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Good Movies

I'm not a professional movie reviewer. I'm a regular guy who likes to watch movies. I have actually seen the movies here and liked them for one reason or another. They are not all Oscar caliber, nor are they presented in order of greatness, merely alphabetically. This is not a definitive list of the best movies of all time, just good choices for entertainment. You're free to make your own list if you disagree. Suggest a movie you've seen if you like. Movie names are linked to their Internet Movie Database listing.

The Ongoing Big List

Title Brief Description
2001: A Space Odyssey About the only sci-fi movie where space behaves like space.
Adaptation Improbable sequel to Being John Malkovich.
Aliens Gritty and believable sci-fi horror film.
Amelié Ethereal and French, what's not to like?
American Astronaut, The Insanely terrific, super low budget, gritty space/western/musical.
American Beauty Defines the American corporate experience second only to Office Space.
American Graffiti Music, cars and George Lucas. Who knew that could be a good combo?
American Splendor Biopic of esoteric cartoon writer Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti is outstanding.
Animal House Classic college grossout humor.
Apocalypse Now Artful and disturbing. I'm not related to Robert Duvall.
Army of Darkness Low budget, low tech high impact sci-fi. Better than a hundred Star Wars movies.
Bananas I suspect this film may be closer to reality than most of us realize
Being John Malkovich A bizarre and wonderful concept. Like a good Twilight Zone episode, only more so.
Best in Show Better than many actual documentaries. Christopher Guest is a genius, but Eugene Levy steals the show.
Bicycle Thief, The A rare insight into post-war Italy.
Big Lebowski, The Maybe the single greatest source of memorable lines in a movie. Great cast and soundtrack.
Blade Runner A dim view of the future that is probably more along the lines of what we can expect to see.
Blazing Saddles Learn the difference between Hedley Lamarr and Hedy Lamarr.
Blues Brothers, The After seeing it more than 300 times, I know every line of this movie.
Boogie Nights Established Mark Wahlberg as something other than a white rapper.
Bowling for Columbine We live in a very screwed up society.
Brazil It seems as though we are getting closer to this every day.
Bridge on the River Kwai, The An all star cast.
Bullitt One of the greatest car scenes of all time.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid A thoughtful and artistic interpretation of the Western.

