TOP 40 FILMS

by prachee1314 | created - 17 Feb 2011 | updated - 17 Feb 2011 | Public

this list includes few of my favourite films I have liked so far. i am usually drawn to drama of every kind in cinema. I tried limiting it to just 40 films so far...they may not be in a particular order as per their actual commercial or otherwise ratings..

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1. Mother of Mine (2005)

Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, War

During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. From the award-winning Klaus Härö (Elina: As If I Wasn't There (2002)), "... See full summary »

Director: Klaus Härö | Stars: Topi Majaniemi, Marjaana Maijala, Maria Lundqvist, Michael Nyqvist

Votes: 4,605

2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

R | 142 min | Drama

82 Metascore

Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.

Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler

Votes: 2,884,003 | Gross: $28.34M

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

PG-13 | 166 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

70 Metascore

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond

Votes: 694,981 | Gross: $127.51M

4. Amores Perros (2000)

R | 154 min | Drama, Thriller

83 Metascore

An amateur dog fighter, a supermodel, and a derelict assassin, all separately struggling to find love, find their lives transformed by a devastating car wreck in Mexico City.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero

Votes: 252,661 | Gross: $5.38M

5. The Reader (2008)

R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

58 Metascore

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain

Votes: 259,527 | Gross: $34.19M

6. The Edge of Heaven (2007)

Not Rated | 122 min | Drama

85 Metascore

A Turkish man travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend.

Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Baki Davrak, Gürsoy Gemec, Cengiz Daner, Tuncel Kurtiz

Votes: 33,498 | Gross: $0.74M

7. And Your Mother Too (2001)

R | 106 min | Drama

89 Metascore

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ana López Mercado

Votes: 128,790 | Gross: $13.62M

8. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

R | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

75 Metascore

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.

Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán

Votes: 104,729 | Gross: $16.78M

9. Before Sunrise (1995)

R | 101 min | Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl

Votes: 338,771 | Gross: $5.54M

10. Before Sunset (2004)

R | 80 min | Drama, Romance

91 Metascore

Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès

Votes: 287,455 | Gross: $5.82M

11. As Good as It Gets (1997)

PG-13 | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

67 Metascore

A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.

Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.

Votes: 318,078 | Gross: $148.48M

12. Awakenings (1990)

PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama

74 Metascore

The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson

Votes: 158,458 | Gross: $52.10M

13. Caramel (2007)

PG | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

70 Metascore

A romantic comedy centered on the daily lives of five Lebanese women living in Beirut.

Director: Nadine Labaki | Stars: Nadine Labaki, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisèle Aouad, Yasmine Al Massri

Votes: 14,594 | Gross: $1.06M

14. Forrest Gump (1994)

PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, Romance

82 Metascore

The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field

Votes: 2,253,046 | Gross: $330.25M

15. The Sea Inside (I) (2004)

PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama

74 Metascore

The factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, Lola Dueñas, Mabel Rivera

Votes: 85,206 | Gross: $2.09M

16. Kolya (1996)

PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

A confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires and leaves him with a pint-sized new roommate.

Director: Jan Sverák | Stars: Zdenek Sverák, Andrey Khalimon, Libuse Safránková, Ondrej Vetchý

Votes: 16,209 | Gross: $5.73M

17. Persona (1966)

Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand

Votes: 130,717

18. Girl, Interrupted (1999)

R | 127 min | Biography, Drama

51 Metascore

A directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy

Votes: 210,929 | Gross: $28.87M

19. Milk (I) (2008)

R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History

83 Metascore

The story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna

Votes: 179,752 | Gross: $31.84M

20. Frida (2002)

R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

61 Metascore

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro

Votes: 95,228 | Gross: $25.89M

21. Dogtooth (2009)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Thriller

73 Metascore

A controlling, manipulative father locks his three adult offsprings in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Angeliki Papoulia, Christos Passalis

Votes: 110,158 | Gross: $0.11M

22. The Magician (2006)

122 min | Comedy, Drama

Failed magician Iskender decides to do a tour to save his career, but has to bring his grumpy and senile father along. The tour is quite unexpectedly interrupted when a bride actually disappears from the stage.

Directors: Ali Taner Baltaci, Cem Yilmaz | Stars: Cem Yilmaz, Mazhar Alanson, Özlem Tekin, Tuna Orhan

Votes: 34,503

23. Bad Education (2004)

NC-17 | 106 min | Crime, Drama

81 Metascore

An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Javier Cámara, Daniel Giménez Cacho

Votes: 63,378 | Gross: $5.21M

24. A Home at the End of the World (2004)

R | 97 min | Drama, Romance

59 Metascore

A boy who has experienced many losses in his life grows to manhood and enters into a love triangle with a woman and his boyhood friend.

Director: Michael Mayer | Stars: Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Robin Wright, Sissy Spacek

Votes: 13,993 | Gross: $1.03M

25. Black Book (2006)

R | 145 min | Drama, Thriller, War

71 Metascore

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn

Votes: 80,448 | Gross: $4.40M

26. Elegy (I) (2008)

R | 112 min | Drama, Romance

66 Metascore

Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life, which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood," thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.

Director: Isabel Coixet | Stars: Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Hopper

Votes: 23,202 | Gross: $3.58M

27. Central Station (1998)

R | 110 min | Drama

80 Metascore

The emotive journey of a former schoolteacher who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.

Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius de Oliveira, Marília Pêra, Soia Lira

Votes: 42,249 | Gross: $5.60M

28. City of God (2002)

R | 130 min | Crime, Drama

79 Metascore

In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.

Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen

Votes: 799,817 | Gross: $7.56M

29. Amélie (2001)

R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance

70 Metascore

Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta

Votes: 793,566 | Gross: $33.23M

30. Hunger (2008)

Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

82 Metascore

Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.

Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw

Votes: 73,510 | Gross: $0.15M

31. Another Year (2010)

PG-13 | 129 min | Comedy, Drama

81 Metascore

A look at four seasons in the lives of a happily married couple and their relationships with their family and friends.

Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Oliver Maltman

Votes: 30,857 | Gross: $3.21M

32. Head-On (2004)

R | 121 min | Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli, Güven Kiraç, Zarah Jane McKenzie

Votes: 57,613

33. All About My Mother (1999)

R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

87 Metascore

A comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan

Votes: 102,774 | Gross: $8.26M

34. Undertow (2009)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

76 Metascore

An unusual ghost story set on the Peruvian seaside; a married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town's rigid traditions.

Director: Javier Fuentes-León | Stars: Cristian Mercado, Tatiana Astengo, Manolo Cardona, Attilia Boschetti

Votes: 7,192

35. The Lives of Others (2006)

R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

89 Metascore

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur

Votes: 409,649 | Gross: $11.29M

36. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

R | 174 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli

Votes: 282,490 | Gross: $11.99M

37. Maria Full of Grace (2004)

R | 101 min | Crime, Drama

87 Metascore

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately-needed money for her family.

Director: Joshua Marston | Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Guilied Lopez, Orlando Tobón, Virginia Cristina Ariza

Votes: 36,165 | Gross: $6.52M

38. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

70 Metascore

Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Evan Welch

Votes: 268,665 | Gross: $23.22M

39. Biutiful (2010)

R | 148 min | Drama, Romance

58 Metascore

A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella

Votes: 94,554 | Gross: $5.10M

40. Mammuth (2010)

92 min | Comedy, Drama

47 Metascore

A retiree battles to obtain his rightfully due pension.

Directors: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau, Isabelle Adjani, Miss Ming

Votes: 3,822



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