Before I continue the countdown, I think it’s important to firmly establish what my criteria was for making this list. My number one rule (contrary to what my girlfriend may believe) is that there is no pretension allowed on this list. What follows in the list, as you’ll see, is a no-frills list of my favorite movies ever. Pure and simple. You won’t find Terrence Malick or Antonioni on this list. Ditto for The Bicycle Thief and Lawrence of Arabia. If I didn’t genuinely enjoy a film, it’s not going to be on the list regardless of how cool its inclusion would  make me look. Second, I have to have watched each of these movies at least twice (with the exception of one movie, which I will explain later). Let’s get on with the show.

14. Match Point -  I remember the first time I saw this movie back during the Industry Outsider days and having seen Woody Allen’s 2005 film a couple times since that initial screening, my enjoyment of the picture has never diminished. I love the look of this film, the way it’s shot, it’s perfectly timed use of Pre-World War I arias and most of all the ending. The ending of Match Point is as suspenseful and as gut-wrenching as any film I’ve ever seen. Many critics of the film claims that this film is a simple re-telling of Crimes and Misdemeanors but I think this film succeeds in all the areas where Crimes and Misdemeanors fell short for me. Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s character, unlike Martin Landau’s character in Crimes, is a sympathetic character. Growing up a working class Irish kid turned tennis pro now finds himself in way over his head mingling with the English upper class. It’s because you feel for this character and want to see him succeed that the end of the film is so gripping. If you haven’t seen Match Point, give it a go. If you don’t understand the beginning, wait ’till the end.

13. Ratatouille -  Brad Bird’s spectacular follow-up to The Incredibles is the notable exception to my second rule. I haven’t even made it through this movie. After watching the first hour of film on a flight back to Indiana, I raved to my girlfriend about the film’s lush animation and realism and the storytelling and how good it was. She scoffed at the notion that I had watched the flick without her and I vowed, for the sake of my relationship, that I wouldn’t finish the film and would wait to watch it with her. That being sad, Ratatouille is one of the most amazing, beautiful movies I’ve ever seen and after the complete viewing, will probably snake its way into the top 5 but for now Remy sits at 13.

12. Children of Men -  It wasn’t until I saw Children of Men that I began eying the HD add-on for my XBox 360. Alfonso Cuaron’s brilliant film about the future world in which women have become infertile and the human race is dying out has a little bit of everything. Poignant social commentary (though the obvious Abu Ghraib reference made me roll eyes), nail-biting action and compelling drama (and Clive Owen’s best performance of his career) make for one of the best movies of last year. Between this movie and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which, before this year’s Order of the Phoenix was my favorite of the Potter flicks, I am fast becoming a fan of Cuaron’s work.

11. Rear Window -  My favorite Hitchock film by far, this thriller starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly hasn’t aged for me at all. Hitchock’s plays on boredom, curiosity and suspicion are masterful and well-constructed. If you want to see a better made, better-acted Disturbia, you must Netflix, rent or just flat out buy Rear Window.  Also keep a close eye out for Hitchock’s cameo in the flick.

10. The Departed - Ultra-violent, lots of cursing and the Irish mob in Boston, what more could you want out of a Scorcese film? The greatness of The Departed is that there is not a bad actor or a bad performance in the film. Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin are all obviously terrific but more than that, the dayplayers, the supporting cast’s performances are all amazing. Truthfully, this was the film that deserved to win Best Picture last year for Scorcese. It’s an exponentially better film that Gangs of New York and The Aviator and the film’s pacing really makes you forget that this is a nearly three-hour movie, which would typically spell disaster for yours truly.

20. Rififi - What guy (or girl for that matter) doesn’t like a good heist flick? Well Jules Dessin’s 1954 film noir classic is the single best heist film I’ve ever seen. Thought to be controversial for its violence, sexuality and drug use, Rififi is now considered the prototypical film noir and for good reason. The film is wrought with cynical, impeccably dressed gangsters, double crossing, femme fatale and the coolest use of an umbrella in any film ever.

