Greatest and Favorite Movies: A Ranker Collection of 17 Lists

If you’ve ever opened a streaming app, stared at thousands of titles, and still muttered,
“There’s nothing to watch,” this article is for you. One of the smartest cheats in the
movie-lover’s toolkit is outsourcing the hard work of ranking films to people who obsess
over them full-time (critics) and people who obsess over them in their free time (fans).
That’s exactly the sweet spot where Ranker’s crowd-powered movie lists live.

On Ranker’s “Best Movies of All Time” hub, you’ll find a “Greatest and Favorite Movies”
section that lets you choose from a cluster of themed lists – 17 different ways to sort,
slice, and argue about cinema, from feel-good favorites to four-star critic darlings.
Think of it as a cinematic control panel: twist a knob, pick a mood, and a curated watchlist
appears.

Why Fan-Voted Lists Like Ranker Matter

Traditional “greatest films” lists often come from institutions and critics. The American
Film Institute’s AFI 100 Years…100 Movies famously crowned
Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and The Godfather as top-tier classics, leaning heavily
toward American and pre-2000 cinema. Rotten Tomatoes’ “300 Best Movies of
All Time” and “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century” use critic scores and adjusted
Tomatometer formulas to highlight consensus critical favorites like The Godfather,
Seven Samurai, and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Ranker flips the script by giving the microphone to everyday viewers. Instead of one critic
in a quiet screening room, you get thousands (sometimes millions) of votes stacking up
beneath titles like The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, or 12 Angry Men,
which also dominate IMDb’s Top 250 user-rated chart. The result is a snapshot
of what audiences genuinely love to rewatch, quote, and recommend not just what scholars
admire.

That makes a Ranker-style collection of 17 movie lists incredibly useful. Each list has its
own flavor, but together they answer a big question: What are the greatest and favorite
movies, across moods, genres, and generations, according to fans?

Inside the Ranker “Greatest and Favorite Movies” Collection

On Ranker’s “Best Movies of All Time” page, the “Greatest and Favorite Movies” block links
out to a cluster of themed lists. Some of the lists explicitly shown include:​

• The 200+ Best Feel-Good Movies of All Time
• The 600+ Funniest Movies of All Time
• The Best Rainy Day Movies, Ranked
• 80 Good Long Movies to Watch, Ranked
• The 470+ Best Chick Flicks Ever
• “Old” Movies Every Young Person Needs to Watch in Their Lifetime
• The Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars
• The Best Movies About Letting Go
• Every Single Movie on Rotten Tomatoes with 100% Approval, Ranked

Surrounding those, you’ll typically see other Ranker-style lists that cover similar ground:
best action movies, best animated films, best family movies, best superhero films, best
’90s movies, and more. As a whole, you can think of this as a flexible 17-list “universe”
where each sub-list emphasizes a different way movies become “great” to us emotional
comfort, historical importance, belly laughs, long-form epics, or critical acclaim.

Highlights from Key Lists (And What They Say About Us)

1. Feel-Good Movies: Comfort Food for the Soul

The “Best Feel-Good Movies” list is where you’ll find films that leave you with a goofy
grin and a slightly warmer heart temperature. Expect classics like Back to the Future,
It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Princess Bride, plus modern crowd-pleasers such as
Paddington 2 or La La Land depending on current voting trends. These aren’t necessarily
the “best” in a technical sense, but they rank high because people revisit them again
and again after bad days, breakups, and long weeks.

What the list really captures is rewatch value. Critics may debate camera movements and
subtext, but fans remember the feeling of watching Marty McFly shred a guitar solo or
Andy Dufresne stand in the rain as a free man. That emotional resonance keeps feel-good
titles in heavy rotation.

2. The Funniest Movies: Comedy as a Moving Target

Ranker’s “Funniest Movies of All Time” and similar lists are where generational gaps show
up fast. One side of the list is populated by evergreen comedies like Airplane!,
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Some Like It Hot; the other side reflects newer
hits like Superbad, Bridesmaids, or Step Brothers. Humor ages quickly, and fan voting
makes those shifts visible in real time.

