The Panda

Number 171 Manhattan (1979) "My analyst warned me, but you were so beautiful I got another analyst." Most Valuable Player: George Gershwin's Score Box Office: 39.9m (137.7m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 98% Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars Synopsis: The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress. Critic Opinion: "With "Manhattan," a sparkling romance about the overspecialized anxieties of overintellectualized New Yorkers, Woody Allen has bounced back from the sobriety of "Interiors" to an exhilarating new comic high. Consistently amusing and discreetly affecting, "Manhattan" achieves a tangier blend of social commentary, wit and romantic pathos that did "Annie Hall," which collected its awards a little prematurely." - Arnold, Washington Post User Opinion: "Gorgeously shot, love Woody." - Jay Hollywood Reasoning: I have never been the biggest Woody Allen fan, I've liked quite a bit of his movies, but I rarely love them. Manhattan is the exception. Manhattan has a realistic wit to the dialogue and plot the transacts throughout the film. I found the performances charming and believable, and the film is subtle enough that it really works in a charming/amusing sort of way. The film has a certain balance to it that really strikes well for me, and the cinematography of the movie is some of the best from Allen's films. Also, Gershwin's score really pulls the whole movie to me, it's a score strong enough that would be worth going to a concert to hear alone, and it also manages to enhance the movie instead of just itself. Manhattan is a lovely film. Decade Count: 1930s: 5, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 16, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 13, 2010s: 9

Number 172 Of Mice and Men (1939) "I shouldn't a oughta let no stranger shoot my dog. I shoulda shot my dog myself, George." Most Valuable Player: John Steinback's Novel Box Office: N/A Tomatometer: 100% Notable Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars Synopsis: Two itinerant migrant workers, one mentally disabled and the other his carer, take jobs as ranch hands during the Great Depression to fulfill their shared dream of owning their own ranch. Critic Opinion: "It’s interesting how the reputation of this film has waned and peaked over time. Directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screen adaptation by Eugene Solow, it received four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. It was the first major film adaptation of a Steinbeck property, rushed into theaters before 1940’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” which went on to enjoy a much more hallowed reputation. The 1939 version saw something of a revival in the 1970s and ’80s, including a stage adaptation at the Steppenwolf Theatre starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich, which they would go on to reprise in a 1992 film directed by Sinise. Still, other than Lon Chaney’s portrayal of Lennie, his film has faded in memory, and unfairly so." - Lloyd, Sarasota-Herald Tribune User Opinion: None Reasoning: The novel that this film is based on is one of my favorite novels ever written, and while I don't think any film could truly be able to capture Steinback's words as well as Steinback himself, this 1939 film is about as close as you're going to get. Steinback is quite possibly the greatest American author to ever live, and the language and themes of his novel are so potent to the self-identity of the country. Of Mice and Men captures so much of the thoughts of the American Dream, of brotherhood, of duty, it's fantastic. As for this film itself, the performances are portrayed near perfectly, and Aaron Copland's score is gorgeous. Of Mice and Men is potent and heartbreak, and a great American classic. Decade Count: 1930s: 5, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 16, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 13, 2010s: 9

Number 173 Full Metal Jacket (1983) "I bet you're the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you." Most Valuable Player: Stanley Kubrick for his Direction Box Office: 46.4m (102.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 95% Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar Synopsis: A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue. Critic Opinion: "In the final burst of action, Douglas Milsome's gliding camera moves like another squad member as a sniper--or perhaps a handful of them--pin down Joker's group in another of Hue's moonscape ruins. This agonizing scene, including the sniper's identity, is meant to illuminate the moral dilemma of Vietnam. But the final one does it better: the young Marines, silhouetted against guttering flames, moving forward as they sing "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E," is Kubrick's vision of a war that leads nowhere but into the pit, fought by boys whose basic innocence has been warped and cynically lost." - Benson, LA Times User Opinion: "the first 45 mins in the bootcamp and last 30 mins - especially with the sniper - were brilliant, so it was still very good overall." - lisa Reasoning: It's shocking to think I would regard Full Metal Jacket as one of Kubrick's lesser works given how excellent it is, especially when compared to the work of other directors, it just speaks to Kubrick's powerful ability as a director of film. The film has a high octane level of intensity, and there's even a sense of comicality to the whole affair. The movie offers challenging themes, as do all of Kubrick's films, and it boasts a rocking awesome soundtrack to go with it all. All around, Full Metal Jacket is one of your quintessential classic war movies to go and watch. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 16, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 13, 2010s: 9

