Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

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The Best 100 Movies Challenge

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So. You ready to take the best 100 movie challenge?

This has been a random procrastination activity of mine for quite some time, and now I’m ready to share my list with the world. I have spent way, way too much time thinking about this.

Behold… my 100 favorite movies of all time!

But this isn’t all! It would be great if we could all share our own list for the Top 100, because I love looking at these lists. If you create your 100 and post it in the comments section I’ll add the links to this post.

  1. Casablanca
  2. The Godfather
  3. City of God
  4. The Godfather Part II 
  5. Citizen Kane
  6. The Up Series
  7. The Empire Strikes Back
  8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
  9. Rushmore
  10. Jules and Jim 
  11. Schindler’s List 
  12. The Shawshank Redemption
  13. Star Wars
  14. The Battle of Algiers
  15. Vertigo
  16. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
  17. Trouble in Paradise
  18. The Nightmare Before Christmas
  19. The Warriors
  20. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  21. Rebecca
  22. The Usual Suspects
  23. Children of Men
  24. Sunset Boulevard
  25. Giant
  26. Lawrence of Arabia
  27. The Wizard of Oz
  28. The Best Years of Our Lives
  29. Dog Day Afternoon
  30. Raging Bull 
  31. Clockers
  32. The Manchurian Candidate
  33. Before Sunrise
  34. Goodfellas
  35. Groundhog Day
  36. The 25th Hour
  37. Manhattan
  38. E.T.
  39. Hoop Dreams
  40. Back to the Future
  41. The Bridge on the River Kwai
  42. The Last Picture Show
  43. Before Sunset
  44. Stagecoach
  45. The Big Lebowski
  46. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  47. Gone With the Wind
  48. Office Space
  49. Into the Wild
  50. Ghost Dog
  51. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  52. The Graduate
  53. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  54. Yojimbo
  55. Pulp Fiction
  56. Chinatown
  57. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  58. Edward Scissorhands
  59. North By Northwest
  60. Duck Soup
  61. Saturday Night Fever
  62. The Truman Show
  63. Playtime
  64. Pinocchio
  65. A Hard Day’s Night
  66. Le Samourai
  67. The Double Life of Veronique
  68. The Big Sleep
  69. Stray Dog
  70. The Philadelphia Story
  71. Charade
  72. Midnight Cowboy
  73. The Lives of Others
  74. True Grit
  75. Do the Right Thing
  76. Elf
  77. Rebel Without a Cause
  78. It’s a Wonderful Life
  79. Singin’ in the Rain
  80. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
  81. From Here to Eternity
  82. Apocalypse Now
  83. Coming to America
  84. Breathless
  85. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  86. To Kill a Mockingbird
  87. Funny Face
  88. Serpico
  89. Frankenstein 
  90. Hud
  91. Wings of Desire
  92. Dr. Zhivago
  93. His Girl Friday
  94. Patton
  95. Mildred Pierce
  96. Run Lola Run
  97. Suspicion
  98. Point Blank
  99. This is Spinal Tap
  100. Anchorman

Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. Ls Hawker says

    My favorite hundred in alphabetical order:
    The 40-Year-Old Virgin
    A Few Good Men
    A Knight's Tale
    A Streetcar Named Desire
    Airplane
    Aliens
    Almost Famous
    American Graffitti
    Animal House
    Annie Hall
    Apollo 13
    The Big Lebowski
    Blazing Saddles
    Blood Simple
    Bull Durham
    Caddyshack
    Casablanca
    Close Encounters of the Third Kind
    The Commitments
    Contact
    Dazed and Confused
    The Descendants
    Dodgeball
    Drugstore Cowboy
    Dumbo
    Ed Wood
    The Emperor's New Groove
    Erin Brockovich
    Fail Safe
    Fight Club
    Galaxy Quest
    The Godfather
    Goodfellas
    Grease
    Groundhog Day
    Half Nelson
    Hedwig and the Angry Inch
    The Incredibles
    Independence Day
    Iron Man
    It Happened One Night
    It's a Wonderful Life
    Jacob's Ladder
    Jaws
    Jurassic Park
    LA Confidential
    Last of the Mohicans
    Lords of Dogtown
    Lost in Translation
    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
    The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
    Marty
    The Matador
    The Matrix
    Meatballs
    Memento
    Midnight Run
    Monsters Inc.
    Moonrise Kingdom
    Mulan
    My Favorite Year
    Napoleon Dynamite
    Ocean's Eleven
    The Philadelphia Story
    Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
    Pleasantville
    Poltergeist
    Princess Bride
    Pulp Fiction
    Radio Days
    Raising Arizona
    The Right Stuff
    Rocky
    Rosemary's Baby
    School of Rock
    Sense and Sensibility
    Series 7
    Shakespeare in Love
    The Shootist
    Signs
    Sixteen Candles
    Slumdog Millionaire
    The Social Network
    Stagecoach
    Stand by Me
    Star Trek (2009)
    The Sting
    The Straight Story
    Swimming to Cambodia
    Tangled
    Titanic
    Tombstone
    Toy Story 2
    Toy Story 3
    Training Day
    Unforgiven
    Up
    Walk the Line
    Wedding Crashers
    The Wizard of Oz

  12. Tatjana Dleif says

    Great idea!

    My Favorite Movies – Top 100

    1. Top Gun
    2. The Princess Bride
    3. Must Love Dogs
    4. Return of the Jedi
    5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    6. The Shining
    7. Labyrinth
    8. Teen Witch
    9. Under the Tuscan Sun
    10. Pretty Woman
    11. Count of Monte Cristo
    12. The Man from Snowy River
    13. Chicago
    14. True Lies
    15. View from the Top
    16. What Women Want
    17. The Wedding Singer
    18. Twister
    19. Three Amigos
    20. Transformers
    21. The Day After Tomorrow
    22. Sweet Home Alabama
    23. Sideways
    24. Moulin Rouge
    25. Super 8
    26. Practical Magic
    27. The Sound of Music
    28. Steven King’s It
    29. Sleepy Hollow
    30. Serenity
    31. Stir of Echoes
    32. Shag the Movie
    33. Office Space
    34. Men at Work
    35. Never Been Kissed
    36. Mona Lisa Smile
    37. Mean Girls
    38. The Grey
    39. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    40. The Never Ending Story
    41. Miss Congeniality
    42. Memento
    43. My Cousin Vinny
    44. Jurassic Park
    45. Congo
    46. Just Friends
    47. The Lion King
    48. The Holiday
    49. Jaws
    50. Jaws 2
    51. Legally Blond
    52. Just One of the Guys
    53. The Last Unicorn
    54. The Sweetest Thing
    55. Mary Poppins
    56. The Village
    57. Hitch
    58. The Hours
    59. Her Alibi
    60. Halloween (Original w Jamie Lee Curtis)
    61. Batman Begins
    62. Stand By Me
    63. A Fish Called Wanda
    64. Coming to America
    65. Ever After
    66. French Kiss
    67. Crocodile Dundee
    68. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
    69. The Devil Wears Prada
    70. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
    71. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
    72. Erin Brockovich
    73. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    74. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
    75. Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Arc
    76. The Goonies
    77. Anne of Green Gables
    78. 27 Dresses
    79. National Lampoon’s Animal House
    80. Center Stage
    81. The Cutting Edge
    82. The Book of Eli
    83. The Craft
    84. Bridget Jones’ Diary
    85. Easy A
    86. Superman (Original w Christopher Reeves)
    87. Dirty Dancing
    88. Arachnophobia
    89. Naked Gun
    90. What Lies Beneath
    91. The Mummy (Remake w Rachel Weisz)
    92. Gone with the Wind
    93. Sliver
    94. Vertigo
    95. The Shawshank Redemption
    96. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
    97. Christmas Vacation
    98. Finding Nemo
    99. The Silence of the Lambs
    100. …and last but certainly not least, A Few Good Men

  13. Lesley says

    THAT'S IT!!!! I'm having a movie watch fest…just got reminded about some truly awesome films. Thanks guys!!
    I have to say Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was a total classic!
    Also, Total Recall the old and new versions have been great.

