My top 20 movies of all time.

One of the greatest movies ever made. It has been copied, borrowed from or recreated by a host of movie makers since it's original release. However, no one (not even "The Magnificent Seven") has been able to improve on what is "not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century" (Roger Ebert).

This is my favourite of David Lean's films (although I could have easily put "The Bridge On The River Kwai" or "Doctor Zhivago"). It tells the story of T.E Lawrence, a British soldier during World War 1, who goes from a researcher at Cairo to Lieutenant Colonel through his actions in helping to organise and lead the Arab revolt against the German/Turkish troops in Arabia. The subject matter and his actual role in the revolt are still debated, however, as a film it is superb.

There may have been bigger and more expensive versions of this film made, however this one is the best. None of the others capture the wonder that this one instills in a audience. Merian Cooper's vision of a prehistoric world of giant creatures locked behind the wall on Skull Island and ruled over by Kong is still as vibrant in my mind today as the first time I saw it. Why bother trying to remake a film like this?

The perfect example of what can be done with animation. You don't need to make animated movies just for kids. You also don't need state of the art computer graphics. All you need is a cool story, great animators and a hero who rides the coolest bike in movie history.

Probably still my favourite film in the Sci-Fi & Horror genres. Scared the heck out of me when my brother first made me watch it when I was 10. It started my long love affair with scary movies.

There is nothing to say about this that hasn't been said before. It's a gloriously funny movie about a stuff up of major proportions that leads to world annihilation. Funny stuff, if not a bit too dark for some people.

The story of Charles Foster Kane, newspaper tycoon is probably the most celebrated movie to come out of Hollywood. It is fantastically acted, wonderfully shot and as relevant today as it was when it was made.

A great movie about a quiet gunslinger, an over confident criminal and a cold and calculating murderer all on the hunt for $200,000. If you haven't seen this, you haven't seen what a western can be when done correctly.

The precursor of all horror films ever made. However, even though it was made so long ago, no one has managed to better it in sheer horror terms.

A perfect mixture of Greek mythology & Ray Harryhausen's fantastic stop motion animation. This is the first movie I remember watching, and I still love it.

The funniest film ever made. This is without a doubt the best of the Marx Brothers films. How anyone could place Groucho in charge of an entire nation is beyond me, but thankfully they did, and we have this film to enjoy.

I picked this one because the trilogy wasn't available for selection, however, you have to see all three as one film, because they are one story.

The Coen Brothers have made a lot of great films, but this is my favourite. Great performances drive this story of a war between the Irish mob and Italian maffia. Inbetween both parties is Tom, one of the best anti-heroes in cinema history, fabulously portrayed by Gabriel Byrne.

The mother of all "teen-angst" movies. James Dean's most famous performance (granted, there were only three). He plays Jim, a young man who's family has been forced to move because of his troubled past. If you haven't seen this, switch off your computer, go get a copy and watch it immediately.

This movie perfectly weaves sci-fi themes and socio-political issues. The story of an alien who comes to Earth to warn us of our impending doom because of our use of atomic power and internal fighting.

A look at World War 1 through the eyes of a group of very young Germans who are talked into enlisting in the army. They quickly learn that war isn't as clear cut as it is made out to be. Filled with numerous scenes that stay with you long after the film has ended, this is a wonderful film.

If ever there was a movie that captured the personality of it's creator perfectly, it's this one. People who knew him said that watching this film was like spending an evening with James Whale. On the basis of that, I wish I'd had the pleasure of knowing him. His films are amongst my favourites of all time. This one, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, The Old Dark House there isn't a bad one.

More Kubrick. He may not be my absolute favourite director (he's pretty close, though), but he's got more films at the top of my list than anyone else. This film about a daring daylight heist at a racetrack is the epitome of film noir, along with others like Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, Sunset Boulevard and The Asphalt Jungle or even Kurosawa's Stray Dog. This, however, is my pick of the bunch.

I loved this movie. Even Lucas' money grubbing ways couldn't stop me from loving this film. It's the best of the Star Wars movies for sure. It has a lot more feel and character development than the first one and a lot less "muppets" than the last one.

Many people just see this film as a zombie film with heaps of gore. It isn't (well, it is that, but it's so much more). This film is on the surface the story of a group of survivors who take shelter from a zombie invasion in a shopping mall. In fact, it has far more layers than that. With references to the growing reliance on consumerism to survive that had started to take over the world in the 1970's, confrontation of people's beliefs on life after death and religion, fear of the outsiders and many other carefully laid plot points this is a great film, albiet one that those who are easily shocked should probably avoid.