72films

Not in any order except numerical…

1. The Sting – A wonderful and complex story that satisfied a young and hungry mind.

2. 2001 A Space Odyssey – A big bang mind expander with the greatest scene transition in the history of film.

3. Sideways – Describe your life as a glass of wine.

4. Manhattan – Woody Allen’s hand written love letter to his favorite city.

5. Bull Durham – A love triangle between Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and baseball.

6. The Natural – A period piece that never was, but we wish were.

7. Field of Dreams – It’s all about playing catch with Dad.

8. Apollo 13 – NASA kicks ass with project management.

9. Best in Show – “He went for her like she’s made outta ham.”

10. Brian’s Song – “I love Brian Piccolo.” First movie that made me ball my eyes out.

11. It’s a Wonderful Life – Really, it is.

12. Titanic – Circumstance trumps the love of your life.

13. Lost in Translation – Two words: Scarlett Johannsen. Billy Murray was great too…

14. Forrest Gump – A mentally challenged man lives.

15. Pollock – The film opened my eyes to his art. Interviewer: “How do you know when you’re finished with a painting?” Jackson Pollock: “How do you know when you’re finished making love?”

16. The Lion King – When Megan was little we had the soundtrack. One day after she biked with me on a run, we got back into the car and the sad music of Mufasa’s death was playing. My little girl burst into tears and said, “Daddy, I don’t want you to die!” I’m still here, my girl.

17. Jaws – I still fear swimming in the ocean.

18. The School of Rock – “Dude, I service society by rocking, OK? I’m out there on the front lines liberating people with my music!”

19. Almost Famous – “Some people have a hard time explaining rock ‘n’ roll. I don’t think anyone can really explain rock ‘n’ roll. Except Pete Townshend, but that’s okay. Rock ‘n’ roll is a lifestyle and a way of thinking… and it’s not about money and popularity. Although, some money would be nice. But it’s a voice that says, “Here I am… and fuck you if you can’t understand me.” And one of these people is gonna save the world. And that means that rock ‘n’ roll can save the world… all of us together. And the chicks are great. But what it all comes down to is that thing. The indefinable thing when people catch something in your music.”

20. Batman – I still can’t understand why Jack didn’t win an Oscar!

21. A Beautiful Mind – Speaking of Oscar’s, how did Russell Crowe not win for this?

22. The Sound of Music – Do I need to explain this one?

23. Dirty Harry – “Do you feel lucky?”

24. The Outlaw Josey Wales – When Clint spits and squints, better run for dem hills…

25. The Road Warrior – Aussie classic of a post-apocalyptic Nascar/WWE mosh pit.

26. The Matrix – “Blue pill or the Red pill?”

27. Animal House – “Road Trip!”

28. Stripes – As you can see, I like my comedy dumb.

29. Austin Powers (all) – Never underestimate the power of mojo.

30. Airplane – Maybe my favorite comedy ever.

31. Walk th
e Line – Joaquin Phoenix is the Man in Black.

32. The Godfather – Not a big fan of violence, but this is a masterpiece. Clemenza: “Leave the gun. [pause] Take the cannolis.”

33. Memento – An ass-backward brain tease.

34. Groundhog Day – You know, Bill Murray keeps turning up in this list…

35. Life is Beautiful – An extraordinary human being finds the beauty buried under the darkness of the Holocaust.

36. As Good as it Gets – What if this is?

37. My Dinner with Andre – Just two guys having dinner. Riveting.

38. Dumb and Dumber – See: “Stripes” above.

39. Amadeus – Mozart: the first rock star.

40. Gattaca – “I was never more certain of how far away I was from my goal than when I was standing right beside it.”

41. Contact – A great Carl Sagan book with Jodi Foster in the lead role.

42. A Christmas Story – “Ralphie!”

43. Elf – “Call me Elf one more time!!!”

44. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind –

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It’s going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.

45. Stand By Me – “It’s like God gave you something, man. All those stories you can make up. And He said, this is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it. But kids lose everything unless there’s someone there to look out for them.”

46. Back to the Future – “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that, yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”

47. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – I love the little red UFO that’s always playing catch up.

48. Requiem for a Dream – Incredibly disturbing look at the hellish death heroin robs from life.

49. The Grapes of Wrath – The film helps us understand the frugality of a generation.

50. Apocalypse Now – Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” in Vietnam.

51. All the President’s Men – “Follow the money.” Chronicled the worst embarrassment in the history of the presidency… until now.

52. Rear Window – First of the genius Al Hitchcock’s films I saw.

53. The Usual Suspects – A plot twisted like shoelaces in bicycle spokes.

54. Young Frankenstein – Mel Brooks monochrome classic. “For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius.”

55. Raiders of the Lost Ark – When faced with a fancy, sword wielding nemesis, just shoot him.

56. The Song Remains the Same – Many a midnight showing for someone who never saw Zep. Um, Live Aid doesn’t count.

57. Magnolia – It’s not every day you see it raining bullfrogs.

58. Sling Blade – “I like them French fried potaters.”

59. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid –

Butch Cassidy: What’s the matter with you?
Sundance Kid: I can’t swim.
Butch Cassidy: (laughing) Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.

60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Jack Nicholson, superstar.

61. American Beauty – Kevin Spacey locked in life. “Look at me, jerking off in the shower… This will be the high point of my day; it’s all downhill from here.”

62. Dogma – Well, there’s Salma Hayek and plenty of great dialogue about the hipocracy of organized religion: “What He really hates is the shit that gets carried out in his name. Wars. Bigotry. Te
levangelism.”

63. Good Will Hunting – Local boys do well. “Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.”

64. This Is Spinal Tap – “These go to eleven.”

65. Lost in America – “You are no longer allowed to use the words ‘nest’ and ‘egg’ in the same sentence.”

66. Saving Private Ryan – A glimpse of why they were “the greatest generation.”

67. Cinema Paradiso – Just see it.

68. The Wizard of Oz – Scared the shit out of me when the lion was shouted down by the wizard and dove through that glass…

69. Finding Neverland – “I suppose it’s like the ticking crocodile, isn’t it? Time is chasing after all of us, isn’t that right?”

70. High Fidelity – Some autobiographical moments for sure. “The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway… I’ve started to make a tape… in my head… for Laura. Full of stuff she likes. Full of stuff that make her happy. For the first time I can sort of see how that is done.”

71. Lawrence of Arabia – Epic performance by Peter O’Toole.

72. Finally, all the Harry Potter films with my son Kyle.

What have I missed?