Bastardo!'s Top 100 Favourite Movies

So it's my first post on the board, couldn't get these 'Top 100' lists out of my head, so after much thought I've compiled my own simple list of my 100 favourite films (plus a few additions). Not that they are technically the best films ever made per se, just ones I find personably enjoyable.

Feel free to discuss my choices and offer up any titles you feel I've missed.

100. Hung faan aau (Rumble in the Bronx) (1995) --- Stanley Tong



One of Jackie Chan's early attempts to crack America didn't take off the way of Rush Hour, but is by far a better movie (if you can excuse the dodgy stuntman 'acting'). Great stunts and slapstick.

99. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) --- Steven Spielberg



Doesn't rival Raiders, but still pretty damn good. Only minor gripe being the several hundred year old knight at the end!!

98. Requiem for a Dream (2000) --- Darren Aronofsky



A step up from his zero budget debut Pi. Frantic and frenzied. Any movie that features a rampaging fridge gets my vote.

97. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) --- Steven Spielberg



Ok, so many people hated this, but as it's the closest thing we have to seeing just what Stanley Kubrick had been working on all those years, it's going on the list no question. Great visuals and, in places, dark and disturbing.

96. Casino (1995) --- Martin Scorsese



Kind of got lost from people's memories for a while as everyone was expecting another Goodfellas. Though not as good as that, it's still a fascinating story of the fall of the mob in Las Vegas.

95. Bound (1996) --- Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski



Doesn't have the visual eye popping of The Matrix, but this comes without a doubt a close second in terms of quality storytelling. Minimalistic lesbian heist movie with twists galore.

94. Heat (1995) --- Michael Mann



Probably contains one of, if not the best shootout in modern cinema history. Well acted throughout.

93. The Great Dictator (1940) --- Charles Chaplin



Not had the chance to watch too many of Chaplin's movies, but this really stands out. Laugh out loud funny in places, switching to poignant moments about tolerance in others. Brave move given the time it was made.

92. Sin City (2005) --- Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller



One of those movies that explodes in your conscious upon first viewing. Brilliant visuals and adrenaline pumped story.

91. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) --- Stanley Kubrick



Probably fairly considered to be Kubrick's weakest movie, but no where near as bad as some make it out to be. Intrigue and suspision in an illusory Christmas time New York.

90. The Trial (1962) --- Orson Welles



Little seen Kafka adaption. Shooting in various abandoned locations in post-war Europe gives the film a beautiful nightmare quality.

89. Ringu (Ring) (1998) --- Hideo Nakata



One of the few genuinely disturbing horror movies I have seen. Way better than the terrible American remakes. For a companion piece, check out Hideo Nakata's other movie Dark Water (2002).

88. Rushmore (1998) --- Wes Anderson



A big step up from his first feature Bottle Rocket, this is the film that really got me interested in Wes Anderson and also made me realise just how funny Bill Murray is.

87. Gwoemul (The Host) (2006) --- Joon-ho Bong



Not that Cloverfield was a bad movie, but of the recent monster movies, this one comes out on top. Genuine dred, humour and heart with characters you really care about.

86. Chasing Amy (1997) --- Kevin Smith



A return to form for Kevin Smith after the not great (but not terrible) Mallrats. Not as laugh out loud funny as Clerks, but with more drama mixed in.

85. Alien 3 (1992) --- David Fincher



Ok, so probably someone is gonna have a problem with this, but in my opinion this is better than Aliens (don't see it on the list do you). It's messy sure, but while Alien was all about building the tension with one unstoppable creature, Aliens just came in and blew it's head off with a sawn-off shotgun and gone was any of the subty and terror of the first film, so this movie is a welcome return to those themes.

84. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999) --- Trey Parker



Still funny with or without the bleeps intact. Crude, but with something to say as well. And, i'm sorry to say, way better than the Simpson's Movie.

83. True Romance (1993) --- Tony Scott



Few movies have a better cast than this. Tony Scott has rarely, if ever, surpassed it (this is before he started going nuts with his camera). One of Quentin Tarantino's best scripts to date.

