Brakathor's Top 100 Favorite/Best Movie Picks
With this list, I've pretty much abandoned the arrogant idea that any one man can devise a quintessential top 100 list, with any degree of objectivity to supersede personal bias. Unsurprisingly, most people who claim name to such a list will always include a large abundance of the films that they're "supposed" to think are good, in a relatively predictable order, most of the time. That being said, with this list having been recently updated with many additions, a large part of my updated goal here, involved deleting a number of films which I'm "supposed" to think are good, and replacing them with films that I ACTUALLY personally enjoy.
At the same time, I'm ONLY including the best of the best here in terms of quality, which was an easy criteria to fulfill, having seen so many films over the years, i.e. none of those trashy films which are so bad they're good were included. This list is meant to represent quality, not a universal quality, because such a thing is intangible but MY personal view on what quality is, based on some ubiquitously deemed objective criteria as well, likewise ordered largely in terms of my own personal preference, with a film's notoriety taking on a decisively secondary role in terms of listing order. Hopefully you find this list useful in a way that goes beyond one man's superficial personal tastes.
At the same time, I'm ONLY including the best of the best here in terms of quality, which was an easy criteria to fulfill, having seen so many films over the years, i.e. none of those trashy films which are so bad they're good were included. This list is meant to represent quality, not a universal quality, because such a thing is intangible but MY personal view on what quality is, based on some ubiquitously deemed objective criteria as well, likewise ordered largely in terms of my own personal preference, with a film's notoriety taking on a decisively secondary role in terms of listing order. Hopefully you find this list useful in a way that goes beyond one man's superficial personal tastes.
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- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsRichard BohringerMichael GambonHelen MirrenAt Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsAl PacinoMichelle PfeifferSteven BauerIn 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsPhilippe NahonBlandine LenoirFrankie PainA horse butcher's life and mind begin to break down as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroSharon StoneJoe PesciIn Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsKathy BatesJennifer Jason LeighChristopher PlummerA big city reporter travels to a small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman for whom she worked as a housekeeper.
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
- DirectorGerald KarglStarsErwin LederRobert Hunger-BühlerSilvia RyderA troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
- DirectorVincent GalloStarsVincent GalloChristina RicciBen GazzaraAfter being released from prison, Billy is set to visit his parents with his wife, whom he does not actually have. This provokes Billy to act out, as he kidnaps a girl and forces her to act as his wife for the visit.
- DirectorRobert M. YoungStarsBruce DavisonJosé PérezNathan GeorgeA child molester sent to prison finds that criminals exact harsher justice than society.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsTomas MilianAdrienne LarussaGeorges WilsonIn 16th century Italy, a young noblewoman plots with her lover and her family to murder her abusive father, leading to an uproar in the community and the Catholic Church.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsDelphine ZentoutEtienne ChicotOlivier ParnièreA night in the life of a young woman who wishes to learn and experience more of life. The men she meets have as much to learn from her as they can offer her, or more.
- 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.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsAlexandra DahlströmRebecka LiljebergErica CarlsonTwo teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsPam GrierSamuel L. JacksonRobert ForsterA flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
- DirectorThomas ClayStarsNikki AlbonZoey CampbellStephanie de WhalleyRobert Carmichael, is a talented cello player in the town of Newhaven. He becomes associated with several other unsavory teenagers and he is soon tempted into the use of hard drugs like cocaine and ecstasy.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsMel GibsonAnthony HopkinsLaurence OlivierFed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.
- DirectorJacob EstesStarsRory CulkinRyan KelleyScott MechlowiczWhen a teen is bullied, his brother and friends lure the bully into the woods to seek revenge.
- DirectorMiguel Ángel VivasStarsFernando CayoManuela VellésAna WagenerThree hooded Eastern-European criminals burst into a home in a Madrid gated community, holding the family hostage in its own home, and forcing the father to empty his credit cards.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsChristian SlaterPatricia ArquetteDennis HopperIn Detroit, a pop-culture nerd steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple.
- DirectorGeorge HuangStarsKevin SpaceyFrank WhaleyMichelle ForbesA young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsWalter MatthauRobert ShawMartin BalsamFour armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsTimothy DaltonJonathan PryceTwiggyIn Victorian England, two grave robbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, but greed causes them to look for a more simple way to get the job done. Based on the horrifying Burke and Hare case.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
- DirectorWilliam RichertStarsRiver PhoenixAnn MagnusonMeredith SalengerA charming womanizer must find a way to get $80 to elope to Hawaii with his one true love, or else go to his father's chosen business school.
