My 10 Favorite Movies Ever

This was extremely difficult, narrowing it down to only 10 films. After I gave it a lot of thought, I surprised myself even more by not including films from any of my "sacred cow" franchises like Star Wars, James Bond or Star Trek. I'm not sure why -- maybe because it's difficult to pick one from each and I didn't want the list getting bogged down with multiple episodes of certain series.

Anyway, for sheer enjoyment, here are the 10 that do it for me:

King of New York: Why don't more people know about this movie? Forget Al Pacino's hyped-up overacting in Scarface. Christopher Walken, who in my opinion is a much better and more interesting actor (the Bond purists will smack me for this, but I consider A View to a Kill one of the 10 best Bond flicks strictly because of his being in the movie) gives a great performance as a crime boss out of jail and trying to pick up the pieces. David Caruso and Lawrence Fishburne also make strong contributions, and without giving anything away, the final scenes of this movie are as powerful in an understated way as anything I have ever seen. Abel Ferrara is a master director and should be required viewing for anyone who calls themselves a film fan. (And with all the talk about the upcoming Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig film putting a modern spin on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, let's not forget that Ferrara's oft-forgotten remake from the early 1990s did that first.)

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid: The best western ever made, mainly because it stars the sheriff of cool, James Coburn. But Kris Kristofferson is no slouch either -- plus Bob Dylan contributes music and acts as well. But I love the subtleties of the conflicted relationship between Garrett and the Kid. At one point, Coburn is so torn internally about whether he is man enough to kill his former friend that the only way he can believe in his own superiority is to employ the services of the Kid's favorite prostitute. That's some messed up dude! I'll take Sam Peckinpah over John Ford or Sergio Leone any day.