Best Movies of 2001

1. Moulin Rouge!
2. Memento
3. Donnie Darko
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Vanilla Sky
6. Training Day
7. A Beautiful Mind
8. Black Hawk Down
9. The Others
10. Serendipity

Best Movies with a Christmas Setting

Now this list is of movies that are great films at take place at Christmastime. Some of them are considered holiday movies and some aren't, but Christmas itself could be taken out and the film would not skip a beat.

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
2. Die Hard (1988)
3. We're No Angels (1955)
4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
5. Love Actually (2003)
6. The Thin Man (1934)
7. Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
8. Black Christmas (1974)
9. Go (1999)
10. Trapped in Paradise (1994)

Best Christmas Movies

Okay, this holiday season, I'm going to split Christmas movies into two categories. The first is straight-up Christmas movies. These are movies in which Christmas is a major theme or intregal to the plot. There are a lot more older movies on this chart than most of my lists, but, let's get real. How often does Hollywood put out a decent holiday movie these days?

1. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
2. Scrooge (1970)
3. The Bishop's Wife (1947)
4. A Christmas Story (1983)
5. Elf (2003)
6. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
7. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1938)
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
9. Home Alone (1990)
10. Prancer (1989)

Best Movies of 2002

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2. Road to Perdition
3. Bowling for Columbine
4. Rabbit-Proof Fence
5. Insomnia
6. Punch-Drunk Love
7. Chicago
8. Adaptation.
9. Signs
10. The Rookie

Best Musicals (Music)

Here's the other musical list. This one is based on the quality of their soundtracks:

1. Rent (2005)
2. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
3. A Goofy Movie (1995)
4. Newsies (1992)
5. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)
6. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
7. Mulan (1998)
8. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
9. The Little Mermaid (1989)
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Best Musicals (Film)

Melissa insisted that I make a list of movie musicals. I think she was mostly considering the soundtracks, whereas I tend to think of the filmmaking. So I'm going to compromise and make a list of each. Here are the movie musicals with the best filmmaking:

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
2. Fantasia (1940)
3. Chicago (2002)
4. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
5. The Lion King (1994)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
8. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
9. Newsies (1992)
10. Aladdin (1992)
.

Best Movies of 2003

1. Finding Nemo
2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. Elf
5. Love Actually
6. Secondhand Lions
7. Big Fish
8. Whale Rider
9. The School of Rock
10. X2

Best Family Films

I left all the animated ones off this list, because they would dominate it, but at least this time all the movies are appropriate for every member of the family.

1. Babe (1995)
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
3. Fly Away Home (1996)
4. Elf (2003)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
6. Secondhand Lions (2003)
7. My Dog Skip (2000)
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
9. Iron Will (1994)
10. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Best Animated Movies

In honor of Thanksgiving, I am doing a family theme. After all, let's face it. There are so few Thanksgiving movies and even fewer quality ones. So I decided to do animation. Be warned, these are not all appropriate for all ages, but about 70% or so are, just by the constraints of the genre. Update: my list has just been scrubbed of all Pixar movies since I gave them their own list and its really not fair to compare.

1. The Iron Giant (1999)
2. The Lion King (1994)
3. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)
4. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
5. The Simpsons Movie (2007)
6. Corpse Bride (2005)
7. Antz (1998)
8. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
9. Aladdin (1992)
10. A Goofy Movie (1995)

This is Melissa's list:

1. The Lion King (1994)
2. Finding Nemo (2003)
3. Toy Story (1995)
4. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
5. Mulan (1998)
6. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
7. The Little Mermaid (1989)
8. Ratatouille (2007)
9. The Incredibles (2004)
10. Aladdin (1992)

Best Movies of 2004

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Million Dollar Baby
3. Hotel Rwanda
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. The Incredibles
6. Der Untergang
7. Maria Full of Grace
8. Spider-Man 2
9. Super Size Me
10. Mean Girls

Best Horror Movies

In honor of the month of October, I'll do a list of horror movies. This time its the quality ones, not neccesarily the scariest ones. I already made that list. These are the oscar-caliber horror movies (or at least as close to that as you can get with horror movies)

1. Halloween (1978)
2. Psycho (1960)
3. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
5. The Omen (1976)
6. 28 Days Later... (2002)
7. Signs (2002)
8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
9. The Sixth Sense (1999)
10. Scream (1996)

Equal Sequels

As small as the list of better-than-the-original sequels are, the following list is even smaller. These are sequels that are not better than the original, because the originals are equally great films. So they stand together in the genre of greatness for lesser men to argue over which is better, but I will do one better. Make a list (albeit a short one):

1. Toy Story 2 (1999)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
4. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
5. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Best Movies of 2005

1. Crash
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. King Kong
4. Grizzly Man
5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
6. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
7. Batman Begins
8. The Matador
9. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
10. La Marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins)

Better Than the Original Sequels

There are very few examples in the movies where the sequel is a superior movie to the original, but it does happen! Here is a list of the best of those sequels:



1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
2. X2 (2003)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
4. Topper Returns (1941)
5. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
6. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
7. Aliens (1986)
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
9. Addams Family Values (1993)
10. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Best Movie Themes

This list is going to be a top twenty because, let's face it, the themes can be far superior to the film itself. I posted as many as I could find into the player at the bottom and tried to keep them in order. So you can listen to one if you're not familiar with it. I think I'm about four short. Enjoy!

1. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Jurassic Park (1993)
4. Jaws (1975)
5. Halloween (1978)
6. Gone With the Wind (1939)
7. Chariots of Fire (1981)
8. Dr. No (1962)
9. The Sting (1973)
10. Antz (1998)
11. The Pink Panther (1963)
12. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
13. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
14. Rocky (1976)
15. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) (1966)
16. Mulan (1998)
17. La Vita E Bella (Life is Beautiful) (1997)
18. Superman (1978)
19. The Cider House Rules (1999)
20. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Best Movies of 2006

1. Children of Men
2. Letters from Iwo Jima
3. The Queen
4. V for Vendetta
5. The Departed
6. Thank You for Smoking
7. Casino Royale
8. Stranger Than Fiction
9. Deliver Us from Evil
10. Little Miss Sunshine

Best Franchises

These are the best movie franchises. Some of my qualifications for what is considered a franchise. First it has to be at least three movies long. Second it has to have a 75% quality rate. Okay chapters in the saga won't count against it, but bad ones will. So, here we go.

1. Indiana Jones (1981-2008)
2. The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
3. Die Hard (1988-2007)
4. Star Wars (1977-2005)
5. Harry Potter (2001-2009)
6. Jay & Silent Bob (1994-2006)
7. Road to... (1940-1962)
8. Back to the Future (1985-1990)
9. Jack Ryan (1990-2002)
10. The Naked Gun (1988-1994)

Television Shows

I know this is getting out of the subject matter, but I thought you might be interested in what T.V. shows I watch, so I made a list of the best television series ever. It should be noted that I still watch every one of these shows that aired or are still airing, but I decided to only list the seasons of optimum quality for ranking purposes.

1. "The Simpsons" (1989-1999)
2. "24" (2001-2006)
3. "Lost" (2004-2010)
4. "F·r·i·e·n·d·s" (1994-2004)
5. "The Office" (2005-2007)
6. "30 Rock" (2006-2010)
7. "Dexter" (2006-2007)
8. "Breaking Bad" (2008-?)
9. "Arrested Development" (2003-2006)
10. "South Park" (1997-?)

Best Movies of 2007

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Hot Fuzz
3. Into The Wild
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Lookout
6. Juno
7. Zodiac
8. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
9. No End In Sight
10. Michael Clayton

Worst Movies EVER!

The following is a list of films that I have seen and hated. I mean just HATED!!! Now this is not a completely accurate list of the worst movies ever made, just the ones I was duped into seeing. When 3 million people tell you that Gigli (2003) or Leonard Part 6 (1987) is terrible, you don't subject yourself to it. If you do, you deserve what you get. It also doesn't include notoriously awful movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and Manos: Hands of Fate (1966). I have seen both of these films and they are laughably bad. But how can you hate something that provided you with that much mirth? It's still entertainment!

1. FeardotCom (2002)
2. Pearl Harbor (2001)
3. Cabin Fever (2002)
4. Mission to Mars (2000)
5. Doogal (2006)
6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
7. Twilight (2008)
8. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
9. The Peacemaker (1997)
10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Rewatchable Movies

This list could also be called my favorite movies. These are the movies that I can watch over and over and enjoy them every single time. The movies that you stop and watch when channel surfing in spite of the fact that you have a copy on DVD. . . and VHS. . . and MP4 on your ipod. . . and are already eyeballing on BluRay. They are not all Oscar movies, so it can be embarrassing to admit they are your favorites to friends and strangers when there are quality movies that you LOVED that should be on the list. That's why I made my greatest movies list; and why I'm calling this list rewatchable movies. One more caveat: when there are movie serials that blend together as one movie and you quote lines from the entire series interchangeably and you can't pick one favorite from the crowd, they are just one long movie. That's what I've decided and so declared for my lists. If you don't like it, make your own lists.

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
3. The Fugitive (1993)
4. The Indiana Jones Series (1981-2008)
5. As Good As It Gets (1997)
6. Hot Fuzz (2007)
7. The Star Wars Series (1977-1983)
8. Jurassic Park (1993)
9. The Die Hard Series (1988-2007)
10. Air Force One (1997)

If it wasn't perfectly obvious from this list, I'm a huge Harrison Ford fanatic.