Interestingly, some comedies also sneak onto serious “Greatest Films” lists. AFI’s list
includes Some Like It Hot and Singing in the Rain, proving that laughter and artistry
aren’t mutually exclusive. When fans rank their favorite comedies, they’re often
unconsciously rating quotability, meme potential, and shared cultural jokes.

3. Long Movies: When You’re Ready for an Epic

The “Good Long Movies to Watch” list is an ode to films that earn their runtime. These
are the movies you’d watch on a lazy weekend, not a Tuesday at 11 p.m. Think
Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather Part II, Schindler’s List, or modern epics like
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Many of these titles also appear on AFI, Rotten
Tomatoes, and IMDb Top 250 lists, backed by both fan passion and critic praise.

What’s fascinating about this list is how it spotlights immersion. You’re signing up
to live in that world for three hours. If fans still choose to hit “play” knowing they’re
in for a long haul, that’s a strong endorsement.

4. Chick Flicks, Classics, and Coming-of-Age Staples

The “Best Chick Flicks” list is usually filled with romantic comedies and dramas like
Mean Girls, The Notebook, Legally Blonde, and 10 Things I Hate About You. These
films aren’t just about romance; they’re often about friendship, self-discovery, and how
we navigate social expectations.

Meanwhile, “Old Movies Every Young Person Needs to Watch” is where canonical titles such
as Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and 12 Angry Men tend to sit movies that also
appear across AFI’s canon and the IMDb Top 250. This list builds a bridge between
generations: it’s fans essentially saying, “Please don’t let these disappear from the
conversation.”

5. Critic-Approved Gems and 100% Rotten Tomatoes Movies

Some lists in the Ranker ecosystem explicitly lean on critic prestige, such as “Movies
Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars” or collections of films with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
These lists highlight titles like Do the Right Thing, Taxi Driver, or smaller,
near-perfect films that never got blockbuster marketing.

Titles that cross over between fan-voted and critic-endorsed lists The Godfather,
12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, Citizen Kane end up carrying an extra aura of
“untouchable” greatness. When both sides agree, you’re probably looking at
a film that will stay relevant for decades.

How Ranker’s Lists Compare to AFI, Rotten Tomatoes, and IMDb

If you overlay Ranker’s “Best Movies of All Time” results with AFI’s 100, Rotten Tomatoes’
all-time lists, and IMDb’s Top 250, a pattern emerges:

• Shared Pantheon: Films like The Godfather, Schindler’s List, 12 Angry Men,
  and Casablanca appear almost everywhere, regardless of whether you ask fans or critics.
• Modern Favorites: On fan-driven platforms, modern blockbusters such as
  The Dark Knight and Inception rise higher than they often do on institutional lists,
  reflecting the recency of their impact and strong online fandoms.
• Genre Surprises: Rotten Tomatoes’ genre-specific “All-Time Lists” surface things
  like the 200 Best Horror Movies or Best High School Movies, which often line up with
  Ranker’s own genre lists but sometimes highlight overlooked cult classics.

Together, these comparisons show how the idea of “greatest” is multi-dimensional. AFI
leans toward historical significance. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates critic approval.
IMDb and Ranker capture moviegoers’ raw affection. None of them are “correct” alone
but together they paint a much richer picture of what we value in movies.

