A New Blog Devised and Hosted by Patrick
The Rewind Movie Podcast recently reached its hundredth episode! Expertly steered by our trusty captain and editor, Gali (from Stoke), along with Dev (from Darlington), with his incredible drawings and tech skills. Our correspondent abroad is Matt (from Catterick), with his insane research skills and playlists, and then there’s me, chipping in with Storytime, quizzes and Partridge quotes.
The hundredth episode and our Golden Sandwiches (along with the recent Sight and Sound poll) got me thinking about my top 100 favourites. I fancied challenging my fellow Rewinders and listeners. What are your top 100 favourite films? This will be a rather personal take on such a list, and the key word here is “favourite.” I am not referring to the films you believe are the “best” ever made. For this reason, you won’t find Citizen Kane, The Searchers, or say, 2001: A Space Odyssey in my list. They’re films I know as masterpieces and appreciate on other levels. The podcasts have enabled me to look at films differently again for the first time since my university years, I think. I’m enjoying the challenge of turning up and trying to sound like I know what the fuck it is I’m talking about as well as appraising films, and what works for us!
Without the podcast, I doubt Jaws would’ve made my top 100, but it’s been harpooned in there for this very reason. How could I have forgotten it? I have Taken in my top 10, for Brian Mills’s sake! I do not, in any way, believe this is one of the best films ever made. On the contrary, in some sort of The Room sensibility, I’m obsessed! It’s become an important bond between my brother and I, laughing and quoting constantly. Maybe we should look at organising screenings of Taken, where the audience quote along, throw baguettes, and shout “sheqer!” (sugar) at the screen during some of Brian’s more laughable moments. For that, the film sits proudly in my top 10. Sometimes films that are all surface trump those with weight and gravitas because they’re such an easy watch!
“Now’s not the time for dick measuring, Stuart!”
Bryan Mills, Taken
The key to “favourite” films is, those you’re so familiar with, films that make you smile recalling a favourite scene or character, moments that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up in the cinema, and that you can watch over and over again! Films that you keep buying on every new medium because you wanna see a new restoration, or more extras! Some films don’t resonate with others at all, ah well, it’s yours, and they wouldn’t understand! You can be so into a film that you reference it all the time, the recipients either laugh along with you, or stare blankly! When the Rewinders ask if we’re ready to login and record an episode, my favourite response is a meme of Duncan, blindfolded in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with the line, “I’m ready!” A guaranteed winner. Matt will always laugh!
“What manner of name is Azeem? Scottish? Cornish?”
Duncan, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The podcast concentrates on the films of our formative years, our “throwbacks,” whether from childhood or adolescence. There’s a form of relativity of time that comes into play with certain films, we tend to rewatch them the most when we have more time, and our parents will reluctantly allow us to play The Karate Kid 3 times a day, eternally embedded within. Recently, I adored Everything Everywhere All at Once. I laughed like a buffoon, cried happy and sad tears, but… I’m not convinced it’s a “favourite” film, as I have only seen it the once, and have not formed a familiar relationship with it… yet.
Which films do you recall, quote along to (and in some cases, depending on present company, annoyingly so, as I found when I was mumbling the lines to Toy Story in the company of my not too impressed, 3-year-old nephew, who told me in no uncertain terms to, “Stop that, Uncle Patrick!”), that spring to mind immediately? The list was surprisingly quick for me to draw up, Matt had already laid the foundations, asking us for our top 10s to accompany his recent drawings of our introductory character cards.
I think that might’ve been a harder task really, worrying over fewer titles in a succinct list, painstakingly considering what this list meant to me, and how it represented me, until I was content. I wrote down a more serious list at first, slipping into the trap of “best” films, including The Godfather and JFK, before I took a step back and really considered which films I love. For example, I know Shaun of the Dead is the better film, but I prefer Hot Fuzz. Yarp, you heard me right!
“I’m a slasher… of prices! I’m Simon Skinner. I run the local supermarché. Drop in and see me sometime. My discounts are criminal. Catch me later!”
