Safe (1995)
Julianne Moore is a woman who could be allergic to her environment. ... Safe isn’t just about her condition, though; with themes of loneliness, dissatisfaction and fear of the modern world, it’s about ours. — Empire 500
Sansho Dayu (1954)
This sweeping historical tragedy about two children separated from their parents and sold into slavery continued a run of late masterpieces from Mizoguchi Kenji. — BFI
Sans Soleil (1952)
A veteran cameraman who has traveled throughout the world relays his impressions on the different countries and life in general to a female commentator. — BFI
Santa Sangre (1989)
Sick, twisted and very, very bloody, Jodorowsky's tale of madness, revenge and hacked-off limbs draws from a variety of inspirations, culminating in an influential freakshow of a movie. — Empire 500
Sátántangó (1994)
An epic seven-hour evocation of life in an isolated Hungarian village told in Bela Tarr’s slow-moving meditative style. — BFI
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
From the shockingly visceral Normandy Landings opening to the final devastating battle in a destroyed French village, Steven Spielberg’s epic redefined how cinema should interpret the battlefields of history. The sheer bludgeoning, blood-spilling, visceral power of its Omaha Beach, D-Day-landing opening act ensured that Spielberg's fourth World War II movie set the standard for all future battle depictions. Its shaky-staccato-desaturated style (courtesy of Janusz Kaminski's ingenious cinematography) — newsreel made cinema — has been oft-copied, but rarely bettered. — Empire 500, Empire, THR, wiki
Saw (2004)
The never-ending stream of sequels may have diminished its impact, but there's no denying the shock we got when we first entered the puzzle-loving psycho Jigsaw's fiendish, death-trapped world. — Empire 500
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Through the structure of a travelling circus, Ingmar Bergman preoccupies himself with the torments of marital jealousy — how a partner’s sexual past can cast shadows on the present. The Swedish auteur rather living up to his mordant cliché. — Empire 500
Scarface (1983)
Brian De Palma’s hymn to gangster excess (violence, swearing, white suits) is taken to even further heights by Al Pacino in barnstorming form. It is also the de rigueur favorite film of any premiership footballer. — Empire 500
Schindler's List (1993)
Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, hands down. You might say the shark looks fakey in Jaws. You may wonder how Indy clung to the German sub in Raiders. But there's no flaws to be found in his harrowing, (mostly) monochromatic depiction of Nazi persecution of the Jewish community in Kraków. Unless you're the kind of shallow person who only watches movies that are 'entertaining'. In which case, you're missing out. Spielberg's Oscar breakthrough strives hard for its masterpiece status, with masterful work from Liam Neeson and extraordinarily complex villainy from Ralph Fiennes. If it had subtitles, you'd swear it was a Roman Polanski or Andrzej Wajda film. — Empire 500, AFI, Empire, Trib, RT, THR
School of Rock (2003)
Linklater’s most commercial outing to date is, appropriately, his most popular — mainly thanks to his surprisingly unannoying school-kid cast and the fact that he allows Jack Black loose in the actor/comedian/ musician’s comfort zone. — Empire 500
Scream (1996)
The self-referential irony may have become less hip in the aftermath of countless pretenders, but the brutal effectiveness of Craven's slasher — and his ghost-faced killer creation — remain a genuine genre highpoint. — Empire 500
The Searchers (1956)
John Wayne’s magnificent and terrifying obsession is to track down his kidnapped niece. Ford's is to turn the Western into American poetry. John Wayne is a Confederate Army veteran who spends years obsessively tracking down the Comanches who kidnapped his niece and killed her family. The film has come under criticism for its racist views of American Indians. Wayne and director John Ford worked together on more than a dozen movies. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Trib
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
The story of a mild-mannered accountant and the imaginary fantasy world he visits every time reality gets too tough, this Danny Kaye vehicle plays like a Technicolor version of Billy Liar. — Empire 500
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Mike Leigh’s adoption drama is full of native wit (“You’ve got a face like a slapped arse”), great performances (especially Brenda Blethyn), and a touching sense of the ebb and flow of real life. — Empire 500
Selma (2014)
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. — RT
Sense And Sensibility (1995)
Lee, with his keen eye for the foibles of human behavior, was a perfect fit for Jane Austen's silken satire. It's hardly a radical adaptation, but with decent performances, it remains popular. — Empire 500
A Separation (2011)
Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, this 2011 Iranian drama finds a married couple in the midst of a crisis. Specifically, the wife seeks a divorce and a better life abroad for her and her daughter, while the husband insists the family stay together in Iran and take care of his sickly father. As the dispute unfolds, the country’s own societal norms are put under the microscope. In addition to wildly positive reviews, “A Separation” received a slew of major awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. — Trib
Serenity (2005)
Out of the ashes of Firefly came Serenity, a great space-cowboy romp. Its appearance on the list speaks volumes about the loyalty of those Browncoats. — Empire 500, wiki
Seven (1995)
David Fincher's second debut movie. What sounded like a daft, novelty serial-killer thriller turned out to be a deeply rattling proper-shocker, which had the guts to throw down its biggest narrative twist halfway through, as warped murderer-moralist John Doe gives himself up. A twist made all the more effective thanks to Kevin Spacey's insistence he wasn't billed until the end credits. Fincher went
from the man-who-ruined-the-Alien-franchise to the darling of shock cinema, with this extraordinary serial-killer hit. It wasn’t just the amoral jolt of the twist ending — this was a tableau of Gothic horror and spiritual unease. — Empire 500, Empire, RT, THR
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
A rip-roarin' CinemaScope Western musical, which needs its widescreen to encompass all 14 leads. The dubious storyline is redeemed by Michael Kidd's astounding choreography. — Empire 500
Seven Samurai (1954)
A film so good they remade it twice — as The Magnificent Seven, then as Battle Beyond the Stars. Or four times, arguably — if you count A Bug's Life and the remake of The Magnificent Seven. You could also make the case that Avengers is a version, too. The point is this: Akira Kurosawa's epic, 16th century-set drama about a motley gang of warriors uniting to save a village from bandits couldn't be more influential. Cinema simply wouldn't be the same without it. Kurosawa borrowed from Japanese history and John Ford Westerns to create this epic, amazingly influential picture. A long, complex build-up pays off with one of the movies' greatest battle scenes. — Empire 500, BFI, Empire, THR, wiki
The Seventh Seal (1957)
During the plague-ravaged Middle Ages, a knight buys time for himself by playing chess with Death in Ingmar Bergman’s much-imitated arthouse classic. Bergman’s challenging medieval masterpiece is one of cinema's most satisfying works — visually, intellectually, spiritually. — Empire 500, BFI
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
In this 1943 thriller, “master of suspense” Alfred Hitchcock tells the story of young Charlotte “Charlie” Newton (Teresa Wright) who gets a surprise visit from her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten). When Uncle Charlie starts to exhibit some abnormal behavior, Charlotte begins to wonder if he’s actually a con artist and potential murderer. — Trib, RT
Shampoo (1975)
While it was set during a period of extraordinary governmental strife, this Nixon-era satire is more concerned with the arena of sexual politics, as Warren Beatty's cocky hairstylist shags his way around the wives of the rich and famous. — Empire 500
Shane (1953)
