(Chuck Muth) – It’s Oscar night. Who cares, right? Right. Movies, and therefore, the Academy Awards, ain’t what they used to be. So instead of focusing on the best movies of this year, here’s my list of all-time personal favorites (subject to change if readers remind me of something better):
Category: Overall
Winner: Patton
Runner Up: The Godfather
Honorable Mention: The Godfather II
Category: Political
Winner: John Adams
Runner Up: Team America: World Police
Honorable Mention: American Carol
Category: War
Winner: Braveheart
Runner Up: We Were Soldiers
Honorable Mentions: The Green Beret, Top Gun, Midway, Apocalypse Now, & Tora! Tora! Tora!
Category: Sports
Winner: The Replacements (Pampered, over-paid, unionized pro football players replaced by non-union scabs. Exotic dancers as cheerleaders. Boy gets the girl. Oh, and Gene Hackman. What’s not to love? Vunderbar!)
Runner Up: Rocky
Honorable Mentions: Slapshot & Major League
Category: Drama
Winner: A Few Good Men
Runner Up: Hunt for Red October
Honorable Mention: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Category: Comedy
Winner: Blazing Saddles
Runner Up: Animal House & My Cousin Vinnie (added after original publication)
Honorable Mentions: The Naked Gun, History of the World: Part I, Caddyshack, Duck Soup, and Airplane!
Category: Science Fiction
Winner: Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Runner Up: Alien
Honorable Mentions: Star Wars (the original) & The Terminator
Category: Religious
Winner: Ben Hur
Runner Up: The Ten Commandments
Honorable Mention: Jesus Christ Superstar
Category: Adventure
Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean (all three)
Runner Up: Jurassic Park
Honorable Mention: Deliverance
Category: Scary
Winner: The Exorcist
Runner Up: Jaws
Honorable Mention: The Wizard of Oz (those flying monkeys!)
Category: Westerns
Winner: McClintock, Outlaw Josie Wales & Chisum
Runner Up: True Grit & Rooster Cogburn
Honorable Mentions: Little Big Man, Open Range & Silverado
Category: Cop
Winner: Dirty Harry & The Enforcer
Runner Up: 48 Hours & Beverly Hills Cop
Honorable Mentions: The Untouchables, Lethal Weapon & Die Hard
Category: Murder/Mystery
Winner: The Dark Knight & Silence of the Lambs
Runner Up: L.A. Confidential & The Negotiator
Honorable Mentions: Fatal Attraction & Basic Instinct
Category: Animation
Winner: Shrek
Runner Up: Southpark: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
Category: Musicals
Winner: Sound of Music
Runner Up: Dirty Dancing
Honorable Mention: Eddie & the Cruisers
Category: General
Winner: Harry Potter (all but the last one)
Runner Up: The Gladiator
Honorable Mentions: Forest Gump