Simon Skinner, Hot Fuzz
Matt and I both agreed, favourite films can alter day-to-day, depending on your mood, time, place, or other factors. One day Superbad would be in the top 10, after multiple go-to watches for major laughs (my uni housemates always commented on my loud hysterics in the cinema, freaking out the other audience members), until I rewatched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and was vividly reminded of my childhood adventures in the garden, building poor excuses for treehouses, or making my own bow and arrow. The power of Costner and his mullet could not be denied a top 10 space, with echoes of “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” ringing in my ears as I locked it in.
Don’t get me wrong about weight and gravitas, they too are an important factor to be considered in this list. The films that blow you away with incredible storytelling, performance, direction, editing, imagery, abstraction, production, and even unbeknownst reasons that set you alight or make you hold your breath! When I first watched Friday Night Lights (thank you, Dev) I was distraught at the finale. I felt something had changed in me, and couldn’t turn to look at my friends until the tears had disappeared. It was just the credits, and me remembering the film. I couldn’t understand it fully in that moment, my only regret is not seeing it first on the big screen. You’ll find other films that blew me away in this list, such as Sunset Boulevard, Raging Bull, North by Northwest, and The Conversation. You can’t leave them because of their weight and gravitas, their class is reverential, especially to someone who tends to go for more accessible “Hollywood” films in recent years.
Easy watch, no frills films that simply entertain me are such a go-to after work, or during procrastination, but when you’re in the mood for that weight and gravitas, phones down, lights off, got the toilet trip out the way and are locked on the screen, ready to be entertained, those films transport me to another place where time does not exist, just you and the story locked in a transcendental staring contest and you dare not blink first.
“Amélie has a strange feeling of absolute harmony. It’s a perfect moment. A soft light, a scent in the air, the quiet murmur of the city. A surge of love, an urge to help mankind overcomes her.”
Narrator, Amélie
Writing this list, I was happy to see the number of animated films reached 10%! I think this is perhaps a testament to my age (the majority are films of the 1980’s and ’90s) and why some big-hitting Disney renaissance films, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, are in there. Similarly, there are five Christmas films in the list! I love watching films at Christmas. They feel so special to the time, that you can only watch them around Christmas. The familiarity and memory of watching them and feeling warm and Christmassy growing up, they really remind me of being a child or teenager. Christmas lights on, jingle bells, wonderful.
Recently, ex-Disney CEO, Bob Chapek inexplicably argued that, “Adults don’t like watching animation,” and that the genre is for children. Mamma mia! Thankfully, Rob Iger is back as a CEO who loves the medium, flying the flag proudly along with Lee Unkrich (Coco, Toy Story 3) who spoke out; “There is an unfortunate lack of respect for animation as a universal storytelling medium – on par with live action – and that barely improved in the 25 years I worked at Pixar”, and Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) who exclaimed, “Animation is cinema” in his recent Golden Globes speech.
“Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for kids. It is a medium.”
Guillermo del Toro
Growing up with predominantly Disney and animated films and I’m not surprised I recalled these throughout this list. I would never, ever consider them “not for adults”. As a child you watch these films perhaps as your preliminary means of entertainment before live action films, and by association they are as real as anything else! The characters, storytelling, morals and again, how they make you feel. Animated films often provoke a more intense emotional reaction to live action films! Take the recent turd, Babylon for example. In its climax, I knew it wanted to drag out a tear from me, and wash over me with a celebration of cinema, but did nothing for me. It didn’t earn it whatsoever, and I felt overly and forcefully manipulated. I was happy to think of animated films as my favourites, and you’ll find Toy Story firmly in my top 5 for the foreseeable future.
There’s a lack of Studio Ghibli films here, despite endless recommendations from friend of the show, David Biggins (guest Rewinder on our Boondock Saints episode). I have seen some of them, but as with Everything Everywhere All at Once, only one viewing per film is something I want to rectify, as I know they’re super appealing to me, I just haven’t put in the effort, but I believe they’re all on Netflix now. What an easier time we have finding films to watch, eh? Had they been so accessible in the Western TV-sphere when I was a child, who knows if they would’ve made the list!
