Because Nobody Asked For It: The Panda's Top 250 Movies of All Time - COMPLETE

[The Panda]

Number 228

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

 

"Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate."

 

Most Valuable Player: Joseph Gordon Levitt's performance

Box Office: 32.4m (37.5m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 86%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Golden Globes

Synopsis: "An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her."

Critic Opinion: "However, innovation is where 500 Days of Summer really makes its mark. It zigs right when you think it's going to zag, and it often finds comedy in real-life situations. Though naturalistic comedies are the new pink, the film does an exceptional job at mining the humor in real-life situations. This isn't a mall cop on a Segway type of comedy if you get my drift. There are real situations with legitimate conflict that present actual intrigue and laughs. It's strange, after seeing so many try and fail, to realize that the romantic comedy never died. It was just being rented by people who didn't know what to do with it. The other place 500 Days shines is the message: The film has interesting things to say about both memory and the expectations game. We all tend to remember the good times ... to the exclusion of the truth. We all tend to build moments that then let us down. This film speaks to these inherent human weaknesses; but it does so in a manner that's not heavy-handed." - Legel, MTV

User Opinion: "It's great because it's much more faceted than you realize. The film first seems like Summer is a bitch, but on additional rewatches and reflection, you realize they're both at fault through a funny but very heartfelt and serious romantic movie. It just kinda feels like a super-stylized life story, one where you can really empathize with both character even IF the film is told from Tom's perspective. I hope Webb gets back to making these types of movies." - Blankments

Reasoning: This off-beat little rom-com is really overlooked, and it deserves more attention than it really got.  Joseph Gordon Levitt delivers a great comedic and honest performance, and Webb does a great job structuring the film to tell a straightforward story with touches of realism and relate-ability.  If romantic comedies strived to be more like this film, perhaps they wouldn't have died off as a genre.  The movie is full of charm, heart, creativity, and a well-utilized soundtrack, there's really not much (if anything) wrong with it as a movie.

Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 8, 2010s: 3

 

 

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

1 hour ago, The Panda said:

Number 231

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

 

Reasoning: There'll probably be a few eye raises at why this is "this low" on my list

 

 

 

[The Stingray]

Do the Right Thing, Texas Chain Saw and The Fly outside the top 250 is aggravating.

[The Panda]

Number 227

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

 

"Keep your hands off my lobby boy!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Yeoman for the Cinematography

Box Office: 59.3m (62.4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 92%

Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: "The adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend."

Critic Opinion: "Fiennes is fantastic. It might be that he's so funny because we're used to seeing him in serious fare, such as "Schindler's List" or "The English Patient." More likely, it's because he's a brilliant actor whose timing and sensibilities mesh surprisingly well with Anderson's. It's not a pairing you would imagine to be so successful, but it really works.  So does the movie. Anderson's films are too precious for some, but for those of us willing to lose ourselves in them, they're a delight. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is no different, except that he has added a hint of gravitas to the mix, improving the recipe." - Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

User Opinion: "Wes Anderson has just delivered one of his most unique and wonderful films to date. There's certainly elements of a fun crime caper sewn in here, as well as a lament of times past and the ways in which war and violence can ruin society, but it's always never less than satisfying. Ralph Fiennes is simply fantastic as Gustave, and the kid who plays Zero is also pretty good, too. I feel like the ending could have been drawn out a bit more, especially in its themes of reflection, but as it stands, it's something truly special." - Spaghetti

Reasoning: Another more recent addition to my list, The Grand Budapest Hotel stands as Wes Anderson's best work out of a pretty impressive filmography.  Fiennes is sensational in the lead role, and it's a technical joy to watch the entire way through.  The film is quirky, hysterical and it's hard to take your eyes off of the screen with how much is going on in every shot.  The score is energetic and fun.  The technical work, such as the production design is impressive and everything really works together as one unit.  This is a movie that simply just works.

Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 8, 2010s: 4

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 226

A Monster Calls (2016)

 

"I wish I had a thousand a years, a thousand years I could give to you."

