Grady's Top Movies
by gradymoore | created - 14 Jun 2012 | updated - 14 Jun 2012 | PublicA meager attempt to classify my "top" films. My formula is based on a gut instinct, but includes respect, influence on me, and entertainment value as core drivers.
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1. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,181 | Gross: $19.52M
I watched this at a point in my life that I could relate to the futility of looking for love in the transience of nightlife. And in chasing the idea of a woman rather than the real thing. Dialogue and scenes unflinchingly realistic while still profoundly poetic. A lot of fun.
2. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A 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.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,818 | Gross: $1.02M
Strong drinks, smugglers, Nazis, French Freedom Fighters, back room gambling, hilarious sarcasm, political power plays, police corruption, and a haunting love so strong it has to say goodbye...well hell just "round up the usual suspects" Casablanca's got it all! A damn near perfect script and lasting tribute to Bogey.
3. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
PG-13 | 197 min | Drama, Romance, War
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger
Votes: 82,056 | Gross: $111.72M
The annihilation of unrequited and/or impossible love against the sweeping backdrop of the Russian revolution. I cried my eyes out the first time I saw it. A David Lean epic.
4. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,853 | Gross: $1.59M
The Orson Welles tour de force. A film that must be watched in tandem with The Battle Over Citizen Kane documentary. This is a movie whose destructive ambition ironically mimicked the historical events upon which it was based. A powerful story on screen and off makes this a permanent fixture in all top 10 lists.
5. There Will Be Blood (2007)
R | 158 min | Drama
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer
Votes: 640,888 | Gross: $40.22M
Daniel Plainview's rise to power and wealth mimicks the rise of the American oil industry. Like Citizen Kane, this movie will make you re-think your ambition (this theme always speaks to me). Gorgeously shot with an incredible score and a larger than life performance by Daniel Day Lewis.
6. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 822,822 | Gross: $32.87M
To me, a perfect Science Fiction film. Mystery, action, intrigue, strong and consistent noir style, femme fatales, and big human questions. My favorite from Ridley Scott and a unique performance from Harrison Ford.
7. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,450,073 | Gross: $96.90M
A profiteer, Nazis, and the Holocaust. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. A rare must watch for all human beings.
8. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,143 | Gross: $322.74M
The FX-driven soap opera in space...Star Wars changed movies forever. Iconic characters and the first real exercise in adapting Joseph Campbell's archetypes from Hero With a Thousand Faces for the silver screen.
9. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 709,901 | Gross: $83.47M
A film journey into the Heart of Darkness (Vietnam). A masterpiece from Francis Ford Coppola, the captain of first generation American film-schoolers. Standout performances by Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando.
10. Sideways (2004)
R | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Votes: 204,202 | Gross: $71.50M
A struggling author, wine, and a road-trip adventure to Napa to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of his sexually amoral friend. Good times...great script...a really poignant and funny love letter to wine country.
11. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,318 | Gross: $104.95M
"One Word: Plastics". Not many comedies on the list...I wonder why? The Graduate may give insight. Here's a movie as poignant as it is funny and as insightful as it is sarcastic. Fun to watch...Dustin Hoffman in a breakout, genius role. A case study in writing silence, awkwardness. Great screenplay and a great soundtrack from Simon and Garfunkel.
12. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
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: 268,811 | Gross: $23.22M
American girls go to Barcelona for the summer and get a lesson from a Spanish artist in liberal love. It's a rare high-grossing Woody Allen film with really fun performances from Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. A real pleasure.
13. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 323,116 | Gross: $12.34M
A have-not tries to make it in the space program. It's a battle cry against genetic predetermination in a uniquely stylized look at the future of human genomics. Jude Law and Ethan Hawke in career making performances.
14. No Country for Old Men (2007)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 1,059,736 | Gross: $74.28M
Classic in its simplicity. An 'almost Western' set in Texas with Great performances. My favorite from contemporary masters the Coen Brothers. There's just something about the use of silence in this movie.
15. 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
A delightfully anarchic, crazy-ass fairytale. To me, the fighting was the most boring thing about this movie. David Fincher proves he knows what he's doing.
16. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 436,029 | Gross: $101.16M
Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and a classic Western revenge tale. This culmination of Clint Eastwood's acting career and his debut as a great filmmaker.
17. Chocolat (2000)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, Romance
A French woman and her young daughter open up a chocolate shop in a small remote village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina
Votes: 201,922 | Gross: $71.51M
Charming, European and just as atheistic as Footloose.
18. Stripes (1981)
R | 106 min | Comedy, War
Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates
Votes: 79,979 | Gross: $85.30M
Bill Murray takes on the US Army. For some reason this is one of the only movies my Dad owned growing up. The first two acts are comedy gold...from what I can remember :)
19. 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
Deniro and Pacino square of as Los Angeles cops and robbers in the quintessential Michael Mann film.
20. Scent of a Woman (1992)
R | 156 min | Drama
A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar
Votes: 328,617 | Gross: $63.90M
Great screenplay. Pacino is magnetic as a blind a former Army colonel on holiday in New York.
21. Meet Joe Black (1998)
PG-13 | 178 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Death, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber
Votes: 264,736 | Gross: $44.62M
Can't really put my finger on it, but I liked this movie. It kind of enchants you.
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