Jordan's Top 25 Movies of the Last 25 Years
I work with IMDb's editors and contributors to build the content that makes IMDb great. Here are my favorite movies of the past 25 years to celebrate IMDb's 25th birthday. I love movies with great writing.
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- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsPaul MercurioTara MoriceBill HunterA maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner.I love all three movies in Baz Luhrmann's red curtain trilogy, but this is my favorite. It's funny. It has big heart. It's over the top. There's an underdog and family loyalty.
- DirectorJohn LasseterStarsTom HanksTim AllenDon RicklesA cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.Funny, nostalgic and genuine.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.This movie had such a strong point of view on the suburbs. It's not how I felt about the suburbs when I grew up there. But for the two hours of the movie, I was transported. A striking portrayal of a very ordinary place.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsTom HanksJulia RobertsPhilip Seymour HoffmanA drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.This is a funny, well written, small movie. I might be the only person who puts this in the top 25, but I loved it.
- DirectorAndrew StantonLee UnkrichStarsAlbert BrooksEllen DeGeneresAlexander GouldAfter his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.It's accessible to a large audience, well written, epic, has heart, and is funny. So what if it's animated?
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.Like a lot of the other films on this list, this film evoked a strong mood, and I got lost in the film. It also reminded me of how I felt when we visited Japan.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.Chris Nolan has made a lot of great films in the past 10 years, but this is the one that stays with me. Like a lot of the other films on this list, it blew me away with its originality the first time I saw it.
- 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.This movie is an engrossing social experiment. Half way through I thought, 'what does it say about me that I'm cackling at such horrible violence'. Tarantino is a master manipulator.
- DirectorTom StoppardStarsGary OldmanTim RothRichard DreyfussTwo minor characters from the play 'Hamlet' stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.Fast witty dialog, good acting and a clever concept. I've watched this one so many times that when I watch Hamlet, I think 'That's like the part of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when...'.
- DirectorSeth GordonStarsSteve WiebeBilly MitchellMark AlpigerDie-hard gamers compete to break world records on classic arcade games.You couldn't have written a better script if this was fiction. The good guy was good. The bad guy was bad. There was conflict, struggle. And the fact that it was on this very weird, small scale made the whole thing both funny and dramatic.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodIan McKellenOrlando BloomA meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.This trilogy epitomized big, special effects blockbusters at their best.
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsKevin SpaceyGabriel ByrneChazz PalminteriThe sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.After the ending, I left the theater feeling like a huge hoax had been set up for me as a viewer. Not a passive movie.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.This was an epic, beautiful and original film.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJohn CusackCameron DiazCatherine KeenerA puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.So clever. I've liked most of Charlie Kaufman's films, but this one was the first one that I saw. It was so shockingly original.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.Haunting, and suspenseful. I don't usually like thrillers, but this one stays with me.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsJulianne MooreClive OwenChiwetel EjioforIn 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.Rarely does sci-fi feel so real. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole film.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsBrian O'HalloranJeff AndersonMarilyn GhigliottiA day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.Made me believe that someone with a great idea and tenacity could get a movie made. Original, funny, shocking (at least at the time).
- DirectorChristopher GuestStarsFred WillardEugene LevyCatherine O'HaraA behind-the-scenes look into the highly competitive and cut-throat world of dog shows through the eyes of a group of ruthless dog owners.We met at Starbucks... Different Starbucks.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyJohn TurturroTim Blake NelsonIn the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.I love it when the Coen Brothers do comedy -- Fargo, The Big Lebowski or O Brother, Where Art Thou could have all made my list. O Brother, Where Art Though snags the spot because of the excellent sound track.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJason SchwartzmanBill MurrayOlivia WilliamsA teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.I like Wes Anderson a lot, but a lot of his movies feel so stylized that they lose a little heart. Rushmore has a ton of heart, keeps the laughs coming, and has a great soundtrack to boot.
- DirectorMatthew WarchusStarsBill NighyImelda StauntonDominic WestU.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.So many great characters were developed in this movie, and none of them were a bundle of shallow stereotypes. I love movies that make a small story feel epic.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsHugh GrantAndie MacDowellJames FleetOver the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.This movie is such a great exploration about friendship. To me, this and When Harry Met Sally are the rom-coms against which all others should be measured.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyJennifer LopezVing RhamesA career bank robber breaks out of jail, and shares a moment of mutual attraction with a U.S. Marshal he has kidnapped.Jlo can act! The script and the whole movie was so taught and suspenseful. The characters were great. I really like Soderbergh.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA 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.It was great to see a big budget mainstream movie that felt this intellectual, and that also had the gloss and the big budget effects.
- DirectorJoss WhedonStarsRobert Downey Jr.Chris EvansScarlett JohanssonEarth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.I love Joss Whedon. I love the rag tag team, the throwaway jokes, the fast dialog. I also am a sucker for a good superhero movie. To me this movie is amazing because it is 143 minutes of action, with an ensemble cast, and Whedon manages to develop the character for all those different superheros by showing how their character does action scenes.