My 2011 Movie Watching Year

Well, it was quite a year for movies, and a year of change for a lot of things. For example, 2011 is the year I finally embraced the Blu-ray disc format. I had been on the fence up until now, and that changed this year, (an easy way to see this is that last boxing day I bought a bunch of movies, and only three of them were on Blu-ray, as opposed to this year, where I bought 31 movies on boxing day, and only one of them was on dvd, and thats only because they have yet to produce that movie on Blu-ray) and I have to say, Blu-ray is as cool as people have been saying it is, so you got me, now let it go. Moving on, 2011 is also the year that a major source for peoples movie watching changed, and what I mean with this is that my beloved Blockbuster officially closed up shop forever, (well, at least in Canada anyway, I have heard it is kinda still in the U.S., but I don’t live there, I live here, in Canada, the true north strong and free, and apparently strong and free of Blockbuster now too). This shows how much the movie watching landscape has changed. Now I don’t think it was one thing that killed Blockbuster, you can’t point your finger at Netflix and yell MURDERER!!!!! I actually think it was several things all happening at the same time that caused the mighty block to fall, like Walmart selling movies incredibly cheap, speciality movie networks on cable, pay per view on demand movies and then throw on top of that Netflix and illegal movies on the internet, and Blockbuster fell down and went boom. This year for me was also a year of lists. I printed up a few lists such as the INTERNET MOVIE DATA BASES top 250 movies list, and the AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTES top 100 movies, and then I printed up the Oscar nomination list going back to the 30’s for BEST PICTURE NOMINATIONS, and basically tried to see as many as these movies as possible, (A big thank you goes out again to Pickering Public Libraries, who gave me a ton of these to watch, even holding them for me so I could swoop* in and pick up 10 to 15 at a time, you guys rock). And last but not least, I printed up and watched all the James Bond movies through out the year in chronological order, (a big up to my dad for supplying me with the movies for this from his collection, you are my own personal Q). So, saying all that, here is my list of movies that I watched this year. I will place my total at the bottom, and just to prepare you, this may take awhile, so get reading.

Of Gods And Men, my pick so far for best movie of the year.

#’s * 12 Angry Men (1957 Version) * 12 Monkeys * 127 Hours * 2 Fast 2 Furious * 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea * 3:10 To Yuma (1957 Version) * 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days * 48 HRS * 633 Squadron

A * A Hard Day's Night * A Man For All Seasons * A Soldier's Story * A Time To Kill * A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas * A View To A Kill * The Abyss * Action Jackson * Adam * The Adjustment Bureau * The Adventures Of Hercules * The African Queen * Against All Odds * Against The Current * The Agony And The Ecstasy * Air Force One * Airplane! * Alexander The Great * All That Jazz * Almighty Thor * Amadeus * The American * An Affair To Remember * An American In Paris * An Officer And A Gentleman * Angels In The Outfield * Animal Kingdom * Another 48 Hrs * Appaloosa * Army Of One * Arn: The Knight Templar * Arthur (2011 Version) * As Good As It Gets * At First Sight * Atonement * Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery * Avatar * The Aviator * AVP Alien VS Predator * Awakenings * Away We Go (X2)

B * Bandits * Barbie: A Fairy Secret * Barry Lyndon * Batman * Batman & Robin * Batman Forever * Batman Returns * Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm * Battle: Los Angeles (X2) * Be Cool * Beastly * The Beaver * Becket * Beetlejuice * Behemoth * Bell, Book and Candle * The Bells Of St. Mary * Beneath Hill 60 * Beowulf & Grendel * Best Worst Movie * Beverly Hills Cop * The Big Lebowski * The Big Sleep * Big Stan * The Big Year * Bird On A Wire * The Birds * The Bishop's Wife * Black Belt Jones * Black Death * Black Hawk Down * Black Rain * Black Robe * Black Samson * The Black Stallion * Black Swan * Blazing Saddles * Blitz * Body Of Lies * Bodyguards And Assassins * Boiler Room * Bonnie And Clyde * The Book Of Eli * The Boondock Saints (X2) * The Boy In The Striped Pajamas * Breakfast At Tiffany's * Breaking Away * Bride Of Frankenstein * Bridesmaids * The Bridge On The River Kwai * Broken Arrow * Bronco Billy * Brothers * Buried

C * The Caine Mutiny * Canadian Bacon * Capote * Captain America: The First Avenger (X2) * Captain Corelli's Mandolin * Carlito's Way * Carlos The Jackal * Cars 2 * Casino * Casino Jack * Casino Royale (1967 Version) * Casper * The Cat From Outer Space * Cat On A Hot Tin Roof * The Cell * Centurion * Chasing Amy * Children Of A Lesser God * Chocolat * Chris Rock: Never Scared * Christine * Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe * The Cider House Rules * The Cincinnati Kid * Cinema Paradiso * City Lights * City Of Angels * City Of God * City Slickers * Clash Of The Titans (1981 Version) * Cleopatra * Clueless * Coal Miner's Daughter * Cobra * The Code * Coffy * Columbiana * Coming Home * Coming To America * Commando * The Commitments * The Company * Conan The Barbarian (The Real One) * Conan The Destroyer * Contact * Cowboys And Aliens * Crazy Heart * Crazy Stupid Love * Crimson Tide * Crossfire Trail * The Crow * Curse Of The Golden Flower * Cyborg

