139 Favorite Films

Rank	Title (click link to IMDb)	Comment
1	Schindler’s List	Not just a film, but an experience that will change your view of humanity.
2	The 10 Commandments	Perhaps overdone, but DeMille’s epic “out-epics” anything else ever made.
3	It’s a Wonderful Life	If you can’t appreciate your own life after seeing this, something’s wrong.
4	Doctor Zhivago	The sweeping beauty of the Russian countryside and Julie Christie’s amazing performance as Lara make this an all-timer.
5	The Right Stuff	The aerospace engineer’s (and/or pilot’s) ultimate flick.
6	Field of Dreams	Fantastic blend of fantasy and America’s favorite pastime.
7	Picnic at Hanging Rock	Peter Weir’s Australian masterpiece. Haunting visuals and musical score.
8	Wild Strawberries	Ingmar Bergman is my favorite director. This is my favorite of his films.
9	Silver Linings Playbook	Poignant and funny. Tremendous performances by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and DeNiro.
10	Paris, Texas	A Wim Wenders master film of a Sam Shepherd story. Amazing performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Nastassja Kinski, including probably one of the best-acted scenes of all time.
11	Red Beard	Akira Kurosawa’s fantastic 19th century tale of a young intern being trained by the gruff town doctor. Stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune.
12	Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red	Amazing trilogy by the magnificent Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Not a film and two sequels, but really 3 equal legs of a tripod. I lump them together here because you can’t just watch one without the others.
13	Coda	Marvelous film about a young hearing woman being raised in a deaf family. Best Picture Oscar-winner and well-deserved.
14	Gladiator	“What we do in life…echoes in eternity.” Russell Crowe and the full splendor of the Roman Empire.
15	E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial	Spielberg’s masterful blend of fantasy, science fiction, Americana, adventure and emotion.
16	The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apur Sansar	Legendary Indian director Satyajit Ray’s magnificent trilogy. Actually 3 separate films (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu), but should be seen in sequence. One of the best portrayals of ordinary life ever produced.
17	The Virgin Spring	Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece of love, loss, and vengeance. Remade in 1972 by Wes Craven as a gritty horror film.
18	Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood	Quentin Tarantino’s creative and entertaining re-imagining of the Charles Manson murders.
19	Hamilton!	A musical masterpiece by Lin Manuel Miranda. Patriotic, historic tale of one of America’s most fascinating Founding Fathers.
20	Braveheart	Almost makes you want to go out and buy a kilt!
21	Major League	A group of ragtag has-beens and no-names transform the Cleveland Indians into winners. The perfect movie for this long-suffering Cleveland sports fan!
22	Ikiru	Classic Kurosawa film about a fatally ill bureaucrat trying to make good in his last service to the public.
23	La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful)	A perfect mix of humor and tragedy; and an amazing performance by Roberto Benigni (who also wrote and directed)
24	American Beauty	Who couldn’t love Lester Burnham and his “reawakening”? This one would rank higher if it weren’t for the glamorization of drug use (and Kevin Spacey’s “fall from grace”).
25	Almost Famous	Best rock-n-roll movie ever made! Stellar Oscar-winning performance by Kate Hudson.
26	Nomadland	A beautiful Best Picture winner by Chloe Zhao. Heartbreaking, yet uplifting. Frances McDormand’s tour-de-force, yet understated, performance in amazing!
27	Being There	Peter Sellers’ finest performance. This one’s not as famous, but if you haven’t seen it, rent it soon!
28	Sound of Music	A great musical, Julie Andrews’ wonderful voice, and the beautiful Austrian Alps.
29	Twenty-Four Eyes	Japanese director Keisuke Kinoshita’s marvelous story of a rural schoolteacher and her emotional bond with her young pupils. An absolute must-see for anyone who teaches for a living.
30	Parasite	Bong Joon Ho took the Oscars by storm in 2020 with this Korean masterpiece. Funny, poignant, even violent social message.
31	Ordinary People	Emotionally gut-wrenching. Tremendous performances by Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton under Robert Redford’s direction. Took home 4 Oscars, including Best Picture.
32	Gandhi	Made Ben Kingsley a legend. Perhaps the best performance by an actor in history and a stirring portrait of one of the 20th century’s greatest men.
33	Forrest Gump	“I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.” – sums up an Oscar-winning performance by Tom Hanks
34	Late Spring	Yasujiro Ozu’s touching film about a young woman who resists getting married to care for her widowed father. Ozu is often overshadowed by Kurosawa’s reputation, but directed many beautiful and moving films.
