Alamo 100

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Created by Big ander.

Favorited 17 times, disliked 0 times, added to 14 watchlists.

100 Essential Favorite Movies chosen by
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

"Asking an Alamo programmer to name his or her favorite movie is like asking a mother to name her favorite child. Wait, no, that makes it sound too easy.

Asking an Alamo programmer to name his or her favorite movie is like asking a mother to name her favorite child, knowing that the rest of her kids will be taken away. Nope, that still makes it sound too easy.

Asking an Alamo programmer to name his or her favorite movie is like asking a mother to name her favorite child, knowing that the rest of her kids will be killed. Okay yes, that's exactly how it feels.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is why we are presenting the Alamo 100, and not the Alamo 10 or the Alamo 50.

When we first had the idea of compiling a list of our most cherished films, we spent a considerable amount of time discussing the criteria, and not just because we wanted to put off this Sophie's Choice for a while longer. There are plenty of lists, based on everything from cinematic achievement to popularity, floating around the celluloid landscape, and we wished to avoid redundancy in adding our own voice to the pile.

In the end, it all boiled down to the fact that we just love the hell out of movies. And so this list is defined, not by filmmaking genius or cultural impact, but by the space reserved in our hearts. The Alamo 100 encompasses the movies that we wore out on VHS, the films our friends are sick of hearing us rave about, the cinematic gems that feel like living, breathing members of our family. This is a list that reminds us why we fell in love with cinema in the first place, and why the magic of that romance will never fade.

A quick glance at the Alamo 100 reveals the incredible diversity of taste on the national programming team, which consists of Tim League, RJ LaForce, Greg MacLennan, Tommy Swenson, Joe Ziemba and myself. We're incredibly proud of the fact that our passions encompass 1960s French films and modern day rom coms, Kubrick masterpieces and epic action flicks, obscure trash-horror and feel-good classics. There is simply no classification that can contain our devotion to the silver screen.

In order to generate the Alamo 100, each programmer first created his or her own list of 100 favorites, a Herculean task that caused a fair amount of heartache in the office. These titles were then compiled and ranked based on two factors: 1. their rank on each programmer's list 2. the number of times the title appeared on more than one list. The results are an eclectic mix of shoe-ins and surprises, and we hope that this wildly divergent collection leads to many conversations within the Alamo community. You can explore the full list at Alamo100.com, where you can see which titles drew the most votes and also check out each programmer's individual favorites to find out with whom your tastes most align.

In January, we're launching the Alamo 100 in all of our theaters with seven titles that capture the spirit of this list, and throughout the year, we'll be screening many more. Because we can't live without these movies, and we can't let you live without seeing them."

(Note: the list counts The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as one entry.)

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  1. 73 -

    Pulp Fiction

    1994, in 38 top lists Check
  2. 43 -

    The Godfather

    1972, in 42 top lists Check
  3. 2 -

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    1968, in 45 top lists Check
  4. 55 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    2001, in 31 top lists Check
  5. 14 -

    Blade Runner

    1982, in 36 top lists Check
  6. 22 -

    A Clockwork Orange

    1971, in 37 top lists Check
  7. 85 -

    Star Wars

    1977, in 40 top lists Check
  8. 5 -

    Alien

    1979, in 30 top lists Check
  9. 7 -

    Apocalypse Now

    1979, in 37 top lists Check
  10. 26 -

    The Dark Knight

    2008, in 27 top lists Check
  11. 57 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    2003, in 29 top lists Check
  12. 96 -

    Vertigo

    1958, in 42 top lists Check
  13. 19 -

    Casablanca

    1942, in 39 top lists Check
  14. 42 -

    The Godfather Part II

    1974, in 32 top lists Check
  15. 86 -

    Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

    1980, in 25 top lists Check
  16. 31 -

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop...

    1964, in 37 top lists Check
  17. 8 -

    Back to the Future

    1985, in 25 top lists Check
  18. 36 -

    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    2004, in 28 top lists Check
  19. 56 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    2002, in 26 top lists Check
  20. 67 -

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    1975, in 35 top lists Check
  21. 81 -

    Singin' in the Rain

    1952, in 37 top lists Check
  22. 75 -

    Raiders of the Lost Ark

    1981 — a.k.a. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, in 29 top lists Check
  23. 45 -

    Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

    1966 — a.k.a. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in 28 top lists Check
  24. 83 -

    Some Like It Hot

    1959, in 35 top lists Check
  25. 74 -

    Raging Bull

    1980, in 34 top lists Check
  26. 63 -

    The Night of the Hunter

    1955, in 35 top lists Check
  27. 30 -

    Double Indemnity

    1944, in 37 top lists Check
  28. 6 -

    The Apartment

    1960, in 28 top lists Check
  29. 3 -

    Les quatre cents coups

    1959 — a.k.a. The 400 Blows, in 26 top lists Check
  30. 33 -

    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

    1982, in 30 top lists Check
  31. 21 -

    City Lights

    1931, in 34 top lists Check
  32. 60 -

    Modern Times

    1936, in 30 top lists Check
  33. 16 -

    Brazil

    1985, in 23 top lists Check
  34. 61 -

    Monty Python and the Holy Grail

    1975, in 23 top lists Check
  35. 40 -

    The General

    1926, in 33 top lists Check
  36. 17 -

    Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

    1920 — a.k.a. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, in 30 top lists Check
  37. 54 -

    Léon

    1994 — a.k.a. Léon: The Professional, in 23 top lists Check
  38. 72 -

    The Princess Bride

    1987, in 19 top lists Check
  39. 44 -

    The Gold Rush

    1925, in 29 top lists Check
  40. 41 -

    Ghostbusters

    1984, in 13 top lists Check
  41. 32 -

    Duck Soup

    1933, in 24 top lists Check
  42. 91 -

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

    1974, in 15 top lists Check
  43. 10 -

    The Best Years of Our Lives

    1946, in 30 top lists Check
  44. 79 -

    The Royal Tenenbaums

    2001, in 8 top lists Check
  45. 66 -

    Notorious

    1946, in 24 top lists Check
  46. 78 -

    RoboCop

    1987, in 15 top lists Check
  47. 70 -

    Playtime

    1967, in 19 top lists Check
  48. 52 -

    Jules et Jim

    1962 — a.k.a. Jules and Jim, in 21 top lists Check
  49. 37 -

    Evil Dead II

    1987, in 9 top lists Check
  50. 80 -

    Rushmore

    1998, in 11 top lists Check
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Last updated on Dec 14, 2013; source