My Top 100 Favorite Films




A common topic of discussion among ‘movie-buffs’ is the idea of top films of all-time list. The American Film Institute’s list, (AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies) is probably the most famous of such rankings. I’ve been writing this blog for a few years and this is a topic that I have often thought about covering but, compiling my own list of 100 films always seemed like a pretty daunting task. The question was always ‘how do I pick just 100 when there are so many films I love?’ Well, I finally decided to take a swing at it. Now, this isn’t necessarily the all-time 100 best films in my opinion, just my 100 favorites. These are the films that have stuck with me, the ones I find myself going back to time and time again, and the ones I’ll regularly find myself quoting or thinking about. Consider it more as “100 Movies I Recommend” rather than a true “Top 100 Best Ever Made” list. Obviously, new films are being released in theaters all the time and I’m constantly finding something I’ve never seen before, so this isn’t a definitive ranking and will almost certainly change a little over time.










#100 Re-Animator (1985)


Directed By: Stuart Gordon


Starring: Jeffery Combs, Bruce Abbott, and Barbara Crampton






#99 The Hunt for Red October (1990)


Directed By: John McTiernan


Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, and Scott Glenn







#98 Torn Curtain (1966) 


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock 


Starring: Paul Newman and Julie Andrews







#97 City Slickers (1991) 


Directed By: Ron Underwood 


Starring: Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Daniel Stern, Helen Slater, and Jack Palence








#96 Total Recall (1990)


Directed By: Paul Verhoeven 


Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside





#95 Highlander (1986)


Directed By: Russell Mulcahy 


Starring: Christopher Laambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart





#94 Birdman (2014)


Directed By: Alejandro González Iñárritu


Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Andrea Riseborough





#93 Casino Royale (2006)


Directed By: Martin Campbell


Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Mads Mikkelsen







#92 Moon (2009)

Directed By: Duncan Jones

Starring: Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey








#91 Grease (1978)


Directed By: Randal Kleiser


Starring: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John









#90 Hot Fuzz (2007)


Directed By: Edgar Wright


Starring: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost








#89 The French Connection (1971)


Directed By: William Friedkin


Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey






#88 The Usual Suspects (1995)


Directed By: Bryan Singer


Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and Kevin Spacey. 






#87 The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: James Stewart and Doris Day








#86 Stripes (1981)


Directed By: Ivan Reitman


Starring: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, Sean Young, and John Candy







#85 The Firm (1993)


Directed By: Sydney Pollack


Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman






#84 High Anxiety (1977)


Directed By: Mel Brooks


Starring: Mel Brooks, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, and Madeline Kahn







#83 The Hustler (1961)


Directed By: Robert Rossen


Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, and Piper Laurie






#82 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) 


Directed By: Shane Black


Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan







#81 The Naked Gun (1988)



Directed By: David Zucker


Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson







#80 Edge of Tomorrow (2014)


Directed By: Doug Liman


Starring: Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt







#79 The Magnificent Seven (1960)


Directed By: John Sturges


Starring: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn and Horst Buchholz







#78 Frankenstein (1931)


Directed By: James Whale


Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke, and Dwight Frye







#77 The Sting (1973)


Directed By: George Roy Hill


Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw







#76 The Godfather (1972)


Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola


Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, and Robert Duvall






#75 Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)


Directed By: Jack Arnold 


Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, and Antonio Moreno 









#74 Ed Wood (1994)


Directed By: Tim Burton


Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Patricia Arquette






#73 Anchors Aweigh (1945)


Directed By: George Sydney


Starring: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Kathryn Grayson






#72 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)


Directed By: Steven Spielberg


Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and Alison Doody







#71 Casablanca (1942)


Directed By: Michael Curtiz


Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid









#70 Cool Hand Luke (1967)


Directed By: Stuart Rosenberg


Starring: Paul Newman and George Kennedy







#69 Manhattan (1979)


Directed By: Woody Allen


Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway







#68 The Nice Guys (2016)


Directed By Shane Black


Starring: Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling







#67 From Russia with Love (1963)


Directed By: Terence Young


Starring: Sean Connery, Pedro Armendáriz, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, and Daniela Bianchi







#66 The Trouble with Harry (1955)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine







#65 The Wolf Man (1941)


Directed By: George Waggner


Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, and Evelyn Ankers







#64 Jaws (1975)


Directed By: Steven Spielberg


Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss







#63 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)


Directed By: Stanley Kramer


Starring: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, and Dorothy Provine







#62 The Public Enemy (1931)


Directed By: William Wellman


Starring: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, and Edward Woods







#61 The Artist (2011)


Directed By: Michel Hazanavicius


Starring: Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo







#60 Little Shop of Horrors (1986)


Directed By: Frank Oz


Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, and Steve Martin







#59 His Girl Friday (1940)


Directed By: Howard Hawks


Starring: Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant







#58 Moneyball (2011)


Directed By: Bennett Miller


Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman







#57 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) 