    As a Woemance (read Romance) wannabe author, I have loved 'The lives of Others', 'PS I Love You', 'The Lake House', 'Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood', 'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe' and my guilty pleasure is… (don't throw virtual stuff at me) the Twilight Saga. ARRR its out!

    Happy film watching!!

  18. Jimmetta Carpenter says

    Hope it's not too late for this challenge but it took me some time to think about all of the great movies that I've seen

    1.) The Shawshank Redemption
    2.) It’s a Wonderful Life
    3.) Pretty Woman
    4.) Dirty Dancing
    5.) Entire Twilight Series
    6.) Entire Harry Potter Series
    7.) The Bone Collector
    8.) The Wizard of Oz
    9.) The Sound of Music
    10.)The Pursuit of Happiness
    11.)The Princess Diaries
    12.)The Devil Wears Prada
    13.)Fresh
    14.)Alex Haley’s Queen
    15.)The Women of Brewster Place
    16.)Save the Last Dance
    17.)Sex and the City (1 & 2)
    18.)Miss Potter
    19.)To Kill a Mockingbird
    20.)Of Mice and Men
    21.)A Few Good Men
    22.)Men of Honor
    23.)Losing Isaiah
    24.)Speed
    25.)Titanic
    26.)I can do bad all by myself
    27.)Poetic Justice
    28.)Enemy of the State
    29.)Kiss the Girls
    30.)Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
    31.)Love Story
    32.)Edward Scissorhands
    33.)Cry Baby
    34.)Coming to America
    35.)America’s Sweethearts
    36.)The Sixth Sense
    37.)Don’t Say a Word
    38.)The Lovely Bones
    39.)I Am Sam
    40.)The Secret Life of Bee’s
    41.)The Parent Trap (the original one)
    42.)Steel Magnolias
    43.)Riding in Cars With Boys
    44.)Little Women
    45.)Beaches
    46.)The Long Kiss Goodnight
    47.)The Little Mermaid
    48.)A Time to Kill
    49.)The Negotiator
    50.)Million Dollar Baby
    51.)The Bodyguard
    52.)Good Deeds
    53.)For Colored Girls
    54.)The Hours
    55.)Uptown Girls
    56.)Murder by Numbers
    57.)Salt
    58.)Girl, Interrupted
    59.)Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
    60.)The Man in the Moon
    61.)Lean on Me
    62.)Set It Off
    63.)Their Eyes Were Watching God
    64.)Malcolm X
    65.)Mary Poppins
    66.)The Color Purple
    67.)Moonwalker
    68.)The Pelican Brief
    69.)The Firm
    70.)Panic Room
    71.)Corina, Corina
    72.)Ghost
    73.)Sleeping with the Enemy
    74.)Secret Window
    75.)Ray
    76.)John Q
    77.)Remember the Titans
    78.)A Raisin in the Sun
    79.)Sparkle (the original)
    80.)Bridget Jones’ Diary
    81.)Disappearing Acts
    82.)The Lady and The Tramp
    83.)Waiting To Exhale
    84.)A League of Their Own
    85.)Cast Away
    86.)Dangerous Minds
    87.)What’s Love Got to Do With It
    88.)The Five Heartbeats
    89.)The Jackson 5: An American Dream
    90.)What Lies Beneath
    91.)The Talented Mr. Ripley
    92.)Precious
    93.)Little Shop of Horrors
    94.)Waitress
    95.)Abandon
    96.)Where the Heart Is
    97.)Cruel Intentions
    98.)Stepmom
    99.)Daddy’s Little Girls
    100.)White Oleander

  22. Mira says

    What a fun post!