35	Belfast	Terrific film about a working-class family trying to survive the tumultuous 1960’s political violence in Northern Ireland. Amazing soundtrack by Van Morrison.
36	Spanglish	Nice ‘fish-out-of-water’ comedy. Adam Sandler and Tia Leone are great, Paz Vega is a revelation as Flor, the live-in maid. But Cloris Leachman steals the show.
37	Into the Wild	Terrific true story of Christopher McCandless, who checks himself out of society and road-trips across the country to Alaska.
38	A Walk to Remember	I didn’t expect much from this one, but was pleased with its elegant simplicity. Mandy Moore is terrific as Jamie Sullivan.
39	Animal House	Classic college film. John Belushi’s memorable tour-de-force as Bluto. I’ve probably seen this 200+ times.
40	Fanny and Alexander	A true masterpiece from Ingmar Bergman. Excellent as a 3-hour movie, even better as the 5-hour mini-series.
41	Casablanca	Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman – “Here’s looking at you, kid” – an icon in film history.
42	North by Northwest	Hitchcock’s classic of mistaken identity. The final struggle on the face of Mount Rushmore is unforgettable.
43	Hunger Games	Well-made and well-acted action film based on the best-selling book series. Made the talented Jennifer Lawrence a household name.
44	Fargo	This is your brain. This is your brain in a wood chipper. Frances McDormand shines in this Coen brothers masterpiece.
45	The Last Picture Show	This Peter Bogdanovich gem of life in a small town features an extraordinary cast that includes Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, and Randy Quaid. But Cloris Leachman’s Best Supporting Actress performance was the most impressive.
46	Rain Main	Dustin Hoffman’s best performance ever – even Tom Cruise does an admirable job.
47	Hoosiers	Captures the mania of Indiana high school basketball and based on a true David vs Goliath story. Nice performances by Gene Hackman and Barbara Hershey.
48	Steve Jobs	Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of Apple’s founder is perfect in this incredibly original non-biopic biopic.
49	The Exorcist	“The power of Christ compels you. The power of Christ compels you.” Remade the horror genre.
50	Bridge on the River Kwai	Classic prisoner-of-war movie. Sir Alec Guinness is awesome (even without the Force)!
51	Moneyball	My childhood friend and college roommate was an early Bill James devotee and introduced me to his theories. This film masterfully shows how baseball began to turn to data analytics.
52	Sophie’s Choice	Wonderful film about coping with life after tragedy. IMHO, Meryl Streep’s heartbreaking performance is the best ever by an actress in any film.
53	Silent Running	Bruce Dern’s hilarious and touching performance warning of a “post-climate-change” time is this sci-fi cult classic. Special effects were ahead of their time.
54	Satantango	Not many people would sit down for a 7-hour+ film. But Bela Tarr’s Hungarian film of life in a small village is truly a masterpiece.
55	Seven Samurai	Kurosawa classic, again starring Toshiro Mifune, has been copied many times (twice as “The Magnificent Seven”), but never equaled.
56	Chariots of Fire	Best Picture winner based on the true story of two British track stars, one Jewish and one devout Scottish Christian, who won gold medals in the 1924 Olympics. The soundtrack by Vangelis makes the film!
57	The Descendants	Touching and funny film with great Hawaiian soundtrack. Excellent performances by George Clooney and Shailene Woodley.
58	Heathers	An outrageously funny and dark comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. You’ll never think about teenage cliques the same again. “Dear Diary: My teen angst bullshit now has a body count.”
59	Juno	Tour-de-force performance by Ellen Page as a pregnant teen.
60	Citizen Kane	Orson Welles reinvents cinema in this work of art, noted by many critics as the greatest film of all time.
61	The Wizard of Oz	Perhaps the most viewed movie in film history. The groundbreaking use of color was a revelation. And I never ever tire of hearing Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow”.
62	La La Land	A fantastic modern musical throwback. Emma Stone is amazing. This film really deserved the Best Picture Oscar as was mistakenly awarded, then stripped of.
63	The Lovely Bones	Wonderful early performance by a young Saoirse Ronan as a girl who is abducted and murdered. Based on an excellent book. Also great performances by Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, and Stanley Tucci.
64	All the Real Girls	Extremely well-acted small-town love story. Slow-moving, but very authentic. Before Zoe Deschanel got really famous.
65	sex, lies & videotape	Amazingly original film with excellent performances by James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura San Giacomo.
66	Dersu Uzala	A late (1975), and color, masterpiece by Akira Kurosawa about a local Siberian hunter befriended by a Russian army soldier. Uzala is perhaps one of the most fascinating characters in movie history.
