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10 Flicks Movie Lists

I’m a proud movie nerd.

We’ve covered that so it shouldn’t surprise anyone who reads this blog that I follow box office numbers closely.  The only place I go for box office information online is Box Office Mojo.

Recently, I was checking the all time domestic numbers and decided to see if I could narrow the top 100 down to 10.  Can you?

Click here to see the Top 100

So here are my 10 favorite box office moneymakers.

Honourable Mention: Avatar, 300, The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan

Star Wars

Star Wars Episode 4

#4 – $460,998,007

I adore the original trilogy and enjoyed the prequels but A New Hope will always be my favorite. (Followed closely by Empire Strikes Back.)

XTRA | If I Could Only Recommend ONE Science Fiction Film

Spider-Man

Spider-Man

#9 – $403,706,375

It may not be my favorite superhero movie of all time but it certainly paved the way for some of the most entertaining movies in history.

“Go web go!”

Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

Lord Of The Rings

#12 – $377,027,325

It’s tough to pick one movie when all three are in the top 100.  I look at the series and see one giant incredible movie but I had to pick one so ROTK was the winner.

XTRA | Movies That Changed Everything: The Lord of the Rings

Transformers

Transformers Optimus Prime

#22 – $319,246,193

Even though I absolutely hated the sequel, the original is one of the most entertaining popcorn movies I’ve ever seen on the big screen.  It had giant fighting robots and some of the best and most complex visual effects ever created.

XTRA | Transformers 3?  Apology accepted Michael Bay

Independence Day

Independence Day Area 51 Attack

#30 – $306,169,268

Will Smith is my favorite actor.  I’m one of the reasons his movies always make 100 million+ in theaters.  Independence Day will always be one of the greats.  ID4 is a perfect example of a huge box office blockbuster.  Big stars, big FX and big thrills.

XTRA | Wouldn’t it be awesome if Independence Day 2 was about…

Signs

signs_mel_gibson_shyamalan

#70 – $227,966,634

I talk about Signs a lot on this site. I even thought about leaving it off this list to avoid ‘Signs fatigue’.  However, I simply couldn’t bring myself to leave my all time favorite movie off the list.

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded Trinity

#41 – $281,576,461

It’s ambitious, it’s explosive, it’s cool and it’s confusing.  It was once the record holder for most anticipated movie until it was toppled by The Dark Knight years later.

XTRA | What THE MATRIX screenplay taught me

Twister

Twister Helen Hunt Tornado

#61 – $241,721,524

Twister may surprise some people but I’ve always loved this movie.  When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of tornado warnings.  This eventually ignited an interest in weather and this movie came along right in the middle of that childhood obsession.  Twister is a fun movie. Plain and Simple.

Jurassic Park

jurassic_park_trex

#15 – $357,067,947

To this day, I’m still fascinated by how well the effects stand up compared to today’s standards.  Such a fun movie.

The Dark Knight

dark-knight-joker

#3 – $533,345,358

My second favorite movie ever.  I’ve never been so excited to see a movie in my entire life and to have the film deliver on all the hype was amazing.

Try narrowing down your own list of 10 box office favorites.  It’s not that easy.

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All Time Best: Movie Trailer | Movie Blog | What's the best movie trailer of all time?

Last week’s release of the new Transformers Dark of the Moon trailer got me thinking about my favorite trailers of all time.  Coming up with a list of 20 trailers is easy but settling on just one!?  Not so simple.  Especially when I’m ready to crown Transformers 3 because it’s the freshest in my mind. (I can’t wait to erase Revenge of the Fallen from my mind.)

What makes a trailer great?

XTRA | 50 Greatest Movie Trailers

It really comes down to personal preference and truly depends on the types of movies that inspire you.  For me, the best trailers are for huge summer blockbusters.  I can’t get enough of them.  There have been tons of remarkable trailers for dramas and such as well but I’ve always been partial to the big time tent pole releases.

Still, here is my one of my favorite dramatic trailers:

Picking one was a really tough decision.  A great trailer has to wow you.  It has to get people talking.  The perfect trailer shows you enough to get you excited but leaves much to be desired.  A perfect trailer has a sense of mystery and intrigue. 

Take the J.J Abrams produced Cloverfield for example:

The trailer for Cloverfield literally took over the internet as speculation went wild over what the movie was.  Leaving the title out was a risky move but in the end it was brilliant because it got people talking.  That trailer boosted the film onto many film lover’s radars.

