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Revelation 22: So, the Best 100 Movies of the Past 25 Years are...

Friday, July 4, 2008



For those of you who are reading the baseball list, understand that my warrant about that Top 100 is distinct from this list. I have only rudimentary knowledge of film, really limited to the United States; I feel stronger on documentaries than fiction, stronger on the quality of sports films than other types of fiction - this list is a product of multiple posts deconstructing the Entertainment Weekly list of the Top 100 movies since 1983. I think my list is better than theres, but, honestly, that's all the warrant I'll give it.

I'm currently at 159 on my baseball list. When I get to the top 100, I am flat going to say that is the definitive list of the best 100 major league baseball players who ever lived.

With that - this isn't in any order outside of the top 10; perhaps I'll rank them beyond that at some point, that point will not be today.

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Do The Right Thing
3. Boogie Nights
4. Raising Arizona
5. Adaptation
6. Say Anything
7. JFK
8. Clerks
9. Silence of the Lambs
10. Fahrenheit 9-11.

And the rest, again, in no particular order.
-Blue Velvet
-True Romance
-Philadelphia
-Saving Private Ryan
-Platoon
-Waiting for Guffman
-Hannah and Her Sisters
-Crimes and Misdemeanors
-Goodfellas
-Full Metal Jacket
-Swimming to Cambodia
-Die Hard
-Bull Durham
-Dangerous Liaisons
-Midnight Run
-A Fish Called Wanda
-This is Spinal Tap
-Barton Fink
-Millers Crossing
-Bob Roberts
-Election
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
-The Color of Money
-Crumb
-Hearts of Darkness
-Bowling for Columbine
-American Movie
-Hoop Dreams
-Roger&Me
-When We Were Kings
-Why We Fight
-Murder on a Sunday Morning
-The Thin Blue Line
-Magnolia
-Swingers
-Shawshank Redemption
-Rushmore
-Lost in Translation
-Heathers
-Memento
-Lone Star
-Stop Making Sense (yeah, I know this is the 12th doc. and I said I'd limit it to 10, I lied)
-Better off Dead
-What Happened Was
-Breaking the Waves
-When Harry Met Sally
-Wag the Dog
-American Beauty
-Fight Club
-Three Kings
-Pleasantville
-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
-Being John Malkovich
-The Spanish Prisoner
-House of Games
-Glengarry Glen Ross
-Death of a Salesman
-You Can Count on Me
-Dazed and Confused
-Leaving Las Vegas
-The Player
-Short Cuts
-Rain Man
-The Accidental Tourist
-Broadcast News
-Reservoir Dogs
-The Princess Bride
-The Usual Suspects
-The Truman Show
-Risky Business
-The Big Chill
-The Right Stuff
-L.A. Confidential (I think this is #100, were I to make a change, this is the film that loses its spot. In my head, Brazil, Donnie Darko, The River's Edge all all sitting just outside the list, I could probably be convinced to swap any of them in this spot)
-Prizzi's Honor
-Sex, Lies, and Videotape
-No Country for Old Men
-Fargo
-Natural Born Killers
-The Grifters
-Donnie Brasco
-Boyz n the Hood
-The Fisher King
-Unforgiven
-Thelma and Louise
-Quiz Show
-The Departed
-In the Company of Men
-Go
-Sideways
-The 40 Year Old Virgin

5 comments

Blog said...

Since the final 90 are in no particular order, and I appreciate order, here's that list redone in alphabetical order:

A Fish Called Wanda
American Beauty
American Movie
Barton Fink
Being John Malkovich
Better off Dead
Blue Velvet
Bob Roberts
Bowling for Columbine
Boyz n the Hood
Breaking the Waves
Broadcast News
Bull Durham
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Crumb
Dangerous Liaisons
Dazed and Confused
Death of a Salesman
Die Hard
Donnie Brasco
Election
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fargo
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Fight Club
Full Metal Jacket
Glengarry Glen Ross
Go
Goodfellas
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hearts of Darkness
Heathers
Hoop Dreams
House of Games
In the Company of Men
L.A. Confidential
Leaving Las Vegas
Lone Star
Lost in Translation
Magnolia
Memento
Midnight Run
Millers Crossing
Murder on a Sunday Morning
Natural Born Killers
No Country for Old Men
Philadelphia
Platoon
Pleasantville
Prizzi's Honor
Quiz Show
Rain Man
Reservoir Dogs
Risky Business
Roger&Me
Rushmore
Saving Private Ryan
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Shawshank Redemption
Short Cuts
Sideways
Stop Making Sense
Swimming to Cambodia
Swingers
The 40 Year Old Virgin
The Accidental Tourist
The Big Chill
The Color of Money
The Departed
The Fisher King
The Grifters
The Player
The Princess Bride
The Right Stuff
The Spanish Prisoner
The Thin Blue Line
The Truman Show
The Usual Suspects
Thelma and Louise
This is Spinal Tap
Three Kings
True Romance
Unforgiven
Wag the Dog
Waiting for Guffman
What Happened Was
When Harry Met Sally
When We Were Kings
Why We Fight
You Can Count on Me

Still can't believe that "Backdoor Sluts 9" didn't make the cut.

Jim said...

My list, admittedly, contains a shocking lack of porn. Another flaw.

Blog said...

Looking forward to your followup list of the top 100 porn movies of the VHS era in the near future.

Anonymous said...

You forgot Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace

Jim said...

On Star Wars - there's reasonable agreement, right, as to the 2 best of the 6 films:

Star Wars
Empire

One could argue which was 1 and which was 2, but I'm right that there's broad agreement about the top two.

Jedi was in the relevant time period, so all of the last 4 films were eligible for the list.

I didn't consider any of them; I don't think I'd call any of them good movies, but how is it that one would rank them?

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