Caddyshack

 Among the first and the best slacker films.
Casablanca No movie list is complete without this one. Great in any case.
Charade Probably the best fake Hitchcock movie. Impressive cast.
Chinatown A better thriller than any modern blood-drenched attempts in this genre.
Christmas Story, A Jean Shepherd's nostalgic tribute to his own childhood. Terrific sets and cast.
Christmas Vacation Goofy but a tradition in my family. Cousin Eddie exists in every family.
Clash of the Titans A bit cheesy but a paragon of my childhood.
Clockwise One of John Cleese's best solo films.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind Filmed mere miles from where I grew up.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Who knew that Chuck Barris was so cool?
Cool Hand Luke I'll never eat several dozen eggs without thinking of this movie.
Crumb Documentary of cartoonist Robert Crumb and his highly disfunctional family.
Cyrano de Bergerac French epic done in a way impossible to replicate in the US.
Danny Deckchair A fun and quirky Australian story about a guy who floats away to a new life.
Das Boot A German submarine patrols the Atlantic in WWII
Delicatessen Disturbing view of an alternate future borne of an alternate past.
Diarios Motocicleta A powerful and inspiring trip by two young men through South America in 1952.
Do the Right Thing Powerful cast and outstanding soundtrack.
Doctor Zhivago The classic saga of a Russian poet/doctor during the Bolshevik revolution.
Dog Day Afternoon Al Pachino at his best.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb An absolute masterpiece. It's impossible not to see similarities in the current administration.
Dumb & Dumber Say what you like—this is comic genius.
Ed Wood Highlights the cheesy and wonderful career of a truly strange person.
Edward Scissorhands Wonderfully imaginative and visually impressive. Johnny Depp set his abilities apart with this film.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Another masterpiece from the brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
Fahrenheit 9/11 Provides concrete reasons for most of humanity to regard the Bush administration with fear and suspicion. As if we need any more.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Possibly the best Hunter S. Thompson story put on the big screen. Depp and Del Toro are terrific. A Terry Gilliam master work.
Fish Called Wanda, A Great cast and storyline. K-K-K-Ken's going to k-k-k-kill me!
French Connection, The The first of the 70s gritty cop movies. Popeye Doyle is an outstanding character name.
Godfather, The Chances are you've already seen it and know why it's great.
Godfather: Part II, The Same as above.
Gojira (Godzilla) See the original 1954 version. It's quite a serious statement on the advent of the nuclear age.
Good, The Bad and the Ugly, The THE spaghetti western.
Grapes of Wrath, The A rare instance where a movie is as classic as the book.
Great Escape, The Loaded with stars. McQueen's motorcycle scene is outstanding.
Groundhog Day Brilliant stuck-in-time theory. Way ahead of its time.
Happy Gilmore If only for the scene with Bob Barker.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Terrific soundtrack and story of a transgender rock star.
I Heart Huckabees An existential journey through a number of strong characters.
The Incredibles The peak of digital animation, an unusual effort in that it has a good story and good charactersn not to mention great design.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Great casting and a good comeback from a poor second film of the series.
In-Laws, The See the original 1979 version, not the more recent remake
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World A superstar cast. Rat Race is a recent sort-of remake.
Jabberwocky Very Terry Gilliam.
Jaws The definitive modern monster movie. Great cast and action.
Jean de Florette A man from the city tries to make it as a farmer in rural France. See it in French.
Jerk, The Steve Martin at his best.
Kelly's Heroes A hippy WWII movie, if you can imagine such a thing.
Kingpin Be careful not to get "Munsoned".
Life of Brian The way it probably happened. Now look at the mess we're in.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, The Almost as good as the books. The only way they could be better is to add about 40 hours to the footage.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Great special effects, but an actual storyline too. George Lucas should take note.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Try seeing the extended versions of all three. It's not just fluff.
Magnificent Seven, The Supergroup of cowboys. Owes a lot to Akira Kurosawa.
Manchurian Candidate, The See the original 1962 version. Frightening at the time, but something even more insidious is actually in power know.
Manon de Sources Sequel to Jean de Florette.
Mars Attacks Tim Burton's take on alien attack movies of the 1950s.
M*A*S*H A hippy Korean War movie. Better than the TV series.
Metropolis Amazing film for its time in the silent era.
Midnight Cowboy Terrific soundtrack, cast and acting. I can't get Harry Nilsson's music out of my brain.
Mon Oncle Post-war France in a whimsical technological light.
Monty Python's Holy Grail A very quotable and silly film that will leave you dateless under most conditions.
Motorcycle Diaries, The A powerful and inspiring trip by two young men through South America in 1952.
My Life as a Dog Lasse Halstrom's unique view of growing up in 1950s Sweden.
Napoleon Dynamite Kooky life in Idaho. Some of the best credits in the industry.
Network Corruption and scandal in network news. Another one of those films that is probably closer to reality than we can imagine.
Night on Earth Simultaneous tales of life in several cities as only Jim Jarmusch can do.
North By Northwest All star cast in a classic Hitchcock film.
O Brother Where Art Thou? Spectacular soundtrack and great cast.
Office Space A view of the modern work environment that is all too familiar. Mike Judge has our current society down pat.
Old School Sorta cheesy, but a lot of fun. Frank the Tank.
On the Waterfront The genius of Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Does Nurse Rayched remind anyone else of Condi Rice?
Operation "Y" A funny 1960s Soviet comedy from Leonid Gaidai. Everyone knows this film in the former Soviet Union.
Pirates of the Carribean I think the only Disney movie on the list. Good in any case.
Pollock Biopic of painter Jackson Pollock.
Point, The A thought-provoking story and whimsical music by Harry Nilsson. Timeless, non pandering kid's show.
Princess Bride, The Fantastic bedtime story. Extra bonus is Peter Falk as narrator.
Producers, The The source of the successful Broadway show.
Punch-Drunk Love Adam Sandler in a serious and neurotic role.
Purple Rose of Cairo, The An inventive film where movie characters break the fourth wall and walk out of celluloid into the depression era.
Raging Bull De Niro really becomes boxer Jake LaMotta.
Raiders of the Lost Ark Great classic action movie. A bit hokey in parts but stands the test of time.
Raising Arizona My cousin watched this movie on a near daily basis with his infant son.
Reservoir Dogs More psychological and a better storyline than Quentin Tarantino's later and more gratuitous movies.
Royal Tenenbaums, The Magnificent cast and story. Could be watched repeatedly.
Rubin and Ed Gustav Mahler, a frozen cat, Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman assemble for a great adventure.
Rushmore Another quirky movie from Wes Anderson and his formidable cast.
Saving Private Ryan Bloody, gory, big budget, but still compelling.
Shadow of the Vampire Masterful and creepy behind the scenes story of the making of Nosferatu.
Shot in the Dark, A Spectacular cast, story and music. The best Pink Panther film.
Sideways Paul Giamatti excelling at what he does best.
Sleeper Some of this film is starting to come true. Like the reference to eating meat turning out to be good for people.
Spartacus Sure it's long, but this is classic Hollywood at its height.
Stranger Than Paradise John Lurie, Eszter Balint and Richard Edson richly populate this sparse Jim Jarmusch film.
Stripes Another great, goofy and fun movie. The urban assault vehicle was inspiration for the Ford Excursion.
Super Size Me A regular guy makes a $65,000 film and takes on the biggest fast food enterprise on the planet. Genius.
There's Something About Mary Goofy and terrific. Franks and beans.
Three Kings Great cast, direction and story of post Gulf War Iraq.
Time Bandits Terry Gilliam playing with time and paradox.
To Kill a Mockingbird Another one that is as good as the book.
Topkapi A stylish and swanky early 1960s caper film.
Tora, Tora, Tora I know that more modern war movies have better sets and effects, but this one gets the history right.
Trading Places Everything about this movie is great. Enough said.
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Bogart goes insane with greed.
Truman Show, The A thousand TV hacks mined this film for so-called "reality" TV.
Twelve Monkeys The best use of time travel in any film. Creates a perfect paradoxical time loop.
Usual Suspects, The Great twists in a suspenseful and uncomfortable film.
Waking Ned Divine British comedy about a town coming together to win a lottery sweepstakes.
What About Bob? Nutty and neurotic, never fails to make me laugh.
Wild Bunch, The A violent, crusty cowboy film.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Genius performance by Gene Wilder, great music and imagination
Wizard of Oz, The Great music, great sets, great casting, great effects, an all around great movie
Young Frankenstein Another Mel Brooks masterpiece.

 
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