10. School of Rock

9. Saving Private Ryan

8. City of God

7. Casino Royale

6. Blade Runner

Blade Runner paints a bleak future for mankind, a cyberpunk world with no animals and bounty hunters who track and eliminate rogue robots (replicants). What I loved about the Blade Runner was that it wasn’t clear cut if humans should eliminate the rogue replicants. The replicants had a very human survival instinct, highlighted in the final scene between Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer.

5. Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back

The dagobah scenes where Luke meets Yoda are permanently imprinted in my memory.

4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

A huge fan of the book, I feel like the Lotr movies really did a great job with the story and characters. With the return of the king, the action sequences kept the story moving while at the same time, the movie also examined the inner struggle that Frodo faced as he journeyed towards Mount Doom to destroy the ring.

3. The Godfather Part 2

Godfather 2 is probably the greatest movie sequel ever made with outstanding performances by Al Pachino and Robert De Niro.

2. The Godfather

One of my favorite sequences from the movie is when Michael Corleone is at a baptism ceremony while having orchestrated the demise of various rivals at the very same moment. The Godfather is a masterpiece. The film features some of the finest acting I’ve ever seen. The story, setting, soundtrack- everything feels authentic.

1. The Matrix

I didn’t really understand the storyline of The Matrix when I first watched it, but I fell in love with the cyberpunk setting of the film. Rewatching it a few times, even the story was really unique. The machines had subdued humans and plugged our consciousness into a computer generated world called The Matrix. It was prophesized that Neo would free mankind from their enslavement. What ensues is a mind-bending journey through the eyes of Neo as he jumps across buildings and dodges bullets in slow motion.

Honorable Mentions

Gladiator, Lion King, Toy Story 2, V for Vendetta, The Big Lebowski, Shaun of the Dead, Amelie, Napoleon Dynamite, The Truman Show, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler’s List, The Pianist, Bourne Identity