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What makes a movie great? Why do some stand
the test of time while others slowly (or rather
quickly) lose their value? For some
films, it’s the emotion the story invokes.
Sometimes an actor’s
performance
is
so
unforgettable,
it
captures
our
attention.
Occasionally
a
film
is
so
visually
stunning, it can’t be
forgotten.
I put together a
collection of the 30 best movies of all time. To
warn you in advance, this isn’t the
usual film snob list of black and white
classics and foreign films meant to show off my
knowledge
of classical cinema. These
are the movies we watch because we want to, not
because we’re told to.
30.
Avatar (2009)
Avatar is one of the most visually
beautiful movies ever made. Even people who
complain about
special
effects
in
movies
dropped
their
jaws
upon
seeing
it
for
the
first
time.
This
film
pushed
modern cinematic technology into a new
age, ushering in the age of stereoscopic 3D.
Beneath its
beauty, the film features a
cross-species love story and a social message.
Avatar is a must see for
any movie fan.
Best Quote: Jake Sully (Sam
Worthington) “I became a Marine for the hardship.
Told myself that I
can pass any test a
man can pass. All
I ever wanted was a
single thing worth fighting for.”
29. Scarface (1983)
There are a lot of gangster
movies out there, but Scarface is easily the most
quoted. The story of
Cuban
immigrant
turned
maniacal
gangster
Tony
Montana
is
gritty
from
front
to
back.
The
chainsaw scene in the beginning still
gives me quivers. As he gains more power, his
greed starts to
get the best of him. He
makes a few bad decisions that lead to the one of
the best death scenes in
movie history.
Best Quote: Tony Montana “You need
people like me so you can point your fuckin’
fingers and
say, ‘That’s the bad guy.’
So… what does that make you? Good? You’re not
good. You just know
how to
hide, how to lie. Me, I don’t have that problem.
Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.
So say good night to the bad
guy!”
28. The Notebook
(2004)
In the
interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I’ve
never seen The Notebook. The reason I know
it’s a great film is because every time
I tell a woman I’ve never seen it, she tries to
convince me to
watch it. The basic
premise is a boy falls in love with a girl. They
have a budding romance, some
conflict
gets
in
the
way,
and
they
end
up
together
when
they’re
older.
This
movie
is
the bar
in
which many women measure a man.
Best Quote: Noah (Ryan Gosling) says,
“I am nothing special; just a c
ommon
man with common
thoughts, and I’ve led
a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to
me and my name will
soon be forgotten.
But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously
as anyone who’s ever lived:
I’ve loved
another with all my heart and soul; and to me,
this has always been enough.”
27. Audition (1999)
I judge horror movies by
how many full length cartoons I have to watch
afterwards so I can go to
sleep, and
Audition is easily a 10 toon film. A widower
auditions women for his new wife. He
picks a young beautiful woman named
Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina) …who turns out to be
the
most eerily psychotic film
character
of all
time. Yamazaki has scenes of torture so brutal
they’re
almost unwatchable, and the
pleasure she takes in her work is beyond
disturbing.
Best Quote: Asami Yamazaki:
“Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri!” (Translation:
Pain pain pa
in pain pain
pain!)
26. Y
oung
Frankenstein (1974)
Mel Brooks is a king of screwball
comedy, and Young Frankestein is the film Scary
Movie wishes
it
was. The
cast delivers brilliant lines with impeccable
comedic timing. Igor’s (Marty Feldman)
sarcastic responses to Dr. Frankenstein
(Gene Wilder) crack me up every time. If you’re
adverse to
older movies, this may be
the one to change your mind.
Best
Quo
te: Igor: “Dr.
Frankenstein…”
Frankenstein:
“Fronkensteen.”
Igor:
“You’re putting me on.”
Frankenstein: “No, it’s pronounced
‘Fronkensteen.’ … You must be Igor.”
Igor: “No, it’s pronounced
‘Eye
-
gor.’”
25. The One Percent (2006)
The
One
Percent
is
the
second
of
Johnson
&
Johnson
heir
Jamie
Johnson’s
documentaries
chronicling a
lifestyle that 99% of us will never have. Born
rich, Jamie gives the rest of us a look
into the lives of some of America’s
wealthiest families. Jamie’s father Jim spends the
majority of
the
film
opposing
it.
With
the
crash
of
the
artificial
housing
market
soon
after
and
the
Occupy
movement popping up 5 years later, it’s
easy to see what he’s afraid of.
Best Quote: Jamie Johnson: “The top 1%
of Americans, like my family and me, own roughly
40%
of the country’s wealth, and we
share an aggregate net worth that is greater than
the bottom 90%
of individuals
combined.”
24. Cinderella
Man (2005)
James
Braddock (Russell Crowe), a washed up boxer who
fights impossible odds to compete for
the
heavyweight
championship
is
one
of
cinema’s
most
memorable
underdogs.
Director
Ron
Howard expertly
recreates the 1930s setting to draw you into this
“based on a true story” sports
drama
filled with award winning actors. Cinderella Man
is everything you want in a sports movie.
Best Quote: James Bradd
ock
“I have to believe that when things are bad I can
change them.”
23. Bad Boys
(1995)
Hate on
Michael Bay all you want, the man knows how to
make an entertaining movie. Bad Boys
is
a
buddy
cop
movie
that
never
gets
old,
thanks
to
the
personalities
of
Will
Smith
and
Martin
Lawrence. Filled with
flashy car chases and
spectacular
shoot outs, this
is a movie that you can sit
down and
watch anytime it’s on television, no matter how
far in it is.
