My 100 Favorite Films-TOP 10

Alright, like it or hate it, these are the Top 10 of my 100 Favorite Films of all time. As I said when I started this list of 100, these are movies that I love to watch. Movies that I can watch over and over and ones that have had an impact on me for one reason or another. Therefore, it's not surprising that most of my Top 10 are movies that come from my childhood/teenage years.

This was fun to do! I hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as I enjoyed making it.

10)  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King-  My family comes over every Christmas break for three days in a row to watch this incredible trilogy. I have seen these movies so many times, but they do not get old for me. The musical themes, the visuals, the emotion and depth of characters is so amazing. Every couple of years I have to watch the Behind the Scenes discs (I watched them earlier this year with Max before his bedtime) to fully appreciate everything what went into these movies. I wish I were an actor in the Fellowship more than any other film. I want to be Frodo--but then they wouldn't be any good, because Elijah Wood was perfect.

9)  Swiss Family Robinson-  I'm a kid again! I wanted to live in the tree house and have a waterfall in my backyard. We show this movie to our sixth graders at the end of the school year (most of them have not seen it) and they think it is the coolest thing. It still holds up really well.

8)  Toy Story 2-  This is my favorite sequel of all time. It is perfection in writing. It's such a funny movie! Our kids will watch it on roadtrips and I ask them to take off their headphones and listen to it through the system so I can laugh. Sequels most always add new characters, with mixed results--Jessie, Bullseye, Stinky Pete, Al, Barbie...greatness. I love Toy Story 3, but this one remains my favorite.

7)  Jaws-  I think I was 11 or 12 when I first saw Jaws. I don't know what my parents were thinking! It, of course, scared the crap out of me (I even had a hard time in swimming pools), but I became obsessed with it. I read the book by Peter Benchley, I watched it daily when I would come home from school for probably a month. Today I view it differently. It is such a well made horror story--surprising with everything that went wrong with the making of it. If you have not seen this movie since it's Blu-ray transfer, you've got to see it. Beautiful.

6)  Mary Poppins-  My favorite Disney classic. I am excited for the movie Saving Mr. Banks coming out this year that tells the story about P.L. Travers and her story of this book going to a movie. I know that Walt considers this his masterpiece and it's hard not to agree with him. Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and the children are so wonderful, but to me it's David Tomlinson, who plays the father, who steals the show. He is brilliant.

5)  Some Like it Hot-  My mom started watching this one day when I was in 7th grade and I wandered into the room. She asked me to sit down and watch it with her. My life was forever changed! I started an obsession with Marilyn Monroe and had posters covering my walls. This is her best movie and one of the best movie's ever made. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon? So, so funny! "Well, nobody's perfect." And yet this movie, just about is.

4)  A Christmas Story-  "Not a finger!" I could write a whole essay about this movie. Love.

3)  Die Hard-  I was obsessed (that happened a lot during my teenage years) with Die Hard. I watched this movie so many times that I wrote down the entire script without using the movie as a reference. I counted the number of swear words. I could link any movie back to it in less than 7 steps (like 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, but cooler). It's considered by most to be the best action movie ever made. I knew it first.

2)  Field of Dreams-  This film combines two of my favorite things: baseball and my dad. The best soundtrack ever made. Kevin Costner (too many haters) gives a beautiful, simple performance. "Dad? You wanna have a catch?" Makes me cry every time.

1)  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring-  There's so much I want to say about this movie. Howard Shore's brilliant score, the Fellowship and the perfection of their casting and acting, the production team and everything they created, Peter Jackson and his writing team, Peter Jackson and his directing. I will never tire of watching this movie. To me, it's the perfect film.