The Colonel's Countdown: The Complete Top 25 List

I invite you to include your entire personal favorites list in the comments below. A smaller list will suffice if you haven't put together a top 25.  

1. Jaws

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey

3. The Godfather, Part II

4. The Big Lebowski

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

6. The Third Man

7. The Lord of the Rings trilogy

8. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

9. The Godfather

10. Blade Runner

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (No. 1)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

1. JAWS (1975)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Why it's No. 1: It all comes back to "Jaws." It's the first movie I fell in love with, and it's the movie I've identified with summer since I can remember. For those of you who know me this is not exactly a surprising choice. In fact, it may seem a little too predictable. But there's no denying it, "Jaws" is the reason I love movies to begin with. If I were allowed to watch only one movie for the rest of my life, this would be it.

The Colonel's Countdown: "Controversial" Omissions

I was going to use this space to discuss in some depth movies I omitted from my Top 25 movies countdown and the list of 25 that missed the cut, but I just started writing about one movie in particular, "The Dark Knight," and I couldn't stop, mainly because I've been inspired by an argument I had with some friends -- including my two best friends and my fiancee! -- the other night at a party. Okay, so that makes three subjects off-limits for me at bars or parties: Politics, religion and "The Dark Knight."

Before I get to that, though, I'll address in a pithy way other movies I've been asked about. And, as always, comments are encouraged.

THE DEPARTED: Great, bloody, fun movie. Just a little too sloppy, and the love triangle part of the story is a bit too contrived and dull. Jack Nicholson, while entertaining as always, overacts in some scenes to the point where it seems like he thinks he's in another movie.

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS: I started watching this the other day and was reminded of its near-perfection. I regret leaving this out of my Top 50 and possibly my Top 25.

DR. STRANGELOVE: OR, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB: I swear, I love this movie to death. If I had made a Top 60 list, it would be there.

THE DARK KNIGHT: Okay, deep breath. And ... here ... we ... go!

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 3 & 2)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.
 

3. THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Michael V. Gazzo, Lee Strasberg, Talia Shire, Bruno Kirby, Dominic Chianese, G.D. Spradlin

Why it's here: It can't be said enough. It's rare that a sequel outshines its predecessor, but when it happens it usually results in a classic movie. We've had two examples of superior sequels already on the Countdown, with "The Empire Strikes Back" at No. 13 and "The Silence of the Lambs" at No. 20. (Yeah, it's more of a de facto sequel. It follows Michael Mann's 1986 thriller "Manhunter," which is based on "Red Dragon," Thomas Harris' first novel to feature Hannibal the Cannibal.) I'd also argue that "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" not only blows away the first and second Potter movies but is by far the best of the series. These movies, though, are so-called genre movies, the kind that are made with franchise or sequel potential in mind. "The Godfather, Part II" is more like a sequel as conceived by Shakespeare.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 5 & 4)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

5. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Paul Freeman, Alfred Molina, Denholm Elliott, Ronald Lacey, Wolf Kahler

Why it's here: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were at the height of their powers when they teamed to create Indiana Jones, the gruff, fedora-sporting archaeologist armed with a bullwhip. Lucas was in the midst of rolling out the original "Star Wars" trilogy, and Spielberg, while coming off the dud "1941," had rewritten the record book with "Jaws" in 1975, made the beloved "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in 1977, and still had the immortal "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" in the hopper. Together, Lucas and Spielberg would blend much of what formed their tastes when they were young -- boys adventure stories, Saturday afternoon serials, James Bond movies -- into "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the movie that introduced Jones to audiences and helped influence pop culture in its own right.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 7 & 6)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

7. THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001 to 2003)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Ian Holm, Bernard Hill, David Wenham, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, John Noble

Why it's here: Yes, I'm counting all three installments of Frodo's (Elijah Wood) quest to destroy the evil Sauron's Ring of Power as one, big movie. They were all largely filmed concurrently as part of a larger whole, and they all tell parts of one, giant story that was already plotted out from the beginning, thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien. Still, for simplicity's sake, I'll break "The Lord of the Rings" down into its three parts.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 9 & 8)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

9. THE GODFATHER (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Jon Cazale

Why it's here: "The Godfather" has become one of those unassailable classics, like "Casablanca" or "Gone With the Wind," whose place in the Pantheon of Great Movies is assured until the sun burns out. This status has rubbed some people the wrong way, though. They're tired of being told they HAVE to see "The Godfather," that it's the greatest thing since, I dunno, the toaster. As a result, these rebellious cinephiles end up blaming the movie itself. "It insists upon itself," Peter Griffin once said on "Family Guy," articulating the view of that rare cinematic contrarian who refuses to see "The Godfather."

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 11 & 10)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

11. SCARFACE (1983)

Director: Brian DePalma

Starring: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, F. Murray Abraham

Why it's here: "Scarface," with its Giorgio Moroder disco-synth score and its trashy pastels, is extremely dated, a time capsule straight out of the excess of the cocaine-frosted early 1980s, and yet it's timeless. Everything in this movie is over-the-top, from the acting -- I wonder if this movie is responsible for the hoarse Al Pacino voice we know today -- to the set design, to the violence, to its story, which feels like it was based on not the 1932 Howard Hawks movie of the same name, but a play from Shakespeare's time. In fact, one of my literature professors back in college used to compare "Scarface" to the play "Tamburlaine" by Shakespeare contemporary Christopher Marlowe. "Rise-and-fall" stories are especially durable, even if they're set in another time and context, because we can always draw parallels to our current situation, wherever we are.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 13 & 12)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

13. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

Director: Irvin Kershner

Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Frank Oz, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker

Why it's here: This is the first "Star Wars" movie I remember seeing. I could well have seen the first "Star Wars" earlier, but I may have been too young to remember, or it just didn't make too much of an impression on me. There's no question, however, about the impression "Empire" left on me as a wee, impressionable lad, and it's not just because of the big reveal from Darth Vader (voice by James Earl Jones, body by David Prowse) at the end, it's also because Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is frozen in carbonite. That just about shattered my naive, five- or six-year-old sensibilities. The good guy? Practically dead? WTF? For my childhood self, movies just didn't get much sadder than that, other than when Frankenstein's monster got sucked into Limbo at the end "Monster Squad" (uh, spoiler alert?).

