TheDOMINATOR's Top 100 Favorite Films

Thanks for the compliments, guys, and I'm glad you all agree with some of my recent picks from these last couple of sets. More of my list to come later tonight after I get home from class, and I'm getting to the point now where I've seen each of the entries at a bare-minimum of three times each, some well over five times. As far as my liking for each title, from here on out it's going to be intense (not that it hasn't been already, from the start, but...you know what I mean, heh).

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My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100

Keep up the list man really enjoying seeing your list and seeing the similaritys between our tastes

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Dom, I think that may just be the best 5 film section I've ever seen in one of these. Sir, I doff my hat to you.

Sweet! Thanks, honeykid. It's good to see another fan of Christine out there (from what I see, it gets a fair amount of flack), and the same goes for The Relic. Also, Best of the Best is a pretty off-the-radar kind of movie, so I'm double glad to hear your feedback regarding that film. It's a pretty powerful and very entertaining movie, huh?

35. The Grapes of Wrath
(John Ford, 1940)



My favorite actor of all time--Henry Fonda--delivering one of the greatest performances of his career (and perhaps one of the greatest performances in any movie, period). He is so magnificent to watch; how he completely loses himself in the characters he plays, and how he completely brings the script (his dialogue) to life. In my opinion, Henry Fonda should be a role model for all aspiring young actors. Oh, and did I mention the movie itself aside from Mr. Fonda's performance is truly unforgettable?


34. Fight Club
(David Fincher, 1999)



Ahh...Fight Club. This was one of the titles I had the most trouble placing in my list when it was still under construction. At one point, I had it in the upper 40's, and at another point, I had it somewhere in the mid-to-upper 20's. Then, finally, I settled with it here at the #34 spot. I've seen it more than once (twice, I think) and absolutely love it, but I'm just not sure it's going to stand the test of time and hold up with, say, ten rewatches. I'm gambling by saying that I will, but there's so much going on here; so much narration to listen to and a big twist that I already know is coming...I have to be in just the right mood to watch it. But when I am, it's one of the best.


33. The Evil Dead
(Sam Raimi, 1981)



I'm no film expert, but I'd be willing to say that, subjectively, The Evil Dead might be the best horror film ever made, and is certainly in my Top 5 of the genre. The cinematography is just about flawless; the make-up (and other) effects are genuinely scary to behold in the context of the movie; and the atmosphere and tone of the film is crisp, eerie, and chilling on level rarely seen today. Everything that makes a good horror movie is present here, well above and beyond the call of duty.


32. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
(Jay Roach, 1997)



It's all been said in my other two Austin Powers mini-review/explanations, baby! Want me to say it again? How 'bout nooo. I love it; it's truly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and probably ever will see.


31. The Mist
(Frank Darabont, 2007)



Similar to Fight Club, I had extreme difficulty finding a concrete place for The Mist in my Top 100. It's truly an unforgettable film-viewing experience, but will it hold up with several future rewatches over time? Like Fight Club, it has a larger-than-life twist at the end that I'll see coming each and every time now (obviously), but is it good enough to keep me sucked right in time and time again? I've watched this movie twice, and both times it did, so here's to hoping for the future. As it stands now, The Mist almost cracks my Top 30, but who knows--maybe that will change when I do a second edition one or two years from now.

Awesome for Fight Club and The Mist.

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Fight Club will hold up fine Dom, it does for me anyway. I've seen it well over ten times. The Mist is OK, but Fight Club has such great dialog to accompany the twist at the end that it will always be pretty enjoyable. I says.

I love the inclusion of Evil Dead. They made that flick on such a nothing budget and the fact that it was banned in several countries will always keep that flick near and dear to my heart. I still chuckle a bit every time I think about old Sam Raimi and that flick and then he became this God like director of Spiderman. Love that.

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Love seeing The Mist, Evil Dead, and Fight Club on there. All three are great movies, and will probably make my next list I do.

Yay for Evil Dead, Fight Club, and Austin Powers. All are great movies, Fight Club being my fave of them.

I've not met too many people who think too badly of Christine. Now, maybe that's just because, for a Stephen King adaptation, it's a bloody good film. I think that 10-15 years ago it may well've crept onto a top 100 list of my own. Less likely now, but still possible.

The Relic is just a damn fine, good fun monster flick. Nothing more. It suprised me actually, because I thought that it'd be dumb and crap and that Mimic would be the good monster film (they came out very close together if you remember) but it turned out to be the other way around.

I think that I was just at the right age when I first saw Best Of The Best. It's certainly a hell of a lot better than most films like that and, thanks to Cynthia Rothrock, Chuck Norris and JCVD there were quite a few of them in the mid 80's to the early 90's. It does have an emotional impact at the end too, you're right. I love that bar scene, when Eric Roberts comes in, sees there's a fight going on and, as he walks over just punches the guy approaching him, without breaking stride.

As for those five being the best though, I think it was also because they're obviously all so personal too. OK, The Terminator and FDTD are on a great many people's lists, but they fit well with the other three. I think that all five are great fun. All five are films I really like (which rarely happens anyway) and, not one of them, was a classic.

