My 25 Favorite Animated Films

25 Isle of Dogs (2018)

24 WALL-E (2008)

23 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie for Theaters (2007)

22 Spirited Away (2001)

21 Toy Story 3(2010)

20 Incredibles 2 (2018)

19 Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

18 The Peanuts Movie (2015)

17 How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

16 Coco (2017)

15 Moana (2016)

14 Meet the Robinsons (2007)

13 The Sword in the Stone (1963)

12 The Incredibles (2004)

11 The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

10 Mary and Max (2009)

9 Monster House (2006)

8 My Life as a Zucchini (2016)

7 The Lego Movie (2014)

6 How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1992)

5 Robin Hood (1973)

4 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

3 Big Hero 6 (2014)

2 Up (2009)

1 Toy Story (1995)

My Favorite 100 Films: 25-1

Part 4

100-76 75-51 50-26

25.) V for Vendetta (2005)
Director: James McTeigue
IMDB: 8.2

One of my favorite books of all-time is 1984, which means I love myself a good dystopian storyline. V for Vendetta hits a lot of similar notes as the George Orwell classic, but is actually based off a graphic novel from DC Comics written by Alan Moore, who had another story on this list previously (Watchmen). "Remember! Remember, the Fifth of November!"

24.) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Director: Wes Anderson
IMDB: 7.3

As mentioned with The Royal Tenenbaums, this movie reintroduced me to Wes Anderson and I took to it much better knowing what I was getting into. While the cast is phenomenal, it's some of the smaller characters that make this movie for me. Willem Dafoe is sneaky funny as Klaus and Seu Jorge provides amazing Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs. For what ever reason, it's Jeff Goldblum's character that utters my favorite line, "They turned my turtles into soup!"

23.) Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Director: Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris
IMDB: 7.8

One of the first movies I saw at the Ann Arbor Theater, I was blown away with the original content and hilarious, though sometimes dark, nature of this film. Abigail Breslin is loveable in her breakout role that earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination, but it was her much older co-star, Alan Arkin, who took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The rest of the cast is well rounded out as a misfit family trying to make it out west for a kids beauty pageant.


22.) The Science of Sleep (2006)
Director: Michel Gondry
IMDB: 7.3

I also saw this one in theaters, but this time at the Athena in Athens, Ohio. This wonderfully made film is about a man (Gael Garcia Bernal) who has a hard time separating his dreams from the real world. He falls in love with his neighbor, a French woman played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, and he tries to bring her into his imaginary world. Director Michel Gondry's flare for the insane ability to make the impossible come to life is at its best here. A beautiful little quirky film.

21.) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Director: Adam McKay
IMDB: 7.2

Once again, this was a movie I saw in theaters, but unlike the other movies, I literally fell out of my seat from laughing. There's just something about cheaply done gags that make me laugh uncontrollably, and in this instance, it involved a bear and a missing arm. Like any great comedy, it's incredibly quotable and you'd be hard pressed to find a funnier group of people assembled for a movie, but I've got a couple examples coming up.


20.) Donnie Darko (2001)
Director: Richard Kelly
IMDB: 8.1

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a troubled teen who nearly dies in a freak accident, but then begins to see a man in a bunny suit that persuades him to commit a series of crimes. It's a trippy film that like Interstellar deals with wormholes and time travel. Look for a young Seth Rogen in this one as one of the school bullies.




19.) Unbreakable (2000)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
IMDB: 7.3

It's probably obvious that I love comic books and comic book movies. So a movie about real life people attempting to be superheroes drew some interest. After The Sixth Sense I thought that M. Night Shyamalan was going to be this great director and this certainly helped that feeling because I love everything about it. Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, whose fragile state is the exact opposite of David Dunn (Bruce Willis) who seemingly cannot be hurt. One of my favorite twists and favorite lines comes at the end, so much so, that I learned to say it in Spanish. Imagine my surprise when I was finishing up Split, which was an ok movie, and saw David Dunn watching TV and getting ready to find this new super villain. Of course this set-up the movie Glass, which I loved, but reigned myself in on a little bit a day later.



18.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Director: Michel Gondry
IMDB: 8.3

What happens when you love someone so much, but then find out that they've erased you from their memories? You do the same thing, but when Joel (Jim Carrey) relives his memories with Clementine (Kate Winslet) he begins to regret his decision and tries to reverse the procedure.


17.) The Usual Suspects (1995)
Director: Bryan Singer
IMDB: 8.6

One of the best endings to a movie ever, although I initially saw this executed in the parody film Wrongfully Accused. Five criminals meet in a police lineup and eventually get together for a job on a boat. However, it goes horribly wrong and there's just one survivor, a man named Verbal (Kevin Spacey), who recaps the events to the police. Spacey won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Christopher McQuarrie took home the honor for Best Original Screenplay.


16.) Schindler's List (1993)
Director: Steven Spielberg
IMDB: 8.9

It's weird to have a movie about the Holocaust as one of my favorites, but it's so well told and so well made that Spielberg is able to tell a story so brutal yet so beautiful. Industrialist Oskar Schindler begins to hire exclusively Jewish workers in Poland during the German occupation in an attempt to save them from the Holocaust. The film is in black and white with the exception of one girl in a red dress, that is a set up to something so horribly disturbing. It took home 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.



15.) Network (1976)
Director: Sidney Lumet
IMDB: 8.1

News anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) has a meltdown on camera, but is resonates with Americans so much that he's allowed to stay on air and his episodes are exploited for profit by the network. Beale, who was initially fired,finds his stock rising again, but at what price? "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" 


14.) Dial 'M' for Murder (1954)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
IMDB: 8.2
Like 12 Angry Men and Rope before it, this movie doesn't really leave the one location that it's set. Grace Kelly plays a wandering wife whose husband plots to have her murdered. The murder attempt goes horribly wrong and she is able to kill her attempted murderer. She is blamed for the crime and it's up to her lover to set her free and find out who's responsible.


