Favourite films
by panic-station | created - 02 Sep 2012 | updated - 06 Jun 2013 | PublicA list of films which I consider to be great and worth watching. These are in no particular order...
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,106,113 | Gross: $44.02M
Truly creepy film. Jack Nicholson's performance as his character spirals into insanity is remarkable; it seems he was born to play this part. The rest of the cast was great too and nicely directed.
2. The Prestige (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After a tragic accident, two stage magicians in 1890s London engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine
Votes: 1,440,643 | Gross: $53.09M
Nolan's non-linear, twist filled plot and brilliant cast makes The Prestige a beautiful tale of rivalry and deceit.
3. Atonement (2007)
R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Thirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronan
Votes: 299,736 | Gross: $50.93M
This film really pleasantly surprised me. You think it's going one way but then it turns and heads in a different one. A beautiful tale of love and redemption. Not your typical romance.
4. Zodiac (2007)
R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards
Votes: 598,093 | Gross: $33.08M
Truly captures the feeling and tone of the time. Acting is great all round and each scene seems perfectly crafted. The attention to detail in the cases makes viewers compelled to solve them. Truly extraordinary film which extends your experience beyond the credits and potentially into a second viewing.
5. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 86,083 | Gross: $0.21M
Beautifully shot and well crafted revenge film.
6. Kick-Ass (2010)
R | 117 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Garrett M. Brown
Votes: 593,157 | Gross: $48.07M
Highly entertaining, great cast, soundtrack and comedy. To be enjoyed across all ages. It's near perfection and lives up to the title; it kicks ass!
7. Heat (1995)
R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight
Votes: 719,063 | Gross: $67.44M
Potentially the last Michael Mann film before he went for the cheap digital look. Great film about cops and robbers; the relationship between Pacino and De Niro's characters makes for a classic piece of cinema.
8. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 702,813 | Gross: $37.63M
Magical, mystifying and beautiful.
9. From Russia with Love (1963)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi
Votes: 145,315 | Gross: $24.80M
Classic Bond and in my opinion Connery's best outing as 007.
10. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,549,750 | Gross: $292.58M
Nolan's best film. Unbelievably extraordinary and exciting. You are taken into another world and are thrown into a thrilling, mind bending adventure. Quite easily my favourite film of all time. The cast, soundtrack, cinematography and special effects are all superb. It just does not get old.
11. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 718,044 | Gross: $32.00M
Even if you don't like it, you have to appreciate it for being the first of its kind. Psycho breaks conventions and shocks the audiences - a classic.
12. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 810,736 | Gross: $197.17M
The best in the series. Pure adventure which never gets old. Nicely cast and captures the fun and intrigue of adventure which makes for a perfect escapist experience.
13. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,322,655 | Gross: $37.03M
Completely exceeded my expectations. Brilliant, funny and witty. Awesome film.
14. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When 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.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,869,577 | Gross: $534.86M
Basically all the films in Nolan's trilogy are great but The Dark Knight definitely is it's strong point. Fast paced, thrilling and truly spectacular. Almost completely flawless. If you haven't seen any from the trilogy, do, you're in for a treat :D
15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,077,624 | Gross: $34.40M
Can be a little hard to grasp at first but ultimately enjoyable. A cute and eccentric love story told in an unusual way.
16. Heartbeats (2010)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Romance
The story of three close friends who are involved in a love-triangle.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Xavier Dolan, Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, Anne Dorval
Votes: 30,336 | Gross: $0.06M
Pretty much the story of my life...
17. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,254 | Gross: $44.82M
A truly epic masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever made. This film changed my outlook on cinema. A landmark film!
18. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
After being mistaken for an actor, a New York thief is sent to Hollywood to train under a private eye for a potential movie role, but the duo are thrown together with a struggling actress into a murder mystery.
Director: Shane Black | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen
Votes: 237,348 | Gross: $4.24M
Smart, cool, witty, funny and great to just look at. A modern comedy film noire about a thief and a gay detective who get caught up in a Hollywood murder case.
19. 500 Days of Summer (2009)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After being dumped by the girl he believes to be his soulmate, hopeless romantic Tom Hansen reflects on their relationship to try and figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.
Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend, Chloë Grace Moretz
Votes: 557,646 | Gross: $32.39M
Near perfect and fresh romantic comedy. Great acting and directing. One of the cutest films I've ever seen.
20. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
R | 153 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent
Votes: 1,583,268 | Gross: $120.54M
Outstanding direction and cast filled with classic Tarantino style.
21. In the Loop (2009)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy
A political satire about a group of skeptical American and British operatives attempting to prevent a war between two countries.
Director: Armando Iannucci | Stars: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Harry Hadden-Paton
Votes: 61,571 | Gross: $2.38M
Very funny and entertaining political comedy in an almost mockumentary style.
22. The Ipcress File (1965)
Passed | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
In London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd
Votes: 17,578
Classic 60s spy thriller featuring the legendary Michael Caine. Cool and with a subtle humour. Nicely shot and well acted. A must see for any spy, 60s or Caine fans.
23. I Killed My Mother (2009)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
A semi-autobiographical story about Hubert as a young homosexual at odds with his mother.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément
Votes: 31,414
Nice film, good acting and directed by a 19 year old who also stars in the film!
24. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Edgar Ramírez, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles
Votes: 658,109 | Gross: $227.47M
Fast paced, thrilling and superbly shot, directed and edited. The best in the series.
25. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,798,265 | Gross: $100.13M
Eerie and suspenseful thriller. Great acting and directing. A classic.
26. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,694,290 | Gross: $162.81M
Well directed, stylish and down right cool. One of Tarantino's best films.
27. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 928,972 | Gross: $13.18M
Heart-warming, nicely shot and well acted.
Tell Your Friends