Number 174 My Fair Lady (1964) "Come on, Dover! Come on, Dover! Move your bloomin' arse!" Most Valuable Player: Andre Previn's Score and Songs, as well Audrey Hepburn's leading performance Box Office: 72m (519m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 96% Notable Awards: Won 8 Oscars, Including Best Picture Synopsis: "A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society." Critic Opinion: " A marvelous restoration of the 30-year-old musical, precisely the kind of high-class popular entertainment that Hollywood can't seem to make these days. Audrey Hepburn is a physical wonder; Rex Harrison defines his role; and production designer Gene Allen is the hidden star. A big screen production for the entire family." - Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune User Opinion: None Reasoning: This movie makes me want to dance all night, if I could dance, just like a classic musical should. I know musicals that don't star Ryan Gosling or are produced by Disney aren't all the hots around here, but that doesn't mean they aren't essential aspects of cinematic history, and My Fair Lady is one of the best of the many great musicals to be put to screen. Audrey Hepbrun and Rex Harrison are wonderful in their title roles, the songs are placed throughout the film are plentiful and really help the soul to soar. The technical design of the movie is beautiful, it's no wonder it killed it at the Oscars when it was released. Wonderful, wonderful musical. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 15, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 13, 2010s: 9

Number 175 Donnie Darko (2001) "I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to." Most Valuable Player: Richard Kelly for his Screenplay and Direction Box Office: 0.5m (0.8m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 86% Notable Awards: #222 on IMDb Top 250 Synopsis: A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after he narrowly escapes a bizarre accident. Critic Opinion: "Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an emotionally troubled teen, prone to sleepwalking and hallucinating a monstrous rabbit. One night, the man-sized lepus – named Frank – calls Donnie to the local golf course, where he informs the high-schooler that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes and 12 seconds. Writer-director Richard Kelly’s subsequent efforts to create enigmatic, cult cinema – see the interesting-but-messy Southland Tales and The Box – emphasise how freakishly special this, his debut feature, was. Perhaps jet engines never strike the same place twice." - Brady, Irish Times User Opinion: "Haunting movie that I can never seem to get out of my head because Mad World gets played all the time in various ways through our pop culture. Wouldn't be anything special without the amazing work of a young Jake Gyllenhaal, puts his heart into this role & it shows. Fantastic cult classic." - GiantCALBears Reasoning: Sinister, smart and genuinely creepy. Perhaps the lowest grossing movie (Adjusted) on my list, Donnie Darko was a breakout for Gyllenhaal and rather lowkey cult classic. Now, it's not my favorite movie about giant, talking, imaginary rabbits (you'll see that one much later), but it might just be my second favorite one about that subject. It's also a much darker and sinister film than that one. The film is packed with dark comedy, a haunting mood, and an intelligent script which follows teenage Gyllenhaal on his decent to madness of a sorts. The performances are great, but I do think the star of the movie is the director and writer Richard Kelly, who never managed to replicate the sheer originality and daring punch that Donnie Darko manages to make. An indie film that is definitely worth everyone's time. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 15, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 13, 2010s: 9

Number 176 The Breakfast Club (1985) "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Most Valuable Player: John Hughes' Screenplay Box Office: 45.9m (111.8m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 89% Notable Awards: Being a reference in many later future films? Synopsis: Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought. Critic Opinion: "If you had an asymmetrical haircut and a collection of new-wave vinyl in 1985, you probably remember the release of "The Breakfast Club" as a powerful moment in your young life. The definitive movie from writer-director John Hughes, which returns to theaters this month for its 30th anniversary, became a cultural touchstone for several generations and a landmark for movies overall. "The Breakfast Club" shattered nearly every teen-film convention, just as its opening quote -- a lyric from David Bowie's adolescent anthem, "Changes" -- exploded into smithereens across the screen. The story is deceptively modest: On a dreary Saturday, five teens from different cliques gather for detention at Shermer High in Illinois. They barely leave the school library and do almost nothing but talk, but by the film's end, these five stereotypes -- "a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal," according to the famous voice-over -- will break through each other's social and emotional walls." - Guzman, Newsday User Opinion: "What makes Breakfast Club or even Ferris Bueller (I'll leave Sixteen Candles out of this) even more impressive than their terrific screenplays and teenage performances suggest is how no high school movies since have been able to reflect their respective generations this well. The closest this generation has gotten is Mean Girls and Easy A, which are funny but really lightweight movies. Few movies aimed at teens today, and none that are massively popular, are as honest and poignant and revelatory as The Breakfast Club was.Shame." - Gopher Reasoning: With little plot to be hard, it's not easy to forget about The Breakfast Club and how remarkable of a movie that it really is. The Breakfast Club managed to capture an era of teenagers in a single movie solely built on authenticity and conversations. There is still truth in The Breakfast Club's revelations today, and it's one of the best "teen experience" movies that you'll ever see. John Hughes is an excellent director at capturing real relationships between young actors, and the Breakfast Club is a movie that manages to prove that. Screenplay and authentic relationships and characterization carry this film a long ways and to far reaching heights. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 15, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 12, 2010s: 9

