As I kid I preferred to watch the same movies over and over rather than branch out and discover new ones. And so I became the victim of this reaction: OMG you haven’t seen THAT film?!!?!!#$*(! 

After a while I grew out of my guilt and shame, acknowledging that there are so. many. movies and just because I haven’t seen a popular one doesn’t mean I’m not a real person.

That said, I decided to make my own personal list of 10 films to watch before turning 10. Then I had to venture into the teen years of course. I stopped the list at 24, with the intention of editing the list every year when my birthday comes around. The list is a combination of revered favourites and also films that have reached a level of mainstream reach that I think it is important to have an opinion on them even if they don’t become new favourites.

So here’s what I’ve got so far. The idea is that by age of the number, you should watch the film listed if you have not already. Many of these correlate with when I was introduced to them, but many I was introduced to later, I would have loved to have in my childhood at an earlier age.

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. The Lion King
4. Land Before Time
5. Toy Story
6. My Neighbour Totoro
7. Star Wars: A New Hope
8. The Sound of Music
9. Back to the Future
10. It’s a Wonderful Life
11. The Fellowship of the Ring
12. Pirates of the Caribbean
13. Titanic
14. The Breakfast Club
15. Mean Girls
16. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
17. Love Actually
18. The Matrix
19. Inception
20. The Shawshank Redemption
21. Pulp Fiction
22. Amelie
23. Annie Hall
24. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
25. The Royal Tenenbaums

Thoughts? Suggestions for my 26th year shortlist?

P.S. 14 films that inspire minimalism and mindfulness