Aaron’s Top 100 Movies (2020 Edition)

Recently I made a major change to how I rate films, doing away with half-stars altogether in favor of a simplified system with only 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars as an option. My hope is that by taking away the additional complication of half-stars, I will be able to more accurately rate films on the first go-around. It’s no secret that I struggle with hype and I often find myself using half-stars only to scale ratings back when the end of the year rolls around and I take another look at them. Additionally, and more importantly, I’ve come to thoroughly embrace the conversations that we have about film online in places like our Feelin’ Film Discussion Group and in person at work. What I desire is for the words in my written reviews, on my podcast, or spoken in conversation to tell you more about my feelings for a film than the number assigned to it. To that end, simplifying my ratings means if you want to understand what distinguishes films in a certain group (say my 4-star rating) from each other, you’ll have to actually read what I have to say or… gasp… ask me about them.

With this change came a mass re-rating project, and after completing that and noticing that I am 2.5 years removed from my last Top 100 list, this was the perfect opportunity to give it an update. As always is the case, gray hairs emerged during this painful process as I tried to distinguish between beloved films. As always, my list is ever-changing, but this serves as a current reflection of my personal cinematic taste – a snapshot view of the cinephile that I am at this moment in time. I hope that as you read through this list you might be able to learn a little about who I am as a person by seeing what type of stories I love the most.

Note: For the purposes of this list, any film with an asterisk (*) after it represents its series or trilogy and is only used in cases where all films of the series are rated as 5-star. The arrows and numbers after each title them are just a fun little addition that shows a film’s movement since the last edition of this list. You can see the previous editions here:

2017 Top 100
2018 Top 100

This is my list. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

#1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *  —  —
#2 The Princess Bride 3
#3 It’s a Wonderful Life 1
#4 Top Gun 11
#5 Before Sunrise * 4
#6 Casablanca 3
#7 La La Land  —  —
#8 12 Angry Men 4
#9 The Last of the Mohicans 7
#10 Interstellar 4
#11 Die Hard 46
#12 The Lion King 40
#13 Jaws 5
#14 The Dark Knight 7
#15 Jurassic Park 2
#16 Toy Story * 2
#17 Your Name. 41
#18 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1
#19 The Prestige 8
#20 Beauty and the Beast 44
#21 Star Wars 7
#22 The Shawshank Redemption 19
#23 Sleeping Beauty 15
#24 Black Hawk Down 46
#25 Full Metal Jacket 13
#26 The Sound of Music 10
#27 Memento 40
#28 Lawrence of Arabia 9
#29 Titanic NEW NEW
#30 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 36
#31 The Wizard of Oz 11
#32 Children of Men 27
#33 Kill Bill * NEW NEW
#34 Singin’ in the Rain 11
#35 Groundhog Day 42
#36 Back to the Future 25
#37 The Departed 56
#38 Gladiator 13
#39 Mary Poppins 21
#40 The Social Network    
#41 The Nightmare Before Christmas 9
#42 Scream 1
#43 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl NEW NEW
#44 Hell or High Water 36
#45 Terminator 2: Judgment Day NEW NEW
#46 My Neighbor Totoro 1
#47 Fast Five NEW NEW
#48 The Incredibles 28
#49 Lost in Translation NEW NEW
#50 Gone Girl NEW NEW
#51 Blade Runner 2049 * 41
#52 Forrest Gump NEW NEW
#53 Tombstone 3
#54 Fight Club 20
#55 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs NEW NEW
#56 Happy Gilmore NEW NEW
#57 The Fault in Our Stars NEW NEW
#58 The Rock NEW NEW
#59 The Bridge on the River Kwai 15
#60 Se7en 31
#61 Armageddon NEW NEW
#62 Young Guns NEW NEW
#63 Avengers: Infinity War NEW NEW
#64 The Great Gatsby NEW NEW
#65 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade NEW NEW
#66 Alien 53
#67 Kubo and the Two Strings NEW NEW
#68 WALL*E NEW NEW
#69 Ex Machina 3
#70 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 35
#71 The Avengers NEW NEW
#72 The Cabin in the Woods 12
#73 Pitch Perfect NEW NEW
#74 The Hunt for Red October NEW NEW
#75 Inception 48
#76 Creed NEW NEW
#77 Wreck-it Ralph NEW NEW
#78 Reservoir Dogs 10
#79 Little Women NEW NEW
#80 How To Train Your Dragon NEW NEW
#81 Almost Famous 51
#82 Friday Night Lights NEW NEW
#83 TRON: Legacy NEW NEW
#84 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban NEW NEW
#85 Crazy, Stupid, Love NEW NEW
#86 Gravity NEW NEW
#87 Les Misérables NEW NEW
#88 Hamilton NEW NEW
#89 Con Air NEW NEW
#90 The Empire Strikes Back 44
#91 10 Cloverfield Lane NEW NEW
#92 Reality Bites 23
#93 Rashomon 60
#94 Vertigo 70
#95 Moon 10
#96 Rocky NEW NEW
#97 First Man NEW NEW
#98 Passengers NEW NEW
#99 Whiplash 21
#100 A Star is Born (2018) NEW NEW
  • It’s not unlikely for films to enter/leave/re-enter this list, but any film that has dropped out at one point and come back on is still designated as “NEW” just to keep things simple.

