About a year ago, I put together my first top 100 movies list. If you'd like to take a look, here's the link. As I said then, and will say now, these aren't what I think are the best 100 movies of all-time, but rather the movies that I enjoy the most.
Here are some of the movies that I was considering for Ver. 2.0 that ultimately didn't make the cut. In alphabetical order: 300, Air Force One, Armageddon, Baby Mama, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Big Daddy, Chinatown, Cloverfield, The Devil Wears Prada, Finding Nemo, The French Connection, Hellboy, Jurassic Park, Lethal Weapon, My Cousin Vinny, No Country For Old Men, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Shooter, Shrek, Speed, Taxi Driver, The Mummy, Traffic and Training Day.
Movies like Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Eagle Eye and the Clone Wars movie may make the cut next year, but I have yet to see them!
Here are the movies that dropped out of my Top 100:
- Sin City (100)
- The Boondock Saints (99)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (94)
- Van Wilder (92)
- A Few Good Men (91)
- Road Trip (90)
- Mystery, Alaska (89)
- Swordfish (87)
- Backdraft (86)
- The 40-Year Old Virgin (83)
- Superman Returns (82)
- Con Air (79)
- Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom (77)
- Family Guy, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (61)
- Spider-Man (32)
A couple of notes. First, my system isn't perfect, which is why the movies counting back from 100 weren't the only ones eliminated. I took the Family Guy movie out because it wasn't a theatrical release, and it just felt wrong being there. Spider-Man suffered from its comparison to contemporary peers. Watching it again now, it just doesn't stack up.
Here are their replacements:
99. Superbad - Just a hilarious coming of age comedy with two guys who are a riot. Plus a McLovin.
96. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark - My generation grew up more with Temple of Doom as their first Indiana, but when you go back and watch this one it blows Temple of Doom away. Sorry, Short-Round!
93. The Burbs - An oversight. There are a few movies in this new list that I watched a ton on VHS or cable, and as a result now don't own on DVD. The Burbs is one of them.
90. Mallrats - This is another. My favorite Kevin Smith movie.
89. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - This is yet another. My sister and I taped this off of Showtime or Cinemax during a free preview weekend when we were kids, and at the time it was our only non-Disney movie in the house. As such, we must have watched it 100 times. Easily.
88. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Never before has a man's penis been so funny. This movie was a riot.
73. Monsters, Inc. - Though we own this one on DVD, it somehow missed my radar the first time around.
72. Ratatouille - I do not believe I had watched this one when I first made my rankings, but it broke the record for "most times watching a Netflix movie before sending it back." I think I watched it eight or nine times.
70. Thank You For Smoking - This movie gets funnier every time I watch it. A lot of people are now beginning to know who Aaron Eckhart is, thanks to his incredible performance in The Dark Knight. But I was hooked on him after his performance in this movie. "That's not an argument, it's a negotiation."
65. Godfather II - Sometimes I get carried away. Most people like Godfather II better than the original. I do not, and have the original at 36th on my list. But that doesn't mean it wasn't pure genius. For some reason, I talked myself into leaving it off my original list. As Bill Simmons would say, the lesson, as always, is that I'm an idiot.
53. Super Troopers - The Broken Lizard guys will likely never come close to topping this movie. Club Dread was decent, as was Beerfest. But Super Troopers will be their gold standard. I don't know if you would necessarily call it a "stoner" comedy, but it comes close. Either way, it's hilarious. Who wants a mustache ride?
46. Toy Story - For me, the defining "watched too much on VHS, don't own on DVD, so it slipped my mind" movie. This was the movie that started it all for Pixar at the box office, and it remains a classic. I didn't remember how much I enjoyed the movie until we went on the new Toy Story ride at DisneyWorld this summer.
34. Wall-E - It may be a bit presumptious of me to have this ranked ahead of Toy Story. But, like many movies this year, Wall-E had a ton of hype, and delivered on that hype big-time. I find it amusing that some people want to make it out to have a political bent. When I hear stuff like that, all I can do is sigh and shake my head. Sometimes people make too much out of things, and I think this is one of those cases. Even if the message in the movie was done so intentionally with the purpose of fanning the political flames, it doesn't matter. It's an awesome movie either way.
26. Iron Man - This movie was everything a comic book movie can and should be. I was sure that nothing could beat it as a comic book movie (V for Vendetta doesn't count to me, since I didn't know it was a comic book/graphic novel when I saw it) until...