A weary gunfighter (Alan Ladd) attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act. — AFI
Shape of Water (2017)
At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor (Octavia Spencer) forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity. — RT
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
It’s rare for a comedy horror to be both funny and frightening, but Edgar Wright managed it in his wildly popular debut. Before its release, you might have been forgiven for thinking it would be Spaced: The Movie. But Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's first feature is genuinely stand-alone: a savvy blend of proper-funny comedy and seriously gruesome undead-horror which, funnily enough, played a big part in the zombie-movie resurgence we're still enjoying now. A British film that shows we’ve got far more than bonnets and gangsters to offer the world. — Empire 500, Empire
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The warm, leathery embrace of Morgan Freeman's narration ... the reassuringly Gary Cooper-ish rumple of Tim Robbins' face. ... Odd that a movie which features such harshness and tragedy should remain a feel-good perennial — even odder when you consider it was a box-office flop on release. Few directorial debuts are so deftly constructed; no surprise, then, that Frank Darabont has yet to top it. It’s a rare one, all right: a bloke’s weepie. And also the movie that spawned a thousand Morgan Freeman voiceovers. — Empire 500, Empire, THR, wiki
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Buster Keaton’s third feature is a breathtakingly virtuosic display of every silent comedy technique imaginable, from his own formidable physical skills to some then-groundbreaking camera trickery. — BFI
The Shining (1980)
Stephen King is largely ignored, as Jack Nicholson descends into a visceral hell of his own making, and, with astonishing visual power, Kubrick redefines the horror genre as he did with sci-fi and 2001. Kubrick's elegant adaptation of Stephen King's haunted-hotel story — starring a wonderfully deranged Jack Nicholson — is often cited as The Scariest Horror Movie Ever Made (perhaps tied with The Exorcist), but it's also the Least Suitable Movie to Watch on Father's Day Ever. Unless you're the kind of Dad who thinks obsessively typing the same sentence over and over then chasing after your wife and kid with an axe constitutes good parenting. — Empire 500, Empire, THR
Shiri (1999)
Shiri was voted the favorite film of Koreans with 11,918 votes in a 2002 online poll of 54,013 people conducted by Korean movie channel Orion Cinema Network. — wiki
Shoah (1985)
An epic eyewitness account of the Holocaust told by those who lived through it. — BFI
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
One of the best from the grandmaster Ernst Lubitsch that stays just the right side of sentimental. Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart play two sparring employees at a gift shop unaware that they are one another’s anonymous pen pals who are falling in love. The movie was the basis for the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail, in which the bookstore owned by Meg Ryan’s character is called The Shop Around the Corner. — Empire 500, Trib
Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku) (2018)
A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find outside in the cold. — RT
Sideways (2004)
Wine, women and a right old ding-dong are the driving forces behind this excellent midlife-crisis road movie, so impactful it put millions off Merlot forever. Despite its understated premise, this 2004 comedy-drama from Alexander Payne was a veritable phenomenon upon its release and had a discernible effect on the wine industry at large. Based on a novel, the film follows two close friends (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church) as they travel through wine country, encountering romance and excessive amounts of alcohol along the way. Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards, the movie earned rave reviews and over $100 million at the box office. — Empire 500, Trib
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Not only the first horror to win a Best Picture Oscar, it's also only the third movie to score in all four main categories: Picture, Director (the late, great Jonathan Demme), Actress (Jodie Foster) and Actor (Anthony Hopkins) — the latter managing that despite technically being a supporting performer, with a mere 25-ish minutes of screen time. Even so, it feels like Foster's movie more than anybody's: her vulnerable-but-steely Clarice Starling is defined by her ability, not her gender. — Empire 500, AFI, Empire, THR
Sin City (2005)
Forget Chaucer — this Miller’s tale is black and white but blood-red all over, as his bone-crunching, boner-inducing, morally bankrupt hyper-noir universe is realized like a comic book at 24fps. — Empire 500
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
A joyous, vibrant Technicolor celebration of Da Moofies that's such an essential viewing experience there should perhaps be a law that it feature in every DVD and Blu-ray collection. It's no mere Hollywood self-love exercise, though. As star Don Lockwood, Gene Kelly brings a sense of exasperation at the film industry's diva-indulging daftness, making it a gentle piss-take, too. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Appropriately, the highest scoring Hollywood musical is a musical about Hollywood — an admirably self-mocking one at that. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Empire, Trib, RT, THR
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Forget the twist: it's the slow-freeze chills and upsettingly convincing performance by Haley Joel Osment that define M. Night Shyamalan's finest film to date. — Empire 500
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
It nearly went straight to DVD but ended up sweeping the Oscars after Fox Searchlight gave it a theatrical release. — THR
Small Axe: Lovers Rock (2020)
The film is a segment in the five-part “Small Axe” series that looks at the life of West Indians in London over the course of a decade. It was chosen for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it premiered at the virtual New York Film Festival. — Trib
Snatch (2000)
Surprising that this should make the 500 when Lock, Stock hasn't. Still, this is the more proficient film, and particularly laudable for having both Brad Pitt and Frank Butcher from EastEnders on the same cast list. — Empire 500
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Walt Disney’s legacy might have started with a mouse named Mickey, but it was this 1938 animated feature that kicked off the studio’s cinematic streak. Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the movie follows Snow White as she flees from an evil queen and seeks shelter with a group of highly personable dwarfs. At one point during production, Disney mortgaged his own house to secure more financing. Needless to say, the effort paid off handsomely, especially in the long run. — Empire 500, AFI, Trib, RT
The Social Network (2010)
Or, I'm Gonna Git You Zuckerberg. Portrayed as an über-ruthless ultra-nerd by Jesse Eisenberg, it's fair to say the Facebook founder came out of David Fincher's social-media drama smelling less of roses than the stuff you grow them in. But it is great drama, expertly wrought by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who exploits the story's central paradox (a guy who doesn't get people makes a fortune getting people together online) to supremely juicy effect. — Empire, Trib
Solaris (1972)
Like Event Horizon, Solaris sees a space station crew go doolally with hallucinations. Unlike Event Horizon, it is painfully slow, beautiful, and perhaps the closet sci-fi cinema has come to the profundity of sci-fi literature. — Empire 500
Some Like It Hot (1959)
It says a lot about the magnitude of Billy Wilder's talent that he took a reportedly awful shooting experience with a pill-addled Marilyn Monroe and turned it into a movie that features what is arguably her best performance, not to mention one of his own finest features. This cross-dressing caper also has what must be the greatest last line in history: "Well, nobody's perfect." — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Empire, Trib, THR, wiki
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
