My 50 Favorite Movies
Honorable mentions: Chinatown, Persona, Barry Lyndon, Annie Hall, The Royal Tenenbaums.
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50 titles
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.Without a doubt, this is my favorite movie in the world. It's a timeless story of family, injustice, and morality. Though not necessarily the most well-made film ever, it's hard not to fall in love with this adaptation of Harper Lee's inferior book. Gregory Peck gives one of the finest performances an actor ever gave in this.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.With Mulholland Dr., David Lynch created a cinematic puzzle. There's always one piece missing no matter which way you attempt to interpret it, and that's the beauty behind it. It's a wonder that Naomi Watts didn't even get nominated for an Oscar for this. It's an even greater wonder that this film got almost no recognition at the Oscars all together. This is simply one of the most artful, creepy, and downright strange films ever made.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.This, however, is the most well-made film ever. Kubrick's visual symphony is at once ambiguous and also masterful. The "Dawn of Man" sequence is truly spectacular, the famous jump cut being its low point, and even that is amazing filmmaking. The balletic sequence that follows of the two ships attaching is equally awesome. And who could forget Douglas Trumbull's effects for this? The Star Child ending is mind-blowing.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.If you're ever feel down, Amélie is the movie to watch. This movie is definitely the most happy and light movie I've ever seen, so much so that certain scenes make me cry for their sheer beauty. Jeunet's direction adds another gorgeous dimension to the title character, beautifully played Audrey Tautou, that you just fall in love with. Not only do you want the best for Amélie, you feel horrible for her when she's not happy. A beautiful movie, a beautiful concept, a beautiful character.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.Hitchock's riveting and twisty thriller about duplicity is his masterpiece. Unlike his other films, Vertigo is highly symbolic and beautifully shot. Vertigo marks the only time that Hitchcock used color to give the film its meaning. It's probably also his most memorable film for that reason. The reverse tracking shot, created specially for this film, is still just as dizzying as it was more than 50 years ago. And while the stars and script aren't Hitchcock's finest, the visuals alone are worth the ride.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineDaryl HannahAfter awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.Tarantino's two-part ode to Asian martial arts movies started with this bloodbath. Arguably the better of the two, Vol. 1 is an adrenaline rush from start to finish, and a well-made one at that, too. Uma Thurman is a powerhouse in these two no matter what she does, whether it's killing 88 highly trained assassins at once or simply trying to wiggle her big toe. This is probably the best action movie ever made.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineMichael MadsenThe Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.Vol. 2 toned down Vol. 1's slick action and began to exercise restraint with Tarantino's bizarre characters and excellent, extended stretches of dialogue. A lot of sharp style from the first film is lost to get more personal for this one, but it doesn't matter when the conclusion is this satisfying. Sally Menke's editing still shines in greatest way possible in this one. Together, the two films are a masterpiece.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanEwan McGregorJohn LeguizamoA poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.Baz Luhrmann's hyped up MTV-style musical is a visual and auditory wonder. Luhrmann's style is like no other on earth--it's a hallucinogenic mess that somehow ended up being great. The revisionist versions of great pop songs ("Smells Like Teen Spirit" is vamped up even more for a can-can sequence) are amazing in their own right. I can't say enough about the film and its leads. And while its editing is nearly nauseating, this is my favorite movie musical.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.Billy Wilder's best movie is also the best comedy ever made. The ending punchline is, without a doubt, one of the greatest endings ever. While controversial at the time, Some Like It Hot has only become better over the years, somehow even edgier now than it was before. I normally can't stand Marilyn Monroe, but here, she's gorgeous gem, as she plays beautifully off Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Outrageously smart and never boring, Some Like It Hot is what all comedies should aspire to be.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.Sam Mendes' American Beauty has been named the worst Best Picture winner ever by Entertainment Weekly, but I have to disagree. I think it's one of the best. Kevin Spacey gives the performance of a career as Lester Burnham, a man who is going through a mid-life crisis. His bittersweet and darkly funny approach to his problems is entertaining and devastating at once. Alan Ball's script is smart, working many different storylines into one harsh and beautiful climax. Annette Bening as Lester's wife is so good.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.Martin Scorcese's tale of insanity is less an sad story of a lonely cabbie than it is an intense portrait of a man who thinks he's a hero. There's so many unforgettable, haunting elements to this film. Who could forget Bernard Herrman's score? Robert de Niro's performance? That showdown in the brothel? An impressive cast heads a horrifying tale that remains shocking, even today.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'It may not be the best film ever, but Citizen Kane is the closest a movie will ever come to being perfect. Everything about it is amazing. Of all the things in this movie that work, however, the cinematography is the best. Gregg Tolland's work was ahead of its time. And then again, wasn't the whole movie well ahead of its time? The plot structure, among many other things, paved the way for other great movies to come.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.David Fincher is my favorite director, and Se7en, along with Fight Club, is one of his best works. Fincher works best with subjects that are disgusting and dark. Se7en exemplifies both of these. It's almost no surprise that it turned out as well as it did. Were it not for the lushly drab cinematography and purposefully wooden performances of the leads, Se7en wouldn't have been the same movie. And thank God it turned out this way.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.Spoofed constantly in any culturally relevant TV show, Pulp Fiction is better than you'd think, if you didn't know better. The cast is impossibly strong, with one of the best screenplays ever from Tarantino. And what fun would things be with out a little Tarantino oddity? The legacy this film left behind is worth its place here alone.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.Like I said, Fincher is my favorite director. He really is the only man who could possibly make the movie of a Palahniuk book that is better than its source material. This movie has become a pop culture icon for its brashness and style. How could it possibly have been scorned by critics at the time that it came out?
