Top 10

DISCLAIMER: This list will be entirely flawed. A top 10 movie list is almost an impossible task for me. To rank my ten favorite movies and be satisfied with the result just not going to happen. To pick 10 favorite movies from over 100 years of cinema and across so many genres is going to be a dubious process, at best. This list would look totally different at different times in my life and will probably look totally different in a year. But there is something undeniably fun about the nostalgic process of ranking ten movies and reliving the first time I saw it.

I'm going to stick with one movie per franchise. I'm also going to play "desert island" style, meaning that this is a list of ten movies I would take with me on a deserted island to have for eternity.  This list sucks already.


10. Dumb and Dumber

If there were an award given for "most times having seen Dumb and Dumber", I might win it. There was a point in my life where I literally watched the movie every day. I had the first thirty minutes practically memorized. And yet, I can still sit down and laugh my head off to this movie if you put it in front of me right now. That's how funny it is. Jim Carrey had a ridiculous string of movies in the 90's: Liar, Liar, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Cable Guy. These are all super funny, yet don't match up to the greatness that is Dumb and Dumber. Quoting this movie has become a part of my every day life. Sometimes I even forget I'm quoting the movie, it's just how I speak. Watching this movie with my Dad has produced some uproarious laughter, many, many times. I expect it to do the same many more times in the future.


Best line: "We got no food, we got no jobs... Our pets HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!!"- Lloyd Christmas

9. Minority Report

An often overlooked Steven Spielberg sci-fi film, Minority Report is brilliant. The concept of "pre-crime", the notion that futuristic beings can stop a murder before it happens is intriguing. When does the crime happen? Is it at the intent in the person's mind or the act itself? Tom Cruise continues to prove that he's one of the greatest actors out there, and Colin Farrell gives the performance of his career. Spielberg has a lot of great movies, and Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably his best, but in this desert island scenario, give me Minority Report.

Best line: "Everybody runs."- John Anderton

8. The Dark Knight Rises

What a tough call. Picking one of the three Christopher Nolan directed Batman movies was a chore. Batman Begins excelled in telling Batman's origin and blew my mind by making Batman seem real. The Dark Knight created probably the greatest villain of all time in the Joker. But The Dark Knight Rises takes the spot for me. I've already written about why it is so great, but for me it combines what makes the first two work so well (a focus on Bruce Wayne/Batman and a compelling villain), and ups the stakes. Bane's voice alone gives me chills just thinking about it.

Best line: "You merely adopted the darkness. I was born in it. Molded by it. By the time I saw the light I was already a man!" - Bane

7. Fight Club

Fight Club epitomizes high school for me. I realize that it is an extremely dark and violent movie to define a part of my life, but I was in love with this movie in high school. I watched it over and over. I read the book, and then read every book I could find by the author, Chuck Palahniuk. I thought that I would eventually "age out" of it, but Fight Club has stuck with me. There are so many interesting philosophies that stem from it. The film points out the problem with mankind: that we are trying to fill ourselves up with things that don't fulfill. The main character has tried, and failed. Tyler Durden, played amazingly by Brad Pitt, flips this on its head and tells him that materials and "comforts" don't matter, and don't make you happy. He's right, but he doesn't point out the solution, that we have a wonderful Savior who offers a solution to the emptiness by having a personal relationship with Him. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are super cool, the ending will blow your mind the first time, and part of you will want to go out and start a fight.

Best line: "The things you own end up owning you" -Tyler Durden

6. Back to the Future

As a kid, my parents bought the Back to the Future VHS at McDonald's when there still was such a thing as VHS tapes, and I absolutely wore it out. Back to the Future is one of those effortless movies that will get you to watch it on TV, no matter where you catch it or how recently you've seen it. Hilarious and as 80's as can be, this movie is just plain fun. I don't think I know how else to describe it. Crispin Glover, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Lea Thompson are all great, with Lloyd as the Doc especially shining. Plus this movie gave us Huey Lewis and the News', "The Power of Love", an all-time 80's classic song.

