Five Star Cinema

On his blog yesterday, Joe Posnanski listed his Top 100 films of all-time. I was impressed.  Not with the quality of the films he selected, and I would share his views on many of them.  No...I was impressed with simply being able to sit down and come up with a Top 100 list of films.  There are so many to choose from, and the mind sometimes forgets the odd classic here and there.  And I love movies in general, so paring it down to just 100 (or 50 or 20 or, gasp, 10!) would seem to be an impossible task for me.

Then I remembered something.  I'm an obsessive rater.  I'm constantly rating and re-rating films on sites like IMDB.  The rule is: if I look something up on IMDB, I rate it.  That's it.  Easy peasy.  Aha...but there are a lot of films that I've seen that I've never looked up for one reason or another.  And I'm certainly not going to go spend a week doing that now.

Then I remembered something else.  I already have.  Not on IMDB, but on Netflix.  You see, when we first got a Netflix account I spent a weekend going through their database rating everything that I've seen.  Why?  Because they have an internal logic function that reviews what you have rated and comes up with new suggestions all the time.  I have no idea how some of them come up based on what I've seen, but there it is.   The rating system is pretty simple:

• 1 star = Hated it
• 2 stars = Didn't like it
• 3 stars = Liked it
• 4 stars = Really liked it
• 5 stars = Loved it

So I went to my Netflix account and simply looked at all my rated titles.  3,771 of them, if you must know.  And I picked the ones that I had rated with 5 stars.  Now, this doesn't mean that I think all of these films are the works of artistic genius.  It's just how I felt in that particular millisecond that I was rating them.  Take the first film on my list...The 13th Warrior.  It's pure cheese and I'm not sure Antonio Banderas is convincing as an Arab nobleman at all, but I love it.  I love anything that plays with mythology and old tales.  So it gets 5 stars in my book.  For the record, I gave it 8 out of 10 stars on IMDB using their rating system. 

I only included theatrical releases here.  No made-for-TV films or television shows. No documentaries either, as I had a bunch of them rated with 5 stars too.   And it made for a nice tidy list of 218 films.  Are they all masterpieces?  No way.  Some of them are not even close.  And I have to believe that there are a bunch that I'm missing.  Especially some of the older titles.  I don't know if Netflix just isn't carrying them or I skipped over them for some reason.  Either way, I'm not going back and re-doing this.  No way.

So feel free to review this huge list and let me know what you think.  Do any of them stand out one way or the other?  Any you have questions about?  Any of these you are dying to see?  Any of these choices that disgust you?  Was this a huge waste of time?  Speak up!