67	Terms of Endearment	Debra Winger, Shirley Maclaine, Jack Nicholson, and John Lithgow. Won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Nominated for 6 more. One of the all-time best films.
68	Young Frankenstein	My favorite Mel Brooks film. What an amazing cast! Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, and Peter Boyle as The Monster. Reinvented comedy.
69	A River Runs Through It	Fly fishing and the Montana wilderness. Robert Redford directed a classic. “I am haunted by waters.” Still sends a chill up my spine.
70	Roma	Alfonso Cuaron’s autobiographical wonder is perhaps the great work of cinematography I have ever seen.
71	Close Encounters of the Third Kind	Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic. The final scene blew my mind when I first saw it on the big screen. (If you’re watching at home, make sure it’s on a very big-picture TV!)
72	Tokyo Story	Yasujiro Ozu’s poignant tale of the busyness of youth and the forgotten elders in industrial Japan. Magnificent cinematography and a heartbreaking story.
73	Columbus	A clash of cultures set in Columbus, Indiana, the modernist “Midwest Mecca of Architecture.” Haley Lu Richardson is fantastic as the small-town girl, encouraged to break out by John Cho’s vising Korean character. Directed by the enigmatic Kogonada. I placed this film here, right behind “Tokyo Story”, as Kogonada wrote his film school thesis on Ozu and uses his cinematographic style to its full-color finest in this beautiful and inspiring film.
74	Broadcast News	Maybe the best film ever about the TV news business. While it had an amazing cast including Best Actor nominee William Hurt, it was Holly Hunter’s Oscar-nominated performance that stole the show and introduced this best-in-a-generation talent to movie audiences.
75	Pieces of April	An unambitious and underrated indie gem. Patricia Clarkson garnered a Supporting Actress nomination as a woman dying of cancer, who leads her family on a day trip to spend Thanksgiving in NYC with her “black sheep” daughter, played magnificently by Katie Holmes.
76	The Dig	Wonderfully understated and emotional film with Carey Mulligan as a British woman on whose property a significant archaeological find is explored by Ralph Fiennes’ character. Beautiful and emotional.
77	Promising Young Woman	Carey Mulligan’s Oscar-nominated role prior to “The Dig”, where she plays a woman haunted by the death years prior of her college friend. Moving and funny and tragic.
78	A Perfect Getaway	Perfect blend of action, crime drama, comedy, and suspense set on the beautiful island of Kauai. Timothy Olyphant, Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, and Kiele Sanchez make a perfect pair of couples who find out more about each other as the plot thickens.
79	crazy, stupid love	Great performance by Steve Carell as the jilted husband who tries to move on but still loves his wife. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are great in this comedy, too.
80	The Truman Show	Though-provoking premonition of the reality-show craze. Jim Carrey’s best, and most layered, performance.
81	The Jungle Book	Disney cartoon version from 1967. One of my earliest film memories and still timeless. “Look for the bare necessities…”
82	Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life	Uproariously funny Monty Python classic. So many funny segments and memorable lines. “It’s wafer-thin”. “I am death.” And ask me sometime about the “machine that goes ‘ping’”!
83	The Double Life of Veronique	Another remarkable film from Polish master Krzysztof Kieslowski. This film tells two parallel stories of identical women, one living in Poland, the other in France. They don’t know each other, nor know the other exists, but their lives are profoundly connected.
84	Little Miss Sunshine	Hilarious dysfunctional family takes to the road for their young daughter to compete in a beauty pageant. Alan Arkin is hilarious: “Every night it’s the f***ing chicken!”
85	When Harry Met Sally	When this film came out, Meg Ryan was still my favorite actress. She has slipped a bit since then, but this Rob Reiner class also starring Billy Crystal is perhaps the greatest of many romantic comedies from the 1980’s. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
86	Slumdog Millionaire	Best Picture-winning rags-to-riches love story set in Mumbai, India.
87	Apocalypse Now	Great performance by Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando, but most memorable is Robert Duvall’s “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like…victory!”
88	Platoon	Another Vietnam War film, perhaps THE quintessential film about that conflict and about war itself.
89	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest	Jack Nicholson and Nurse Ratchett in a mental institution. One of the all-time greats. The final scene with “The Chief” is amazing and heart-wrenching.
90	Monty Python and the Holy Grail	Comedy classic. The Knights who say “Ni”, The Black Knight (“a mere flesh wound”), killer rabbits. “Come and see the violence inherent in the system.” “Help! Help! I’m being repressed.”