Number 177 Blazing Saddles (1974) "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges." Most Valuable Player: Mel Brooks for Writing and Directing Box Office: 119.6m (546.9m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 90% Notable Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars Synopsis: In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary. Critic Opinion: "There are some people who can literally get away with anything -- say anything, do anything -- and people will let them. Other people attempt a mildly dirty joke and bring total silence down on a party. Mel Brooks is not only a member of the first group, he is its lifetime president. At its best, his comedy operates in areas so far removed from taste that (to coin his own expression) it rises below vulgarity. "Blazing Saddles" is like that. It's a crazed grabbag of a movie that does everything to keep us laughing except hit us over the head with a rubber chicken. Mostly, it succeeds. It's an audience picture; it doesn't have a lot of classy polish and its structure is a total mess. But of course! What does that matter while Alex Karris is knocking a horse cold with a right cross to the jaw?" - Roger Ebert User Opinion: "Excuse me while I whip this out.... A+" - CoolioD1 Reasoning: Brooks really rode the Blazing Saddle with this one! Mel Brooks has a number of proves that really elevate him as one of the greatest straight comedy directors of all-time, and Blazing Saddles proves this. The movie 'blazes' forward with outrageous comedy and it doesn't stop until it ends. The film isn't just hilarious though, it also offers an insightful take on race-relations at the time. The film is a brilliant parody of the Western genre and stands near the top of Mel Brooks' filmography. The movie is completely out there, given its time, and it's all the more better for it. Blazing Saddles is a comedic classic that should be a priority viewing for anybody who hasn't seen it. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 14, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 12, 2010s: 9

Number 178 The Immigrant (2014) "I have gone through so many trials. Has it become a sin for me to try so hard to survive? Aunt... Is it a sin to want to survive when I have done so many bad things?" Most Valuable Player: Marion Cotillard's Performance Box Office: 2m (2.1m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 87% Notable Awards: Weinstein intentionally threw this film under the bus because he had a grudge. So Karma from the downfall of Weinstein? Synopsis: 1921. An innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island. Critic Opinion: "The production design and visual effects get Gray close to the sort of old-world epics of directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci. Darius Khondji’s breathtaking cinematography, with its gauzy, hazy, gilded tarnish, simultaneously imposes immediacy and remembrance. The past is alive and yellowing before your eyes. But The Immigrant is closer to the frustrated attractions of Gray’s Two Lovers than to any kind of generational saga. This is actually the sort of expensive-looking attempt to authentically inhabit a bygone era that regularly came along during Gray’s go-to cinematic era — the 1970s — in films as different as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Paper Moon, Chinatown, Hester Street, and Wise Blood. Gray’s movie is close to Emanuele Crialese’s 2006 Ellis Island masterpiece Nuovomondo (Golden Door) in that sense. But Crialese’s a dreamer. Gray, by comparison, doesn’t sleep. The Immigrant is the most fevered of his films. It might also be the least sentimental. The movie’s final image is also the shot of the year. You don’t know how much fakery was involved in pulling it off. But it manages to tell a dispiriting truth about divergent approaches to old-world perseverance while dropping jaws, many more of which, incidentally, ought to be hitting the floor." - Morris, Grantland User Opinion: "It sounds like obvious melodrama fodder, but instead the character work here is brilliantly subversive. In a less intelligent film, Ewa would be naive and helpless, Bruno would be charming and sleazy, Orlando would be a noble white knight, and the three of them would form a love triangle. Gray, however, writes them as real people with messy and complicated feelings who make decisions for reasons lying beyond convention and expectation. They reveal new strengths and weaknesses in almost every new scene in an entirely natural and consistent way. Even Orlando, who seems to be included in the film just so it can have more than two major characters (my only issue with the movie), makes up for it with his complexity. The performances are all as powerful as the material demands them to be - Cotillard does the best work of her career here, Phoenix delivers another flawless turn as far removed from his other recent work as it can be, and Renner again shows how effective he can be as a character actor. They combine emotion and expression with depth, as does the whole film: presenting itself at first as an old-fashioned melodrama, it proceeds to move and develop like a 1970s New Hollywood character study. The fusion is masterful: it's a period piece that frees itself from formula and consequently feels more energetic and alive than most contemporary movies. Ewa's story here is one you could imagine her telling her grandchildren 50 years after the events of the film, but as written and acted, it has genuine immediacy and verve that makes it feel like you're watching personal history unfold right before your eyes, all the way to an exhilarating ending and the final shot that is my pick for the best - and most beautiful - of the whole year." - Jake Gittes Reasoning: Alright, you probably haven't heard of this film, let alone seen this film, and you really need to. It's easily one of, if not the, most overlooked films of the decade for a variety of a reasons. The themes of the film are timely, and while the plot sounds trite and sentimental, it's about as opposite of that as you could be. Cotillard gives a career defining performance, to bad nobody actually decided to watch it (thanks Weinstein for purposefully botching the release and campaign). Eva is an inspiring character, trying to survive and being placed in situations which test her morality, and how far she is willing to go. Phoenix's character manages to give a harrowing presence, while never being irredeemable or anything other than human. The cinematography, production design and costumes all absorb you into the time frame, and it all manages to be a masterful small and unnoticed drama. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 14, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 12, 2010s: 9