8. The Dark Knight - This movie changed a lot for me. It's easily the best comic book movie ever made, and I can't ever see anything topping it. It's also the best, or second best sequel ever made, depending on whether or not you view The Empire Strikes Back as a sequel. It forced me to drastically change my rankings. I had to bump movies out of the top ten. The Dark Knight illuminated a lot of what was missing in Batman Begins, and as a result I bumped that movie further down the list. Heath Ledger didn't just play The Joker, he WAS The Joker. Everyone in the cast was fantastic. Even when they screwed with basic Batman doctrine, like when they reinvented how Harvey Dent became Two-Face, they pulled it off brilliantly. We've already seen it in the theater twice, and if it still is in theaters come September (after we watch some other summer movies) then we'll probably see it a third time. That a comic book movie - one that had seen its star dwindle with the proliferation of comic books in the late '90's and 2000's - has the chance to knock off Titanic for biggest box office gross ever, a movie which was centered around one of the biggest historical moments of the 20th century, is absolutely astonishing.
Here is the list in full. Be advised that most movies that remained from Ver 1.0 to Ver. 2.0 - outside of my top five - have been switched around in order. This will likely be a running theme, as I don't think my top 100 will ever reach a point when it is set in stone forever. Not only are there thousands of movies in my future, but there are plenty in my past as well. Whenever our new releases on Netflix dry up, I have taken to queuing up older movies. Recently, I've watched movies like Chinatown, Taxi Driver, The French Connection, Once Upon A Time in America and The Apartment. There are several older movies like that in the queue now.
Here they are, with the Version 1.0 ranking in parentheses.
100. Miracle (95)
99. Superbad (-)
98. Knocked Up (96)
97. The Girl Next Door (74)
96. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (-)
95. Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (93)
94. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (73)
93. The Burbs (-)
92. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Extended Version (85)
91. Slap Shot (84)
90. Mallrats (-)
89. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (-)
88. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (-)
87. Blues Brothers (97)
86. Star Wars, Episode III: Return of the Sith (81)
85. The Bourne Supremacy (88)
84. The Silence of the Lambs (80)
83. Ocean's Eleven (new) (78)
82. Lethal Weapon IV (76)
81. 48 Hours (75)
80. Saving Silverman (68)
79. Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade (72)
78. XXX (71)
77. Mean Girls (70)
76. Die Hard With a Vengeance (69)
75. Running Scared (old) (56)
74. National Treasure (55)
73. Monsters, Inc. (-)
72. Ratatouille (-)
71. Rounders (64)
70. Thank You For Smoking (-)
69. Wedding Crashers (58)
68. Aladdin (98)
67. Spider-Man 2 (67)
66. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (66)
65. Godfather II (-)
64. Rocky II (63)
63. Rocky (62)
62. Back to the Future 2 (65)
61. Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (60)
60. Bad Boys (59)
59. Lethal Weapon II (57)
58. Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones (54)
57. The Bourne Identity (53)
56. Menace II Society (52)
55. Dodgeball: A TRUE Underdog Story (48)
54. i Robot (39)
53. Super Troopers (-)
52. The Departed (51)
51. Back to the Future (50)
50. Total Recall (49)
49. The Fugitive (47)
48. Coming To America (46)
47. Independence Day (44)
46. Toy Story (-)
45. Beverly Hills Cop (43)
44. Goldeneye (42)
43. The Rock (23)
42. Stripes (40)
41. Enemy of the State (38)
40. The Program (37)
39. True Lies (36)
38. Spaceballs (35)
37. The Incredibles (41)
36. The Godfather (34)
35. Transformers: The Movie (22)
34. Wall-E (-)
33. Happy Gilmore (33)
32. Live Free or Die Hard (27)
31. Batman Begins (14)
30. Ghostbusters (31)
29. Trading Places (30)
28. The Terminator (29)
27. Top Gun (26)
26. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (25)
25. Iron Man (-)
24. Goodfellas (24)
23. The Princess Bride (28)
22. Billy Madison (45)
21. Casino (18)
20. V for Vendetta (21)
19. Die Hard (20)
18. Animal House (19)
17. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Extended Version (16)
16. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Version (15)
15. Office Space (13)
14. The Simpsons Movie (6)
13. Scarface (11)
12. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (17)
11. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (12)
10. Major League (10)
9. Friday (9)
8. The Dark Knight (-)
7. Gladiator (8)
6. Old School (7)
5. The Shawshank Redemption (5)
4. Braveheart (4)
3. Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (3)
2. Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (2)
1. Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (1)
Come back next year for Version 3.0!
