Thanks to John Resig Net::Netflix perl module, I was able to download my ratings for every movie I’ve rated on Netflix. The total number was 608. Based on the typical two hour movie, I’ve watched 50 days of movies in my lifetime. That seems like a lot to me. Probably too much. Anyway, I decided to pull my rating together and come up with a top 101 list of the greatest movies of all time. Why 101? Because I forgot to include Pulp Fiction on my original top 100 list. I’ll start with the bottom 50 today and work my way up to #1.
Here’s 101-51:
| Rank | Title | Year | |
| 101 | L.A. Confidential | -1997 | |
| 100 | Clerks | -1994 | |
| 99 | Magnolia | -1999 | |
| 98 | The Last Picture Show | -1971 | |
| 97 | Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | -1998 | |
| 96 | Happy Endings | -2005 | |
| 95 | The Royal Tenenbaums | -2001 | |
| 94 | Monty Python and the Holy Grail | -1975 | |
| 93 | Psycho | -1960 | |
| 92 | Sideways | -2004 | |
| 91 | Network | -1976 | |
| 90 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | -1977 | |
| 89 | Little Miss Sunshine | -2006 | |
| 88 | Heathers | -1989 | |
| 87 | Terminator 2 | -1991 | |
| 86 | Jackie Brown | -1997 | |
| 85 | Full Metal Jacket | -1987 | |
| 84 | Run Lola Run | -1998 | |
| 83 | The Silence of the Lambs | -1991 | |
| 82 | Napoleon Dynamite | -2004 | |
| 81 | Tommy Boy | -1995 | |
| 80 | Young Frankenstein | -1974 | |
| 79 | The Shining | -1980 | |
| 78 | Office Space | -1999 | |
| 77 | Pi: Faith in Chaos | -1998 | |
| 76 | Being John Malkovich | -1999 | |
| 75 | Taxi Driver | -1976 | |
| 74 | Life Is Beautiful | -1997 | |
| 73 | Ferris Bueller’s Day Off | -1986 | |
| 72 | The Usual Suspects | -1995 | |
| 71 | This Is Spinal Tap | -1984 | |
| 70 | Ray | -2004 | |
| 69 | Requiem for a Dream | -2000 | |
| 68 | The Pianist | -2002 | |
| 67 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | -1992 | |
| 66 | Amelie | -2001 | |
| 65 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | -1975 | |
| 64 | Bowling for Columbine | -2002 | |
| 63 | Monty Python’s Life of Brian | -1979 | |
| 62 | Monster’s Ball | -2001 | |
| 61 | The Deer Hunter | -1978 | |
| 60 | Swingers | -1996 | |
| 59 | Reservoir Dogs | -1992 | |
| 58 | Sexy Beast | -2001 | |
| 57 | The Piano | -1993 | |
| 56 | Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure | -1985 | |
| 55 | The Matrix | -1999 | |
| 54 | Batman | -1989 | |
| 53 | The Virgin Suicides | -1999 | |
| 52 | Donnie Darko | -2001 | |
| 51 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | -1981 |
So that’s the list. A few comments:
These movies don’t take genre into consideration. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is my second favorite comedy of all time, but it’s only 56 here. I took all my 5 star movies and just started sorting them.
Sorting a list this big is difficult and a bad decision here or there can cause a movie to drop down, ie. the Piano probably deserves better than 57.
My list is probably the only one where you’ll find Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. I’m a huge David Lynch fan and I loved Fire Walk with Me. The second season of Twin Peaks just came out of DVD and I highly recommend it. Fire Walk with Me is the prequel movie that (barely) tried to answer some of lingering questions after the show was canceled. The only downside was replacing Lara Flynn Boyle with some random actress.
If you’re a Kevin Smith fan, be prepared to dislike my list. Clerks is the only movie that cracks the list at 100.
I don’t cry too often, but Life is Beautiful? Forget about it. Probably the saddest/happiest ending ever.
Little Mis Sunshine is the most recent movie on the list. I wonder if it will hold up?
Thoughts? Comments?
Comments
One response to “Ben Garvey’s 101 Greatest Movies of All Time”
Amelie? I never knew! Good bottom 51, can’t wait to see the Top 50.