Number 179 Minority Report (2002) "Sometimes, in order to see the light, you have to risk the dark." Most Valuable Player: Steven Spielberg's Direction Box Office: 132.1m (196.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 90% Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar Synopsis: In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder. Critic Opinion: "Completed the same month Joseph McCarthy was censured by the U.S. Senate, Philip K. Dick's paranoid sci-fi story “The Minority Report” posits a future in which prophets wired to a supercomputer enable the cops to bust people for crimes they haven't yet committed. To a nation that wants potential terrorists detained indefinitely, this premise might not seem as dystopian as the filmmakers seem to think, but Steven Spielberg has turned the material into a highly effective thriller whose futuristic panoramas rival those of A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Tom Cruise plays a police chief who considers the “precrime” system infallible until he's fingered for a future murder and has to prove his innocence. The first 15 minutes are masterful, as Cruise hunts down a killer-to-be; the last 30 are mediocre, as screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen untangle the mystery they've grafted onto Dick's story. In between lies a conventional but expertly realized cop-on-the-run drama incorporating elements of The Matrix (a subterranean detention center where people are filed away like manila folders), Mission: Impossible (a high-speed chase on a vertical freeway), Blade Runner (some biting satire of consumer culture), and 2001: A Space Odyssey (the star-child image of clairvoyant Samantha Morton)." - Jones, Chicago Reader User Opinion: "A very well made sci-fi movie with quite a few unexpected twists and turns. Very well acted, especially by Cruise and Farrell and obviously with great direction by Spielberg." - darkelf Reasoning: Often one of Spielberg's more overlooked or lesser works, Minority Report is propulsive film that is fistful of energy and action. Tom Cruise continues to show his ability to headline a film as a movie star in this one, giving one of the stronger performances in his career. The film is high in ideas, like many of Spielberg's films, but Minority Report is a case where Spielberg is able to fully realize and execute many of his thoughts in themes into a wildly entertaining ride, something that doesn't happen in comparable films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence. This dystopian sci-fi offers many outlooks that are relevant in today's political culture, and especially the political culture in 2002, when Minority Report was originally released. A great sci-fi movie. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 14, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 12, 2010s: 9

Number 180 Aliens (1986) "Get away from her, you bitch!" Most Valuable Player: Signourney Weaver in the Leading Role Box Office: 85.2m (198.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 98% Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars Synopsis: The moon from Alien (1979) has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough? Critic Opinion: ""Aliens" is a perfectly honorable sequel, taut, inexorably paced but it's blaster action, not Gothic future-horror. Fortunately, director-screenwriter James Cameron has shaped his film around the defiant intelligence and sensual athleticism of Weaver, and that's where "Aliens" works best. In a funny way, she's become an image ripped from today's statistics: the Single Parent Triumphant--if not absolutely Rampant." - Benson, Las Angeles Times User Opinion: "Probably one of the most influential sci-fi pieces of fiction of the past 50 years. So many contemporary sci-fi novels, comics, films, and video games have nods to or have elements lifted from this film." - Numbers Reasoning: Count me in the Alien is better crowd, and go ahead and plan my murder for not putting it in my top 100, but also realize that Aliens is a really phenomenal movie and I am placing it around other movies I also find phenomenal. The film was highly influential, and it'd take a fairly culturally oblivious person to not realize how this movie has shaped future Sci-Fi and Action movies to take place after it. Signourney Weaver gives a career defining performance, and really cemented herself as an action star in a period of time that wasn't as accepting (or had a high demand for) female action stars. James Cameron really proves himself as an excellent filmmaker with this one, and the entire movie is also a testament to his strength. This is one of his strongest films. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 14, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 9

