My Top 95 Films, Part II

Without further ado ... or any ado at all for that matter, my picks for the best movies ever. Or at least the ones that qualify for the AFI list (if we go outside that, then we've got "Seven Samurai" and "The Seventh Seal" to deal with).

1. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
5. "Schindler's List," 1993.
6. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
7. "The General," 1927.
8. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
9. "King Kong," 1933.
10. "The Lord of the Rings" 2001-03: I don't care that there were three parts that came out over three years. You can't take these three films apart and say any one part stands on its own. It's a single 10+ hour movie, not one movie and two sequels. And it's one of the most amazing achievements in film history when you look at it all together. To try to take one part over the others is to diminish the whole thing. It's best to look at them as one film and honor them that way.
11. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
12. "Raging Bull," 1980.
13. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
14. "The Empire Strikes Back," 1980.
15. "The Quiet Man," 1952.
16. "Modern Times," 1936.
17. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
18. "Star Wars," 1977.
19. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
20. "The Third Man," 1949.
21. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
22. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
23. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
24. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
25. "North by Northwest," 1959.
26. "Duck Soup," 1933.
27. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
28. "The Matrix," 1999.
29. "Vertigo," 1958.
30. "The Searchers," 1956.
31. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
32. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
33. "Rear Window," 1954.
34. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
35. "Bride of Frankenstein,"1935: The class act of all monster movies.
36. "Sherlock Jr.," 1924.
37. "Psycho," 1960.
38. "Safety Last," 1924: If you're gonna have a list like this, you need to include Harold Lloyd, because he pioneered the thrill comedy. When Jackie Chan acts like he's hurt his hand in the middle of a fight, that's Lloyd. When Butch and Sundance argue before going over a cliff, that's Lloyd.
39. "Chinatown," 1974.
40. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
41. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940
42. "The Graduate," 1967.
43. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
44. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
45. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
46. "Goodfellas," 1990.
47. "Finding Nemo," 2003.: For me, this is the apex of the animated movie. It's got a lot of heart, it tells a story you couldn't do in live action, and it transports you to a place as real as any other. And it's funny as all get out.
48. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
49. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
50. "Fargo," 1996.

Why "Lawrence" as No. 1, when most people would pick "Kane" or "Godfather" or even "Casablanca"? A lot of it is personal choice. I was raised in the desert, and it gets the feeling of endlessness right.

And it properly captures the enigma of humanity. Here we get a three-hour movie about one man's life, and you come out of it with the feeling that you still don't know the man at all. No one truly gets to know another person, no matter how hard we try.

It gets everything right, from the epic sweep of the battles to the tiniest supporting role (watch how Lawrence's two servants appear to be comic relief at first, then become pivotal to the plot. And the guy who brags about shaking Lawrence's hand at the beginning of the movie turns up right before the end). While I can go back to "Casablanca" a hundred times and enjoy the same joys, when I watch "Lawrence" I find new things to ponder and new discoveries.