I’ve always loved magic tricks and magic shows. There aren’t very many movies that feature magicians. Here are my ten favorites. I don’t include movies about wizards (as in Harry Potter) or witches or real magic.

1. Now You See Me 2 (2016) – I slightly prefer this sequel to the 2013 first movie. The plot is too complicated to describe, but basically a group of five magicians (played by Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan), with the help of a magician played by Morgan Freeman, use all kinds of clever tricks to defeat an evil tech genius (played by Daniel Radcliffe), an evil industrialist (played by Michael Caine), and an evil magician (played by Woody Harrelson in a dual role). Grade = B+.

2. The Great Buck Howard (2008) – Buck Howard (John Malkovich) is a has-been magician but who has a loyal following in small towns across the U.S. His road manager Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) has dropped out of law school and slowly learns to appreciate Buck. Dry humor, with a bit of pathos. The movie didn’t do well at the box office. Grade = B+.

3. Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939) – Treasure Island is a real island in San Francisco Bay. During the 1939 International Exposition (an early World’s Fair), famous detective Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and son Jimmy match wits against the evil “Zodiac” with the help of stage magician Fred Rhadini (Cesar Romero). Grade = B.

4. The Prestige (2006) – This is one weird movie. In late 1800s England, well-bred magician Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) feuds with from-the-streets magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale). The plot relies on a machine that can duplicate people! I liked everything about this movie except for the science fiction aspect of the duplicating machine. Grade = B.

5. The Illusionist (2006) – Eisenheim the Illusionist (Edward Norton) is a magician who comes from a humble background in late 1800s Vienna. He strives to win the heart of a beautiful woman (Jessica Biel) who is far above him in social standing. He does so using a very clever plan. Grade = B.

6. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) – Cheesy magician Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and his lifelong friend and partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have a long-running Las Vegas act. But audiences dwindle and their show is cancelled. They must find a way to return to relevance. I didn’t like Jim Carrey’s role as a edgy street magician, but I liked Olivia Wilde’s portrayal as an assistant. Funny movie at times but an inconsistent feel. Grade = B-.

7. The Great Magician (2011) – This is a Chinese movie set in the 1920s. Like many Chinese movies that I enjoy, quite a bit of the plot was very confuing to me, in part because of cultural issues, but also because it’s a confusing movie even to Chinese viewers. Revolutionaries team up with magician Chang Hsien (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) to kidnap corrupt Lei Bully (Lau Ching-wan) at a magic show. Or somehing like that. Beautiful cinematography. Grade = C.

8. A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) – Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two hobos who get a job helping Dante the Magician (a real, well-known magician at the time). They cross paths with crooks who are out to steal an inheritence. One of Laurel and Hardy’s later films and they show their age, but I love their humor. Grade = C.

9. The Mad Magician (1954) – Vincent Price plays Don Gallico who is an inventor of magic effects for stage shows. Villains cheat him and steal his work. It’s a bad idea to cheat someone who has invented a magic guillotine. Realistically, this isn’t a very good movie but I like it anyway. Grade = C-.

10. Mandrake the Magician (1939) – Mandrake (Warren Hull) is a magician who works on cruise ships. He meets Professor Houston who has developed a radium energy weapon. Bad guy “The Wasp” wants the device. Can Mandrake stop the theft? Of course he can. This was originally a 12-part serial and was merged into a feature film. Grade = C-.

“Now You See Me” (2013) would be on my top-ten list on another day. “Chandu the Magician” (1932) is interesting but Chandu uses real magic, not trick magic. Several top-10 lists include “Magicians” (2007), a British comedy, but I didn’t like it very much.

11. Two on a Guillotine (1965) – This movie had excellent actors (Cesar Romero as a psychotic magician, Connie Stevens as his daughter, Dean Jones as boyfriend) but the story was weak.