I will always stand by the idea that the quickest way to get a true glimpse into someone’s soul is to make them name their favourite movie.
The genre they pick, the memories they dredge up and even the lines they quote can all instantly give you an insight into their personality and childhood. Even the people who cavalierly declare they don’t really watch movies and so could never possibly name a favourite one are inadvertently trying to tell you something.
Namely that you’d never want to be stuck in quarantine with them…
But since movie appreciation is such a personal choice, it’s always been nearly impossible to summarise what the definitive best movies of all time are, for any one person to decide which titles deserve to be celebrated above all others.
At least, until now, because that’s exactly what the good folks over in Hollywood have been up to this month.
For the first time ever, The Hollywood Reporter has released an industry-approved list naming Hollywood’s 100 Favourite Films, a list which is being called the first definitive entertainment-industry ranking of cinema.
In order to get the results, the publication surveyed people from every studio, agency, publicity firm and production house in Hollywood, with thousands of professionals giving their expert opinion on the best movies ever made.
100 movies were included in the final list, but it’s the titles that made it into the coveted top five spots that are in need of our own critical attention.