Celebrating 70 Years of Movie Magic: The Greatest Movies from 1939 to 2009

This year at the Academy Awards, they will be celebrating the 70 years since "the greatest year in film history," 1939, a year when Gone With The Wind beat out 9 truly remarkable contenders at the Oscars. In celebration, the Academy will be nominating 10 films for Best Picture as opposed to the usual 5. Fans of The Dark Knight will tell you that it's because of how badly they shafted their beloved superhero film last year. But, trust me when I tell you, it's all because of the 70th anniversary of the greatest year in the Academy's history - and American filmmaking history.

I've been watching the reviews for some of these Oscar contenders. The reviews have not been unitely positive. In fact, some of them have been downright negative. The only film that hasn't been reviewed, a film that already has the highest probability for success is James Cameron's Avatar. No one outside of the film's cast and crew and probably the executives that gave James Cameron the money to make it have seen the entire film. But, certain sources - like Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, whom have seen upwards of 40 minutes of footage have stated that the Best Picture statuette is James Cameron's to lose.

But, this is not an article about Avatar or the Academy Awards. I'm creating this article to properly celebrate the last 70 years of movie magic or more specifically, give my readers a list of some of the greatest films, from 1939 to 2009. I have gotten a lot of flack for listing these movies like AFI, from the 100th greatest to the No. 1 greatest film. So, I have listed these movies in alphabetical order. And, I want to clear the air by saying that these are all Hollywood-released full-length motion pictures with English actors. There are no documentaries. These films have inspired me most over the years. They should be properly praised for contributing to the last 70 years of movie magic.

12 Angry Men (1957)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Abyss (1989)

Adam's Rib (1949)

The African Queen (1951)

Airplane (1980)

Alien (1979)

Aliens (1986)

All About Eve (1950)

American Beauty (1999)

American Graffiti (1973)

Animal House (1978)

Annie Hall (1977)

The Apartment (1960)

Apollo 13 (1995)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

As Good As It Gets (1997)

Back to the Future (1995)

Bambi (1942)

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Blade Runner (1982)

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Braveheart (1995)

The Bridge on The River Kwai (1957)

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)

Casablanca (1942)

Cast Away (2000)

Chinatown (1974)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

The Cider House Rules (1999)

Citizen Kane (1941)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Close Encounters of The Third Kind (1977)

Contact (1997)

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Dances With Wolves (1990)

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Departed (2006)

Die Hard (1988)

Dirty Harry (1971)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Dumbo (1941)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

The Empire Strikes Back or Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Erin Brockovich (2000)

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Exorcist (1973)

Fargo (1996)

A Few Good Men (1992)

Field of Dreams (1989)

Fight Club (1999)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Forrest Gump (1994)

The French Connection (1971)

From Here to Eternity (1953)

From Russia with Love (1963)

The Fugitive (1993)

Gladiator (2000)

Ghost (1990)

Ghostbusters (1984)

Glory (1989)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Goldfinger (1964)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Goodfellas (1990)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)

Good Will Hunting (1997)

The Graduate (1967)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Great Dictator (1940)

The Great Escape (1963)

The Green Mile (1999)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Heat (1995)

High Noon (1952)

Home Alone (1990)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

Independence Day (1996)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Jaws (1975)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jurassic Park (1993)

The Karate Kid (1984)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Lion King (1996)

The Longest Day (1962)

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (2001)

The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King (2003)

The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers (2004)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

MASH (1970)

The Matrix (1999)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Moonstruck (1987)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

My Fair Lady (1964)

North by Northwest (1959)

Notting Hill (1999)

The Odd Couple (1968)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

The Passion of The Christ (2004)

Patton (1970)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Pinocchio (1940)

The Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

The Planet of The Apes (1968)

Platoon (1985)

Poltergeist (1982)

Predator (1987)

Pretty Woman (1990)

Psycho (1960)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Raging Bull (1980)

Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981)

Rain Man (1988)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Rear Window (1954)

The Road Warrior (1981)

Rocky (1976)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Roxanne (1987)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Schindler's List (1993)

The Searchers (1956)

Seven (1995)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

A Shot in The Dark (1964)

The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

Singin' In The Rain (1952)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

The Sound of Music (1965)

Speed (1994)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Stagecoach (1939)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Wars or Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

The Sting (1973)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Superman: The Movie (1978)

Taxi Driver (1976)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

There's Something About Mary (1999)

Titanic (1997)

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

Tombstone (1993)

Tootsie (1982)

Toy Story (1995)

Trading Places (1983)

The Treasure of The Sierra Madre (1948)

True Lies (1994)

Unforgiven (1992)

The Untouchables (1987)

Up! (2009)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Vertigo (1958)

Walk The Line (2005)

WALL-E (2008)

West Side Story (1961)

What Women Want (2000)

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wuthering Heights (1939)

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Don't forget that this is my list of the greatest films. It's basically a list of my favorites. It's more subjective than objective.

Just so my readers know, the song Judy Garland is best known for singing in The Wizard of Oz, "Over The Rainbow" basically sums up the last 70 years of movie magic for me.

I would include Avatar, but we don't know at this point whether or not it belongs on such a prestigious list.