Top 100 Movies According to Me

I've never consciously tried to compile my own list of the Top 100 Movies. I have my favorites, and that stock list of 5 or so films I rattle off when people ask me what I think are the best movies. And obviously, there have been lots of "100 Best Movies" lists published, by everyone from the American Film Institute (AFI) to imdb.com to TIME magazine. Inevitably, these lists are extremely subjective, and much of that subjectivity is due to the variance in criteria for judging what makes a movie one of the 100 best. Some movies make the list for sheer popularity's sake, some for their originality, some for their technical breakthroughs, and some because they are simply just well-made in every way (acting, script, cinematography, etc). In theory, you would think that that last reason should be the criteria for every entry to the list, but there are those rare movies that manage to be excellent in each of these categories and yet still fail to make us feel fondly about them.

My list will include movies that I love simply because they make me feel happy, or because they're associated with some positive experience or time period in my life, as well as those movies that I think are impressive feats of filmmaking for one reason or another. I don't know how complete my list will be, or even how well it will hold up a couple of years from now. I'm sure the few of you that read this will see entries that make you go "WTH?" as well as omissions that make you shake your head. But, I will reiterate that this is MY Top 100 Movies and that I am not trying to represent the people.

Here goes, in no particular order:

1. Star Wars: A New Hope
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Two Towers
6. Return of the King
7. The Godfather
8. The Godfather, Part 2
9. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
11. Sense and Sensibility
12. Emma
13. Little Women
14. Pride and Prejudice
15. The Importance of Being Earnest
16. The Departed
17. Philadelphia Story
18. Roman Holiday
19. Gone With the Wind
20. The Sound of Music
21. The Wizard of Oz
22. When Harry Met Sally
23. The Ten Commandments
24. Some Like it Hot
25. Goodfellas
26. Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
27. Robin Hood (Disney)
28. A River Runs Through It
29. Anne of Green Gables
30. Anne of Avonlea
31. Miracle
32. Catch Me If You Can
33. North By Northwest
34. Raging Bull
35. To Kill a Mockingbird
36. Singing In the Rain
37. On the Waterfront
38. Good Will Hunting
39. The Princess Bride
40. It's a Wonderful Life
41. No Country For Old Men
42. Rushmore
43. Gladiator
44. The Parent Trap (old)
45. Life is Beautiful
46. Cool Hand Luke
47. Into the Wild
48. The Graduate
49. Dog Day Afternoon
50. Serpico
51. Little Miss Sunshine
52. Before Sunrise
53. Before Sunset
54. A Streetcar Named Desire
55. Pirates of the Caribbean
56. Bend it Like Beckham
57. Dogfight
58. The Parent Trap (new)
59. A Woman Under the Influence
60. I Capture the Castle
61. Tootsie
62. Finding Neverland
63. Shakespeare in Love
64. Casablanca
65. Les Miserables
66. Ordinary People
67. Lars and the Real Girl
68. Enemy at the Gates
69. Big Fish
70. Remember the Titans
71. Pan's Labyrinth
72. An Education
73. Up in the Air
74. Shutter Island
75. You've Got Mail
76. The Lives of Others
77. 400 Blows
78. Bringing Up Baby
79. Psycho
80. Charade
81. Groundhog Day
82. In America
83. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
84. Rebel Without a Cause
85. The Mission
86. Fargo
87. All the President's Men
89. Nicholas Nickleby
90. My Fair Lady
91. Taxi Driver
92. Gidget
93. Rear Window
94. West Side Story
95. Romeo and Juliet
96. The Reluctant Debutante
97. For the Love of the Game
98. Much Ado About Nothing
99. The Painted Veil
100. Millions
101. Crash
102. A Knight's Tale
103. Ten Things I Hate About You
104. Field of Dreams
105. Where the Wild Things Are
106. Caddie Woodlawn
107. Motocrossed
108. Johnny Tsunami
109. Breakfast at Tiffany's
110. The Crucible
111. The French Connection
112. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
113. Wait Until Dark
114. Remember the Titans
115. Cinderella
116. The Little Mermaid
117. Peter Pan
118. The Sleeping Beauty
119. Courage Mountain
120. Bull Durham
121. Training Day
122. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
123. Braveheart
124. Notes on a Scandal
125. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
126. Pollyanna
127. The Swiss Family Robinson
128. October Sky
129. American Graffiti
130. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Apparently there are 130 "Top 100 Movies" on my list. I'm sure this list will change once I have time to mull it over. Below are a few films that I suspect might get added to this, but as I haven't seen them in a while I'm not sure:

-The Last of the Mohicans
-Rudy
-Rocky
-Hoosiers

And here are two that I felt compelled to include (but ultimately resisted the compulsion and didn't) because I actually don't enjoy these movies at all:

-Chinatown
-Pulp Fiction

Shawshank Redemption, which is probably on everyone else's 100 Best Movies list, both public and personal, is NOT on mine. I DO NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE and DO NOT FEEL BAD FOR NOT INCLUDING IT. I'm not even quite sure why. Despite the fact that it boasts a great cast of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and that it's very uplifting, and that many people I love and respect adore this movie, I just can't stand it. I also do not feel bad for omitting Fight Club, Memento, or Donnie Darko.

As I think of more good ones, I'll add them. I guarantee there are some I'm forgetting. Please comment on both agreements and disagreements, and remind me if you think there are some I'm forgetting that you know I like!