The 20 best movies I have seen
A list of 20 best movies I have watched. I have tried to rate Movies for their entertainment value as well the originality, novelty and character study.
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- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.This romantic comedy shows a subliminal chemistry on display among three of the best actors of Hollywood's Golden Age. Cat is on her charming best, Carrie never looks more mischievous and Jimmie is so love-drunk that he sets to join asunder hearts
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.There are other comedies and there are Marx brothers. Their violently hilarious, slap-in-the-face-stick acts, and ability to mock to death everyone including themselves makes them an unparalleled comedy trio and this movie captures the best of their pranks and ‘idea of poking’ fun.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.This may or may not be the definitive noir, but it is certainly the most complex murder mystery ever taken up for movie production. Twisted layers of plots and sub-plots, packs of unanswered riddles, and dark lurking deeds of past make this one of the most riveting movies of all time. On top of that you have intense romance of Bogart and Bacall, who almost seem to act out of each other’s skin
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.‘This’ is the definite Noir. It still begets credulity that Billy Wilder made the most celebrated Noir of all times without ever meaning to make one. The tension in this dark foreboding murder drama is so strong that you can smell from afar. It’s murder, it’s deceit, it’s double deceit, and it's all for double indemnity.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.An apparently mushy story –line, a love-torn hero, a repentant heroine, a war and some archetypical villains! So what makes it arguably the greatest romance and one of the best movies of all time for almost all the movie reviewers and critics? The answer is Bogart– sharp, incisive, brooding, self-doomed for the love that was never restituted. While there are concurrent themes of Nazi-defiance, moral conflicts of a physically beaten and morally shaken nation, and personal tragedies spread along, it’s Humphrey Bogart whose pain, anger, and sacrifice give this movie its immortal place in Hollywood’s Hall of Fame
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.This was most anti-westerner of all the Westerners made. A US Marshall abandoned by his town people to face a vengeful murderer. And while it may have anguished John Wayne so much as to compel him making Rio-Brave, it delighted and moved cine-goers who witnessed a supreme drama on conflict between survival and morality, between duty and choice, and between friends and impostors.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.I personally consider vertigo the best among all the Hollywood movies. Watching it was an intense and deeply emotional experience and I still remember my sense of stunned awe at its end. No other movie evoked my emotions that way, before or after.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.Judgment at Nuremberg is one of the most important movies you will ever watch. It poses questions on justice, responsibility and morals that are relevant to every society in every context. With stellar performances by such legendary thespians as Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster, this movie is a treat for the intellect.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsFaye DunawayWilliam HoldenPeter FinchA television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.It’s not a common event in Hollywood for one movie to lift top 3 acting awards. Network did it because its character sincerely could relate to the brutality of media reality they unmasked in this abstract-fantasy-reality gem. The garrulous demands of his role hollowed out Peter Finch so much that he fatally succumbed to it and was the first person ever to win the posthumous Oscar. deja –vu?
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsAl PacinoMichelle PfeifferSteven BauerIn 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.It’s violent, brutal and brilliant. Scarface became a neo classic and modern crime legend thanks to Brian De Palma’s gritty portrayal of drug world and Pacino’s performance of his career. Scar face is not a movie to enjoy, and it will trouble you with its imagery and content, but it has set out to do that and does that with perfection.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.I don’t know if there is any other movie that offers so much of sheer fun and warmth as this legendary ‘kid-level’ sci-fi work. The plot is nonsensical- almost childish, the story is clichéd, and the acting is hilariously amateurish but it’s all done with such genuine sincerity and intention to please you that you can’t help falling in love with this movie. This is one of those few movies I can watch anytime, from any-point in its story line.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.The one purpose of this movie is to show the world that Daniel Day Lewis is the best actor of all times! Period. So if ever feel like enduring 80 minutes of unparalleled acting performance until or since then, go for this movie.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.Even after more than 20 years of it’s’ release, Terminator 2: The Judgment Day remains the greatest action movie of all time. The time-travel angles, the breath-taking digital effects (yes, even by standards of today), the man-machine struggle, all goes secondary and tertiary to the action-drama that Terminator pumps into your nerve. In my more than countless viewing, I have never been able to think of one single improvement this movie could need, making it as flawless as anything without a flaw could be. So It’s a perfect 11 out of 10 . So It’s a perfect 11 out of 10 !
