I want to go over 21 movies I enjoy. To spare you some boredom, if it is a trilogy or series I'll sometimes just lump it together and make mention of the best and worst movie in the group.
Also, there is no specific order and I'm probably forgetting a ton (I don't really cover comedies). These are just on my mind, so please no haters. The other thing I don't really like movies that were made before 1975 because I'm not really a fan of old movies. Even most of the 80s and 90s are pushing it.
1.Jurassic Park
If you think the other original movies in this series are good well, I have news for you, you are wrong. This movie introduced most of us to the concept of cloning that wasn't completely science fiction or just duplicating people for bizarre reasons. They brought back dinosaurs, how cool is that. And before you say it is short-sighted, it's a movie. In the real world humans are quite good at killing other species so no worries.
2. The Matrix trilogy
I'll put these together because it's essential to watch all of them if you want to get the story. The first was the best, then the second, then the third. That is rare because the middle ones usually suck. The last one was just too freaky. He got too powerful. They pushed the boundaries of filming at the time. Also, the concept was neat and may be somewhat true.
3. Forrest Gump
This movie was just good. There were so many classic characters. It was a movie that mentioned modern history in America without getting really judgemental or politically biased about it. Everyone was cheering for him. If they did a modern remake they would probably have him do something stupid like go to space (he didn't go to space right?).
4. The Avengers
Marvel movies are cool, I don't care what anyone says. Don't worry, I won't fill the list. Other than Avengers, I liked Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and Black Panther best. I wasn't the biggest fan of Captain America, Hulk, Antman, Spiderman, Black Widow, etc. Captain Marvel was okay.
5. The Lord of the Rings
I don't want to pick any favorites among the 3. I read the books years before I watched teh movies. I was a little sad some things were skipped, but I can read the books for those scenes. They definitely didn't butcher it. Over all I was impressed.
6. Gladiator
This movie was just awesome. It made me want to go back to the Roman days and watch slaves fighting wild animals and each other. When he asked me if I was not entertained, I was most certainly entertained.
7. The Silence of the Lambs
Horror movies aren't my favorite, but this one was really scary and good. It didn't have those predictable moments where you just wonder how long they are going to make you wait to listen to the creepy music and watching the creepy scene until the inevitable happened. This was horrifying for a completely different reason. Some of the other Hannibal movies were good too, but the original was obviously the best.
8. Apocalypse Now
Let's stick with the original, but the remake was also damn good. This was a story based on a book called the Heart of Darkness, but with a Vietnam war theme. Also, that scene on the beach with surfing and helicopters was just amazing. The movie managed to do the Vietnam War setting without just going on about the politics (kinda like Forrest Gump).
9. Indiana Jones Trilogy
My favorite was the Temple of Doom. I watched it when it first came out and I was probably too young at the time to watch it. I was scared and shocked at that strange religion and it put me off of all religion. Although I liked all three. I wanted to travel to some of those places. The world seemed like a cool place in the 1920s to 1940s. However, that 4th Indiana Jones movie killed the series for me. It was a sad ending that was unnecessary.
10. A Clockwork Orange
This is the oldest movie on my list. It was an interesting cut classic. Honestly, I think there are some people around today who would like to purify the mind and control thoughts as was done to that boy in the film. He was a pretty awful human, but what the police did to him was just as awful.
11. Braveheart
I really liked this movie. I'm not Scottish or Brittish so I don't have any historical motivation to like the film or hate it. I just really liked the huge battle scenes. Also, I was convinced they were fighting for a good cause. Mel Gilson is an interesting person, but he was normal back then.
12. Fight Club
This movie was very interesting. I had to watch it a few times before I understood the full plot because it was so strange. It was definitely my favorite Brad Pitt movie. Also, the part at the end was really surprising.
13. V for Vendetta
I thought the character in this movie was really cool. I didn't know this historical story so I learned a new thing by watching it. It was the first anarchist movie I enjoyed. He was fighting a really corrupt government.
14. Star Wars Trilogy
I'm talking IV to VI here. The other ones all sucked. Out of the original 3, the first and last were my favorite. I think the second one was okay, but it was definitely trying to add some back story to the first which was actually episode four. The only problem with thinking about Star Wars is I start to think of 8 which makes me angry and of what 9 will be which I feel will go down in history as worst than the 4th Indiana Jones movie.
15. 300
I already knew about the story because I am a scholar of history. However, the filming style in this movie was awesome. The way they portrayed the Persian King was absolutely amazing. Also when they threw the messenger down the well, that was awesome. This movie was definitely badass.
16. Batman Begins (Trilogy)
I'm not sure of the name of this trilogy. However, I think Dark Knight and Batman Begins were the best in the series. The older batman movies got dated fast, I guess that is common with action movies. These ones I feel are still masterpieces. The Joker was amazing.
17. American Gangster
I don't have too many crime movies on my list so far. This was one of my favorites. I'm just so sick of Italian Gangsters, it is nice to see others doing it. Also, the story was quite believable which makes sense considering it was based on a true story.
18. Avatar
I'm still waiting for the others in the series. This movie was another one that pushed the boundaries of filming. He single handled brought back people's desires to watch 3d movies. However, that got boring fast. I think everyone wants to have a moon monkey avatar now.
19. Battle Royale
I wasn't going to include a foreign film, but this one was good. The Hunger Games was a shameful copy. It would be a little less shameful if the author admitted what inspired them.
20. Lord of War
This is another crime movie. However, I don't think it is a gangster movie. I didn't really like Nicolas Cage until I saw him in this movie. It is one of my favorite movies of all time. I really liked when he went to Liberia, that dude with the golden M16 was so cool.
21. Blood Diamond
This was another movie which was set in Africa. I think it was Leonardo DiCaprio's best movie. Even better than titanic. I learned about blood diamonds from social science classes. Also, in Lord of War, they were trading guns for blood diamonds which I thought was cool.
I didn't include any comedies on this list. I like comedies, but I would rather do a separate list for that. Thank you very much for reading my list.
Do you feel I should add other movies? Do you have any movies to recommend? Do you think any of the movies I included suck?