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
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.