- DirectorRobert M. YoungStarsFarrah FawcettJames RussoAlfre WoodardA woman takes revenge on the man who invades her home and tries to rape her.
- DirectorRuss MeyerStarsTura SatanaHajiLori WilliamsThree go-go dancers holding a young girl hostage come across a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert. After learning he's hiding a sum of cash around, the women start scheming on him.
- DirectorJames TobackStarsHarvey KeitelTisa FarrowJim BrownA dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.Pretty close to the worst ever film title to run a search on.
- DirectorAsia ArgentoStarsAsia ArgentoDylan SprouseCole SprouseSeven-year-old Jeremiah is pulled from his foster home and thrown into a troubled life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsJon VoightBurt ReynoldsNed BeattyIntent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
- DirectorJoyce ChopraStarsTreat WilliamsLaura DernMary Kay PlaceA free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGeorge C. ScottPeter BoyleSeason HubleyA religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.Quite possibly THE worst film title to run a search on.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsAnna KarinaMargit CarstensenBrigitte MiraBoth parents of a young teen who walks with crutches secretly meet their lovers, who both surprise each other at the family's country home. The daughter arrives and initiates a guessing game of "Chinese roulette."
- DirectorLee FrostDavid F. FriedmanStarsByron MabeJerome EdenMai JanssonTwo young thugs kidnap a young girl and keep her in the basement of an old warehouse where they forcibly make her their sex slave.
- DirectorPaul Andrew WilliamsStarsLorraine StanleyGeorgia GroomeJohnny HarrisDesperate to evade an angry pimp, a London prostitute and a young girl flee by train to Brighton after an appointment with a powerful client goes violently wrong.
- DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsSteve BuscemiThora BirchScarlett JohanssonTwo eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsMark WahlbergJulianne MooreBurt ReynoldsBack when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.
- DirectorJohan RenckStarsMaria BelloRufus SewellJason PatricAn unhappy wife orders a guy she meets over the Internet to kill her, but the two of them fall in love.
- DirectorYves BoissetStarsJean CarmetPierre TornadeJean BouiseA family holiday turns to tragedy when hostilities between the French holidaymakers and a group of local Arab workers turns violent.
- DirectorJames FoleyStarsAl PacinoJack LemmonAlec BaldwinAn examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.
- DirectorMarco FerreriStarsBen GazzaraOrnella MutiSusan TyrrellPoet/lecturer Charles Serking awakens from his alcoholic haze long enough to take a bus back to L.A. and plunge into an orgy of drink and sexual depravity.
- DirectorKrzysztof KrauzeStarsRobert GoneraJacek BorcuchAndrzej ChyraTwo entrepreneurs become tangled in the web of a Russian thug.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsClaude RainsGloria DicksonEdward NorrisA politically ambitious district attorney, unscrupulous tabloid journalists, and regional prejudice combine to charge a teacher with the murder of his student.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsTilda SwintonJohn C. ReillyEzra MillerKevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBrad DavisIrene MiracleBo HopkinsBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
- DirectorMichael SwitzerStarsRichard ThomasBrooke ShieldsViveka DavisA young beautiful computer technician starting off her career in Silicon Valley during the 1980s is stalked and harassed by a deranged colleague with a twisted obsession.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsMichael CaineAndrea MarcovicciAnnie McEnroeA comic book artist loses his hand, which in turn takes on a murderous life of its own.
- DirectorJames LandisStarsArch Hall Jr.Helen HoveyRichard AldenThree people driving into Los Angeles for a Dodgers game have car trouble and pull off into an old wrecking yard where they are held at bay by a bloodthirsty psycho and his crazy girlfriend.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJames MasonShelley WintersSue LyonA middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsSigourney WeaverBen KingsleyStuart WilsonA political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsZachary ScottBernie HamiltonKey MeersmanA jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
- DirectorGerard JohnsonStarsPeter FerdinandoGreg KamRicky GroverA thriller centered on a serial killer in a rundown London suburb.
- DirectorGoran MarkovicStarsMustafa NadarevicAnica DobraMilorad Mandic-MandaPiano teacher is deeply traumatised by the events of his childhood, as well as by political oppression in his youth. Decades later, all those traumas lead to carnage.
- DirectorHampton FancherStarsOwen WilsonSheryl CrowDwight YoakamAimless Vann Siegert takes a bizarre turn in life and becomes a serial killer, tracking down the miserable, the self-destructive and those who otherwise seem willing to die.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- DirectorJon FavreauStarsJon FavreauRobert Downey Jr.Scarlett JohanssonA head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryTrevor HowardVivien MerchantA burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA 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.