A critics’ favorite four years in the making and virtually impossible to describe, though “slapstick Ingmar Bergman” comes close. Can you imagine such a thing? No? Then go see it for yourself. — Empire 500
The Son's Room (2001)
A heartbreaking look at a father's grief after the death of his son, Moretti's Palme d'Or winner is lifted from the maudlin by his thoughtful and tender treatment. — Empire 500
Sophie's Choice (1982)
A difficult story told with suitable reverence, Alan J. Pakula's tale of the ultimate Catch-22 scenario may be difficult to watch, but it sure is rewarding. Not least for some solid-gold Meryl Streeping. — Empire 500
The Sound of Music (1965)
Such a cheery spirit-lifter, during the Cold War the BBC reportedly planned to air the film after a nuclear strike to improve the morale of survivors. "So Long, Farewell" being the perfect post-apocalyptic melody. — AFI, THR
Spartacus (1960)
Kirk Douglas’ failure to win the title role in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur spurred him on to make his own Roman epic. His influence in hiring Kubrick was rewarded with a rousing, action-packed and iconic sword ’n’ sandaller, now the unmatched emperor of the genre. — Empire 500
Speed (1994)
"There's a bomb on the bus!" The acme of high concept and the best-ever red-wire-no-the-blue-wire film, irresistibly combining action with suspense. — Empire 500
Spider-Man (2002)
A home run for Sam Raimi, proving that a director of bonkers, low-budget horrors could helm a gargantuan summer blockbuster apparently effortlessly, and still manage to crowbar in a role for Bruce Campbell. — Empire 500
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Bigger and better than its predecessor, with a superior villain in Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, and a more confident Raimi sneaking in some of his own trademarks. — Empire 500
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City. — RT
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever. — RT
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe, and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. — RT
Spirited Away (2001)
For a Western world raised on Disney movies, Spirited Away was a bracing change of pace – pure, uncut Studio Ghibli. Taking in bathhouses, spirits of Shinto folklore, and morality without clear-cut distinctions of good and evil, Hayao Miyazaki's major crossover hit is distinctly Japanese. Its narrative arc and characters feel notably different to more conventional British and American animations – from the eerie, inscrutable No-Face, to sort-of-antagonist bathhouse owner Yubaba. But that's also a major reason why it connected – Spirited Away is accessible, but nothing about it feels watered down. It is, of course, utterly beautiful too – boundlessly imaginative, steeped in gorgeous colour, and stunningly scored by Joe Hisaishi. Among the cultural specificity is a coming-of-age universality in young hero Chihiro, forced to fend for herself when her parents are turned into pigs, using her resourcefulness and her friendship with boy-dragon-spirit Haku to earn her freedom from the spirit world. It's the film that brought Studio Ghibli – and anime at large – to mainstream Western audiences, an influence increasingly felt in the likes of Moana and Frozen II. — Empire 500, Empire, Trib
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
A story of a young Spanish girl, the aftermath of the civil war, Frankenstein’s Monster and a father’s obsession with bees, this is a triumph of dreamlike style. In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, two small sisters live in a remote village in Castille. A mobile cinema screening of Frankenstein captures Ana’s imagination vividly, and is still in her mind when she finds a wounded soldier in the barn. — Empire 500, BFI
Spring in a Small Town (1948)
This tale of a woman's emotional journey in re-encountering an old flame languished in Communist archives — deemed reactionary — for decades, and was only rescued for re-appraisal during the 1980s. — Empire 500
Spotlight (2015)
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. — RT
Stagecoach (1939)
Stagecoach was voted the best Western film of all time with 54 votes in a 1996 poll of 100 experts organized by Spanish film magazine Nickel Odeon – AFI, wiki
The Stalker (1979)
The Stalker guides illegal visitors through the overgrown labyrinth of the Zone, an area of alien traps and treasures, containing a room where wishes may come true. — BFI
Stand By Me (1986)
A coming-of-age classic crucial to the making of many of us, with one-time multi-genre master Rob Reiner coaxing a wonderful performance from River Phoenix, and Stephen King providing the truthful source material. Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Body is a stirring, touching adventure film which knows the real world is exciting and scary enough just as it is. It's also a coming-of-age movie which celebrates the intensity of childhood friendship, while gently mourning the transience of such bonds. Which is why, unlike its central character, it'll never get old. — Empire, Empire 500
A Star Is Born (2018)
A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral. — RT
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Despite a plot about trade embargoes and tax incentives, guff about midi-chlorians and Binks, greatness is so ingrained in the DNA of Star Wars, we're surprised The Ewok Adventure didn't get on this list. — Empire 500
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Fourth best Star Wars, undeniably the most satisfying of the prequels. — Empire 500
Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977)
It's nuts: We're now as far, far away from the release of Star Wars as 1977 audiences were from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And yet George Lucas' cocktail of fantasy, sci-fi, Western and World War II movie remains as culturally pervasive as ever. It's so mythically potent, you sense in time it could become a bona-fide religion. — Empire 500, AFI, Empire, THR
Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The original "this one's darker" sequel, and by far the strongest of the saga. Not just because the baddies win (temporarily), or because it Force-slammed us with that twist ("No, I am your father"). Empire super-stardestroys thanks to the way it deepens the core relationships — none more effectively than Han and Leia's. She loves him. He knows. And it still hurts. Yet don’t forget it’s also the funniest entry, basing its finest action sequences on a spaceship that keeps breaking down. — Empire 500, Empire, THR, wiki
Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983)
In this post-Phantom Menace world, the Ewoks don't seem quite so egregious, do they? Endor's teddy-bear guerillas might have got sneered at, but they shouldn't blind us to Jedi's assets: the explosive team-re-gathering opening; the crazily high-speed forest chase; and that marvelously edited three-way climactic battle that dexterously flipped us between lightsabers, spaceships and a ferocious (albeit fuzzy) forest conflict. The weakest of the original trilogy, Richard Marquand’s send-off still does more than enough to earn its place in movie history. — Empire 500, Empire
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015)
As a new threat to the galaxy rises, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a desert scavenger, and Finn (John Boyega), an ex-stormtrooper, must join Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to search for the one hope of restoring peace. — RT
Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017)
The Star Wars saga continues as new heroes and galactic legends go on an epic adventure, unlocking mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past. — RT
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
One of just two films in history to win three Academy Awards for acting, this 1951 adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play centers on the contemptuous relationship between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). As the two continuously butt heads while living under the same roof, Blanche’s mysterious and troubled past comes back to haunt her. Meanwhile, Stanley’s wife, Stella (Kim Hunter), finds herself stuck in the middle of the ongoing battle. — AFI, Trib
The Sting (1973)