82. Salinui chueok (Memories of Murder) (2003) --- Joon-ho Bong



The movie that introduced me to the recent explosion of South Korean cinema. Brilliantly paced and acted. The last shot is chilling.

81. Unforgiven (1992) --- Clint Eastwood



Remember seeing this at the cinema as an 11 year old, it gave me my first introduction to westerns and although it took me a while to fully get into them, this still left an impact.

80. Se7en (1995) --- David Fincher



Doesn't have quite the same impact now as when it first appeared, but still a highly recommended intelligent twisty thriller.

79. The Matrix (1999) --- Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski



Along with seeing Jurassic Park when I was a kid, one of those WOW movies where your jaw hits the floor. Truely a live action Manga, not afraid to resist dumbing down it's story to appeal to a wider audience.

78. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) --- George Armitage



The movie that really turned me on to John Cusack. I remember watching it five times in one weekend when it first came out on video. Smart, funny, hitman in high school reunion hell movie with a killer 80's soundtrack.

77. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) --- Steven Spielberg



When it comes to old school adventure movies, you don't get any better than this. Great locations. Beats Nicholas Cage's National Treasure movies into the ground.

76. Lolita (1962) --- Stanley Kubrick



Switches pace with the book to be something of a dark comedy. Shelley Winters is horrific. Peter Sellers is funny as hell.

Nice job, and welcome to MoFo. Instead of me grilling you on every film you have listed here how about you start at #100 and work back to #91 and so on and then as you go give us a few thoughts on why you enjoy these particular films so much.

If you don't want to that's fine too, but it's a great way to get to know some of your tastes and to get to know you. How about it?

EDIT: Love the user name btw.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Far out! Branded to Kill at 15. Where's Tokyo Drifter? Welcome to MoFo.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I'm just glad someone recognized Branded to Kill!!

As you may notice I have a weak spot for Asian movies. Once in a while I see Tokyo Drifter mentioned in other lists of this sort, but Branded to Kill is always left out in the cold. Don't get me wrong, Tokyo Drifter is a great movie, but for me Branded to Kill is so much cooler!

You know, hindsight being 20/20 and all, I really should've stuck an exclamation point somewhere in my username. Oh well. Mr. Bastardo!, this is a pretty cool list and a great idea for a first post, too. Your top 25 is especially awesome.

I see you are a big Kubrick fan, which is alright with me

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Too much Kubrick is never a bad thing

Nice list, more insight though please?

Groose Point Blank is a fav of mine also.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Nice.

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Wow, already you've made 3 posts and you're submitting a top 100?

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Everything I do, I do to make my second stepdad proud.

Well that took longer than expected! Finally completed the main list...Now I just gotta add some pictures...

75. Get Shorty (1995) --- Barry Sonnenfeld



One of the few John Travolta movies of the 90's actually worth watching. Great cast, great insider movie gags. Just don't watch the hideous sequel Be Cool. Any film that kills off James Woods in the first five minutes doesn't deserve your attention.

74. Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) --- Art Linson



Discovered this after seeing Rushmore while looking through Bill Murray's back catalogue. It's a bit messy around the edges, spending too much time on Peter Boyle's Carl Lazlo character, but given I'm a huge Murray and Hunter S. Thompson fan, it couldn't fail to get on the list. Maybe not as funny overall as Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Murray's performance is the more realistic portrail of Thompson, as Depp was really playing Raoul Duke.

73. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) --- Robert Rodriguez



Along with True Romance, probably my fist introduction to Quentin Tarantino as my parents at this point still forbade me to see either Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction . A film of two contrasting halves and I loved both. Good to see the tradition of physical special effects kept alive during the onslaught of CGI.

72. Lat sau san taam (Hard-Boiled) (1992) --- John Woo



My favourite John Woo movie period. Better than anything he has come up with in America and even surpasses The Killer (too many damn doves), plus you get the combination of two of the biggest Hong Kong stars in Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung. The uninterrupted shoot-out sequence in the hospital is amazing. Note: I have yet to see Bullet in the Head.

