Andy's Top 10 Favourite Movies Ever

Watching That Guy With the Glasses' Top 20 Favourite Movies, I thought I'd try and make a list of my Top 10. Which isn't easy! Have you ever tried to take what you consider pure genius movies, works of art, and give them a numerical value from one to ten? It's impossible! But, after much deliberation, I think I've come up with a list that very nearly fits in what I see as my favourite movies ever. This is all just opinion, and chances are the list will be different in a year's, or even a month's time. But hey, take it however you must - and without further adieu, here's the list!

#10 - Watchmen (2009)

Directed by Zack Snyder

Watchmen is the film adaption of Alan Moore's critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. It wasn't the best film at the time of release, and some of the visual effects are starting to look a little dated even a few months later. But, if for nothing else, it is Jackie Earl Hayley's performance as Rorschach, the mentally unstable posterboy of awesome superhero detectives, that seals this film's spot in my Top 10. This, combined with the ever-so-thoughtful Cold War-era story and some mind boglingly good cinematography - the kind of shots you couldn't imagine ever being taken off the page of a comic - is why Watchmen ranks among the best of the movies I've seen. Forgetting Dr Manhattan's giant, glowing dick (which has become far too much of a joke) and the infamous Night Owl sex scene, Watchmen is the impossible-to-film, at last on camera.

#9 - King Kong (2005)

Directed by Peter Jackson

A lot of people will call me crazy for this one! Call my insane, but I really freaking love King Kong. So many people are confused by this. After all, the CG is passable, but laughable - the film lasts three hours too long, and some of it just makes no sense whatsoever. But where King Kong succeeds, is as a monster film. And as a monster film, it is intelligent, heart-pounding, and exciting. Peter Jackson took an old black-and-white B-movie and updated it for modern cinema. Much like Watchmen, if not for the graphics themselves, King Kong has some of the best direction and cinematography ever seen. Plus, despite the CG being laughably fake in some places, texture popping frequently - even on HD-DVD! - King Kong's monsters are believable. Much like in 2009's District 9, the fakeness of the creatures is offset by the genuine organic nature of how they flow. Kong himself acts as you would expect him, a giant lumbering ape with a heart hurting inside of him, while the V-Rex's are slimy and slippery bastards who act on instinct and are scary as ever. Hands down, I love King Kong. Some people will wonder "why??", but I think it's a great retelling of a story that had to be retold.

#8 - Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Directed by Pete Doctor and David Silverman

Pixar is my favourite film studio of all time. Not just animation studio, film studio. I love all of their films. In fact, if I could, I'd squeeze in all their films into this Top 10. But that ain't gonna happen because the best film ever made isn't a Pixar film. Surprisingly. Anyway, this here is probably my favourite Pixar film - Monsters, Inc. It's not the best Pixar film, not by a long shot - I think probably Toy Story 3 takes that cake. But my favourite? Ehh... yes, it's the monsters. The cast is perfect, the story is kid-friendly with an oh-so-subtle environmental message (really!), but what gets me every time is the animation. It's over-the-top and wacky, while still being emotional and realistic. Helped by Simpsons director David Silverman (actually, a lot of Pixar films are by ex-Simpsons directors!), whose Looney Toons-esque OTT animation style comes through like a ray of sunshine, Monsters, Inc. is so very cartoon, while also being sweet, endearing, and heartfelt. Like every Pixar film ever made? You bet. But Monsters, Inc. is personally my favourite, playing like a buddy film... with crazy cartoon monsters. It's adorable.