Here are some of the movies that I was considering for Ver. 2.0 that ultimately didn't make the cut. In alphabetical order: 300, Air Force One, Armageddon, Baby Mama, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Big Daddy, Chinatown, Cloverfield, The Devil Wears Prada, Finding Nemo, The French Connection, Hellboy, Jurassic Park, Lethal Weapon, My Cousin Vinny, No Country For Old Men, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Shooter, Shrek, Speed, Taxi Driver, The Mummy, Traffic and Training Day.
Movies like Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Eagle Eye and the Clone Wars movie may make the cut next year, but I have yet to see them!
Here are the movies that dropped out of my Top 100:
- Sin City (100)
- The Boondock Saints (99)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (94)
- Van Wilder (92)
- A Few Good Men (91)
- Road Trip (90)
- Mystery, Alaska (89)
- Swordfish (87)
- Backdraft (86)
- The 40-Year Old Virgin (83)
- Superman Returns (82)
- Con Air (79)
- Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom (77)
- Family Guy, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (61)
- Spider-Man (32)
A couple of notes. First, my system isn't perfect, which is why the movies counting back from 100 weren't the only ones eliminated. I took the Family Guy movie out because it wasn't a theatrical release, and it just felt wrong being there. Spider-Man suffered from its comparison to contemporary peers. Watching it again now, it just doesn't stack up.
Here are their replacements:
99. Superbad - Just a hilarious coming of age comedy with two guys who are a riot. Plus a McLovin.
96. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark - My generation grew up more with Temple of Doom as their first Indiana, but when you go back and watch this one it blows Temple of Doom away. Sorry, Short-Round!
93. The Burbs - An oversight. There are a few movies in this new list that I watched a ton on VHS or cable, and as a result now don't own on DVD. The Burbs is one of them.
90. Mallrats - This is another. My favorite Kevin Smith movie.
89. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - This is yet another. My sister and I taped this off of Showtime or Cinemax during a free preview weekend when we were kids, and at the time it was our only non-Disney movie in the house. As such, we must have watched it 100 times. Easily.
88. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Never before has a man's penis been so funny. This movie was a riot.
73. Monsters, Inc. - Though we own this one on DVD, it somehow missed my radar the first time around.
72. Ratatouille - I do not believe I had watched this one when I first made my rankings, but it broke the record for "most times watching a Netflix movie before sending it back." I think I watched it eight or nine times.
70. Thank You For Smoking - This movie gets funnier every time I watch it. A lot of people are now beginning to know who Aaron Eckhart is, thanks to his incredible performance in The Dark Knight. But I was hooked on him after his performance in this movie. "That's not an argument, it's a negotiation."
65. Godfather II - Sometimes I get carried away. Most people like Godfather II better than the original. I do not, and have the original at 36th on my list. But that doesn't mean it wasn't pure genius. For some reason, I talked myself into leaving it off my original list. As Bill Simmons would say, the lesson, as always, is that I'm an idiot.
53. Super Troopers - The Broken Lizard guys will likely never come close to topping this movie. Club Dread was decent, as was Beerfest. But Super Troopers will be their gold standard. I don't know if you would necessarily call it a "stoner" comedy, but it comes close. Either way, it's hilarious. Who wants a mustache ride?
46. Toy Story - For me, the defining "watched too much on VHS, don't own on DVD, so it slipped my mind" movie. This was the movie that started it all for Pixar at the box office, and it remains a classic. I didn't remember how much I enjoyed the movie until we went on the new Toy Story ride at DisneyWorld this summer.
34. Wall-E - It may be a bit presumptious of me to have this ranked ahead of Toy Story. But, like many movies this year, Wall-E had a ton of hype, and delivered on that hype big-time. I find it amusing that some people want to make it out to have a political bent. When I hear stuff like that, all I can do is sigh and shake my head. Sometimes people make too much out of things, and I think this is one of those cases. Even if the message in the movie was done so intentionally with the purpose of fanning the political flames, it doesn't matter. It's an awesome movie either way.
26. Iron Man - This movie was everything a comic book movie can and should be. I was sure that nothing could beat it as a comic book movie (V for Vendetta doesn't count to me, since I didn't know it was a comic book/graphic novel when I saw it) until...
