My Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days. I just spent the weekend at Foxwoods Casino with my closest friends. If you want some advice, don't EVER play those damn slots. They are a money vacuum, and it is so rare to win big on one of them.

So, along with stating my opinions, I think that I am going to start telling you about some of my favorite things. I think that these are always good discussion starters, and it would be nice to see what your favorite things are, or if you agree or disagree with any of my top 10 favorites.

Today, I am going to list my top 10 favorite movies of all-time. These movies, in my opinion, are the movies that make you want to watch them again and again. These movies top the rest of the movies that I have seen, and I have seen a lot of them.

#10 - Independence Day (1996)

This is the perfect movie, in my opinion. It has drama, tragedy, comedy, action, love, and oh ya... alien invasion! Directed by Roland Emmerich, this movie is about an alien invasion of planet earth, and how a  group of survivors come together in Nevada and devise a plan to "take 'em... take 'em down." It's got a star-studded cast, with Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, and Bill Pullman, and ROBERT LOGGIA. It is an incredibly awesome movie to quote, especially the president's speech.

#9: The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is one of those movies that no matter how many times I watch it, it always brings a smile to my face. When I was a child, and my grandmother would come over to babysit me and my brothers, The Wizard of Oz was the movie that she always put into the VCR. I always knew that this movie was special because I was the only one of my friends that was not afraid of the flying monkeys. With Judy Garland as the young Dorothy and Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Burt Lahr as the three friends (The Scarecrow, The Tinman, and The Cowardly Lion), this movie is a timeless classic, and also the show that I will be starring in in a few months.

#8: Forrest Gump

This movie is one of those movies that is a serious movie, but has a lot of hilarious parts. That is what I love about this movie. Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for his performance as the title character, Forrest Gump. The best thing about this movie is how they were able to cut him into all of those historic videos. His love for Jenny is relentless, and you feel for Forrest every time Jenny runs away from him. If she had just gone with Forrest in the first place, she wouldn't have gone down the long and unfortunate path of drugs and rock n' roll.

#7: Caddyshack

This movie is one of the first rated-R comedies that I saw when I was younger. My father would always quote it, and he said that I had to see it. Caddyshack has two of the best sketch comedy actors of all time (Bill Murray, Chevy Chase) and one of the funniest and most successful stand-up comics of all time (Rodney Dangerfield, R.I.P.). These people are all amazing, but Ted Knight, who plays the snobby owner of Bushwoods Country Club, has some of the best lines in the movie. He plays that character so well, and he also has some of the funniest lines in the movie, in my opinion.

#6: Animal House

This is the funniest movie that I have ever seen, which is why this movie is on my top 10, along with Caddyshack. Animal House pretty much set the standard for college comedies, and even set the standard for what the Greek life is like on college campuses across America. This movie is a staple for all colleges. It has some of the funniest lines in all of comedy. John Belushi (R.I.P.) created the stereotypical college party animal on the 7 year program. Without this movie, a toga party would be a foreign concept.

#5: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This movie is another one of those incredibly serious dramas that has a lot of things that make me laugh. Jack Nicholson's performance as R.P. McMurphy won the Academy Award for best actor, and well deserved. McMurphy was able to break through more in the little amount of time that he was there than Nurse Ratched and the other hospital people could. This is what drives the hospital workers mad. Jack Nicholson's performance is one of the most inspiring performances of my acting career. It is what I strive to be.

#4: Pulp Fiction

This is my favorite Tarantino movie. I have seen this movie so many times, I have almost memorized the entire movie. What makes this movie so great is the dialogue. My favorite, of course, is Samuel L. Jackson's character Jules. He has some of the coolest, funniest, and most badass lines in all of film. Another thing that makes this movie so great is how cool every character is. All of the characters play everything extremely cool and badass. I always love watching this movie, and always will.

#3: Jaws

This movie always turns people's heads when I tell them that it is my 3rd favorite movie of all time. Most people like this movie, but they are always surprised that I have it in my top 3. You know, I can't really explain why this movie is in my top 3. I've been watching it since I was a kid. At first, the film was all about the shark for me. I would always think that Jaws was the name of the shark. As I got older, I started focusing more on the dialogue and the characters. That is when the movie started climbing up my list. All of the characters, including all of the little characters with only a couple of lines, are memorable in my mind. I will never forget what those faces look like, and more importantly, I will never forget what their lines are. MY favorite character is Quint. He is just such a badass character.

#2: Rocky

Rocky is a classic. It is the greatest movie that Sylvester Stallone has ever made, and will ever make. I'm not talking about the 5 other sequels that followed, even though they were all good in their own respect (except the 5th one... BOO!). It is a classic story of an underdog who gets the opportunity that we all dream about. I actually would not even consider this movie a sports movie. The movie is NOT about boxing. It is about the boxer himself. Everyone remembers that classic montage ending with him running up those famed stairs in Philadelphia. My favorite part of the whole movie has to be when Apollo Creed knocks him down in one of the last rounds of the fight, and Rocky goes down. Apollo thinks that he has won, but by sheer will, Rocky is able to stand up and keep on fighting. AMAZING!

AND FINALLY, #1: The Godfather

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Gee, Mike. Isn't that a little bit cliche?" Well, yes. It may be cliche, but there is a reason for why this movie is so great. It was voted #2 on the list of AFI's top 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Everything about this movie, the acting, the music, the dialogue, and the story, is just AMAZING! This is actually one of those movies that you can't really watch too many times. This isn't INDEPENDENCE DAY (ahh, what an awesome movie)! I have only seen the movie about a handful of times. But everytime that I have watched it, I have loved it. I can't believe that Al Pacino didn't win the Academy Award for this role. This story, based on the Gambino family exploits, is one of the most treasured stories in movie generation. I don't care how cliche I sound. It's one of the greatest movies of all time, and I have to agree.

Okay. These are my top 10 favorite movies of all time. I am going to try and break up this category of movies and try to make even more top 10's. Now, there are a lot of other great movies that I love and have seen hundreds of times. But, they just don't make the top 10. It is a tight list, and only the best of the best can make the top 10. I think that the NFL Football Hall of Fame should do the same thing with the people that they induct into the Hall of Fame each year. I can see Shannon Sharpe and Deon Sanders, but Marshall Faulk? Really? I mean, he was good, but I don't think he should be qualified for the Hall of Fame. But, that is for another blog.

If you want to send me your list of top 10 favorite movies, or send me a category of top 10 that you would like me to fill out, then post a comment on my blog, on my facebook (Badlands Barry), or my twitter (RealMikeBarry).