Leave the gun, take the cannoli

Leave the gun, take the cannoli. It is the well-known catch phrase from one of the best movies of all time. It also mimics what my own feelings would be when faced with the decision between a cold, hard weapon, or a delicious Italian dessert.

In a nutshell, I am a lover of movies, and a lover of food. While I do watch the Food Network a bit too obsessively, I find my passion for movies far exceeds anything else. I therefore hope to dedicate this blog primarily to cinema, although I'll also write on an occasional topic that interests me. I do not hope to become the next Roger Ebert by any means (although I can likewise call the University of Illinois my Alma Mater), but would like to simply give you my opinion of various movies I see. I will say, however, I'm one of the harshest critics I know. It takes a lot for a movie to really impress me.

A little more than a year ago, I began a quest to watch what in my mind were the No. 1 movies of all time: the Academy Award Best Picture winners. Here is the comprehensive list, along with the ones I have already seen (****loved, would recommend). Those in red I have yet to watch. As evidenced, my idea of a No. 1 movie list has changed a bit. I did not like all of these movies so far, and found some quite boring. I hope to eventually create my own "Best Picture" list. For now, I have 19 left here to conquer!


1928 (1st) Wings, Sunrise
1929 (2nd) Broadway Melody, The
1930 (3rd) All Quiet on the Western Front
1931 (4th) Cimarron
1932 (5th) Grand Hotel
1933 (6th) Cavalcade
1934 (7th) It Happened One Night****
1935 (8th) Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 (9th) Great Ziegfeld, The
1937 (10th) Life of Émile Zola, The
1938 (11th) You Can't Take It With You
1939 (12th) Gone with the Wind*****
1940 (13th) Rebecca*****
1941 (14th) How Green Was My Valley
1942 (15th) Mrs. Miniver
1943 (16th) Casablanca
1944 (17th) Going My Way
1945 (18th) The Lost Weekend
1946 (19th) The Best Years of Our Lives
1947 (20th) Gentleman's Agreement*****
1948 (21st) Hamlet (1948)
1949 (22nd) All the King's Men
1950 (23rd) All About Eve*****
1951 (24th) An American in Paris
1952 (25th) The Greatest Show on Earth*****
1953 (26th) From Here to Eternity
1954 (27th) On the Waterfront
1955 (28th) Marty
1956 (29th) Around the World in 80 Days
1957 (30th) The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 (31st) Gigi
1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur
1960 (33rd) The Apartment*****
1961 (34th) West Side Story
1962 (35th) Lawrence of Arabia
1963 (36th) Tom Jones
1964 (37th) My Fair Lady*****
1965 (38th) The Sound of Music*****
1966 (39th) A Man for All Seasons
1967 (40th) In the Heat of the Night
1968 (41st) Oliver!
1969 (42nd) Midnight Cowboy
1970 (43rd) Patton
1971 (44th) The French Connection
1972 (45th) The Godfather*****
1973 (46th) The Sting*****
1974 (47th) The Godfather Part II*****
1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*****
1976 (49th) Rocky
1977 (50th) Annie Hall
1978 (51st) The Deer Hunter
1979 (52nd) Kramer vs. Kramer*****
1980 (53rd) Ordinary People*****
1981 (54th) Chariots of Fire
1982 (55th) Gandhi
1983 (56th) Terms of Endearment
1984 (57th) Amadeus
1985 (58th) Out of Africa
1986 (59th) Platoon*****
1987 (60th) The Last Emperor
1988 (61st) Rain Man*****
1989 (62nd) Driving Miss Daisy*****
1990 (63rd) Dances With Wolves*****
1991 (64th) The Silence of the Lambs*****
1992 (65th) Unforgiven
1993 (66th) Schindler's List*****
1994 (67th) Forrest Gump*****
1995 (68th) Braveheart*****
1996 (69th) The English Patient
1997 (70th) Titanic (1997)*****
1998 (71st) Shakespeare in Love*****
1999 (72nd) American Beauty
2000 (73rd) Gladiator*****
2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind*****
2002 (75th) Chicago*****
2003 (76th) The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King
2004 (77th) Million Dollar Baby*****
2005 (78th) Crash
2006 (79th) The Departed *****
2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men