My Movie Lists

2/4/09

Here's the worst list. It's not just winners to broaden the playing field, but they are all nominees for Best Picture.

1. Working Girl (1988)
2. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
3. Munich (2005)
4. Love Story (1970)
5. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
6. The Sound of Music (1965)
7. Elizabeth (1998)
8. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
10. Romeo and Juliet (1968)

In honor of the Academy Award nominations, I will do a list of the best movies to ever win Best Picture and the worst movies to ever be nominated for it. First, the best list:

1. On the Waterfront (1954)
2. Crash (2004)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Amadeus (1984)
5. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
7. It Happened One Night (1934)
8. Annie Hall (1977)
9. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
10. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

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)

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)