One of the good things about many of these 100 lists is that they're not just rearranging the same 100-150 films over and over again. I don't keep seeing the great directors over and over again and I like that. If that makes me a philistine then so be it but, for me, there's not much pleasure in seeing virtually the complete filmographies of Lean, Kubrick, Fellini and the rest, with a few choice cuts of some other great directors and a couple of tailenders to complete the 100. That's what the 'official lists' are for IMO. I've been around long enough to have a really good idea of what the 100 best ever made films are. I would think that most of us do and there's nothing wrong with having them in these lists but I think that, if most of your list is films such as those, then you really need to watch something more fun.

I guess it's not really right, but I think I probably think better of people who know about film but who'll tell you their favourite film is Platoon or something silly or trash like "...And Now The Screaming Starts" than someone who knows about film and has 8 1/2 or The Bicycle Theives or something like that as their favourite.

Anyway, I think I've hijacked your thread enough Dom, sorry about that, I went off on a tangent. On with the show.

The Bicycle Thief and 8 1/2 are excellent films, and I could understand if someone would place either one at the top of their list. Some people have been 'entertained' with the common everyday film so much that it's the films with emotional or artistical impact that truly counts as entertainment for them.

There are people who believe in the auteur, they prefer to see certain films by certain directors because their themes, cinematic techniques, and emotional impact are above and beyond the common everyday film. The 'fun' films are pretty well all the same when you stand back and take a good look at them. And when you've actually seen a good portion of films dating back to the cinema's inception you start to realize that the majority of these 'fun' films are in fact just borrowing/stealing styles and themes from the original.

Fun films, as you put it honeykid are all good, but do they ever leave you thinking about them once the credits roll, rarely. The films that to me are considered great are the films that have me thinking about them long after FIN comes on the screen. I would watch 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001 more times before I would ever wish to be forced down Clockwork Orange style and made to watch something 'fun' like say oh I don't know, Charlie's Angels again; which in my opinion was never fun to begin with.

Entertainment is subjective.

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I agree with both of you. Good stuff sirs, except the Charlie's Angels part. I do in fact enjoy that flick quite a bit. Different strokes and all.

It wasn't that bad, I'll admit it (). Just trying to annoy honeykid. In fact I know how to annoy honeykid even more: "So honeykid, when are you going to make a top ten list? We're waiting." Now the sequel, ugh!

From what I remember it was alright, nothing that really made me take notice.

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The first one is definitely better than the second. Especially the music. Just a fun popcorn flick.

What's this talk about Charlie's Angels? That isn't on my list.

You didn't hijack it at all, honeykid; I greatly appreciate your input. Well said, and agreed regarding most or all of your points.

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I had planned on posting another set of five tonight, but I got wrapped up in another affair and now I won't have the time. That being said, be on the lookout for more of the list tomorrow.

Above I was not criticizing anyone's choice of films on their list, but rather my intent was to challenge those who feel just because someone would choose five Kubrick films (I have four myself) to place in a top 100 doesn't make them any less sincere than someone who wouldn't. In fact I believe that to be ridiculous.

30. Donnie Darko
(Richard Kelly, 2001)



An intensely thought-provoking film that has continued to wrack my brain time and time again, with each and every time I watch it. The exploration of the concept (or, in this case, the philosophy) of time travel is something I take great interest in, especially when it's present in movies, and in Donnie Darko, it's not only present, but it's the central theme which drives the story.


29. An American Werewolf in London
(John Landis, 1981)



Hands-down, the three best werewolf movies I've ever seen (or should I say, my top three favorites) are Bad Moon, The Howling, and this: An American Werewolf in London, and I like American Werwolf the most of all three of them. The Howling may contain the coolest and scariest-looking werewolf of the three, but what makes An American Werewolf in London better than the others overall is its completely unique concept of the wolf-like beast: its victims come back as ghost-like entities, stuck in Limbo, haunting the person (the werewolf) who killed them. The make-up is so expertly done here, it leaves me cringing in my seat, and although The Howling's werewolf beats it out in looks, American Werewolf has the coolest transformation scene ever.


28. Raiders of the Lost Ark
(Steven Spielberg, 1981)



I agree with mark f: it's the greatest action/adventure of all time! Admittedly, this is one of the very few films in my list that I've only seen once, but judging from my initial viewing, I know for a fact that it's only gonna get better with future rewatches.


27. It's a Wonderful Life
(Frank Capra, 1941)



My favorite Christmas-themed movie. It has a certain charm and atmosphere about it that I've never encountered before, and it is so incredibly uplifting that I find myself in a profound state of joy after each and every time I watch it. It's a Wonderful Life is truly a treasure to behold.


26. The Day the Earth Stood Still
(Robert Wise, 1951)



I love the concept: a human-looking alien comes to Earth to send a message--a warning--and threatens us with deadly force if we do not adhere to his words. How everything plays out and unfolds is a marvel to watch, the performance and dialogue being just about flawless.

NEXT UP: The Top 25.

Yay for An American Werewolf in London! And the others, those are five of my faves.

Yeah, I didn't say any of that.