D * Dangerous Minds * Dark City * Date Night * Dawn Of The Dead (2004 Version) * The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008 Version) * Daybreakers * Dazed And Confused * Dead Calm * Dead Snow * Dear John * Death Hunt * Death Race 2 * Death Race 2000 * Death Wish * Death Wish 2 * Death Wish 3 * Death Wish 4 * Deep Impact * The Defiant Ones * Despicable, Me * Devil * The Devil's Double * Diamonds Are Forever * The Diary Of Anne Frank * Die Another Day * Dinoshark * Dirty Rotten Scoundrels * Disturbing Behavior * The Diving Bell And The Butterfly * Dodgeball * Dog Day Afternoon * Doom * Double Bang * Downfall * Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde * Dr. No * Dr. Strangelove: Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb * Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story * Drive Angry * Driving Miss Daisy * Dude, Where's My Car * Due Date

 

E * The Eagle * Earth * Easy A * The Eiger Sanction * The Elephant Man * Elf * Elite Squad * Elizabeth * Enemy At The Gates * Enemy Of The State * Erin Brockovich * Essential Killing * Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind * Eurotrip * Everything Must Go * Ewoks: The Battle For Endor * Exam * Exit Through The Gift Shop * The Exorcist * The Expendables * The Experiment * Extraordinary Measures * Extreme Days

 

F & G * The Fall * Fargo * Fast And Furious * The Fast And The Furious * Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift * Fast Five * Faster * Fatal Attraction * Father Of The Bride (1991 Version) * The Fighter * First Knight * The Fisher King * Flashdance * Flight Of The Navigator * Fly Away Home * The Fly * Foo Fighters: Back And Forth * Food, Inc. * For Whom The Bells Tolls * For Your Eyes Only * Four Rooms * Four Weddings And A Funeral * Frankie And Johnny * Frantic * Freakonomics * Friday Night Lights * From Here To Eternity * From Russia With Love * From The Terrace * Frost/Nixon * Fuel * The Full Monty * Furry Vengeance * Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat...I'm Fluffy * Gator * The General * Get Him To The Greek * Get Low * Get Shorty * Ghost World * The Ghost Writer * Ghostbusters * Ghosts Of Mississippi * Giant * The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest * The Girl Who Played With Fire * The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (The Real One) * Give'Em Hell Malone * Godzilla * The Gold Rush * Goldeneye * Goldfinger * Gone With The Wind * Goodbye Girl * Goodfellas * Goonies * Gorillas In The Mist: The Diane Fosse Story * Gosford Park * Gran Torino * Grand Illusion * The Grapes Of Wrath * Grave Of The Fireflies * Great Expectations (1946 Version) * The Great Outdoors * The Great White Hope * Green Hornet * Green Lantern (X2) * Green Zone * The Grifters * Guess Who's Coming To Dinner * Gunga Din * The Guns Of Navarone

This is the real one!

H * Hamlet (1948 Version) * The Hangover 2 * Hanna * Happy-Go-Lucky * Hard Boiled * Harry Brown * Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets * Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 * Hawk The Slayer * He Got Game * Heartbeeps * Heartless * Hearts In Atlantis * Heaven Can Wait (1978 Version) * Hellboy * Hellboy: Sword Of Storms * Henry Poole Is Here * Henry V (1944 Version) * Hercules * Hereafter * Hesher * High And Low * High Noon * His Girl Friday * Hoffa * Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS Evil * Hooper * Hop * Hostage * How To Train Your Dragon (X2) * Hudsucker Proxy

I, J & K * I Am Number Four * I Love You, Man * i, Robot * Ice Twisters * I'm Still Here * Immortal Beloved * In The Heat Of The Night * Inception * Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade * Industrial Light & Magic: Creating The Impossible * Inside Job * Instinct * The International * Interview With A Vampire * Into The Wild * Invincible (2001 Billy Zane Version) * Invincible (2006 Mark Wahlberg Version) * Ip Man 2: Legend Of The Grandmaster * Ironman 2 * It's Kind Of A Funny Story * Ivanhoe * Jack Goes Boating * Jackie Brown * JFK * Jingle All The Way * John Q. * Jurassic Park * Jurassic Park 3 * Jurassic Park: The Lost World * Just Buried * Just Cause * K2: The Ultimate High * Karate Kid, The (1984 Version) * Karate Kid, The (2010 Version) * Keeping The Faith * Kelly's Heroes * Kick-Ass * The Kids Are All Right * Kiki's Delivery Service * Kill The Irishman * The Killer Inside Me * Killers * Killshot * Kindergarten Cop * The King And I * Knight And Day * Kung Fu Panda 2

L * La Strada * Lake Placid * The Last Airbender * The Last Castle * The Last Emperor * Law Abiding Citizen Unrated Directors Cut * The Lawnmower Man * Lean On Me * Leaves Of Grass * The Legend Of 1900 * Legends Of The Dark Knight: The History Of Batman * Legion * Lenny * License To Kill * The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou * Life Is Beautiful * Lilies Of The Field * Limitless * Live And Let Die * The Lives Of Others * The Living Daylights * Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels * The Long, Hot Summer * Looney Tunes: Back In Action * Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring * Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King * Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers * The Losers * The Lost Boys * Lost Horizon * Love & Basketball * Love & Other Drugs * Love Is A Many Splendored Thing * Love The Beast * The Lovely Bones * Lucky Number Slevin

