My favorite movie of all time you ask? Well it’s not that simple. Much like my playlists, I have a favorite movie for every single one of my complex moods, so I will list them, in order, including some of my favorite quotes, with long winded explanations, summaries, and justification.

I’m warning you now, this blog DOES include spoilers.

BUCKLE UP,

AND ENJOY THE SHOW!

33. BLACK SWAN

A highly decorated mysterious thriller, Natalie Portman delivers an incredible performance as Nina, a talented ballerina obsessed with perfection. The entire film you see Nina as the White Swan, delicate, naive, and lets people walk all over her, until she starts to experience strange and horrific things. She begins to feel like the role of the Swan Queen is ruining from the inside out. Nina embodies the White Swan with ease, but battles with herself and the choreographer on how to portray the Black Swan properly on stage. As she falls deeper and deeper in what seems like a nervous breakdown, the Black Swan reveals itself within her, causing her to confront her nasty demons.

32. CINDERELLA MAN

Based on the incredible true story of a poor man living through The Great Depression, James J. Braddock, who struggles to put food on the table for his wife and kids. When James finds himself in the boxing ring surprisingly winning matches, he begins to build a fortune off being the underdog. He wins and wins and wins some more, until he faces one of the most feared boxers, Max Baer, who’s killed two people in the ring. Does James prevail? You must watch to find out!!!!

31. SPOTLIGHT

In 2001, a team of journalists from the Boston Globe uncover a bombshell story about a priest accused of molesting over 80 boys. The Spotlight team shook up the entire Catholic community when they discovered that 249 priests were doing the exact same thing. This abuse was kept under wraps for decades by the church until the The Boston Globe received a tip, from there, the team spent years blowing the case wide open. Interviewing victims, conducting research, and spending countless hours revealing the horrors that ran deep within the Catholic Church.

30. KICKING AND SCREAMING

The sports comedy of my childhood, a movie I hold near and dear to my heart. Phil Weston (Will Ferrell), a dedicated dad and vitamin salesman, never lives up to his father, Buck’s, expectations of him becoming a great athlete. When Buck trades Phil’s son Sam to the worst soccer team in the league, the Tigers, Phil steps up to be their coach. With the help of American football coach Mike Ditka, caffeine, and an appetite for success, Phil is able to turn the Tigers into champions.

Byong Sun, stole the hearts of many and became one of the greatest athletes to ever grace the soccer field!

29. THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND

This is an almost biography of the always amazing Pete Davidson on how he attempts to navigate his life in his hometown of Staten Island. He struggles with the death of his father and the fact that his mom has a new loser boyfriend. Pete (Scott) plagued by mental illness and weird hobbies, doesn’t want to grow up and be a real adult just yet. He tries out many career paths, professional stoner, amateur tattoo artist, getaway driver (or lack there of), and firefighting. This movie proves yes, mental illness can be funny, but it can also be debilitating and hold someone back from reaching their full potential.

It’s simply, delightful!

28. MEGAMIND

Another childhood favorite, this is the only animated movie that made the cut.

With a stacked voice acting cast, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill (just to name a few) this movie was destined for greatness. This film is not only comedic, but inspiring! Growing up an outcast and bullied for the way that he looked, Megamind was rightfully pissed off at the world, vowing to become to biggest, baddest, super villian of them all. When superhero Metro Man goes missing, Megamind creates a new hero, Titan, who ends up wanting to take over Metro City. This forces Megamind to make a choice: save the city from Titan, or watch it crash and burn.

27. MOLLY’S GAME

Another true story! They are always my favorite.

From almost punching her ticket to the olympics to running one of the largest underground poker games in modern history, Molly Bloom learns how to hustle men and make millions. Your favorite Hollywood movie stars, snooty business men, and even a few Russian mobsters were begging for a seat at her table, until everything came crashing down when she was arrested for illegal gambling and dirty money. I can’t believe I’m inspired by such a criminal!

26. SUPERBAD

This is one of the best comedies in cinematic history. In this coming of age film, awkward high school boys try to make their first party unforgettable.

I have a McLovin ID in my wallet right now actually, that I bought in Hawaii. This movie will NEVER get old. 10/10.