Earl's 218 Five Star Films

• The 13th Warrior (1999)
• 300 (2007) 
• Absence of Malice (1981) 
• After Hours (1985) 
• Alien (1979) 
• Aliens (1986) 
• Almost Famous (2000) 
• Amadeus (1984) 
• American Graffiti (1973) 
• Armageddon (1998) 
• Arthur (1981) 
• As Good As It Gets (1997) 
• Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) 
• At Close Range (1986) 
• Badlands (1973) 
• Batman Begins (2005) 
• Best in Show (2000)
• The Big Lebowski (1998) 
• The Big Sleep (1946) 
• Big Trouble in Little China (1986) 
• The Birdcage (1996) 
• Black Hawk Down (2001) 
• Black Snake Moan (2007) 
• Blade Runner (1982) 
• Blazing Saddles (1974) 
• Blue in the Face (1995) 
• The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 
• Braveheart (1995) 
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 
• Broadcast News (1987) 
• Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) Le Pacte des Loups 
• Bull Durham (1988) 
• Burn After Reading (2008) 
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 
• The Cable Guy (1996) 
• Casino Royale (2006) 
• Charlie Wilson's War (2007) 
• A Christmas Story (2005) 
• Cinderella Man (2005) 
• A Clockwork Orange (1971) 
• Cloverfield (2007) 
• Cool Hand Luke (1967) 
• Crimson Tide (1995) 
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Wu Hu Zang Long 
• The Crow (1994) 
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) 
• Dances With Wolves (1990)
• The Dark Knight Returns (2008) 
• A Day at the Races (1937) 
• Dazed and Confused (1993) 
• Dead Snow (2009) Død Snø 
• The Dead Zone (1993) 
• Death at a Funeral (2007) 
• The Deep (1977) 
• The Departed (2006) 
• Desperado (1995) 
• The Devil's Rejects (2005) 
• Die Hard (1988) 
• Diggers (2006) 
• Diggstown (1992) 
• Dr. Strangelove (1964) 
• Eight Men Out (1988) 
• F/X (1986) 
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) 
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) 
• A Few Good Men (1992) 
• Field of Dreams (1989) 
• Fight Club (1999) 
• A Fish Called Wanda (1988) 
• The Fog (1980) 
• Foul Play (1978) 
• Frankenstein (1931) 
• The French Connection (1971) 
• Frontiers (2007) Frontière(s) 
• Full Metal Jacket (2007) 
• Get Shorty (1995) 
• Ghostbusters (1984) 
• Ginger Snaps (2000) 
• Good Morning, Vietman (1987) 
• Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) 
• Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) 
• Groundhog Day (1993) 
• Halloween (1978) 
• Hard Boiled (1992) Lat sau san taam 
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) 
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 
• Heat (1995) 
• Heist (2001) 
• Hero (2002) Ying Xiong 
• Hidden Fortress (1958) Kakushi-toride no san-akunin 
• High Fidelity (2000) 
• A History of Violence (2005) 
• Home for the Holidays (1995) 
• House of Flying Daggers (2004) Shi mian mai fu 
• The Hunt for Red October (1990) 
• The Hurt Locker (2008) 
• The Hustler (1961) 
• In Bruges (2008) 
• In the Line of Fire (1993) 
• In the Valley of Elah (2006) 
• The In-Laws (1979) 
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 
• Inside Man (2006) 
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 
• Iron Man (2008) 
• It Happened One Night (1934) 
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) 
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 
• Jaws (1975) 
• Jerry Maguire (1996) 
• Kill Bill: Volume I (2003) 
• Kill Bill: Volume II (2004) 
• A League of Their Own (1992) 
• Let the Right One In (2008) Låt den rätte komma in 
• Lethal Weapon (1987) 
• The Lookout (2007) 
• Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 
• Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) 
• Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 
• Léon, The Professional (1994)
• Mad Max (1979) 
• A Man for All Seasons (1966) 
• Meatballs (1979) 
• Michael Clayton (2007) 
• Midnight Cowboy (1969) 
• Midnight Run (1988) 
• The Mist (2007) 
• Monkey Business (1931) 
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 
• Moonstruck (1987) 
• Murder By Death (1976) 
• The Natural (1984) 
• A Night at the Opera (1935) 
• Nighthawks (1981) 
• Nil by Mouth (1997) 
• No Country for Old Men (2007) 
• Nosferatu (1929) Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens 
• Notting Hill (1999) 
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) 
• Office Space (1999) 
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 
• Ordinary People (1980) 
• Parenthood (1985) 
• Payback (1999) 
• The Philadelphia Story (1940) 
• Pitch Black (2000) 
• Platoon (1986) 
• The Prestige (2006) 
• Primary Colors (1998) 
• The Princess Bride (1987) 
• The Producers (1968) 
• Psycho (1960) 
• Pulp Fiction (1994) 
• Quarantine (2008) 
• The Quiet Man (1952) 
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 
• Rain Man (1988) 
• Ratatouille (2007) 
• Remember the Titans (2000) 
• Reservoir Dogs (1992) 
• The Road Warrior (1981) 
• Rocky (1976) 
• Romper Stomper (1992) 
• Ronin (1998) 
• Rounders (1998) 
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 
• Runaway Train (1985) 
• Say Anything (1989) 
• The Searchers (1956) 
• Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) 
• Serenity (2005) 
• Seven Samurai (1954) Shichinin no samurai 
• Sexy Beast (2001) 
• Shaun of the Dead (2004) 
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 
• The Shining (1980) 
• Shortbus (2006) 
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 
• Silverado (1985) 
• Sin City (2006) 
• Sixteen Candles (1984) 
• Snatch (2000) 
• Sneakers (1992) 
• Sorcerer (1977) 
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) 
• Stand by Me (1986) 
• Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) 
• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 
• The Sting (1973) 
• Stripes (1981) 
• Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) 
• Superbad (2007) 
• The Terminator (1984) 
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 
• The Thing (1982) 
• This is Spinal Tap (1984) 
• Three Days of the Condor (1975) 
• Trainspotting (1996) 
• Trick 'r Treat (2008) 
• True Grit (1969) 
• Unbreakable (2000) 
• Unforgiven (1992) 
• The Usual Suspects (1995) 
• V for Vendetta (2005) 
• The Warriors (1979) 
• When Harry Met Sally (1989) 
• White Heat (1949) 
• The Wicker Man (1973) 
• Witness (1985) 
• The Wizard of Oz (1939) 
• The World According to Garp (1982) 
• The Wrestler (2008) 
• Wyatt Earp (1994) 
• X2: X-Men United (2003) 
• Yojimbo (1961) Yojimbo 
• Young Frankenstein (1974)

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