Top Ten - Movies.

I am a chronic list maker. It is a strange little habit I have that makes me feel organized, and very falsely professional. One of my biggest loves? Film. I love all types of movies.

So here it is - my top ten.

1. The Shawshank Redemption - One of the best movies of all time. Andy Dufresne is the only innocent man in Shawshank, wrongly accused of killing his wife. It takes us to a setting that's disturbing, uses language that's raw, showcases supporting characters who are far from ideal role models, and reforms not one villain by the ending credits. It deals with sex and violence, but never in a typical way. There are numerous brutal, occasionally fatal, beatings. The whole movie is based on the idea that no matter how deep the hole, how dark the night, or how thick the walls are, there is always hope and redemption. Made me cry on more than one occasion, you have to love the revenge he has against everyone who ever did him wrong, and without using the violence his enemies were so accustomed to.

2. American Beauty - Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, became quickly one of my heroes. It is a story of his own personal rebellion - against his penny pushing wife, his jaded little teenage daughter, and his dead end job. The catalyst of the whole movie is when he becomes sexually drawn to and infatuated with Mena Suvari, his daughter's gorgeous cheerleader friend. Reverted mentally back to his teenage years, he truly defines the term "down, but not out". He starts smoking pot, buys the car of his dreams, basically tells everyone where they can shove it, and even starts working at a fast food place. Surrounded by stereotypical people, even the subplots show that under the surface, everyone's a little crazy. In the end, Lester is killed (I know, I yelled the first time I saw it). When he has all he's expected to want, he's dead inside. When he's got everything he really wants, he's dead for real.

3. Almost Famous - This movie made me be what I want to be today - a journalist. Because it plays so heavily on music, and not just music, but the BEST kind of music (classic rock, y'all), it's hard to not get drawn in. William Miller is living every kid's dream. Younger and overlooked by his peers, he approaches his favorite magazine's editor, and then, through a maze of unexpected happenings (and the help of Penny Lane), meets the band Stillwater. He goes on tour with them when Rolling Stone asks him to write a think piece on the band. Watching the movie is a high itself, even the most high up people have their problems. Even when they are literally high up, like when Russell Hammond (the rock star fixation) is on acid on a fan's rooftop, screaming "I am a golden god." Definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen, I can watch it ten times in a row and never get bored.

5. Closer - A beautiful movie filled with beautiful people and no happy ending in sight. Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen are the four main characters. They each portray the two sides of the coin of the perfect man and the perfect woman. Julia plays Anna - talented, beautiful, graceful, and mature, she is a photographer and nearly perfect in every aspect. Alice is played by Natalie Portman, who is spontaneous, sexy, and enthralling. The girl in high school that every boy fixated on. She is free spirited and fun, and also totally ruthless. Dan is played by Jude Law. He is sensitive, beautiful, and artistic. He's a writer and probably the most dangerous character in the whole movie. His sweet and lovable nature is almost too alluring; he is the dream man every girl secretly wishes she had. Clive Owen is his flip. He is crude and seemingly without a conscience, obsessed with sex and money. The stereotypical bad boy, he is totally irresistable. All four characters betray each other ten times over. They never cease to make you want to tear out your own hair at the extent of their own deception.

6. Sin City - Without a doubt a movie that sums up the word "cool". Starting off - it's completely in black and white, except for the occasional splash of color. Every character has their demons, and every demon is in your face. Not especially for the weak hearted, this movie shows corruption on every single level of the system. Love, sex war - all the bases are covered. A new spin on old themes, it totally hooks the viewer. You can practically feel the adrenaline rush of each of the characters.

7. V For Vendetta - If you've ever been mad at the higher power, then this movie is for you. Every mutiny, every happening of rising against - all of those feelings are bottled up in this film. With some awesome explosions to boot, the entire two hours are bordering on the line of rage and insanity. It is quite possibly the ultimate revenge movie, although not the type of revenge anybody can actually relate to.

8. Factory Girl - This might be a little biased, since I'm partial to the whole decade, but the sixties were totally where everything happened. This is a docu-film on the life of Edie Sedgewick, the famous supermodel and former it-girl. Ensnaring the senses of anyone who came close to her, she found a friend in exhibitionist and innovator, Andy Warhol. The story follows the rise and plummet of this superstar, who in the end, was left only with the love of substance, and eventually met her end.

9. Lords of Dogtown - Made me want to leave New York (OMG) and actually visit California. Can't help it that Emile Hirsch is completely stunning, hair or no hair. Kind of made me think if the Catcher in the Rye and Thirteen had a hybrid love child, and it grew up in SoCal back in the day, then this would be it. Totally loved everything about this movie - from the humor, to the cameos, to Heath Ledgers constant awesomeness on screen. I went out and bought it the day it came out on DVD.

10. Memoirs of a Geisha - First, this isn't a typical Hollywood film. Despite popular western misconceptions about Geishas, there's no sex, almost no violence and beyond that, there's nearly two and a half hours of women's problems that many men may find hard to relate to. This is about deceit, treachery and rivalries as much as it is about a little girl who gets sold into bondage by her impoverished Japanese family. Its also about a lifelong search for love in a society in which people apparently can't just step up and make frank declarations of devotion to one another.