    I'm impressed, Nathan, that you not only listed your top 100, but you LINKED THEM! That is dedication! 😀

    It was fun to see Funny Face on your list – I adore that movie, but I rarely find anyone else who has seen it.

    I can't do the 100, it would take me weeks, because I would have to be extremely meticulous and fair. I'd weigh and balance and drive myself nuts.

    Besides, it would overlap with yours. But I will add a couple films I love that aren't on your list:

    Juno
    12 Angry Men
    The 6th Sense
    Waitress
    Sideways
    Beauty and the Beast
    Spiderman 2

    I can't say these are the BEST movies, but movies that I love.

  24. Cassandra says

    Some of my favorites :

    Stromboli,Roberto Rossellinni
    The Easy life, Dino Risi
    To Be or Not to Be, Ernst Lubitsch
    The Gold Rush, Charlie Chaplin
    Nosferatu, F. W Murnau
    M, Fritz Lang
    The Seven Samouraïs, Akira Kurosawa
    The son's room, Nanni Morreti
    Rosemary's baby, Roman Polanski
    The Exterminating Angel, Luis Buñuel

    Living in Oblivion, Tom DiCillo
    Solaris & Stalker,
    AccueilStarsToutes les starsRussieAndreï Tarkovski
    Andreï Tarkovski

  25. Cassandra says

    Sorry, meant to say :

    Solaris & Stalker, Andreï Tarkovski

    and I forgot

    The fearless vampire killer, Roman Polanski
    Cría cuervos, Carlos Saura

  29. Turquoise blog says

    59. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Father of the Bride
    Anna Karenina
    The Parent Trap
    Groundhog Day
    Driving Miss Daisy
    The Devil Wears Prada
    The Duchess
    The Princess Diaries
    The Bridge on the River Kwai
    A Room with a View
    Funny Face
    Get Smart
    The Breakfast Club
    True Grit
    Inception
    Motorcycle Diaries
    Under the Tuscan Sun
    Dumbo
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    About a Boy
    Argo
    Star Wars
    Sense and Sensibility
    Wimbledon
    Shakespeare in Love
    Four Weddings and a Funeral
    Notting Hill
    An Affair to Remember
    Beauty and the Beast
    My Fair Lady
    We Bought a Zoo
    Midnight in Paris
    August Rush
    Out of Africa
    Casablanca
    Die Hard
    The Lion King
    Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Les Miserables
    Snow White
    The Princess Bride
    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
    Cinderella
    The Sound of Music
    Roman Holiday
    How to Steal a Million
    The Last of the Mohicans
    The Incredibles
    The Adjustment Bureau
    Pride and Prejudice
    The Notebook
    Titanic
    Good Will Hunting
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
    1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

  35. giorgioleone says

    Salve a tutti, sono Italiano, è la prima volta che partecipo a questo blog. Volevo esordire dicendo che a mio modestissimo parere tra le primissime posizioni mancano: "i sette samurai" di Kurosawa, "Luci della ribalta" di Charlie Chaplin, "Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo" e "C'era una volta in America" di Sergio Leone. Mi sembra strano che non ci siamo questi capolavori assoluti, pezzi d'oro della storia cinematografica. ps: prometto che a breve commenterò in inglese 😉

  37. Jeremy says

    I've been intending to get this here when I first saw the blog post. Alas, I'm only a year late. 🙁

    Here is my list. I try to pop a rating in IMDB right after I see a movie. This leaves me with a mixture of blockbusters, classics and obscure foreign films. I included year and director because I preferred different versions. (As somebody who loved Dahl books, I found Burton's style seemed to be perfectly suited to his books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)

    https://jeremysbike.blogspot.com/2014/01/top-100-movies.html