The Ten

Greatest film of all time? Probably. But with the burden of such a title and expectations of a cultural phenomenon, it is sometimes hard to remember that this is also just a film, and a great one at that. Welles' story is compelling. His titular character remains one of cinema's greatest enigmas. Though the viewer is clued in to the origin of his famous last words (while the reporters are left clueless), so many other questions are still never answered. Brilliantly cast and technically flawless, Citizen Kane has yet to lose any of its timeless acclaim. And it shouldn't. It is just as important today as it was fifty years ago.

With the Tree of Life, Terrence Malick paints a portrait of the intricacies of life and the struggle between the way of nature and the way of grace represented by a father and a mother (played by Pitt and Chastain who give two of the best performances in recent memory). Each of his characters wrestles with the goodness of God and ultimately his very existence. Malick journeys from the beginning of time to the present giving us some of the most beautiful images ever committed to film. After only a couple viewings, Malick's latest usurped the 10th place on my list from another Malick film, The Thin Red Line. While that film hasn't lost any of its acclaim, the Tree of Life only deserves that much more. To be sure, this is Malick's magnum opus.