There are also nine musicals, some of which are my Grandma’s favourites. She introduced them when I was very young and she was babysitting me, lovingly influencing my taste in films and theatre. I know my fellow Rewinders struggle with my musical recommendations, but there’s more to come guys!
I said the list was surprisingly quick to draw up, that much is true… to 150! There was certainly some whittling to be done. Some films might have broken the top 100 on another day. You can revisit films and be reminded of your first viewing, like Ego in Ratatouille, transported back in time to remember his mother’s meal, the nostalgia hitting hard. I was almost heartbroken to push Flight of the Navigator and Short Circuit to 101 and 102, but I haven’t watched them in so long!
There’s still an abundance of films I really want to watch to further my catalogue and continue discussing on the podcast, and with friends and loved ones alike. A lot of new films come out hither and thither on streaming services, but not in the cinema. I miss so much through this saturation today. Some of these films are praised online, but it’s the past I want to visit more. The history of cinema holds so much that I do not know. Thanks to my Rewind colleagues for introducing new films and perspectives. I hope you find this challenge as enlightening as I have. Have yourself 10 minutes writing down as many favourite films you can think of, and I suspect it’ll raise a smile.
Thanks for reading, and happy rewinding!
Patrick (from Leicester).
(Quick note: 1-10 is pretty nailed after Matt’s prompt, but 11-100 I’ve put in as roughly an order as I can, and am happy with. I left in 101-150 for posterity! I’m also not looking forward to the stomach dropping feeling that I’ve forgotten something completely when the inevitable, “What about such and such?” is asked of me!)
| # | FILM | YEAR | STREAM |
| 1 | BACK TO THE FUTURE | 1985 | ITVX |
| 2 | TOY STORY | 1995 | Disney+ |
| 3 | ALIEN | 1979 | Disney+ |
| 4 | FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS | 2004 | N/A |
| 5 | TAKEN | 2008 | Disney+ |
| 6 | THE SOCIAL NETWORK | 2010 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 7 | HOME ALONE | 1990 | Disney+ |
| 8 | ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES | 1991 | Netflix |
| 9 | THE RAID | 2012 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 10 | THE SOUND OF MUSIC | 1965 | Disney+ |
| 11 | ROAD HOUSE | 1989 | Prime Video – MGM |
| 12 | SUPERBAD | 2007 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 13 | ALIENS | 1986 | Disney+ |
| 14 | THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL | 1992 | Disney+ |
| 15 | TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY | 1991 | NOW TV |
| 16 | MARY POPPINS | 1964 | Disney+ |
| 17 | SE7EN | 1995 | N/A |
| 18 | JURASSIC PARK | 1993 | NOW TV |
| 19 | THE MATRIX | 1999 | NOW TV |
| 20 | THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING | 2001 | NOW TV |
| 21 | JFK | 1991 | Netflix / Disney+ / Prime Video / Rakuten |
| 22 | RATATOUILLE | 2007 | Disney+ |
| 23 | THE KARATE KID | 1984 | Netflix |
| 24 | RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK | 1981 | Prime Video / 4OD / NOW TV |
| 25 | AMELIE | 2001 | Disney+ / Prime Video |
| 26 | DIE HARD | 1988 | Disney+ |