71. The Killing (1956) --- Stanley Kubrick



A big improvement on his previous movie Killer's Kiss, you can start to see here Kubrick's genius begin to kick in. Sterling Hayden is great as the crook planning to rob a racetrack. Surprisingly violent given the time it was made.

70. Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars) (1964) --- Sergio Leone



Not as masterful as his future westerns The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West, this seems to be more about Leone inventing the style of his westerns. I discovered Clint Eastwood through Unforgiven and his 70's westerns and I am still working my way through his back catalogue.

69. Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002) --- Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund



I always thought about going to Rio one day, but after seeing this movie I'm not so sure. Really opened my eyes to the terrible conditions of life in the slums, just a short distance from the nice clean tourist areas. If you like this, I recommend another Brazilian movie, Carandiru, dealing with the horrendous conditions inside the São Paulo prison leading to the infamous riot and massacre.

68. Miller's Crossing (1990) --- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen



Possibly my earliest viewing of a Coen Brothers' movie and it still ranks up there with their best. Never cared too much for the slapstick of early movies like Raising Arizona, this is much more grown up and dramatic, but not without a sense of humour.

67. Schindler's List (1993) --- Steven Spielberg



One of the few movies to bring a tear to my eye. Great acting all round, especially Liam Neeson, and credit to the director who never falls into the trap of portraying him as a saint.

66. The Driver (1978) --- Walter Hill



Mostly forgotten 70's movie, which for my money has the best car chase sequences on film (way better than Bullitt). Basically a two-hander between Ryan O'Neal as the getaway driver and Bruce Dern as the cop trying to stop him. Much of the film has little to no dialogue, just concentrating on the chase. 70's low budget film making at it's best.

65. Raging Bull (1980) --- Martin Scorsese



Probably Scorsese's best looking movie, such a difference from the flashy flair of Goodfellas or Casino. Never been a big boxing fan, but this movie concentrates more on the interactions outside the ring than inside. Still, the fight scenes are pretty spectacular.

64. Akira (1988) --- Katsuhiro Ôtomo



Anyone wanting to head into Manga territory for the first time may want to try something a little easier to wrap your head around, but this is technically the best there is. Great story, great animation. It's just a shame Katsuhiro Ôtomo didn't come even remotely close to making another of this quality.

63. Barry Lyndon (1975) --- Stanley Kubrick



Often side lined as three hours of boredom, this movie is anything but. Growing up in England, I was (overly) familiar with the bland period dramas we churn out, but this was the first movie of the genre that I really connected with. The duel scene is a real standout.

62. Duo luo tian shi (Fallen Angels) (1995) --- Wong Kar Wai



A great companion piece to my top movie, Chungking Express. Following some of the same characters from the previous movie, this is in much the same style, although not as likeable, with a slightly darker edge to it. Unfortunately this is the last, to date, of Wong Kar Wai's contemporary Hong Kong movies.

61. Yojimbo (1961) --- Akira Kurosawa



A relatively simple story extremely well told as Toshirô Mifune turns and manipulates rival gangs against each other. Masterfully shot and acted.

60. Evil Dead II (1987) --- Sam Raimi



Better than it's prequel or sequel, this has just the right amount of comedy and horror. Bruce Campbell has never been better. I've never been a huge horror fan, mainly because I've hardly ever been scared of any movie I've seen, and this is the highest (non-Kubrick) horror movie on the list, but this movie really stands out.

59. Nora inu (Stray Dog) (1949) --- Akira Kurosawa



A welcome change of pace by Kurosawa from the samuri epics he's most famous for. A great early detective story about a cop searching for the criminal who stole his gun, set during the reconstruction of post-war Japan.

58. Paths of Glory (1957) --- Stanley Kubrick



Kubrick's first truely great movie. The acting and battle scenes are fantastic, but it's the story away from the battlefields regarding the 'trial' of three random men accused of cowardice that really grips. Kubrick never steers away from the terrible reality of war right up to the grim ending.