Number 181 The King of Comedy (1983) "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." Most Valuable Player: Robert De Niro's Performance Box Office: 2.5m (7m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 90% Notable Awards: Won 1 BAFTA Synopsis: Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy. Critic Opinion: "The King of Comedy, which Film Forum is presenting in a new 4K restoration for a week-long run, brilliantly keeps viewers unmoored, the result of its consistently off-kilter tone. Though filled with sight gags and corny jokes, the movie is also darkened by genuine menace, as Rupert, aided by fellow unhinged Jerry Langford superfan Masha (Sandra Bernhard), becomes ever more desperate to get the icon's attention. But the most generative tension in the film emerges from the clash of performance styles — and from the incongruous jolt, still potent all these decades later, of watching a 55-year-old Lewis, that longtime avatar of extremely regressed imbecility, in his first serious role." - Anderson, Village Voice User Opinion: "scorsese was on fucking form in his early years. brilliant and ridiculously uncomfortable." - lisa Reasoning: Some of Scorsese's best works were the movies critics, audiences and the academy really overlooked when they originally came out, and later learned to appreciate over time. The King of Comedy is one of those movies, a brilliant, funny and fairly uncomfortable movie to watch. The film is off-beat, and watch De Niro star in this film is really something else, he completely owns the role. This was a film that was really released before its time, and it shows the brilliance of Scorsese to be able to recognize the story to be told here and to have the guts to go for it, all hinges detached. It's a brilliant movie, and I am glad that it's regarded for being the fantastic film it is now. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 13, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 9

Number 182 Sicario (2015) "You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now." Most Valuable Player: Benicio Del Torro's Supporting Performance and Supreme Leader Villeneuve's Master Direction Box Office: 46.9m (46.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 94% Notable Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars Synopsis: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. Critic Opinion: "The word “sicario” is Spanish for hitman, but it sounds like a condition: “I’m not feeling well, I’m suffering from sicario.” Or maybe that’s just the sensation you get coming out of “Sicario.” This dense, twisty, unsettling, nerve-racking thriller has that kind of effect. It’s about lies and truths, lies packed within truths and questions about what constitutes either, and it’s designed to keep viewers off balance and at attention. By the end, it packs a death stare so potent it will make you want to turn a blind eye to the shadowy brutality of its real-world horrors." - Graham, Detroit News User Opinion: "God, I loved this movie. My favorite of the year so far. Intense, brutal, terrifying, and visceral. Chris Ryan of Grantland is right- it feels like the Apocalypse Now of the drug war. A hypnotic movie that delves deeper into unspeakable horror and darkness than most movies dare to do. Fascinating, complex politics, too. Feels like No Country meets Platoon meets Traffic meets Prisoners. It's just fucking aces. So much to pull apart here. Deakins and Johannasson's work is just tremendous in adding to the mood and tone of this piece. And dat cast.....jeez. Every player in this matters, and nails it. Blunt and Brolin have never been better. And Del Toro.....one of the most memorable performances and characters of modern times. He's just a presence. Like an unstoppable, otherworldly force taking human form. He's Anton Chigurh in tailored suits. God, it's tremendous." - Cmasterclay Reasoning: An absolutely haunting experience, this is the movie that really elevated Villeneuve from "Great up and coming unknown indie director" to "Holy shit this is the guy that everyone is claiming Nolan to be," or as a director now to watch. Sicario is absolutely hypnotic and has become the definitive movie on the modern drug war in my eyes. When I originally saw this movie, I gave it a B+ and didn't think I'd put it in my top 10 because of how unsettled I was. Then I realize the movie was really sticking with me, so I saw it again and it was even more haunting the second time, and even more so the third. Absolutely powerful and intense filmmaking with this one right here, I could see this movie continue to rise higher on my all-time list in the years to come, as this movie only gets better the longer you take to absorb it all and have a chance to re-analyze the whole piece. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 9

Number 183 Young Frankenstein (1974) "What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night? Why don't you get out of there and give someone else a chance?" Most Valuable Player: Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder for the Screenplay, Acting and Directing Box Office: 86.3m (394.8m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 93% Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars Synopsis: An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body. Critic Opinion: "The moment, when it comes, has the inevitability of comic genius. Young Victor Frankenstein, grandson of the count who started it all, returns by rail to his ancestral home. As the train pulls into the station, he spots a kid on the platform, lowers the window and asks, "Pardon me, boy; is this the Transylvania Station"? It is, and Mel Brooks is home with "Young Frankenstein," his most disciplined and visually inventive film (it also happens to be very funny)." - Roger Ebert User Opinion: "One of the best comedies ever. Mel Brooks best film." - Michael Gary Scott Reasoning: One of the flat out funniest comedies ever made. Young Frankenstein is one giant, clever, restrained, subdued and hilarious sex joke, and it's all the more brilliant for that. It's a movie about trying to pretend we're more sophisticated and better than we really are, when on the inside we're just stupid monsters wanting to get the jiggy on. Now, the ending isn't the only funny part of the movie, it is cleverly written and witty the entire way through. Young Frankenstein is a silly monster movie that manages to be among the best of them. Also a fun note, the first time I saw this was when I was in high school, my AP English teacher was a nerd, and to reward us for reading Frankenstein we watched this movie, I'm not sure how he got it approved. The ending was exceptionally funny in a room full of shocked, hormonal and nerdy teenagers. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 8

