Sunday, July 13, 2008

CLASSIC

So now that my first and second goals for 2008 are out of the way, I think I found a new one.

Last night, I was with some friends and our conversation turned to picking the worst movie villain of all time (no one thought Marv and Harry from Home Alone were good picks). This topic quickly segued into the best movies of all time. Good thing I had brought my Entertainment Weekly special 1000th issue over for someone to borrow. That issue contains "The New Classics," or what the EW staff has decided are the best 100 movies, albums, TV shows, etc of the past 25 years - since the magazine's first issue. While it's kind of cool that I am the same age as Entertainment Weekly, it's not kind of cool that I have seen so few of these movies (but in my defense, I wasn't old enough to see some of these until 2001, an excuse which I had to lean on a lot last night). So my new goal is to watch these New Classics, the Best 100 movies of the past 25 years, or the Top 100 Movies that have been made while I've been alive.

Blockbuster, here I come.


1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Matrix (1999)
13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
16. Boogie Nights (1997)
17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
19. Casino Royale (2006)
20. The Lion King (1994)
21. Schindler's List (1993)
22. Rushmore (1998)
23. Memento (2001)
24. A Room With a View (1986)
25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
27. Aliens (1986)
28. Wings of Desire (1988)
29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
30. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
32. Fight Club (1999)
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004)
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
37. Pretty Woman (1990)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
40. Speed (1994)
41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
42. Clueless (1995)
43. Gladiator (2000)
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988)
46. Children of Men (2006)
47. Men in Black (1997)
48. Scarface (1983)
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)
53. The Truman Show (1998)
54. Fatal Attraction (1987)
55. Risky Business (1983)
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
58. Ghostbusters (1984)
59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)
63. Big (1988)
64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987)
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
73. Office Space (1999)
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986)
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003)
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
84. Sideways (2004)
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)
87. Swingers (1996)
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
91. Back to the Future (1985)
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002)
97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

I understand why EW got some hate mail for leaving off Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Princess Bride, American Beauty, etc., but to omit Home Alone AND Wedding Crashers?!?! I almost canceled my subscription.

What films would you add to the list?

21 comments:

  1. if you are serious about watching these films, I strongly suggest a netflix subscription. You will sAve yourself so much $ and it's effortless.

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  2. Are you serious...SOUTH PARK! Come on. What about Legends of the Fall or RUDY!

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  3. Wait a minute, hold up. You DIDN'T see Men in Black?...here come the men in black...galaxy defenders...(i'm singing it in my head now)
    And I agree. Where IS The Princess Bride. I'm not sure this list is so credible. :)

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  4. Half of the movies on that list are so dark and morbid you will need major therapy if you watch them...
    You need a different list. I like Drew's selections. What about RADIO--a great movie with a great message.
    If you watch more than 5 minutes of Blair Witch Project you will go insane and you will have to live in B'ham with me!
    Yo' Mama

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  5. Go rent Rain Man tonight. It is a great movie. Dustin Hoffman does the best acting of his life and it was made before Tom Cruise started jumping on couches became an expert on post-partum depression...Now i can't stomach him in a movie. I will give you the best others on that skewed list later.

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  6. It seems to me like we need to live in the same city. A new goal of mine is to watch more movies. I'm always left out of conversations about new movies or classic movies because I haven't seen a lot of them. I didn't go so far as to make a list, but I think I will start by stealing yours. We did watch Bucket List and August Rush yesterday; so that's a start.

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  7. dumb and dumber...its a classic.

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  8. As a fellow 25-year-old, I have to say that there is no excuse for not having seen Men in Black. Really? You need to take care of that before the end of the week.

    Here come the Men in Black...they won't let you remember....

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  9. Here's more that I think are missing: Dumb and Dumber, Finding Nemo, Million Dollar Baby, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Few Good Men (cannot BELIEVE that was left off), Independence Day, Old School (I didn't like that movie but it is a classic) and more. I keep thinking of them so I'll keep adding them.

    As for Men in Black, I guess I was too busy watching Spice Girls. I don't know why I never made it to the theater to see that one.

    And yes, Dan, I agree that I need Netflix subscription, especially if it's a gift subscription.

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  10. What about Tommy Boy, Anchorman, Armageddon, Sandlot, Transformers, A River Runs Through It, The Notebook (super cheeseball, but it's better than some others on the list), Apollo 13? Those are all I could think of right now. There's plenty more out there.

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  11. Sorry. Got more. Dances with Wolves, Father of the Bride, Ferris Bueller, Shawshank Redemption, The Untouchables, Good Morning Vietnam.

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  12. Go with Netflix, LJ, now that the CMHOF is paying you the big bucks, you can afford a couple $$$ every month!

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  13. Armageddon and Ferris Bueller - I thought about those two last night lying in bed. Can't believe I've forgotten Father of the Bride. And Apollo 13! TOP GUN!

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  14. damn, I thought I saw Top Gun on the list. It didn't even cross my mind that it hadn't made it. You can basically add any movie with Nicholas Cage to the list. Jennifer loves him.

    What you should do is get DVR and go through a movie search and record as many as possible before running out of space. DVR is only $5 or $10 more per month.

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  15. Wait ... you never saw "Glory?" You must not have had Mr. Forester for 7th grade history. Watching "Glory" was the extent of our lesson on the Civil War.

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  16. Where in the H is Jurassic Park?!?!?!? Seriously.

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  17. .... and WALK THE LINE??? I am ashamed I forgot it until now.

    I didn't have him at all. But did we even have History in 7th grade? I remember geography with Mrs. Flannery but not a history. I thought American History (thereby, Civil War) was 8th grade.

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  18. Good Will Hunting?
    NONE of the Ocean's films?

    That does it; I am writing a letter to the editor.

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  19. Shrek, Christmas Story, Harry Potter, Return of the Jedi, The Goonies.

    I was about to flip out when I didn't see E.T. on there, but a quick googling revealed that it was filmed in 1982.

    Also, Citizen Cane has always been #1 on the best movies ever, but I've never seen it. I feel like that's one to add to my list.

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  20. Shrek is number 25, Wessy.

    And it's also number 3 on AFC's 100 Best Comedies of All Time but that's another post altogether so don't get me started. Total crap except that Animal House was number one.

    I can't believe no one has commented about the order of the list instead of what's not on it. Edward Scissorhands? 15? Really?

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  21. Well shoot FB, I didn't know it was in any order. I just thought it was the Top 100 in no particular order. I can get on board with most of it though. I would rank Toy Story at #3 just because it started the whole Dreamworks/Pixar/Disney "series", each of which has been outstanding and should be on the list.

    Also, you've only seen 27 of the top 100. I'm 2 years younger and have seen 47.

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Oh goody!

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