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 15 & 14)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

15. MULHOLLAND DR. (2001)

Director: David Lynch

Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux, Dan Hedaya, Mark Pellegrino, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Billy Ray Cyrus

Why it's here: Hollywood is often called The Dream Factory.  It's where fantasy is mass-produced, packaged in a glistening cover and sold all over the world. It's literally where dreams come true, at least in the corporate-minded, supply-and-demand sense. And there's no director better suited to probing the depths of both dreams and factories than David Lynch, whose movies are often a surrealistic blend of industrial imagery and dream logic. While he made some great movies before "Mulholland Drive," this is the movie where these two obsessions came together for Lynch in the most complete and heartbreaking way.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 17 & 16)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.


17. NASHVILLE (1975)


Director: Robert Altman


Starring: Keith Carradine, Henry Gibson, David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ronee Blakley, Ned Beatty, Geraldine Chaplin, Lily Tomlin, Shelley Duvall, Robert DoQui, Barbara Harris, Karen Black, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Murphy, Gwen Welles, Timothy Brown, etc.


Why it's here: "Nashville" isn't a place in this movie, it's a state of mind.  Director Robert Altman presents the city as a twangy-voiced Hollywood, as much a cultural capital as a self-sustaining cult of personality.  No matter which character is in momentary focus in the movie, they're all striving toward or against this concept of "Nashville," whether it's a misguided quest for fame or coming to terms with the racial realities of the place. The characters -- brought to life by a cast of dozens as living, breathing people and not caricatures -- are dreamers, saints, hustlers, punks, mothers, cuckolds, fathers, politicians, and ... oh yeah, musicians.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 19 & 18)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

19. THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988)

Director: Martin Scorsese


Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, Verna Bloom, David Bowie


Why it's here: Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of the novel "The Last Temptation of Christ," once wrote:

The yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain to God, or more exactly, to return to God and identify himself with him -- has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. ... My principal anguish, and the wellspring of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh.

This quotation, which is also the epigraph at the beginning of Martin Scorsese's film adaptation, tells you all you need to know going into the movie. Put the Bible aside, the movie implores, and begin to reflect on what it takes to balance your spiritual or metaphysical needs with those of your physical existence. Now imagine that you are not you, but the offspring of all-powerful deity. Better yet, that you're the deity itself, made flesh, and you have the literal weight of the world upon your shoulders in addition to all the usual hang-ups associated with being human ... and you know you're going to suffer and die an agonizing death in the service of your highest ideals, love and forgiveness.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 21 & 20)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

21. DEAD RINGERS (1988)


Director: David Cronenberg


Starring: Jeremy Irons, Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold, Stephen Lack


Why it's here: "Dead Ringers" tells the tale of brilliant twin gynecologists, both played by the immortal Jeremy Irons, whose dependency on each other leads to madness and death. But don't let the schlocky-sounding title (it was "Twins" at one point, but another movie from 1988, a certain comedy starring the Governator and Danny DeVito, ended up with that title) or the pulpy premise fool you: this is no cheap exploitation flick. (Not that there's anything wrong with cheap exploitation flicks!) It's a meticulously crafted and poetic exploration of identity, addiction, sexuality and, uh, abnormally formed female genitals. (Trust me, it's not exploitation!)

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 23 & 22)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

23. JFK (1991)

Director: Oliver Stone

Starring: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Jack Lemmon, Ed Asner, Kevin Bacon, John Candy, Walter Matthau, Donald Sutherland, Brian Doyle Murray, Michael Rooker, Jay O. Sanders, Wayne Knight, Laurie Metcalf

Why it's here: You'd think three-plus hours of people talking about the most insane conspiracy theories this side of Alex Jones' fat ass would make for some pretty boring cinema. WRONG. "JFK" is a first-rate thriller, only the suspense comes from the formulation of theories and the compilation of "evidence." Information is the killer here.

The Colonel's Countdown: Top 25 Movies (Nos. 25 & 24)

I just want to be clear: These are my 25 favorite films. They're not necessarily the best movies I've seen, although many of them certainly would rank high or near the top of that list. I understand that for some a favorites list is indistinguishable from a best-of list, and that's cool. But it's not my purpose here. I want to celebrate the movies that, for one reason or many, moved me in ways that I can barely describe ... even though I'm going to try here.

So begins our descent into movie madness. I can't wait to read what you have to say, and I can't wait to find out your favorites. And don't forget: We'll be doing this every Wednesday and Friday until we get to Numero Uno, which will merit its own post.

25 Movies That Just Missed the Cut.

If you're a stone-cold movie lover, putting together a list of your 25 favorites is a painful task. There are just too many you love, warts and all; too many movies that refuse to be ignored.

I just finalized a list of my 25 favorites for the countdown we're starting this Wednesday (starting with Nos. 25 and 24, and adding two a day every Wednesday and Friday), and paring it down was really arduous. It hurt to leave out so many. So, in honor of those movies, here's my list of the 25 movies that just missed the cut (I could easily do a list of 50 or 100, but I don't want to bore you guys too much):