These are some of my favourite movies, grouped by genre. Movies fit into multiple genres, so I’ve tried to group them by the primary genre.

Bottle Movies#

My favorite movies are bottle movies - films with a small cast, and few locations (often just one).

  1. The One I Love (2014)
  2. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  3. Sleuth (2007)
  4. Exam (2009)
  5. Circle (2015)
  6. Moon (2009)
  7. 12 Angry Men (1957)
  8. Cube (1997)
  9. The Man From Earth (2007)
  10. Primer (2004)
  11. Time Lapse (2014)
  12. Secret Window (2004)
  13. The Quiet Earth (1985)
  14. The Village (2004)
  15. Locke (2013)
  16. The Platform (2019)

Action#

  1. John Wick (2014)
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
  3. 300 (2007)
  4. The Transporter (2002)
  5. Bullitt (1968)
  6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Adventure#

  1. The Great Escape (1963)
  2. The Road (2009)
  3. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
  4. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
  5. O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)
  6. Zombieland (2009)

Comedy#

  1. The Big Lebowski (1998)
  2. Johnny English (2003)
  3. Nacho Libre (2006)
  4. The Onion Movie (2008)
  5. Spaceballs (1987)
  6. Borat (2006)
  7. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
  8. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)
  9. Office Space (1999)
  10. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
  11. Year One (2009)
  12. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
  13. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
  14. Wedding Crashers (2005)

Crime#

  1. Snatch (2000)
  2. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
  3. The Spanish Prisoner (1998)
  4. The Departed (2006)
  5. Goodfellas (1990)
  6. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
  7. The Godfather (1972)
  8. The Usual Suspects (1995)
  9. Donnie Brasco (1997)
  10. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Drama#

  1. Trainspotting (1996)
  2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  3. No Country for Old Men (2007)
  4. There Will Be Blood (2007)
  5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
  6. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  7. A Knight’s Tale (2001)
  8. Quiz Show (1994)
  9. 1984 (1984)

Military Drama#

  1. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
  2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  3. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
  4. Das Boot (1981)
  5. The Hurt Locker (2008)
  6. Fury (2014)
  7. Braveheart (1995)
  8. The Covenant (2023)
  9. Rescue Dawn (2007)
  10. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
  11. Blackhawk Down (2001)
  12. Top Gun (1986)

Western Drama#

  1. Django Unchained (2012)
  2. True Grit (2010)
  3. Open Range (2004)

Fantasy#

  1. The Princess Bride (1987)
  2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
  3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
  5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
  6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
  7. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Horror#

  1. 28 Days Later (2002)
  2. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
  3. The Lighthouse (2019)
  4. Barbarian (2022)
  5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Science Fiction#

  1. The Fifth Element (1997)
  2. Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977)
  3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
  4. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  5. The Martian (2015)
  6. Children of Men (2006)
  7. Riddick (2013)
  8. Alien (1979)
  9. Passengers (2016)
  10. The Thing (1982)
  11. Stargate (1994)
  12. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
  13. Ex Machina (2015)
  14. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
  15. Mission to Mars (2000)
  16. The Island (2005)
  17. District 9 (2009)
  18. The Time Machine (2002)
  19. I Am Legend (2007)
  20. Gattaca (1997)
  21. Interstellar (2014)
  22. 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)
  23. Dark City (1998)
  24. Jurassic Park (1993)
  25. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Thriller#

  1. The Bourne Identity (2002)
  2. Nightcrawler (2014)

Christmas#

  1. A Christmas Story (1983)
  2. The Grinch (2018)
  3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
  4. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989)
  5. Die Hard (1988)
  6. Elf (2003)