M * M*A*S*H * Machete * Mad Dog And Glory * Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome * Madame Curie * Magnolia * Major League * Major Payne * Mallrats * The Maltese Falcon * Man On Fire * Man On The Moon * The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance * The Man Who Would Be King * The Man With The Golden Gun * The Man Without A Face * The Manchurian Candidate (1962 Version) * Manhunter * Mao's Last Dancer * Mars Attacks * Mary Shelly's Frankenstein * Maverick * Meatballs 2 * The Mechanic * Medicine Man * Mega Mind * Mega Shark VS Crocosaurus * Mega Shark VS Giant Octopus (X2) * Megafault * Men In Black * Men In Black 2 * Men Who Stare At Goats * Message In A Bottle * Metal Shifters * Metal Tornado * Miami Vice * Michael * Middle Men * Midnight Express * Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil * Midnight Run * The Mighty Duck * Mighty Ducks 2 * Mighty Ducks 3 * Missing * Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol * Mission To Mars * Modern Times * Monsters * Moonraker * Mortal Kombat * Mortal Kombat: Annihilation * Mouse Hunt * Mr. & Mrs. Smith * Mrs. Brown * Multiplicity * The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor * Munich * The Muppet Movie * Mutiny On The Bounty (1935 Version) * My Left Foot * My Life * My Neighbor Totoro (X2) * Mysterious Island

N & O* The Name Of The Rose * Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind * Network * New Jack City * The Night Of The Hunter * Night Of The Living Dead * Norma Rae * North By Northwest * Nosferatu * The Number 23 * Oceans (X2) * Octopus * Octopussy * Of Gods And Men * Office Space * Old Boy * Old School * On Golden Pond * On Her Majesty's Secret Service * Once Upon A Time In America * Ondine * The One * Ong Bak * Ong Bak 3 * Ordinary People * Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis * The Ox-Bow Incident

P,Q & R * Pacific Heights * The Paradine Case * Paranormal Activity 2 * Patch Adams * Pathfinder * Paths Of Glory * Pee-Wee's Big Adventure * The People VS George Lucas * The Phantom * Philadelphia * The Philadelphia Story * The Pianist * Piranha (2010 Version) * Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides * Planet Of The Apes (1968 Version) * Platoon * Plunkett & Macleane * Point Break * Point Of No Return * Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment * Police Academy 3: Back In Training * Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol * The Power Of One * Predators * The Prestige * Presumed Innocent * Pretty In Pink * Pride & Prejudice * The Pride Of The Yankees * Priest * Primer * Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (X2) * Princess Mononoke * Psycho * The Punisher (1998 Version) * Pygmalion (1938 Version) * Python 2 * The Queen * The Quiet Man * Quiz Show * Rain Man * Ran * Random Hearts * Ransom * Rasputin * The Razor's Edge * The Reader * The Real McCoy * Red Cliff * Red Riding Hood * The Red Shoes * Red Water * Repo Men * Requiem For A Dream * Restrepo * Resurrection * Richard Pryor Live On The Sunset Strip * Richard Pryor: Here And Now * The Ringer * Rio * The Rite * Road To Perdition * The Road Warrior * The Road * Rob Roy * Robin And Marian * Roman Holiday * The Rookie (1990 Clint Eastwood Version) * The Rookie (2002 Dennis Quaid Version) * Roxanne * The Royal Tenenbaums * The Running Man * Russell Brand In New York City * The Russia House

S * S.W.A.T.: Firefight * Sabertooth * Sahara * The Salton Sea * Sanctum * The Sand Pebbles * Saving Private Ryan * Scent Of A Woman * Schindler's List * School Of Rock * School Ties * Scott Pilgrim VS The World * Season Of The Witch * Secondhand Lions * Secret Agent * The Secret In Their Eyes * The Secret Of Nimh * Semi-Tough * Sense And Sensibility * Serenity * Sergeant York * Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (X2) * Shakespeare In Love * Sharktopus * Shaun Of The Dead * She's Out Of My League * Shiloh * Short Circuit * Short Circuit 2 * Shutter Island * The Siege * The Silence Of The Lambs * Six: The Mark Unleashed * Sky High * Skyline * Sleepers * Sleepless In Seattle * Snakes On A Train * Sniper * Sniper Reloaded * The Snow Of Kilimanjaro * Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs * The Social Network * Some Like It Hot * Somewhere * The Son Of Kong * Sophie's Choice * The Sorcerer's Apprentice * Soul Surfer * Source Code * Spaceballs * Speechless * Spiderman * Spiderman 2 * Spies Like Us * The Spirit * Splice * Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring * The Spy Who Loved Me * St. Elmo's Fire * Stagecoach * Stake Land * Stand And Deliver * Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock * Star Trek: The Voyage Home * The Statement * Stir Crazy * Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie * Street Fighter: Round One – Fight * The Stunt Man * Sucker Punch * Sullivan's Travels * Summer School * Sunset Boulevard * The Sunset Limited * Superman Returns * Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (X2) * Superman: The Movie Directors Cut * Supreme Champion * Swimming With Sharks * Sydney White

T, U & V * T*A*P*S * Tae Guk Gi "The Brotherhood Of War" * Take Me Home Tonight * Takers * Taking Lives * The Talented Mr. Ripley * Tangeled * Tank Girl * Tekken * Tender Mercies * THOR (X3) * THOR: Tales Of Asgard * The Three Caballeros * Three Coins In The Fountain * The Three Musketeers (2011 Version) * Thunderball * Timeline * Titanic 2 * To Sir With Love * Tomorrow Never Dies * Torque * Total Recall * Touch Of Evil * Touching The Void * The Town * The Toy * The Train * Transformers: Dark Of The Moon * The Transporter * Treasure Island * The Tree Of Life * Tremors * TRON * The Trotsky * Troy * True Grit (2010 Version) * True Grit (1969 Version) * The Truman Show * Twelve O'Clock High * Twilight: Breaking Dawn * Two For The Money * Uncle Buck * Undisputed 3 * Universal Soldier * Unknown * Unstoppable * Untamed Heart * Valhalla Rising * Vampires Suck * Vanishing On 7th Street * Veggietales: The Wizard Of Ha's * The Village * Virus

