Top 100 Movies

It was 2009 the last time I revised this list and I’ve seen many movies since then. Some were kicked off by newcomers or just didn’t feel as important in 2018. There’s a new #1 for the first time and it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if you know me. I should analyze which decades rank the best and compare the choices to my previous list, but for now, here they are.

rank title year
100 The Iron Giant 1999
99 Run Lola Run 1998
98 The Lego Movie 2014
97 Logan 2017
96 Terminator 2 1991
95 Amelie 2001
94 District 9 2009
93 Eraserhead 1977
92 Mystic River 2003
91 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
90 Up 2009
89 Sideways 2004
88 Memento 2000
87 Howl’s Moving Castle 2004
86 Jackie Brown 1997
85 Life Is Beautiful 1997
84 The Big Sick 2017
83 The Matrix 1999
82 Monster’s Ball 2001
81 Drive 2011
80 This Is Spinal Tap 1984
79 Toy Story 3 2010
78 Interstellar 2014
77 Schindler’s List 1993
76 Young Frankenstein 1974
75 The Virgin Suicides 1999
74 Coco 2017
73 The Graduate 1967
72 The Kids are Alright 2010
71 Office Space 1999
70 Monty Python’s Life of Brian 1979
69 Kung Fu Panda 2008
68 Kung Fu Panda 2 2011
67 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981
66 American Movie 1999
65 The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
64 Lion 2016
63 Swimming Pool 2003
62 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
61 Superbad 2007
60 GoodFellas 1990
59 Beasts of the Southern Wild 2012
58 The Goonies 1985
57 Ghost World 2001
56 Birdman 2014
55 Wall-E 2008
54 The Godfather 1972
53 E.T. 1982
52 Taxi Driver 1976
51 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me 1992
50 The Shawshank Redemption 1994
49 Fargo 1996
48 A Clockwork Orange 1971
47 The Social Network 2010
46 Inland Empire 2006
45 Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure 1985
44 The Fountain 2006
43 Lost in Translation 2003
42 The Silence of the Lambs 1991
41 Blue Velvet 1986
40 Django Unchained 2012
39 Inception 2010
38 The Wrestler 2008
37 Notes on a Scandal 2006
36 Blade Runner 1982
35 The Third Man 1949
34 There Will be Blood 2007
33 The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014
32 The Revenant 2015
31 Citizen Kane 1941
30 Sexy Beast 2001
29 Zodiac 2007
28 Lost Highway 1997
27 Black Swan 2010
26 Groundhog Day 1993
25 Monster 2003
24 Throne of Blood 1957
23 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 2004
22 The Piano 1993
21 Rushmore 1998
20 The Pianist 2002
19 The Aviator 2004
18 Chinatown 1974
17 Blue Valentine 2010
16 Get Out 2017
15 Caddyshack 1980
14 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004
13 Rear Window 1954
12 Winter’s Bone 2010
11 Pulp Fiction 1994
10 The Last Picture Show 1971
9 Star Wars: Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back 1980
8 No Country for Old Men 2007
7 City of God 2002
6 Primer 2004
5 Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope 1977
4 Dr. Strangelove 1964
3 Vertigo 1958
2 House of Sand and Fog 2003
1 Mulholland Drive 2001

Best Things This Year (2014)

What I like about 2014 was that it was more about things I built, rather than found and enjoyed.

1. Lineage
How do you browse 250 years of genealogical data? My Aunt Peggy has been doing genealogical research for decades and I created a system to view this data and show family relationships. I demoed Lineage at the February Philly JS Dev Meetup and at the Digital Analytics Association Symposium in October.

Lineage screen shot
Lineage screen shot

2. Public Speaking
I did more public speaking this year, mostly talking about data visualization, AngularJS, and some of my projects, including Lineage and the Bulldog Budget.
Data Visualization and Expression at the Digital Analytics Association Symposium
Data Expression with D3 at the Philly Javascript Meetup
14 Slides on ng-repeat at Angular Philly
How the !@#$ and I Going to Upgrade to Angular 2.0? at Angular Philly

Digital Analytics Association Symposium
Digital Analytics Association Symposium

3. Kids Morning Adventure
I productized the morning routine I invented for getting my kids ready for school. Morning Adventure gamifies the process, motivating kids to be more independent and makes sure we get to school on time. I can’t imagine life without it now.

