ED KEATES' TOP 101 FILMS OF ALL TIME

*Guest post* ED KEATES' TOP 101 FILMS OF ALL TIME

The latest to accept the challenge is Ed Keates, a keen movie aficionado and friend of GregglesOnFilm.
His list reminds me alot of mine. So obviously it is fantastic in every way. Except maybe Solaris. And Bridesmaids is definitely an eyebrow raiser... But some great stuff here. Enjoy.

Ed’s 101 Favourite Films

The below list is 101 of my favourite films so far. I’m an avid film watcher and have been obsessed with Cinema since I was a boy. The earliest cinema experience is very hazy but it’s one out of E.T, Bambi & Transformers: The Movie. 

I love the art of Cinema and the below list represents films I have much love for in different ways. The moving image is a great way to escape, providing a wonderful medium to tell stories, whether they be a work of fiction or true stories; completely improvised; shot in 3D, IMAX, Black & White – the options are endless!

All these films have moved me, either to tears, wetting myself with laughter or provoking thought to a life changing extent. Some have sentimental value, others are just absolute fun. Art’s about connection & it lasts forever. 

There’s probably 50 films missing from this list that you would prefer – well, that’s 'cause it’s my list. So, have a look, agree, disagree, applaud & boo, 

Ed.

101-50

101. Transformers: The Movie 1986 Dir. Nelson Shin
100. The Muppet Christmas Carol 1992 Dir. Brian Henson
99. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory 1971 Dir. Mel Stuart
98. The Ten Commandments 1956 Dir. Cecil B. Demille
97. The Breakfast Club 1985 Dir. John Hughes
96. Rocky IV 1985 Dir. Sylvester Stallone 
95. Bobby 2006 Dir. Emilio Estevez 
94. True Lies 1994 Dir. James Cameron
93. X-Men: First Class 2011 Dir. Matthew Vaughn
92. An American Werewolf In London 1981 Dir. John Landis 
91. E.T. 1982 Dir. Steven Spielberg
90. The Blues Brothers 1980 Dir. John Landis 
89. Zodiac 2007 Dir. David Fincher
88. Ghostbusters 1984 Dir. Ivan Reitman 
87. Vicky Christina Barcelona 2008 Dir. Woody Allen 
86. Rear Window 1958 Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
85. Chasing Amy 1997 Dir. Kevin Smith
84. Full Metal Jacket 1987 Dir. Stanley Kubrick
83. Pieces Of April 2003 Dir. Peter Hedges
82. Empire Records 1995 Dir. Allan Moyle 
81. Donnie Darko 2001 Dir. Richard Kelly
80. Layer Cake 2004 Dir. Matthew Vaughn
79. X2 (X-Men 2) 2003 Dir. Bryan Singer
78. Glengarry Glenn Ross 1992 Dir. James Foley
77. Do The Right Thing 1989 Dir. Spike Lee
76. In America 2002 Dir. Jim Sheridan 
75. Ocean’s Eleven 2001 Dir. Steven Soderbergh
74. Snatch 2000 Dir. Guy Ritchie
73. Despicable Me 2010 Dir. Pierre Coffin
& Chris Renaud
72. Bridesmaids 2011 Dir. Paul Feig 
71. Sexy Beast 2000 Dir. Jonathan Glazer
70. Braveheart 1995 Dir. Mel Gibson
69. Jurassic Park 1993 Dir. Steven Spielberg
68. Romeo + Juliet 1996 Dir. Baz Luhrmann
67. The Omen 1976 Dir. Richard Donner
66. Adaptation 2002 Dir. Spike Jonze
65. The Crossing Guard 1995 Dir. Sean Penn
64. Rocky Balboa 2006 Dir. Sylvester Stallone
63. Little Miss Sunshine 2006 Dir. Jonathan Dayton
& Valerie Faris
62. West Side Story 1961 Dir. Robert Wise
61. Eyes Wide Shut 1999 Dir. Stanley Kubrick
60. Curse of the Golden Flower 2006 Dir. Zhang Yimou
59. A Clockwork Orange 1971 Dir. Stanley Kubrick
58. Malcom X 1992 Dir. Spike Lee 
57. The Others 2001 Dir. Alejandro Amenábar 
56. Traffic 2000 Dir. Steven Soderbergh 
55. Juno 2007 Dir. Jason Reitman
54. A Few Good Men 1992 Dir. Rob Reiner
53. Solaris 2002 Dir. Steven Soderbergh
52. The Colour Purple 1985 Dir. Steven Spielberg 
51. Scarface 1983 Dir. Brian De Palma

50-1

50. Superbad 2007 Dir. Greg Mottola
Key Scene: Michael Cera being forced to sing at a party due to mistaken identity!

49. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Dir. Steven Spielberg 
Key Scene: God going postal on the Nazi’s at the end.

48. Psycho 1960 Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Key Scene: The stare to camera letting you know who’s hanging around in there.

47. Gone Baby Gone 2007 Dir. Ben Affleck
Key Scene: Watch Casey Affleck threaten gangster ‘Cheese’ at gunpoint in a tense battle of status.

46. Life Is Beautiful 1997 Dir. Roberto Benigni
Key Scene: Benigni’s character sneaks into a tannoy cabin whilst in a concentration camp to make contact with his wife. 

45. Punch Drunk Love 2002 Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Key Scene: Sandler’s Barry Egan confiding in his Brother-In-Law about his depression – heart breaking.

44. Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Dir. Sidney Lumet
Key Scene: Attica Attica Attica!!!

43. The Shining 1980 Dir. Stanley Kubrick
Key Scene: “You’ve always been the caretaker.” Oh the chills!

42. The Usual Suspects 1995 Dir. Bryan Singer 
Key Scene: Benecio Del Toro mumbles through the line up. 

41 The Sixth Sense 1999 Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Key Scene: Young Cole Sear sits to have breakfast when in one camera shot we follow his Mum in and out of the Kitchen resulting in the quietest scare.

40. Unbreakable 2000 Dir. M. Night Shyamalan 
Key Scene: David Dunn shows his son the newspaper over breakfast, a whole conversation occurs without words – beautifully acted. 

39. Garden State 2004 Dir. Zach Braff
Key Scene: “You have balls on your face!”

38. Vanilla Sky 2001 Dir. Cameron Crowe
Key Scene: Cameron Diaz’s psycho driving!

37. Planes, Trains & Automobiles 1987 Dir. John Hughes
Key Scene: “Those aren’t pillows!”

36. Trading Places 1983 Dir. John Landis
Key Scene: Murphy’s Billie gets arrested. 

35. Borat 2006 Dir. Larry Charles
Key Scene: The naked fight!

34. Taxi Driver 1976 Dir. Martin Scorsese
Key scene: Even people that haven’t seen this film know the scene!

33. Amelie 2001 Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Key Scene: The travels of a gnome.

32. Goodfellas 1990 Dir. Martin Scorsese 
Key Scene: One shot – no cutting – steadycam at it’s best!

31. American Beauty 1999 Dir. Sam Mendes
Key Scene: Petals – Nuff said!

30. Lost In Translation 2003 Dir. Sofia Coppola
Key Scene: The whisper.

29. Mulholland Drive 2001 Dir. David Lynch
Key Scene: The blue box…

28. Batman Begins 2005 Dir. Christopher Nolan
Key Scene: Every one with Michael Caine, he’s mesmerising!

27. The Graduate 1967 Dir. Mike Nichols 
Key Scene: Hoffman’s Benjamin suffering the embarrassment of wearing a deep sea diving suit.

26. Old Boy 2003 Dir. Chan-Wook Park
Key Scene: Live squid gobbled up!

25. Dancer In The Dark 2000 Dir. Lars Von Trier 
Key scene: Musical homage to industrial sounds.

24. As Good As It Gets 1997 Dir. James L. Brooks 
Key Scene: A beautiful compliment paid to Helen Hunt by Jack Nicholson.

23. Seven 1995 Dir. David Fincher
Key Scene: “What’s in the box?” One of the most tense endings in cinema history.

22. Moulin Rouge 2001 Dir. Baz Luhrmann 
Key Scene: A beautiful arrangement of ‘Roxanne.’

21. Heat 1995 Dir. Michael Mann 
Key Scene: The one the world had been waiting years to see, Pacino vs De Niro.

20. Rope 1948 Dir. Alfred Hitchcock 
Key Scene: All of them, seeing as the camera only cuts approximately 4 times in this masterclass of acting.

19. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest 1975 Dir. Milos Forman 
Key Scene: Banned from watching a baseball game, Nicholson’s McMurphy plays out the rest of the game using his imagination.

18. Trainspotting 1996 Dir. Danny Boyle 
Key Scene: Ewan McGregor’s Renton walking into the worst toilet in Edinburgh, “Fuckin’ dancer!”

17. The Hours 2002 Dir. Stephen Daldry 
Key Scene: Opening scene setting up the 3 connected varied timelines.

16. Volver 2006 Dir. Pedro Almodovar 
Key Scene: Is that a ghost in the boot of the car?

15. The Dark Knight 2008 Dir. Christopher Nolan 
Key Scene: Cracking bank robbery opening the film & introducing the Joker.

14. Hero 2002 Dir. Zhang Yimou
Key Scene: Every fight scene is like a dance with a poetic use of colour.

13. Crash 2004 Dir. Paul Haggis 
Key Scene: A bullet proof daughter.


12. Reservoir Dogs 1992 Dir. Quentin Tarantino 
Key Scene: Mr Blonde makes it hard for the captured policeman to listen.

11. Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind 2004 Dir. Michel Gondry 
Key Scene: Jim Carrey transported to time as a child.

10. Dead Man’s Shoes 2004 Dir. Shane Meadows 
Key Scene: Reasons for revenge.

9. The Green Mile 1999 Dir. Frank Darabont 
Key Scene: The revelation of the innocence of John Coffey.

8. The Exorcist 1973 Dir. William Friedkin
Key Scene: Poor Regan showing us the benefits of Yoga & Pilates on her bed.

7. The Godfather Part II 1974 Dir. Francis Ford Coppola 
Key Scene: The kiss of death, betrayal revealed.

6. Requiem For A Dream 2000 Dir. Darren Aronofsky 
Key Scene: Watch Ellen Burstyn clean a house in one shot!

5. Memento 2000 Dir. Christopher Nolan
Key Scene: Finding out who Sammy Jankis is…

4. Fight Club 1999 Dir. David Fincher 
Key Scene: “If it’s your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight!”

3. Pulp Fiction 1994 Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Key Scene: The tense & philosophical finale.

2. Magnolia 1999 Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Key Scene: The introduction of Frank TJ Mackay “Respect the cock...”

1. The Godfather 1972 Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Key Scene: One of the most powerful and symbolic endings in storytelling and done with such simplicity.