Top 10 Movies…EVER!

Today marks one year to the day since I started my blog, so to celebrate the occasion I thought I would finally unleash my Top 10 Movies…EVER! As I’m sure most people’s lists are, this is constantly changing, and as it is my list, it isn’t necessarily the 10 best movies ever made, but rather my 10 favourites!

The idea for Sarah Saw a Movie came to me, as most of my good ideas do, when I’m driving, and since July 2015, I’ve reviewed, raved, and ranted my way through over 130 blog posts! I’ve had opportunities to combine my day job and my hobby by reviewing The Force Awakens for Tearfund, collaborated with other great bloggers, had some wonderful people guest blog for me, and most recently made my podcasting debut by appearing on the Galactic Grizzly podcast!

In short, this year has been incredible, and it is thanks to the amazing people who read my blogs, share them, and chat to me on Twitter that it is still going strong! I love what I do, and I will always love what I do thanks to the incredible online film community! I’m incredibly excited about what the next year will hold, and just wanted to thank you again for your amazing support!!

So with all the gushing over with for now, here is my Top 10 Movies…EVER!

10. This is Spinal Tap

I spent a large portion of my teenage years completely obsessed with this film, and having rewatched it again very recently, it catapulted it’s way up my film rankings and found a place in my Top 10. There are few films which can consistently make me laugh like This is Spinal Tap does! I only have to think of a classic line (and let’s face it, there’s so many good ones!), and I will immediately want to watch it. The music is amazing as well, and the cast so utterly convincing as washed-up rock stars that the uninitiated might actually believe they’re watching a real group. I absolutely urge you to watch this film if you’ve never seen it before, you won’t regret it!

9. Mean Girls

I’d be hard pressed to find a film I quote more in my every day life than this one! In fact, me and my friends are so obsessed with it that last year (on October 3rd of course!) we threw a Mean Girls themed party. It’s so smart and so funny, and anyone who writes it off as a “chick flick” needs to watch it immediately, and you’ll soon stand corrected. It’s the film I can watch any day at any time, regardless of what mood I’m in, and it will always be one of my favourites!

 8. Jaws

Put simply, this film is perfect. No really, find a flaw in it and let me know please. The music, the direction, the tension, the acting…everything about this film is amazing. It’s completely iconic, and as sharks are my favourite animal, it easily finds a place in my Top 10 list. I mentioned my Top 10 list is constantly changing, but the only place Jaws could go in my list is up.

7. Shaun of the Dead

This slot could’ve very easily been filled by Hot Fuzz as I love that film as well, but in the prestigious Top 10, it absolutely has to be Shaun of the Dead; endlessly quotable, and always hilarious! The direction of Edgar Wright is so subtly brilliant in this film as well, and there’s so much to be appreciated in multiple watches! Watch the first time and laugh your ass off, watch the second time and you’ll notice some of the great little nuances and the amazing foreshadowing that goes on. Simply brilliant, and a pure “slice of fried gold”.

6. Spirited Away

Fun fact, I added this into the Top 10 as I was writing this article as I suddenly looked at it and was like “WHERE THE HELL IS SPIRITED AWAY?!” Easily my favourite Studio Ghibli movie, Spirited Away is absolute perfection. The score, the animation, everything is beautiful in this pure and wonderful fantasy animation. This is a good entry point for those new to Ghibli, and as much as I love so many of their other films, Spirited Away will always be my favourite!

5. Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

Look, we all know I’m a massive Marvel nerd by now right?! The Winter Soldier is my favourite Marvel movie (so far anyway…Civil War is snapping at it’s heels!), so absolutely gets a place in my Top 10. The positioning of all the films in this list are interchangeable, in fact it is only my Top 2 that will probably never change, and The Winter Soldier may not be a better film than some of those we’ve already talked about, but my love for Marvel, and how much this film means to me, put it nice and high up on this list.

4. Back to the Future

This is probably on a lot of people’s lists right?! I’m not sure I’ve met someone who doesn’t love this film! Completely timeless, and still as fresh and funny as it was back in 1985, “Great Scott” this is a truly wonderful movie!

3. The Departed

I will continue to evangelise about this movie for the rest of my life! The performances are the main standout in this film for me, and it will always anger me that Leo never got an Oscar nomination for this one. Nothing will beat the first watch of this one, but it is still one I never get tired of watching. Completely thrilling, and expertly crafted, this is one hell of a movie!

2. Finding Nemo

No surprises here right?! I’m a big Pixar fan, and whilst I adore Toy Story and Inside Out as well, nothing can beat Finding Nemo! This film means so, so much to me! I remember seeing it for the first time in the cinema, I remember watching it every single weekend because I was so obsessed with it. It’s the movie I put on when I want to feel happy, it’s the movie I put on when I want to feel sad. It has a remarkable ability to relax me and send me to sleep when I’m feeling restless. It will, without fail, get me out of whatever funk I happen to be in, and I just plain adore this movie.

1. Empire Strikes Back

Of course it is! Star Wars is my life, Empire Strikes Back is the greatest film in the greatest film series ever, and what else would be my number one?! All Star Wars bias aside, this film is just so, so perfect! From the ice planet of Hoth, to the visually striking Cloud City, to that completely iconic Vader and Luke showdown, and of course every single interaction between Han and Leia, this film is cinematic perfection, cemented, deeply rooted, and never leaving my number one spot!

Honourable mentions:

Nightmare Before Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, Lion King, Mrs Doubtfire, and Toy Story.

What are your Top 10 Movies…EVER? Share yours in the comments below!