A wholly delightful romp, with crisp '30s fashions and Scott Joplin's ragtime music setting off the '70s glamor of Robert Redford and Paul Newman as two arch-grifters pulling an elaborate con to get revenge on scowling Robert Shaw. — Empire 500
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Charting the end of an unconventional affair — Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson are in love with the same man — John Schlesinger’s picture is gently tragic: an uncompromising vision of compromised lives. — Empire 500
Sunrise (aka Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1927)
Lured to Hollywood by producer William Fox, German Expressionist filmmaker F.W. Murnau created one of the silent cinema’s last and most luminous masterpieces. A standard potboiler about The Man (George O’Brien) pushed to bump off The Wife (Janet Gaynor) by a seductress, The Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston) is elevated to dreamlike intensity by the visual brilliance of the director. — Empire 500, BFI
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The most caustic of European émigré directors, Billy Wilder explored the movie industry and the delusions of stardom in Hollywood’s great poison pen letter to itself. The writer-director tears off the hand that feeds, attacking empty-headed and -hearted Hollywood with devastating satirical savagery. A beautiful turn, too, from the forgotten man of the Golden Age, William Holden. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, RT, THR
Sunshine (2007)
Danny Boyle followed his re-invention of zombie horror (in 28 Days Later) with this visually enthralling space shocker, gesturing heavily (and successfully) to 2001, Alien, even Event Horizon. The wacky ending, however, divides people. Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans. — Empire 500
Superbad (2007)
This coming-of-age tale from the Judd Apatow school of comedy succeeds by genuinely caring for its lovable loser heroes — doesn't stop it from hilariously putting the pair through the wringer, though. — Empire 500
Superman: The Movie (1978)
Believing a man can fly is only half of it — Donner took a comic-book character seriously and came up with four different styles (sci-fi, nostalgia, rom-com, special-effects action) to reach the broadest demographic. Superman was voted the greatest superhero movie in a poll of 1000 British adults conducted by Virgin Media in 2018. — Empire 500, wiki
Superman Returns (2006)
It may have been a slighter return than some people had hoped for, but Brian Singer's vision of the Man of Steel is an heroic effort. Plenty of spectacle and a lot of heart helps Kal-El soar. — Empire 500
Suspiria (1977)
All of the Italian horror maestro's Gothic flamboyance is on display in this operatic horror set in a ballet school run by homicidal witches, draping his bodily carnage in the gloss of art. Best death: the girl who plunges into a pit of barbed wire. — Empire 500
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
The Gothic sensibilities of Tim Burton meet the musical mastery of Stephen Sondheim for a demented Grand Guignol spectacular, which finds Johnny Depp in bloody fine singing voice. — Empire 500
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
An extraordinary, unrivaled, utterly cynical piece of Hollywood noir, as Tony Curtis' sleazoid press agent rubs up against Burt Lancaster's formidable J. J. Hunsecker, the Broadway columnist who can make or break careers. — Empire 500
Tale of Tales (1979)
It was ranked number 1 with 17 votes in a poll at the Olympiad of Animation in 1984 where an international panel of 35 journalists, scholars, festival directors and animation programmers voted for the best animated films. It was also ranked No. 1 in a poll organized by the Channel 4 animation magazine Dope Sheet in 1997, as well as a poll organized by the Zagreb International Animation Festival, which announced the results in 2002. — wiki
Taxi Driver (1976)
Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader's gripping portrayal of a mentally crumbling Vietnam vet (Robert De Niro's Travis Bickle) who ultimately figures the only way to wash the crime-caked streets of New York is with a nice, big bloodbath. Everyone here's at the top of their game: Scorsese, Schrader, De Niro, 14-year-old Jodie Foster and composer Bernard Herrmann. Yes, it's still talkin' to us. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Empire, Trib, THR
Ten (2002)
A kind of Iranian Marion and Geoff, Abbas Kiarostami's Ten is as minimalist as it is thrilling. The conceit is simple: ten conversations between Mania Akbari, a twice-married Iranian woman taxi driver, and her passengers over 48 hours, captured in long static shots from a digital camera secured to the dashboard. As Akbari traverses the city streets, she converses with, among others, her willful son, a jilted bride, a local prostitute and a woman traveling to prayer. What emerges is a fascinating mosaic of the role of women within a repressive regime. Yet, through the accumulation of telling details, a rounded backstory for Akbari slowly starts to coalesce. Brilliantly performed, the effect is as direct and intimate as a confession, a halfway house between fiction and documentary. However you label it, it remains leagues ahead of Dudley Moore perving over Bo Derek. — Empire 500
The Terminator (1984)
Only John Connor can overcome the monster machines who have nearly exterminated humanity in the future, so the cybernetic baddies send an unstoppable robot back in time to kill his mother before he is born. The Terminator is the great sci-fi-horror-action film, wedding ideas from old Outer Limits episodes and Philip K. Dick stories to the relentless, rollercoaster pacing of Halloween. Arnold Schwarzenegger became a screen icon in this version of his classic role (he is much better as an evil terminator), wiping out discos full of dancers or police stations full of cops in a single-minded search for Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton, with an alarming perm) and gradually losing human shape to appear as a Stan Winston robo-skeleton. Writer-director James Cameron, redeeming himself after Piranha II, launched his career — arguably, the constraints suited him better than the unlimited funds he's had on subsequent movies. — Empire 500, Empire
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Making Arnie's T-800 a protector rather than killer for part two could have been a shark-jump moment for the Terminator series, but we're talking about James Cameron here. So it paid off — especially as this Terminator was just as much a student in human behavior (with John Connor his teacher) as guardian, with some darkly comical results ("He'll live"). Is it really better than the original? In terms of scale and sheer, balls-out action spectacle, yes. — Empire 500, Empire
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
A DIY shocker that prefigured “torture porn” by 30 years. Less blood and butchery than you actually think, but it’s how the tone and texture make you feel: violated, terrified, exhilarated. It was ranked No. 1 on British film magazine Total Film's 2005 list of the greatest horror films. In 2010 it was voted into first place in an additional Total Film poll of leading directors and stars of horror films. — Empire 500, wiki
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Two best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two girls escape for the crimes they committed. “I thought of it as a cowboy movie with women instead of guys,” says Susan Sarandon of her role in Ridley Scott’s 1991 groundbreaking female-bonding road movie. — THR
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Very loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil!, this tale of greed and religion is all about one man. If America were a person, then oil man Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a vampire. (A milkshake-drinking vampire, if you feel like mixing our metaphor with his own.) Which is why it's appropriate that Paul Thomas Anderson gives the film a bit of a horror-movie vibe throughout and Day-Lewis delivers such a deliciously monstrous performance — right up to the point where he spills literal blood in an empty mansion, haunted only by himself. “I drink your milkshake. I drink it UP!” — Empire 500, Empire
