My top 25 movies

I was mentioning recently that I should attempt to make a top 25 of my favourite movies. Now, before anything else, I should say that this is a very dynamic top and hence, it is my top 25 movies at this very moment: for instance, a year ago it looked a bit different and there are still dozens of movies (both old and very recent) on my “must see” list (I really did not see that many…), which could jump anywhere in this top (by the way, your suggestions are very welcome!). Next to that, this ranking below is not very rigid: if you see a movie for the second, third…nth time, you might get to quite different conclusions about it. And last, but not least important, each of the movies in this top are certainly my number 1 on certain specific criteria, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it on the list to start with! Thus, the relative ranking of the movies below is flexible and, in fact, I divided my top 25 in five sections of five movies each, so that I do not have to rank the movies in each of the five-movie categories (and even so, jumps between categories, according to which characteristics receive more weight, are very possible). And a (obvious) note: the ranking of the movies does not in any way imply a ranking of the actors in the leading roles, for instance, or a ranking of my favourite movie directors, in general (for those we need a different analysis…).

For each of the movies, I’ll place links next to the corresponding entries, on both IMDb (a) and RottenTomatoes (b), so that everybody can immediately follow them and eventually read more.
  • places 1-5: Amadeus (a, b); The Godfather I (a, b); Dangerous Liaisons (a, b); Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (a, b); Waking Life (a, b)
  • places 6-10: The Shawshank Redemption (a, b); Pulp Fiction (a, b); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a, b); Underground (a, b); Hable con Ella (a, b)
  • places 11-15: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (a, b); Léon (a, b); A Clockwork Orange (a, b); Crna macka, beli macor (a, b); Se7en (a, b);
  • places 16-20: Memento (a, b); Donnie Darko (a, b); American Beauty (a, b); The Pianist (a, b); Apocalypse Now (a, b);
  • places 21-25: Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (a, b); Trainspotting (a, b); Snatch (a, b); Good Night, and Good Luck (a, b); La Vita è Bella (a, b);

In a future post I will continue with the next 25 places (which- of course- could eventually replace movies from the list above; the (cumulated) differences among the first 50 positions are after all very small).

Update, 21st of March: As I stated also in the comments section below, as answer to some of the excellent suggestions (in this particular case, of Dan, who followed my example- I am contagious 🙂 – and published his own top of favourite movies), I discovered that I really left out one of my all time favourite movies and that was Leaving Las Vegas (IMDb entry, RottenTomatoes entry). So the changes are the following: Leaving Las Vegas enters on places 6-10; as a consequence, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind goes down to places 11-15, Crna macka, beli macor goes down to places 16-20, Donnie Darko goes down to places 20-25 and Good Night, and Good Luck is pushed on the immediate next level, thus I will enter it again when I will continue my top from position 26 onwards. It is very unlikely that I’ve omitted something else, in top 10 at least, among the movies that I have seen. Of course the most important list will be the one of “must see movies- greatest potential”, which I will also publish in the near future and where the comments of my readers have been already very helpful.

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18 thoughts on “My top 25 movies”

  1. Yes, Kukushka, reminds me I have to see it:) There’s also Ingmar Bergman’s "The Seventh Seal" or "Breaking the Waves" (starring the same Emily Watson from Equilibrium).

  2. Bon, three other movies on my "must see" list (Ikingut, Kukushka and Elling). Although I would not be able to mix Amores Perros, Amelie and Y tu mama tambien. For me the ranking there is pretty clear, there is a clearcut difference between them and I don’t think any shock would change their relative position: Amelie is in my top 5, Amores Perros in my top 50 (but prolly top 30 or 35 and it

  4. Balanta- that is an interesting one. I have seen the movie twice and the first time I was far more impressed than the second. And that is not a good thing :-). I would say it is a good movie, very good if you consider what was produced in Romania before (but at a global level, in an overall top, that sort of judgment should not influence you), but it cannot enter my top 50 and I would doubt it

  5. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is an amazing movie and indeed I was thinking whether it could enter top 25 (I would see it fitting very nicely around masterpieces like Trainspotting or Snatch, for instance). It is certainly very close to the first 25, in my top 50. <BR/><BR/>Taxi Driver- I know I saw it at some point, but I would have to see it again, it was a long time ago (from what I

  8. Dan: I have even a weirder experience with Leaving Las Vegas. Teh first time I saw it, I saw it on TV (I saw it once more on DVD) and I didn’t catch the very beginning so in fact I really didn’t know what am I watching but it looked so interesting and so captivating and so totally amazing and better than most things I’ve seen that I just watched the rest of it without bothering that I missed the

  9. Fair enough, Aurora. Nevertheless, I will have to judge with my own eyes as well :-). So far I see that both IMDb and RottenTomatoes (the critics) are unanimous about the qualities of The Pianist (and don’t forget that Polanski was in a "low" period when he came up with The Pianist, so while everybody was following him, this, if anything, should have biased the evaluations negatively- but both

  10. I’m very glad to come with some useful input:) I have a very strange relationship with Leaving Las Vegas. I first saw it in German, then in English, afterwards in French and once again in English. But even if I don’t understand very much German, words were not needed:)

  12. Well, you have to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder…The Legend of 1900 is 10 times better …in my eyes 🙂 I honestly thought The Pianist was overrated. However, as I learned recently in Warsaw, Polish people are very proud of it and very keen on telling you all they know about the real Wladyslaw Szpilman 🙂

  13. Aurora: amazing, somebody that overlaps with me twice inasmuch as top 5 is concerned. Truly amazing! I wonder whether there is somebody who intersects my tastes in at least 3 of the top 5… Now that would be what I’d call compatibility :-)<BR/><BR/>I am really really curious now about "The Legend of 1900" or "La leggenda del pianista sull’oceano" as I see they call it officially), particularly

  14. Both Amadeus and Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain are also in my top five 🙂 However, besides the movies already mentioned by others, these are the ones that make my day:<BR/><BR/>The Station Agent, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, The Legend of 1900 (about 10 times better than The Pianist!) , Amores Perros, Lucky Number Slevin, Gadjo Dilo (a must see!) and Titus (with Hopkins brilliant as

  15. Oops, I forgot The Lord of the Rings trilogy among Dan’s suggestions. I think that could enter my top 50, although maybe not the whole trilogy (and it also has to compete with the two remaining from the Godfather trilogy :-)), for instance).

  16. Very good suggestions (and I already got more via email from friends :-)). And I am looking for more. <BR/><BR/>So, let’s see fast… The first thing I notice is that "my must see" list is getting bigger. I definitely have to see (again, I saw it a long time ago) shichinin no samurai (M & M’s 🙂 suggestion) and, from Dan’s, 12 Angry Men, Saving Private Ryan (which are on my list for ages now!)

  17. Well, except Pulp Fiction, Underground, Chat noir chat blanc, American Beauty, A Clockwork Orange and One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest we don’t overlap:) And for the last two since I read the book before seeing the movie it’s tough for me to decide if I like the movie because I like the book or I like the movie for what it really is. And I still have to figure the rest of the top 25, which I never

  18. hey sebi you are really mising the following from your 25: braveheart, shichinin no samurai and fargo. <BR/><BR/>MM.

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