Series: Top 100 (2009 List)

As I sat down to rewatch The Matrix for the first time since my college days, it was almost like I was seeing the movie for the first time.

Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies, quite obviously a masterpiece.

Do the Right Thing pops with life and energy and color from the first frame and never relents.

I’ve heard it said that the only James Bond film that matters is the one released when you’re in high school. Certainly that’s true for me.

In 2009, when I was a 20-year-old junior in college, two of my buddies and I had a few drinks and stumbled over to the student theater.

Noisy, dumb, and bloated — but phenomenal spectacle. The broad characters work just well enough, and the effects that matter (the exploding buildings) are real good.

I watched this with my daughters, and it helped me rediscover the fear and romance and hope for redemption baked into the story. The script, characters, and music are all so timeless and perfect.

I’ve always been extremely fond of this one (moreso than Hot Fuzz; never seen World’s End).

I know a lot of the value of this movie is the influence it brought on indie films:

This was my first time watching this all the way through since I became a dad, and BOY does it hit different.