Using the 17 Lists to Build Your Ultimate Watch Journey

So how do you actually use a Ranker-style 17-list collection without drowning in options?
Here’s a simple strategy:

1. Start with the Core Canon: Pick 5–10 titles that repeatedly appear on
   AFI, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb Top 250, and Ranker’s “Best of All Time.” That might look
   like The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men, and Seven Samurai.
2. Add Mood Lists: Use feel-good, funniest, rainy-day, and chick-flick lists
   to build mini-queues. Label them “Comfort,” “Laughs,” “Rainy Sunday,” and “Rom-Com
   Night” in your streaming watchlist.
3. Balance Critic and Fan Picks: For every comfort movie, pick a critic-endorsed
   title from the Ebert four-star or 100% Rotten Tomatoes lists to stretch your taste a bit.
4. Sprinkle in Personal Quirks: Directors and cinephiles share their own
   “favorite movies” lists all the time Quentin Tarantino’s 21st-century picks, for
   example, elevate films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Lost in Translation, and
   Black Hawk Down. Use those as optional “wildcards” in your lineup.
5. Keep Voting: If you actually use Ranker or similar platforms, cast votes
   after you watch. You’re literally shaping the lists for the next wave of movie fans.

The end result is not just a list of “greatest and favorite movies,” but a living,
evolving watch journey that reflects both global consensus and your personal quirks.

Extra: of Real-World Experience with 17 Movie Lists

Living with a 17-list movie collection is a bit like living with 17 very opinionated
friends. One is always nudging you toward classics: “You still haven’t seen
Lawrence of Arabia? Sit down, we’re fixing that.” Another is the chaotic comedy fan
who thinks every night is Anchorman night. A third gently suggests, “Maybe we heal
our soul with Paddington 2 instead of doom-scrolling Twitter?”

In practice, what these lists really give you is permission to explore. When you’re
exhausted, you don’t have to be a film scholar. You can just hop onto a “Best Feel-Good
Movies” or “Best Rainy Day Movies” collection, scan the top 20, and pick the first title
that makes your shoulders drop. The fact that thousands of people have voted for those
movies is your reassurance that you’re not about to waste two precious hours.

Over time, you start to see patterns in your own behavior. Maybe you notice that you
always gravitate toward prison dramas like The Shawshank Redemption and
12 Angry Men, or you accidentally build a mini canon of 1970s paranoia thrillers.
Maybe your comfort zone is animated films that show up high on both Rotten Tomatoes’
“Best Animated Movies” and Ranker’s family-movie lists. Whatever your pattern, the lists
nudge you from “I like movies” to “I kind of understand my film taste.”

They also quietly encourage you to broaden that taste. The presence of
“Old Movies Every Young Person Needs to Watch” is a reminder that cinematic history
didn’t start with your favorite franchise. When you finally sit down for
Casablanca or Singin’ in the Rain, you realize why those titles sit near the
top of AFI and critical lists: they’re still funny, still romantic, still emotionally
sharp decades later.

One of the most rewarding experiences with a Ranker-style collection is watching how a
title travels across multiple lists. You might first meet Mad Max: Fury Road as an
action masterpiece, then see it show up on “Best Movies of the 21st Century,” then
notice that both fans and critics nearly universally adore it. By the time you rewatch
it, you’re paying attention not just to car crashes but to color grading, pacing, and
how every shot moves the story forward.

The other underrated aspect is community. Whether you’re browsing Ranker’s comment
threads, Reddit debates about top 50 favorite films, or social media arguments about the
“true” greatest movie of all time, you start to see that people’s lists are tiny
autobiographies. A list heavy on Disney animation signals nostalgia and comfort;
one packed with slow, meditative dramas might belong to someone who loves introspection.
Ranking movies becomes a way of saying, “This is who I am, in 50 titles or less.”

The trick is not to treat any list as scripture. Use the 17 lists as a playful map, not
a strict itinerary. Let consensus guide you toward the heavy-hitters the Godfathers,
Seven Samurais, and Shawshanks but leave room for your secret favorites, the
under-seen movies you champion even when they barely crack anyone else’s top 500. In the
long run, the “greatest and favorite movies” aren’t just the ones that win the vote;
they’re the ones that feel like home whenever the opening credits roll.

And if you end up with your own Ranker-style spreadsheet, color-coded, cross-referenced
with AFI, IMDb, and Rotten Tomatoes? Congratulations. You’ve officially turned movie
night into a hobby and those 17 lists were the gateway.