My Favorite Movies

Here is my newest list of what I thought personally were the best movies, the worst movies, and the in-between movies. I believe I remembered all of the films but if I forgot one, I will add in it later. I will begin with my least favorite film, #15, and go down to my favorite #1. I know this will be an unexpected and strange list but I think this is the order that I believe. Each will have a little explanation and if more is necessary, I will add more. You may argue with me if you disagree, and we can discuss it. Honestly, however, there is not one movie I didn't enjoy this year but I still need to make an order, so even if I am harsh to a film, I still liked it but it wasn't as good as some of the other films we saw. But here is the Professor's Definitive Order of Mr. Bennett's Films:

15) Signs - There was not much there and I felt like the director and actors were hitting us over the head with doctrines. Despite that I still enjoyed the film but it was not the same caliber as the rest.
14) Top Hat - A good musical but a musical nonetheless. It had a predictable, simple plot. It was enjoyable but nothing amazing beyond the terrific dancing and choreography of the film.
13) A Simple Plan - Personally, there was just a missing element in the film that I never felt attached to it, despite it having characters you could relate to and personal situations. Also, I am still appalled by the scene where the women is blown away. I can't take a movie seriously that does something like that. I'm sorry.
12) Atomic Cafe - A very good documentary, but it was a documentary and although far superior to other documentaries, I wasn't hooked as much as if it were another more exciting film, but I still enjoyed its cleverness.
11) Citizen Kane - Often hailed as the greatest movie ever, but I just didn't feel it was that great. I was slightly bored and I thought that the film wasn't told great. It had a clever premise and it was filmed beautifully, but I didn't love it. I guess I'm just a product of a different era.
10) Fargo - Again I'm sure people will disagree vehemently with me but again I just saw something missing. Good acting and clever writing as you would expect from the Coen Brothers but I didn't see anything special in it.
9) Midnight Cowboy - Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were outstanding but it seemed like the supporting actors weren't very good and the story itself could have been worked on. Also, the filming seemed slightly amateurism and the use of flashbacks did not further the story as effectively as it could have.
8) Dr. Strangelove - I thought it was very funny, very clever, brilliantly satirical, great acting, but that was about it. I didn't think the filming was great and all of the scenes were not outstanding and I thought it should have been longer with more substance, but still a great film. These top 8 movies were all so close in my opinion that many of the films could be switched around.
7) Memento - Brilliant storyline, very clever plot twist, and the way to tell the story but I didn't think the acting was outstanding and I felt a little confused so it is probably better than I give it credit for but I wished there was more to the movie, although I may just be asking for too much.
6) All Quiet on the Western Front – An truly epic old time film. Not terrific acting, but an outstanding story, an amazing war film for the time period in terms of showing the true grittiness of war and the dehumanization that occurs.
5) Unforgiven – Probably the most technically sound and polished of all of the films, amazing script, acting, directing, and cinematography, brought this film together. I only wished that there were a couple more elements because it wasn’t my favorite film but it was very close.
4) The Seventh Seal – It is very difficult to know what to say about this film other than that it is hauntingly scary and thought-provoking, and a film that can seem so utterly different, is in fact a story and a challenge that we all must face. I have seen it twice now, and both times I could not look away, all of the elements were there and it spoke to such a high meaning.
3) Dark City – Both of my brothers felt this film was too strange for their taste, but something about this drove me into the universe that Proyas created and the way that there was truly no reality or truth and that everything was strictly manipulation was just shocking and awed me. It is the film that I have thought about the most by far in the film class, and its ideas still fascinate me.
2) Runaway Train – Just a great story and a microcosm about how we cannot control our outside world and that events are going to happen no matter what, and we cannot stop them even if we know they are coming and think we can stop them. Terrific acting, a great story, a film I could not take my eyes off of, and I actually made the most blog posts about this film.
1) The Asphalt Jungle – Many people will strongly disagree but in my eyes this film had perfect execution of a crime caper gone wrong. It was just perfect and the way that all the elements combined made it by far the most compelling movie I saw all year. The way that Doc Riedenschenider could have escaped if he just left a few minutes earlier. My own flaw is that I wish Dix would have escaped but that was beyond the director’s control.

This was a very difficult list to comprise and it took much thought so I apologize for it being posted so late. I hope people will challenge and question me, but in terms of the films I enjoyed the most, this is the list.