Best
Quote:
Marcus
Burnett
(Lawrence)
“You
made
me
think
you
were
gonna
shoot
me
for
a
minute.”
Mike
Lowrey (Smith) “I was.”
22.
Unforgiven (1992)
Before he went crazy and started
talking to chairs, Clint Eastwood was responsible
for some of the
most
classic
Westerns
in
American
cinema.
In
Unforgiven,
he
plays
Will
Munny,
a
retired
gunslinger who lets his old friend Ned
(Morgan Freeman) convince him to collect a bounty
from
some
hook
ers.
On
the
way,
they
encounter
other
bounty
hunters
and
a
hardnosed
sheriff
(Gene
Hack
man). It takes a lot for
Munny to snap, but once he does, you’ll be glad
you’re watching from
a distance.
Best Quote: Will Munny “All right, I’m
coming out. Any man I see out there, I’m gonna
shoot
him. Any sumbitch takes a shot at
me, I’m not only gonna kill him, but I’m gonna
kill his wife, all
his friends, and
burn his damn house down.”
21.
Leon: The
Professional (1994)
This
tale of professional assassin Lé
on (Luc
Besson) is dramatic and heartfelt. He takes in a
young
girl
(Natalie
Portman)
whose
drugged
out
parents
are
killed
by
their
psychotic
dealer
(Gary
Oldman)
then
proceeds
to
teach
her
the
tricks
of
the
trade
while
protecting
her
and
seeking
veng
eance. Léon: The
Professional is one of those movies where you
can’t help but side with the
killer,
who deep down has a heart of gold.
Best
Quote: Léon “The rifle is the first weapon you
learn how to use, because it lets you keep your
distance from the client. The closer
you get to being a pro, the closer you can get to
the client. The
knife, for example, is
the last thing you learn.”
20. Love & Basketball (2000)
While many romance movies
are difficult for men to watch, Love & Basketball
goes a long way
into
drawing
men
into
this
“chick
flick”
genre
by
incorporating
an
underlying
sports
theme.
Quincy (Omar Epps)
and Monica (Sanaa Lathan) meet on the basketball
court as kids, and their
love/hate
relationship keeps their lives intersecting as
they live their individual dreams of playing
pro ball.
Best Quote: Monica
“It’s a trip, you know? When you’re a kid, you see
the life you want, and it
never crosses
your mind that it’s not gonna turn out
that way.”
19. The Hurt
Locker (2008)
War. What is it good for? Fantastic
movies. Hurt Locker is a thrilling look at the
realities of the
Iraq
War,
and
modern
warfare
in
general.
It’s
not
a
propaganda
film.
It
doesn’t
take
sides.
It
focuses on the decisions faced by
soldiers, specifically SFC William James (Jeremy
Renner). Hurt
Locker is simultaneously
a war mov
ie and a technically sound
thriller. I don’t believe in war, but I
believe Hurt Locker is the second best
war movie ever made, showing the good and bad in
every
soldier.
Best
Quote:
SFC
James
“You
love
playing
with
that.
You
love
playing
with
all
your
stuf
fed
animals.
You love your Mommy…your Daddy. You love your
pajamas. You love everything, don’t
ya?
Yea. But you know what, buddy? As you get older…
some of the things you love might not
seem so special anymore.”
18. Princess Bride (1987)
Fairy tale movies are a
dime a dozen. The Princess Bride stands head and
shoulders above them
all. It’s a
playful children’s movie with plenty for adults to
love too.
It has everything a fairy
tale
should: a mysterious protagonist
(Cary Elwes), a giant (André
the
Giant), swordplay, a princess,
and a
happy ending. The Princess Bride is a reminder of
everything that’s right about humanity.
Best Quote: Westley (Elwes): “If you’re
in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree
branch or
find something useful to
do.”
Inigo Montoya (Mandy
Patinkin): “I could do that. I have some rope up
here, but I do not think
you would
accept my help, since I am only waiting around to
ki
ll you.”
Westley: “That does put a damper on our
relationship.”
17. Inside
Man
A cop
(Denzel Washington) tries talking down a criminal
mastermind (Clive Owen) in the best
bank heist movie ever put on film. What
makes Inside Man so great is the cat and mouse
tension.
As the story progresses, you
find out this is much more than your average bank
robbery. It’s not
just
money
these
guys
are
after,
and
eve
n
knowing
they
get
away
with
it
won’t
take
away
the
shock of seeing how… and
why…
Best Quote: Dalton
Russell (Owen): “This time next week, I’ll be
sucking down pi?a coladas in a
hot tub
with six girls named Amber and
Tiffany.”
Keith Frazier
(Washington): “
More like taking a
shower with two guys named Jamal and Jesus, if
you know what I
mean. And
here’s the bad news: that thing
you’re
sucking on? It’s not a pi?a
colada!”
16. Bill
& Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Godfather
2
is
often
cited
in
the
argument
of
sequels
outdoing
the
original
movie,
but
Bogus
Journey
deserves a spot on that list. Bill S. Preston,
Esq, (Alex Winter) and Ted Theodore Logan
(Keanu Reeves) were the models of
slacker youth way before Beavis and Butthead. The
first Bill
& Ted movie most
triumphantly explored time travel in a phone
booth, but the second movie ups
the
ante,
as
the
dimwitted
pair
battle
death
on
a
journey
through
heaven
&
hell.
Beneath
the
schlock, Bogus Journey is a
lighthearted look at a scary subject.
Best Quote: Bill “And over here, our
bass player, the Duke of Spook, the Doc of Shock,
The Man
with No Tan, please say hello
to Death himself, the Grim Reaper.”
15. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
This is the movie where
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie met. Watching their
onscreen chemistry, it’s