91	Lost in Translation	Bill Murray at his finest as an American film star lost in the Japanese culture. Scarlett Johannsen is excellent as the neglected new wife of a photographer who forges a friendship with him.
92	Aguirre: the Wrath of God	Werner Herzog’s classic starring Klaus Kinski as the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre who leads a 16th century Spanish expedition in search the lost city of gold, El Dorado.
93	Bohemian Rhapsody	Rami Malek’s Oscar-winning performance as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is one of film’s best portrayals.
94	Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb	Stanley Kubrick’s comedic classic is THE film about the Cold War. Peter Sellers is amazing as three different (and hilarious) characters.
95	The Big Chill	A group of college friends from the 60’s gather for the funeral of one of their cohorts. Superb soundtrack and incredible ensemble acting together with a terrific script.
96	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Errol Flynn version of the classic character. Worth watching just to see the lovely Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion.
97	The General	Buster Keaton at his hilarious and vulnerable finest in this all-time classic Civil War silent railroad tale.
98	The Shining	Another Stanley Kubrick classic. “REDRUM!” “Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!!”
99	Saving Private Ryan	Spielberg takes on WWII…and wins. Great cast, great performances, unbelievably realistic war footage. All in a tale of honor, obligation, and humanity.
100	Rear Window	Alfred Hitchcock, my favorite actor Jimmy Stewart, and an exquisite Grace Kelly. What’s not to like?
101	The Great Santini	Robert Duvall as an overbearing Marine father. Shows how love and abuse can co-exist.
102	Psycho	Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh, and a shower. “A boy’s best friend is his mother.” THE horror classic.
103	Sideways	Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church as an odd couple on a bachelor’s trip to California wine country. Funny, poignant, beautifully-filmed (and a bit dirty). Features terrific supporting performances by their female cohorts, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh.
104	Wild!	Reese Witherspoon does a phenomenal job in this true redemptive tale of loss and hiking.
105	Boyhood	Richard Linklater’s remarkably innovative tale of…well, life. Filmed over 12 years with the same cast.
106	Nebraska	Bruce Dern and Will Forte in a hilarious and original story of aging and dealing with the past. June Squibb is hilarious, too.
107	Cinema Paradiso	Wonderfully sentimental film about an Italian boy who grows up helping the projectionists in his little town’s theater returning home for that man’s funeral.
108	West Side Story (1961)	An amazing musical retelling of Romeo & Juliet in NYC. Natalie Wood is phenomenal.
109	On the Waterfront	Marlon Brando as a washed-up fighter turned thug for the corrupt union bosses. One of the greatest films ever made. Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, and Rod Steiger lead a marvelous cast as Brando fights for justice for the dock workers. “I coulda been somebody. I coulda been a contender.”
110	Apollo 13	“Houston, we have a problem.” The true story of the ill-fated but heroic Apollo 13 mission based on astronaut James Lovell’s book. (One of the thrills of my life was getting to meet James Lovell and host him when I was a student at Purdue.)
111	Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday	Jacques Tati’s classic tale of a bumbling Frenchman on holiday on the Mediterranean. Think Charlie Chaplin meets Forrest Gump. Just a delightfully fun 83 minutes.
112	The Brutalist	Amazingly well-acted and filmed story of a visionary architect who flees Europe after WWII and moves to Pennsylvania. Terrific performances by Adrien Brody (Best Actor Oscar) and Felicity Jones with Oscar-winning cinematography.
113	Rocky	Long before the 9th movie of this franchise cemented it as a laughing stock, this was an incredible story of an underdog boxer longing for love and given an unbelievable shot at the heavyweight title. Written and starring Sylvester Stallone and featuring the most inspiring theme song in cinema history. Set aside your thoughts about Rocky VI and Creed 2, and allow yourself to be transported back to 1976 when Stallone was an unknown, and just enjoy this Best Picture winner.
114	Scenes from a Marriage	Ingmar Bergman’s remarkable film (based on his TV series) chronicling the love and turmoil of a marriage over a number of years. Starred the remarkable Liv Ullmann (Bergman’s sometimes romantic off-screen partner).
115	Winter’s Bone	Gritty look at the underbelly of human society in the Missouri Ozarks. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance carries the film and earned her a Best Actress nomination, at the time the 2nd youngest person ever to achieve this.
116	Jaws	The film that made Steven Spielberg a household name. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
117	Wings of Desire	Wim Wender’s classic about an angel who falls in love with a French trapeze artist in Berlin. Later remade as “City of Angels” with Meg Ryan. The original is better.
