1. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
Clearly I decided to go for a controversial surprise pick for the number one spot. A little Italian flick you may have heard of. Three men - one grave full of gold. Clint Eastwood (The Good), Lee Van Cleef (The Bad) and Eli Wallach (The Ugly) absolutely nailed it in Sergio Leone's masterpiece. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was the final collaboration between Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone - and many people consider it to be the greatest movie of all time. I'm not going to argue with them. It has interesting characters, a compelling story, perfect use of music and, most importantly, some of the best direction ever seen. If anybody else had directed this movie with the exact same actors, script, locations and props it probably would have lasted around ninety minutes and would have been pretty damn good. With Sergio Leone in the chair it lasted twice as long as that; and I wouldn't dream of cutting one second. As is often the case with true love, I find it very difficult to further articulate my feelings about this movie. I will leave you with this: if you somehow haven't seen it, try to find somebody who has seen it and didn't like it. Actually, don't bother - just watch it.
What do you think of my picks? Did I miss out any of your favourites? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.