After cataloging every film I own in a Letterboxd list, I realized I had the option to sort the list by average rating. Naturally, I was curious what the results would be. I know my own favorites, but what are the “greatest” films in my collection? Here are the 10 best films I own, according to the ratings of Letterboxd users!

10. Casablanca (1942)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforseen complications.”
Average rating: 4.3/5
Casablanca is one of those films that plenty of people genuinely love, but most people have at least heard of, and a lot of other people pretend they’ve seen. I’m not surprised to see it on the list since it’s so well-known, but glad to since it’s truly one of the best. It is the only film in the top ten from the 1940s.

9. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “In 1927 Hollywood, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are a famous on-screen romantic pair in silent movies, but Lina mistakes the on-screen romance for real love. When their latest film is transformed into a musical […] aspiring actress Kathy Selden is brought in and, while she is working on the movie, Don falls in love with her.”
Average rating: 4.3/5
This one actually did surprise me. Though it’s not my number one favorite musical (or the one I’d rank highest from my collection), it’s a bonafide classic, so I’m not surprised that it gets a lot of love on Letterboxd. But I really didn’t think there’d be any musicals in the top ten, since it’s such a love-it-or-hate-it genre! This is the only musical in the top ten, and the only film from the 1950s.

8. The Shining (1980)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren’t prepared for the madness that lurks within.”
Average rating: 4.3/5
Here’s Johnny! Letterboxd prefers spooks to songs by a slight margin, with The Shining edging out Singin’ in the Rain for the eighth spot.

7. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “This classic western masterpiece is an epic film about a widow whose land and life are in danger as the railroad is getting closer and closer to taking them over. A mysterious harmonica player joins forces with a desperado to protect the woman and her land.”
Average rating: 4.4/5
I loved this film long before I came to appreciate the Western genre on the whole, so I can’t argue with its appearance in the top ten. It’s a brilliant film.

6. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “When ruthless oil prospector Daniel Plainview learns of oil-rich land in California that can be bought cheaply, he moves his operation there and begins manipulating and exploiting the local landowners into selling him their property. Using his young adopted son to project the image of a caring family man, Plainview gains the cooperation of almost all the locals with lofty promises to build schools and cultivate the land to make their community flourish.”
Average rating: 4.4/5
Daniel Day Lewis and his method acting magic score big points for this turn-of-the-century oil drama, based on a novel by Upton Sinclair. While I wouldn’t place this above Casablanca or Once Upon a Time in the West in my own personal “favorites” ranking, I agree with the Letterboxd consensus that it’s a great film.

5. Schindler’s List (1993)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “True story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.”
Average rating: 4.4/5
One of the most memorable and heartbreaking films ever made. It’s also one of the most important. Glad to see it crack the top five.

4. Psycho (1960)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother. The place seems quirky, but fine… until Marion decides to take a shower.”
Average rating: 4.4/5
Surprise, surprise — the highest-ranking pre-1970 flick on the list comes from none other than the Master of Suspense himself! Psycho is not my personal favorite Hitch film but it is certainly iconic and well-deserving of its high reputation among Letterboxd users.

3. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by other inmates – including an older prisoner named Red – for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.”
Average rating: 4.4/5
I feel like this is one of those movies that a lot of people list as their favorite movie, so if anything, I’m surprised it doesn’t have a rating even higher than 4.4 out of 5!

2. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood, and Cuba.”
Average rating: 4.5/5
This is actually the only film in the top ten I haven’t watched. I own a boxed set of the trilogy but have only ever watched the first one. This list has reminded me, I need to remedy that soon!

And, the best of all…

The Godfather (1972)
Synopsis (from Letterboxd): “Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family partriarch Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.”
Average rating: 4.6/5
With a long-standing debate over whether this film or Part II is the best in the series, it’s no wonder they occupy two spots in the top ten. According to the Letterboxd ratings, this one wins by a tenth of a point, and both are better than all of my favorite classic films! The Godfather is one of those movies people are fanatical about. It gets quoted incessantly. It even gets quoted in other movies! Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail comes to mind: “The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question.”

Stay tuned for the next Collector’s Corner, in which we’ll take a look at the worst movies I own, according to Letterboxd.