The movies on this list are my favourites, as in the ones I love and favour most with repeated viewings. They are not necessarily the “best” or most innovative or original films, but they are beloved by me.
I like fantasy, science-fiction and horror. I admire ambitious storytelling and I respect narrative logic. I appreciate spectacle and weirdness, especially if it enhances the story, and I prefer settings and situations that are outside the norm. For me, the best movies are ones that balance the familiar and the bizarre, the mundane and the fantastic, and manage to satisfy my emotional and intellectual needs.
#1: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – I saw this when I was six years old and it has never left my list of favourite films. It is the movie that made me fall in love with movies, a rollicking adventure superbly executed and with one of the greatest scores of all time. That melting face at the end will forever be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!
#2: ALIEN (1979) – My first horror film, I watched it on home video one Saturday morning instead of cartoons and was terrified for the next two weeks of my life. Since then, my respect and admiration have only grown for the design, the cast and the direction over the years. This movie exemplifies a perfect film scenario: dead simple premise on paper, deliciously complex on screen.
#3: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – My favourite Star Wars movie, always has been. I love the moody atmosphere contrasted with the comic book action and every aspect of this movie is beautiful. I love the original trilogy and this is the best of the three, in my opinion.
#4: Cloud Atlas (21012) – Talk about ambitious storytelling: six stories set in different times all about recurring patterns in human behaviour and history, from slavery days to the world after the fall of civilization. There is such a wealth of ideas and an abundance of emotion that this film is one of the most unique and moving I’ve ever seen.
#5: Stardust (2008) – My favourite fantasy film by leaps and bounds, I love it for its expansive world-building, it’s fairy-tale sensibility, it’s endlessly inventive imagery and its sense of humour. The cast is also brilliant. This is the kind of experience I wish my D&D game could reproduce.
#6: Big Trouble in Little China (1986) – One of the most surprising and funny action-fantasy crossovers I’ve ever seen. There is so much going on and Kurt Russell’s eternally bewildered macho redneck trucker just trying to keep up with everything around him is comedy gold. It might just be the most fun movie on this list.
#007: Octopussy (1983) – My favourite James Bond movie, featuring my favourite James Bond actor. This is the first one I ever saw in theaters and I think it’s got all the elements of a Roger Moore Bond film at perfect pitch and balance. I adore Louis Jordan and Stephen Berkoff as the villains and Maud Adams is absolutely perfect as the title character.
#8: Spider-Man 2 (2004) – Spider-Man has always been my favourite superhero but the movies based on him often leave me wanting. Not so with this one, which is virtually flawless in bringing the character to life as I understand him: always on the receiving end of life’s hardships. Doctor Octopus is also my favourite Spidey villain and I love how Alfred Molina made him so sympathetic.
#9: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Possibly the greatest action movie ever made, this one is just relentless. Like ALIEN, it has a very basic premise (essentially a two-hour car chase) but there is so much going on in the subtext of the design and the performances that you can take away all kinds of readings. For me, it’s a critique of masculinity, with loner Max at one pole and oppressor Immortan Joe at the other.
#10: Beauty and the Beast (1991) – My favourite Disney movie and the only animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (before they invented a category for animation), this one is absolutely charming. The characters and the designs are great and the music is fantastic, with a real love of old-fashioned Hollywood baked in. I love it.