Number 184 The Matrix (1999) "Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure." Most Valuable Player: The VFX and Stunt Team Box Office: 171.5m (292m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 87% Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars Synopsis: A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. Critic Opinion: "Extremely violent, extremely preposterous, extremely entertaining, "The Matrix" succeeds at two extremely difficult tasks: as a vast, exciting virtual-reality movie and as a defibrillator for Keanu Reeves' big screen career. Using the pantheon of movie iconography from the past 100 years - from "High Noon" showdowns, to bad kung fu, to love's first kiss - the writing/directing team of the Wachowski brothers, Larry and Andy, achieves a fantastic, hodgepodge symmetry using hacker noir, comedy and mindless action." - Simanton, The Seattle Times User Opinion: "What is the Matrix? Well, well I'm not going to give it away. As I said it is one of the parts of the movie that will keep you intrigued and will astonish you at the same time. This is a very good film and it's visionary outbursts are worth the price of a rental alone. But it has a great story to it as well and that should be enough for anyone to want to see it." - baumer Reasoning: The Matrix has become an all-time classic sci-fi action film, and it didn't take it long to reach that status, and it's not hard to see why. The action in this movie is blood-pumping and leaves you ready for more, well more until you realize more means The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, then it's a solid pass. Anyways, Keanu Reeves gives one of his most iconic performances and the one-hit wonder Wachowski's reveal their potential before their future movies fall to dreary pretentious drag. The concepts of the movie are clever, and being able to see some of them pay off is quite a marvel to watch. The visual effects and action still look like something that could be released today, and the climax of the film is truly fantastic. The Matrix is an epitome point for 90s action. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 8

Number 185 The Incredibles (2004) "Where. Is. My. Super. SUIT!" Most Valuable Player: Brad Bird's Direction Box Office: 261.4m (363.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 97% Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars Synopsis: A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. Critic Opinion: "This Pixar comic-book adventure (2004) is fun for the first half hour, as the world's superheroes are forced into retirement by personal-injury lawsuits and assigned new identities by the government. In a sort of big-screen New Yorker cartoon, the barrel-chested Mr. Incredible lives a life of quiet desperation, dividing his time between an insurance company cubicle and a vanilla tract home he shares with the former Elastigirl and their three moppets. The fun hardens into Fun after he's lured out of retirement and imprisoned in a remote island compound, though the sleek computer animation is spellbinding as usual." - Jones, Chicago Reader User Opinion: "An awesome film. Brad Bird is really at his best when he's doing odes to retro American culture like this and The Iron Giant. The message may not be subtle, but the numerous quotable lines and terrific action sequences more than make up for it. My second-favorite Pixar film." - tribefan695 Reasoning: A super-power film about family dynamics placed in a retro-50s like environment. The Incredibles marks the second of four "super hero" movies to make my list. The score by Giacchino is electric, the screenplay is full of wit and spunk, and the film rockets at a frenetic pace. This is one of Pixar's most entertaining films on their great list of movies, and it really doesn't lose anything on repeat viewings. There are a lot of superhero movies out there, but it's really hard to name many of them that can even manage to be half as fun as this film manages to be. A childhood favorite that carries over as one to your adult life. Bring on The Incredibles 2, I've only been waiting 13 years. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 8

Number 186 50/50 (2011) "That doesn't make any sense though. I mean... I don't smoke, I don't drink... I recycle..." Most Valuable Player: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Lead Performance Box Office: 35m (38.1m adjusted) Tomatometer: 94% Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Golden Globes Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease. Critic Opinion: "Director Jonathan Levine (“The Wackness”) finds a rhythm that works for the movie, mostly going for comedy but giving the dramatic moments their due. Gordon-Levitt continues to impress as a leading man of depth and wry comic flair (who’d have thunk it when he was just that weird looking little kid on TV’s “3rd Rock from the Sun”?) and Kendrick and Rogan are sprightly fun. Add “50/50” to your want to see list. And then make an appointment for your annual physical with your doctor." - Rozen, The Wrap User Opinion: None Reasoning: 50/50 is a heartfelt indie comedy that was really overlooked the year it came out and deserved more attention than it received. Seth Rogen is at his best in this movie, even if he's still pretty much Seth Rogen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a great comedic performance. The movie was my favorite from 2011, it was funny, yet also warm hearted and manages to play out its dramatic aspects as well as a movie on this subject matter could be. What made it really exceptional in my opinion, was how well it played off its themes of sickness and survival, and how it neither treated them lightly or treated them with too much melodramatism that many movies of this genre fall into the convention of doing. 50/50 is one of the finest comedies made this decade. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 9