W, X, Y & Z * The Wages Of Fear * Waiting For "Superman" * Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps * The Warlords * The Warrior's Way * The Way Back * Wayne's World * Wayne's World 2 * We Were Soldiers * Whale Music * What's Eating Gilbert Grape * When Your Strange: A Film About The Doors * Where The Wild Things Are * White Christmas * White Nights * White Stripes, The: Under Blackpool Lights * Who Framed Roger Rabbit * Wimbledon * Win Win * The Wind And The Lion * Wings Of Desire * Winnebago Man * Winnie The Pooh (X2) * Winter's Bone * Without Limits * Witness For The Prosecution * The Wolfman * Working Girl * The World Is Not Enough * Wyvern * X2: X-Men United * X-Men * X-Men First Class * X-Men Origins: Wolverine * Year One * You Only Live Twice * Youngblood * You've Got Mail * Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion (X2) * Zapped!

So there they are, all 763** of them, yep, you read that right, 763, and for those of you who suck at math, if I was to watch two a day, that would give me 730, so Booya to me for beating that mark. So yeah, I like movies, thanks for reading, and see you in the new year, hope it is a good one for you and yours. Blog at you later.

*I think I need to swoop more often, cause it is just flat out fun.
**Ok, just be honest, you can tell me if you just scrolled to the bottom of the list to see how many I watched, cause I totally know you did. Oh, and just for comparison, in 2009 I watched 291, and then in 2010 I watched 676, so it is safe to say I watch way more movies then you.

My Top 20 Movies Of All Time: 4 To 1

What follows is a list of what I think are the best films of all time. Now rating films is a very subjective thing, and I have by no means seen every film ever made, so some of the films that you may think are the best might not be on this list. Feel free to suggest something that I might have missed, and if I agree with you I will amend my list and give you credit for introducing me to a new awesome movie. Other then that, enjoy and feel free to comment about my choices. Due to laziness, I will be using the synopsis's from http://www.allmovie.com/, and then I will put in my two cents afterwards.

Ok, so since this is the final post of my top 20, I thought I would give you a list of 20 other movies that almost made the cut, some of your favorite films might be on this list, but then again, they may not, at any rate, here you go in alphabetical order no less.

Ben-Hur * Cloverfield * Finding Nemo * Gandhi * Ghostbusters * Hoosiers * Indiana Jones Trilogy * Inglourious Basterds * L.A.Confidential * Memphis Belle *  Miracle On 34th Street * Once * Pan's Labyrinth *Red Cliff * Saving Private Ryan * The Incredibles * The Prestige * Twelve O’Clock High * Up * Wall*e

Now, onto the top 4.

4. The Usual Suspects

What It Is About - A massive explosion rips through a ship in a San Pedro, CA, harbor, leaving 27 men dead, the lone survivor horribly burned, and 91 million dollars' worth of cocaine, believed to be on board, mysteriously missing. Police detective Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) soon brings in the only witness and key suspect, "Verbal" Kint. Kint's nickname stems from his inability to keep his mouth shut, and he recounts the events that led to the disaster. Five days earlier, a truckload of gun parts was hijacked in Queens, NY, and five men were brought in as suspects: Kint, hot-headed hipster thief McManus (Stephen Baldwin), ill-tempered thug Hockney (Kevin Pollak), flashy wise guy Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), and Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), a cop gone bad now trying to

go straight in the restaurant business. While in stir, someone suggests that they should pull a job together, and Kint hatches a plan for a simple and lucrative jewel heist. Despite Keaton's misgivings, the five men pull off the robbery without a hitch and fly to Los Angeles to fence the loot. Their customer asks if they'd be interested in pulling a quick job while out West; the men agree, but the robbery goes horribly wrong and they soon find themselves visited by Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite), who represents a criminal mastermind named Keyser Soze. Soze's violent reputation is so infamous that when Kobayashi passes along a heist that sounds like suicide, the men feel that they have little choice but to agree.

Why It Makes The List - The Usual Suspects is one of those movies that was widely overlooked when it was released. Sure, some critics gave it praise, and it actually even got a couple of Oscar nominations, even getting Kevin Spacey a little gold statue for best supporting actor, (which makes no real sense to me seeing as he is the main character in the movie, but an Oscar is an Oscar none the less I guess*) but for the longest time it flew under the greater film goers radar, which is really sad, cause this film pretty much has everything you can want in a movie. It has amazing acting, from an awesomely put together cast, memorable characters,

 quotable lines, a compelling plot and an ending that to this day remains one of my favorites. Take all that, and consider it was director Bryan Singers first major film, which was completed in 35 days for around $5 Million, and you have a formula for one of the greatest movies ever made. So, if you haven't seen it, don't read anymore about it from anybody else, just go get a copy and be treated to one of the best movies that you will ever see. I will say this though, when watching it for the first time, PAY ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING, EVERY LITTLE DETAIL, cause it all comes back in the end, enjoy.