 

Most Valuable Player: Felicity Jone's performance as mum

Box Office: 3.7m

Tomatometer: 87%

Notable Awards: Won a variety of Critics Circle Awards

Synopsis: "A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mother's terminal illness."

Critic Opinion: "When St. Augustine asked why humans find more pleasure in truths told figuratively than in those told literally, he speculated that "what is sought with more effort is received with more pleasure." The animated yew tree that visits Conor O' Malley to tell and receive stories has a different answer. Perhaps we need help letting go of "comforting lies" and accepting "painful truths." J. A. Bayona's exquisitely drawn portrait of a boy struggling to come to terms with his mother's terminal illness does have its share of painful honesty. But it also reminds us that truths spoken in and about love can sustain us through the darkest nights of the soul." - Morefield, Christianity Today

User Opinion: "Amazing and beautiful." - Water Bottle

Reasoning: I may only be including this one because it was so painfully ignored by just about everybody (including myself, as by the time I saw it, it was to late to include on my Best of 2016 list).  In a few years I could see this movie climbing up the list, I could also see it leaving the list, but I felt compelled to put it on here, so I stuffed it in the 200 range.  I wouldn't take too much stock in where I ranked this one, as I just kind of threw it in here because I wanted to talk about it. There aren't many movies anymore that give me to cry in theaters, this one did.  It's emotionally moving and stirring, and sadly a movie without an audience.  It reminded me of when I read "Bridge to Terabithia" when I was a kid, only the subject matter is even more compelling in this one.  It's a really well made film and you should see it.

Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 8, 2010s: 5

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 225

It Happened One Night (1934)

 

"YES! But don't hold that against me, I'm a little screwy myself!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Frank Capra for his Direction

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: "A spoiled heiress running away from her family is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story."

Critic Opinion: "Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable make a potent combination in so far as their power to draw crowds into the theatre is concerned. The first showing of “It Happened One Night,” in which they appeared together for the first time, was greeted by a full house early yesterday morning at the Music Hall, while a long queue waited outside to get in.  The co-stars make a good team. They are an attractive pair and they play their respective roles with a refreshing lightness. They are ably assisted by a supporting cast that includes Walter Connolly, who gives, as always, a finished screen performance in the role of Claudette’s multi-millionaire father; Roscoe Karns, who is amusing as a flirtatious traveling salesman; Jameson Thomas, as a charming mountebank; Alan Hale, the late Blanche Frederici, Ward Bond, Arthur Hoyt and others." - Cameron, New York Daily News (1934)

User Opinion: "Out of all the films to win the Academy award for best picture... this is probably in the top 3. Nowadays of course this is typical romcom formula, but not a single current romcom has the wit of this movie's screenplay, nor does any current male lead ooze charm like Clark Gable did, or share an incredible chemistry akin to the one that he and Colbert share.<3 <3 <3 A+++++++++" - CoolioD1

Reasoning: Frank Capra proves time and time throughout the early part of film history that he is one of the greatest directors of all time, and this is another moment where he is able to prove that.  Again, like many oldies, the film itself may seem simple compared to some of the movies out nowadays, but it really created the romantic comedy formula.  Not only that, but it set a bar that very few rom-coms have ever been able to meet.  The movie is intelligently written, masterfully directed, and an iconic piece of cinematic history.  It's a classic you should definitely watch.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 8, 2010s: 5

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 224

Star Trek (2009)

 

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

 

Most Valuable Player: The New Cast

Box Office: 257.7m (298.8m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 95%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis: "The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time."

Critic Opinion: "What do we want from our summer movies? Fun-o-tainment. We want to be taken away to another world (check) that's much like our own (check). We want great characters (check) that teach us something along the way (check). We want action. And suspense (check, check). We want to feel like the people involved with the film care as much about movies as we do. Which happened here. It's a beautiful thing when a plan comes together, when that delicate marriage of big budgets and studio interference somehow bends to the will of a superior director. Film.com spends a lot of time telling you what you shouldn't waste money on ... so it's with great joy and conviction that I urge you to invest in Star Trek. It's big fun." - Legal, MTV

User Opinion: "Along with First Contact and Wrath of Khan this is one of the best Trek films." - Impact

Reasoning: While this movie has its flaws, they are all but made up for with how much fun the movie is to watch.  Star Trek (2009) manages to reach a level that few of the other Star Trek films have managed to reach.  The film is creative in how it reboots the universe, J.J. Abrams breathed new life into the franchise with this 2 hour audition to direct a Star Wars movie.  The visual effects are spectacular, the new cast manages to capture the same charisma that made the original cast so lovable and it's another fantastic movie to come out of 2009.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 5

 

 

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

Wait wait wait... ST09 above T2?!