25. FORD VS. FERRARI

(true story)

I’m a sucker for racing, HONESTLY. I don’t know anything about cars, but I do know that I like cool looking ones that go fast. Based on the true story of car designer Caroll Shelby and headstrong driver Ken Miles who work together to help Ford build a car faster than the infamous Ferrari.

24. HARRY POTTER: DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II

I’m not sure if this one needs much explaining. It’s really just a matter of if you get it or if you don’t. There are so many iconic scenes in this film. & I have to say, Harry Potter might be one of the best movie series I’ve ever seen. The scene where Neville kills the snake gave me goosebumps. STRAIGHT UP.

23. BEAUTIFUL BOY

True story, gotta love it. Makes it that much more heartbreaking :,(

This movie tore me in half. Based on the memoir of writer David Sheff (played by Steve Carrell) and how he deals with his son’s, Nic’s (played by Timotheé Chalamet) meth addiction. Nic’s addiction rips holes in their family that seem like they never be repaired. The stress of helping Nic get back in rehab over and over again finally causes David to break down mentally and physically.

I read the book before watching this movie and that made me love it even more. If you’re into non-ficiton like me, I suggest you give it a try.

22. LITTLE WOMEN

I will never get over this monologue from Laurie confessing his love to Jo, I think I shed a tear in the middle of it (and then he ended up with her sister, yikes!) Nevertheless, the coming of age story of four sisters finding their way in the world is one of the most beautiful and comforting films of my generation. Do yourself a favor and learn a little something from the characters in Little Women.

21. 42

The true story of Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Chadwick Boseman delivers an incredible performance as Jackie Robinson in 42. This film shows the struggles Jackie Robinson endured as he, a black man, made his way to the MLB. Robinson experienced racism each and every day, but he still showed up, made history, and proved that African Americans deserve a seat at the table in major league sports. As the season went on, the Dodgers started winning and the racism started to fade into friendship.

42 is the only number ever retired in Major League Baseball.

20. I, TONYA

True story of the ‘incident’ between Olympic figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

I’m starting to see a pattern here. I guess I really just like historical sports non-fiction/biographical movies. While I like fictional movies sometimes, true stories always hit harder for me.

In I, Tonya, Margot Robbie stars as the notorious Tonya Harding, a figure skater growing up in unfavorable conditions, rejecting the traditions of the sport, and becoming the first American woman to land the triple axel. After Tonya’s husband, Jeff, plots an attack on Tonya’s competition, Nancy Kerrigan, Harding became one of the most hated women in all of sports.

19. DODGEBALL

Dodgeball did a lot for me growing up. It gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it. Another pattern I’m seeing is that I love an underdog story, and that’s what we have here with Dodgeball.

Peter Le Fleur, a dedicated gym owner, finds himself in a financial bind. In order to save his gym, Average Joe’s, he must win a dodgeball tournament where first place prize is 50,000. Peter puts together a team of misfits and hits the court, but they must defeat their rivals, White Goodman’s Cobras, in order to win the tournament and take home the cash.

18. ELF

Buddy the Elf finds himself magically in the North Pole. As he starts to grow up, he discovers that he isn’t like the other elves his age. Buddy’s world comes crashing down when Santa tells him his real father is on the naughty list, so he decides to go on a quest to New York City to find his family. When he finally meets his father, they couldn’t be more different.

17. 21 & 22 JUMP STREET

I grouped these two movies together because it just made more sense.

21 Jump Street is the tale of two rookie cops, Jonah Hill (Schmidt) & Channing Tatum (Jenko) (epic combo there) that go undercover to find the source of a drug epidemic running rampant through the halls of high school.

22 Jump Street is a similar story except they find themselves going undercover in college, navigating what it means to be a fresh adult in the world. The movie tests Jenko and Schmidt’s friendship, do they prevail? You’ll just have to watch and find out!!!!

16. MIRROR MIRROR

I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales except I don’t love animated movies (that’s why Megamind is the only one on this list). I loved this rendition of Snow White because it wasn’t about the prince saving her, she saved herself and then met a hottie along the way. Lily Collins might have been the perfect cast for Snow White, and after being locked in a castle for years, she grows tired of the evil queen’s antics. She escapes the castle and avoids countless murder attempts when she stumbles upon seven thieves (dwarves) and joins them to help defeat the queen.

