My Top 50 Favorite Films

Probably every movie lover makes a favorite film list at one time or another. Fletch over at Blog Cabins just posted a list of his top 50 films, encouraging others to do the same. That was all it took to get me going. (Yeah, I'm also one of those people that feels the need to respond to every email survey I receive from friends. Sharing opinions is fun!)

Top 10 is one thing, top 50 might be even trickier. I've grouped my choices into a few different categories, leaving my favorites for last on each list. It should be noted that these are my personal favorites, which is pretty subjective and basically comes down to the movies I have watched and enjoyed repeatedly, films which get quoted the most in my little world. These are not all necessarily the same movies I would put on a list of the best films ever made. But what good is a movie best list if it's not films you actually enjoy watching, anyway? And so, without further ado, my favorites:

Alfred Hitchcock movies:

Rear Window
Dial M for Murder
North by Northwest
Notorious

Billy Wilder:
The Major and the Minor
Some Like it Hot
The Apartment

Orson Welles:
Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Third Man

Musicals:
That Thing You Do!
Singin' in the Rain
Oklahoma!
A Hard Day's Night
The Wizard of Oz
Guys and Dolls
West Side Story
An American in Paris

Noir:
Out of the Past
Laura
The Maltese Falcon

Chick Flicks:
Sense and Sensibility
Out of Africa
You've Got Mail

Sci-fi:
Gattaca
Tron
Back to the Future
The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Newer Favorites:
The Princess Bride
Catch Me If You Can
A River Runs Through It
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Clueless
Sneakers
Much Ado About Nothing
Joe Versus the Volcano
Quiz Show
Moonstruck
The Hunt for Red October

Older Favorites:
Dr. Strangelove
Born Yesterday (the William Holden version, of course)
Father of the Bride (the Spencer Tracy version, of course)
Seven Days in May
12 Angry Men
Gone With the Wind

Casablanca
The Hustler

The Philadelphia Story

If I could only choose one out of all of my favorites as my top pick ever, it would probably be The Maltese Falcon.

By the way, I know there are only actually 49 here. I didn't count wrong, I was just afraid of missing some great movie and feeling bad about it later. So I'm leaving a spot open for floating favorites -- when I think of one that didn't make the list, it will become my current 50th.

Now it's your turn. What's on your list?