TL's Top 40
by gneiss-1 | created - 27 Jul 2012 | updated - 27 Jul 2012 | PublicEveryone has his/her own view on which movies are the best. I hope I can at least inspire someone else with my list, which is definitely not my final list. I've yet zounds of movies to see.....
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1. American History X (1998)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama
Living a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien
Votes: 1,185,795 | Gross: $6.72M
2. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After 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.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 635,404 | Gross: $0.71M
3. The Machinist (2004)
R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.
Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian
Votes: 415,394 | Gross: $1.08M
4. Let the Right One In (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Votes: 226,716 | Gross: $2.12M
5. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,875 | Gross: $57.60M
6. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
Director: Juan José Campanella | Stars: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Carla Quevedo
Votes: 222,298 | Gross: $6.39M
7. Stay (I) (2005)
R | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A psychiatrist attempts to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Kate Burton
Votes: 86,000 | Gross: $3.63M
8. Lost in Translation (2003)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Votes: 488,602 | Gross: $44.59M
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 570,054 | Gross: $1.23M
10. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
PG-13 | 132 min | Drama, Sport
Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel
Votes: 721,515 | Gross: $100.49M
11. The Snow Walker (2003)
PG | 103 min | Adventure, Drama
A pilot and his passenger struggle for survival after crashing in the Arctic tundra.
Director: Charles Martin Smith | Stars: Barry Pepper, Annabella Piugattuk, James Cromwell, Kiersten Warren
Votes: 11,365
12. Mirrormask (2005)
PG | 101 min | Drama, Fantasy
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a fifteen-year-old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
Director: Dave McKean | Stars: Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, Gina McKee
Votes: 23,664 | Gross: $0.86M
13. Touching the Void (2003)
R | 106 min | Documentary, Adventure, Drama
The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Simon Yates, Joe Simpson, Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron
Votes: 38,087 | Gross: $4.59M
14. Memento (2000)
R | 113 min | Mystery, Thriller
A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 1,322,349 | Gross: $25.54M
15. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,549,441 | Gross: $292.58M
16. Drive (I) (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama
A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Votes: 704,152 | Gross: $35.06M
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,077,534 | Gross: $34.40M
18. Donnie Darko (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 849,766 | Gross: $1.48M
19. Into the Wild (2007)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 657,927 | Gross: $18.35M
20. Snatch (2000)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime
Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jason Statham, Brad Pitt, Stephen Graham, Vinnie Jones
Votes: 910,478 | Gross: $30.33M
21. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 702,767 | Gross: $37.63M
22. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,067,262 | Gross: $138.43M
23. Layer Cake (2004)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Tom Hardy
Votes: 195,501 | Gross: $2.34M
24. 13 Assassins (2010)
R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Ikki Sawamura
Votes: 68,581 | Gross: $0.80M
25. The Man from Earth (2007)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
Director: Richard Schenkman | Stars: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford
Votes: 200,103
26. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses. Under constant surveillance by Detective Brikowski and assassin Goodkat, he must get them before they get him.
Director: Paul McGuigan | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu
Votes: 325,600 | Gross: $22.50M
27. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny
Votes: 110,418 | Gross: $5.99M
28. Underworld: Evolution (2006)
R | 106 min | Action, Fantasy, Thriller
Picking up directly from the previous movie, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.
Director: Len Wiseman | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy, Tony Curran
Votes: 209,171 | Gross: $62.32M
29. Mysterious Skin (2004)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama
Two pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue, Chase Ellison
Votes: 76,287 | Gross: $0.70M
30. Broken Flowers (2005)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
As the extremely withdrawn Don Johnston is dumped by his latest woman, he receives an anonymous letter from a former lover informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. A freelance sleuth neighbor moves Don to embark on a cross-country search for his old flames in search of answers.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Bill Murray, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Julie Delpy
Votes: 106,789 | Gross: $13.74M
31. K-PAX (2001)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
PROT is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a faraway planet named K-PAX. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack, Alfre Woodard
Votes: 192,988 | Gross: $50.34M
32. The Piano (1993)
R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Votes: 95,120 | Gross: $40.16M
33. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,165 | Gross: $2.08M
34. City of God (2002)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama
In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen
Votes: 800,650 | Gross: $7.56M
35. Chocolat (2000)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, Romance
A French woman and her young daughter open up a chocolate shop in a small remote village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina
Votes: 201,916 | Gross: $71.51M
36. Sideways (2004)
R | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Votes: 204,192 | Gross: $71.50M
37. Green Street Hooligans (2005)
R | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
A wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent underworld of football hooliganism.
Director: Lexi Alexander | Stars: Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren
Votes: 161,778 | Gross: $0.34M
38. Cashback (2006)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox, Michelle Ryan, Erica Ellis
Votes: 90,765 | Gross: $0.02M
39. 28 Days Later (2002)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer
Votes: 445,363 | Gross: $45.06M
40. Moon (2009)
R | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw
Votes: 376,615 | Gross: $5.01M
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