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the Second World War. Terrence Malick’s stunning return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence is beautiful, thoughtful and admirably uncommercial. And Hans Zimmer’s haunting theme has been used for a dozen trailers since — including, incongruously, that for Pearl Harbor. The star-studded cast includes George Clooney, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, John C. Reilly and John Travolta. — Empire 500
The Thing (1982)
Perhaps it was Carpenter’s fusion of sci-fi and horror, or Rob Bottin’s body-shock FX, or spiky Kurt Russell, or the prediction of the AIDS epidemic in the alien virus plotline, but this remake gets in your head and never budges. Any argument about whether or not modern remakes can ever be better than the “classic” originals should be ended pretty quickly by mentioning this movie. With the help of SFX genius Rob Bottin, John Carpenter took the bones of Howard Hawks' 1951 The Thing from Another World and crafted an intense, frosty sci-fi thriller featuring Hollywood's ultimate movie monster: one that could be any of us at any time, before contorting into a genuine biological nightmare. — Empire 500, Empire
The Third Man (1949)
Author Graham Greene adapted his own novel when writing the screenplay for this 1949 film noir. It stars Joseph Cotten as pulp novelist Holly Martins, who travels to post-war Vienna at the request of his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). By the time Martins arrives, he’s shocked to discover that Harry has been killed in a mysterious traffic accident. Or has he? — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, TRIB, RT
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour. This — if you will — rockumentary founded a new mode of American screen comedy, and added more quotable soundbites to the culture than 20 seasons of The Simpsons. It was voted the best comedy movie of all time in a poll of over 70 stand-up comedians, actors, writers and directors conducted by Time Out London in 2016. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer star as the non-drummer members of the band. — Empire 500, wiki
Thor Ragnarok (2017)
Imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, Thor must race against time to return to Asgard and stop Ragnarök, the destruction of his world, at the hands of the powerful and ruthless villain Hela. — Trib
Three Colors: Red (1994)
The final installment in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colors” trilogy is also the Polish director’s final film. Blending elements of drama, romance, mystery, philosophy and comedy, the movie takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. The film stars actress Irène Jacob as a model named Valentine. After discovering that her neighbor has a keen habit of eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, Valentine grapples with the moral implications and confronts secrets from her own past. — Empire 500, Trib
Titanic (1997)
James Cameron doesn't do things by halves. His movie about the 1912 sinking of the world's biggest cruise liner was the most expensive ever made, suffered a difficult, overrunning shoot, and was predicted to be a career-ending flop. But it turned out to be one of the most successful films of all time (in terms of both box office and Awards), and made him King Of The World. Titanic (1997)
It was voted the most romantic film of all time in a poll conducted by Fandango in February 2011. — Empire 500, wiki, Empire, THR, wiki
Together (2000)
The film that made Moodysson the hip kid of new Swedish cinema is anything but Ingmar Bergman reinvented. Set in a '70s Stockholm commune, it's light on its feet: an endearingly fizzy picture of the struggle for human expression in a crowd of 'individuals'. — Empire 500
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Simply an impeccable pedigree: Howard Hawks directing an Ernest Hemingway novel, the screenplay written in part by William Faulkner, and the birth of the onscreen chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. — Empire 500
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
A quiet, careful, affecting adaption of Harper Lee's nostalgic novel. Robert Duvall made an unforgettable debut as neighborhood bogeyman Boo Radley. More than 50 years later, this is still a pitch-perfect portrait of race and rural America during the Great Depression. No wonder it's Superman's favorite movie (according to Clark Kent's Wikipedia page, at any rate). — Empire 500, AFI, THR
Tokyo Story (1953)
The final part of Ozu Yasujiro’s loosely connected ‘Noriko’ trilogy is a devastating story of elderly grandparents brushed aside by their self-involved family. Much more soulful and engaging than its art-house reputation suggests. A tender, tragic and transcendent picture of old age ignored. Watch it with someone you love. — Empire 500, BFI, wiki
Tootsie (1982)
Dustin Hoffman makes a great statement for feminism by dressing up as a woman and realizing that they don't have a great time in the entertainment industry. — AFI, Empire 500
Top Gun (1986)
A combination U.S. Navy recruiting film, closet gay porno movie, Reaganite flag-waver and love letter to big, shiny jet fighters. Tony Scott still manages to get fluttering doves and shafts of light through dust into it. — Empire 500
Top Hat (1935)
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer. — RT
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Stepping away from the kitchen sink, Mike Leigh gave us this fabulous study of theatrical types as they create the first-ever production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. — Empire 500
Touch of Evil (1958)
Orson Welles’ best film (according to the critics) not called Citizen Kane is about murder and corruption in a small Mexican border town. Thanks to its dark and somewhat nightmarish atmosphere, the film deftly retains a sinister vibe from open to close. A domestic box office disappointment upon its initial release, “Touch of Evil” now ranks among the greatest films ever made. It stars Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich, and showcasing Welles himself in his greatest acting role as a gross, doomed, crooked cop who is still a titan hobbled by lesser men. Read into that what you will. — Empire 500, BFI, Trib
Touki-Bouki (1973)
A young boy and a girl decide to emigrate from Senegal to France in search of a better life. They travel around the country on a motorbike trying various schemes to raise the money for the trip. — BFI
Toy Story (1995)
It may have kicked off the whole CG-animation revolution (for better or worse), but it's not the once-novel visual medium which makes Pixar's first feature one of cinema's greatest treasures. The clue's in the title: it's a perfectly formed story, about friendship, love, fear of abandonment, workplace politics and self-identity. While its ability to make you laugh is undiminished. — Empire 500, Empire, Trib, THR, wiki
Toy Story 2 (1999)
One of the best sequels ever, it has more action, spotlights fresh new characters while taking the established ones into new territory, and discovers something tragic in a child growing out of toys. — Empire 500
Toy Story 4 (2019)
When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy. — RT
Trainspotting
For their follow up to the superb Shallow Grave, Danny Boyle (director), Andrew Macdonald (producer) and John Hodge (screenwriter) foolhardily elected to film the supposedly unfilmable: Irvine Welsh's scrappy, episodic, multi-perspective novel about Edinburgh lowlifes. The result couldn't have been more triumphant: the cinematic incarnation of “Cool Britannia” came with a kick-ass soundtrack, and despite some dark subject matter, came with a punch-the-air uplifting pay-off. There's no doubting the jump-start Boyle's Scorsese-styled adaptation of Irvine Welsh's drug odyssey gave to the stuffy home-grown industry, not to mention the career of one Ewan McGregor. — Empire 500, Empire
Transformers (2007)
This first live-action outing for the complicated Japanese toy line comes undercooked in the plot department, but ILM's quick-changing robots are unbeatable. Is it really a comedy? — Empire 500
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