 

 

[The Panda]

32 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

Wait wait wait... ST09 above T2?!

 

 

 

Oooh, I have some even better stuff even higher up 

[The Panda]

Number 223

Beetlejuice (1988)

 

"Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose."

 

Most Valuable Player: Michael Keaton's lead performance

Box Office: 73.7m (155.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 81%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis: "A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house."

Critic Opinion: "Tim Burton’s imagination jumped into the saddle and held onto the bridle with Beetlejuice, and no other movie in his entire filmography stands as successfully on the precipice of mundane surrealism and candy-coated gothic whimsy. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure may have a more believable devotion to infantile overtures and Ed Wood may be a more respectable ode to the spirit of the eternal outcast, but Beetlejuice is a universe unto itself. Sure, you could say, so are most of Burton’s fusspot fantasies. But Beetlejuice‘s strength is that Burton’s navel-gazing artistic sensibilities were still emerging at the time, and thus appeared to be commingling with some semblance of reality rather than trying, as he has been predominately doing since Mars Attacks, to shelter himself away from it. Maybe some credit needs to go toward Michael McDowall’s steady-building scenario, which establishes humdrum existence before gradually peeling away layers of reality one after the other until we end up in a shape-shifting house and the unholy marriage between life and death happening therein." - Henderson, Slant Magazine

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: Tim Burton has developed a reputation for being exceptionally good at delivering the freakishly weird, and Beetlejuice never ceases to be proof of Burton's wild imagination.  Better yet, Michael Keaton fully gives into the hilarity of the title role and gives some of the best work of his career, next to Birdman, Batman and Spotlight.  The movie is full of undead fun antics.  The score is exciting, the dialogue is rich with hilarity, and it manages to showcase some of the best of Burton that hasn't been seen much nowadays.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 5

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 222

Hell or High Water (2016)

 

"I've been poor my whole life, like a disease passing from generation to generation. But not my boys, not anymore."

 

Most Valuable Player: Taylor Sheridan's Screenplay

Box Office: 27m

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: "A divorced father and his ex-con older brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's ranch in West Texas."

Critic Opinion: "“Hell or High Water” is a lean, efficient modern Western that is so satisfyingly constructed I’m tempted to say it’s just about perfect. There’s a special pleasure in watching a movie that knows exactly what it’s after and then, in scene after scene, gets it.  Set in a desolate sprawl of West Texas, it centers on two brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), whom we first see in the early-morning hours holding up a small bank. They continue to rob regional branches, all of the same bank, making off with only small denominational, non-traceable bills. " - Rainer, Christian Science Moniter

User Opinion: "It's like a climax and epilogue in one and the acting is pitch perfect from both. It's incredible how tense it feels, despite the fact that it's 'over.'
 
I've always liked Chris Pine, as in, he's better than his pretty boy looks suggest, but here, he outdoes himself. He's got a certain weariness, a yearning to be done with everything that that really shows throughout, and that's not something every actor can express through their body language." - MrPink

Reasoning: With a pitch perfect script, ensemble and wide-sprawling environment, Hell or High Water made itself an instant Western classic for me, and it was to tempting to not put it on here, especially since I love a good Western.  The film may be a slow-burn, but it never drew my attention away, and I was always engaged, and then the ending hits.  The climax is classically Western, and increasingly relevant to today's times.  I only see this movie climbing up the list in the future, but I decided to start it low at a modest level, in case it doesn't.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 6

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 221

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

 

"All I know is, I was in love with you when you left and I'm in love with you now. Other things may have changed but that hasn't."