13.) Pulp Fiction (1994)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
IMDB: 8.9

The lives of several people in Los Angeles intertwine with one another through stories of violence, redemption, and gimps. Samuel L. Jackson rightfully garners an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor while John Travolta (lead actor) and Uma Thurman (supporting actress) also took home nominations. But Jules Winnfield is one of the baddest characters in cinema history and not to mention he's the only one who knows what's inside the case. Seriously, just so many great lines, and I'll never forget what the bible verse Ezekiel 25:17 says.


12.) Shaun of the Dead (2005)
Director: Edgar Wright
IMDB: 7.9

The best zombie movie is also the funniest zombie movie. Arguably the best use of Queen in any movie and that includes Bohemian Rhapsody. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, along with director Edgar Wright kick off their trilogy of films made together, with Pegg and Frost playing Shaun and Ed, two London blokes who are trying to survive a zombie apocalypse in their neck of the woods. Can Shaun get back with his ex-girlfriend, save him mom, and have a pint at the Winchester and watch the whole thing blow over?

11.)Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
IMDB: 8.3

A cool soundtrack, lots of gunfights, and a mole within a heist, what could be better? Quentin Tarantino's debut is just ahead of his much more acclaimed follow-up, which is just two spots behind on this list. Tim Roth conned his way into getting cast in this film and while Tarantino might have initially hated the decision, it works out for the best as he takes part in jewel heist alongside Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, and Tarantino himself.


10.)Big Fish (2003)
Director: Tim Burton
IMDB: 8.0

A beautiful film that is so creative and fun, and romantic. Tim Burton's fairytale of a father (Albert Finney) who tells stories that are larger than life, at the risk of alienating his only son (Billy Crudup). However, his son returns home when he finds out his father is dying, which gives his dad one more chance to tell all of his Big Fish stories about how he met his mother and about the great adventures he went on to earn her love. The end of this movie brings such a big smile to my face. Look for a young Miley Cyrus towards the beginning.


9.) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Director: Steven Spielberg
IMDB: 8.6
A great ensemble cast leads this World War II movie about a company of men that must rescue the only remaining son of the Ryan family somewhere in the European front. The movie opens with the Normandy invasion and is so well crafted and captivating. It's the standard for any war movie that came after it and was snubbed as the Best Picture because of some shady campaigning by Miramax for Shakespeare in Love.



8.) Inception (2010)
Director: Christopher Nolan
IMDB: 8.8

I'm so glad I saw this on the big screen because the visuals for this movie are breathtaking. Like seriously, where in the Nolan brothers minds do they think of the things they think. A team of thieves enters the dreams of a C.E.O. to implant an idea that will alter the company forever. However, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has spent too much time in this world and has some demons that interrupt the success of his missions. The end of this matches his previous works of mystery and still has me asking people, what they think happened.


7.) The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
IMDB: 9.0

The greatest superhero movie came with the greatest toll. Heath Ledger was never the same in his posthumus win for Best Supporting Actor for the role of the Joker. While Cesar Romero's is goofy and Jack Nicholson's is cool, Ledger's version of the Joker is truly the sociopath he's truly meant to be. It opens like a heist movie, moves on to a spy movie, and eventually moves into a cat and mouse game with dire consequences for those in Gotham City.


6.) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Director: Frank Darabont
IMDB: 9.3

"Get busy living, or get busy dying." Morgan Freeman was meant to play the role of Red. There's just something soothing about his performance that builds to this great story that's based off the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. That was actually going to be the full title of this movie, but a lot of people thought it was going to be a biopic about Hayworth, which included actresses sending auditions to director Frank Darabont. I feel like I don't really need to explain this because if you haven't seen this movie, then you need to right that wrong.


5.) American Beauty (1999)
Director: Sam Mendes
IMDB: 8.4

I've mentioned before that without this movie, it probably wouldn't have opened the door to a lot of movies and my love of filmmaking. Kevin Spacey wins an Oscar for his role as Lester Burnham who suffers a mid-life crisis, quits his job, starts a weed habit, and catches feelings for his daughter's friend. There's a lot of weird things that wouldn't work in today's world, but there's so much about the cinematography and the score that bring this together and it's very well acted. These things allow me to look past the creepier things.



4.) The Departed (2006)
Director: Martin Scorsese
IMDB: 8.5

An undercover cop infiltrates the mob and tries to find the mole within the police department. It's the movie that finally earned Martin Scorsese his Oscar and is just one fantastic film. At the risk of ruining this great film based off the also stellar Korean film Infernal Affairs, I'll just stop here.

3.) Blazing Saddles (1974)
Director: Mel Brooks
IMDB: 7.8

They can't make them like this anymore. Funny from start to finish, a corrupt politician appoints a black man (Cleavon Little), who was about to be hung, to be sheriff of a western town in hopes of buying the land. Instead he wins over the town thanks in part to a helping, albeit shaky, hand (Gene Wilder). It's certainly one of those movies I'm glad that my parents showed me.

2.) Se7en (1995)
Director: David Fincher
IMDB: 8.6

Such a good thriller and once again Morgan Freeman establishes himself as one of my favorite actors. He and Brad Pitt must solve a series of murders based off the seven deadly sins. "What's in the box?"


1.) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Director: Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam
IMDB: 8.3

Anyone who knows me should not be surprised to see this movie here. It's everything I love in a movie. There's just too much to go into from the black knight, to floating witches, to shrubbery, rabbits, wizards named Tim, wild opening credits, and an abrupt ending.