My top ten movies of all time.

When talking about a movie that I enjoy, I often say "That movie is definitely in my top ten movies of all time." My friend Brian has been one of the only people to realize that I've said that for way more than ten movies. That really got me thinking, what are my favorite movies?

I tried to think of movies that were not just good movies, but so good that I have or will watch again. Not included in this list are any trilogies, since most trilogies are watchable, but not all the movies in a trilogy by themselves are good. Here's what I came up with (in no particular order):

Thank You For Smoking: Though I'm a big proponent of killing oneself slowly with cigarettes, that's not the main reason I like this movie. I like seeing persuasion in action, and this movie shows how ironically gullible people can be. The witty humor about how silly members of both sides of can be is right up my alley. And lastly, how could you not like a movie with J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson as B R?

Hard Candy: Chris Hansen seems meager compared to Ellen Page's role in this movie. Aside from the pedophilia topic, the acting and plot are great. The movie is set up in such a way where I really had trouble deciding who was protagonist and who was the antagonist in the movie. I'm still not quite sure.

The Shawshank Redemption: I think this movie is probably in everyone's top ten, so I won't bother going into it. I couldn't stop watching this movie. I was horrified, enthralled and sympathetic. I needed to see what would happen to the protagonist. It didn't disappoint.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: I think this movie helped define my sense of humor. In fact, I want to watch it again just from typing this.

Saving Private Ryan: The first 30 minutes of the movie are so memorable and depict such realistic violence that I realized I never want to be in a war. It also turned me into a huge world war 2 buff and influenced an entire genre of video games (Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Company of Heroes).

Full Metal Jacket: Not only was the first half hilarious because of the insults R. Lee Ermey throws at Matthew Modine, but it was really just a well done sequence of scenes depicting a lifestyle that I don't want to be a part of.

Braveheart: I think this is another one of those movies that defined my life. Not to say that I want to be oppressed by England and fight a war, but come on, it's pretty much what LARPing is. Not that I LARP, but the whole idea of it fits well with fantasy. Plus it's a great story.

Love Actually: Though there are many movies that do the whole "Separate stories that somehow entwine" thing, like Crash, Babel and Magnolia, this was the first one I saw. Maybe it was because it was the holiday season, or maybe I saw it with someone special, but it's always stuck out in my mind. Plus the cast contains some of my favorite proper English speaking actors and actresses.

Dogma: I loved the dialog in this movie. Sure, the plotline is silly, but the all-star cast plays their roles very well. Kevin Smith also has a way of making people speak in an unnaturally elegant way that I wish more people on this world sounded like when they talked to each other. Remember guys, it's not a movie that bashes religion, it actually just calls it out, puts it on the table, and let's you be the final judge.

Battle Royale: If society ever did this, I feel like I would bring to the table a bunch of valuable survival tips. It's just a shocking movie that plays out like a video game. It's a lovely good time watching Japaneses teenage girls run around killing to survive.

Saved!: Poking fun of religion is always amusing, but even more so when Mandy Moore brings it over the top. Oh, and let's not forget about Macaulay Culkin, who I thought was going to make a comeback after this came out.