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.Oliver Stone has been here and there with his films. Natural Born Killers is a polarizing (so polarizing that even Tarantino abandoned it?). I fall with the group of people who love it. Stone's vivacious style is vicious and angry, yet still artful. Movie and TV show references are abound, and never distastefully. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis make for a very believable trailer-trash psycho-bitch couple. Poppy and brutal, Natural Born Killers never fails to shock.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.Kubrick's second-best work is just vile at times, at others viciously beautiful. Malcolm McDowell's performance anchors the movie in something that we can relate to, but Kubrick's cold style makes the movie a great experience. The film is loaded with unforgettable scenes ("Singin' in the Rain" isn't ever the same after seeing this) that broke the rules upon its release for its treatment of sexual and physical violence. Not only is it a social time capsule, but it's also a visually stimulating film.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoJean SebergVan DoudeA small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.Jean Luc-Godard's first film was the movie that started it all. The French New Wave began with this film, along with a lot of other film-related things. Where would the film world be without Godard's happy accident that is the jump cut? The two main star-crossed lovers are a motif that have been used again and again, but it's this film that did it the best. Movies weren't ever the same after this one.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.Double Indemnity is the best noir film out there. Billy Wilder's script is so sharp that it could kill, if it were a weapon. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray deliver Wilder's slick, bitchy dialogue with so much prowess that this ended up defining a genre.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.On the other hand, Psycho, starkly shot in B&W, is Hitchcock's wildest film. The shower scene, which has been parodied to no end, still packs a punch. Even if you know what happens at the end, Anthony Perkins is still REALLY creepy in that final scene. Often enough, less is more, and Psycho was the film that proved that.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnouk AiméeClaudia CardinaleA harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.Federico Fellini's best film is 8 1/2, an autobiographical (although heavily stylized) account of his life. The movie's art comes in its ability to shift in and out of consciences, and in Fellini's use of style to show this. It's not an easy film to "understand," but it's a very rewarding experience when its mystery is unlocked.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.Here's looking at this great film, kid. You know why Casablanca is a classic. The forbidden and muddled relationship of Rick and Ilsa is timeless. The script, which won an Oscar upon its release, remains sharp. Michael Curtiz's direction has become a major inspiration for future romantic dramas. What makes this movie work is not the deliciously bad accent put on by Ingrid Bergman or the fun set pieces, but rather the chemistry between Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. As time goes by, nothing about this film will ever lose its impact.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.Ah, the Asian revenge movie. Park Chan-wook's intense mystery centering around an unjustly imprisoned man is so engrossing, it's scary. There's many, many memorable scenes in this--some bizarre (the live octopus dinner), others that kick-ass (the hallway fight)--but what gets remembered the most is the last-minute twist at the very end. And that's what's great about Oldboy: you never know where it's going, and you almost never want to.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.Running just short of an hour and a half, Brief Encounter leaves a greater mark on the viewer than many films could in twice its length. Lean's film about love at first sight is sad, beautifully shot, and all too real. It feels so deeply personal that it could've happened at one point. When the main characters are forced to part at the end, the viewer's heart breaks along with them. You can't say that for many romantic dramas these days.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.A movie that works backwards hadn't been done before Memento. Well, it had; there was Following, but that was really just Nolan's study for Memento. Memento is just a fascinating mystery. Every time you think you know what's going on, you realize you don't have a clue. Even in the end, it's unclear exactly what happened. The editing and writing in this are impossibly good, with Guy Pearce in his best role in his career thus far.