My All-Time Favorite Movies

Here is the list of my top ten all-time favorite movies. It wasn’t easy deciding where to put all of them, but I think this is pretty accurate for me. It’s a list that could definitely change in the next few years, but for right now it should be good for a while. With each of these movies I can start out describing them by saying, “I love that movie”.

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Major League
4. Ocean’s Eleven
5. Batman Begins
6. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
7. Star Wars: A New Hope
8. Back to the Future
9. Forrest Gump
10. No Country For Old Men

1. The Shawshank Redemption- There were no real expectations for The Shawshank Redemption back 1995 when I watched it for the first time. Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, I had heard from a friend that it was a good movie, but knew little or nothing about it at the time. I’m pretty sure that the title of the movie didn’t really do much for attracting movie goers. As I watched the redemption take place, I was blown away with how much I fell in love with this movie. It’s not often you cheer on prisoners, but in this case you will. There is no doubt, many people also have this on their all-time favorite movie list, even as high as #1. If you have never seen this movie, now is the time. Get busy living or get busy dying. The Shawshank Redemption trailer

2. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back- Yes, I am a Star Wars nerd, but I think that people who like this genre know this was the all-time greatest sci-fi movie. I don’t remember the first time I saw this, but I know I was a kid and didn’t know what everything meant or what it was about. As I got to understand this movie and the Star Wars trilogy I realize how dark this particular movie was. This is also when we find out the Darth Vader is really Luke’s father. Of course, it might have been one of the biggest surprises in movie history, it also marks one of the biggest wuss scenes, when Luke cries out in disbelief. In the movie business, sequels are not usually better than the original, but as the Star Wars story continued with The Empire Strikes Back, it was the case with this one. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back trailer

3. Major League- As a great baseball fan I think this has to be on top of most baseball fan’s list of their favorite movies. The greatest part of Major League is all of the quotes that we get to use and say while we are around the baseball diamond. I would say that almost every practice or game there is some quote from Major League that comes out. I’m not sure which one is my exact favorite because there are too many to count, but Bob Uecker ( Harry Doyle) has a bunch of them. The Spring Training tryouts are classic as this assembled team of losers play the part and are terrible. Just when you think that they have one good player in Pedro Cerrano, who crushes a couple of home runs in batting practice, they throw him some breaking balls and he’s not even close. Even non-baseball fans can find this movie funny. Please, if you have never seen this movie watch it. Also, the made for TV version doesn’t count. Just a bit of info for you if you’ve only seen the TV version, Dorn doesn’t say to Wild Thing, “Strike this guyyyyy out” Major League trailer

4. Ocean’s Eleven- When this movie came out in 2001, I didn’t know much about it or know that it was a remake. I instantly thought this was a great movie. George Clooney and Brad Pitt work great together as thieves trying to rob three casinos. The whole assembly of characters are perfect and it’s also a hilarious movie. Drama, comedy, and crime, all in one. I also think having been in Las Vegas a couple times helps picture where everything is going down. Every time this movie is on tv I will usually watch it even though I have the DVD. I think what makes this movie great overall is that every person plays their role flawlessly. I love how we can cheer on a group of thieves, but they are not out to get anyone hurt except the casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) by taking the one true thing that matters to him, his money. Ocean’s Eleven trailer

5. Batman Begins- I had heard this movie was very good, but it took me a while to actually get to the theater to watch it. On a night I had absolutely nothing to do, I walked over to the cheap seat movie theater across the street and walked back pumped about Batman again. The Batman movies that began with Tim Burton back in the late eighties were corny with too much high-tech action. This movie explores the dark side of how Bruce Wayne becomes the caped crusader. It’s more of a story about the character and depth of what it took for Bruce Wayne to get over his search to avenge his parent’s murders. Forget about all previous Batman movies and watch this one. Also, the bonus is that they made a sequel to this one The Dark Knight. Batman Begins trailer

6. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King- This was the final movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the best of the three. This is where the journey of the fellowship comes to an end. I had thought the first two Rings’ movies were fantastic and was very pumped to see this one. I loved the music, the acting, the story, and was satisfied with how the movie was done compared to the book. The reason this movie and the first two Rings were able to be completed was because of the the computer generated characters and scenes. The director Peter Jackson was able to pull all the punches in creating his vision from the J.R.R Tolkien book, including one of the main characters, the slithery, bug-eyed creature Gollum/Smeagol. The battle scenes were awesome and the path to Mordor to try to destroy the ring of power for Frodo and Sam keeps you on your toes the whole way through to the end. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you, watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy is your choice, but it comes highly recommended from me. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King trailer

7. Star Wars: A New Hope- The original Star Wars movie that came out in 1977, was the George Lucas masterpiece that started it all for nerds across the planet. I was 2-years old when this movie came out so I wasn’t able to understand the greatness of it all until I was a little older, similar to The Empire Strikes Back. The characters revealed are great and the story is what keeps us all thinking about what else is out there in space. This is where the epic battle between good and evil begins led on each side by Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The musical score by John Williams is also tremendous and it brings the movie to new heights of its time. Also, the special effects were way ahead of their time as Lucas went far beyond anyone’s imagination to develop this space movie. Star Wars: A New Hope trailer

8. Back to the Future- This was a classic movie of time travel and I think most people have dreamed of being able to travel through time to see what things were really like in the past, to witness historical events, or to change something that happened to them. I do believe the first time I saw this was in school on a movie day in the fifth or sixth grade. Michael J Fox, the oldest teenager ever, does an great job of creating the character Marty McFly, and Christopher Lloyd plays the time-machine inventing scientist Dr. Emmitt Brown. If you could go back in time and see what your parents were like as teenagers, would you? Well, that’s what Marty McFly got to do by accident when he ends up in using Doc Brown’s Delorean, which was the time machine, to travel back to 1955. Then, of course, there’s Biff, the guy who was bullying Marty’s dad, George, when they were in high school. He is the classic bully, who picks on the weak nerd George, and pushes him around with intimidation and makes him do his home work. The only thing Marty wants to do is get back to 1985, but he changed events of the past that may lead to the demise of his very existence in the future that he has to fix before he can get back. Back to the Future trailer

9. Forrest Gump- Forrest Gump was brilliant story about a boy who grew up to be a great man even though he was considered slow and stupid by most people. What made it great was he basically just followed orders or did what he was told to do. For example, I remember I laughed really hard when the Drill Sargent asks Forrest what his soul purpose for being in the army was and Forrest simply replies, “To do whatever you tell my Drill Sargent”. I thought it was so cool how Forrest was apart of many great historical events and the things he did might have even led to certain people or events that happened, like showing a young Elvis Presley dance moves before Elvis was famous and Elvis copying Forrest’s dance. All of the great things Forrest does mean nothing to him, because to him, it’s all about Jenny. This movie has it all including action, drama, comedy, and a love story. After seeing what Tom Hanks, did with this role, there is no one else who could have been Forrest Gump. Hanks also won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1994 for this role. Forrest Gump trailer

10. No Country For Old Men- See my previous blog entry on No Country For Old Men.

Well, there it is. I hope that you like the movies and it makes you think about what your favorite movies are. Watch the movie trailers to get an example of what they are about and maybe you’ll add them to you favorites eventually. I’m sure some people will not like some of these because the fantasy/sci-fi movies are not usually on the top of everyone’s list, but they are definitely in mine. Enjoy!