My 41 Favorite Movies of All Time (2010 Update)

I've decided that exaggeration and hyperbole are the worst things to ever exist in the entire known and unknown universe.

All kidding aside, I do tend to sigh when someone will offhandedly classify a movie they just saw as the "best movie I've ever seen" or "the worst movie ever made".  Have you done the homework?  Have you really sat down and ranked "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" against all the movies you've ever seen?  When you say "Inception" is in your "Top 10" do you really have one?

If you don't, I'd challenge you to make one, if not your 10 favorites, try 5.  Sit down for 10 minutes, jot down a couple dozen of your favorite movies and see where they land.   It's not as easy as it sounds, but when you are done you can at least rest assured that the next time you call "Flight of the Navigator" the best movie ever made, you've got the proof to back it up.  The feeling of holding that hard copy of "your" movies will have you feeling accomplished and secure in your assertions.

Either that or have you questioning why you stayed up til 3:16 in the morning listing movies instead of watching them.

Here's my list, feel free to tear it apart as necessary.

(These are, in order, the 41 movies I enjoy, respect, desire, and love the most that I have ever seen, with some honorable mentions thrown in at the beginning.)

Honorable Mentions:

Big Fish, Contact, Doubt, Fugitive, Hoosiers, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Iron Giant, Oh Brother Where art Thou, Rope, Shawshank Redemption, Tangled, The Fifth Element, The Village

The Top 41:

41. Moulin Rouge (*)
40. Groundhog's Day (-2)
39. Gattaca (+2)
38. The Dark Knight (-2)
37. Shadow of a Doubt (-4)
36. Cast Away (-5)
35. Sound of Music (-7)

34. Wall E (-10)
33. Ratatouille (-6)
32. Liar, Liar (+2)
31. Swing Kids (+1)
30. Monsters Inc. (-4)
29. Searching for Bobby Fischer (-7)
28. Apocolypto (+2)
27. Gran Torino (-6)
26. Toy Story 3 (*)
25. How to Train Your Dragon (*)
24. Inception (*)
23. Dial M for Murder (+6)
22. Star Wars 4 (+3)
21. Vertigo (+2)
20. The Passion of the Christ
19. Titanic
18. Unbreakable
17. Avatar
16. Apollo 13
15. Signs
14. Up (-5)
13. The Incredibles (+1)
12. United 93 (+1)
11. Toy Story (+1)
10. The Matrix (+1)
9. The Hudsucker Proxy (+1)
8. Toy Story 2
7. The Truman Show
6. The Princess Bride
5. Quiz Show (-2)
4. North by Northwest (+1)
3. Finding Nemo (+1)
2. Singin' In the Rain
1. Lord of the Rings