118	Gates of Heaven	I guarantee you’ve not seen a film quite like this one. Ostensibly a documentary about a pet cemetery in California, the people who have their pets buried there, and the people who run it. Is it really a documentary? It could easily be mistaken as a “mockumentary”, but it isn’t exactly that, either. One thing for sure, you’ll never forget it.
119	Poltergeist	“They’re heeere!” Only Spielberg could produce a story of ghostly possession and make it such a wonderful mix of horror and (mostly) comedy. And good.
120	National Lampoon’s Vacation	Lindsay Buckingham’s title song sets the mood. Chevy Chase bring the Lampoon short story to life.
121	Caddyshack	Hijinx at the Country Club. Another Chevy Chase classic, also with the hilarious Rodney Dangerfield.
122	Rashomon	Another Kursawa classic with Toshiro Mifune. A story of rape and murder is told from 4 different vantage points: the young bride who was raped, her husband’s ghost, a woodcutter who finds the body, and the bandit who raped the woman.
123	Ferris Bueller’s Day Off	Who doesn’t love Matthew Broderick’s phenomenal performance as the semi-annoying but too-smart-for-his-own-good teenager taking a break from school. And his beautiful and mysterious girlfriend, his neurotic best friend, and his jealous older sister (Jennifer Grey). And the school principal who gets what he deserves. Maybe John Hughes’ best film.
124	Woman in the Dunes	Hiroshi Teshigahara’s allegorical masterpiece about an entomologist who stumbles down into a sand “pit” and is forced into living with the woman who is trapped there. His life becomes a constant battle to shovel sand to avoid being buried under it.
125	Banshees of Inisherin	Delightful story set on an Irish island. Collin Farrell’s quiet life is upended when his long-time pal (Brendan Gleeson) decides he doesn’t want to talk with him anymore. Quirky characters and some of the best scenery and cinematography ever.
126	Yesterday	What if you woke up and The Beatles had never existed? A fun and enjoyable romantic comedy.
127	Garden State	Natalie Portman brightens up Zach Braff’s life as he finally comes to grips with his personal issues, his past, and his mother’s death.
128	A Beautiful Mind	Russell Crowe’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, whose life descends into the depths of schizophrenia. Best Picture Oscar-winner, along with Jennifer Connelly for Best Supporting Actress and Ron Howard for Best Director.
129	McFarland, USA	Great true story of using sports to bring together those separated by race. Could stand to have more people see this film today.
130	A Boy and His Dog	Don Johnson (of TV’s “Miami Vice”) starred in this controversial post-apocalyptic movie about a young man struggling to survive. He has a symbiotic relationship with his mange dog: he finds food for the dog, while the dog finds women for him to have his way with. Jason Robards shines as leader of a subterranean survivalist “cult?” that provides a comic diversion for Johnson’s character. The movie features perhaps the most hilarious final line in any movie ever made.
131	Before Sunrise	First of a trilogy of films (followed by “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight”). Ethan Hawke plays an American on his last night in Paris, where he meets and strolls around through the night with a French woman (played marvelously by Julie Delpy). Some of the best dialog ever put into a film in which not much happens. Written and directed by Richard Linklater (Boyhood).
132	Heaven Can Wait	A remake of the 1941 classic “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” about a man who is mistakenly taken to Heaven early, then sent back to Earth to live in other body(s). I normally don’t like remakes that much, but this one stars my all-time co-favorite actress Julie Christie, along with Warren Beatty, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, and Jack Warden.
133	She’s Out of My League	Looks like a sex comedy on its surface. But this movie has a great heart and gives hope to geeks everywhere.
134	Tess	Roman Polanski’s interpretation of the Thomas Hardy novel, featuring a haunting performance by a young Nastassja Kinski.
135	Licorice Pizza	Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed (earning Oscar nominations in both categories as well as for Best Picture) this enjoyable coming-of-age film starring Cooper Hoffman (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son) and singer Alana Haim.
136	Spirited Away	Hayao Miyazaki’s Best Animated Feature Oscar-winning fantasy where a young girl enters a mysterious spirit world after her family moves to a new home.
137	Howl’s Moving Castle	Another Miyazaki gem, nominated for Best Animated Feature, features a love story between a young girl cursed to an old woman’s body and a young wizard who lives in a walking castle.
138	Jules and Jim	Francois Truffaut’s tale of a love triangle concerning two friends and the impulsive woman they both love.
139	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	Kate Winslet is fantastic as Jim Carrey’s love interest in this literally mind-bending comedy(?). Great supporting cast includes Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, and David Cross.