3. Braveheart

What It Is About - Mel Gibson, came into his own as a director with Braveheart, an account of the life and times of medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace and, to a lesser degree, Robert the Bruce's struggle to unify his nation against its English oppressors. The story begins with young Wallace, whose father and brother have been killed in a trap set by the English, being taken into the custody of his uncle, a nationalist and pre-Renaissance renaissance man. He returns twenty years later, a man educated both in the classics and in the art of war. There he finds his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack),

and the two quickly fall in love. There are murmurs of revolt against the English throughout the village, but Wallace remains aloof, wishing simply to tend to his crops and live in peace. However, when his love is captured and later killed by English soldiers the day after their secret marriage (held secretly so as to prevent the local English lord from exercising the repulsive right of prima noctae, the privilege of sleeping with the bride on the first night of the marriage), he springs into action and single-handedly slays an entire platoon of foot soldiers. The other villagers join him in destroying the English garrison, and thus begins the revolt against the English in what will eventually become full-fledged war. For his efforts, Gibson won the honor of Best Director from the Academy; the movie also took home statuettes for Best Picture, Cinematography, Makeup, and Sound Effects.

Why It Makes The List - I will start by saying this, at the beginning of this list I mentioned that there was a difference between Best movie of all time and Favorite movie of all time.

 Well, although it is number three on my best movie of all time list, Braveheart is number one on my favorite movie of all time list, so some of that favoritism might seep through onto this post, (if that is the case, all I can say is, TOUGH LUCK, this is my blog after all and you're not paying to read it, so you're just going to have to deal with it). So, Braveheart has to be one of the best modern day epics ever to be put on film. It is massive in scale, believable in its battle scenes and has incredible direction from Mel Gibson, (for some reason Mel seems to have gone nuts in the last couple of years, but I do not think that this should be held against Braveheart, William Wallace is not responsible for the man having some kind of mental breakdown. I will pray for you Mel, you are better then you are acting lately, Jesus loves you buddy**, and I am sure you will gather yourself soon). Then you also have the story, which is one of the greatest action, romance, drama pieces ever put together in one film. William Wallace was a great example of what
a man should be, he is passionate, loving, romantic, yet also brave and is pretty much as manly as you can get, (the scene where he refuses to swear loyalty to the king and is silent when they torture him, screaming out when he says the word, FREEDOM at the top of his lungs, it still moves me to this day when I watch it). Then add possibly my favorite soundtrack ever, which was composed and conducted by James Horner, it completes every scene so perfectly that I still see the images as I listen to it now. All these things and more, like the fact that I am part Scottish, make Braveheart one of the best films of all time, and without a doubt my favorite.

2. Lord Of The Rings

What It Is About - (As in Star Wars, I am writing the synopsis for this, since the http://www.allmovie.com/, was too long, although I used Wikipedia as a guide line, so shout out goes to the great Wiki) Long ago the Dark Lord Sauron forged the One Ring to gain power over other rings held by the leaders of Men, Elves and Dwarves. He is defeated in battle, and the ring is then taken as a trophy and quickly lost. Over two thousand years later, the Ring comes into the hands of the hobbit Sméagol, who hides under the mountains, where the Ring transforms him over the course of hundreds of years into a twisted, corrupted creature called Gollum. Eventually he loses the Ring, and it is found by Bilbo Baggins. Meanwhile Sauron takes a new physical form and reoccupies Mordor, his old realm. Gollum sets out in search of the Ring, but is captured by Sauron, who learns that Bilbo has the Ring. Gollum is set loose, and Sauron, who needs the Ring to regain his full power, sends forth the Ringwraiths, his dark, fearsome servants, to seize it. The ring has been safe with Bilbo in The Shire for many years and is past to Frodo Baggins at his wizard friend Gandalf the

Grey's urging when Bilbo decides to leave the Shire. Gandalf learns of the Ring's history and advises Frodo to take it away from the Shire. Frodo leaves, taking his gardener and friend, Samwise ("Sam") Gamgee, and two cousins, Meriadoc ("Merry") Brandybuck and Peregrin ("Pippin") Took, as companions. After avoiding the Ringwraiths and leaving the Forest, they stop in the town of Bree, where they meet Aragorn, a ranger who joins them as guide and protector. They leave Bree after narrowly escaping attack, but the Ringwraiths follow them to the look-out hill of Weathertop, and wound Frodo with a magical knife. Aragorn leads the hobbits toward the refuge of Rivendell, while Frodo is taken by horseback by Arwen in hopes of being healed as he is gradually succumbing to the wound. Frodo recovers in Rivendell under the care of Elrond.

 The Council of Elrond reveals much significant history about Sauron and the Ring, as well as the news that Sauron has corrupted the wizard Saruman. The Council decides that the threat of Sauron is too great and that the best course of action is to destroy the Ring by returning it to Mount Doom in Mordor, where it was forged. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, and a "Fellowship of the Ring" is chosen to accompany and protect him: Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, and the man Boromir, son of the Ruling Steward Denethor of the realm of Gondor. From there the heroes continue the quest to destroy the ring and two movies later give Sauron an eye ache by destroying the ring. During the quest all the fellowship are tested and grow, becoming better people and yada yada yada. That is all I will say, if you haven't watched to movies, then do it, yada yada yada.

