My favorite 18 Steven Spielberg movies

With The BFG now providing a decent opportunity to take the kids to the movies (despite early reports that it's a dud), this is the perfect time to take a look back and rank the films of one of the modern movie masters, Steven Spielberg.

Drumroll ...

18. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
17. "Kick the Can" from The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), with Scatman Crothers and Burgess Meredith in a joyous short that imagines the residents of a retirement home finding the fountain of youth.
16. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
15. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
14. Amistad (1997)
13. Minority Report (2002)
12. Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade (1989)
11. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
10. Lincoln (2012)
09. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
08. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1997)
07. Poltergeist (1982)
06. Jurassic Park (1993)
05. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
04. Schindler's List (1993)
03. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
02. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
01. Jaws (1975)

It's very difficult to pick Jaws over E.T., which is the one movie that makes me cry no matter how many times I've seen it. But then again, Jaws may be the scariest movie ever, and fear is a powerful thing. A case could be made that no director's best 10 films make up a stronger top 10 than these ones from Spielberg.

And then there are the many that I actually have to admit I've never seen (or possibly completely forgotten): 1941, Hook, The Adventures of Tintin, War of the Worlds, War Horse, The Sugarland Express, Empire of the Sun, The Terminal, Bridge of Spies, Munich, and The Color Purple. Of these, are there one or two I absolutely need to check out and possibly add to this list?

Where Does Lincoln Fall Among Spielberg's Best Movies?

It's no stretch to admit that Lincoln is one of the best movies of 2012. And it focuses on one of the most important stories - the battle over the 13th Amendment - from all of American history.

But where Django Unchained, for example, is a relentlessly entertaining take on the battle over slavery, Lincoln feels more like something quite a bit drier, something produced for The History Channel. Something very serious, but a little less entertaining.

Daniel Day Lewis no doubt deserves the best actor award. Every word and story that comes out of his mouth as Honest Abe is mesmerizing.

Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, James Spader, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are each perfect for their roles. But in just two-and-a-half hours, there is really not enough room for any of them to become knowable or deep characters. It's a shame, and it shows how Lincoln's story really is more suited for a TV miniseries (or series) than for the silver screen.

**** out of ***** stars

So where does it fall into the pantheon of Steven Spielberg movies?

Honorable Mention: The Goonies, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Color Purple, Men in Black, Amistad, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Flags of Our Fathers, True Grit, The Lovely Bones, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit

15: Jurassic Park (1993)
14: Catch Me If You Can (2002)
13: Minority Report (2002)
12: Lincoln (2012)
11: Back to the Future (1985)
10: Cape Fear (1991)
09: The Blues Brothers (1980)
08: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
07: Austin Powers in Gold Member (2002)
06: Poltergeist (1982)
05: Saving Private Ryan (1998)
04: Shindler's List (1993)
03: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
01 (tie): E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
01 (tie): Jaws (1975)

What do you think? Is this the same order of your favorite Spielberg-related flicks?

Hollywood Movies Stink Up a Recent Flight for Me

Being a newish dad, I don't watch the sheer amount of movies I did when I was younger. So I either make sure most of what I see is award-worthy or at the other end of the spectrum and completely brain-dead fun.

Apparently, I'm not missing much out of Hollywood these days. And unfortunately, I only hit the mark of my requirements for three of the movies I watched on a recent really long flight.

Pathetically, the film that met those requirements was Bad Teacher. And when that is the pick of your film marathon, it inspires a big "oh boy."

That said, my expectations were low, and Bad Teacher was actually pretty enjoyable. Cameron Diaz was back near her It's a Shame About Mary level of hilarity, Jason Segal (see The Muppets and Forgetting Sarah Marshall) seems to be can't-miss these days, and Justin Timberlake was sufficient. Perhaps I was delirious towards the end of said long flight, but it seemed to actually be a pretty decent statement on the quality of many of our schools and some of the superficialities of our society in general.

Where the allure of the latest film version of the classic novel Jane Eyre lies, I don't know. I just didn't get the boring BBC production of this one. I think the main problem was that leads Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender had no dramatic range whatsoever, despite the next-big-thing status of each. This is one of the few movies I've seen lately that was almost routinely adored by critics but shrugged off by me.

But the movie I was really disappointed by was Super 8. It seemed like this would be Stand By Me-like, with a bunch of unproven kids steering a Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams (of Lost) production. It starts promisingly, and then a massive train explosion that the group witnesses seems like it will take the story in interesting directions. But then it dragged so slowly towards a completely forgettable conclusion that badly wanted to be E.T. but was more like a SyFy Channel show that gets cancelled after the pilot. I can't begin to understand what Hollywood was thinking with Super 8.

Bad Teacher: *** out of ***** stars
Jane Eyre: ** out of ***** stars
Super 8: *1/2 out of ***** stars