It was a shame to learn about the Armie Hammer cannibal allegations because I really loved him in this movie and The Social Network. Don’t eat people, or joke about eating people…!

15. MY OCTOPUS TEACHER

This wouldn’t be Brooke Aden’s list of favorite movies if I didn’t bake a documentary beautifully in the middle. Again with the non-fiction…call me boring but I get more emotional about movies and books when it comes from the actual person who experienced it.

My Octopus Teacher is a nature documentary about a nature filmmaker, Craig Foster, who makes a new and relatively unconventional friend, a female octopus in a South African bay. The octopus learns from Craig and Craig learns from the octopus, creating a bond that many humans would never understand. Craig watches the octopus be a master of disguise, cleverly hunt prey, escape the face of death, and even grow back an arm. Craig captures this octopus fooling the local predator, pyjama sharks, and is amazed by the intelligence of this invertebrate.

I can’t express how much I loved this documentary, but that’s coming from someone who grew up on Animal Planet. I understand nature documentaries aren’t for everyone, but I love them!

14. AMERICAN SNIPER

ANOTHER TRUE STORY WHAT A SURPRISE!

The incredible story of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle, who takes on a noble responsibility of protecting his country in the Iraq war. Throughout his four tours in Iraq, Kyle became one of the best snipers in American History, taking out dangerous war criminals. After experiencing the horrors of war, Kyle returns home to tend to his wife and kids, except he struggles to adapt to regular society. Battling PTSD and other trauma disorders, he leans on the VA for support until he was met with a tragic ending.

13. DIVERGENT

Yes I read the book in middle school and yes I think this movie is better than The Hunger Games. I don’t know why, but I had a hard time getting into The Hunger Games, maybe it was because I kind of hate things that get so much hype.

Anyways, Divergent is about a girl, Tris, who discovers she is divergent, which doesn’t fit in with her faction filled dystopian society. Tris masks her divergence by joining Dauntless, the fearless leaders of the factions, when she meets another divergent, Four (Theo James hubba hubba!). Tris and Four work together to try and conceal their identities to avoid being captured, or worse, killed.

12. KING RICHARD

This is another…drumroll pls…true story!

Richard Williams planned out and predicted every single detail of his daughters Venus and Serena’s lives. It went a little something like this: study hard first, tennis second, OPEN STANCE, don’t play until your ready (to avoid burnout), get out of Compton, train hard, get ready, hit the courts, win, win, and win some more, Venus will make history for African Americans in Tennis, a predominantly white sport, but Serena, she will be the greatest of all time.

Nearly all of Richard’s plans and predictions came true, and his daughters dominated professional tennis for decades.

11. HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

The king of Harry Potter movies in my humble opinion. Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts is filled with many twists and turns, including the fact that crazed murderer, Sirius Black, is out to kill him. Harry learns from his professor how to properly defend himself, but later learns that he doesn’t know who to trust.

10. ELVIS

The king of rock and roll, Elvis! I’ve loved Elvis music since the iPod days, so when this biographical movie came out about him, I was ecstatic. The movie takes you through the complicated life of Elvis and what I loved most about it was that yes, they showed the good, but they also showed the bad. It took a white guy to popularize gospel music, a traditionally black genre, but the director also showed that many of Elvis’ songs were stolen from black artists he watched while growing up.

I also watched Pricilla, which was good, but not good enough to make this list.

9. SCHOOL OF ROCK

An incredible comedy I grew up on (my god I love Jack Black movies). Dewey Finn feels like a loser after getting kicked out of his band, scrambling to find a means of making money, when he pretends to be his roommate, Ned Schneebly, and gets a job as a substitute teacher at a prestigious private elementary school. Instead of teaching the kids multiplication, he lectures about rock n’ roll and morphs them into a rock band with hopes of winning a local music competition (beating his ex band while they’re at it).

8. SECRETARIET

TRUE STORY!

Penny Chenery, a mere housewife, takes on the responsibility of to manage her family’s farm after her father passes away. Penny works her way through the male dominated sport and prevails when her horse, Big Red, starts winning races. This horse, with a personality of it’s own, races his way to the Kentucky Derby and ends up winning the triple crown.