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.Schindler’s List is a personal achievement of a great director in exposing an inhumane regime by showing one of the most humane act ever done. It’s one of those work of art where the canvas is the subject thereby lending so much subjectivity that no two viewers
carry same impression home. - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.I doubt if any other movie has generated so much controversy and debates among movi-fans and critics. Pesonally I see Pulp Fiction as a watershed event in cinematic history, marking end of one era and ushering a new one. No other single movie has had a more profound impact on its contemporary culture and sub-culture than Pulp Fiction. It truly deserves its place in American Film Institute’s list of10 best movies of 20th century
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.La Vita e bella (life is beautiful) is a lyrical, poetic, beautiful movie set in Nazi concentration camps! Well that’s half true, with half of the movie takes place in bijou mignon streets of Italy and second in the concentration camps. But the innocence charm is never lost and neither is the hope and trust a father inspires in his child and keeps them alive even in the face of catastrophe.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.This is a movie so dark, disturbing, and brilliant that it becomes difficult to watch at times. It perplexes you, grips you, and then drags you in a hellish tale of fanatical revenge and total destruction of body and mind that leaves you grasping for a semblance of sanity; just that it doesn’t come. It’s a masterpiece of Hongkong film industry the likes of which Hollywood can’t make
- DirectorPete DocterDavid SilvermanLee UnkrichStarsBilly CrystalJohn GoodmanMary GibbsIn order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.Monster Inc epitomizes Pixar’s unmatchable production values and in turn, American commitment to make breathtakingly beautiful and joyous animations. In Sulley and Wazowski they created two of the most memorable animation character and also an idea that the nether world of ‘fearsome’ creatures can actually be a fun place!
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsMegumi HayashibaraTôru EmoriKatsunosuke HoriWhen a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.The first thing you realize at the end of Paprika is that you have seen a monumental art of cinema-making. It’s stunning visuals, fantastic music, and breath-taking pace all pale before the infinite interplays of its plot. Paprika isn't an easy movie to define. It takes careful analysis to put the plot together. The story takes place at multiple levels and poses difficult question of how much of the reality is dream and how much of dream is actually reality. Paprika shows how the power of animation can be used to create deep, rich, resonant and multi-dimensional movies. Paprika is animation, but it’s not for kids. Japanese moviemakers have learnt long back to use 2D animation in creating some of the most powerful and profound movies in last 15 years (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke). Sadly Hollywood still is beset with mentality of ‘Animation is for kids’, and all the wonderful technology it possess churn out stunning beautiful movies with mental age of 10 years!
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleHeath LedgerAaron EckhartWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.Once in a while there comes a blockbuster mega action movie that is not remembered for its action sequences or the box office records but the cinematic depth and visceral experience it accord. In The Dark Knight we see a feat of cinematic achievement and individual craftsmanship that establish genre defining standards that will test the posterity for years. Although set out primarily as an action and entertainer, it easily transcends such low boundaries to step in realm of psychological thriller, drama, and a study of human character. It’s a superhero movie but its reveals weaknesses of people and their vulnerability to emotional exploitation; it’s a fantasy but steeped in aphorism. The credit to all of this certainly goes to Christopher Nolan. But the credit to make this film an indelible event goes to Heath Ledger whose intense personification of Joker makes the character the greatest on-screen Villain of all times ‘the man who is only ahead of the curve’. This is the only compensation that can be derived for the price Heath Ledger and all of us paid for it!