Why It Makes The List - Ok, unless you have been living under a preverbal movie rock, then you already know why this is on my list (and if you have, stop that, it is bad for your posture). Lord Of The Rings is the EPIC to end all EPICS. Now just as in other "Trilogies" I count this as one movie, and just like Star Wars, it was actually meant to be just that. When LOTR (just incase you are clueless, LOTR is a short form universally referenced for Lord Of The Rings, and now you get to be in on one of the worst kept secrets in the world, welcome to the club, make sure to send me your $100 club entrance fee and I will send you your official

 "LOTR Worst Kept Secret In The World" button, signed by Orch number 4629 in the battle scene at Helm's Deep, Operators are standing by) was written it was one story, but it was broken up for several reasons which I will not go into here. So the movie is really one film, in three parts, mainly cause most people don't have time to watch all twelve hours of the story in one sitting, (most people, except my cousin Ryan "Duma Noctys Corvyd" McKay that is, big ups for being awesome Ryan). So, lets just quickly go over why this is number two on my list. Well, ................... have you seen LOTR, I am not even sure where to start. Ok, lets do this alphabetically, it has A) Action B) Bravery C) top notch Cinematography D) near perfect Directing from Peter Jackson E) Elves F) lots of Fighting G) Ian McKellen in his best performance and role ever as Gandalf H) Hilarious Helpful Hobbits (bam, I thought I would hit you will a little alliteration) I) it invokes an Intense emotional response (if you didn't feel for Frodo and Sam during this movie then you have no heart) J) Just the right amount of balance of humor, action, drama, romance and everything else to make it work on all levels K) Killer Orchs
L) Liv Tyler, as an elf, (Nuff Said) M) Magnificent sets and locations, truth be told LOTR's is kinda one big commercial for New Zealand, and I bet their tourism went up a whole heap after its release N) Nerve, it takes a lot of Nerve to tackle LOTR, it is a huge story and has incredible die hard fans, to not only make the movie, but to make it right, so lets just say that Peter Jackson must have a large set of spherical man parts*** for what he did O) Orlando Bloom and all the other good looking male actors, you have to have stuff for the ladies too you know P) Perfect casting, man they did a good job, even changing their choice for Aragon (Stewart Townsend is the guy who got axed incase you were wondering, I finally looked it up so now you don't have to) after 4 days of shooting, thus we have the incredible performance from Viggo Mortensen Q) Quality production value throughout the whole movie R) a completely Ridonkculas cast size, the amount of people this movie employed is, well, Ridonkculas S) the sheer Scale of the production, it is a movie that took more then 7 years to make, with attention to detail like no other movie ever made T) Terrific source material, you can't go wrong with J.R.R. Tolkien U) Unbelievable depth of character development, all the characters left this story different, but I am willing to bet that the

 cast did too V) Viggo (As with Liz, Nuff Said) W) Wonderfully choreographed fight scenes and battles, that many people doing that much stuff is a logistical nightmare X) Xtremely awesome special effects, the people at Weta made the impossible possible, and they deserve a heap of credit Y) You know LOTR rocks (Ok, I was having trouble coming up with something for Y, give me a break, I am writing this while on vacation) and Z) Zeal for what they were doing, maybe that is cause they are from New Zealand, (ha ha, I am so funny). The last thing I will add is the score is truly breathtaking to boot. Well, it is all that stuff and so much more. If you don't like it, that is fine, but as for me, it is the 2nd best movie of all time, but not number one, that title goes to.........

1. Ernest Goes To Camp

JUST KIDDING

1. The Shawshank Redemption

What It Is About - In 1946, a banker named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of a double murder, even though he stubbornly proclaims his innocence. He's sentenced to a life term at the Shawshank State Prison in Maine, where another lifer, Ellis

 "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), picks him as the new recruit most likely to crack under the pressure. The ugly realities of prison life are quickly introduced to Andy: a corrupt warden (Bob Gunton), sadistic guards led by Capt. Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), and inmates who are little better than animals, willing to use rape or beatings to insure their dominance. But Andy does not crack: he has the hope of the truly innocent, which (together with his smarts) allow him to prevail behind bars. He uses his banking skills to win favor with the warden and the guards, doing the books for Norton's illegal business schemes and keeping an eye on the investments of most of the prison staff. In exchange, he is able to improve the prison library and bring some dignity and respect back to many of the inmates, including Red.

Why It Makes The List - Just as Usual Suspects flew under the radar for a long time, so to did the best film ever made, The Shawshank Redemption. So, why is Shawshank so much
better then all the others, including all the ones on this list? Well, I will try my best to help you understand. Now, I will start with what it is not. Shawshank Redemption is not an epic, it boasts no mind blowing special effects, did not win the Oscar for best picture the year it was released (it went up against the feel good juggernaut of a movie called Forest Gump that year, which at the time I thought deserved the award, but again, most people didn't actually see Shawshank Redemption till later, so I understand why it won), did not take a million people to make and has to this day, very little push and fan fare surrounding it. So, it is missing all those things, what makes it the best. Plain and simple, it moves people. Yep, thats it. Really. Well, ok, it has other things

 going for it, like an amazing cast, a terrific premise, well defined three dimensional characters, and amazing direction. So all those things help, but the reason The Shawshank Redemption has gone from unknown to being considered the best film of all time is that it moves people. At its heart, it is a story of hope and redemption, taking the viewer to the depths of despair and then lifting them to hope, and then to a place that many movies will never get close to reaching, ending in redemption and fulfillment. Shawshank, the movie that quietly went about its business, not boasting and strutting around like many other movies do, slowly and quietly got an audience, (it is kinda awesome in that it mirrors the journey of Shawshanks main character Andy

 Dufresne, if you have seen the movie then you know what I am talking about) and as I write this, it is rated as the number one movie of all time on the Internet Movie Data Base website. It is the little film that could, about a man sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, and as far as I am concerned, it is the greatest example of hope ever to be put on film and in that, the greatest movie of all time.