Best line: "1.21 gigawatts! 1.21 gigawatts. Great Scott!" -Doc Brown

5. Gladiator

Gladiator was my first R-rated movie theater experience. I will never forget watching that first scene with my Dad. Maximus leading the Romans against the Barbarian army into a gory battle. Gladiator's story of redemption is such a compelling tale. Joaquin Phoenix gives an amazing performance as the bad guy, the wrongful Emperor Commodus. The action is superb, the acting is great, and ancient Rome is beautifully portrayed, even if it is with early 2000's era special effects. The first time that Commodus sees Maximus alive in the arena is one of the great confrontations in movie history. The ending made me cry as an 11 year old, and I still tear up today.

Best line: " My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next"- Maximus

4. It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas tradition in the Marshall household. I've probably seen it at least once every year for my entire life. There is a reason why NBC chooses to show an almost 70 year old film every year at Christmas-time. Frank Capra takes George Bailey from his lowest depths to his highest high, taking the audience along with him. The message that your influence and relationships define you as a person,and not your accomplishments or wealth, rings even more true today than it did in 1946. Another movie that makes me tear up every time, and if you at least don't get emotional from the ending, you might need to be analyzed by a psychotherapist.

Best line: "To my brother George... The richest man in town!"- Harry Bailey

3. The Matrix

Science Fiction at its absolute best. It seems to me like the impact of The Matrix has been somewhat lessened because of its ridiculous cultural impact; "bullet time" is used in almost every action movie nowadays. But The Matrix blew everyone's minds in 1999, and continues to do so for each new viewer today. The special effects still hold up today, as do the action scenes. Yes, the sequels were not near as good, but the original was the pinnacle of science fiction greatness: a mind-bending plot, great effects, memorable characters, and amazing action. Laurence Fishburne is so great as Morpheus, I feel like everything he says is insightful. The first showdown between Neo and Morpheus while in the Matrix is  one of my favorite fights ever.

Best line: "Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."- Morpheus

2. The Empire Strikes Back

This is absolutely the best Star Wars film. Everything just seems to work. The first amazing battle on Hoth. Han and Leia's budding romance. Luke's Jedi training on Dagobah. Plus the final showdown between Darth Vader and Luke is one of the greatest scenes in movie history. This movie is the darkest of the three, and it really works. Star Wars (A New Hope) has some problems getting started, and Return of the Jedi has some problems on Endor, but Empire never slows down. I loved it as a kid, and I love it to this day. This is one of those movies that I can't wait to show my kids one day, and get to experience it for the first time through them. There is a reason why Lucas changed this one the least in his "special" editions (that aren't really all that special); it's because it's darn near perfect.

Best line: -Leia: "I love you", Han Solo: "I know."


1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Picking one of these was hard, but I think that in terms of re-watchability, Fellowship gets the nod. The Lord of the Rings movies are my favorites of all time, and Fellowship is slightly my favorite of the three. This was what introduced us into the world of Middle Earth on film, and Peter Jackson knocked our socks off. I saw the movie opening day having only read the Hobbit, and I was blown away. I immediately read all three books and painfully awaited The Two Towers. In the mean time I watched Fellowship 8 times in theaters, which is impressive looking back on it, considering I was a 7th grader without the ability to drive and had no money. Fellowship of the Ring has one of the best scores of all time, with the pinnacle being the theme of the Shire. 3 hours absolutely breezes by (3 and a half if you are watching the extended version, which I almost always do), and Fellowship entertains the whole time. One of the more underrated scenes is Boromir's redemption at the end, when talking to Aragorn, his true king. I can't wait until the Hobbit comes out. It is my favorite book ever written. But it will have a tall task to dethrone the LotR trilogy.

Best line: "Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many." - Gandalf the Grey



Honorable mentions:

The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
Return of the King
The Two Towers
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Wars
The Godfather
Sling Blade
Goodfellas
The Departed
Se7ven
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Nacho Libre
Napoleon Dynamite
Almost Famous
L.A. Confidential
District 9
Pulp Fiction
Terminator 2
Braveheart
Collateral
Casino Royale
Rear Window
Psycho
Black Hawk Down
Wayne's World
Reservoir Dogs
Inception