Best Movies of 2008

This will be my first in a series of best of the year lists. I figured I should start with the current year and move backward. Of course, it will get out of order as the years roll on, but that's inevitable. Anyway, these are 2008's best films:

1. Frozen River
2. Gran Torino
3. The Dark Knight
4. Milk
5. WALL·E
6. The Reader
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Iron Man
9. Burn After Reading
10. Changeling

Scariest Non-Horror Movies

This list is of movies that scared the crap out of me, but I don't consider to be part of the horror genre. If that sounds strange, read the list. I think its pretty self-explanatory:

1. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
2. Jurassic Park (1993)
3. Breakdown (1997)
4. Jaws (1975)
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
6. Zodiac (2007)
7. No Country For Old Men (2007)
8. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
9. The Terminator (1984)
10. The Ghost and The Darkness (1996)

Funniest Comedies

Similar to the horror list, this one will focus on the comedies that I personally find the funniest. Again, not neccesarily the best. These movies made me laugh the hardest upon original viewing, and remain kneeslappers with repeat viewing.

1. Hot Fuzz (2007)
2. The Court Jester (1955)
3. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
4. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
5. Tommy Boy (1995)
6. Duck Soup (1933)
7. The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005)
8. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
9. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
10. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

Scariest Horror Movies

The following list is the top ten movies which I consider to be in the horror genre that scared me most upon first viewing. They are not all rewatchable, they are not all good movies, but they scared the pants of of me the first time I saw them, some of them scarred me for life, you might say, and so they are on the list.

1. Candyman (1992)
2. The Birds (1963)
3. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
5. Frailty (2001)
6. Signs (2002)
7. The Strangers (2008)
8. Scream (1996)
9. Halloween (1978)
10. The Ring (2002)

I know this is a controversial list, but, again, I was going purely for scary and these movies scared me. Even Melissa disagrees with me on this one. Here's her list:

1. Candyman (1992)
2. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
3. Signs (2002)
4. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
5. Halloween (1978)
6. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
7. The Lost Boys (1987)
8. Helter Skelter (1976)
9. Arachnophobia (1990)
10. Pet Sematary (1989)

Greatest Movies of All Time

These movies are the ones that speak to us personally on an emotional level. These are movies we consider perfect or near-perfect. They are life-changing masterpieces, but not necessarily fun or easy to watch. That will be a future list. This list was so hard to narrow down, that its going to be a bit longer. Anyway, I'll go first.

1. La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful) (1997)
2. As Good As It Gets (1997)
3. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
5. The Truman Show (1998)
6. Memento (2000)
7. On The Waterfront (1954)
8. A Simple Plan (1998)
9. Babe (1995)
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
11. American History X (1998)
12. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
13. Crash (2004)
14. Casablanca (1942)
15. Amadeus (1984)
16. The Cider House Rules (1999)
17. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
18. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
19. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
20. Rear Window (1954)

You'll notice a lot of the movies are from the late nineties. What can I say? I was becoming a man, moving out on my own, falling in love and getting married. I was discovering myself and the movies were all touchstones on the journey. I don't have the same excuse for 1954. That was just a good year for the movies. Now Melissa's list:

1. La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful) (1997)
2. Gone With The Wind (1939)
3. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
4. The Cider House Rules (1999)
5. The Lion King (1994)
6. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
7. Crash (2004)
8. American History X (1998)
9. Casablanca (1942)
10. Babe (1995)
11. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
12. Glory (1989)
13. La Marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins) (2005)
14. Amadeus (1984)
15. Memento (2000)
16. Children of Men (2006)
17. Duck Soup (1933)
18. Rear Window (1954)
19. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
20. Planet of the Apes (1968)

I can make no excuses for her. Except that she's got some really good movies on her list. I'm kind of ashamed I couldn't fit them on my list.

Introduction

Hello. My name is J.D. Jensen. I am Miss Kat's daddy. When we're not watching her, we love watching movies. I am a bit of a movie freak and have the potential to drive everyone around me crazy with my obsessiveness. So this blog should help me vent some of my craziness by making endless lists of every grouping and genre of filmdom that I could come up with. I have decided to include my lovely wife Melissa's lists as well, since it will provide variety and I always force her to write them anyway and they shouldn't go to waste. Keep in mind that the lists will all be biased slightly to the modern era. But take heart, this is not because we are uncultured swine. My love of movies knows no bounds. I watch and love everything, from The Great Train Robbery (1903) to Le Dîner de cons (1998) to 300 (2006). It slants modern simply because we are children of our generation and we, therefore, understand and more easily connect with our generation's movies. Anyway, times change, people change, and moods change (not to mention Hollywood mercilessly continues to crank out movies) so the lists will undoubtedly change over time as well. But this is what they are at this moment in time. Here's how it works: they post them starting with the most recent and working backward, so its kind of tricky reading them all. But you can click on on of the labels to the right of the screen to go to a specific list or category. Thanks and enjoy!