 

Most Valuable Player: Harold Russell for his Supporting Performance

Box Office: 23.7m (475.8m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 96%

Notable Awards: Won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: "Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed."

Critic Opinion: "When Samuel Goldwyn said recently that ‘The Best Year of Our Lives,” which had a gala premiere at the Astor Theatre last night, represented his outstanding achievement as a Hollywood producer, he spoke nothing but the truth. His new film is everything he claims for it and more.  As far as this review is concerned, it is the best picture to come out of Hollywood since the end of the war. It is a slice of postwar life in an American town, with a little of everything that goes to make up the major and minor adjustments of the men who returned from the various war fronts to civilian life." - Kate Cameron, New York Daily News (1946)

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: This is a best picture winner that I feel like is undeservedly looked over, maybe solely due to its age, or maybe because it's mostly quiet.  The film looks at the lives of World War 2 veterans after they return from war, and how their lives have changed, in ways big and small, as well as constants within their lives, and how they adapt to a new world.  It's a wonderful little movie, and definitely a classic.  Harold Russell is also exceptionally inspiring due to being a veteran from the war himself.  This is one of those "American Experience" films that really does succeed in its goals.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 6

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 220

The Iron Giant (1999)

 

"Souls don't die."

 

Most Valuable Player: Brad Bird for the direction and story

Box Office: 23.2m (39.4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 96%

Notable Awards: Won 1 BAFTA

Synopsis: "A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy."

Critic Opinion: "The Iron Giant's theme of fear of the unknown is craftily balanced against the power of innocent imagination. Using the 1950s as a focal point, dazzlingly tricked out with period details (my favorite was a commercial for a nearly forgotten breakfast cereal called Maypo), the filmmakers map a witty prophecy of contemporary America, where the same dreads and dreams are doing battle. The animation is particularly beautiful: Though the characters have a comic-strip physicality on the order of King of the Hill, their movements are beautiful and subtle, and to these eyes surpass Disney. The way the pickup truck belonging to Hogarth's mom gives a little shake when she shuts it off; the misty way car headlamps halo a face against the night sky -- The Iron Giant abounds in such microscopic delights." - Feeney, L.A. Weekly

User Opinion: "Features one of the most emotionally powerful lines in movie history, with a single word: "Superman."" - DamienRoc

Reasoning: The Iron Giant is an animated classic that was sadly skipped over when it first came out.  Thankfully, Brad Bird's been able to show off his talents in a few other movies since then, but The Iron Giant stands as one of his best.  The movie is emotionally resonant, it's hard not to be moved by the time the movie reaches its climax.  The animation is still gorgeous to look at, and the hand-drawn element allows it to be impervious to aging.  A great movie.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 6

 

 

 

 

[elcaballero]

Thanks for giving Beetlejuice and The Iron Giant some love. I've probably seen the latter more than any other animated film thanks to Cartoon Network marathons back in the day. 

[The Panda]

Number 219

An American in Paris (1951)

 

"I'm a concert pianist. That's a pretentious way of saying I'm... unemployed at the moment."

 

Most Valuable Player: George Gershwin for the Music

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 95%

Notable Awards: Won 6 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.

Critic Opinion: "It is a joy to the eye, ear and imagination of the beholder, because of its original use of the Technicolor cameras, the clever designing of the backgrounds, borrowed in some instances from the French impressionists, the artistic use of light and color, the beauty of its sets and costumes, its exhilarating choreography, its wit and rhythm, its Gershwin score and lyrics, and because of its highly talented cast." - Kate Cameron, New York Daily News (1951)

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: An American in Paris is marked with an incredibly iconic score and set of musical numbers to follow it.  Beyond the music, the film is shot gorgeously, and the camerawork is fun to watch, especially for its time.  While there may be another film about a struggling concert pianist that I like more than this classic, Gene Killey definitely outperforms that films charismatic lead star, and his presence really helps to elevate the movie.  It's also fun to know, as a music nerd, to point out the film was originally inspired by Gershwin's suite "An American in Paris" which I heard live before actually seeing the movie, it's what inspired me to watch it.  The film is a joy to watch and listen to, so do give it a whirl sometime.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1950s: 1, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 6

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 218

Men in Black (1997)

 

"It just be raining black people in New York!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jone's chemistry

Box Office: 250.7m (472.4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 92%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis: A police officer joins a secret organization that polices and monitors extraterrestrial interactions on Earth.