Link to list on Letterboxd

Like it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.


Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on the emotional experience he has with a film. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.

Aaron’s Top 100 Movies (2018 Edition)

In 2017, I created my first ever Top 100 Movies list. Many gray hairs formed, I’m sure, as I sat trying to distinguish between beloved films. It’s been almost a year since that list was published and I’ve now seen quite a few more classic films that managed to find their way into my heart and onto this list. As is the case for most folks, my list is ever changing, but this serves as a current reflection of my personal cinematic taste – a snapshot view of the cinephile that I am at this moment in time. My hope is that through this list you might be able to learn a little about who I am as a person by seeing what type of stories I love most.

Note: For the purposes of this list, any film with an asterisk (*) after it represents its series or trilogy. The arrows and number after them specify a film’s movement since the last edition of this list, in this case 2017.

This is my list. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

#1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *
#2 It’s a Wonderful Life 1
#3 Casablanca 31
#4 12 Angry Men 1
#5 The Princess Bride 1
#6 Interstellar 3
#7 La La Land 5
#8 Jaws 4
#9 Before Sunrise * 1
#10 Blade Runner * 1
#11 The Prestige 4
#12 Full Metal Jacket NEW NEW
#13 Alien 5
#14 Toy Story * NEW NEW
#15 Top Gun 1
#16 The Last of the Mohicans 1
#17 Jurassic Park 4
#18 Mary Poppins 60
#19 Raiders of the Lost Ark 14
#20 The Wizard of Oz 20
#21 The Dark Knight 1
#22 2001: A Space Odyssey 7
#23 Singin’ in the Rain 8
#24 Vertigo 6
#25 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 6
#26 Citizen Kane 18
#27 Inception
#28 Star Wars 44
#29 Rear Window NEW NEW
#30 Almost Famous 2
#31 The Silence of the Lambs 55
#32 The Nightmare Before Christmas 6
#33 Rashomon 36
#34 Fight Club 36
#35 Gone with the Wind 4
#36 The Sound of Music 25
#37 Lawrence of Arabia NEW NEW
#38 Sleeping Beauty NEW NEW
#39 The Exorcist 27
#40 The Social Network 1
#41 The Shawshank Redemption 18
#42 All About Eve NEW NEW
#43 Scream 19
#44 The Bridge on the River Kwai 9
#45 My Neighbor Totoro 9
#46 The Empire Strikes Back 11
#47 Unforgiven 9
#48 The Godfather 37
#49 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 26
#50 Tombstone 13
#51 Gladiator 14
#52 The Lion King 11
#53 The Thin Red Line NEW NEW
#54 The Iron Giant 9
#55 Seven Samurai 12
#56 McCabe & Mrs. Miller NEW NEW
#57 Die Hard 26
#58 Your Name. 42
#59 Children of Men 38
#60 Aliens 24
#61 Back to the Future 19
#62 Network NEW NEW
#63 Apocalypse Now 19
#64 Beauty and the Beast 23
#65 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 18
#66 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation NEW NEW
#67 Memento 9
#68 The Right Stuff 3
#69 Reality Bites NEW NEW
#70 Black Hawk Down NEW NEW
#71 The Blair Witch Project 25
#72 Ex Machina 16
#73 Dead Poets Society NEW NEW
#74 3:10 to Yuma 3
#75 The NeverEnding Story 20
#76 The Incredibles 25
#77 Les Miserables NEW NEW
#78 Whiplash 28
#79 Groundhog Day 3
#80 Hell or High Water 13
#81 Into the Wild 21
#82 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 34
#83 Warrior NEW NEW
#84 The Cabin in the Woods 59
#85 Moon 1
#86 Drive 59
#87 The Red Shoes NEW NEW
#88 Reservoir Dogs 34
#89 War For the Planet of the Apes NEW NEW
#90 The Shining 10
#91 Se7en NEW NEW
#92 The Wailing 13
#93 The Departed 41
#94 The Exorcism of Emily Rose 2
#95 Fargo 12
#96 Stalker NEW NEW
#97 Pacific Rim 42
#98 Arrival NEW NEW
#99 Silence 1
#100 The Perks of Being a Wallflower NEW NEW

