Graeme's Top 10 Favorite Movies

Unlike Austin, I cannot say I’m a very big list guy. So when I was asked to come up with a list of my top ten films, I knew right off the bat this was going to be extremely difficult. I’ve probably seen hundreds of movies at this point, from every year and genre imaginable. Still, I have a strong preference for more fantasy-oriented material, as you’ll see in the list below.

This list isn’t an approximation of what I consider the most artistically challenging or technically groundbreaking movies of all time, but instead my own personal favorites. I got into movies when I was very young – I first watched Jurassic Park when I was four years old, and that’s what really opened my imagination to what movies were capable of: escapism. Removing you from the troubles of reality and transporting you to these fantastic, engaging worlds.

The list below is organized by year of release, since it’d be impossible for me to rank them by which ones I liked the most (although Jurassic Park will always be my number one). But hey, this list could be different in a week or so. There’s always new movies coming out, and always an older classic to discover for the first time. So, without further ado:

Graeme's Top 10 Favorite Movies

King Kong (1933)
A classic monster movie that still holds up, even by today’s standards. The stop-motion animation in this film is the basis for a lot of today’s CGI.

The Goonies (1985)
The kind of spirited adventure you’d daydream of having as a kid. It’s a complete nostalgia trip for me.

Jurassic Park (1993)
The movie that got me into movies. 22 years later and the dinosaurs are still completely convincing. Plus, that soundtrack.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Probably the single most inspirational movie I’ve ever seen. And it helped launch 100 Morgan Freeman voiceovers.

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Because this list needed a shot of pure testosterone. John McClane is the quintessential badass, and Die Hard is for my money the greatest American action series ever. The original is technically the best installment but I prefer how this movie unleashes John McClane on greater New York instead of confining him to a single building. Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson are great in supporting roles.

The Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003)
This is kind of cheating, but I consider LOTR a single story. Middle-Earth is still the most believable, beautiful fantasy world I’ve ever seen portrayed on film, and I’m a sucker for the archetypal good vs. evil stories. I’d rather visit Gondor than Westeros.

The Departed (2006)
Such an awesome cast. My favorite of Scorsese’s crime pics, and this is the film that introduced me to his work to begin with.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
There’s no working American director like Tarantino, and this is my favorite Tarantino movie. It’s a clever sendup of history and unleashed Christoph Waltz on the world.

The Social Network (2010)
Fincher’s one of my favorite working directors, and I’d argue this is his best film, or at least his most topical: it captures everything wrong about today’s over-reliance on social media.

The Lego Movie (2014)
The funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time, and I loved its message about creativity. The fact it wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Feature is one of the Academy’s worst snubs. Also, hands down the best cinematic interpretation of Batman.

 

Charlie’s Top Ten Favorite Films of All Time

My story is probably pretty common. I started watching movies at home with my Dad, watching whatever he wanted. The first film I recall watching with him was The Blues Brothers (1980), matter of fact, that’s the first movie I remember ever watching. That movie has stuck with me my entire life. I still watch it every so often and love showing it people who haven’t seen it. I think we all have that film. You know the one. That one movie that doesn't have the best writing, perhaps the cinematography could have been better, or the acting is a little bit cheesy. But it’s still a movie that gets you excited every time you get to watch it.

The Blues Brothers is that film for me.

With that being said, choosing a list of favorite movies is really hard. For me, that list is in constant flux. There are movies that I love for my own personal reasons (The Blues Brothers), and then there are movies that are well produced that I have a high level of respect for and really enjoy watching. So really, I suppose there are two lists that are constantly evolving and changing in my head. Yet there comes a time where one must buckle down and make some decisions, and that’s what's about to happen. I’ve struggled with the order and what movies should be on a list of this sort, but I shall toil no longer! I present you with…..

Charlie’s Top Ten Favorite Films of All Time 

(at this exact moment in time anyway)

#10 DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE (1995)
#9 PULP FICTION (1994)
#8 DIE HARD (1988)
#7 CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012)
#6 THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970)
#5 STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (1977)
#4 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
#3 BIRDMAN (2014)
#2 THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980)
#1 FIGHT CLUB (1999)

This list was really difficult to produce. Not all of these movies had a profound effect on the way I view cinema, but they are, indeed, movies that I cannot turn off and that I love. Please take special note of two movies from the Die Hard franchise making it onto this list. As you may find out in a later article about franchises - Die Hard is, unquestionably, my favorite movie franchise. What you see is not a mistake! And I promise I'll explain myself.. eventually. 

If you were to ask me tomorrow about this list, I can almost guarantee that the order may change or even the movies maybe different. But as of writing, this is it. My favorites. Have you seen any of them? Do you agree? Disagree? Question my sanity? Leave it in the comments!

Austin's Top 20 Favorite Films of All Time! (Part 1)

Hello, my name is Austin Glidden, and I am president of the Cardinal Film Society. I have been a cinephile since fall of 2003 when I saw Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie (2001). It changed my life. Since then, I have dedicated my time to studying movies from all generations. I love film and the power it has to make real change, and I'm happy to provide this Top 20 list to give you, the readers, more insight into my interests.

To preface my list I'd like to make it known that these Top 20 are not necessarily what I consider the most well-made films, but rather, my personal favorite films of all time; my desert island movies, so to speak. I had very little criteria going into this list. I simply chose the films that I'd watch over all others. If I could only have twenty, I believe these would be it.

#20 THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1968) 

#19 LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008) 

#18 THE THIN RED LINE (1998) 

#17 CITY LIGHTS (1931) 

#16 REAR WINDOW (1954) 

#15 THE GODFATHER (1972) 

#14 TAXI DRIVER (1976) 

#13 BLADE RUNNER (1982) 

#12 ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) 

#11 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1972)

Those are my 11-20, and are films that have contributed to my understanding of film, and influenced the lens in which I watch them. I wish I could have 50 titles so to bring in more variety, but if I'm true to my history, it all starts with these ten and the next.

The remaining Top 10 will be posted after our first podcast episode. They are deeply personal to me, and each one is attached to a story that is important to my personal journey through cinema. I have tried to recount some of those memories in order to better explain my reasoning behind my choices. I will add them here soon. Be sure to listen to our first show to find out!