Directed By: John Ford 


Starring: John Wayne and James Stewart







#56 Field of Dreams (1989)


Directed By: Phil Alden Robinson


Starring: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster







#55 Superman (1978)


Directed By: Richard Donner


Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, and Marlon Brando 







#54 M.A.S.H. (1970) 


Directed By: Robert Altman


Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt, and Elliott Gould







#53 Scarface (1983)


Directed By: Brian De Palma


Starring: Al Pacino







#52 Dr. Strangelove (1964)


Directed By: Stanley Kubrick


Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Slim Pickens 






#51 Reservoir Dogs (1992)


Directed By: Quentin Tarantino


Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, and Michael Madsen









#50 Wayne’s World (1992)


Directed By: Penelope Spheeris









Starring: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, and Rob Lowe









#49 Casino (1995)




Directed By: Martin Scorsese




Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci










#48 The Birds




Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock




Starring: Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren







#47 Apollo 13 (1995) 


Directed By: Ron Howard 


Starring: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris 






#46 The Big Lebowski (1998) 


Directed By: Joel Coen 


Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi 






#45 Chaplin (1992) 


Directed By: Richard Attenborough 


Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller, and Kevin Kline







#44 Hellboy (2004) 


Directed By: Guillermo del Toro 


Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, and John Hurt 






#43 Spaceballs (1987) 


Directed By: Mel Brooks 


Starring: Bill Pullman, John Candy and Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, and Mel Brooks 













#42 Top Gun (1986)


Directed By: Tony Scott


Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, and Val Kilmer






#41 Cinderella Man (2005)


Directed By: Ron Howard


Starring: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti






#40 Dances with Wolves (1990)





Directed By: Kevin Costner


Starring: Kevin Costner






#39 The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966)




Directed By: Sergio Leone




Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef








#38 Strangers on a Train (1951)









Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker










#37 Slap Shot (1977)




Directed By:George Roy Hill




Starring: Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Jeff Carlson Steve Carlson and David Hanson 










#36 There Will Be Blood (2007) 


Directed By:Paul Thomas Anderson 


Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano







#35 Fight Club (1999) 


Directed By: David Fincher 


Starring: Brad Pitt and Edward Norton







#34 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 


Directed By: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley 


Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains. 







#33 Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) 


Directed By: Robert Zemeckis 


Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, and Charles Fleischer







#32 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 


Directed By: George Roy Hill 


Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Katharine Ross 






#31 Mary Poppins (1964) 


Directed By:Robert Stevenson 


Starring: Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke









#30 RoboCop (1987) 


Directed By: Paul Verhoeven 


Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, and Kurtwood Smith







#29 Caddyshack (1980) 


Directed By: Harold Ramis 


Starring: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray 






#28 Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939) 


Directed By: Frank Capra 


Starring: James Stewart and Jean Arthur











#27 Pulp Fiction (1994)

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, and Ving Rhames






#26 Rebecca (1940)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine









#25 Inglorious Bastards (2009)









Directed By: Quentin Tarantino





Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent










#24 Minority Report (2002)




Directed By: Steven Spielberg




Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow











#23 Bull Durham (1987)


Directed By: Ron Shelton


Starring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins









#22 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)


Directed By: Miloš Forman


Starring: Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher






#21 Rear Window (1954)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock





Starring: James Stewart and Grace Kelly









#20 Young Frankenstein (1974)


Directed By: Mel Brooks





Starring: Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn












#19 Back to the Future (1985)


Directed By: Robert Zemeckis




Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover

#18 The Searchers (1956)




Directed By: John Ford 




Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, and Natalie Wood












#17 The Great Escape (1963)


Directed By: John Sturges


Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, and James Coburn









#16 The Untouchables (1987)


Directed By: Brian De Palma


Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy García, and Robert De Niro









#15 Rocky (1976)


Directed By: John G. Avildsen


Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith









#14 North by Northwest (1959)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason









#13 Blazing Saddles (1974)


Directed By: Mel Brooks


Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, and Harvey Korman









#12 Rope (1948)



Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger



#11 Harvey (1950)


Directed By: Henry Koster


Starring: James Stewart and Josephine Hull







#10 True Grit (1969)


Directed By: Henry Hathaway


Starring: John Wayne, Glen Campbell, and Kim Darby







#9 Smokey and the Bandit (1977)


Directed By: Hal Needham


Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Sally Field, and Jackie Gleason






#8 Batman (1989)


Directed By: Tim Burton


Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger







#7 It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)


Directed By: Frank Capra


Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore







#6 Jurassic Park (1993)


Directed By: Steven Spielberg


Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough













#5 Gone with the Wind (1939)


Directed By: Victor Fleming


Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, and Olivia de Havilland









#4 Vertigo (1958)


Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: James Stewart and Kim Novak







#3 Goodfellas (1990)


Directed By: Martin Scorsese


Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta









#2 Singin’ in the Rain(1952)


Directed By: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds









#1 Psycho (1960) 


Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, and Vera Miles 
































































































































































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