. Pulp Fiction
8. ET: The Extraterrestrial
9. Titanic
10. Star Wars (Only the original trilogy)
Yup.

Bumping this because it's been like two years and it's an interesting thread.

1. Synecdoche, New York Charlie Kaufman, 2008
No film has ever moved me the way this one did. I like films that are open for interpretation, and not just difficult films which are difficult for the sake of being difficult (e.g. Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko (two of the most overrated turds of the 21st century)). I've discussed this film with several friends and it's interesting to see how everyone interprets different scenes and elements in their own way, and with no explanation more correct than somebody else's. I'll say this much; it was very personal to me, and it had me feeling down for about three months.
2. Blue Velvet David Lynch, 1986
3. Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino, 1994
4. Dr. Strangelove Stanley Kubrick, 1964
5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner, 1980
6. Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola, 1979
7. Amour Michael Haneke, 2012
8. Paris, Texas Wim Wenders, 1984
9. The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012
10. Red Desert Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964

In some attempt at being ordered by preference:

1. Amadeus
2. Babe: Pig in the City
3. The Master
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. Spirited Away
6. The Thin Blue Line
7. The Fellowship of the Ring
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey
9. Inception
10. Upstream Color

I don't know why I haven't seen this one yet. I've been a fan of Rejected for years. I need to squeeze it in this month.

To be completely honest, I've never really understood the hype surrounding Spirited Away. Only Ghibli film I've seen but it totally underwhelmed me. Right with you on Upstream Color though, Shane Carruth is a fantastic filmmaker. Have you seen Primer? Loved it. Been meaning to see The Thin Blue Line but will probably wait for the Criterion re-release. HD is nice.

Did not at all care for Brazil, but I must obviously be missing something since everyone is giving it so much praise. I thought the tempo was way too quick. Haven't bothered with any of his other films. I agree on Days of Heaven, though. Might just be Malick's masterpiece. Looking forward to Knight of Cups. It's about time I see Sunset Boulevard.

I might as well update again.

Brazil
This film seems to get more relevant every day. A world where everything is broken, terrorism, torture, endless paperwork, and only being able to escape such a depressing world by crawling into your own brain.

Amadeus
The worst and best biopic ever made. Worst because about 80% of this film isn't true. Best because the film knows it, and uses the life of Mozart as the grounds for a spectacular story about artisitc jealously. It's odd that a film so perfect should concern itself with the agony of being mediocre.

Eyes Wide Shut/A Clockwork Orange
I can't decide which Stanley Kubrick film I love the best. Eyes Wide Shut is a movie that you will, without question, hate when you first watch it. A Clockwork Orange is still relevant today in how it deals with violence and the way the world reacts to it....and you'll probably hate it when you first watch it.

Ed Wood
Remember in the 90's when Johnny Depp was awesome? Yeah, he doesn't - but every time both him and Tim Burton fail, this movie only gets better. The two of them could be convincted for war-crimes, and they would both be let off without charge because they made Ed Wood.

Alien
I remember first watching this five years ago and saying it was stupidly slow but it got really intense in the last 30 mins and the whole movie should have been just that. Welp, watching other horror movies and playing horror games - I've realised that 99% of horror movies and horror games are pure crap. I wasn't scared by Alien when I first saw it because hadn't really seen any horror movies and didn't know what horror was. Five years later, I realised I'd been looking at a masterpiece all this time.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
A love story that actually feels genuine? Truly the universe has ended - and how appropriate that throughout this film you feel as though Joel is dying. Whenever I watch this I can't believe something so uncontrived yet surreal exists.

Adaptation
Thought Being John Malkovich was nuts? It is, and you should totally watch that movie too, but this takes things to a whole other level of meta. Films with this good a cast and this imaginative a script just don't happen anymore.

Fight Club
Alongside Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this is a prime example of a film that's been ruined by it's fanbase. Everyone watches this film and thinks: "Yeah! Screw capitalism! Screw materialism! I'm gonna buy myself a Fight Club t-shirt and continue with my dull life!" To anyone that's actually been through a psuedo-anarchist phase before realising how pathetic the whole thing is, this movie will hit just the rights spots.

Citizen Kane
Right, before you hit me with abuse - I've actually watched this movie. I've written articles and analysis's of it. I'm not blinded by the hype. I know this movie well, and everything I know about it is genius. The people who hate this movie are people who either haven't watched it, or have only watched it once before decrying it as overrated and going back to Batman.

This Is Spinal Tap
I can't really say what's good about it. Again, this is one of those movies that people are underwhelmed by the first time they see it - except for the oft quotes 'eleven' scene and that one moment that's the only real 'roll on the floor' gag. Quite simply, this movie is crammed with jokes; but they're not signposted. It's not like Hot Fuzz or The LEGO Movie where there are so many jokes you forget most of them - so when you watch the movie again it feels like seeing it anew. You rewatch This Is Spinal Tap and you discover jokes you didn't even realise were there before. The movie is so subtle I didn't even realise it was one of my favourite films until I tried to count how many times I've seen this and realised I probably watch it around four times a year.

Runners Up: Boogie Nights, Pulp Fiction, Downfall, The Seventh Seal, Pans Labyrinth, In The Loop, Spirited Away, Vertigo, The Wicker Man, Clockwise, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, A Scanner Darkly, Singing In The Rain, Groundhog Day, The Truman Show, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, Where The Wild Things Are, Hot Fuzz, Rashomon, The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - good god there are a lot of films I like.

It's really annoying trying to talk to people about movies who haven't seen Citizen Kane, even though I don't consider it to be one favorites I wish people would see it a couple times before trying to talk about filmmaking.

I would do some research and read up on it before you watch it again, maybe give it a year or so, let yourself grow a bit, it's an important film for reason, for shear classic enjoyablity I much prefer Sunset Boulevard

1. Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind
-Never had a film effect me on such a visceral, emotional level like this has. It feels so incredibly raw. Every time I watch it I cry. It's also just really, really cool looking, the effects are all totally practical and inventive.

2. Kill Bill Vol.2 (or) Pulp Fiction
3. The Departed
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. The Big Lebowski

I can't really go further than that, it already feels weird to "rank" my favorite films. Eternal Sunshine is certainly my favorite of all time though.

Last edited by skull brick (January 8, 2015 (10:41am))

These are not my top ten.  They are not in any order.  But these are some of my favorites, and I may like some movies even more:

Transformers: The Movie
The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Prince of Egypt
The Iron Giant
I, Robot
Antz
The Giver
Dr, Strangelove
Metropolis
Independence Day
The Money Pit
Scavenger Hunt
Twice Upon a Time
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Titan A.E. and Anastasia

Well, you see I like science fiction.  I know it's more than ten.  There are too many moods that movies give me to pick absolute favorites, as I like different movies for different reasons.

I posted, then read others' posts.  Glad to see that I'm not the only Dr. Strangelove fan.  Also forgot to add my favorite romantic film: Edward Scissorhands.

Last edited by HoldingOurOwn (January 8, 2015 (10:46am))