My 100 Favorite Movies with Reviews (20-16)

20. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Those who know me well know that I enjoy cheesy sci-fi B-movies of the ‘50s. However, despite when this was made and some aged special effects, this is by no means a B-movie. It’s an intelligent, suspenseful, well-made film with a great script.

The plot is that an alien ship lands in Washington, DC, and the humanoid alien is immediately shot by a paranoid soldier. This then reveals a robot that has the power to make all weapons aimed at him disappear. The alien, named Klaatu, is taken to a doctor where he says he wants to meet with every nation’s leader at once because he has something important to share. The US does not want the USSR to be involved, so Klaatu escapes and hides out at a boarding house.

He befriends a single mother and her little boy as he still tries to find a way to meet with leaders of all nations. The middle of the film, while containing no action, is still interesting because the script, actors, and characters work so well.

In the end this is just a great movie, filled with a strong and effective anti-war message and some wonderful religious symbolism. When I first saw this movie, I love it, and that has never change. In fact, it gets better every time I see it.

19. Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo is a truly captivating film with the most complicated mystery plot, romance, and lead performance I’ve ever seen.

Arguably Hitchcock’s best film (though not my favorite) this is a slow-moving suspense film that covers themes of obsession, deception, and loss.

A retired police detective (James Stewart in what I would argue is the greatest performance of all time) is hired to keep an eye on his old friend’s wife, who is believed to be somehow possessed by someone long dead. Some of these scenes are actually my favorite parts of the movie. It’s slow moving but it lures you in the way only Hitchcock can and fills you with some beautiful images of San Francisco as well as some wonderfully chilling visuals. In addition to this, the musical score is absolutely amazing. With perhaps one exception which you will see later on the list, I’ve never seen a movie utilize a score so well. The music is chilling, understated, thrilling when it needs to be, and quite sad at times.

There is a plot twist about halfway through the film that I am not going to give away because it is so magnificent. While not entirely realistic, it works so well in the movie because of the way it’s been lead up to.

What follows is Jimmy Stewart’s character falling madly in love and then basically going insane, and this is what I mean when I say it’s the greatest performance I’ve ever seen.

This is a difficult movie to describe because it is so unique. I’ve never seen another movie that bears any resemblance to this, really. Even the complexity of Chinatown’s plot is completely different than this. All I can say is this has to be seen to be believed.

18. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

This is how you end a trilogy. It’s visually satisfying, powerful, heroic, and entertaining as hell. It’s really no surprise that this won so many damn Academy Awards and it’s not because of lack of competition; this movie really is that good.

This is far better than The Two Towers because again, it focuses mostly on the Hobbits. The battle of Pelennor Fields and the Siege of Gondor and Osgiliath are all great, of course, but really the film focuses on the struggle of Frodo and Sam, and those are the most interesting parts. Of course, they’re being led by Gollum, whom the film provides some attention-grabbing backstory on, and who finally gets his due as a character. You knew it was coming and it doesn’t disappoint.

My favorite individual scene is all the stuff with Shelob, the giant spider, but not just because it’s a great action scene. It’s great because it’s about the heroism of Sam, how he fights for Frodo’s life even though he has himself been rejected. Great action scenes are always made all the more greater by what’s going on with the characters.

The argument has been used that the ending goes on a little too long. I disagree. I think the roughly half-hour following the climax—while not entirely needed—adds a great deal of power to the theme of sacrifice prevalent throughout the series. Everyone who went through the whole ordeal has completely changed, and it is up to the individual to determine if it is for the best. A wonderful film, satisfying on every level.

17. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

This is probably the most timeless film of all time. If someone says they dislike this movie, I literally refuse to associate myself with them. Why, you ask? Because it’s so transcendent of time, of age, that it has become such a fixture on American culture. I once hear that this is the most watched movie in history and it doesn’t surprise me one bit. While primarily for younger audiences, it is still quite satisfying for older audiences because the story, characters, and music are ultimately irresistible.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the plot, and likely every single one of you but Maria Howe has seen this movie, so I’ll spare you the plot details.

The music and dialogue are so memorable. “Over the Rainbow,” and lines like “there’s no place like home” and “I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” are so wonderful that just about everyone is familiar with them.

But overall, this movie is fun. It’s a fantasy story that is escapist entertainment at its best; it draws you in to its fantasy world. The singing, the dancing, the costumes, and the visuals are all so much fun.

16. Unforgiven (1992)

Does it make any sense that in my list I have gone immediately from the happiest movie of all time to one of the most brutal, bittersweet, and dark films? Well that’s the beauty of Unforgiven.

It’s a revisionist western, seemingly made by Eastwood to dispel all the myths of his old films like A Fistful of Dollars and Hang ‘Em High, and all other westerns before him. In this film each bullet fired means something and every death or murder has an effect.

The film opens with a violent crime in a brothel that I would actually argue is the film’s weakest point; it literally all gets better after that. The men guilty of nearly killing the prostitute are let off by Sheriff Little Bill (Gene Hackman) extremely easily. It comes to retired gunner William Munny’s (Clint Eastwood) attention that a hefty sum is being offered to whoever kills the two men, so he sets off with his old partner Ned (Morgan Freeman) and the Schofield Kid.

Little Bill, though, is so intent on having order in his town that he brutally beats anyone who comes to kill the two criminals. That’s another wonderful thing about this movie; there’s not really a clear-cut good and evil. Ultimately the climactic scene shows even Munny—entirely up to that point to seem completely different from his older days—becoming a violent murderer, though the audience can at least sympathize with his reasons.

This is extremely satisfying as a piece of character development. The script is one of my favorites of all time because there is so much development devoted to every single one of the characters. Hell, even English Bob’s ghostwriter has an important scene. In addition to this, it has some of the most wonderful dialogue ever written. It has the one-liners that made Eastwood’s younger days so iconic, but here they’re spit with brutality rather than in a kind of tongue-in-cheek way.

And in the end, this film is satisfying to anyone who enjoys a damn good gunfight. While certainly more a drama than an action film, the ending is one of the greatest action scenes of all time—again largely due to the fact that there’s so much going on with the characters.

This is of course a wonderfully made film. Eastwood won his first two Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, and was nominated for Best Actor in a very competitive year. And Gene Hackman won an incredibly-deserved Oscar for his supporting role.