Dropped Out: Armageddon, Batman Begins, Dr. Strangelove, Equilibrium, Finding Nemo, Forrest Gump, Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Inside Llewyn Davis, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, No Country For Old Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, Platoon, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Serenity, Short Term 12, The Breakfast Club, The Place Beyond the Pines, True Grit (2010), Young Frankenstein

Link to list on Letterboxd

Like it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.


Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on how his expectations influenced his experience. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.

Coming-of-Age: Our Favorite Films About Growing Up

coming-of-age:  the attainment of prominence, respectability, recognition, or maturity

As we prepared for our recent conversation about Almost Famous, we began to realize how deeply our affection for this genre of storytelling goes. The more we thought about it, many films that deal with the growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood resonate strongly with us. Perhaps it is because of the focus on dialogue over action, or the fact that many are set in past eras that we either enjoy remembering or like to visit. And perhaps it also has something to do with the positive nature of these tales. They rarely have a “villain” and almost always end in some kind of hope. Here at Feelin’ Film, that’s a recipe for goodness.

So, we decided as a staff to bring you a few words on some of our favorite coming-of-age movies. Please comment in our Facebook group or here on the blog and let us know what your favorites are… and most importantly, why.

Aaron (Reality Bites): I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t heard over heels in love with one of my absolute favorite coming-of-age stories, Reality Bites. This film is not usually mentioned among “the greats,” but upon its release in 1994 (which happened to be my Freshman year of high school) it captured my attention completely. While some may see this as just a tale of slackers and the precursor to what we now call hippies, there was something incredibly relatable about the characters and their struggle to find a place in a post-college world. One of the primary reasons I fell in love with Reality Bites was the dialogue. This introduced me to sharp, witty, and smart writing. It had characters that looked like just lazy bums but that clearly had high intelligence and deep emotions. It also launched a lifelong favoritism of Ethan Hawke as an actor. Throw in one heck of an awesome soundtrack for good measure, too. I’ve probably watched this film more than any other single coming-of-age tale and the character of Troy informed the intelligent sarcasm I sometimes spit today. If you missed this one or skipped over it, check it out. You might just be surprised.

