1. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
2. Pinocchio (1940)
3. Toy Story (1995)
4. WALL-E (2008)
5. Spirited Away (2002)
6. Bambi (1942)
7. Fantasia (1940)
8. Finding Nemo (2003)
9. Pocahontas (1995)
10. Toy Story 3 (2010)
My Ballot: Obviously in a way I'm cheating here, as I'm first off listing movies not made in the United States (Spirited Away) and secondly I'm listing at least a couple of movies that weren't available on the ballot when this came out in 2008. The reality is, though, that animation has become such a pivotal part of the industry that this list would have, at the very least, a much lengthier ballot of contenders to get on the list now. It's also, because of animation's links to childhood, one of the more personal ballots-depending on when you grew up, that could greatly impact what made it onto your list (particularly if you grew up post the VHS, when Disney became a staple of the home media market). That said, I stand behind Beauty and the Beast as my favorite movie here-it's pretty much a perfect love story, and the Menken/Ashman music is flawless.
1. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
2. Lost in Translation (2003)
3. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
4. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
5. Roman Holiday (1953)
6. Annie Hall (1977)
7. It Happened One Night (1934)
8. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
9. The American President (1995)
10. My Man Godfrey (1936)
My Ballot: Here's the thing when it comes to truly greatest films of all-time lists-it's difficult to let your own personal histories with movies get out of the way so that you can say a movie, objectively, is better than another one. Romantic comedies, in particular, because of how we associate them with that most irrational of topics (love), are rife with movies that were a formative part of your development (hence While You Were Sleeping making this list when a technically superior movie like City Lights is missing). That said, I love all of these movies unabashedly, and feel bad I didn't have room for City Lights, Sabrina, Notting Hill, and a few other titles.
Western1. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
3. The Searchers (1956)
4. No Country for Old Men (2007)
5. Shane (1953)
6. Legends of the Fall (1993)
7. Unforgiven (1992)
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
10. McClintock! (1963)
My Ballot: Looking through this ballot, and the long-list for the AFI, I'm struck by how many classic westerns I've never seen, which is strange as this is a genre that has grown into genuinely being one of my favorites as I've gotten older (there's a lot more there there in these tales than initially met the eye when I first started getting into film). As a result, my #10 here is another nod to my childhood as I watched this movie with my family ad nauseam even though I can surely think of "better" westerns (though I like that there's at least one comedic western on this list). You may also quibble with #6, particularly thinking in what universe is it better than Unforgiven or Butch Cassidy, but the heart wants what it wants. Still, though, that Top 5 is pretty much beyond reproach in my mind-five of the best films ever made.
Sports1. Raging Bull (1980)
2. Everybody Wants Some!!! (2016)
3. Field of Dreams (1989)
4. Jerry Maguire (1996)
5. Battle of the Sexes (2017)
6. Bull Durham (1988)
7. The Fighter (2010)
8. Rocky (1976)
9. Good News (1947)
10. A League of Their Own (1992)
My Ballot: This is where my genre snobbery rears its ugly head the most as I find most sports films to be, well, rather tedious. This is how a movie from 2017 manages to break through when normally it'd take a lot more time for such a picture to land here. I will say that Rocky probably deserves a higher perch, but I haven't seen it since I was a teenager (I'll revisit soon, as it keeps popping up in pop cultural conversations), and it might go up on the list here. The #1 film, though, is hard to argue with, as Raging Bull remains one of Martin Scorsese's most significant achievements.
