A little diversion into the best movies of all time

I try to keep the focus on books, though I often divert off into personal matters like what I have growing in the garden or what's been good in the kitchen. So today you won't be completely shocked to see that I want to talk about movies, good movies, the best movies of all time!

It all started in the library, however, when I decided (probably stupidly) to move some books around.  More specifically I decided to move my whole reference section out. Kids don't use reference books anymore, or rarely.  If they do look for information in the library among the books, they look in the subject areas. So I decided to integrate the two. Why not just move the reference books in and among the other books on the same subject? It makes sense to do it, at least on paper. But the reality of moving a few reference books out actually means moving nearly every book in the whole nonfiction section of the library.  Gulp!  That is a big job.

I started the job this week..needless to say I'm tired.

Anyway...while I was looking over the reference books, I got to the 700s, These are the art, music, and sports books.  Most of these reference books were just oversized books that don't fit on library shelves well.  I pulled out one of these books and looked at it for the very first time: Four-Star Movies: the 101 Greatest Films of All Time by Gail Kinn and Jim Piazza, copyright date 2003. I'm sure this book ended up in reference because of its size. I determined to move it or weed it but I opened it first.

What are the top ten best movies of all time, at least as of ten years ago?  Hmm.  Let me think? If I was making the list I'd put all the movies I like on the list. Here's a quick try on my part:
Anne's list:
1.  Gone with the Wind                             2. Sound of Music
3.  The Wizard of Oz                                4. Dr. Zhivago
5.  Mary Poppins                                     6. Toy Story
7. Grease                                                 8. It's a Wonderful Life
9. Singin' in the Rain                               10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Notice that my list is a bit heavy on the feel good endings and lots of music?

Now for the Four-Star, Top Ten Movies listed in the book:
1. Godfather I and II                                 2. Casablanca
3. Citizen Cane                                          4. Gone with the Wind
5. Lawrence of Arabia                             6. North by Northwest
7. The Wizard of Oz                                 8. Annie Hall
9. Chinatown                                           10. Singin' in the Rain

Hey, we agreed on a few. I'm probably the only person alive in my generation that hasn't ever seen a Godfather movie. I vaguely remember Citizen Cane and North by Northwest. I haven't seen Lawrence of Arabia or Chinatown, and distinctly remember disliking Annie Hall. It irritated me.

While I was at it I decided to check out what "Normal" People think are the Top Ten movies of all time. I found this list on the Top 100 Movies as voted by normal people website:
1. Godfather I                                            2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Titanic                                                   4. Casablanca
5. Forrest Gump                                        6. Lord of the Rings, Return of the Kings
7. Pulp Fiction                                           8. Gone with the Wind
9. Schindler's List                                      10. The Dark Knight

Obviously, this is a very hard list to make and is based a lot on personal preference.

I am enjoying the big book, even if I don't agree with the authors choices. It is fun to make lists and to prioritize. It is also fun to read about movies I know and I don't know.  One thing is for sure I'd better see Godfather sometime.

Now it is your turn.  What are your top ten movies?