In the June issue of Empire Magazine, writer/director Frank Darabont was charged with writing about his Top 10 favorite films.  The task spiraled out of control as he realized its impossibility - he couldn’t possibly narrow it down to just 10.  Ultimately, he opted for his Top 10 favorites - in each of 22 genres.

I immediately found myself modifying his list, bending it to my own preferences and obsessions.  Like Darabont’s, what follows is not an expression of the “best” films of each genre.  These are personal favorites, movies that speak to me in spite of their inclusion or exclusion from any other list that might label them as “classics” or otherwise.  Additionally, films are not listed in order of preference, and the genre headings - again borrowed from Darabont - are “loose definitions at best.”

So, sit back and take ‘em in….

Drama

• The Razor’s Edge (1946)
• Casablanca
• Wild Strawberries
• Citizen Kane
• Dead Poets Society
• Lucia Y El Sexo
• The Big Chill
• Broadcast News
• The Ninth Configuration
• Lost In Translation

Science Fiction

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• A Clockwork Orange
• Blade Runner
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• The Matrix
• Star Wars
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Solaris (2002)
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Altered States

Comedy

• The Hangover
• Harold and Maude
• Office Space
• After Hours
• The Big Lebowski
• The Graduate
• Hannah and Her Sisters
• Love and Death
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• Swingers

War

• Black Book
• Full Metal Jacket
• 3 Kings
• The Thin Red Line
• Paths of Glory
• Saving Private Ryan
• The Dirty Dozen
• Platoon
• Apocalypse Now
• Inglourious Basterds

Western

• Unforgiven
• McCabe and Mrs. Miller
• The Proposition
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• High Plains Drifter
• The Quick and the Dead
• Dances With Wolves
• Once Upon a Time in the West
• My Darling Clementine
• The Searchers

Horror

• The Shining
• The Thing (1982)
• Let the Right One In
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
• Dawn of the Dead (2004)
• An American Werewolf in London
• Pulse (2001)
• The Descent
• Alien
• The Mist

Noir

• The Third Man
• Sunset Boulevard
• Chinatown
• Blood Simple
• The Maltese Falcon
• Taxi Driver
• L.A. Confidential
• Against All Odds
• Angel Heart
• Sharky’s Machine
• Night Moves (Honorable Mention)

Thriller

• Don’t Look Now
• No Country for Old Men
• The Game
• Seven
• Manhunter
• Rear Window
• Saboteur
• Witness
• Marathon Man
• Strangers on a Train

Epic/Adventure

• King Kong (1933)
• The Bridge on the River Kwai
• The Hidden Fortress
• Until the End of the World
• Aguirre, the Wrath of God
• The Right Stuff
• Seven Samurai
• Braveheart
• Troy
• Excalibur

Costume Drama

• Shakespeare in Love
• Dangerous Liaisons
• Impromptu
• Barry Lyndon
• Sense and Sensibility
• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Henry V (1989)
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
• Last of the Mohicans (1992)
• Room With a View

Crime

• Mean Streets
• Shoot the Piano Player
• Dog Day Afternoon
• Thief
• Natural Born Killers
• Bad Lieutenant
• The Limey
• Out of Sight
• The Usual Suspects
• Band of Outsiders

Music/Musical

• Almost Famous
• All That Jazz
• Singin’ in the Rain
• Amadeus
• This is Spinal Tap
• The Last Waltz
• The Commitments
• Pink Floyd’s The Wall
• The Wizard of Oz
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sports

• Bull Durham
• Field of Dreams
• The Cutting Edge
• Rollerball (1975)
• Jerry Maguire
• Hoosiers
• Big Wednesday
• Pumpkin
• Rocky
• Rocky Balboa

Action

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Road Warrior
• Aliens
• The Terminator
• Terminator 2
• Jaws
• The Hunt for Red October
• Mission: Impossible 3
• The Bourne Identity
• Casino Royale

Prison

• The Shawshank Redemption
• Grand Illusion
• Cool Hand Luke
• Kiss of the Spider Woman
• A Man Escaped
• Escape from New York
• Schindler’s List
• 25th Hour
• Take the Money and Run
• Dead Man Walking

Biographical

• Lawrence of Arabia
• Downfall
• Patton
• Walk the Line
• Erin Brockovich
• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
• Star 80
• Caligula
• The Doors
• Sid & Nancy

Silent Era

• The Gold Rush
• Metropolis
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Nosferatu
• Sunrise
• City Lights
• The Battleship Potemkin
• The Last Laugh
• Haxan, or Witchcraft Through the Ages
• Un Chien Andalou

Fantasy

• The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
• The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
• Wings of Desire
• Conan the Barbarian
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Videodrome
• Slaughterhouse Five
• Strings
• Donnie Darko
• Lost Highway

Superhero

• The Dark Knight
• X-Men
• X-Men 2
• Spider-Man 2
• The Return of Captain Invincible
• Unbreakable
• Hellboy
• Iron Man
• Watchmen
• Batman Begins

Animated

• Toy Story
• The Incredibles
• Up
• Finding Nemo
• Lord of the Rings (1978)
• Wizards
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
• Bambi

Gangsters

• Miller’s Crossing
• Heat
• The Godfather
• The Godfather, Part II
• Goodfellas
• King of New York
• Pulp Fiction
• Reservoir Dogs
• The Untouchables
• The Departed

Socio-Political

• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• The Conversation
• Network
• Inherit the Wind
• Three Days of the Condor
• Children of Men
• JFK
• Traffic
• The Constant Gardner
• Fight Club

Romantic Comedy

• Annie Hall
• Manhattan
• When Harry Met Sally
• Amelie
• The Sure Thing
• The Goodbye Girl
• Arthur
• It Happened One Night
• Trust
• Say Anything