57. Zatôichi (2003) --- Takeshi Kitano



Something of a retelling of the Zatôichi story from the movies of the 60's and 70's from the master of understatement, Takeshi Kitano. I always get a kick out of Kitano's minimalist style and how he carries an entire film mainly with brief sentences of dialogue or facial tics. Given this is a samurai movie, it's probably the most animated I've ever seen him, but the fight sequences are short, bloody and to the point. For a more down to earth samurai movie, check out The Twilight Samurai, which was released around the same time.

56. Blue Velvet (1986) --- David Lynch



Took me awhile to fully embrace David Lynch, as after seeing Eraserhead as a kid, I actually felt physically sick afterward and have still not got around to watching it again even now. My favourite Lynch movie of all, this is a disturbing nightmare of a film, with Dennis Hopper never edgier.

55. Taxi Driver (1976) --- Martin Scorsese



New York has never looked as low down fithy and dirty as it does here. Great early performance from De Niro.

54. Koroshiya 1 (Ichi the Killer) (2001) --- Takashi Miike



Wow. Anyone who is easily offended should steer clear of this sick flick. Torture, rape, murder, guts, semen, severed limbs and lots and lots of arterial gushing. All are present here, all be it in a somewhat comicbook form. The tempura scene is one of the unflinchingly nastiest I can recall. However, this is one of Takashi Miike's more accessable movies if you are not familiar with his work and is still a very entertaining and surreal look at gang wars inside the Tokyo Yakuza.

53. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) --- Sidney Lumet



Another great early Al Pacino performance before he got lazy and started shouting instead of acting. The tension builds at just the right level until the climax and John Cazale is frightening as Pacino's hair trigger heist partner.

52. Jackie Brown (1997) --- Quentin Tarantino



To date, the last great Tarantino movie. Maybe not as enjoyable as Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, but this is technically the superior movie. It's just a shame he's never come close to the class he showed here in the years since.

51. 2046 (2004) --- Wong Kar Wai



The closest thing we've had to a contemporary Hong Kong movie from Wong Kar Wai, even if it is (maybe) 38 years in the future. The contrast in styles between the Hong Kong of the 60's and the fantasy future is dazzling, as we continue following Tony Leung's central character from In the Mood for Love.

50. Hana-bi (1997) --- Takeshi Kitano



The movie that first introduced me, and much of the world, to Takeshi Kitano, is, in retrospect, a much gentler performance from him than the harder edge characters of movies like Violent Cop, even if he is playing a cop going up against the Yakuza. Dealing more with the relationship with his dying wife, it also showcases some of his own breathtaking paintings.

49. The Lady from Shanghai (1947) --- Orson Welles



One of my favourite cinema experiences, I saw this movie in a tiny packed out cinema on the Left Bank in Paris late at night and I wasn't disappointed. Not as famous as Welles' other movies Citizen Kane or Touch Of Evil, this is still one of the best film noirs I have seen, even if Welles' 'Irish' accent takes a bit of getting used to.

So, I've looked around and can't find the memo that states you're not supposed to post a top 100 before a set amount of posts. Where'd you read that? I think I should look at it before I go around breaking your, sorry, the forum rules.

Okay, dude?

Bastardo, this list is awesome. It's good to see Apocalypse Now up there.

very very nice list Bastardo. I like you!

48. À bout de souffle (Breathless) (1960) --- Jean-Luc Godard



Still discovering Godard, but he doesnt get much better than this, although Alphaville comes in a close second. Took me a while to adjust to the style of the French New Wave, but I now find it to be one of the most exciting cinema movements of all time. It was pretty much this movie alone which made me want to visit Paris. A standout movie, highly recommended.

47. C'era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West) (1968) --- Sergio Leone



On a purely technical note, this is the best western I have ever seen and only The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is more enjoyable. Breathtaking vistas, this was Leone on top form and in complete control, allowing the story to flow at just the right pace.

