1. "The Godfather" (1972)
"The Godfather" (and its sequel) is just one of those perfect movies. The story, casting, and direction all work together to create onscreen magic.
You can read more about the movie here.
2. "Do the Right Thing" (1989)
With its carefully built complex narrative, Spike Lee's is a visceral movie about race in America that lends itself to new interpretations every time you watch it.
You can read more about the movie here.
3. "Citizen Kane" (1941)
"Citizen Kane" isn't just essential viewing because critics often agree it's the best movie of all time. It's a timeless story of greed and power.
You can read more about the movie here.
4. "Before Sunrise" (1995)
Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" — and its sequels, each made nine years apart — are the most romantic movies ever made.
You can read more about the movie here.
6. "8½" (1963)
Fredrico Fellini's "8½," a classic of arthouse cinema, is a comedy about the messy romantic and professional life of a filmmaker trying to get a movie off the ground.
You can read more about the movie here.
7. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" came out in 1968, but its special effects — and its message — are just as brilliant today as they were back then.
You can read more about the movie here.
8. "The Rules of the Game" (1939)
Few movies take as sharp a knife to the pettiness of class distinctions as "The Rules of the Game," Jean Renoir's hilarious yet moving satire.
You can read more about the movie here.
9. "Toy Story" (1995)
Of all the Pixar films, "Toy Story" is still the most essential. It's a moving tale that changed animation forever. While you're at it, watch its sequels as well.
You can read more about the movie here.
11. "Seven Samurai" (1954)
It's a toss up between "Seven Samurai," "Rashomon," and "Ran" over which is legendary director Akira Kurosawa's best movie, but there's no doubt over which is the most influential.
"Seven Samurai" — about a villager who convinces seven samurai to defend his town from bandits — has been the template for everything from "The Magnificent Seven" to "Star Wars: Rogue One."
You can read more about the movie here.
33. "Tokyo Story" (1953)
Yasujiro Ozu's masterpiece "Tokyo Story" follows an aging couple and their generational conflict with their children. It's unforgettable.
You can read more about the movie here.
37. "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (1966)
The best American westerns were made by Italians. Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" helped turn Clint Eastwood into a star and turned its camera to the epic landscape of the west in the middle of the Civil War.
You can read more about the movie here.
49. "The Terminator" (1984)
There have been many movies in the "Terminator" franchise. If you're going to watch one, make it the original which scared everyone into what could happen if robots in the future were ever able to go bad. Plus, it gave us iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger lines like "Hasta la vista, baby" and "I'll be back."
You can read more about the movie here.
61. "Coco" (2017)
After a few less-than-stellar releases, Pixar nails it with a heartwarming story about the importance of family during the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). The story follows a young boy, Miguel, who wants to be a musician even though it goes against his family’s wishes. He winds up in search of his great-great-grandfather who he believes to be a famous guitar player in a stunningly vibrant-colored Land of the Dead.
If you thought the first 15 minutes of “Up” made you cry, you’re going to want a box of tissues for this one.
You can read our review here.
69. "The Seventh Seal" (1957)
You've probably seem the image parodied somewhere: Max von Sydow, playing a knight, challenges Death himself to a chess match on the beach. The entirety of Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" is loaded with allegorical, beautifully composed images like these that will haunt you with questions about death and life.
You can read more about the movie here.
81. "The Verdict" (1982)
With a remarkable performance by Paul Newman, "The Verdict" is one of Sidney Lumet's finest and most overlooked films.
It doesn't have the same actorly fireworks as "12 Angry Men" or "Dog Day Afternoon," but it has someone everyone can root for. Newman plays an alcoholic lawyer trying to redeem his career by taking a medical malpractice case that fights against the entrenched health system. You'll find scenes that inspired everything from "Michael Clayton" to "Spotlight."
You can read more about the movie here.
85. "A Face in the Crowd" (1957)
Starring Andy Griffith, "A Face in the Crowd" is about a small-town drifter who gets a radio show and, eventually, climbs the ladder to the top of the media world. On the way, he develops a taste for ruthlessness, power, and deceit. It's impossible not to see parallels in today's world.
You can read more about the movie here.
86. "Toni Erdmann" (2016)
"Toni Erdmann" sounds like a corny family comedy that even Adam Sandler would turn down, but it's miraculously great. It's about a father with a knack for practical jokes who tries to reconnect with his young professional daughter by wearing a hideous wig, adopting an alter ego, and pretending to be a life coach for her CEO.
You can read more about the movie here.
89. "Punch-Drunk Love"(2002)
Some die-hard Paul Thomas Anderson fans might pick one of the director's grander efforts, like "There Will Be Blood" or "Boogie Nights."
But "Punch-Drunk Love" — about a shy man trying to strike up a romance while he's being "extorted by a phone-sex line run by a crooked mattress salesman, and purchasing stunning amounts of pudding," in the words of IMDb — is one of the most incisive movies about introversion you'll ever see. It's also really funny and has one of Adam Sandler's rare great performances.
You can read more about the movie here.
96. "Z" (1969)
A thinly fictionalized drama based on the assassination of Greece's politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963, "Z" is a political conspiracy thriller about the killing of a prominent political activist and the government cover-up that follows.
The movie, directed by Costa-Gavras, has a knotty plot, but it also has a dark sense of humor and delivers a satire of the military dictatorship of Greece that resonated through Europe at the time.
You can read more about the movie here.
99. "The Tree of Life" (2011)
More of a visual poem than a narrative film, "The Tree of Life" starts at the beginning of the universe and traverses over to a young boy growing up in 1950s Texas. Director Terrence Malick intersperses ideas about faith and one's role in the world while grappling with the conflicting teachings of different parents.
But most importantly: It's just beautiful to look at.
You can read more about the movie here.
100: "Black Panther" (2018)
"Black Panther" represents the pinnacle of superhero movies. Its hero has an impossible moral quandary. The villain dominates each scene he's in. And the action scenes are just really freaking cool.
But most importantly, "Black Panther" transcends the genre by being about something deeper than just the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the movie creates a vision of an African nation untouched by colonialism, grappling with its own history instead of the problems other countries foisted upon it. It's a clear-eyed, fully fledged world that you could only see at the movies.
You can read more about the movie here.
110. "Paddington 2" (2018)
If we were all a little bit more like Paddington, the world would be a much kinder place.
The rare sequel that may be better than it's predecessor, "Paddington 2," will give you hope during a bleak time and restore your faith in mankind. That sounds like a tall order, but it's the best-reviewed movie of 2018. As soon as you finish this film, you'll want to watch the first one. (It's OK if you watch them out of order.)
111. "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert effortlessly shift through different parallel universes in this sci-fi martial arts epic to tell an incredible story about acceptance, being seen, and being true to yourself.
Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu give Oscar-worthy performances in a beautiful mother-and-daughter story across time and space.
Hilarious and heartwarming — you'll never look at hotdogs or googly eyes the same way again — you're better off going into this movie blind or knowing as little about it as possible.
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