I'm thinking this has a TMNT style of a run, just a smaller OW and worse late legs. 55m / 140m

Number 187 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) "Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist." Most Valuable Player: Harrison Ford as Dr. Jones Box Office: 179.9m (463.1m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 85% Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar Synopsis: After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees, and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace. Critic Opinion: ""Nothing shocks me," says the rugged man-about-the-Far East who has survived a lot of shocking situations. I'm a scientist." The truth is the well-known archeologist seems to dig up trouble wherever he goes. In Madagascar they were so displeased with his work that there was some talk of cutting off his...Well, why go on? You should recognize this cool character by now, for he is none other than Indiana Jones, that reckless seeker of fortune who first endeared himself to audiences in Steven Spielberg's wonderfully giddy adventure movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Indie, you will be happy to learn, hasn't changed a bit. Played with gruff determination by the appealingly rugged Harrison Ford, he continues to set quite a pace for himself in Spielberg's rip-roaring, boldly imaginative sequel to his blockbuster hit." - Carrol, The New York Daily News (1984) User Opinion: "It is a great film and it is a great sequel to Raiders and a perfect prequel to Last Crusade. It remembers its roots as it has Indy reaching for his gun in a dangerous situation only to find that it is not there and it creates some of its own new history as there are many breath taking action sequences. I don't know how George and Steven do it but they just keep on entertaining us with movies like this and Star Wars. I sincerely hope they make a fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series. It has been ten years since the last one and that is way too long." - baumer Reasoning: While, The Temple of Doom may be the most inherently flawed on the Indiana Jones movies, that doesn't stop it from still being an absolute blast of a movie the entire way through. This one tends to have its haters, but I personally find it vastly underrated, even if it's my least favorite of the original three movies. John Williams' score is still soaring and excitable, Harrison Ford is still charismatic as ever, Short Round is one of the best sidekicks of the series, and I actually like the darker tone this film takes compared to the other movies in the series. The action scenes are still shot ingeniously by Spielberg, and the visual effects age about as well as it's possible for VFX to age. While it has its flaws, I still re-watch the shit out of this movie, and it never ceases to put a smile on the face from the excitement of an Indy adventure. One of the only franchises that can stand toe to toe with Star Wars as one of the greatest of all-time. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 12, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 8

Number 188 The Big Short (2015) "I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing what they always do when the economy tanks. They will be blaming immigrants and poor people." Most Valuable Player: Charles Randalph and Adam McKay for the Screenplay Box Office: 70.3m (70.5m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 88% Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, and was nominated for Best Picture Synopsis: Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight. Critic Opinion: "It’s funny because it’s true. And it’s tragic and frightening for the same reason. Adapted from Michael Lewis’s bestselling book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Adam McKay’s stylized comedic take on the international banking collapse of 2007-08 nerds up Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and an Oscar-baiting Christian Bale as real-life money-managing eccentrics who, independently, come to realize a market based on subprime loans is going to tank. They decide to short the booming housing market, basically betting on the collapse of the world’s economy." - Wheeler, Globe and Mail User Opinion: "So, so, good. Vigorously emotional (in an atypical manner) while totally self-assured and driven by its messages. McKay makes a ton of gutsy choices here that pay off so well." - Spaghetti Reasoning: If you want a film that manages to explain the housing/financial crisis from 2007-2008, you aren't going to find a better one than this one. The Big Short is a terrifically acted and directed comedy that manages to explain a complicated subject in delicate detail, while also being vigorously entertaining and harrowing at the same time. There's plenty of gags to keep you engaged to the details and complexities of the matter, and film is shot in an up close and personal style, putting you right into the action of everything that is happening. The ending also leaves a hollow punch in your gut, and almost in a state of disbelief, even if you already understood everything that happened going in beforehand. A great movie that pulls off an incredibly difficult task while leaving you entertained and satisfied at the same time. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 11, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 8

