AT LAST! My Top 40 Movies of ALL TIME!

I've had my (oft-expanding) list of favorite films listed for quite some time on my website, as you can see from this link.  And for years now (and most recently, a year or so ago), I've hemmed and hawed about actually making a top 10 or a top 20...and so on.  Last year, I started a list of criteria on how to judge these films.  How do I determine which films get what placement?  I thought about # of viewings, how many times I used to rent it as a kid, initial reaction, reaction over time, how it held up, nostalgia factor, etc.  Well, this morning, I simply went to my three separate lists and cherry-picked the films which I knew were my all time favorites, thus forsaking other "faves" which just don't hold up in my brain as "the ones".  In other words, I followed my gut.  So, I was able to pull 39 of them, and just now as I was typing, I remembered one more which needed to be on the list.  And there I have my top 40.  But, I'm already discovering that this was the easy part.  As I try to now place these 40 films in their proper, coveted positions, I find myself struggling.  My top three was a cinch... as I've known my top two since forever.  Looking at the 3rd position, it was pretty clear who would take said spot.  So, here we go:

1) DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)
2) MURPHY'S ROMANCE
3) POLTERGEIST
4) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
5) ALIENS
6) UNCLE BUCK
7) AMERICAN FLYERS
8) DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
9) HOWARD THE DUCK
10) RETURN OF THE JEDI
11) THE KARATE KID (1984)
12) THE ROAD WARRIOR
13) JUST ONE OF THE GUYS
14) THE GOONIES
15) HALLOWEEN
16) NINE TO FIVE
17) JURASSIC PARK
18) FORTRESS
19) BIG BUSINESS
20) PRETTY IN PINK
21) SOMETHING WILD
22) WEIRD SCIENCE
23) FLASH GORDON
24) REVENGE OF THE NERDS
25) THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
26) SLAUGHTER HIGH
27) THE BIRDS
28) NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION
29) THE GRIFTERS
30) ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK
31) MOMMIE DEAREST
32) BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)
33) DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)
34) BLACK WIDOW
35) MY MAN GODFREY
36) WELCOME TO 18
37) MADONNA: TRUTH OR DARE
38) MIDNIGHT MADNESS
39) THIEF OF HEARTS
40) THE DESCENT


As I was confirming my list, I realized I had missed THE KARATE KID, which I immediately moved to #11.  Wanna know what was originally in the #40 spot, which THE KARATE KID moved out?  THE OTHERS.

And there you have it.  I think this is a good representation of favorites.  Things I've loved for decades, and more recent offerings from the world of cinema (THE DESCENT).  I think I'm mostly going off of raw emotional power and the pure goodness of nostalgia on these...although some other films which did effect me deeply (I'm thinking of the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE here) didn't make the cut.

**Oops, and I just saw that I missed THE GOONIES.  Thus the 1990 remake of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD gets the boot from the top 40 to accommodate THE GOONIES entry @ #14.

Here's the breakdown:
13 Comedies
11 Horror (surprising!)
7 Dramas
4 Sci-Fi
2 Thrillers
2 Action/Adventures
1 Documentary

In the end, I think this list is pretty malleable.  Other than the top 3, I think things may shift as I see fit.  Let me know your thoughts!