| 27 | E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL | 1982 | N/A |
| 28 | AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR | 2018 | Disney+ |
| 29 | THE DARK KNIGHT | 2008 | NOW TV |
| 30 | THE GODFATHER | 1972 | NOW TV |
| 31 | FIGHT CLUB | 1999 | Disney+ / Prime Video / 4OD |
| 32 | RAGING BULL | 1980 | Prime Video – MGM |
| 33 | HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN | 2004 | NOW TV |
| 34 | MONEYBALL | 2011 | Netflix |
| 35 | HOT FUZZ | 2007 | NOW TV |
| 36 | HOOK | 1991 | Netflix NOW TV |
| 37 | THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS | 1993 | Disney+ |
| 38 | LOST IN TRANSLATION | 2003 | N/A |
| 39 | TOY STORY 3 | 2010 | Disney+ |
| 40 | BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III | 1990 | ITVX |
| 41 | BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN | 2005 | Netflix |
| 42 | NAPOLEON DYNAMITE | 2004 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 43 | ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND | 2004 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 44 | CARLITO’S WAY | 1993 | N/A |
| 45 | PULP FICTION | 1994 | Netflix / Paramount+ / 4OD / NOW TV |
| 46 | SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME | 2021 | NOW TV |
| 47 | PREDATOR | 1987 | Disney+ |
| 48 | THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS | 2002 | NOW TV |
| 49 | BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II | 1989 | ITVX |
| 50 | KINDERGARTEN COP | 1990 | Netflix |
| 51 | DUMB AND DUMBER | 1994 | Prime Video |
| 52 | HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE | 2001 | NOW TV |
| 53 | AMERICAN PIE | 1999 | N/A |
| 54 | SAVING PRIVATE RYAN | 1998 | 4OD |
| 55 | WALL·E | 2008 | Disney+ |
| 56 | SMALL SOLDIERS | 1998 | Netflix |
| 57 | CANDYMAN | 1992 | N/A |
| 58 | LA LA LAND | 2016 | Prime Video |
| 59 | THE GOONIES | 1985 | N/A |
| 60 | OLIVER! | 1968 | NOW TV |
| 61 | TOMBSTONE | 1993 | Disney+ |
| 62 | STARSHIP TROOPERS | 1997 | Disney+ |
| 63 | THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES | 2007 | N/A |
| 64 | THE ‘BURBS | 1989 | N/A |
| 65 | ABOUT TIME | 2013 | Netflix |
| 66 | ALADDIN | 1992 | Disney+ |
| 67 | IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | 1946 | Prime Video / 4OD / Freevee / PLEX |
| 68 | THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION | 1994 | BBC iPlayer |
| 69 | ROCKY | 1976 | Prime Video |
| 70 | INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE | 1989 | Prime Video / NOW TV |
| 71 | LET THE RIGHT ONE IN | 2008 | N/A |
| 72 | TRAINSPOTTING | 1996 | 4OD |
| 73 | BEAUTY & THE BEAST | 1991 | Disney+ |
| 74 | MINORITY REPORT | 2002 | 4OD |
| 75 | SPIDER-MAN 2 | 2004 | NOW TV |
| 76 | CALAMITY JANE | 1953 | N/A |
| 77 | JAWS | 1975 | NOW TV |
| 78 | ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY | 2004 | NOW TV |
| 79 | CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR | 2016 | Disney+ |
| 80 | DUMBO | 1941 | Disney+ |
| 81 | STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK | 1980 | Disney+ |
| 82 | THE GODFATHER PART II | 1974 | NOW TV |
| 83 | GOODFELLAS | 1990 | N/A |
| 84 | PAN’S LABYRINTH | 2006 | Netflix / Studio Canal Presents |
| 85 | MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT | 2018 | Prime Video / Paramount+ |
| 86 | SUNSET BOULEVARD | 1950 | Paramount+ / NOW TV |
