Daniel Lubetzky

Back in the mid 90′s, at Grimaldi’s (the home of the best Pizza in Brooklyn) with Jessica Hirsch, her friend Nadia, and Cem Sertoglu, we created a list of our 10 favorite films.  Since then, I’ve kept polishing it almost religiously – I am a real nerd when it comes to keeping lists, and a double nerd when it comes to movies. 

Friends occasionally ask me for a copy, probably so they can later tease me for daring to list the first Austin Powers movie among my top 10 (I stand by that choice, btw; if you watch several James Bond movies right before it, you will appreciate the creative parody even more). 

Films are a very personal choice – perhaps the reason why the Netflix movie recommendation system is so poor.  Choices often have a lot to do not just with individual taste, but also with the person’s state of mind when they see the movie.  That said, for anyone curious enough, here is my list, which ONLY contains good to great movies (maybe one day I will create a list of the worst movies ever, but that may be too long a list).  I will edit this blog entry sporadically when something good enough merits being added…This Entry Was First Made September 16, 2007. [Last Updated July 4, 2008]

If I missed a great movie, PLEASE share it.

AAAAA – The Very Very Very Best
Like Water for Chocolate
The Mission
The Sting
Into The Wild
Not One Less
Il Postino
Austin Powers I
Cinema Paradiso
Hanna and Her Sisters
House of Games(memet)
The Bear (french movie)
Central Station
Amarcord
Born Into Brothels

AAAA – Exceptional Movies
A Beautiful Mind
Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulin
Jagged Edge
The Verdict
The Spanish Prisoner
Ghost World
Amadeus
Best In Show
Usual Suspects
The Lives of Others
The Sixth Sense
Being John Malkovich
Liasons Dangereux
James Bond Movies
Schindler’s List
The Matrix
The Thirteenth Floor
My Life as A Dog
Le Bleu
Patch Adams
Parenthood

AAA – Excellent Films

Shawshank Redemption
Philadelphia
A River Runs Through It
Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner
The Jazz Singer
Overboard
La Mala Educacion
3:10 To Yuma
Lucia y el Sexo
Nights of Cabiria (Fellini)
Water
Lolita by Kubrick
Hable Con Ella
Forrest Gump
Life Is Beautiful
Europa Europa
Saving Private Ryan
Jean De Florette/Manon of the Spring
Atonement
The Indian Runner
Rodin/Camille Claudet
Gladiator
Chicago
Fight Club
As Good as It Gets
The Last King of Scotland
The Hoax
Talk to Me (Peety Green)
Jazz Singer
Pleasantville
A Civil Action
The Talented Mr. Ripley
When Harry Met Sally
Fargo
Mr Smith Goes to Washington
Freedom Writers
Wisdom of The Pretzel
Get Shorty
Moulin Rouge
Invincible
American History X
Camila
El Norte
Kinsey
LA Confidential
The Frisco Kid
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Ushpizin
Haleakah (the troupe)
Hair
Being There
Life As A House
Matchstick Men
Finding Forrester
American Beauty
Annie Hall
Emmanuel’s Gift
Can’t Buy Me Love
Night Hawks
Dark City
House of Fog and Sand
Enemy of the State
Spiderman II
Requiem for A Dream
Raising Victor Vargas
Training Day

AA – Very Good Films

Amores Perros
Catch Me If You Can
Finding Neverland
Godfather I and II
The Five Obstructions
Blazing Saddles
Pulp Fiction
Broadcast News
Scarface
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Virgin Suicides
Edward Scissorhands
Notes on a Scandal
Live Flesh/Carne Tremula/El Deseo
hunt for red october
primal fear
apocalypto
Baraka
Monsoon Wedding
Don Juan De Marco
The Sea of Love (al pacino movie cop/record)
Star Wars movies (I, II, III)
The Shine
Jerry McGuire
The Insider
Wall Street
There’s Something About Mary
Dead Poet’s Society
Memoirs of A Geisha
Water Boy
The Truman Show
Cruel Intentions
Rushmore
Black book
Lion King
Aux Revoir Les Enfants
October Sky
ET
Sunshine
Burnt by the Sun
Total Recall
Wayne’s World
Goodwill Hunting
Wild Thinqs; Malibu ….and Palmetto…
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
F/X
good night & good luck
Crash
Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room
Knocked Up
Spring Summer Fall Winter…& Spring
An Inconvenient Truth
Children of Heaven (Iran)
Braveheart
Fresh
Une Affaire De Gout
Lantana
20 Dates

A+: Also Good Movies
Clash of the Titans (& other greek movie)
Silence of the Lambs
Alan Alda/Cybil Shepard/ pfeiffer/kane filming re civil war
Donnie Brasco
The Shinning
The Man Who Cried
Illuminata
One True Thing
ONe Flew Over the Cooko’s Nest
Clockwork Orange
It’s a wonderful life
Hackman pentagon official frames kevin costner
Ghost
City Heat or Heat (pacino/deniro)
Basic Instinct
Pacific Heights
Gilbert Grape
Man in the Moon
Any Given Sunday
Green Mile
Election
Trading Places
A Fish Called Wanda
Groundhog Day
Love Actually
In The Bedroom
Remember The Titans
A Man For All Seasons
K-PAX
Pay It Forward
Austin Powers -II
About A Boy
Class
Jacob’s Ladder
Born on the 4th of July
A Little Princess
All About my Mother
American Pie
Fried Green Tomatoes
Leaving Las Vegas
Sleepless in Seattle
Mission Impossible I
The Never Ending Story
Wintchell
The Deer Hunter
David & Lisa
Titanic
Face/Off
Scent of A Woman
Searching for Bobby Fischer
The Game
Harold & Maude
The Opposite of Sex
Spartacus
Contact
Savior
Pacific Heights
Crazy/Beautiful
The Lord Of The Rings
CopyCat
The Gods Must be Crazy
Superman
Music Box
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Happiness
The Harvest
Jackie Brown
Deconstructing Harry
Advocate (pacino/keanu/devil)
Reservoir Dogs
Graduate
Seven
12 Monkeys
Babe
Casino
Clueless
Highland
Interview with the Vampire
Men In Black
The Cell
Gattica
X-Men
Dumb & Dumber
Freaky Friday
Stanger Than Fiction
Dancer In The Dark
The Birdcage
Arthur
Airplane
Disclosure