Top 20 movies!

here is a list of my top twenty favorite movies of all time! not the movies i think are the best made/acted/directed but the movies that i watch over and over again because I just can't get enough!

I've been working on this post since the summer! It took me a week or two to decide which movies made the list. i was going to try and rank them from 1-20 but that proved too difficult so they are in no particular order, except of course, my favorite movie of ALL TIME.... wow these are long. i'm sure no one will read the whole thing. if you live near me, i have all of these movies on dvd. and i would love to let you borrow them so we can talk about them! Little Shop of Horrors This movie is so perfect to me. Singing? 1960's style girl group chorus? cute nerd protagonist? puppets? ridiculous story line? humorous murder? It has all of that and more! Steve Martin is amazing as the sadistic dentist. Not only is it my favorite movie, it is also my favorite play to see live. I've probably seen 15+ productions of it. It's just perfect. We had the love song "Suddenly Seymour" played at our wedding. And if we have kids, and have a boy, his name is going to be Seymour, Honest. I could watch this movie every day and not get tired. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I just put this edition of the series as my favorite because it's the latest. Even before I read the books I loved these movies. They are so magical and interesting and a little scary. Voldemort is such an awesome villain name too. Now that I've read (and loved) all of the books the movies don't seem as perfect but I still love watching them. I cant wait for the half blood prince to come out this summer. The Nightmare Before Christmas. this movie came out on video when i was in elementary school and my grandma send it to me as a Christmas gift. my parents ended up having to hide it from me because i watched it over and over and that annoyed them. The animation is perfect and the story is sweet. It was my introduction to Tim Burton. I love the soundtrack and have it on cassette tape and vinyl and cd. I freaked out when i heard that Corpse Bride was coming out, but it was disappointing. it just wasn't as magical as Nightmare Before Christmas is. I really distrust anyone who says they hate this movie. I don't think it's really possible. Help! I think everyone goes through a Beatles phase right? I got this movie for my birthday and made everyone I knew watch it. It's a great ridiculous story. A girl sends a ring as a gift to Ringo. It turns out to be a ceremonial ring for a fake religion, and the wearer has to be sacrificed. So the story follows the Beatles as they try and save Ringo. With lots of songs of course. It's so funny good! I also really like A Hard Days Night, their first movie, but I have definitely watched Help! more times. I could never decide which one I thought was the cutest (and that is important for a teenage girl!) Sweeney Todd The only thing I knew about this story was that some of the characters did part of it in that Kevin Smith movie Jersey Girl. When I found out Tim Burton was doing it, with Johnny Depp as the lead, I freaked out with my bff Crystal and went to see it opening night, not really knowing what to expect. We LOVED it. I saw it in the theatre six times and we bought the soundtrack and sang it at every opportunity. I love the creepy story and the fake blood gushing everywhere. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are so wonderful and I wouldn't mind if they were the leads in every single movie Tim Burton makes. The songs are perfect and the costumes/sets are amazing. I remember gasping in delight when Johnny Depp has on that striped old fashioned bathing costume. So hot. West Side Story Can you tell I have a thing for musicals? I love all the dance sequences in this. Especially the whole opening with no words, just street boys doing ballet moves. I love the music but the dancing is really my favorite part. A great star crossed lover story that of course ends in tragedy and makes me cry every freaking time i see it! Anita was always my favorite, even though her boyfriend dies. I love juvenile delinquents. Cry-Baby I am a big John Waters fan and this is my favorite of his movies. It's really overacted and over the top and just perfect. Juvenile delinquents at their best! The "good girl" falls for the super cute young Johnny Depp. There are hilarious songs and great lines to quote with your friends. Also, the commentary is really good. I listen to it probably as often as i watch the movie itself. Other John Waters movies you can't miss: Pecker, Serial Mom.  