| 87 | MAD MAX: FURY ROAD | 2015 | Prime Video |
| 88 | THE LEGO MOVIE | 2014 | N/A |
| 89 | SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS | 1954 | N/A |
| 90 | AVENGERS : ENDGAME | 2019 | Disney+ |
| 91 | MOULIN ROUGE! | 2001 | Disney+ |
| 92 | FORREST GUMP | 1994 | NOW TV |
| 93 | INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM | 1984 | Prime Video / NOW TV |
| 94 | GLADIATOR | 2000 | Netflix |
| 95 | SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN | 1952 | N/A |
| 96 | THE TRUMAN SHOW | 1998 | NOW TV |
| 97 | THE CONVERSATION | 1974 | Paramount+ |
| 98 | MISSION IMPOSSIBLE | 1996 | Prime Video / Paramount+ |
| 99 | WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT | 2005 | N/A |
| 100 | CITY OF GOD | 2002 | N/A |
| 101 | FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR | 1986 | Prime Video |
| 102 | SHORT CIRCUIT | 1986 | Prime Video |
| 103 | SHAUN OF THE DEAD | 2004 | NOW TV |
| 104 | ROBIN HOOD | 1973 | Disney+ / Prime Video |
| 105 | INTERSTELLAR | 2014 | NOW TV |
| 106 | UNCLE BUCK | 1989 | Netflix |
| 107 | BRAVEHEART | 1995 | Disney+ |
| 108 | BATMAN BEGINS | 2005 | NOW TV |
| 109 | REAR WINDOW | 1954 | N/A |
| 110 | A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | 2001 | Paramount + / NOW TV |
| 111 | ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD | 2019 | Netflix |
| 112 | SENNA | 2010 | NOW TV |
| 113 | PADDINGTON 2 | 2017 | Netflix / Studio Canal Presents / Prime Video |
| 114 | BATMAN RETURNS | 1992 | NOW TV |
| 115 | STAND BY ME | 1986 | Netflix / NOW TV |
| 116 | KRAMPUS | 2015 | Netflix / NOW TV / Lionsgate+ |
| 117 | THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM | 2007 | NOW TV |
| 118 | GOLDENEYE | 1995 | N/A |
| 119 | THERE WILL BE BLOOD | 2008 | Paramount+ / ITVX |
| 120 | NORTH BY NORTHWEST | 1959 | N/A |
| 121 | CORALINE | 2009 | ITVX |
| 122 | THE BABADOOK | 2014 | Prime Video / BBC iPlayer / Shudder |
| 123 | THE THIRD MAN | 1949 | Studio Canal Presents |
| 124 | BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED | 1987 | N/A |
| 125 | MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE | 1987 | Prime Video – MGM |
| 126 | AN AMERICAN TAIL | 1986 | N/A |
| 127 | TRUE ROMANCE | 1993 | N/A |
| 128 | THE NEVERENDING STORY | 1984 | N/A |
| 129 | CON AIR | 1997 | Disney+ |
| 130 | SPIDER-MAN | 2002 | NOW TV |
| 131 | GHOSTBUSTERS | 1984 | NOW TV |
| 132 | NUIT ET BRUILLARD | 1956 | N/A |
| 133 | DON’T LOOK NOW | 1973 | Studio Canal Presents |
| 134 | ROAD TRIP | 2000 | Paramount+ / NOW TV |
| 135 | THE ROCK | 1996 | Disney+ |
| 136 | 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY | 1968 | N/A |
| 137 | THE WATER BABIES | 1978 | N/A |
| 138 | ARACHNOPHOBIA | 1990 | N/A |
| 139 | THE FRIGHTENERS | 1996 | N/A |
| 140 | CASPER | 1995 | N/A |
| 141 | INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE | 1994 | NOW TV |
| 142 | THE LAND BEFORE TIME | 1998 | N/A |
| 143 | TOY STORY 2 | 1999 | Disney+ |
| 144 | EDWARD SCISSORHANDS | 1990 | Disney+ |
| 145 | PADDINGTON | 2014 | Netflix / Studio Canal Presents |
| 146 | MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD | 2003 | Disney+ |
| 147 | MEAN GIRLS | 2004 | Paramount+ |
| 148 | INCEPTION | 2010 | NOW TV |
| 149 | GLADIATOR | 1992 | N/A |
| 150 | WARRIOR | 2011 | Netflix |
The Rewind Movie Podcast 
Leave a Reply