46. The Godfather: Part II (1974) --- Francis Ford Coppola



Still very enjoyable, with an excellently subtle performance from Al Pacino, ratcheting up his screen presence just enough from the last movie now he is in full control of the family, before he became 'Shouty Al' in Part III. Robert De Niro is fascinating as the young Vito. My only minor gripe is the pacing. Even though Part I was almost three hours long, the movie felt tight and had momentum. In my opinion Part II seems to make a conscious decision to be artificially epic in places, as opposed to alllowing the story to flow naturally.

45. Swingers (1996) --- Doug Liman



Another one of those great zero budget early 90's movies. I remember laughing uncontrollably for ages when I first watched it (especially the diner scene near the end), having really bought it without any knowledge of the movie. Loved Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn and have followed their careers ever since. Great swing soundtrack too.

44. Fa yeung nin wa (In the Mood for Love) (2000) --- Wong Kar Wai



I'm obviously a huge Kubrick and Wong Kar Wai fan so how could I not like this? One of the most elegant films I have ever seen, the use of colours and slow motion is breathtaking. Perhapes Tony Leung's best dramatic role to date.

43. Pulp Fiction (1994) --- Quentin Tarantino



My first real experience of Tarantino and it was worth the wait. Introduced me to so many great actors that were virtually unknown, or little known, to me before Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Tim Roth, Uma Thurman, Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel. I remember going out and buying the script book after I'd seen the movie, the dialogue was so fresh and exciting. Probably a better rounded movie than Reservoir Dogs, but not nearly as edgy and involving.

42. Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs) (2002) --- Andrew Lau Wai-Keung



The most mature Hong Kong crime movie I've seen. Gone is the slapsticky comedy, odd goofyness or OTT completely implausible action that sometimes throws western audiences, here it's replaced with a more downbeat realistic police/triad thriller that emerges as one of the freshest Hong Kong movies in years. And yes, it is better than The Departed, less flashy and the ending is much improved, leaving out the moral revenge of the remake. If you are unfamiliar with Asian movies and are not sure where to start, you could do worse than here.

41. The Big Lebowski (1998) --- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen



One of the best comedies of recent times, criminally overlooked upon it's release, in fact I think I first caught this on TV as there was so little promotion for it at the cinema. A cast of great characters from the main two of The Dude and Walter, to John Turturro's Jesus Quintana who steals the whole movie with nothing more than a cameo.

40. Full Metal Jacket (1987) --- Stanley Kubrick



Often regarded as a weaker Kubrick movie, there is still plenty to love here. While the first half is inarguably the stronger, dealing with the recruits brutal basic training, the second half heads full throttle into the combat zone of Vietnam, leading to the intense confrontation and demise of the female sniper that always stands out in my memory. Incidentally this was the first film I was truly able to see the benefits of DVD, as due to the poor quality of VHS, I had never been able to see the beauty of the magic-hour battlefield scenes Kubrick captured.

39. Goodfellas (1990) --- Martin Scorsese



My first introduction to Scorsese. Seeing the movie as young as I did left me kind of indifferent to him and it wasn't until my mid to late teens I was able to re-evaluate this movie and realise the depth, style and complexity it had. Too many stand out performances to name.

38. Oldboy (2003) --- Park Chan-wook



Wow. By far the best of the recent batch of South Korean movies, this is just amazing. The cool sleek style, the originality of the story and THAT single-take corridor fight, which alone is up there with the most memorable single scenes in modern cinema. Anyone who likes this should also take a look at Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, a similar but more sober film, part one of the director's 'revenge' trilogy.

37. Jaws (1975) --- Steven Spielberg



Of all the films I've seen, this one took me the longest to properly sit down, watch and evaluate it for the genius it is. Growing up, this movie, Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge were constantly rerun on TV to the point where my memory of each film's events became clouded. I would end up catching odd scenes or might watch the last half of one of them, but basically I felt overly familiar with all of them. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I actually got annoyed at not recalling the entire movie and so bought it on DVD. What a revelation, there was so much I hadn't discovered. Extremely well paced and acted, a great movie. And yes, it did put me off going in the ocean for a while.