- DirectorCraig JohnsonStarsWoody HarrelsonSandra Lee-Oian ThomasShaun J. BrownA lonely, neurotic, and hilariously honest middle-aged man reunites with his estranged wife, and meets his teenage daughter for the first time.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsJohn SavageJames WoodsFranklyn SealesAn LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsPaul NewmanCharlotte RamplingJack WardenAn outcast, alcoholic Boston lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsEkateryna RakLidiya Oleksandrivna SavkaOksana Ivanivna SklyarenkoA nurse from Ukraine searches for a better life in Central Europe, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason.
- DirectorBrian DamudeStarsDominic HoganGay RowanDan HennesseyAfter a terrible car accident, a man makes sure his wife dies as a result in order to get her inheritance, and will commit sabotage and murder so he can't get blamed for her death.Easily the most morally ambiguous thriller ever made, and that's saying a lot.
- DirectorGeorge SluizerStarsBernard-Pierre DonnadieuGene BervoetsJohanna ter SteegeRex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsWil WheatonRiver PhoenixCorey FeldmanA writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
- DirectorVeiko ÕunpuuStarsRain TolkTaavi EelmaaJuhan UlfsakA film about the loneliness, despair and hope of six people who all live in a bleak Soviet-era apartment complex in Tallinn, Estonia.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsMaria HofstätterChristine JirkuViktor HennemannIn the tomb-like quiet of their ranch-style purgatory, a divorced husband and wife fight a wordless war while mourning an unspeakable mutual loss. A sadistic lover's ritual humiliation spawns both tenderness and revenge.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsBrad PittFrances McDormandGeorge ClooneyA disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJohn TravoltaNancy AllenJohn LithgowA movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
- DirectorOwen HarrisStarsNicholas HoultThomas ConroyJames CordenAn A&R man working at the height of the Britpop music craze goes to extremes in order to find his next hit.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsJordan GelberSelma BlairChristopher WalkenRomance blooms between two tricenarians in arrested development: an avid toy collector who is the dark horse of his family and a depressed woman on the rebound.
- DirectorMichel DrachStarsPierre AgilPaul AnrieuSerge AvedikianA film version of author Gilles Perrault's best-selling book about the 1976 trial and execution of Christian Ranucci, the youth who was convicted with extremely inconclusive evidence of murdering an eight-year-old girl in Southern France. The publicity the book and film helped abolish capital punishment in France in 1981.
- DirectorKaren MoncrieffStarsToni ColletteBrittany MurphyMarcia Gay HardenThe clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.
- DirectorNick CassavetesStarsEmile HirschJustin TimberlakeAnton YelchinJohnny and his pals kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother Zach, then assign his buddy Frankie to be Zach's minder. They develop a brotherly friendship. Zach parties with his captors as things begin to spin out of control.
- DirectorBen CoccioStarsCal RobertsonAndre KeuckSerataren AdragnaTwo troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.
- DirectorNoah PritzkerStarsBen KonigsbergGreg GermannMira SorvinoA teenager's family falls apart, so he finds a better one.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsDaniel Day-LewisPaul DanoCiarán HindsA story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
- DirectorBo Arne VibeniusStarsAndreas BellisBarbara ScottJane McIntoschAn unassuming office worker and train enthusiast leads a double life as a schizophrenic and misogynist sex killer.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisJoan CrawfordVictor BuonoA former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
- DirectorKaryn KusamaStarsLogan Marshall-GreenEmayatzy CorinealdiMichiel HuismanWhen a man accepts an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife, the unsettling past reopens old wounds and creates new tensions.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsBruno LawrenceAnna Maria MonticelliGreer Robson-KirkAfter the break-up of his marriage, a racing driver sets out to get back his daughter - at any cost.
- DirectorDerick MartiniStarsRory CulkinAlec BaldwinJill HennessyA family unit begins to bow under the pressure of a failing marriage.
- DirectorLynne StopkewichStarsMolly ParkerPeter OuterbridgeJay BrazeauOver the years, a child's romantic ideals about death blossom into necrophilia, the study of embalming and the most profound relationship of her life.
- DirectorPhilip HaasStarsMark RylanceKristin Scott ThomasPatsy KensitIn the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British country gentry.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEllar ColtranePatricia ArquetteEthan HawkeThe life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKen TakakuraChieko BaishôKaori MomoiThree complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsViviane BartschTanja PetrovskyLisa GrossmannFour models share their life experience.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanEthan HawkeAlbert FinneyWhen two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife barreling towards a shattering climax.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsRalph FiennesMiranda RichardsonGabriel ByrneA mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.