All Time Favorite Movies

My blogger friends Trader-X and Mercado de Estocastica have listed their top 20 favorite movies of all time. So it's time for me to step up with my list. I noticed a lot of overlap amongst the three lists, so I guess we have consensus on a number of all time greats.

1. Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese, the master of organized crime films, is my favorite director and I could easily rank a few more of his films in my top 20.
2. Fargo - Coen Brothers - I like all of their films, Fargo is the one that I've watched over and over again.
3. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino - great movies with great soundtracks.
4. The Pianist - Roman Polanski - Here is another favorite director with a powerful look at the Holocaust.
5. Trainspotting - A controversial and fascinating look at youth heroin addiction in Scotland directed by Danny Boyle. Great soundtrack.
6. Collateral - Michael Mann makes very compelling films, Heat, Miami Vice, Ali, just to name a few.
7. Lost in Translation - directed by Sofia Coppola and staring one of my favorite actors/comedians - Bill Murray
8. Bully - Controversial director Larry Clark (Kids). Based on a true story, a compelling and highly watchable drama about naive teenagers determined to payback the bully for making their lives miserable.
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Foremen - Starring Jack Nicholson - If he's crazy, what does that make you?
10. The Godfather - Coppola's best - Brando at the height of his game and Al Pacino as a budding star. Organized crime always makes for great movie making and TV, for that matter, "The Sopranos", my favorite TV show, will feature Lindsay Campbell of Wallstrip fame in two episodes in the upcoming final season.
11. The Usual Suspects - Five Criminals . One Line Up . No Coincidence. Brilliant!
12. Nuovo Cinema Paridiso - A celebration of the everlasting magic of movies. A must see "feel good" movie for all you film buffs. (Italian with sub-titles).
13. Bob Roberts - Written, directed and starring Tim Robbins - a brilliant political satire about a corrupt right-wing folksinger running a crooked political campaign. Sounds corny, I know. Although it came out in the 90's its even more relevant today.
14. Small Time Crooks - Woody Allen - There's so many, its hard to choose but this one is very funny.
15. Fight Club - directed by David Fincher who also directed the film I saw last night - Zodiac - another winner. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton get together and form a cult like organization to vent their male aggression.
16. The Kid Says in the Picture - Best documentary film - The story of the infamous Robert Evans, Hollywood movie producer legend of the 70's. Narrated by Bob himself - great voice.
17. The Barbarian Invasions - directed by Denys Arcand. This is a local favorite filmed here in Quebec in french with english subtitles. It won the Oscar for best foreign film last year and picked up two major prizes at the Cannes film festival including Best Actress for Marie-Josée Croze. Steven Spielberg must have noticed, because he cast her as Jennette the Dutch assassin in his film, Munich. The title of the movie refers to 9/11 but the story is about death and dealing with past regrets.
18. Rushmore - Wes Anderson - with Bill Murray and one of the best soundtracks ever.
19. The Graduate - Dustin Hoffman's first and best and another great soundtrack.
20. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch - The best part about a David Lynch film is the after party where you get to discuss all the different interpretations of the dream within a dream. Some say it's best to see this one under the influence.