If you could only see 56 movies for the rest your life, what would they be? There are hundreds of thousands of great movies out there, and it’s impossible to see them all. But if you’re willing to make a choice, these are the 56 best ones. They’ve stood the test of time, and are regarded as true classics. Some people might think they’re too old fashioned, but I’m telling you, they’re not! They’re all incredible, and I guarantee you’ll enjoy one or two of them. I fully admit that my tastes are somewhat unusual, but I know what I like, and I stick to it. So, here are my top picks. For me, the greatest movies are really great movies I’d drop everything to watch and I can watch over and again without getting bored. My favorites include sappy love stories, drama and even comedy, but I also really like action movies and thrillers. Here are my top 56:

1. Roots (the 2016 Version)

The classic American saga is reimagined for a whole new generation. A epic 4-part miniseries, eight-hour event series, “Roots” is a historical portrait of one family’s journey through American slavery and their will to survive and preserve their legacy in the face of unimaginable hardship. This tells the story of Kunta Kinte, a West African youth sold into slavery. This movie is so incredible that it’s hard to choose just one favorite scene. Roots is a truly heart-wrenching movie that will stay with you long after you watch it.

2. Titanic

4. Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion

Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) are carefree party girls who reinvent themselves for their 10-year high school reunion. With new wardrobes (see below for costumes) and wild stories of success, they make a big impression … until a former classmate Janeane Garofalo — CLAY PIGEONS) blabs their real story to everyone! But that’s when Romy and Michele let loose with a surprise of their own … and outrageous results! 

5. Back to the Future

Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary Trilogy & Complete Animated Series (Complete Adventures – Bonus 64 Page Visual History Book – 9 Discs)

Back to the Future: Complete 30th Anniversary Trilogy
Experience the future all over again with the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary Trilogy! Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and a time traveling DeLorean for the adventure of a lifetime as they travel to the past, present and future, setting off a time-shattering chain reaction that disrupts the space-time continuum! From filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, this unforgettable collection features hours of bonus features and is an unrivaled trilogy that stands the test of time. This set consists of a total of 5 discs (3 discs for the movies plus 2 discs for the bonus features).

Back to the Future: The Complete Animated Series
It’s about time! The adventures continue with all 26 episodes of the award winning Back to the Future: The Complete Animated Series, in its entirety and uncut! Join Marty McFly and Doc Brown, Doc’s wife Clara, sons Jules and Verne, and dog Einstein for more hilarious escapades as they time travel to Prehistoric Hill Valley, Ancient Rome, Medieval England, the Civil War, the days of the pirates, the far future and beyond.

Also included in this set is a 64 page book titled “Back to the Future: A Visual History” containing all kinds of great photos and factoids from the Back to the Future franchise released in the U.S. by Universal Studios Home Entertainment!

6. Teen Witch

A 1989 teen fantasy, Teen Witch is a somewhat corny, music-filled film about love, magic, and truth. Most teenagers dream of having the power to make anything happen. According to local mystic Madame Serena (Zelda Rubinstein), that’s just what’s going to happen to Louise (Robyn Lively) on her 16th birthday when she receives her powers as a witch. The once shy and unpopular Louise takes full advantage of her new abilities and is soon enjoying being the most popular girl in school, dating the star of the football team (Dan Gauthier), and terrorizing a particularly insensitive teacher (Shelley Berman). What Louise is slower to learn is the wisdom of being careful what she wishes for, that wishes sometimes have unintended consequences, and that when it comes to love, magic can cloud the truth. In the end, Louise will have to make a very personal choice between magic and truth and come to terms with the fact that, like spells, happiness gained by magic wears off. Perhaps a more powerful magic stems from believing in oneself. Teen Witch provides a comical look back at the 1980s, complete with mediocre, generally irrelevant musical numbers and shallow, simplistic characters.

Books Available on Kindle

7. Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead

Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead aspires to be a cross between Home Alone and Risky Business, with Christina Applegate as an inadvertent scam artist who gets in over her head and somehow pulls it off. When her mother goes to Australia for two months, Sue Ellen (Applegate) thinks she’s going to be in charge–until an elderly tyrant of a babysitter arrives. But on the very first night the old lady has a heart attack and keels over. Sue Ellen and her siblings leave the body at a mortuary, only to discover afterward that all the money their mother had left for the summer was in the babysitter’s clothes. So Sue Ellen has to get a job. Thanks to a trumped-up resume, she ends up as an executive assistant at a clothing manufacturer. For a while she keeps her head above water by skillfully exploiting a friendly coworker, but her brothers and sisters are running amok at home and a venomous receptionist has it in for her at work.

8. Mommy Market/ Trading Mom

Elizabeth, Jeremy and Harry are unhappy with their single mother. An ancient magic spell allows them to select a new mother, but through their choices, they realize how much they love their own mother.

9. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

What’s Eating Gibert Grape is a beautifully shot movie of tenderness, caring and self-awareness that is set amongst the fictional working class one street town Endora. Centred around the Grape family Ellen and Amy and their two brothers Arnie and Gilbert, who, along with their morbidly obese widowed mother Bonnie Grape are striving to survive and coexist with the absence of a father figure, low wage work and seventeen-year-old Arnie’s severe mental condition. It is in this awkward and extremely one sided affair that the unfortunate Gilbert has to constantly, while working for the town’s slowly dying Convenience Store, take care of his younger brother Arnie. Gilbert’s life, his future, is thwarted he know this, but it is in this Guardian Angel that his love and bond for Arnie cannot, and will not, be let go.

10. Heavyweights

From the creator of THE MIGHTY DUCKS comes HEAVYWEIGHTS, a comedy of enormous proportions! It’s the hilarious story of a group of underdog kids who discover their beloved summer camp has been sold to a crazy fitness fanatic who’s determined to make their lives miserable! The new owner plans to keep the boys huffing and puffing, but these hungry kids have a plan of their own. They unite to turn the tables, take back their woodsy hideaway, and challenge the rival camp to the most outrageous summer games of all! You’ll laugh out loud with these HEAVYWEIGHTS — they’re big, loud, and proud, and ready to win their way into your heart! The father-mother-son team of Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, and Ben Stiller appear in the film.

12. BIG

13. Blank Check

14. Baby Boy

BABY BOY is the powerful urban drama directed by John Singleton (Shaft and Boyz N the Hood) starring rap music superstars TYRESE GIBSON and SNOOP DOGG (Half Baked, I Got the Hook Up). With knockout performances from VING RHAMES (Mission: Impossible II, Pulp Fiction, Con Air) and A.J. Johnson (Friday House Party, The Players Club), BABY BOY is a tough, honest and unflinching look at modern urban life. Jody (Gibson) is a 20-year-old African American in South Central L.A. who is trying to live large but doesn’t have a job. He’s got two babies by two different women and still lives at home with his mother (Johnson). Growing up is tough on Jody, but a series of events involving his mother’s new boyfriend Melvin (Rhames), his girlfriend Yvette (Taraji P. Henson) and her ex-con ex-boyfriend Rodney (Snoop Dogg), force him to learn lessons about living, loving and surviving as a man in the hood.

15. The Little Mermaid

16. The Little Princess

In this sumptuous adaptation of the beloved children’s classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a young girl reared in the jungles of India lives an enchanted life filled with wealth, exotic adventures and a father’s love. But when tragedy strikes, she must rely on her will and imagination to relive the joy of her wondrous childhood.

17. The Bluebird

18. I am Sam

19. LIFE

20. The Dangerous Lives of the Altar Boys