The weather is getting cold since it is almost December and there are things I like to do during the especially frigid and white time. I like to watch football on Sundays, stay warm by the heater and watch as many good movies as I can. Since winter will be around for awhile, I wanted to help some of you out by suggesting some movies to watch over these cold upcoming months. These 15 movies are worth a watch (or ten) and you will not be disappointed. They are great entertainment for when it is too cold to go outside and you can avoid icy roads by staying in.

15. 8 Mile (2002), 1 hour and 58 minutes

Scores: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes; 7/10 on IMDb; 77% on Metacritic

8 Mile is a Hip Hop-themed drama starring Eminem, Mekhi Phifer and Brittany Murphy. The main character, Jimmy Smith Jr. AKA B Rabbit, is trying to make a name for himself in the underground rap scene, but doesn't seem to be able to produce when he is on the big stage. Throughout the movie, you see how Jimmy has had a hard time leaving his troubled roots at his 8 Mile Road residence, but as the show goes on you see him take more responsibility for the direction of his life and success. The movie is based on some of the life events of Eminem (Marshall Mathers). It is a great movie that you could "lose yourself" in (use cheesy line taken from the hit song on the soundtrack, check).

14. Gran Torino (2008), 1 hour and 56 minutes

Scores: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.2/10 on IMDb; 72% on Metacritic

Gran Torino is a great movie about acceptance of people and of death. It stars Clint Eastwood as grumpy old man Walt Kowalski, who is a war veteran, grandfather and old-fashioned hater of Asians. While he grows old, Chinese families are moving in all of the houses around him. After the death of his wife and the attempted theft of his prized Gran Torino by one of the neighbor Chinese boys (a gang-related initiation), Waltbecomes unexpectedly close with the two neighbor teens, the boy who tried to steal his car and his sister. Walt teaches them about life, while they culture him. Walt also tried to protect the two teens from the gang violence that has erupted in their neighborhood. It's a touching story, with a hard exterior (like the character of Walt) and the ending will be sure to leave you emotional.

13. Inside Out (2015), 1 hour and 56 minutes

Scores: 98% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.2/10 on IMDb; 94% on Metacritic

Pixar gives us a masterpiece that is not just for kids. The animated comedy will be popular with the kids with the fun characters, but will strike a chord with anyone who has battled depression in their life. The movie is about the emotions in the head of an adolescent girl and her struggle with moving away from her hometown in Minnesota. The emotions in her head are Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear. They try to regulate her and react to everything in her life. Sadness starts to touch a lot of memories and get into her emotions more than usual, and you see the effects. You also get to dive into the minds of her parents. A great movie for anyone of any age that will be sure to make you laugh and cry.

12. Zodiac (2007), 2 hours and 37 minutes

Scores: 89% on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.7/10 on IMDb; 78% on Metacritic

Zodiac is about the Zodiac Killer case of the 1960's and 70's in San Francisco. It follows both the reporters' and investigators' obsession of finding the identity of the killer and cracking the codes the killer sends, while at the same time following the killer himself. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie ending is frustrating, but at the same time historically accurate.

11. Forrest Gump (1994), 2 hours and 22 minutes

Scores: 72% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.8/10 on IMDb; 82% on Metacritic

If you haven't seen this movie, then I don't know what you've been doing with your life. It follows the life of Forrest Gump, quite possibly the most interesting fictional character to appear on the big screen. Forrest has done everything from successfully out running leg braces, teaching Elvis his dance moves, meeting multiple presidents, fighting in Vietnam and receiving a Purple Heart, becoming an All-American football player at Alabama and successfully drinking 15 Dr. Peppers at the White House. All of this while being told he was "below average" and "special". The movie is one of a a few Tom Hanks movies on this list, and may be the one he is most well-known for. If you haven't seen it, quietly rent/purchase it and watch it before anyone finds out and makes fun of you.

10. Silence of the Lambs (1991), 2 hours and 18 minutes

Scores: 95% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.6/10 on IMDb; 84% on Metacritic

Hannibal Lecter is one of the best horror-thriller characters to ever hit the big screen. He is methodical, calm and quite engaging, making him quite dangerous. In the film, detectives are trying to catch a cannibalistic serial killer, Buffalo Bill, and look to get a clue into his mindset by interviewing Lecter, a former psychiatrist and, also, a cannibalistic serial killer. The movie dives into the psychology of not just a serial killer, but of the troubled past of regular people. Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster do a great job in this crime, psych thriller, which is sure to give you chills and leave you shocked.

9. Pulp Fiction (1994), 2 hours and 58 minutes

Scores: 94% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.9/10 on IMDb; 94% on Metacritic

Pulp Fiction is a crime/drama film that stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. While the film may not be clear cut, as it is filmed out of order, but the storyline revolves around good karma and doing the right thing (in a strange way). The movie also has a strange sense of humor that is sure to make you laugh, especially when Samuel L. Jackson's character tries to make someone describe the appearance of his crime boss. Definitely a good movie if you have an afternoon free and want to put together a plot puzzle.

8. Se7en (1995), 2 hours and 7 minutes

Scores: 80% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.6/10 on IMDb; 65% on Metacritic

Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman star in this thriller as detectives trying to take down a serial killer, played by Kevin Spacey, who kills people that he feels represent the seven deadly sins. It is a movie that revolves around detective work, but also the home life of a detective whose wife wants to leave the crime infested town they live in. It is definitely a movie you will want to watch until the end.

