I'm sure this topic is a bit late, but today I was reminded about how Time's best 100 movies ever really pissed me off. To me the sole intent of movies is to entertain. While some have other intents, I still consider entertainment to be the primary focus whether you are a producer or a viewer.
I also feel that it is unfair to compare movies of totally different types.
Below are my picks for the top movies in different categories. For me a great movie needs to be entertaining no matter how many times I've seen it. I understand that movies are a matter of personal taste, but I can appreciate movies that are of a type I generally don't like as long as they are good.
These aren't in any particular order, but I just happened to just watch one of my fav's, Leathal Weapon.
COP MOVIES
The entire Lethal Weapon series. While I like #1 the best, all have their moments. #1 with Mel Gibson as a cop on the edge led to characters you can't help but love and his gun in the mouth scene is hard to beat as far as intense scenes go for all movies. Throw in the funny bits and it's hard to beat. Then you throw Joe Pesci into the mix for the sequels as comedic relief and just when things start to die down one of the ultimate bad guy characters of all time played by Jet Li, and you've got a great series of movies that you can watch over and over.
SURPRISE MOVIES
This category is for all those movies where you may have seen previews but you went to see the movie and were pleasantly surprised. The top of my list has to be "True Lies". This movie was billed as an action movie and the previews showed only action sequences.....I hate previews by the way because they ruin the best parts of many movies.... Then I went to see it the first time and laughed my ass off throughout the movie. I mean who didn't burst out with a surprise laugh the first time they saw Jamie Lee Curtis slips and falls down during the hooker scene. Not a great movie overall because too much of the effects appeared fake, but the surprise comedy caught me off guard.
SPORTS MOVIES
Sports movies are an American thing and my Russian wife doesn't get them at all, because in Russia the underdog never wins. The bad guys win sometimes, but never an underdog. American love the underdog winning.
For me sports movies are an emotional thing and maybe I'm weird, but one of my all time favorites is Tin Cup. Yeah, I know, some people hate it because "why'd he hit it from there again on the last hole?" and he didn't win, but hole 18 in the 4th round always fills me with feeling and when Cosner holes the final shot for a 12, I alway feel "fu#$in A" inside.
Then you throw in other great sports movies and it's hard to pick a best one, A League of Their Own, Rocky, The Natural, Raging Bull, For The Love of The Game, and even comedy underdog movies like Major League, Bad News Bears, and Angels in the Outfield. Remember, I'm talking about entertainment, not what qualifies necessarily for Oscar material.
COMEDIES
Impossible to pick a favorite and comedy is really a matter of personal taste. I, for example, hate any Woody Allen or Mike Myers movie along with Police Academy, etc., but some people really like that stuff.
SCARY MOVIES
Scary movies evolve with time and some things that were scary back then aren't scary anymore. I will say this though, the scariest movies are those that create the suspense or scary thoughts in your mind, not the ones that surprise you the most with something horrific onscreen. I will break scary movies down into specific parts that are best.
In your head- I used to swim freely out hundred of yards in the ocean until Spielburg came out with Jaws. Even decades later, I get out into the darker deeper water and head back in, all because of the movie. Sure other great scary movies create the suspense in your mind and they are scarier than the slasher type that shows everything, but nothing sticks in your head like Jaws, whether you admit it or not.
Pieces- The opening sequence of "When a Stranger Calls" has to be one of the best of all time. The beginning of The Ring isn't far behind along with the alien coming out of the guy's stomach in Alien. BTW, did you know that the other actors weren't told that was going to happen for the breakfast scene in Alien?
Character- Hannibal Lecter has to be the greatest evil guy of all time, although the alien in Alien is pretty scary too.
Performance- This is a tie between Haley Joel Osment as the kid in The 6th Sense and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal the Cannibal. I guess the tie breaker would go to Haley, since that's the only part he can play well. What a shame, I thought maybe he would turn into a real actor, but someone messed him up, so he'll have to stay as the kid scared shitless in the 6th Sense, or the kid robot or more aptly the son of Forrest Gump.
OTHER MOVIE CATEGORIES-
I've run out of time, so I'll post this. Add more categories, there's many left. I've just run out of time so I'll post what I have so far and leave with this thought....For entertainment value one of my favorites is Armageddon. It had pretty good action sequences, the underdog saves the world, and lots of parts that still make me laugh out loud and I've seen it many times. What's one of your favorites and why?