So there you have it, my top 20 of all time, here are the links to

8 To 5   12 To 9  16 To 13  20 to 17, I had no clue that it was going to be as hard as it was to get through all of these, but I am glad I did, so now when people ask me that question that they always do, "What is the best movie of all time?" I am going to point them to my blog and say, been there, wrote that, read it if you really want to know. So thanks for reading everybody, I would still love feedback, do you agree with me, do you think I am wrong, did I miss a great movie, am I completely nuts and bloging to myself? Let me know, and until next time, I will leave you with one of my favorite movie quotes ever, from the lips of Andy, "Get busy living, or get busy dying!" Amen to that, blog at you later.

*I actually don't put much stock in the Oscars, they are too political and get it wrong way too much, although it is nice to have movies I love get awards.
**The fact that Jesus loves Mel is great, but remember, Jesus loves everybody, so he is not that special.
***This was the nicest way I could think of saying this.

My Top 20 Movies Of All Time: 8 To 5

What follows is a list of what I think are the best films of all time. Now rating films is a very subjective thing, and I have by no means seen every film ever made, so some of the films that you may think are the best might not be on this list. Feel free to suggest something that I might have missed, and if I agree with you I will amend my list and give you credit for introducing me to a new awesome movie. Other then that, enjoy and feel free to comment about my choices. Due to laziness, I will be using the synopsis's from http://www.allmovie.com/, and then I will put in my two cents afterwards.

8. Batman Begins & Dark Knight

What They Are About - The origins of the Caped Crusader of Gotham City are finally brought to the big screen in this new adaptation of the perennially popular comic-book series. The young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) leads a privileged life as the son of wealthy, philanthropist parents, both of whom stress their commitment to improving the lives of the citizens of crime-ridden Gotham City. After his mother and father are murdered by a   mugger, however, Wayne grows into an impudent young man (Christian Bale), full of rage and bent on retribution until encouraged by his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), to search for answers beyond his own personal vendettas. Wayne eventually finds discipline in the Far East under the tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows who guides him in the study of martial arts -- and the ways in which an ordinary man can hone his senses to an almost superhuman acuity. After seven years away from Gotham, Wayne returns, determined to bring peace and safety

 back to the city. With the help of his faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a scientist at his late father's corporation, Wayne develops a secret identity as Batman, a masked fighter for justice. But when a shady psychiatrist (Cillian Murphy) joins forces with the criminal underworld, Wayne realizes that putting an end to their nefarious plans will be very difficult indeed. Then Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis -- the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup. Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos.

Why It Makes The List - I will start by saying that Batman is hands down my favorite superhero. He is everything you could want him to be, brave, smart, fearless, and unlike most superheros, he is completely without powers. Now there have been lots of  screen adaptations of Batman, and they have ranged from ok to terrible, but none of them compare with the brilliance that Christopher Nolan was able to bring to the table. Batman Begins is

 an incredible film, taking Batman away from the cheesiness of the past and placing him firmly in reality and showing how totally cool he really is. It has great acting, directing, action, pace, musical score and story which totally set a standard that would be hard to top, that is until Nolan made the next Batman movie. If these two films were compared to a meal, Batman Begins would be the totally awesome starter, preparing the pallet for the stellar main course which is the Dark Knight. As much as I did not think it was possible, Nolan tops his first effort in every aspect. He got almost the entire cast back from the first movie, with only one exception, ( replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes) and that was done on purpose and for the better, and then he cast Heath Ledger as The Joker, which at the time I thought was a terrible choice, but I was completely wrong.

I now trust Nolan so much for choosing the right actor that I would totally believe him if he showed up at my door and told me that I was going to play Robin in the next movie, I would just accept it and put on some yellow tights. In the end you find that Batman Begins and the Dark Knight are both movies that are made so well, and are so true to the spirit of the characters that you forget you are watching movies about a superhero, they are just that good, and that is why they are so high on my list.

7. Fightclub

What It Is About - In this darkly comic drama, Edward Norton stars as a depressed young man who has become a small cog in the world of big business. He doesn't like his work and gets no sense of reward from it, attempting instead to drown his sorrows by putting together the "perfect" apartment. He can't sleep and feels alienated from the world at large; he's become so desperate to relate to others that he's taken to visiting support groups for patients with terminal diseases so that he'll have people to talk to. One day on a business flight, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a charming iconoclast who sells soap. Tyler doesn't put much stock in the materialistic world, and he believes that one can learn a great deal through pain, misfortune, and chaos.

Tyler cheerfully challenges his new friend to a fight. Our Narrator finds that bare-knuckle brawling makes him feel more alive than he has in years, and soon the two become friends and roommates, meeting informally to fight once a week. As more men join in, the "fight club" becomes an underground sensation, even though it's a closely guarded secret among the participants. (First rule: Don't talk about fight club. Second rule: Don't talk about fight club.) But as our Narrator and Tyler bond through violence, a strange situation becomes more complicated when Tyler becomes involved with Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), whom Edward Norton's character became infatuated with when they were both crashing the support-group circuit. From there Tyler becomes more and more militant and starts something called PROJECT MAYHAM, which Edward Norton's character is not included in and a rift starts to grow and the mystery of Tyler and Edward Norton's character true relationship starts to come to light.

Why It Makes The List - Fightclub has to be one of the most mind blowing movies I have ever seen. It is one of those type of movies that once you have seen it the first time, you will never see that same movie again, yet you will see new things every time you watch it after that. The story of Fightclub seems simple enough when it starts, but the deeper you go into the movie the more layered and complex the story gets.



