40. Ghostbusters – Another Bill Murray classic in the works here, and this one is a doozey. Once again combing effortless, laugh out loud humor, and fantasy is not easy work, but Ivan Reitman (who recently received a long-overdue Oscar nod for producing Up in the Air with his son Jason), Bill, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis), manage to find an inherent balance between the two genres creating one of the most classic films of the 80’s, and one of the best comedies and fantasies of all time.39. Pan’s Labyrinth – This 2006 masterpiece was grossly overlooked by many, and for all those that hated ten nominees, I can’t help but wonder if there had been ten in 2006, this brilliant gem (which won 3 Oscars) might have gotten the recognition it deserved. Set in Fascist Spain in 1944, it presents an alternate reality to the cruel world of one young girl, and brings us a dark, compelling, and gripping drama that as a war movie alone is brilliant, but with Guillermo del Toro’s imagination was completely transformed. I think it is safe to say that The Hobbit is in good hands.
38. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 – I put these two together for one simple reason: I couldn’t decide which one was better. For those of us college kids that grew up on Pixar, Toy Story is what started it all, and this summer, 15 years after the first hit theatres, our childhood gets to take a full circles. The story of Buzz, Woody, and the gang may seem like a stretch, but by transporting to us this world, Pixar gave us a reason to become kids again, and we can’t thank them enough.
37. The Matrix – In 1999, this sci-fi world of the future blew our minds, kind of a like Avatar ten years later. This new world created by the brilliant minds of the Wachowski brothers, takes us to new world that commented on the growing computer age as the new millennium was about to dawn. While its sequels didn’t amount to much of anything, this first installment has become a modern day science fiction classic, and actually made me kinda like Keanu Reeves, which is saying a lot.
36. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – This quirky little comedy from Charlie Kaufman and Michael Gondry was weird, fantastical, and extremely well acted. The story consists of a man who undergoes a process to erase bad memories of a sour relationship. Kate Winslet was a revelation and Jim Carrey stretched his normal persona and gave us a performance not seen from him. Once again this is a movie that melds comedy and fantasy together in a quirky and interesting fashion that we will not soon forget.
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