A quintessential movie about greed-fueled paranoia, this 1948 film stars Humphrey Bogart as Fred Dobbs, a down-on-his-luck American looking for work in Mexico. After catching word of buried gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains, Dobbs, his friend, and a prospector take off in search of the fortune. By overcoming a string of obstacles, the men finally get their hands on the gold, but they soon start to turn on one another. John Huston’s mano-a-mano thriller (loaded with stark Western overtones) is back in fashion thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson. He very publicly cited Huston’s gritty classic as an inspiration for his masterful There Will Be Blood. Thus it has now become open season on citing just how many films Treasure has influenced, from City Slickers to Trespass, from The Wages of Fear to the work of Sam Peckinpah, and there’s plenty of Bogart’s cynical Dobbs in Indiana Jones. Not to forgo the pleasures of Huston’s powerful film in its own right — studio boss Jack Warner considered it the best film they had ever made. — Empire 500, AFI, Trib
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
A masterpiece among “suffering peasant” films. Various farmers in Lombardy have a hard time, tinged by everyday wonder, as they work the land in the early 20th century. Mike Leigh's favorite. — Empire 500
True Romance (1993)
Working from Quentin Tarantino’s script and surrounding himself with the cream of Hollywood’s hip elite, Tony Scott’s eye for visual tomfoolery has never had a better fit than with this delirious crime/love story. Romance comes off like the cinematic equivalent of cocaine-flavored bubble-gum: a bright, flavorsome confection that had an intoxicatingly violent kick. It also drew some tremendous big names to its supporting cast. Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper … plus a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini embroiled in brutal combat with Patricia Arquette. Just, wow. — Empire 500, Empire
The Truman Show (1998)
One of Peter Weir's talents is that he can turn A-list stars into proper actors. Here, he turns crazy gurner Jim Carrey into a heartbreaking everyman trapped on TV. — Empire 500
Twelve Angry Men (1957)
Juries most often amount to little more than set dressing in courtroom dramas. But Sidney Lumet's film finds all its drama outside the courtroom itself and inside a jury deliberation room packed with fantastic character actors, who are forced to re-examine a seemingly straightforward case by lone-voice juror Henry Fonda. It's all about the value of looking at things differently, and a reminder that nothing is more important than great dialogue. — Empire
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
In war-torn 16th-century Japan, two men leave their wives to seek wealth and glory in Mizoguchi Kenji’s tragic supernatural classic. — BFI
Unbreakable (2000)
- Night Shyamalan's understated, creepy-affecting, powerful take on the superhero story has arguably Bruce Willis' best screen performance, and a twist which is cleverer than the end of The Sixth Sense. "It was the children. ... They called me Mr. Glass." — Empire 500
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali collaborated in this surrealist silent short, notorious for its eye-slashing opening scene, its perplexing Freudian imagery and dream-logic narrative flow. No one will ever out-weird Buñuel's team-up with 'tache-twiddling Surrealism supremo Salvador Dalí, resulting in this 17-minute phantasmagoria featuring severed hands, rotting donkeys, ants squeezing out of human skin and the infamous eye-slitting. — Empire 500, BFI
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
Preston Sturges, it transpires, has fared well in this top 500. Justly so. He's on sparkling form again with this pacy mix of literate dialogue and bold slapstick, with Rex Harrison's troubled symphony conductor contemplating the murder of his possibly philandering wife, Linda Darnell. — Empire 500
Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood had been messing with the Western myth since he first chewed a cigar for Sergio Leone, but here he exploded it, his moody, complex masterpiece dealing unblinkingly with the frontier’s ugliest, most violent side. — AFI, Empire 500
United 93 (2006)
The simplest and most affecting 9/11 film. Paul Greengrass recreates the events, focusing on the “fourth plane” which didn’t strike its target, in an austere manner as a thrum of tension builds. — Empire 500
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Elegantly unspooling Christopher McQuarrie’s labyrinthine script, it’s a none-more-deft deconstruction of storytelling that somehow retains emotion. — Empire 500
The Untouchables (1987)
Made with all of De Palma’s stylistic brio, but anchored by David Mamet’s steely script, this is the gangster epic as comic-book fable. — Empire 500
Up (2009)
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway. Pixar has calculated it would take 26.5 million balloons to actually lift the house in the animated feature. — THR, RT
The Usual Suspects (1995)
1995’s other super-twisted, über-cool crime thriller starring Kevin Spacey (next to Seven). While the line-up team-up is a great concept, director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie's movie attains true greatness through its supernatural-horror-style backdrop, conjuring a phantom menace — Keyser Soze — who terrifies even the most hardened criminal.
List: Empire, THR
The Verdict (1982)
Lumet’s return to the courtroom works as a companion to 12 Angry Men. Where the first simmered, this releases all the tension in bombastic trial scenes, played with gusto by Paul Newman — Empire 500
Vertigo (1958)
If Psycho was Alfred Hitchcock's big shocker, then Vertigo is the one that gets properly under your skin. With James Stewart's detective stalking Kim Novak's mysterious woman, witnessing her suicide, then becoming obsessed with her double, it's certainly disturbing and most definitely (as the title suggests) disorientating. In the most artful and inventive way. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Empire, Trib, THR, wiki
V for Vendetta (2005)
This Wachowski-produced adaptation of Alan Moore's hefty graphic novel may be a bit adolescent in its politics, but it delivers on the pyrotechnics. — Empire 500
Viridiana (1961)
A striking exercise in blasphemy, down to the sacrilegious recreation of Leonardo's Last Supper. — Empire 500
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Debutante Sofia Coppola’s retelling of Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel — five sisters engage in a suicide pact — is the perfect calling card for her dreamy, lyrical style. Great Air score, too. — Empire 500
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Four losers drive trucks loaded with unstable nitro across treacherous jungle roads. It takes a full hour to introduce its characters, before turning the screws unbearingly, twisting around hairpin bends, over rocky ground and into oil slicks. — Empire 500
Wall-E (2008)
Set in the distant (or not-so-distant) future — where Earth has become uninhabitable — this 2008 Pixar feature follows the adventures of a lovable, trash-collecting robot. After boarding a massive spaceship, the robot discovers that humanity hasn’t exactly learned from its previous mistakes. Due to its somewhat bleak vision and an extended opening segment that’s virtually absent of dialogue, Wall-E is unlike any other film in Pixar’s catalogue. That said, it was still widely praised and financially successful — just like most of the studio’s output. — Empire 500, Trib, THR
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. — RT
West Side Story (1961)
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. It was chosen as the best screen musical by readers of British newspaper The Observer in a 2007 poll. — wiki, AFI, THR
We Were Here (2011)
In the early 1980s, San Francisco’s flourishing gay community was devastated by the AIDS epidemic, which delivered unfathomable amounts of suffering and loss. Revisiting those early days by way of interviews and footage, this 2011 documentary chronicles the immediate impact of the crisis and shows how the community united while taking on a tragedy of calamitous proportion. — Trib
What's Opera, Doc? (1957)
This Bugs Bunny cartoon was selected as the greatest animated short film of all time by 1,000 animation professionals in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons. — wiki
