Over the past few years I’ve made a concerted effort to watch lots of movies considered to be among the best of all time. Now, for the first time, I’ve made my own list of favorite movies of all time. Every other Wednesday throughout 2022, I will be revealing ten movies in my list of 250 Favorite Movies of All Time.
| 250-241 | 200-190 | 150-141 | ||
| 240-231 | 190-181 | 140-131 | ||
| 230-221 | 180-171 | 130-121 | ||
| 220-211 | 170-161 | |||
| 210-201 | 160-151 |
120
Title: Clockwatchers
Director: Jill Sprecher
Cast: Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Toni Collette and Alanna Ubach
Year:1997
When did I first watch this movie?: October 2021
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: This indie movie about temp workers in the late 1990s really spoke to my own experiences at that time. I only wish I’d seen this movie sooner.
119
Title: Black Panther
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis
Year: 2018
When did I first watch this movie?: 2018, in the theaters
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: Black Panther showed that comic book movies could be more than action movie cliches and is still the best MCU release to date. Rest in power, Chadwick Boseman.
118
Title: Tokyo Story
Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Cast: Setsuko Hara, Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama, Kyōko Kagawa, Haruko Sugimura, So Yamamura, Kuniko Miyake, Shirō Ōsaka, Eijirō Tōno, Nobuo Nakamura, Hisao Toake, Mutsuko Sakura, Toyo Takahashi, Sachiko Mitani
Year: 1953
When did I first watch this movie?: March 2020
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: This gorgeously-directed film tells the heartbreaking story of an elderly couple who are alienated by their children.
117
Title: In the Heights
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace in her film debut, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits
Year: 2021
When did I first watch this movie?: July 2021
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: A magnificent celebration of the Latin American communities of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood through song and dance.This movie should have been huge!
116
Title: A Christmas Story
Director: Bob Clark
Cast: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley
Year: 1983
When did I first watch this movie?: 1984, at my school
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: Storyteller Jean Shepherd’s autobiographical tales of childhood in the Depression-era Midwest are spun together around the relatable foibles of a child at Christmas time.
115
Title: Apollo 13
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan
Year: 1995
When did I first watch this movie?: 1995, in the theater
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The movie creates great dramatic tension of the Apollo astronauts at risk of being stranded in space while celebrating the crew of thousands on the ground who worked tirelessly to return them to safety.
114
Title: Sans Soleil
Director: Chris Marker
Cast: Narrated by Alexandra Stewart (English version)
Year: 1983
When did I first watch this movie?: March 2021
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: A strange and dreamlike series of video essays purported to be based on letters from a globetrotting cameraman.
113
Title: Judas and the Black Messiah
Director: Shaka King
Cast: Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas
Year: 2021
When did I first watch this movie?: December 2021
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton should’ve become a household name as an activist for civil right and economic equality but he was he cut down at the age of 21 by the FBI and Chicago police. This movie tells the story of his betrayal by a FBI informant within the Panthers.
112
Title: Wattstax
Director: Mel Stuart
Cast: The Staple Singers, Richard Pryor, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Luther Ingram, Kim Weston, Johnnie Taylor, The Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes, Albert King
Year: 1973
When did I first watch this movie?: August 2007
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The magnificent concert film primarily filmed at the festival held at Los Angeles Coliseum features scintillating performances of many of the best Black musicians of the early 1970s.
111
Title: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Director: David Lean
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa.
Year:1957
When did I first watch this movie?: mid-80s
Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The World War II drama explores a descent into madness of the British colonel held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. One of Alec Guinness’ best performances.
Panorama of the Mountains 