Here's a ranking of my favorite 100 movies of all time so far. For good measure, I tried to include a justification of why I like the movie in five words or less, in addition to the critic and audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes for reference.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Relatable asshole, unique comic rock
(Critic score: 84%, Audience score: 82%)
Good Will Hunting - Violent hooliganism and life lessons
(Critic score: 98%, Audience score: 94%)
Hot Rod - Daringly committed to pure humor
(Critic score: 39%, Audience score: 64%)
Nacho Libre - Jack Black: a national treasure
(Critic score: 40%, Audience score: 54%)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Everyone should play hooky sometimes
(Critic score: 81%, Audience score: 92%)
The School of Rock - Authentic, substitute teacher GOAT
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 64%)
The Iron Claw - All wrestling movies are great
(Critic score: 89%, Audience score: 94%)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines - High energy, apocalyptic bad assery
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 89%)
Big Fish - Tim Burton’s only good film
(Critic score: 76%, Audience score: 89%)
Back to the Future - Plot holes? Where we’re going…
(Critic score: 96%, Audience score: 94%)
Dead Poets Society - A love letter to poetry
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 92%)
Napoleon Dynamite - Perfectly captured small-town Idaho
(Critic score: 72%, Audience score: 74%)
Baby Driver - Edgar Wright's criminal(ly) underrated triumph
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 86%)
Whiplash - Jazz, passion, abuse, heart
(Critic score: 94%, Audience score: 94%)
I Love You Man - Best romcom ever: a bromance
(Critic score: 83%, Audience score: 74%)
Yes Man - Overly idealistic, but hilariously inspiring
(Critic score: 46%, Audience score: 66%)
A Knight's Tale - Most quotable "period piece" ever
(Critic score: 59%, Audience score: 79%)
Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood - Meta acting, flamethrowers, soup cans
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 70%)
The Sandlot - Childhood captured in abandoned lot
(Critic score: 64%, Audience score: 89%)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi - Best Star Wars, don't @me
(Critic score: 82%, Audience score: 94%)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - Nic and Pedro: A Romance
(Critic score: 87%, Audience score: 87%)
Sky High - Unapologetically itself, teenage Disney superheroes
(Critic score: 73%, Audience score: 57%)
Guardians of the Galaxy - Marvel's best characters, soundtrack, jokes
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 85%)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse - Apparently we needed animated Spider-Man
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 93%)
Forrest Gump - Iconic exploration of rewriting history
(Critic score: 71%, Audience score: 95%)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Higher highs, lower lows sequel
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 87%)
The Dark Knight - Heath Ledger, Heath Ledger, Heath
(Critic score: 94%, Audience score: 94%)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Best iteration of Ninja Turtles
(Critic score: 96%, Audience score: 90%)
La La Land - Nearly makes LA look livable
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 81%)
The Karate Kid - Johnny did nothing wrong
(Critic score: 82%, Audience score: 89%)
Rushmore - Anderson's less aesthetic storytelling masterpiece
(Critic score: 89%, Audience score: 91%)
Midnight in Paris - Paris: a great main character
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 83%)
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - Dynamic grand ocean adventure + Bowie
(Critic score: 57%, Audience score: 82%)
Oppenheimer - Near perfect movie (for me)
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 91%)
Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino unleashes on Nazis
(Critic score: 89%, Audience score: 88%)
Fight Club - Caught me completely off guard
(Critic score: 79%, Audience score: 96%)
Office space - Few comedies hold up better
(Critic score: 80%, Audience score: 93%)
Silence of the Lambs - Favorite horror, best written villain
(Critic score: 96%, Audience score: 95%)
My Dinner With Andre - My favorite “boring” movie
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 85%)
Pulp Fiction - Every scene is somehow iconic
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 96%)
Good Burger - Not sorry, quintessential goofy 90's
(Critic score: 34%, Audience score: 63%)
The Big Lebowski - All-star trio, better every watch
(Critic score: 83%, Audience score: 93%)
Mr. Deeds - idc, Sandler can be funny
(Critic score: 22%, Audience score: 59%)
Deadpool - Unfiltered timely antihero superhero
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 90%)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Travelling + the purpose of life
(Critic score: 52%, Audience score: 71%)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Fat kid story we needed
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 91%)
Into the Wild - Awe inspiring cautionary tale
(Critic score: 83%, Audience score: 89%)
Lady Bird - Somehow incredibly authentic despite cliché
(Critic score: 99%, Audience score: 79%)
1917 - Most compelling cinematography, brotherly love
(Critic score: 89%, Audience score: 88%)
The Godfather Part I - The best crime movie ever
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 98%)
The Darjeeling Limited - Broken white brothers travel India
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 95%)
Saving Private Ryan - Star-studded, gritty war take
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 95%)
Joe Dirt - White trash: a love story
(Critic score: 10%, Audience score: 63%)
