You can’t have a list without explaining the rules of how you set the list up, so here’s mine. Just about every movie mentioned is a great flick (or at least really, really good) and pretty much every movie is suitable for watching with the whole family. Family movies are more and more of a rarity, so anyone looking for such fare has come to the right place. I have purposely left out any film with nudity and only a very few films listed have four letter words (and the few films that do, it’s not a lot) and even fewer films have graphic violence. Such stuff rarely makes a movie better. A visual medium like film is so powerful subtlety is always better which is a lesson that not many filmmakers have learned. And it’s not due to economics. More movies have done poorly at the box office because of an R rating than because of a PG 13 rating. However, I don’t want top go into a long rant on the sick mental state of Hollywood today. High quality movies are still being made and certainly plenty of high quality movies have been produced in the past. All the ones I know I’m listing here.
As far as the order of the lists go, there is no particular order other than the order in which I remember them. Just because a movie is at the top of a list doesn’t mean it’s better than a movie at the bottom. To me, it’s crazy to say that some movie is the best movie ever made and another is the second best and another is the third. Suffice it to say that ALL the movies are really, really good and will keep you well entertained.
Another aspect of my lists is that some movies are repeated. Groundhog Day, for instance, is a very funny movie and I also consider it a spiritual movie. I’m not going to strain my brain deciding to which list it belongs. It’s easier just to stick it in both lists and this way, whether you’re looking for spiritual movie or a funny movie, you’ll find it.
I’ve stuck primarily to movies that are available on DVD. Some of the movies are now on Netflix or Amazon or some other streaming channel. All of the movies are worth finding and watching. And the lists are a work in progress. It actually takes more time than you think to put them together, so I’m adding to them when I get the chance. If you want more information about any of the movies, you can click on the name and it will take you to its page on Amazon where there’s plenty of description. Another great source of info on movies is the IMDB (www.imdb.com) which is simply the best movie database in the world.
I hope you try a few of the movies. Enjoy!