Jeff's Favorite Movies

As of today, I've watched and rated 2,319 movies, assigning each a numerical rating 1 (a waste of life) and 10 (loved it). Of course, this rating took place over many many years and I can't claim that my ratings have been consistent over the long haul; I'm sure that my tastes have changed during this journey. But although I'd like to, I can't watch all 2,319 movies over again to try and be more consistent, so for what it's worth, here is the list of the 60-or-so movies I've rated 9 or 10, followed by the 300-or-so-next-best films I've rated as 8.

I generally favor movies that are heavy in the plot department; there are many movies which are highly regarded on the Internet Movie Database or by critics which I don't like at all. Breathless is one such example. To me, it felt like nothing happened, and I rated it a 4 (I've since re-rated it as 7, because I now better appreciate it's allure, but it's still not a favorite). Even the highly-regarded Citizen Kane falls into that category; I rated it a 7 since although it might have introduced lots of new film techniques and had many interesting perspectives, the plot itself was totally boring to me. I didn't ever really care what "Rosebud" meant, so the rest of the film's goodness was lost on me. So those are two movies that don't quite make it onto my list of favorite movies. If you strongly disagree with both of these non-recommendations, you might as well stop reading here because my tastes don't align with yours. But if you tentatively agree, keep reading.

To rate a movie highly (that is, rate it as if I'd really enjoy watching it again, which is what my rating of 8 means), it has to have at least one of the following: a great plot, gorgeous photography, be a musical, contain beautiful music such as the way Kubrick used music, be a great science-fiction movie, or include anything about Italy, or especially Rome, for which I'm a total slut. I'm not at all adverse to non-American films; many of my 300-or-so-next-best films are black-and-white subtitled films. So if you're still reading and these things also tickle your fancy, here are my favorite 300-or-so movies out of the 2,319 I've watched.

I welcome you to send me an email with any comments on my choices.

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My Favorite 60 or so Movies, listed alphabetically

  1. The King and I: I just love the songs in this musical. The story is cliche, the acting might not be the best, but wow I do love the music.
  2. The Pianist: A terrific holocaust movie that will leave you a changed person. Beware that this will be depressing and disturbing, but it's a film you won't forget.
  3. Schindler's List: The very best holocaust movie ever made. You will never forget this one.

In case you agree with my list of favorite movies, here are my 300-or-so-next-best films that you might also enjoy, again listed alphabetically
(The best 34 in this bunch are in bold font)

  1. All the President's Men: The Watergate scandal
  2. Amadeus: Mozart's life story
  3. Awakenings
  4. (subtitled) A Beautiful Mind
  5. Breach: An aide in the Pentagon is charged with exposing his boss as a spy.
  6. Cinderella Man
  7. Dog Day Afternoon: A suspenseful bank robbery goes bad and becomes a media circus
  8. (subtitled) Downfall (Der Untergang): Powerful story of Hitler's last days in the bunker, and the surrender of Germany.
  9. Finding Vivian Maier: A woman's lifelong street photography is discovered after her death.
  10. Hotel Rwanda: Compelling story about genocide in Rwanda
  11. In Cold Blood: Two drifters murder a rural family because they think that family has a stash of cash in their home, then the police try to catch them.
  12. Into the Wild
  13. (subtitled) The King of Kings: Cecil B DeMilles' legendary silent film about Jesus Christ's oppression, death and resurrection.
  14. (subtitled) Il Postino: The Postman gets an education about poetry, love and friendship.
  15. The Railway Man
  16. The Right Stuff: The heroic story of the 7 original astronauts for NASA
  17. Something the Lord Made
  18. The Sound of Music
  19. Spartacus: Kubrick tells the story of Spartacus, a slave of Rome who becomes a gladiator trainee, then escapes the training camp and leads an army of freed gladiators and other slaves in a revolt against a decaying Roman Republic in the 1st century BC.
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  20. 12 years a slave: A free black man is sold into slavery.

And finally, a few TV series which I've especially enjoyed, again in alphabetical order

  1. I, Claudius: 1000 bonus points for being about the Roman Empire

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