Heavyweights - Fat KIDS story we needed
(Critic score: 29%, Audience score: 77%)
Slumdog Millionaire - Creative storytelling, unflinching slums showcase
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 90%)
The Incredibles - Underrated film, pre-superhero craze
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 75%)
The Shawshank Redemption - Justice satisfyingly served (sometimes)
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 98%)
Life of Pi - Visually stunning, “impossible” to make
(Critic score: 86%, Audience score: 84%)
Boyhood - Truly epic, genuine sentimental childhood
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 80%)
Get Out - Psychological horror in racist form
(Critic score: 98%, Audience score: 86%)
It - Unique story of ruined childhood
(Critic score: 86%, Audience score: 84%)
Superbad - Perfect first half, classically raunchy
(Critic score: 88%, Audience score: 87%)
The Interview - Canceled before release? Must watch
(Critic score: 51%, Audience score: 48%)
Disaster Artist - Surprisingly humane; anyone can moviemake
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 85%)
Jojo Rabbit - Coming-of-age Nazi humor
(Critic score: 80%, Audience score: 94%)
Marriage Story - Spoiler: divorce is the villain
(Critic score: 94%, Audience score: 85%)
Nomadland - A non-glorification of simple living
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 82%)
Kingsman: The Secret Service - Inject church scene, my veins
(Critic score: 75%, Audience score: 84%)
Goodfellas - Decent Community “Chicken Fingers” spoof
(Critic score: 96%, Audience score: 97%)
Thor: Ragnarok - Finally. Thor done right
(Critic score: 93%, Audience score: 87%)
Avengers: Infinity War - Marvel’s Empire Strikes Back
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 91%)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Glad they never made sequels
(Critic score: 79%, Audience score: 86%)
Birdman - “Impressive” is understating it
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 78%)
The Breakfast Club - Mold breaking high school classic
(Critic score: 89%, Audience score: 92%)
Reservoir Dogs - "The Middle" is forever tainted
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 94%)
Schindler's List - Liam Neeson's breakdown >>>
(Critic score: 98%, Audience score: 97%)
Parasite - On point suspense, surprising depth
(Critic score: 98%, Audience score: 90%)
Knives Out - Murder Mystery, yet post-Murder Mystery
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 92%)
Holes - Just as charming as book
(Critic score: 78%, Audience score: 76%)
Hook - Pure childhood adventure bliss
(Critic score: 29%, Audience score: 76%)
The Holdovers - Paul delivers GOAT Christmas movie
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 92%)
Wayne's World - Surprisingly endearing, meta party rock
(Critic score: 79%, Audience score: 84%)
October Sky - Inspiring West Virginia rocket boys
(Critic score: 91%, Audience score: 88%)
Brigsby Bear - A multi-layered improbable success
(Critic score: 82%, Audience score: 86%)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - A very forgetful love story
(Critic score: 92%, Audience score: 94%)
21 Jump Street - Unexpectedly on the nose humor
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 82%)
The Peanut Butter Falcon - Flawed yet forgivable, perfect storytelling
(Critic score: 95%, Audience score: 96%)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - Unapologetic, grotesque, cringey, perfectly timed
(Critic score: 85%, Audience score: 62%)
The Truman Show - Most paranoia inducing film ever
(Critic score: 95%, Audience score: 89%)
The Pianist - Watch Brody experience Poland's death
(Critic score: 95%, Audience score: 96%)
Come and See - Can’t ever unsee; brutalized childhood
(Critic score: 97%, Audience score: 95%)
The Matrix - Bad trilogy, groundbreaking sci-fi
(Critic score: 88%, Audience score: 85%)
The Harry Potter movies - Charming, does justice to books
(Average critic score: 85%, Audience score: 82%)
Django Unchained - Unapologetically brutal in satisfying ways
(Critic score: 86%, Audience score: 91%)
UHF - Someone gave Weird Al a camera
(Critic score: 61%, Audience score: 77%)
SLC Punk! - Anarchy in the conservative SLC
(Critic score: 63%, Audience score: 89%)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Finally a great biopic
(Critic score: 83%, Audience score: 81%)
The Motorcycle Diaries - Che Guevara: a love story
(Critic score: 83%, Audience score: 92%)
Friendship - Someone gave Tim Robinson a camera
(Critic score: 88%, Audience score: 73%)
100. Bullet Train - Enjoy; don’t be a diesel
(Critic score: 54%, Audience score: 76%)
Honorable mentions (#101-125 in alphabetical order) A Goofy Movie, Angels in the Outfield,
BASEketball, Civil War, Die Hard, Donnie Darko, Free Solo, Get Out, Home Alone, Inception,
Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Interstellar, No Country for Old Men, Paddington, Pokemon:
The First Movie, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Remember the Titans, Robin Hood, Shaun of
the Dead, Shrek, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Swiss Army Man, The Prestige, Three Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri, Top Gun
Lastly, I also made a list of movies that might just make some people mad. Here’s some movies that a lot of
people liked or that I heard were really good but didn’t love them when I saw them. In short, I think they're
overrated.
-American Psycho
-Anything done by Mel Brooks
-Anchorman
-Blade Runner
-Bohemian Rhapsody
-Caddyshack
-Dumb and Dumber
-Dune
-Elf
-Fargo
-Galaxy Quest
-Ghostbusters
-Joker (1 & 2)
-Jurassic Park/Jurassic World (besides the first one)
-Nightmare Before Christmas
-Princess Bride
-Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
-The Shape of Water
-The Social Network
-Zoolander
If you also didn’t like some of these movies, let me know and we can bond over it.
