Dear First Mates,
As we conclude 2023, I’d like to end the year on a light and entertaining note. Therefore, I am pleased to present my top 10 films by genre that I have seen. The list is in no particular order – merely alphabetized by genre. For film franchises, I have included a hyperlink to my favorite installment in case you choose to watch just one film from the series. Re-watchability is a key factor for me, so please keep that in mind. I hope you take the opportunity to explore some of these movies during the holiday season and find them enjoyable.
Action & Adventure
1) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2
2) The Lord of the Rings franchise
3) Predator franchise
4) Rise of the Planet of the Apes franchise
5) The Equalizer franchise
6) The Indiana Jones Trilogy
7) The Matrix franchise
8) The Mummy franchise
9) The Rock
10) The Terminator franchise
Comedy (Raunchy/Slapstick)
1) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
2) American Pie
3) Dumb and Dumber
4) Old School
5) Road Trip
6) Spaceballs
7) Superbad
8) There’s Something About Mary
9) Tommy Boy
10) The Hangover franchise
Comedy (Smarrt)
1) Annie Hall
2) Borat
3) Bridesmaids
4) The Ghostbusters 1 & 2
5) Little Miss Sunshine
6) Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
7) My Cousin Vinny
8) Office Space
9) Snatch
10) Wedding Crashers
Comedy: Romance (Rom-Com)
1) 500 Days of Summer
2) Annie Hall
3) Bridget Jones Diary
4) Clueless
5) Coming to America
6) Crazy Stupid Love
7) Overboard
8) The Wedding Singer
9) There’s Something About Mary
10) When Harry Met Sally
Coming of Age
About a Boy
Dead Poets Society
Dirty Dancing
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
My Girl
Rookie of the Year
School Ties
Stand By Me
The Graduate
The NeverEnding Story
Crime: Mafia / Gangster
1) A Bronx Tale
2) Carlito’s Way
3) Casino
4) Gangs of New York
5) Goodfellas
6) Pulp Fiction
7) Reservoir Dogs
8) Scarface
9) The Departed
10) The Godfather franchise
Crime
1) American History X
2) Fargo
3) Oldboy
4) Primal Fear
5) Se7en
6) Sin City
7) The Lincoln Lawyer
8) The Town
9) The Usual Suspects
10) Training Day
Drama
1) 12 Angry Men
2) A Beautiful Mind
3) American Beauty
4) Forrest Gump
5) Gladiator
6) Gran Torino
7) Life Is Beautiful
8) The Green Mile
9) The Notebook
10) The Shawshank Redemption
Family (non-animated)
1) 13 Going On 30
2) Big
3) Harry Potter franchise
4) Hook
5) Look Who’s Talking
6) Mrs. Doubtfire
7) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
8) The Goonies
9) The Princess Bride
10) Willow
Holiday
1) Die Hard franchise
2) Edward Scissorhands
3) Elf
4) Gremlins 1 & 2
5) Groundhog Day
6) Home Alone
7) Love Actually
8) Scrooged
9) The Holiday
10) Trading Places
Horror
1) A Quiet Place franchise
2) Event Horizon
3) High Tension
4) Inside
5) It: Chapters 1 & 2
6) Martyrs
7) Saw franchise
8) Starship Troopers
9) The Descent
10) The Sixth Sense
Horror: Creatures Features
1) Alien franchise
3) Arachnophobia
4) Deep Blue Sea
5) Jaws
6) Jurrasic Park
7) The Faculty
8) The Fly
9) The Mist
10) The Thing
Horror: Slashers
1) Child’s Play franchise
2) Friday the 13th franchise
3) Halloween franchise
4) Happy Death Day
5) Jeepers Creepers
6) Nightmare on Elm Street franchise
7) Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise
8) Terrifier franchise
9) X
10) You’re Next
Horror: Vampires/Werewolves
1) Blade
2) Dog Soldiers
3) From Dusk Till Dawn
4) Interview With A Vampire
5) Let The Right One In
6) Teen Wolf
7) The Cabin In The Woods
8) The Lost Boys
9) What We Do In The Shadows
10) Underworld franchise
Horror: Zombies
1) 28 Days Later franchise
2) Dawn of the Dead
3) Planet Terror
4) REC franchise
5) Resident Evil franchise
6) The Return of the Living Dead
7) The Sadness
8) Train to Bhusan
9) World War Z
10) Zombieland
Martial Arts
1) Bloodsport
2) Drunken Master II
3) John Wick franchise
4) Kickboxer
5) Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior
6) Rumble In The Bronx
7) The Protector
8) The Raid 1 & 2
9) Undisputed franchise
Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”)
1) Captain America: Civil War
2) Captain America: Winter Soldier
3) Iron Man
4) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
5) Spiderman: No Way Home
6) Spiderman: Far From Home
7) The Avengers
8) The Avengers: Endgame
9) The Avengers: Infinity War
10) Thor: Ragnarok
Science Fiction
1) 12 Monkeys
2) Back To The Future franchise
3) District 9
4) Edge of tomorrow
5) Inception
6) Independence Day
7) Looper
8) Minority Report
9) Star Wars franchise (original trilogy)
10) The Platform
Sports
1) A League of Their Own
2) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
3) Happy Gilmore
4) Jerry Maguire
5) Million Dollar Baby
6) Moneyball
7) Rocky franchise
8) The Karate Kid franchise
9) The Sandlot
10) Warrior
Superhero (non-MCU)
1) Chronicle
2) Deadpool franchise
3) Joker
4) Kick Ass franchise
5) Logan
6) Spiderman Trilogy (Sam Raimi)
7) The Dark Knight Trilogy
8) The Watchmen
9) Unbreakable franchise
10) X-Men franchise
Television Shows
1) Black Mirror
2) Breaking Bad
3) Entourage
4) Game of Thrones
5) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
6) Ozark
7) Seinfeld
8) Spartacus
9) The Sopranos
10) The Boys
War
1) 300
2) Black Hawk Down
3) Braveheart
4) Defiance
5) Civil War
6) Inglorious Bastards|
7) Ip Man
8) Life is Beautiful
9) The Pianist
10) Troy
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