American Splendor I don't know what it is about this movie that makes me like it so much. It's about underground comic legend Harvey Pekar. He is in the movie himself, and Paul Giamatti plays him. I love the strange narrative they use, it's really different from other movies I've seen. Harvey is really just a sad sack guy who writes comics about himself that other people draw. The first time I saw it, i popped it right back in the dvd player once it was over to watch it again. Something about it just pleasant to me. The Rocky Horror Picture Show I didn't see this movie until I was probably 19 and my reaction was "Why haven't I seen this before!!!!" It is perfectly suited to my taste. Songs and transvestites and weird story lines. I'm sure you've seen this, a young couple gets lost and ends up at the castle of a drag queen alien who is making a sexy man and having a party the same night. Totally weird and totally awesome. Babe I think Bade is the perfect kids movie. My dad took me to see this in the theatre a bunch of times when it came out and we still watch it together. A great story, cute animals, just enough scary parts that you aren't bored to tears (a lot of kids movies are so "safe" that they are boring and patronizing). We have a border collie and when she was a puppy I used to watch this with her and point out the other border collies on screen. I like to watch it when I am sick, because it makes me feel cozy. I also like Babe 2: Pig in the City. It's super weird and creepy and some parts are disturbing! I would recommend it! I made Travis watch it and when it was over he said "that was messed up!" Hedwig and the Angry Inch Another movie that makes me cry every time. I love John Cameron Mitchell's performance as Hedwig. The music is SO good and the story is pretty original. And the COSTUMES! crystal and i have been obsessed with that bright red glitter lipstick since we first saw it. It's such a great story about finding yourself and learning not to always find your identity in others. Mean Girls One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I think everyone is perfectly cast in this. Because of this movie I had really high hopes for Baby Mama, but it turns out Tina Fey didn't write that one, so it's not nearly as good. A look at the social lives of high schoolers. Lots of parts in this movie make me laugh out loud even though I've seen it a bunch of times. The Adventures of Pricilla: Queen of the Desert Drag queens with accents? Perfect. Story of three people on a road trip. And they are going to perform in drag. Guy Pierce and Huge Weaving are so good in this. Terrence Stamp too. The Tick/Mitzi story line about traveling back to see his ex wife and son was my favorite story in the movie. And the big musical number near the end makes me howl with laughter every time. Especially the lizard costumes. Eagle Vs. Shark Mostly, Jemaine Clement is in it. But I also really liked the story. Completely nerdy selfish weirdo and the shy girls who loves him. I love Lily's transformation in the movie. I love the style of it, and the soundtrack is the best one i've ever heard. It's probably the cd I've listened to the most in the past year. Pride & Prejudice I like Jane Austen and this was my favorite of her books. This movie version is just absolutely perfect to me. I love Keira Knightly in any kind of period movie (omg the duchess is so good too!) the guy playing Mr. Darcy is just perfect. It's so romantic and beautiful. I've tried to make travis watch this but we never finished it because he got bored. So, he is crazy. I love watching this movie when it's raining and I'm home alone missing Travis. My favorite romantic movie. Waiting for Guffman I like all of Christopher Guests movies but this is my favorite. The story of a small town putting on a play for it's anniversary. This movie makes me laugh a LOT. The actual production is probably my favorite part (the penny for your thoughts song is a highlight) but the whole thing is good. Mockumentary style. I really like Best in Show too, but the character of the director, Corky St. Clair is what edged this one into first place. Idle Hands there really is no logical reason why I like this movie so much. Crystal and I used to watch it over and over in high school and at one point we could recite the entire thing from memory. A kids hand is possessed by Satan and goes on a killing spree. Seth Green is in it, I love him. It's funny and a little gory and again, has a ridiculous plot. High Fidelity My dad rented this movie for me in high school and I thought it was weird. I saw it again a few years later and fell in love with it. The book is even better. A middle aged record store owner going over his relationship failures. So many good characters. Jack Black is one of my guilty pleasures (I feel like I shouldn't love him as much as I do). My favorite John Cusack roll. I think he does it just perfectly. The Secret of NIMH This movie has always captured my imagination. Mrs. Frisby, a feild mouse, has to go and ask for the help of some super intelligent rats to save her family. But as she finds out more and more about them it gets more and more interesting. There are scenes from this that are really sharp in my mind. The scenes in the medical lab and the creepy part where she meets the owl. The book was also one of my favorites as a child. I have always loved the idea that animals have little shelves and bedrooms in their homes. Not like the movies where animals live just like people. But the idea that they eat off some kind of plate, or hollow out a shelve to put their food on. I don't know why, but I've always really loved that idea. Party Monster I watched this because it had Seth Green in it. And i loved it. The story of 1990's party scene in new york. great costumes. cute gay boys. downward spirals. crazy sets. i love it. 

 Movies that almost made the list: RENT, Strangers with Candy, Shortbus, 101 Dalmations (the animated one), Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, Spirited Away, Detroit Rock City