5. Shaun of the Dead - There isn’t anything about this movie that I love. The way it mocks both itself and other genre movies like it is clever and well-done and makes the movie an absolute joy to watch each and everytime. The scene where they are throwing Shaun’s record collection at the zombie and trying to figure out which LPs are worth throwing and which aren’t is one of my favorite scenes in any movie in the last 10 years. The writing is fantastic, the delivery of the dialogue is spot-on and well-timed and there’s even a Coldplay cameo at the end talking about ZombAid. If a friend of mine didn’t like Shaun of the Dead, I would really have to re-evaluate my friendship with them.

4. Se7en - David Fincher’s masterpiece. When it’s all said and done, Fincher’s film about a series of seven ritualistic killings will be considered one of the greatest films of the last 25 years. The performances, every single one, is poignant, gripping and chilling. The way that Fincher uses the camera, particularly to frame the killer is breathtaking and sinister. I remember Seven being the first rated R movie that I really wanted to see and when I finally did see it, it quickly became one of my favorite movies. The way subtle uses landscapes, like the oppressive grey and rain of the city to illustrate the moral decay of the film’s backdrop. Se7en also contains my favorite shot in any movie ever. There is a scene where Brad Pitt is lying on the street and John Doe is standing over him, the rain beating down and the camera pans up and all you see is the barrel of the gun and a shadowy figure… it’s just spectacular. Such a well-made, well-acted, well-written movie.

3. Garden State - Like Boondock Saints and John Mayer’s music, it seems to be in fashion to bash Zach Braff’s directorial debut but there are few movies that I’ve enjoyed as much as this film. I’ll agree that the film has had the unfortunate side effect of spawning a generation of uber-quirky girls, desperate to imitate the performance of Natalie Portman as the adorably quirky epileptic Sam. And of course, there’s that soundtrack, which overshadowed the film in its popularity. But it’s difficult for me to say a bad thing about a movie with such tremendous heart. I think when it’s all said and done, this will be a generational film in the way that Say Anything, Breakfast Club and *gasp* The Graduate were generational films.

2. Batman Begins - I never claimed to not be a dork. I remember sitting in the movie theatre in Terre Haute, Indiana in summer 2005 at midnight, my friend Zac to my right. I was trying to forget that when this movie let out, I would need to be up at 6:00 in the morning to get to work at my summer job in the shipping department of a nearby plastics plant. The movie started, the opening credits rolled and I thought “This is going to be awesome.” It should be said that this is the movie that saved the Batman franchise. Christopher Nolan’s Frank Miller-esque take on Batman and Christian Bale’s awesome performance as Bruce Wayne (with a little help from the ever-brilliant Michael Caine) made Batman relevant again and have geeks everywhere giddy with anticipation about the upcoming Dark Knight. This movie is far from perfect, Katie Holmes is dreadful, the usually-great Tom Wilkinson was kind of silly and cartoonish as mob giant Carmine Falcone but the film was dotted by great performances by Bale, Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy and Ken Wantabe. I will always be a fan of Nolan’s for helping to save a character that I’ve loved since I was little.

1. High Fidelity - Those of you who know me well should have seen this coming when High Fidelity hadn’t appeared in my list so far. This adaptation of Nick Hornby’s incredible novel of the same name (which would appear very high up on the list of my favorite books) and the result is solid gold. Cusack is great, Jack Black is hilarious but not Nacho Libre, Todd Louiso is spot-on as the sheepish Dick and Tim Robbins plays the hilariously new age Ian/Ray. My only question about the film is Frears’ decision to cast the Danish Iben Hjejle as the romantic lead but hey — she’s better than Reese Witherspoon. The film’s got tons of music and film references — “What would you say if I told you I hadn’t seen Evil Dead 2?” “I’d say you’re a cinematic idiot and I feel sorry for you.” — and a Bruce Springsteen cameo. Quick, tell me how many films have a Bruce Springsteen cameo. Not many. This is a deal-breaker movie for me. If someone said to me, uttered anything closely resembling these words, “I don’t like High Fidelity,” I would quickly insult their mother and make my getaway post haste.

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