Greetings everyone, I’ve just turned 2! Two years ago today I finished writing up a review for Thor Ragnarok and released it for a few friends and a hell of a lot of strangers to indulge, hopefully like and enjoy my somewhat insightful comments. In the two years since I have created over 200 posts and some of those strangers became fans and even friends. Two years later, I’m still here with the same enthusiasm as when I first started, and my creativity has only gotten better since that very first post.

Whenever you entered my story, thanks for checking out this site and reading my attempts at entertaining content. In honour of your continued support I thought I would do something special that I know I have never actually talked about before and that’s The Blog Complainer’s favourite movie of all time. To tell you the truth I don’t have a favourite, I have plural, favourites, because it’s impossible for me to choose one lucky favourite. So I just have a small list of some of my favourites that I want to share with you.

The Top 24 of the BC’s Favouritest Movies of Forever!!

(In Chronological Order)

 Best Written Movie

This is the oldest movie on the list. It goes all the way back to the 1950’s, it’s the only black and white movie here and it’s closest thing I have seen to a masterpiece in a while. 12 Angry Men takes place almost entirely in one room and thanks to the top notch script and brilliant acting they managed to find a way to make the story engaging and all 12 jurors distinguishable and complex. It’s about a murder case with no clear right answer, but more so it’s about Henry Fonda trying to sway the other 11 jurors to his side and it’s a gripping drama which I highly recommend!

This was my introduction to crime dramas and so far this is still my favourite. The Godfather is probably the most iconic movie on this list for having such a huge impact on cinema. I always liked it for being the perfect way to present a mini-series like movie into an almost 3 hour long movie and also for the character journey of Michael Corleone. Marlon Brando receives all the credit in the acting department, but I always loved Al Pacino in this as it is his best role. It also has the best deaths I’ve ever seen so yeah, a masterpiece. It’s a shame the two sequels kind of ruined this great story by existing.

I love absurdity and Monty Python and the Holy Grail is full of it. Right from the get-go the movie is taking potshots at how stupid it is from the moose references in the opening credits and the fact that this movie is so dirt cheap that they have to pretend that they’re riding horses. It’s one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, it’s great!

I was debating between this or Halloween, but my fear of uncharted waters with deadly creatures overwhelms a movie about an escaped cold blooded murderer. Also from the dreaded memories of how tense Jaws was. I’ve actually reviewed this and my points still stand, except for the fact that I’ve thought about it more since then. So for a further analysis click here.

Got to love a good revenge tale with classical music being centre stage. Everything about Amadeus is grandiose in my eyes. The costumes, the make-up, the dramatic operas, Mozart’s music, the tragic downfall of the two main rivals and the amazing production design of the location this whole story takes place in. It’s a stage show production brought to life on the big screen, how can I not love it?

Back to the Future is a personal favourite of mine. It’s a movie I could watch at any time no matter what mood I’m in. It’s got it all, it’s funny, it’s sad, it’s tense while also having great characters, it’s quotable, it has a time machine I would kill to have and the best theme for a movie ever. It’s a classic, go and watch it! Also watch the second movie that’s almost as great, but skip the third movie.

Stand By Me is the best Stephen King adapted story. This is mainly because of how well written the four main boys are along with the great actors they got to play them. A big reason why I love this movie so much is I can relate to these young boys all being close friends now, but coming close to teen-hood you never really get back in touch. Also as an adult I feel like each day I’m more and more becoming like the grown up version of Will Wheaton’s character. I might keep a mental note of this.

The 80’s was filled with Teen movies, but out of the ones I have seen, Heathers is my favourite. This is great because of it’s a darker look at the rebellious side of teenage angst and grown-ups not really understanding what’s wrong with their kids. I’m also a fan of dark comedy or black comedies because I’m a sick person. I’ve only seen Heathers once and I am looking forward to revisiting it for Winona and Christian.

I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again anyway, this is the best Indiana Jones movie in my humble opinion. Kind of like Back to the Future it’s just a fun adventure, except with violence. Elsa is the best Indie girl because she’s replaced with Sean Connery and here we get some great comedy and we learn a bit more about Indiana. The battle on top of the tank is probably my favourite action set piece from any movie.

It was either this or Die Hard for best Christmas movie, but I have seen this one more, so there you go. Christmas Vacation is nothing amazing as it’s a pretty standard Christmas story, but it’s really funny, which gives this the edge. The shenanigans of Clark Griswold make him a very easy guy to root for, but you also want to see him suffer to see what chaos ensues.

If you read the Disneyathon series then it shouldn’t be a surprise that this movie is on here. It’s got great songs, one of the best couples in fiction, a great villain, a heart-warming story and the animation is gorgeous. Can’t recommend this one enough.