Flashback humor, funny.

Director David Fincher makes use of editing and effects techniques that really enhance the storytelling and the cinematography. Then you have some amazing acting on the part of Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, being incredibly cool, funny, crazy and violent, all the while asking questions about what it means to be a man in modern day society. Fightclub is not a movie for everybody, (my friend Rob M. actually thinks that it is one of the worst movies he has ever seen, but he likes King Kong, which is a terrible movie, so I think it kinda all balances out in the end) it is really harsh in a few places, and confusing in others, but overall it is just an incredible movie that really is unlike anything else I have ever seen, and that is why it makes my list.

6. The Matrix Trilogy

What It Is About - It's the year 1999, and Thomas Anderson AKA Neo (Keanu Reeves) works in a cubicle, manning a computer while hacking on the side. He has trouble sleeping and spends his nights searching for another hacker named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and when they finally meet he has some interesting news for Mr. Anderson -- none of what's going on around him is real. The year is actually closer to 2199, and it seems Thomas, like most people, is a victim of The Matrix, a massive artificial intelligence system that has tapped into people's minds and created the illusion of a real world, while using their brains and bodies for energy, tossing them away like spent batteries when they're through. Morpheus, and his protege Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) however, are convinced Neo is "The One" who can crack open The Matrix and bring his people to both physical and psychological freedom.

How cool was this the first time you saw it!

All the while three matrix agents led by Agent Smith will stop at nothing to destroy Morpheus and his crew, capturing him and trying to hack his mind for access codes to Zion, the last human city. Neo then has to chose whether or not he is,"The One" and risk his life in saving his friend on a suicide mission. From there the rest of the series has Neo and Trinity falling in love, and the machines putting on a final push to destroy Zion, with Agent Smith gaining the power to replicate himself, he slowly starts taking over the matrix while Neo goes to the final fight to decide the fate of both worlds while an epic battle rages between the humans in Zion and the machines that want to destroy it.

Why It Makes The List - The Matrix was a movie that was shrouded in mystery when it first came out. The trailers showed lots of cool things happening, but you couldn't quite tell what it was really about, then you stepped into the theater and the lights went dark and BAMB, you saw something you had never seen before.

The Matrix movies pushed the limits of special effects and cinematography, in ways that most people, including myself, never even dreamed of. It mixed great shoot-em up action with incredible fighting scenes, hard core philosophy and people running around in lots of leather like nobodies business. Then it upped the ante in the continuing movies, making them bigger (although some of the special effects in Reloaded were not on par with the original, but I think it was a lag in the tech more then anything else) and going deeper and deeper into the mind process behind what makes men and women special and how important  love, family, faith and belief are. Then you throw in lots of cool effects, a cool ship escape, more martial arts, the best mid air fighting scene in the history of film, not to mention all the cool spiritual stuff hiding under the surface (for more on that check out my Christ In Film post) and you have a what I call number 6 on my list of best movies of all time.

5. Star Wars: The Original Trilogy

What It Is About - (I am writing this sysnopis myself, cause I can sum it up much faster then allmovie.com can) A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a evil empire controled the galaxy, and a small rebel alliance is formed to try and overthrow it. Although the universe is one of technology, there is an element to the universe called THE FORCE which binds the universe together, and certain people, called Jedi's, can draw upon the force and do superhuman

 things. So, the empire wants control, the rebels want freedom, and when this takes place in space you have "Star Wars". (That is all I am saying for this, cause I feel a little silly writing more, cause if you haven't watched it already, shame on you, stop reading this right now, go watch the origianl 3, which are numbered 4, 5 and 6, (yeah, don't ask) and be treated to one of the best things on film ever. Oh, and just pretend that numbers 1, 2 and 3 don't exsist, you will thank me for it later, and if you have seen it 4, 5, and 6, then writing more would be pointless anyway)

Why It Makes The List - So, A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, (way back before he sold out to the all mighty dollar) George Lucas decided to write a modern day hero quest myth, so he sat down and wrote, THE STAR WARS movies, problem was, it was too long, so he split it up into three parts. This story had everything you could want, a young idealistic hero, a brash cocky rouge, a brave beautiful princess, a huge hairy growling guy, two funny and awesome looking bickering robots, the coolest spaceship in the history of film, (I am talking about the Millenium Falcon incase you are clueless) and possibly the greatest villian in film history, (I am not even going to tell you who that is, cause I would be insulting your intellegence).

Take all that, then add Lucas stealing ideas, (I mean, being inspired by other better directors) and ground breaking special effects techniques, (Star Wars was so groundbreaking that without it, movies like The Matrix and many others would not exsist, so big ups to George and the crew for that) and you have one incredible film. So that is all well and good, but why it makes my list is more then just that. Star Wars managed to do something more then just be a movie franchise, it impacted culture, in its time, more then any other movie I can think of. It became part of our lives in such a way that it changed the way a generation viewed movies. A space movie ladies and gentlemen, who knew that a space movie could do so much, and thus, it is my number 5.

Well that is all for now, the top 4 are coming up next, I am sure you are just dying to know, (I know my friend Michelle was actually trying to get the number one movie out of my bestfriend the other day, sorry "Russell", you have to wait like the rest of the internet) so check back next week were I will recap, and also give you a quick list of the movies that almost made it, and then hit you with the best movies ever. Till then, ramblers, keep rambling.

Here are links to the rest of the list, in case you missed them.
12 To 9,  16 To 13, 20 To 17 Happy Reading