Secretariat still holds the record for the fastest race time in all three races.

7. THE HELP

This movie taught me more about racism than sitting in school ever did. It always seemed like they glossed over America’s racist past in my history classes, so when I watched movies like this one and 42, it really opened my eyes that people who have darker skin than me experience things that I won’t ever have to.

Skeeter, an aspiring writer, decides to interview black women working as maids for rich white families. Black women were used to keeping quiet about their feelings toward their snooty white employers, but Skeeter, urged Aibileen, the housekeeper of her best friend, that her story deserved to be heard. As Skeeter kept writing, more women came forward to express the terrible things they experienced while working in these white homes.

6. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

TRUE STORY!!!!!!!

The year is 1988, and a new rap group, N.W.A., is on the scene. The group changes music industry and rap culture forever by their damning lyrics and loud stage presence. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and MC Ren rap about what it means to be a black man in not only Compton, but in America. They urged Americans to wake up and pushed for change as they continued to create music. The group faced external AND internal challenges, ultimately leading them to break up and experiment with their solo careers. This rap beef led to some of the hardest diss tracks of all time.

5. WHIPLASH

Andrew Neiman, a passionate jazz drummer, is accepted to one of the best music schools in the country. When Terence Fletcher asks Neiman to join the top jazz ensemble at the school, Neiman can’t refuse. Fletcher’s teaching methods teeter on the edge of verbal abuse, expecting perfection from his students, and when he gets anything less, he chooses to humiliate them. With Neiman being obsessed with perfection, Fletcher drives him to almost insanity as he fights for the dummer spot in the ensemble.

4. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Maybe the best biographical films I’ve ever seen.

This film follows the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen. Freddie breaks barriers in rock music, being one of the gayest, most flamboyant, and talented lead singers in the 70’s. Queen rubbed up against the norm with their unique approach to the genre, becoming a household name with their 6 minute song, Bohemian Rhapsody, which weaved opera and rock music together seamlessly. After Freddie leaves the band to pursue a solo career, the friendship between the band becomes slightly sour, until Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS. This brought them together for one last epic show, Live Aid, which goes down as one of the best performances in rock and roll history.

3. REMEMBER THE TITANS

Loosely based (but still based) on a true story!

Remember the Titans is a story of the T.C. Williams High School football team in Alexandria, Virginia. In the 1970’s, the school board was forced to combine T.C. Williams with an all black high school, it shook up the entire community. The white high schoolers had a racist past, so adding new black football players on the team was not an easy transition for some. Coach Boone took on the challenge of making the game of football bigger than black and white, and through various methods of coaching and conditioning, created a sense of unity between the two sides that led the team to victory.

2. INTTERSTELLAR

My god. This movie is something special. The almost 3 hour movie has your mind bending in ways you never thought were possible!

The future of Earth as we know it depends on former NASA pilot, Cooper, in hopes that he can travel across space and time to find a solution to the second dust bowl. The goal is to find a worm hole and travel through it to another planet that might be habitable for the human species. This space mission has danger written all over it, but the dedicated astronauts are convinced it’s possible, despite racing against time.

1. ALICE AND WONDERLAND

I’m not sure if this will be a shock to you or not! My favorite movie of all time is Alice and Wonderland, the Tim Burton version. Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors because he just captures a magic in film that I’ve never seen with another director.

The movie takes you on a journey of Alice, a curious girl falls down the rabbit hole into a familiar Wonderland where she is constantly challenged if she is the ‘right’ Alice. Everything comes to a halt when Alice is the only one who can save Wonderland from the Red Queen by sleighing the Jabberwocky. Convinced she is dreaming, Alice refuses to do such a dangerous task, until she befriends the characters of Wonderland and makes her way to the castle of the Red Queen to see the evil for herself. In the end, Alice achieves the impossible be killing the Jabberwocky and banishes the Red Queen from Wonderland.

This movie made me feel like it’s okay if something is far from normal because everything was nonsense in Wonderland. I love this film because again, it’s a fairy tale, but Alice never relied on a man to save her, she saved herself. That is comforting in a way because so many movies focus on how the damsel in distress always needs saving, when I never believed that to be true.

I’ll save myself, thank you, just like Alice.

33 MOVIES I’LL NEVER GET TIRED OF!