Since I started this site, I have been expanding my range. Especially in horror, movies outside of my native language and of course anime. My anime catalogue is a work in progress, but out of the movies I have seen Princess Mononoke is by far my favourite. Hayao Miyazaki’s films are the best when it comes to world building as there is nothing like it. We’re thrown into this conflict between two sides, both as interesting and flawed as the other. It’s one of the most recent movies I have seen that had me thinking about it long after the credits had rolled over.

Another thinky movie but instead of being about the environment, it’s all about questioning our reality. The Truman Show is amazing as it somehow makes one man’s entire life being broadcast on live television seem not the stupidest thing ever. This is very much out of character for Jim Carrey, but it is one of his best. There are plenty of memorable shots as well, such as looking through one of the lenses of a camera and that scene when Truman makes all those cars stop perfectly in front of him.

One of my biggest life regrets is not rewatching Memento directly after seeing it for the first time. This is by far Christopher Nolan’s best movie and I don’t think it can be topped. Memento does a lot right such as how it uses it’s main character’s short term memory loss to tell this complex backwards story. I still have only seen it once, but I am very much considering this for my top 5 favourite movies ever.

I can’t think of too many movies that are underrated, but after watching The Road to El Dorado again it definitely fits the bill. I guess I’m a sucker for adventure movies with some fun likable rogues getting into trouble while being accompanied by some Elton John music. This movie bombed back in the day which is probably why it’s always overlooked when people talk about the best Dreamworks movies. I put a review on Letterboxd of it, just for the hell of it, so if you’d like to read almost my exact same thoughts then go right ahead!

Yeah, I cheated a bit with this one, but hear me out. Trilogies are very hard to pull off as it’s either the first two are good, but the third sucks or sometimes it’s the other way around. There are only a few cases where all three films are great and one of them is Lord of the Rings. All three movies tell the epic tale of a small band of unlikely heroes taking on the darkness of evil by destroying their ultimate Macguffin device so they can save the world. They’re long, they’re dramatic and it took three movies to convince the Oscars to award this larger than life franchise with Best Picture. It’s great, I should review this or the Hobbit one day.

They don’t make them like they used to. This is another movie I could watch whenever and have a jolly good old time. Almost two years ago I wrote a review on this movie and I still agree with myself, except his writing style might need some work. My updated thoughts  include: Go and watch The Incredibles.

Here’s the movie that inspired the creation of this list. I am not kidding! I have been rewatching old Spongebob episodes because they’re still incredibly hilarious which led up to this movie which I feel is the grand series finale to the Stephen Hillenberg era of Spongebob. The movie is effortlessly charming with some of the funniest gags in the entirety of Spongebob. What the Spongebob movie does best, and what I love in other great animated movies, is be surprisingly emotional when you least expect it. It’s also got a great message for children to learn, which is it’s okay to admit you’re a Goofy Goofy Goober. Yeah!

As I said in my earlier review I really like this movie despite the fact it’s a very strange film to target at children. A Guilty Pleasure! 😀

I was in a Lego period in the early 2010’s so when it turned out that The Lego Movie was as awesome as the song implied, it made my day. What amazes me is how not phoned in this movie is compared to most direct to DVD Lego movies. Like the brand, the movie inspires creativity and to be the most awesome version of yourself that you can be. It’s one of the best family films to come out in recent years and a must watch for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

I never really took playing the drums seriously until a young naive Neiman decided to take a class from J Jonah Jameson, the most terrifying asshole teacher in a movie. The performances are great, the tension between the leads is amazing and it’s got some of the most heart poundingly tense scenes for a movie about a guy who really wants to get good at playing the drums!

I wanted to include another 2014 movie because it was such a good year for movies. David Fincher might be my favourite director, mainly because of how he tackles each of his movies with so much care and intrigue. I wanted to include one of his movies and I watched Gone Girl a few months ago, and I loved it, so here it is. It’s a great mystery/thriller and gets progressively more interesting as all the puzzle pieces come together.

This came out at a time where the chance of seeing a great remake or reboot to a beloved franchise was next to none. This movie is great, not just because it pays homage to the original, but because it feels like a faithful continuing story of this already established world. This is one of most beautiful movies I have seen thanks to breathtaking cinematography and it use of colours. It won’t be for everyone because there is very little action and it’s quite slow paced, which is probably the reason it bombed. Hopefully Dune makes up for this.

The final movie is the most recent Best Picture winner, Parasite. I don’t really feel the need to emphasise how great this movie is as I have already mentioned my praise in five different posts! In the last three months my thoughts haven’t changed – that scene when the Park family return from the camping trip is still tense as hell, so watch it!

That’s only some of my favourite movies. I’ll post another list on Letterboxd which will include the other nine movies that didn’t make the cut for this post. Can’t stress enough how much I appreciate the support and praise I have gotten in these last 2 years and hope it continues for another year and beyond. This has been your resident movie bellyacher, The Blog Complainer, signing out.

The Blog Complainer’s Favourite Movies