#7 - Ghostbusters (1984)

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Ghostbusters is hilarious. I love Ghostbusters. I think I love Ghostbusters most because, on so many levels, it works as a character comedy. Written by SNL prodigies, Ghostbusters is a black comedy so bright you could use it as a lamp. Each one of the Ghostbusters has a particular character trait that shines through clear as day, a vehicle for plot, not jokes, and they make a swell team. Cheesy one-liners, piss-poor cinematography, but some of the best nerd-mileage you can get (especially with the proton packs!)... Ghostbusters is comedic gold, and deserves a spot on this list. Ghostbusters 2, however, is probably on my Bottom 10 Worst Films, watering down the likability of the characters until very little human soul remains. So, watch Ghostbusters, skip Ghostbusters 2, and if Ghostbusters 3 is any good then maybe humanity has hope after all.

#6 - There Will Be Blood (2007)

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

There Will Be Blood is a pitch-black American drama, set in the turn of the 20th century. It is about an oil prospector who goes from something to nothing by (almost) sheer luck. And then... things get weird. It's part-drama, but I think There Will Be Blood also works as a horror film. The main character, Daniel Plainview, a fantastic performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, is shown as a competent yet unstable man, whose wheelings and dealings tread on so many downtrodden toes its hard to like the guy. But indeed, we do. He is an atheist living in a time where God must be embraced. He is a businessman in times when you needed to show a heart. He is a moneymaker in times when he should have been a father. He is shown as both a lunatic and a genius, and it is in him that this film shines. Some of the most memorable scenes in movie history and an atmosphere so thick you could cut your steak on it - There Will Be Blood is a brilliant film by anyone's standards. It birthed a meme though, so it loses points for that. ...oops.

#5 - Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (劇場版 カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) (2002)

Directed by Schinichiro Watanabe

Oh my god, an anime film made it to the top five! ...yes, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (or, less tastefully, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie), is the movie adaption of the BEST ANIME EVER. Don't question it. Cowboy Bebop is pure liquid awesome injected straight into your veins, what with it's witty, cutting humour, immaculate action and the greatest jazz soundtrack ever to grace television. This movie adaption is basically more of the same - and that's not just a good thing, that's a great thing. It's hard to define what I love most about this film - Spike Spiegel as a character, the subtext surrounding dreams and dreaming, living in a nightmare, or how crisp the animation feels compared to the show - but I think I'm just going to have to say the action scenes. Yes, it's a little shallow, but these scenes are frickin' amazing. I don't think I've seen such fluid fighting in an anime. This film could be motion-captured for all I know. But I just think every frame of this movie is a work of art. The ending credits sequence especially, with uber-wide cityscapes accompanied with Gotta Knock a Little Harder, one of the best songs ever written, a soul/gospel inspired look into Spike Spiegel's inner monologue. If any anime film had to make it to my Top 5, it was going to be Cowboy Bebop.

#4 - The Dark Knight (2008)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

The Dark Knight is a posterboy for IMAX, Blu-ray and HD filmmaking. Not just because it's Batman, either. Nolan has achieved something spectacular here. Ignoring for a while the incredible pacing, chilling performance by Ledger and just all-around Batman-flavoured awesome this film oozes, the chromatography is the best. Ever. It's also an interesting counter-point to effects laden films like Star Wars Episode II and Avatar. Using the IMAX technology, something usually reserved for piss-boring documentaries about the ocean or Africa, Chris Nolan has pushed films to their edge the right way. Utilizing real stunts whenever possible and filming as much as he can with the really fucking heavy and expensive IMAX cameras, this is what HD action movies are all about. It's probably the film that sold me in Blu-ray, too - watching full-frame - NOT LETTERBOXED - IMAX scenes in 1080p is reason enough to buy a PS3 so you can watch it in your own home. Hell, these guys even smashed one of the cameras with a truck - reducing the worldwide IMAX camera count to three. That's ballsy. Then of course you add the sprinkles that are Heath Legder as the Joker - the greatest villain performance in recent history - and David S. Goyer's deep understanding of the Batman mythos compared to Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher - you have possibly the definitive superhero film. I can't wait til Nolan and Synder's take on Superman, that'll be something to behold for sure.