19. Cool Hand Luke - No one plays the anti-establishment, anti-hero better than Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. The film also bears one of the most famous lines in the history of American cinema. “What we have got here is a failure to communicate.” The quote has become so ubiquitous that people use it without really knowing where it comes from. The film is simply a charming, well-done classic with an ending that seems tragically appropriate.

18. The Natural - One of two sports movies to make my top 20, The Natural is (sorry Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out and Pride of the Yankees and… you get the point) the greatest baseball movie ever made. Yes, there are those who gripe that Barry Levinson’s ending doesn’t mirror the book (and I can imagine I will have the same gripe when I was I Am Legend later this month) but Roy Hobbes trotting around the bases as shards of lights fall to the field is one of my favorite moments in any movie ever. Pair that moment with Randy Newman’s Oscar-nominated score and you have unbridled, goosebump-inducing cinematic gold. Not to mention, most of the film’s baseball scenes were shot in Buffalo’s old War Memorial Stadium. Big shout out to Western New York!

17. Ed Wood - One of the only Tim Burton movies that I really enjoy, Ed Wood is simply genius. Forget about Johnny Depp’s performance, which I think is the best of his career, Martin Landau’s spot-on Bela Lugosi makes me laugh every time. There’s one particularly obscene Lugosi moment where he takes a shot at Boris Karloff that had me on the floor laughing. If you haven’t seen it and can get pass the film’s initial unmistakably Burton-esque weirdness, I think you’ll love this movie.

16. The Graduate - Simply put, Mike Nichol’s 1967 film is one of the greatest American films ever made. Unlike most movies that were made 40 years ago, The Graduate doesn’t age. It looks and feels as if it could have been made in 2007. The themes of disconnect, apathy and early 20’s alienation are those felt by all young people, particularly those who have just graduated from college and are, involuntarily, facing the brink of adulthood. Not to mention the film has probably the most famous soundtrack in the history of cinema.

15. Hoosiers - An American classic. Plain and simple. The first time I saw Hoosiers was in 8th grade. My friend Brendan and I had been handed the cassette by our basketball coach with a simple instruction, “You gotta watch this.” There isn’t anything about this movie that I don’t absolutely love. I don’t think it’s possible for one to understand how important Hoosiers is as a significant piece of Indiana history unless you’ve lived in the state. (To that point, the Library of Congress put the film National Film Registry in 2001). Still in Indiana, in small towns and large cities, there is a real sense of civic pride when people talk about this film and for good reason, there are few sports movies as good as Hoosiers.

I thought I’d let everyone know a couple different things I will have going on for the next couple weeks here on The Bottom Line.

Starting tomorrow, I will be unveiling my definitive list of my 20 favorite movies of all-time. Anyone who has tried to make such a list will tell you it’s an emotionally exhausting exercise. I will be unveiling the list 5 flicks at a time and finishing with the top 5 on Friday.

Starting later today, I will be picking all 32 Div. 1-A bowl games starting with the Poinsettia Bowl and finishing with the BCS Title Game.

I like….

Bob Knight may have shot a couple more people. I generally think Bob Knight is a complete moron so it’s not all that surprising to hear that a man claimed Knight or his hunting partner shot at him intention after the man yelled at the pair for hunting too close to his house. Knight denies it.

Comcast sent a cease and desist letter to NFL Network for urging customers to switch from the cable service.

Can the Kindle help the newspaper industry?

Warner Brother’s viral marketing for the new Batman flick has kicked into high gear?

The fake Gordon Ramsay blog is hilariously funny.

Top Chef season 1 contestant Dave Martin has opened a new restaurant in New York.

The Colts new $11.4 million scoreboard in Lucas Oil Stadium is amazing.

I like…

Seth Rogen is signed on to do Kevin Smith’s next flick.

The almost surely crappy “I Am Legend” is having to undergo re-shoots. Rumor has it, the studio isn’t happy with the ending, which is reportedly true to Richard Matheson’s novel. I knew this was going to happen and I am almost convinced that I’m going to hate this movie with every ounce of my marrow.

Kanye West is going to produce some of Mos Def’s next album.

The Justice League of America cast seems set.

Amazon’s e-reader, Kindle, could revolutionize the way people read. I think this thing looks like the first generation iPod. Big, clunky but wildly innovative.