36. Chinatown (1974) --- Roman Polanski



Being English myself, I'm generally a big fan of European directors crossing the Atlantic to give their take on American movies and this is probably the best example. I'm also a big Jack Nicholson fan to this day, but he'll never surpass the work he did in the 70's and this is up there with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as his greatest performance. Polanski's take on Los Angeles of the 1930's has all the style and elegance of other films portraying this time, but has a more pessimistic quality to it, which fits perfectly with the downbeat ending.

35. Alien (1979) --- Ridley Scott



Geeked out on the Alien movies when I was a teenager, I've calmed down now, but Alien remains one the the best science fiction movies ever. Way better than anything James Cameron could come up with in Aliens, this is subtle, terrifying storytelling and each shot is a showcase of gothic art on screen. Still the best looking creature of any film ever made and not a hint of CGI, what's not to like?

34. The Dreamers (2003) --- Bernardo Bertolucci



I never was a big fan of Bernardo Bertolucci until I saw this movie. Sexy, stylish and cool, a story about the relationship between three film loving teenagers in 60's Paris, set against the backdrop of the student riots. There was much publicity about the nudity at the time, but it honestly feels natural to the story, unlike many of the 'erotic thrillers' of recent years you will be too involved in the relationship to notice. This also serves as a reminder of just how great all the classic films were that are referenced here. One particular standout is Samuel Fuller's Shock Corridor, a movie I had never heard of before watching this, I soon sought it out on DVD and it is well worth your time.

33. Citizen Kane (1941) --- Orson Welles



What hasn't been said about this film? The newsreel footage threw me at the beginning when I first watched it, but I quickly came to realise this movie is on a different level to nearly all others. My first introduction to Welles, I have since become a big fan, seeking out as many of his films as I can. Great story, great set design and great camera moves, especially given the date it was made.

32. Memento (2000) --- Christopher Nolan



I was truly blown away by the twist / change of tone at the end, never have I seen a better example of my perceptions being turned on their head in such an organic way. This isn't an M. Night Shyamalan movie with the obligatory twist at the end to keep the audience in their seats, this ending is grown solely from the plot and characterization. A film experience that rewards the intelligent observations of it's audience.

31. Léon (1994) --- Luc Besson



Great stylish hitman movie. Natalie Portman has never been better as the kid taken under Jean Reno's wing. Also introduced me to Gary Oldman, terrifying and funny as the corrupt junkie cop. Rare to see as much genuine heart and emotion in a film of this genre as displayed here.

30. Fight Club (1999) --- David Fincher



Not too many years ago this movie would have been top of my list. It seemed to disappear from cinema screens quite quickly and I first caught it on DVD and immediately fell in love with it's edgy charms. I remember liking it so much that the first thing I did after watching it was go out and buy the book, which rapidly made me into a fan of it's author, Chuck Palahniuk. As the film is taken almost verbatim from the book, anyone liking this movie should check out Palahniuk's other books, I personally recommend Survivor. Along with David Fincher, whom I had been following as far back as Alien 3, it also confirmed the love I had for Ed Norton from his earlier movies American History X and The People vs. Larry Flynt. The biggest revelation was just how damn good Brad Pitt could be when he moved away from his earlier 'pretty boy' roles, a talent first emerging in Fincher's previous film Se7en. Still a favourite, but, possibly due to early over exposure from repeated viewings, it doesn't have the same impact as it once did.

29. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) --- George A. Romero



I don't care what anyone says, these pastel coloured slow moving zombies are still pretty damn scary. Never been a huge fan of Romero's original Night of the Living Dead (althought the last time I watched it I was subjected to the terrible 30th Anniversary Edition with new added footage, so I may be somewhat biased), this is his true zombie masterpiece. From the frantic opening newsroom in chaos scene onwards, this movie never lets up.

28. Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) (1954) --- Akira Kurosawa



First became aware of Kurosawa as a kid when one of the TV stations here in England decided to show a bunch of his films late at night over the Christmas holiday. I video taped every one and loved them, this was the first and it made a big impression on me. The characters, battle scenes, acting and direction are all amazing.

27. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) (1966) --- Sergio Leone



Upon my first viewing of this movie I wasn't overly impressed, preferring the earlier shorter faster-paced films in Sergio Leone's 'Man With No Name' trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. I felt this to be over long and purposely drawn out. I was wrong. Subsequent viewings made me realise this is in fact the best of the trilogy, I watched it again only last week and it blew me away. Much more depth of character and heart, together with the epic battle scenes brings this out on top as my favourite western. The tension of the final three-way standoff hasn't been topped in this genre.

26. Ging chaat goo si (Police Story) (1985) --- Jackie Chan



I've not seen every single one of Jackie Chan's movies, certainly not some of his early martial arts ones, but it would be hard to believe that he's got a film out there better than this. Toning down some of the slapstick that overwhelms other Hong Kong movies to just the right level, Chan shifts the focus to bring in a reasonably sturdy plot in which to hang his action scenes on. And what spectacular scenes they are, from the shanty town car chase to the bus sequence and especially the shopping mall finale, these are some of the best of what Hong Kong action cinema has to offer. Anyone liking this should also check out the inferior, but still worthwhile sequel, Police Story 2.

25. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Michel Gondry



Arguably the best Charlie Kaufman script to date. Still dubious about seeing Jim Carrey in a more serious role (I had yet to see him in Man on the Moon at this point), my fears were quickly dispelled. Endlessly rewatchable due to the genuine emotion provoked from the acting and story, this film has the perfect cast and director, indeed it would be hard to imagine the film being this touching or inventive in someone else's hands.

24. American Psycho (2000) --- Mary Harron



I was completely unfamiliar with the source novel when I first watched this, but have now become a big fan of Bret Easton Ellis' books. Both novel and movie are very different in terms of tone, but plot and humour wise they are very similar, this is truly dark comedy. Christian Bale is all grown up from the little boy of the last film I saw him in, Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, transforming himself into the muscular, vein and insane 80's yuppie of the title. Although less bloody and graphic than the book, Bale plays Bateman with no sympathetic or redeeming features, but still emerges as the anti-hero, pulling the audience along with him, no matter how twisted he becomes.

23. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) --- Wes Anderson



Another great performance by Bill Murray in what is easily Wes Anderson's funniest film. Joined by a great supporting cast including Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum among others, seemingly all bringing something new to the table other than what you would expect, especially Wilson. From the witty quirky humour to the stop motion animation to the Portuguese translated Bowie songs played throughout, every part of this movie is topnotch. There is also real emotion here, playing seamlessly alongside the comedy, the two standout scenes being the helicopter crash and submarine finale. And lets not forget the ending credits sequence set to Bowie's 'Queen Bitch', the most uplifting in cinema.

22. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) --- Milos Forman



A real eye opener of a film, detailing the experiences and conditions inside a 70's mental institution. I watched this recently and was surprised to find it a more mellower film than I remembered, my memories being filled mainly with the louder more frantic parts of Nicholson's performance, but there are many more understated sensitive moments, especially between Nicholson and Will Sampson as Chief Bromden. The ending is rare for being truly sad and uplifting at the same time.

21. Touch of Evil (1958) --- Orson Welles



Technically inferior to Citizen Kane, this is still Welles' most enjoyable film. From the noirish set design to the on location filming, there is a real authenticity to the film's mexican border town setting, even if Charlton Heston plays a mexican. The opening tracking shot leading to the car bombing is stunning.

Wow what a great list

That's not a real still from the movie, is it?

I think it reminds me of a scene from Across the Universe...

I was just thinking it looked photo-shopped, like they were cut out and placed on a background.

I think it's a real scene, if not it's very similar to one in the movie. Or it could be a promo shot?

It might be during that weird whip-pan sequence they use, when Rocket finds himself in the street with the gang on one side and the cops of the other.