Movie(s) of the Year

Following the theory of the Ultimate DVD Collection to its logical conclusion, the size of the cannon expands by one movie every year. This should be the best movie that comes out that year, but in some cases it may be the best movie I discover that year. It was looking like The Village for 2004, though The Incredibles and National Treasure were offering enough competiton that I thought to myself, 'What the heck, it's two extra movies, they're all really good, and it was just a good year. There are sure to be some dry years ahead to make up for it.' And thus it is:

2004 - The Village, The Incredibles, National Treasure

2005: , Man on Fire, My Neighbor Totoro

The Ultimate DVD Collection

My original theory was to own as many 4+ movies on DVD as space and finances would allow. After all, it's usually cheaper to buy a movie than to rent it five times. But then I started thinking: there are a lot of good movies out there. There are even a lot of great movies out there. Let's say I built up a collection of 350 DVDs. That's almost one for every night of the year. Even I don't watch movies that often. And what's the point of owning a movie if you watch it less than once a year? Even if it is cheaper, is it really more economical to store, care for, and haul around crates of DVDs? I've already decided that it's better to have a library card than own all the books I've ever liked, and libraries are starting to lend DVDs. Internet distribution and video-on-demand services may change the way we watch, and video stores are changing their ways to compete, so why not have a smaller, more manageable collection and a Blockbuster membership and ride out the wave?

I am compiling a list of the 100 best DVDs to own. Then, even if I buy one more DVD per annum after fixing the cannon, I'll probably never crest 150 during my lifetime. That's still a lot of movies, but not as rigorous a regimen. I am selecting from the AFI and BFI Top 100 lists, the best of French, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cinemas, movies I grew up with, culturally defining and influential films, personal favorites, and movies that have changed my life. This list, while complete, may be tweaked at any time. If anyone plans to use this as a shopping list, remember to make sure it's widescreen, and that subtitles are better than dubbing.

  • 12 Angry Men
  • 13th Warrior, The
  • About a Boy
  • Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The*
  • All Quiet on the Western Front
  • Amélie*
  • Apartment, The
  • Around the World in Eighty Days
  • Babe*
  • Ben-Hur
  • Bug's Life, A*
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  • Camelot
  • Casablanca*
  • Chariots of Fire
  • Chicken Run*
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang*
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*
  • Dances With Wolves*
  • Dark Crystal, The*
  • Deep Impact*
  • Doctor Dolittle*
  • Don't Eat the Pictures*
  • Emperor's New Groove, The
  • Ever After*
  • Family Man, The
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Finding Nemo*
  • First Knight*
  • Follow That Bird*
  • Four Feathers, The*
  • Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A
  • Gandhi
    		•
  • Gladiator*
  • God's Army
  • Gods Must Be Crazy, The
  • Grande Illusion
  • Great Race, The
  • Groundhog Day
  • Hamlet (1990)
  • Henry V (1989)
  • Hercules*
  • Hero (Ying Xiong)
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)*
  • Into the Woods*
  • King and I, The
  • Lawrence of Arabia*
  • Life is Beautiful*
  • Lion King, The
  • Lord of the Rings, The (expanded editions)
  • Man for all Seasons, A
  • Mary Poppins
  • Mouse that Roared, The
  • Mulan
  • Mummy, The* / Mummy Returns, The*
  • Muppet Movie, The
  • Muppets from Space*
  • My Fair Lady
  • North by Northwest
  • O, Brother, Where Art Thou?
  • One of our Dinosaurs is Missing
  • Other Side of Heaven, The
  • Patton
  • Pinocchio (2002)*
  • Pirates of Penzance, The (1983)
  • Princess Bride, The*
  • Princess Mononoke*
    		•
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  • Remember the Titans
  • Rob Roy
  • Rocky
  • Rome, Open City
  • Secondhand Lions*
  • Secret of Roan Inish, The
  • Sense and Sensibility*
  • Shadow Magic
  • Shrek
  • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas*
  • Sixth Sense, The
  • Sleeping Beauty (1959)
  • Sleepless in Seattle
  • Sound of Music, The
  • Spider-Man
  • Spirited Away
  • Star Wars (original trilogy only)
  • Sting, The
  • Strictly Ballroom
  • Stuart Little / Stuart Little 2*
  • Swing Kids
  • Ten Commandments, The*
  • Thing from Another World, The
  • Thirteen Days
  • To Sir With Love
  • Toy Story / Toy Story 2
  • Twelfth Night (1996)
  • Unbreakable*
  • War, The
  • West Side Story
  • Willow


    • * already own

    Pi-rated

    My Rating System

    Currently I use a numeric rating system to rate the overall quality and enjoyability of a film. I am working on a rating system that will quantify ethical content.

    5
    If movies were cannonized, these would be gospel. These are movies of supreme excellence and lasting significance, true classics. If it's a 5, there is no excuse for not having seen it.
    4
    It must be mine! This is a great movie, and I could watch it so many times that it would be more economical for me to buy the DVD than keep renting it every other month for the rest of my life.
    3
    I like this movie quite a bit. I'd like to see it more than once, but I don't need to have it on my shelf.
    2
    Now I can cross that off my list. This movie was all right, I guess, but once was enough. Maybe it was just something I had to get out of my system; there's no need to sit through it again.
    1
    I want my two hours back! This movie was so pathetically bad that I can't believe that I got suckered into watching it. Usually I can smell these coming.
    +/-
    A + or - indicates that the movie is bordering on the next category, possibly pending further consideration. It might also mean that I enjoyed it more or less than the numerical category indicates.