My Favorite Movies: #80-61

As we move up into this section of the list, I do feel that there is a quality plateau – there are quite a few movies that I would rate around the same from the #100-#60 range.

#80 – Watchmen

Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel Watchmen is regarded as one of the greatest works of fiction for good reason. His deconstruction of the superhero was ahead of its time, and since then, hundreds of copycats have been published to try and capture the magic of Watchmen. Few succeed, simply because with Watchmen as a comparison point, they do not measure up. I thought that this film was incredible upon first watch, because it is well-cast and well-acted, and also because it was my first experience with the story. Now that I have read the graphic novel it adapted, I understand the critiques of fans (and Alan Moore himself). But I still think this movie stands out as an excellent work of fiction, and that it has clearly earned its high spot on this list. It is not a movie I rewatch often, but when I do, I always spot new things and notice new connections.

I do watch this movie with VidAngel or ClearPlay, as there are some scenes I prefer not to see. But removing them does not detract from how well-done this film remains.

#79 – Death on the Nile

Another controversial film, but in my opinion another fantastic one. I explained my feelings on Branagh’s take on Poirot on my previous list, with A Haunting in Venice coming only four places behind this one at #83. Most of those comments remain the same here, but this movie has a couple more twists and turns and an emotionally draining but well written tragic storyline. This is a mystery story I am sure to revisit more than once in the future.

#78 – Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode III has been all over this list. It’s been everywhere from the bottom to way higher up near the top. For a long while, it was actually above the original trilogy. As I have stated before, I unapologetically love the Prequel Trilogy despite its flaws. And this movie has the fewest number of problems of the three.

However, it is held back by some truly insane character whiplash. I have spent quite a bit of time defending this, justifying it, but in the end a fact resonates with me when I think about the movie – if I have to spend so much energy justifying a director’s choice, it’s likely because the director did not do enough to make it justifiable. And that is certainly the case here. All of that being said – the novelization of this movie by Matthew Stover makes Anakin’s fall real and justifies it well. It is one of my favorite books of all time, and when reading it back to back with watching the movie it is easy to forget the film’s flaws.

This movie is here because I love it. It is an excellent story, a well-written tragedy, and it captures a lot of what I love about Star Wars. I truly believe it deserves this spot, but I don’t think I can put it higher. At least not now. Maybe next time, though!

#77 – Prince of Egypt

The placement of some movies on this list feels exactly right. The placement of a select few make me want to scrap the whole list and restart. I’ve said this for a few other movies but I find it very, very difficult to believe that Prince of Egypt is this low. But, looking above, I believe it is correctly placed, at least for now.

Whenever I talk about biblical film adaptations, I reference the three films that I believe are the gold standard. Passion of the Christ, Nativity Story, and Prince of Egypt, with The Ten Commandments as a close runner up. Of the three, only Passion of the Christ is not on this list, despite the fact that it is the movie of which I have the fewest criticisms (The Ten Commandments is also not on this list, mostly because I have only seen it once and there is so much going on there that I would most certainly need to rewatch it before ranking it).

Prince of Egypt has excellent messaging, great voice acting, an unbelievably good soundtrack, and tells the story of Moses respectfully, capturing modern Christian beliefs and integrating them with the film to create an excellent witness for the viewer. The only thing that holds this movie back is its typical decision to portray Moses in the fictional folk hero style that modern media loves to glorify, and completely shelves Aaron. He’s in this movie, but plays the role of minor antagonist for some reason? They did Aaron dirty here, and it is probably the only reason this move isn’t higher in this list.

#76 – Inside Out

I once heard that Pixar’s idea room went a bit like this:

Toy Story: What if toys had feelings?

A Bug’s Life: What if bugs had feelings?

Finding Nemo: What if fish had feelings?

Cars: What if cars had feelings?

Inside Out: What if FEELINGS had feelings?

Inside Out is a fascinating movie that takes allegory and puts it center stage. It is probably one of the most clever uses of allegory I have ever seen, and it shines brightly for its usage of characters, world-building, and real-life situations to portray a young girl’s reactions to changes in her life. Everything the characters experience in this movie has a one-to-one connection with the “real world”, and it makes for an excellent story. It will certainly be interesting to see what Modern Disney has in store for us for the sequel!

#75 – Greatest Show

This movie was much, much lower for a long time. But upon revisiting, it deserves its slot here. I love (most of) the music in the movie, and the character of P.T. Barnum, no matter what you think of the man that inspired the character, is excellent. The movies themes on acceptance, loyalty, risk and reward, love, and family are very, very well done. Upon the movie’s close, viewers are left with a concrete understanding of what The Greatest Show truly is. It is an excellent movie with a brilliant ending that gives me chills to think about.

#74 – It Happened One Night

I have a love for classic movies that could not be made in today’s cultural climate, and It Happened One Night certainly fits this bill. But there is just so much to love about this film. The lone and arrogant wanderer who is also a good person, the Taming of the Shrew, the development of their relationship – it is a very successful combination.

#73 – Harry Potter: Half-Blood Prince

This is my favorite book in the Harry Potter novel, and my third favorite movie. The developments in this story are excellently written, and the movie most certainly does them justice.

#72 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The third Indiana Jones movie is also one of the best. I wrestled for a little bit as to whether or not I would put this over the original, but the choice ended up being pretty clear – this movie is as good as it is because the first was so incredible. Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones coupled with a legendary director and a Johnny Williams score is the perfect recipe for a great movie, and this film is a testament to that.