When Harry Met Sally
Rob Reiner’s rom-com is sweet-natured and old-fashioned, yet with a deliciously dirty streak and game performances from Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. — Empire 500, THR
Whiplash (2014)
If Damien Chazelle's semi-autobiographical drama taught us anything, it's that jazz drumming is more hazardous to learn than base jumping. Especially when your mentor is J.K. Simmons' monstrous Fletcher: a raging bully who makes army drill instructors look like Care Bears. Though, of course, you could always argue that Fletcher's methods certainly got great results out of Miles Teller's battered but triumphant Andrew. — Empire
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
A toon-hating detective is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of murder. A technical marvel, but we just love it for putting Daffy and Donald in the same scene. — Empire 500
The Wicker Man (1973)
A movie about the evil that men (and women) do in the name of religion, Robin Hardy's horror gets closer than most to exposing our own dark nature, all while creeping us out with a bunch of freaky folkies, led by Christopher Lee. — Empire 500
Widows (2018)
Four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities take fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms. — RT
The Wild Bunch (1969)
A gang of outlaws goes out in a blaze of violence and glory in Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac film about the dying days of the wild west. Sam Peckinpah’s lament for the dying West plays on his favorite theme — men out of step with their time — and embroiders it with the most memorable bloodshed imaginable. John Woo owes his career to this. — Empire 500, AFI, BFI, Trib
The Wild Child (1970)
Francois Truffaut directs and appears in the story of a feral boy found living among wolves in a forest. The French director plays a doctor who tries to teach and care for the child. The film is based on the true story of a boy found in 19th-century France who was given the name Victor and known as the “Wild Boy of Aveyron.” The real-life Dr. Jean Itard was chief physician at the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes, and his work was influential in the development of the Montessori teaching method. — Trib
Wild Strawberries (1957)
On a road trip to receive an honorary degree, an elderly academic (Victor Sjöstrom) looks back over his life in Ingmar Bergman’s art-cinema classic. — BFI
Withnail and I (1987)
Truly funny, truly cult: fans can mouth the words of Richard E. Grant’s speeches along with him, relishing every viperish turn of phrase and perfectly pronounced curse. A beloved British oddity never repeated. — Empire 500
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Forget the no-place-like-home cop-out at the end and enjoy Judy's heartbreaking “Over the Rainbow,” the many classic characters and the "horse of a different color." "If I was on a desert island, I'd bring The Wizard of Oz with me," says Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. "It always makes me feel alive. I could watch it over and over." And people have, generation after generation. In fact, it's the most-watched film of all time, according to the Library of Congress, thanks to regular showings on broadcast television since the mid-1950s (and on cable since the '90s). That's not including sequels and prequels, which Hollywood keeps releasing each decade like swarms of flying monkeys. The most recent, Oz the Great and Powerful, starring James Franco as a hunky young wizard, grossed more than $230 million domestically. That yellow brick road clearly is made of gold. — Empire 500, AFI, RT, THR
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A housewife cracks up and makes appalling, random verbal attacks on family and friends. The camera hovers so close that you emerge with an uncomfortable idea of what it must be like to live with this woman. — Empire 500
Wonder Boys (2000)
A failure at the box office despite being released twice, Curtis Hanson's adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel found acclaim in later life, with Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. on top form. — Empire 500
Wonder Woman (2017)
When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training on the hidden island of Themyscira, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. — RT
Woodstock (1970)
The film capturing Woodstock, the three-day musical festival in 1969 that came to define a generation, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Features. It has a treasure trove of performances by The Who, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Santana and more, with interviews and footage from the iconic site in Bethel, New York. — Trib
Wuthering Heights (1939)
A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff. Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven. — AFI
X-Men 2 (2003)
Easily the cleverest of the current wave of comic-book blockbusters until a certain Caped Crusader was re-invented, Brian Singer's visionary follow-up to his less-than-stellar original defied all expectations. — Empire 500
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
The life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan. — AFI
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
It’s testament to the power of Weir’s superior political thriller-romance that it was banned in Indonesia, where its events take place, until 1999. Starring a never-more-dashing Mel Gibson as foreign correspondent Guy Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver as British Embassy official Jill Bryant, it’s set during an attempted 1965 coup against the brutal Sukarno regime. Often compared to Costa-Gavras’ Missing, released the same year, it brilliantly captures the knife-edge tension of its setting. It is also notable for one of the most extraordinary performances of the ’80s — actress Linda Hunt’s portrayal of a male Chinese-Australian dwarf named Billy Kwan. It was a role that, quite rightly, won her an Oscar. — Empire 500
Yojimbo (1961)
The finest example of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune’s astonishing partnership, the title role giving the latter his most likably rugged rogue incarnation. — Empire 500
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Gene Wilder suggested the idea for the movie to Mel Brooks while they were filming Blazing Saddles, which is why Wilder's name is first in the writing credits. — THR
Z (1969)
A thinly fictionalized account of the assassination of a democratic Greek politician in 1963, Costa-Gavras' respected film takes a swipe at Greek politics and the military dictatorship that ruled the country. — Empire 500
Zelig (1983)
Woody's human chameleon meets the great, the good and Hitler. As much as it is a technical triumph (pre-Forrest Gump), it is also a celebration of wit, satire, great conceits and human nature. — Empire 500
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
This taut dramatic thriller depicts the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9/11, which eventually led to the terrorist’s assassination. At the heart of the investigation is a CIA operative named Maya, played to perfection by Jessica Chastain. Overcoming a range of political obstacles, Maya stays the course throughout the entire film and ultimately makes the final call as to bin Laden’s whereabouts. — Trib
Zodiac (2007)
How do you turn the serial-killer thriller on its head? Never catch the killer. Fincher's true-life tale is not about grabbing the bad guy; it's about the nature of obsession. — Empire 500
Zootopia (2016)
In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy. — RT
Zulu (1964)
In the face of much parody, it is easy to forget how stirring Zulu actually is. Glorious to gaze upon, the battle scenes have an almighty clamor, but never at the expense of the characters, which include a posh Michael Caine. — Empire 500
Replies
I'll only comment on the films I've seen, with maybe one or two exceptions.
Saw (2004) An OK picture.
Scarface (1983) Another one I haven't seen in years.
Seven Samurai (1954) Another great movie.
The Seventh Seal (1957) A great miovie, can't quite get over how Death looks like Ike cosplaying Brain Guy.
Shaun of the Dead (2004) A great, funny zombie movie.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Another personal favorite.