8. The Dark Knight - This movie changed a lot for me. It's easily the best comic book movie ever made, and I can't ever see anything topping it. It's also the best, or second best sequel ever made, depending on whether or not you view The Empire Strikes Back as a sequel. It forced me to drastically change my rankings. I had to bump movies out of the top ten. The Dark Knight illuminated a lot of what was missing in Batman Begins, and as a result I bumped that movie further down the list. Heath Ledger didn't just play The Joker, he WAS The Joker. Everyone in the cast was fantastic. Even when they screwed with basic Batman doctrine, like when they reinvented how Harvey Dent became Two-Face, they pulled it off brilliantly. We've already seen it in the theater twice, and if it still is in theaters come September (after we watch some other summer movies) then we'll probably see it a third time. That a comic book movie - one that had seen its star dwindle with the proliferation of comic books in the late '90's and 2000's - has the chance to knock off Titanic for biggest box office gross ever, a movie which was centered around one of the biggest historical moments of the 20th century, is absolutely astonishing.
Here is the list in full. Be advised that most movies that remained from Ver 1.0 to Ver. 2.0 - outside of my top five - have been switched around in order. This will likely be a running theme, as I don't think my top 100 will ever reach a point when it is set in stone forever. Not only are there thousands of movies in my future, but there are plenty in my past as well. Whenever our new releases on Netflix dry up, I have taken to queuing up older movies. Recently, I've watched movies like Chinatown, Taxi Driver, The French Connection, Once Upon A Time in America and The Apartment. There are several older movies like that in the queue now.
Here they are, with the Version 1.0 ranking in parentheses.
100. Miracle (95)
99. Superbad (-)
98. Knocked Up (96)
97. The Girl Next Door (74)
96. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (-)
95. Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (93)
94. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (73)
93. The Burbs (-)
92. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Extended Version (85)
91. Slap Shot (84)
90. Mallrats (-)
89. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (-)
88. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (-)
87. Blues Brothers (97)
86. Star Wars, Episode III: Return of the Sith (81)
85. The Bourne Supremacy (88)
84. The Silence of the Lambs (80)
83. Ocean's Eleven (new) (78)
82. Lethal Weapon IV (76)
81. 48 Hours (75)
80. Saving Silverman (68)
79. Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade (72)
78. XXX (71)
77. Mean Girls (70)
76. Die Hard With a Vengeance (69)
75. Running Scared (old) (56)
74. National Treasure (55)
73. Monsters, Inc. (-)
72. Ratatouille (-)
71. Rounders (64)
70. Thank You For Smoking (-)
69. Wedding Crashers (58)
68. Aladdin (98)
67. Spider-Man 2 (67)
66. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (66)
65. Godfather II (-)
64. Rocky II (63)
63. Rocky (62)
62. Back to the Future 2 (65)
61. Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (60)
60. Bad Boys (59)
59. Lethal Weapon II (57)
58. Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones (54)
57. The Bourne Identity (53)
56. Menace II Society (52)
55. Dodgeball: A TRUE Underdog Story (48)
54. i Robot (39)
53. Super Troopers (-)
52. The Departed (51)
51. Back to the Future (50)
50. Total Recall (49)
49. The Fugitive (47)
48. Coming To America (46)
47. Independence Day (44)
46. Toy Story (-)
45. Beverly Hills Cop (43)
44. Goldeneye (42)
43. The Rock (23)
42. Stripes (40)
41. Enemy of the State (38)
40. The Program (37)
39. True Lies (36)
38. Spaceballs (35)
37. The Incredibles (41)
36. The Godfather (34)
35. Transformers: The Movie (22)
34. Wall-E (-)
33. Happy Gilmore (33)
32. Live Free or Die Hard (27)
31. Batman Begins (14)
30. Ghostbusters (31)
29. Trading Places (30)
28. The Terminator (29)
27. Top Gun (26)
26. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (25)
25. Iron Man (-)
24. Goodfellas (24)
23. The Princess Bride (28)
22. Billy Madison (45)
21. Casino (18)
20. V for Vendetta (21)
19. Die Hard (20)
18. Animal House (19)
17. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Extended Version (16)
16. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Version (15)
15. Office Space (13)
14. The Simpsons Movie (6)
13. Scarface (11)
12. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (17)
11. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (12)
10. Major League (10)
9. Friday (9)
8. The Dark Knight (-)
7. Gladiator (8)
6. Old School (7)
5. The Shawshank Redemption (5)
4. Braveheart (4)
3. Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (3)
2. Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (2)
1. Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (1)
Come back next year for Version 3.0!