#3 - Die Hard (1988)

Directed by John McTiernan

John McClane is a badass. No, really. He's up there with Jack Bauer, B.A. Baracus, and Chuck Norris. He's also what makes Die Hard the best action film of all time. Now, I'm going to go ahead and chuck all the Die Hard films in here too, but Die Hard, the 1988 original, is the one that gets the spot on this list. The whole franchise, though, is littered with so much quality and originality I can't even contemplate its awesominity. Bruce Willis' best performance? John McClane. Die Hard is cheesy. It's lathered with one-liners, explosions, weak plot twists and gunfights. But at the same time, it's so polished and stylish... how can you not like it? It's over-the-top and crazy, but it's not afraid to be. This is the kind of film that makes the act of a character shooting a gun a weighty, important moment. The weapons act like real weapons, the environment acts like a real environment. It's crazy stuff happening but it's all happening in the real world, our world, of logic and reason. The characters motives are cliche but they also make a lot of sense! But I think most of all, it's just the interactions between characters that make this more than just standard action fare. John McClane is a hardass, he swears like a mofo and he hates "the man". But he's also a cop, and he knows what he's doing. When someone comes in and fucks it up for him, he gets mad! When someone helps him, he tells them they're doing a good job and sticks up for them! This is especially evident in the original, where he builds up a relationship between Allen the cop, someone he doesn't even see except for at the end; or his relationship with Zeus, Samuel L. Jackson's racist pawn shop owner character. Well, whatever it is, Die Hard crackles with excitement and tension... and is the best action movie ever. Seriously. It's also the best Christmas movie ever. No kidding.

#2- Pulp Fiction (1994)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Pulp Fiction plays out like a series of short stories. It doesn't so much play around with established conventions, so much as it throws them in the bin and sets the bin on fire. It's brimming with character, it's ultra-violent, it's edgy and adult and all that... and it's the perfect film. Quentin Tarantino is the master of perfect timing. His scenes draw out slowly, giving the impression of lasting time. His action sequences play out fast and hard. His comedy comes from the darkest regions of the human mind, a place we dear not tread. Pulp Fiction is the pulp comic books it in many ways tips the hat to. Dialog-heavy, with a backbone and a purpose. Not some throwaway garbage like super-hero or action fare, this is drama crossed with comedy crossed with just... awesome. The cast all play to their strengths, and the script is perfect, with exposition never getting overshadowed by the ever-present Tarantino running-of-the-mouth, which is awesome anyway. Pulp Fiction is quite possibly the best film ever made by a man. But it's not my favourite film. This one is.

#1 - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Directed by Irvin Kershner

The second installment in the geek favourite Star Wars Trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest science-fiction/fantasy Space Opera ever made. It's also the best sequel ever made. A lot of people will argue that the original is better, but I've always preferred Empire. It's just so dark. It really establishes that the rebels are a small, helpless, ragtag group or fleeing survivors. In the original, they always seemed very... elusive, dodging the empire like a pack of rats. In this one, they are literally ants, slipping between the feet of the monster that is the empire, narrowly avoiding each encounter, with no victory in sight. It plays with visual storytelling better than any Star Wars film since ever has. The key scene for me is when the previously established mother of all star cruisers, the Star Destroyer, is engulfed in shadow by the Super Star Destroyer. The empire isn't just big. It's dominating. It has the galaxy in its grip and the rebels are the last hope. This, combined with a love story between Han and Leia that is organic and believable, and revelations that changed movie history ("I am your Father" will live in in infamy), I just think Empire is the best film made, in my favourite genre - science-fiction. Not a lot of science-fiction films can be worthy of a Top 10 - Aliens and Predator almost made the cut, but these are really just throwaway pieces of trash entertainment beneath the surface. Empire is something more, it shows off fantasy storytelling as an art. It's a fantastic, genius film... so I suspect George Lucas had nothing to do with it.

...well there you have it. My Top 10. What do you think? Were they as you expected? Non? Complain to me in the comments - until then, Andy out, y'all!