Photo by Myke Simon on Unsplash
what’s your favourite movie…
That question has opened the door to friendships and relationships – or slammed it shut!
For a number of years I have tracked my movie watching history via IMDB. My ratings list includes 570 titles – you can see the full live list here.
Below is my list of movies I have scored 10 (the first 7 in the list) and then 9.
Ratings are personal – I rated moves that might be great – or just great to me.
1. Call Me by Your Name (2017)R | 132 min | Drama, Romance Metascore
In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
Votes: 268,424 | Gross: $18.10M
2. Gladiator (2000)R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama Metascore
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Votes: 1,483,451 | Gross: $187.71M
3. The Dark Knight (2008)PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama Metascore
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Votes: 2,618,406 | Gross: $534.86M
4. Man on Fire (2004)R | 146 min | Action, Crime, Drama Metascore
In Mexico City, a former CIA operative swears vengeance on those who committed an unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.
Votes: 362,135 | Gross: $77.91M
5. The Remains of the Day (1993)PG | 134 min | Drama, Romance Metascore
A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.
Votes: 74,576 | Gross: $22.95M
6. The Godfather Part II (1974)R | 202 min | Crime, Drama Metascore
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Votes: 1,257,284 | Gross: $57.30M
7. Michael Clayton (2007)R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery Metascore
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.
Votes: 166,561 | Gross: $49.03M
8. The Godfather (1972)R | 175 min | Crime, Drama Metascore
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty in postwar New York City transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son.
Votes: 1,834,453 | Gross: $134.97M
9. Heat (1995)R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama Metascore
A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.
Votes: 649,761 | Gross: $67.44M
10. Minority Report (2002)PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery Metascore
In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder.
Votes: 549,161 | Gross: $132.07M
11. A River Runs Through It (1992)PG | 123 min | Drama Metascore
Two sons of a stern minister - one reserved, one rebellious - grow up in rural 1920s Montana while devoted to fly fishing.
Votes: 60,783 | Gross: $43.44M
12. Se7en (1995)R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery Metascore
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Votes: 1,628,868 | Gross: $100.13M
13. Inception (2010)PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Metascore
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,320,632 | Gross: $292.58M
14. Gattaca (1997)PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller Metascore
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Votes: 303,736 | Gross: $12.34M
15. Dunkirk (2017)PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, History Metascore
Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
Votes: 649,651 | Gross: $188.37M
16. A Beautiful Mind (2001)PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama Metascore
After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.
Votes: 926,080 | Gross: $170.74M
17. Dead Poets Society (1989)PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama Metascore
Maverick teacher John Keating uses poetry to embolden his boarding school students to new heights of self-expression.
Votes: 485,363 | Gross: $95.86M
18. Howards End (1992)PG | 142 min | Drama, Romance Metascore
A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 32,772 | Gross: $25.97M
19. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)R | 137 min | Action, Sci-Fi Metascore
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten-year-old son John from a more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,088,255 | Gross: $204.84M
20. Giant Little Ones (2018)R | 93 min | Drama Metascore
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
Votes: 8,440 | Gross: $0.18M
21. All the President's Men (1976)PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller Metascore
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Votes: 115,738 | Gross: $70.60M
22. Deja Vu (2006)PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi Metascore
After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.
Votes: 311,201 | Gross: $64.04M
23. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)R | 158 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery Metascore
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Votes: 461,718 | Gross: $102.52M
24. The Constant Gardener (2005)R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance Metascore
A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business, and corporate corruption.
Votes: 141,751 | Gross: $33.58M
25. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)R | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Music Metascore
A confined but troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
Votes: 81,269 | Gross: $22.24M
26. Arrival (II) (2016)PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi Metascore
A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
Votes: 685,885 | Gross: $100.55M
27. Unforgiven (1992)R | 130 min | Drama, Western Metascore
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
Votes: 410,371 | Gross: $101.16M
28. The Social Network (2010)PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama Metascore
As Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea, and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.
Votes: 696,990 | Gross: $96.96M
29. Life of Pi (2012)PG | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Metascore
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Votes: 626,735 | Gross: $124.99M
30. American Beauty (1999)R | 122 min | Drama Metascore
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Votes: 1,146,612 | Gross: $130.10M
31. Get Real (1998)R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A tenderly romantic coming-of-age story as two boys in a British school fall in love.
Votes: 14,167 | Gross: $1.20M
32. About Schmidt (2002)R | 125 min | Drama Metascore
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Votes: 128,968 | Gross: $65.02M
33. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller Metascore
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Votes: 1,414,640 | Gross: $130.74M
34. Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Family Metascore
The relationship between writer AA Milne and his son, Christopher Robin, and how this became the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh.
Votes: 27,703 | Gross: $1.74M
35. Center of My World (2016)Unrated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
After a summer spent with his his best friend Kat to escape his family, Phil goes back to school and starts to question his feelings towards Nicholas, a new classmate.
Votes: 6,316
36. Syriana (2005)R | 128 min | Drama, Thriller Metascore
A politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
Votes: 130,638 | Gross: $50.82M
Source: imdb.com