Patrick (The Outsiders): This film was my first exposure into the coming-of-age movie genre, even though I didn’t know what that was at the time. It was a movie introduced via English class seeing as how it originated from a book. What drew me into the story though was this kid named “Ponyboy” Curtis, a guy whose struggle with identity, with wanting to be more than a greaser from the other side of the tracks, is a story that resonates with so many people, me included.  Identity, especially during adolescence is a huge question mark for a person. Ponyboy’s life is no different, but what I think makes him unique is his intentional fight to be defined by more than where he comes from, by more than the label he is attached to. He’s different from his brothers and his greaser friends. He writes, he likes poetry. In some ways, he and his relationship with Cherry Valance serve as the bridge between the Greasers and the Socs. At the same time, he says “I lie to myself all the time, but I never believe me.” He can’t get away from the life he has, but he can’t deny who he really is. It’s this duality that lives in a lot of coming-of-age stories, the struggle that comes from just growing up and losing the innocence of youth, being exposed to a world that is harsh and dishonest. But one of my favorite lines from the book and the movie comes from Ponyboy’s best friend Johnny, who reminds him to “stay gold,” to hold onto that youthful ideology and not let it change who you are. Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold!

Don (The Way, Way Back): Every so often, a little movie you didn’t see coming hits you square in the chest, surprises you for its quality, and completely satisfies the emotional investment and trust you put into it.  This effect is especially evident with the memorable coming-of-age films we grow to cherish.  That punch happened to me in 2013 with The Way Way Back.  It harked back to my own teenage shell and the motivators that helped me find the release of youthful exuberance that led to little life milestones.  When we watch a film like The Way Way Back, there’s a good chance we can all pinpoint one great summer, one great trip, or even one great week, where we broke through our own personal glass ceilings.  Mine was the summer of 1996 between my junior and senior years of high school where movie-going became my new place of solace to experience two-hour mini-vacations that took me away from real life.  That summer started my journey as a movie lover and I’ve looked back on it fondly since.

Steve (Can’t Buy Me Love): Not all quirky teen comedies from the 80’s are mired in the tradition of using boobs and butts as plot points to ultimately reach, well, nowhere really. Some actually dare to teach us something, as Can’t Buy Me Love (1987) does by stepping outside that formula. The story of Ronald Miller’s (Patrick Dempsey) rise from geekdom to chicdom, only to be outcast again when he’s called out as fake news, serves to remind us of the perils in navigating the choppy waters of high school cliques from upon a throne of deceit. So obsessed is Ronald in being able to play in the same sandbox as the cool kids, he’s willing to bankroll a faux friendship with the least attainable girl on campus, Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson); head cheerleader, suburban elitist, and poor negotiator of clothing store return policies. With his real friends barely an afterthought while he revels in his new found social status, Ronald essentially ensures he has nowhere to fall back upon as things begin to unravel. It takes a second stint as a social pariah to make Ronald understand that the line in the sand between “our side” and “their side” is a societal construct of immaturity and insecurity. That the kids we played in our treehouse with in elementary school would turn against us a few years later, using metrics such as the ‘ability to throw a football’ or ‘be seen in the trendiest fashions’ as measurements for assigning roles in the teenage caste system, speaks loudly even today in a society self absorbed in keeping up with the Jones’. The fact Can’t Buy Me Love understood this and tackled it thirty years ago, not as a cliche but as a cautionary tale, is significant. Ronald Miller’s journey to self awareness is not easy for him or those around him, but the lessons he gleans resonate, and the themes of the film remain culturally relevant to this day.

Jeremy (The Sandlot): Much of my childhood was defined by baseball. I remember the joy I felt watching the 1985 World Series, taking batting practice with my grandpa, being picked up from school early to watch the Kansas City Royals on opening day and my dad bare-handing a line drive foul ball at the College World Series to snag a souvenir. Considering this, it should come as no surprise that my favorite coming of age film is 1993’s The Sandlot. In The Sandlot, writer and director David Evans manages to find the perfect combination of 60’s nostalgia, the angst of being the new kidthe joy of belonging, childhood mythology, James Earl Jones and Wendy Peffercorn. As a shy kid who had found a place to belong on the diamond, The Sandlot spoke to me when I was young and has continued to remind me of simpler times as I’ve grown into an adult. And of course, who can’t remember a time where they got themselves in a pickle and needed a few buddies to help them out. 

Thanks for reading! We’re excited to hear your picks and stories.  – Feelin’ Film