(Note: Not a Trek movie in the bunch? Not even Wrath of Khan?)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) Bleh.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) The best of the prequels, which isn't saying ,much.
Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977) In some ways, it would've been fine if this had been the only one they'd made.
Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Everyone seems to think this is the best of these movies except me.
Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983) A personal favorite.
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015) I wish they'd made these pictures before Hamill, Ford and Fisher were creaky geriatrics.
Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017) An OK wrap-up.
The Sting (1973) A fun picture.
Superman: The Movie (1978) I confess to not being a huge fan of this movie.
The Terminator (1984) Another personal favorite.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) An OK follow-up.
Thelma & Louise (1991) Another one I haven't seen since it came out.
(Note: I think Them! (1954) should be on this list as the best of the "big bug" movies.
The Thing (1982) A great movie, although I still like the Hawks film best.
Tokyo Story (1953) Good stuff.
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) Good, eerie stuff.
The Untouchables (1987) Good stuff.
V for Vendetta (2005) Not overwhelmed by this.
West Side Story (1961) Another personal favorite.
What's Opera, Doc? (1957) Great stuff, but I like the Hunting Trilogy better.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) Another personal favorite.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) An all-time favorite
Yojimbo (1961) Good stuff.
Young Frankenstein (1974) A great movie. The Monster's rape of Elizabeth hasn't aged well.
Zulu (1964) One of my Dad's favorite movies.
Schindler's List (1993)
Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, hands down. You might say the shark looks fakey in Jaws. You may wonder how Indy clung to the German sub in Raiders. But there's no flaws to be found in his harrowing, (mostly) monochromatic depiction of Nazi persecution of the Jewish community in Kraków. Unless you're the kind of shallow person who only watches movies that are 'entertaining'. In which case, you're missing out. Spielberg's Oscar breakthrough strives hard for its masterpiece status, with masterful work from Liam Neeson and extraordinarily complex villainy from Ralph Fiennes. If it had subtitles, you'd swear it was a Roman Polanski or Andrzej Wajda film. — Empire 500, AFI, Empire, Trib, RT, THR
Ralph Fiennes portrayed the monstrous death camp commander Amon Goeth. I saw his picture at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. He was deservedly hanged for his crimes after the war near the site of the camp. According to IMDB, an actual holocaust survivor who was at his camp freaked out when she saw Fiennes in character.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
In this 1943 thriller, “master of suspense” Alfred Hitchcock tells the story of young Charlotte “Charlie” Newton (Teresa Wright) who gets a surprise visit from her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten). When Uncle Charlie starts to exhibit some abnormal behavior, Charlotte begins to wonder if he’s actually a con artist and potential murderer. — Trib, RT
One of my very favorite films. My description would be:
“A sweet young girl is visited by her favorite uncle, who she slowly suspects is a psychopathic serial killer.”
I remember when I saw Scarface, during the scene when he was sitting at a table with a gigantic mound of blow, some guy behind me in the theater said, "Man, that cocaine done cooked his mind."
The scene that stands out to me: Some of the German Army officers are standing outside a house, having a conversation while other soldiers are inside going room to room, firing on the poor people inside ... and the only light on the scene is the muzzle flashes from the weapons.
As wonderful in their way as Christopher Reeve's Superman.
I thought Tobey Maquire was pitch-perfect as our lovable loser Peter Parker ... and then Tom Holland did him even better. I got the feeling of the fresh, new, wet-behind-the-ears hero in a way that I suppose comics readers must have felt reading Amazing Fantasy #15 back in 1962. (Spider-Man comics never gave me that feeling by the time I started reading comics.)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – This caused me to coin the phrase “Shawshank Syndrome”. I use it for movies that are hyped to the moon and are unable to achieve those heights. Decent, but not the greatest ever made in my opinion.
The Shining (1980) – Scary fun. Screw Kubrick for what he did to Shelley Duvall
Spider-Man (2002) – Pretty good origin movie.
Spider-Man 2 (2004) – Doc Ock will always be superior to the Green Goblin
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – This was cool.
Stand By Me (1986) – Decent adventure movie
Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977) – Probably- the most fun of the original trilogy.
Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – Darker, but good. Still you never like to see the bad guys prevail.
Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983) – I don’t hate it, but definitely the weakest of the original trilogy.
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015) – Decent for a post-quel.
The Sting (1973) – I’m generally not a fan of “heist” movies or movies featuring the bad guys, bu t this was well done.
Superman: The Movie (1978) – No real complaints about this one.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) - Chilling
Taxi Driver (1976) – Great movie
The Terminator (1984) – The relentless antagonist. Well done.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – Great movie.
As an amusing anecdote, I was watching satellite TV in the 90’s in a bar, and an ad for a hopeful Canadian olympian came on. As she told her story, she started talking about this movie, and the infamous “goes to eleven” scene, which apparently she was using for motivation somehow. I don’t think she understood that the movie was not to be taken seriously, and somehow no one around her informed her otherwise.
Thor Ragnarok (2017) – Saw this quite recently. Making it a comedy was a very good idea. Excellently well done.
Tootsie (1982) – Pretty good.
Trainspotting – Great soundtrack, decent movie.
The Truman Show (1998) – Pretty decent.
Unbreakable (2000) – It would be nice if this director relied less on plot twists and more on coherent storytelling and interesting characters. Anyway, not bad.
Unforgiven (1992) – Another intelligent, more realistic western.
Up (2009) – Fun.
The Usual Suspects (1995) – Here’s a p-lot twist that truly works.
Vertigo (1958) - This was cool.
West Side Story (1961) – Never been a big fan of musical theatre. This was okay.
What's Opera, Doc? (1957) – Good, but given time I’d probably choose a different short as the best of all time., or even the best of Bugs Bunny.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) - This still holds up.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) – A large part of my—and likely everyone else’s—childhood.
X-Men 2 (2003) – I’ll be contrary and say I didn’t really like this. In particular I thought the ending was suspect.
Young Frankenstein (1974) – You will believe a monster can soft shoe.
A while back, I was at an event hosted by the National Museum on African American History and Culture (it was then under construction, so it was housed in the National Museum of the American Indian) and one part of it was a retrospective on Ava Duvernay's directing career. They showed a couple of her short films, and she herself was there and took questions from the audience. So I took the opportunity to ask, given that all of the leads in Selma were British, how is it that they were chosen to tell his uniquely American story?
Duvernay responded that she was doing a big-budget film and all eyes were on her, and British actors are classically trained, so she knew from that they could deliver the goods.
... and then, the longer she talked, her demeanor turned and she started to get bent out of shape about people complaining over who is "Black enough" to play a role. Which was not what I was asking or insinuating. When i said "given that ALL of the leads in Selma were British," to my mind that included Tom Wilkinson (as Lyndon Johnson) and Tim Roth (as George Wallace) as well as David Oyelowo (as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King) and Carmen Ejogo (as Coretta Scott King).