As I have been impressed and enamored with the lists that precede this one, and likely the remaining lists to follow from our Awards Circuit staff, I have to confess that I have agonized over this assignment and this list for weeks. I do not have the mental makeup to take something like this lightly. I pored through my Netflix ratings (approximately 2600 or so), went through my DVDs and Blu-Rays, looked at notes, and considered countless films. I redid the list more times than I care to admit and still can debate myself with what is here and what is not here.
Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter nearly made the list – a film that has reduced me to tears more than once and made me immediately purchase all of his films on DVD in the days after I experienced it. Pixar’s groundbreaking Toy Story series, each exceptionally crafted and designed, continually raised the bar and changed animation forever. To that extent, the hand-drawn animated films Beauty And The Beast and Spirited Away were considered. The go-to classics all got a look. The grandeur and flat out timeless nature of Gone With The Wind, spoken about so eloquently earlier this week by some of our staff, was a late scratch. The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II just missed somehow. I even considered films as diverse as Apocalypse Now, Brokeback Mountain, Halloween, countless Hitchcock films, an interminable amount of documentaries, and even a couple of Christmas films.
Here’s what I have determined. At the end of the day, my Best Of/Greatest Of All Time list consists of films that made the most impact on me. They changed my worldview somehow. They made me recognize the intricacies and staggering detail that motion picture filmmaking requires, they presented viewpoints and political ideologies I had never previously considered. They made me appreciate the simple gift of a smile, the rapid loss of childhood, and the all too rare feeling of being so mesmerized and captivated by something you are experiencing that time stops completely and you do not want the experience to ever end.
So…with that said…these 10 films changed my life and perhaps changed yours as well. Spoilers may follow as well…
Read more on 10 Greatest Films Of All Time (Mike Ward)…
I love film, I really do. I love watching film, I love learning the history behind the film, I love hearing how a film broke ground during the time it came out, and I love learning the trivia that goes on during the making of a film. Film is my first love if you haven’t gathered and I wouldn’t change that day in 2001 when I woke up and decided I would begin my obsession.