1. Chinatown (1974)
2. Vertigo (1958)
3. Touch of Evil (1958)
4. Laura (1944)
5. Blow-Up (1966)
6. The Third Man (1949)
7. The Thin Man (1947)
8. Clue (1985)
9. Cache (2005)
10. Rebecca (1940)
My Ballot: This is sort of the exact opposite of sports flick in terms of genre snobbery, as mysteries are my favorite type of movie. All of these movies would be on my Top 100 films, and I'm still at pains to not list Se7en, The Lady from Shanghai, and The Usual Suspects. My personal tastes sneak up a bit with Clue, of course, and to a lesser degree Cache (though that's a classic at this point, right?), but I could easily have created a second list of ten here before I would have hit most of the sports films in my own personal favorite movies.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-03)
2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
3. Harry Potter Film Series (2001-11)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
5. Peter Pan (2003)
6. Matilda (1996)
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
8. Babe (1995)
9. King Kong (1933)
10. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
My Ballot: Again, this is a personal ballot so a few of these films are more focused on movies that were part of my formative years rather than ones that are "technically" excellent, and it's also where I reveal that The Wizard of Oz is a movie I respect, but don't particularly love. I stuck with the AFI's "Live-Action Only" definition here so Beauty and the Beast doesn't make the list, and I'm actually struck by how much LOTR/HP have clouded my genre bias here, as I usually profess to liking Fantasy more than I probably do, as most of my favorite "fantastical" pictures are actually Science-Fiction.
1. Children of Men (2006)
2. Jurassic Park (1993)
3. Minority Report (2002)
4. AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
7. Back to the Future (1985)
8. Gravity (2013)
9. Avatar (2009)
10. Melancholia (2011)
My Ballot: I feel a little bad looking at this list that I have slightly let the effects-driven films take control here, as there's no movie prior to the Kubrick dual landmarks 2001 and A Clockwork Orange, but it has to be said that Science-Fiction movies are definitely more common in our current age than they were in Classical Hollywood. Spielberg shows up three times, which feels about right, and I find room for three recent movies I would have included in the Best Picture race, though their longtime love I'm still debating internally (I don't revisit them often, but adored all three in theaters).
1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Touch of Evil (1958)
3. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
4. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
5. Some Like It Hot (1959)
6. On the Waterfront (1954)
7. GoodFellas (1990)
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
9. The Usual Suspects (1995)
10. The Departed (2006)
My Ballot: This is where I weigh in that, yes, I like the first Godfather better than the second, though it's always worth pointing out we're arguing over whether diamonds or rubies are better here. Otherwise, I was surprised to see more gangster films in my personal Top 100 list, though you don't always think of Some Like It Hot or On the Waterfront as gangster films upon first blush. The Departed probably could have made way for something like White Heat, but it wears well in my memory, particularly the supporting performances of Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg, and Scorsese deserves more than one entry on this list.
1. Nashville (1975)
2. The Sound of Music (1965)
3. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
4. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
5. Cabaret (1972)
6. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
7. My Fair Lady (1964)
8. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
9. West Side Story (1961)
10. Oliver! (1968)
My Ballot: Okay, I cheated, but honestly I don't love a single solitary Courtroom Drama in a major way except maybe To Kill a Mockingbird, and I had seen so few of the major contenders on that ballot that I felt it would be disingenuous to throw together a list there (I've added five more titles to my Netflix queue to rectify the situation). Musicals, on the other hand, were done by the AFI a different year and see how lovely these titles are-all wonderful movies, completely without complication in being put on a "best of" list. I feel fine with it-if you have courtroom drama recommendations, call me out in the comments.
1. The English Patient (1996)
2. Titanic (1997)
3. Gone with the Wind (1939)
4. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
5. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
6. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
7. Reds (1981)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
9. Ben-Hur (1959)
10. Apocalypse Now! (1979)
My Ballot: The AFI's definition of an epic feels, well, hit-or-miss as it's steeped in history except when it's not, it's large movies except when it's not, it's based in reality except when it's not. All-in-all, I think it's just REALLY BIG movies, the ones that are considered marquee pictures, which I do feel all ten of these are (I wavered on The Godfather Part II, but the AFI included it as an option so I stuck with it...I would have gone with The Man Who Would Be King in 10th if it wasn't eligible for the curious). This is a list of truly wonderful movies, though, so I don't feel bad even if the rules appear a bit loosey-goosey.
And there you have it-my own interpretation of a ten-year-old television special. These were all fun to make, so have at it in the comments!
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