Critic Opinion: "I tell you, it's a miracle. After a pre-release advertising campaign that made the film's key images more readily available than oxygen itself, "Men in Black" has finally arrived in the nation's theaters. My first inclination would be to yawn, but stop the presses -- this time the prefabricated hype is actually supported by what takes place on screen! "Men in Black" is the wryest, sharpest, most entertaining special effects film in recent memory, a simultaneous participant and mocking parody of the more-bang-for-your-buck behemoth genre." - Tatara, CNN

User Opinion: "As good as friday night movie entertainment goes. Its perfect. I've seen this at least six times, and it never fails to amuse me. TLJ and Will Smith are the best duo ever." - Jack Nevada

Reasoning: Men in Black is the definition of a perfect popcorn flick.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones boast electric chemistry, and the storyboarding is about as creative and outrageous as a Summer Blockbuster could get.  It's a shame they were never able to get the sequels as truly right as they were able to nail this one.  This is an example of when the phrase, "They don't make em' like this anymore!" really could accurately apply.  Men in Black is a rare blockbuster that gets everything right.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1950s: 1, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 6

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

This one is on here because @AABATTERY kept sending my scary messages.  Sorry @cannastop Zootopia missed the list, your messages weren't scary enough.

 

Number 217

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

 

"I didn't choose the skuxx life, the skuxx life chose me."

 

Most Valuable Player: Taika Waititi for Writing and Directing

Box Office: 5.2m

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: 1 BOFFY Win, plus was nominated for the Best Picture BOFFY

Synopsis: "A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush."

Critic Opinion: "A young orphan and his very reluctant keeper “go bush” on the lam from authorities in “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.” Based on a tale by the late, prolific New Zealand novelist Barry Crump, Taika Waititi’s latest is a pleasing comedy-adventure that pays cheeky homage to key early works from that nation’s first filmic renaissance — right down to casting the still-game Sam Neill, who was also a fugitive 40 years ago in Roger Donaldson’s “Sleeping Dogs.” Despite the humor, there’s a cornier, more formulaic core here than in the writer-helmer’s prior successes “Boy” and “What We Do in the Shadows” that may comparatively limit its offshore prospects. But international sales should be hale enough, and the pic is sure to be another home-turf hit." - Harvey, Variety

User Opinion: "Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a great movie. The cast work well together and the cinematography is beautiful (definitely enhanced by how beautiful New Zealand is). Sam Neil is great, and Julian Dennison does an excellent job as Ricky. The only character I wasn't huge on was Rhys Darby, but I don't think that was enough to drag the film down. He wasn't bad but I personally think he was a little bit out of place. I'm not sure how well this translates overseas, but it definitely felt very NZ-ish; which makes sense, since it was an NZ production through and through. The laid-back tone definitely reflects a lot of NZ culture. Taika Waititi is one of my favourite filmmakers, and this really continues his winning streak after Boy and What We Do In the Shadows. His sense of humor shines through the film, but it also deals with the more serious aspects in a touching way." - AABATTERY

Reasoning: I'm probably being a bit reactionary by including a number of 2016 movies that I loved on here, but I placed them all a bit lower than I wanted to as a way to compensate.  Anyways, Wilderpeople is an indie comedic gem that manages to out Wes Anderson Wes Anderson.  The film is a laugh riot from the beginning to the end, has touching elements, and has performances that brilliantly delivered by the entire cast.  All of the scenes are endlessly rewatchable in their dry wit, and it's not a film that I'll easily forget.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1950s: 1, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 7

 

 

 

 

[chasmmi]

Men in Black is indeed awesome. 

[The Panda]

Number 216

Gojira (1954)

 

"Until I die, how can I be sure I won't be forced by someone to make the device again?"