#71 – The Suicide Squad

I struggle with The Suicide Squad. I mean, it’s high up on this list. Very high. But the violence in the film is so gratuitous that I almost didn’t put it on here at all. Some love this movie because of the violence and crude James Gunn humor. I love it in spite of that. At its core, this is a good movie. A very good one. The characters are well-developed, the story is unexpected, and James Gunn continues to prove that he can take the most obscure characters and make them excellent. I have not been a fan of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in the past, but this movie sold me on her performance. This film gives me hope for the future of superheroes – as long as James Gunn can keep his adolescent streak at bay and focus instead on creating more world-class fiction, his new DC universe has the potential to be one of the best superhero franchises out there.

#70 – West Side Story

Something that comes with this list is a personal connection to each film. These are my movies – the niche I’ve carved out for myself in the fictional world. West Side Story is surprisingly high on this list for me, because I don’t have nearly as much of a personal connection to it as most of these other films. In fact, I have never watched it and walked away thinking “wow, that movie was incredible”, something I have done with some of the other movies below it. But when I look at its placement, I definitely wouldn’t change it. Because this movie is amazing. To take a complex Shakespearean tragedy, one of the greatest works of fiction of all time, and instead of just adapting it use its framework to create one of the greatest films of all time is like lightning striking the same place twice.

West Side story shines for a lot of reasons, but one of the most (if not the most) significant one is the music. It has an incredible soundtrack, and includes legendary songs in its musical repertoire.

#69 – Galaxy Quest

Galaxy Quest is such a good movie. The premise is gold, and the casting was perfect. There’s a lot here to love, but as a sci-fi/Star Trek fan, you’ll love it even more – there are just so many great Easter Eggs and plays on sci-fi tropes. This is a movie that starts off with the impression that it is simply going to be satire, and ends up being a well-written story with great characters that brings up some interesting discussion points about the genre it is unapologetically a part of.

#68 – Spider-Man 2

Many people I know say that this is the best (Peter Parker) Spider-Man movie. They’re probably right. It’s not the highest on my list, but I completely understand why it ranks so high on others. This is easily one of the best portrayals of particularly Doc Oc, and the story here is more nuanced and well-developed than most superhero films out there. This movie is not higher on this list for me because A. As I said with the first Spider-Man film, I have trouble taking Toby McGuire seriously and B. I vehemently dislike this portrayal of Mary Jane. Other than that, this movie is very, very good!

Also, this era has hands-down the best live action Spidey suit, still.

#67 – Star Wars IV: A New Hope

The first Star Wars movie is still one of the most classic films of all time. George Lucas struck a goldmine that has net billions upon billions of dollars with his Star Wars movies, for good reason. These first three films made cinematic history, and still remain classics today.

#66 – Back to the Future 3

A fun list to make would be a list of the best trilogies, specifically ones where all three movies are either good or excellent. Back to the future falls in the latter category – all three are excellent. Because of that, it’s hard to rank them, but I am pretty confident with where they landed. The best way to describe these movies is just to say that they are fun. They don’t try to be super deep – they don’t need to be. Instead, they are just fun time travel flicks that you can enjoy again and again. This one and 2 are veeeery close to one another. They could easily be flipped, and after a rewatch of the series, they may be. But as of now, this one remains just a hair lower than 2, not of any fault of its own, but because 2’s premise is just a tad more interesting for me.

#65 – Back to the Future 2

Talking about both of these movies back-to-back is interesting because it’s more or less one continuous review. 2 is a little bit higher than 3 simply because I greatly enjoyed the alternate future approach this movie used. Both of these movies could easily have been higher, but they are held back slightly by the absolutely bizarre choice to give Marty McFly a massive debuff – he now becomes one of the most irresponsible individuals in the time-stream whenever someone calls him a “chicken.” This came out of nowhere and is simply used as a plot contrivance to move the story along, and that is just a tad bit lazier writing than I like in my fiction.

#64 – Interstellar

Some love this movie, some hate it. It certainly has caused a lot of controversy, especially near release. One of Nolan’s biggest misfires with this movie was purporting it to be “completely scientifically accurate”. Because it wasn’t, and it caused Quite the stir. But, as a work of fiction playing by its own rules, I think this movie was incredible. It has its flaws, but the characters and discussions about life and the expansion of mankind were excellent. It is a movie that I will not rewatch often, but will certainly watch multiple times and enjoy it every viewing.

#63 – Up

This is, perhaps, the least rewatchable of the Pixar movies. But it’s not because it is bad – it is because it hurts. This movie is beautiful and heartbreaking while teaching core truths about family, love, relationships, and moving on. It is the chief example, in my opinion, of Pixar’s beautifully emotional storytelling.

#62 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

This is SUCH a good movie. The first three Pirates films are absolute classics – I love them quite a bit. The magic of the first one is very, very difficult to surpass, and the following two managed to breathe on their own by not attempting to rehash the first one (something future installments suffered from). Dead Man’s Chest is a fantastic film with great action scenes and high quality effects, as well as solid characters, engaging plot lines, and some absolutely excellent acting.

#61 – Murder on the Orient Express

The first Branagh Poirot film is also the strongest, likely because the story it is based on is so compelling. It was the first of the new brand of mystery movie I mentioned in Glass Onion – take a star-studded cast and make them suspects in a classic mystery tale. Murder on the Orient Express has been criticized for a few reasons, but one of the most significant would be its portrayal of Poirot. I have talked about this before, but I believe Branagh’s take on Poirot shines in this film, and that his first outing was incredibly successful. I look forward to seeing this series continue!

Next week, we’ll look at #60-41! We’re nearing the end of this list, but it has been so much fun to tackle! The following list will be #40-21, and then I will tackle the top 20 in two separate lists.

I look forward to continuing to tackle these, and figuring out what to do when this well runs dry!