7. Fight Club (1999), 2 hours and 31 minutes

Scores: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.8/10 on IMDb; 66% on Metacritic

Fight Club is a film about men who are tired of their subpar lives and decide to start a club where people who feel similarly about their lives come and fight each other. The main characters are played by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. The main rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about fight club, which you will understand as the movie goes on. While this movie is great, the plot twist is what makes it even better.

6. Up (2009), 1 hour and 41 minutes

Scores: 98% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.3/10 on IMDb; 88% on Metacritic

Pixar with another emotional masterpiece that will make you go from a range of emotions from start to finish. Not only will you shed tears at the end, but right off the bat you will get wet eyes. The story is of an elderly man who is preparing for life after the death of his wife. His house is in the middle of a new development and just as it is to be demolished, he lifts it off the ground with many balloons so he can fly around and travel to finish the adventures his wife and him had started. To his surprise, a neighborhood Boy Scout was on the porch when he took off, so he is stuck with him on the adventure. A grumpy old man and an Asian kid learn from each other (just like another movie on our list, Gran Torino, except this is animated, less vulgarity, less violence, more magic and there is not old Asian woman spitting tobacco). They go on an incredible journey and end up developing an incredible bond. The reason I know this movie is good is because I picked this for family movie night and my dad, who is not a fan of animated movies, absolutely loved it and it even got him choked up a bit (he won't admit it).

5. The Green Mile (199), 3 hours and 9 minutes

Scores: 80% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.5/10 on IMDb; 61% on Metacritic

The Green Mile stars Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan in a fantasy/crime drama film based off of the novel by Stephen King. Hanks plays a prison guard and Duncan plays inmate John Coffey, am African-American man who is gentle and has a special healing power. A powerful film about wrongful convictions and kindness, this movie will be sure to keep your attention throughout the long running time, and will be sure to get you teary-eyed at the end. John Coffey is one of my all time favorite characters in any movie I have seen. Also, Percy, the prison guard who only has a job because of connections is one of my most hated characters in any movie I've ever seen. It's a great story that sheds a little light on the nature of humanity.

4. 50/50 (2011), 1 hour and 40 minutes

Scores: 94% on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.7/10 on IMDb; 72% on Metacritic

This film is comedy drama about a man who is diagnosed with cancer. It follows his journey with sickness both funny (trying to pick up women with the sickness and using medical marijuana) to the sad (the treatments and the trouble he has with losing his fellow cancer patients). It will make you laugh and get you emotional as it really hits home. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan and Anna Kendrick. It is very quotable and will help you see the importance of having a great support system.

3. Cast Away (2000), 2 hours and 23 minutes

Scores: 90% on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.7/10 on IMDb; 73% on Metacritic

Cast Away stars Tom Hanks as the FedEx executive that survives a plane crash and spends years on an uninhabited island alongside his new friend, a volleyball named Wilson. It is a story about his everyday struggle with survival and his desire to come back to society. Tom Hanks does a great job, as usual, and the movie is easy to watch even though it is a story of a man and a volleyball trying to survive. Although he doesn't say anything, Wilson seems like a cool guy to hang with if you are stuck on a deserted island.

2. The Sixth Sense (1999), 1 hour and 47 minutes

Scores: 85% on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.1/10 on IMDb; 64% on Metacritic

This psychological thriller follows a psychiatrist (played by Bruce Willis) and a kid that doesn't seem to get along with his peers and is an outcast. He is looked at as weird and his mother is worried about him. It is discovered that the boy has the "sixth sense" and can see dead people. He can interact with them and tries to harness this gift for good and to help him live in peace instead of fear. The film is a good one, but is made great by the ending, which in my opinion is one of the best twists in movie history. A must see.

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994), 2 hours and 22 minutes

Scores: 91% on Rotten Tomatoes; 9.3/10 on IMDb; 80% on Metacritic

This may be number one on my list because it is my favorite movie (I mean, honestly, this list is in order of my favorite movies anyway), but don't discount my bias. It is the top ranked movie on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) with a score of 9.3/10. The movie is about a wrongfully convicted wife killer, Andy (Tim Robbins), who lives his life in the Shawshank prison. The story spans over 20 years and tells of the many exploits of Andy, his good friend Red (Morgan Freeman) and the many other inmates they interact with over the years. It is a story of loyalty, corruption, circumstance, survival and smarts. The movie is based on a novella by Stephen King and is a great watch from start to finish. It is a must see if you have not seen it before and one you will surely watch over and over again.

That concludes my list of movies to watch this winter. While it was a list of most of my favorite movies (I left Napoleon Dynamite, Cop Out and any movie that was panned by critics off this list), I assure you these movies are great to really bring out a wide range of emotions. There is a fair share of humor, good feelings, sadness and excitement in this list and if you have learned anything from this list (besides the fact that I cry during movies more than I should) it is that great movies give the viewer a wide range of emotional reactions and that's what makes them great. I hope you give some, if not all, of these movies a try. Also, please let me know of some of your favorites or ones that I need to watch this winter by commenting on the story or on social media. I am open to suggestions!