 

Most Valuable Player: The visual effects and Godzilla wrecking shit

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 93%

Notable Awards: Nada

Synopsis: American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.

Critic Opinion: "Honda's miniatures are both charmingly quaint and touchingly physical (a sequence where a miniature village is bombarded with flames is strikingly pulse-raising). They stir that queasiness peculiar to mayhem that's actually "real," even if on a miniature scale, as opposed to the effect often produced (or not produced, rather) when it's created through computer graphics. Yet most unnerving isn't the realism but the pathos as Godzilla destroys Tokyo. It's these sequences that bear the closest resemblance to Honda's modern-day descendants, yet it's also here that the film feels bracingly unique.  It's no secret that Godzilla is a cultural working-out of the trauma of a society hit with two atom bombs not even a decade earlier, and as the great beast stomps Tokyo to bits, it's heartbreaking to consider that trauma was too intense to be addressed outside the ostensibly frivolous medium of the B-movie."

User Opinion: "Tough to watch due to the real life parallels of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan, but by far the greatest monster film ever made. Hail Honda." - redfirebird

Reasoning: Back when I was a kid, I used to run around the house screaming that I was Godzilla, knocking things down and shit.  Little did I know that this little monster movie was a powerful allegory to American use of nuclear weapons in Japan.  Despite the campiness, it's quite harrowing social commentary, especially with how recent this really was made after the dropping of the atomic bombs.  Gojira created an iconic monster, and it is one of the greatest monster movies to have ever been made.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 7

 

 

 

[aabattery]

24 minutes ago, The Panda said:

This one is on here because @AABATTERY kept sending my scary messages.  Sorry @cannastop Zootopia missed the list, your messages weren't scary enough.

 

Number 217

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

 

"I didn't choose the skuxx life, the skuxx life chose me."

 

Most Valuable Player: Taika Waititi for Writing and Directing

Box Office: 5.2m

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: 1 BOFFY Win, plus was nominated for the Best Picture BOFFY

Synopsis: "A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush."

Critic Opinion: "A young orphan and his very reluctant keeper “go bush” on the lam from authorities in “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.” Based on a tale by the late, prolific New Zealand novelist Barry Crump, Taika Waititi’s latest is a pleasing comedy-adventure that pays cheeky homage to key early works from that nation’s first filmic renaissance — right down to casting the still-game Sam Neill, who was also a fugitive 40 years ago in Roger Donaldson’s “Sleeping Dogs.” Despite the humor, there’s a cornier, more formulaic core here than in the writer-helmer’s prior successes “Boy” and “What We Do in the Shadows” that may comparatively limit its offshore prospects. But international sales should be hale enough, and the pic is sure to be another home-turf hit." - Harvey, Variety

User Opinion: "Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a great movie. The cast work well together and the cinematography is beautiful (definitely enhanced by how beautiful New Zealand is). Sam Neil is great, and Julian Dennison does an excellent job as Ricky. The only character I wasn't huge on was Rhys Darby, but I don't think that was enough to drag the film down. He wasn't bad but I personally think he was a little bit out of place. I'm not sure how well this translates overseas, but it definitely felt very NZ-ish; which makes sense, since it was an NZ production through and through. The laid-back tone definitely reflects a lot of NZ culture. Taika Waititi is one of my favourite filmmakers, and this really continues his winning streak after Boy and What We Do In the Shadows. His sense of humor shines through the film, but it also deals with the more serious aspects in a touching way." - AABATTERY

Reasoning: I'm probably being a bit reactionary by including a number of 2016 movies that I loved on here, but I placed them all a bit lower than I wanted to as a way to compensate.  Anyways, Wilderpeople is an indie comedic gem that manages to out Wes Anderson Wes Anderson.  The film is a laugh riot from the beginning to the end, has touching elements, and has performances that brilliantly delivered by the entire cast.  All of the scenes are endlessly rewatchable in their dry wit, and it's not a film that I'll easily forget.

Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 3, 1950s: 1, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 2, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 9, 2010s: 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't help but notice that Wilderpeople missed the top 25 again though.