Kids Morning Adventure
Kids Morning Adventure

4. David Lynch
I got to see David Lynch give a talk at the opening of his art exhibit at PAFA.

David Lynch
David Lynch

4.1 More
I also got to see Biz Stone, a Peregrine Falcon, and this lady who skied to PATCO on a snowy day.

5. Books I read this year
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
Thank You Eliot Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Diamond Age by Neal Stephensen
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnemann
Ingenius by Jason Fagone
All the World is Lost by Patrick Hipp
Eloquent Javascript by Marijn Haverbeke
A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

6. Movies / TV
This year I watched and enjoyed
True Detective
The Lego Movie
House of Cards
Regular Show
Wolf of Wall Street
Django Unchained

7. Space Bounce Game
A bunch of us at RJMetrics volunteer to spend time mentoring 8th graders from Philadelphia schools. We built Space Bounce with the kids during our fall session. It uses a great javascript library for making HTML5 games called Phaser.

Space Bounce
Space Bounce

8. The Report Builder
I spent 2014 at RJMetrics writing the best chart builder in the universe. I’m super proud of what we accomplished and how much we improved the experience of building charts.

RJMetrics Report Builder
RJMetrics Report Builder

9. Viz War @ Philly Tech Week
My colleague, Austin Lopez, and I participated in Philly Tech Week’s Data Viz War and we won Best Pro Team for our NCAA tournament visualization.

NCAA 2014 Dendrogram
NCAA 2014 Dendrogram

10. Monument Valley
I didn’t play too many new games this year, but I enjoyed Monument Valley with Sasha and Owen. You help guide Ida through a beautiful, Escheresque world. It reminded me a lot of Sword and Sworcery.

Monument Valley
Monument Valley

Read about my previous years
Best Things This Year (2013)
Best Things This Year (2012)
Best Things This Year (2011)

Best Things this Year (2011)

Here are some best things I’ve come across this year. Not all are new, or even new to me, but they kicked ass in 2011

1. Kids Dungeon Adventure – A floortop RPG for pre-school age kids and their geeky parent(s). What started out as a little game with my daughter grew into a full fledged eproduct and side business. This project was life changing for me.

2. Notepadd++ – I used the same text editor for Windows for at least 11 years, Editpad. I finally decided to try Notepadd++ and was blown away by how much more I liked it. Color coding for almost any language and built in FTP are enough right there. Love it. Side note: Editpad was introduced to me by a college friend, Jonathan Meyer, who passed away soon after college. I often think about how much he’d love what is going on with the Internet over the last 10 years.

3. HTML5 – Have you seen how fast modern browsers can draw on an HTML5 canvas? Mobile browsers still need work, though.

4. Garageband for the iPad – I love the iLife Garageband, but the iPad version is amazing and portable. Check out the theme song I recorded for Rock the Animals with Sasha. At this point the song is a bigger hit than the game.

5. Thingiverse – I built a Makerbot Thing-o-Matic at work and have been obsessed with finding a use for it other than making crappy bottle openers.

6. Sword and Sworcery – Best iOS game of the year. It’s King’s Quest meets Punch Out while having coffee with David Lynch. Jim Guthrie’s music on it is amazing (listen).

7. Honoro Vera Garnacha – Best new wine I tried all year. It’s Spanish and only $8.99.

Honoro Vera Garnacha - Best new wine I tried this year
Honoro Vera Garnacha - Best new wine I tried this year

8. Movies – I don’t think I saw any new releases in 2011, but here are all the movies I liked that I saw this year in no particular order: The Kids are Alright, Blue Valentine, The Social Network, Kung Fu Panda, Catfish, Toy Story 3, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Scot Pilgrim vs. the World, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Shutter Island.