Lets stick with Abrams for a moment.  That man knows how to get people excited for a movie!  Movies like Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3 and Super 8 have amazing trailers.  I’ve never been a fan of Star Trek on the big or small screen but this trailer was phenomenal and sold me.

How about all the wonderful Star Wars memories that came roaring back when George Lucas unleashed the trailer for Episode 1: The Phantom Menace?  What about the incredible power of The Dark Knight’s epic trailer?

I could go on forever listing trailers that I love but for the purpose of this post, I had to select one.  In the end, the trailer I selected was for sentimental reasons not to mention the incredible feelings of anticipation it triggered.

THE MATRIX RELOADED

The Matrix is one of the coolest movies ever produced.  It redefined the action genre and pushed the limits of visual effects to new heights.

XTRA | What The Matrix Screenplay Taught Me

The day I found out there would be two sequels was a happy day for me.  From that day on, I searched the internet every single day for information on the sequel.  This led to the discovery of other movies to look forward to and my daily movie news routine was born.

The Matrix Reloaded inspired me to follow the movies I love closely and began an obsession with the Matrix series.  Then this trailer was released and I was absolutely blown away.  At that time, no one had a clue where the Wachowski brothers would take the story.  After viewing this trailer you still have no clue but you know it will be cool.  That’s what a great trailer does.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TRAILER?

XTRA | Editing A Short Film: Planning The Trailer

XTRA | What is a movie trailer streak?

All Time Best: Movie Trailer | Movie Blog | What's the best movie trailer of all time?

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10 Flicks: Movies I've Seen In Theaters More Than Once

I’m going to go ahead and assume that since you’ve found this blog, you enjoy movies immensely.

Furthermore, I’m going to assume you love going to the theater to watch the latest big release.

However, are you a multi-viewing person?

For me, going to the movies is one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes it’s hard to find time to catch a flick with my work schedule.  It’s even harder to see a movie I love more than once…

But every once in a while, a movie comes along that I will have to see more than once.  It’s the biggest compliment I can give to a film.

How many movies have you seen more than once?

Here are 10 Flicks I’ve been happy to revisit:

We Were Soldiers

We were soldiers movie

In high school, there were 2 things to do besides party.  Movies and bowling.  I didn’t care that I had already watched We Were Soldiers.  If my friends wanted to see it, I was more than happy to see it again.

Paranormal Activity

paranormal activity movie

I saw this movie on back to back nights and I had trouble sleeping for a week afterwards.  One of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen in theaters.  Ironically, I haven’t seen it since… I’m too frightened.

Not to mention it was my favorite movie of 2009.

Bad Boys 2

bad boys 2 movie

I loved the original Bad Boys and the second was among the most entertaining movies of that summer.  Lazy day…  Kick ass action movie…  Done.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man Movie

Movies don’t come nerdier than this.  I literally had plans to see it twice before it was even released.  In the end, I saw it 3 times in 3 weeks.

300

300 movie

This was the first movie I saw the second time by myself.  I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to catch a matinee with me so I went alone.

Mission Impossible 2

mission impossible 2 movie

I love this entire series.  Even though M:I 3 is my favorite, I still loved the action in the second installment enough to see it twice.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest

Pirates of the caribbean Davy Jones

Who doesn’t love an old fashioned adventure film with state of the art visual effects? I loved it twice.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Darth Maul Movie

The first and only movie I’ve ever seen 4 times in theaters.  4 visits in the first 2 weeks of release.  That’s pretty good for a high school student without a car who lived 25 minutes away from the theater.  When this movie came out, I got my parents permission to skip school and went downtown with my friends to wait in line for HOURS!  Every second was worth it.

Note: People clapped when Darth Maul died…  That bugged me.

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded Movie

The Matrix will always be one of my favorite film franchises.  I still wish I loved the 3rd chapter as much as the first and second but it wasn’t meant to be. I still saw this movie twice on opening weekend.  That counts.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Joker

Ah The Dark Knight.  My most anticipated movie of all time.  I waited almost 4 hours in line to see the first midnight screening of this movie.  I went back at 3pm the next day.  The following day, I caught a matinee by myself.

Basically, what I’m saying is I saw The Dark Knight twice in the same day and 3 times before it’s first record breaking weekend ended.

Point. Nolan.

XTRA | Director Wars: Nolan vs Shyamalan

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