Fun fact for @AABATTERY, Ricky Baker (or Rick Baker) got an Oscar nom for this one. Number 189 An American Werewolf in London (1981) "Queen Elizabeth is a man! Prince Charles is a ----! Winston Churchill was full of shit! Shakespeare's French!" Most Valuable Player: John Landis for his direction and writing Box Office: 30.6m (95.1m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 89% Notable Awards: Just as many Oscars as the Academy Award Winning Suicide Squad Synopsis: Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. Critic Opinion: "It’d be interesting to see polling data on how many Brits recall John Landis’s hysterical gore-spattered masterpiece as that all-important rite of passage: their first 18. Well, the folks at the BBFC have ruined all that: in reclassifying the film, they’ve made all our childhoods seem that little bit less dangerous. Which is no reflection on the film: horror-comedy is overfamiliar nowadays, with diminishing returns, but this only makes Landis’s achievement more impressive. Not just gory but actually frightening, not just funny but clever, ‘American Werewolf…’ has its flaws, but these are outweighed by the film’s many, mighty strengths: the soundtrack is astounding, the characterisation is marvellous and the one-liners are endlessly memorable (‘a naked American man stole my balloons!’). A classic, no less." - Huddleston, Time Out User Opinion: None Reasoning: A definitive addition to the horror-comedy genre. John Landis delivers a film that is not just hysterical in its wit and screenplay, but a movie that also manages to leave you frightened. The blend of a well-crafted original score, as well as creative uses of music in the soundtrack, also really help to highlight this film as not just your typical monster movie. It's also exceptional because the majority of the film is made up of a psychological analysis of everything David Naughton goes through mentally as he makes his transition into becoming a werewolf. An American Werewolf in London is the horror genre at its finest. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 11, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 7

Number 190 Aladdin (1992) \ "Oi! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck." Most Valuable Player: Robin Williams' Genie Box Office: 217.4m (453.6m Adjusted) Tomatometer: 94% Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars Synopsis: When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her. Critic Opinion: "Aladdin is a dream come true for moviegoers. Yes, I know how excruciatingly press-agent-like that must sound. But this hilariously hip and thoroughly gorgeous motion picture is nothing less than the crowning achievement - so far - of Disney's revitalized animation department." - Boyer, Orlando Sentinel User Opinion: "If anyone does't give Aladdin at least an A Im not sure we can be friends.... if a B+ though we can keep in touch maybe.: - Jay Hollywood Reasoning: A Disney musical that even lisa admits is good, and that says something. Aladdin is a Disney classic and easily one of the best animated movies to have ever been made. The film is a massive jolt of energy, adventure, exciting and whimsical music, romance and laughter. I don't think I need to tell you how great of a movie Aladdin is, because honestly, you should know that by now. Not to mention, Robin Williams' genie might just be the most iconic animated character to ever be created. The songs are also some of the most sing-a-long-able of nearly any Disney classic. Aladdin is a wonderful animated musical. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 10, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 7

Number 191 The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) "I think I'll go to sleep and dream about piles of gold getting bigger and bigger and bigger." Most Valuable Player: John Huston for Directing and Writing Box Office: N/A Tomatometer: 100% Notable Awards: Won 3 Oscars, was also nominated for Best Picture Synopsis: Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Critic Opinion: "When John Huston came back from the war and Humphrey Bogart was a star big enough to choose his next project, the two of them chose to make a film about a seedy loser driven mad by greed. "Wait till you see me in my next picture," Bogart shouted to a movie critic outside a New York nightclub. "I play the worst s--- you ever saw." The movie was desolate and despairing, the nicest character in it dies trying to defend men who were about to kill him, and the ending is not merely unhappy but like a cosmic joke against the hero's dreams. Jack L. Warner, the studio boss who sent the crew to Mexican locations and yanked them back when the budget ran out of control, thought it was "definitely the greatest motion picture we have ever made." "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) is a story in the Joseph Conrad tradition, using adventure not as an end in itself but as a test of its characters. It involves moral disagreements between a wise old man and a paranoid middle-aged man, with a young man forced to choose sides. It tells this story with gusto and Huston's love of male camaraderie, and it occasionally breaks into laughter -- some funny, some bitterly ironic. It happens on a sun-blasted high chaparral landscape, usually desolate, except for the three gold prospectors, although gangs of bandits and villages of Indians materialize when required. At the end, it has Bogart in a delirious mad scene that falls somewhere between "King Lear" and "Greed."" - Roger Ebert User Opinion: None Reasoning: As a Western fan, a massive Indiana Jones fan, and a fan of tragedies showing a man's fall from grace, it's no wonder why I really loved this picture. Despite hitting all of the right spots for me personally as a movie fan, the film is also just technically masterful and stands as one of John Huston's best. There is plenty of laughter and fun to be had in watching the film, but there's also a much darker tale of greed, paranoia and the nature of man mixed into it all as well. The film is energetic, lively and visually appealing. The Treasure of Sierra Madre is another all-time great Western, and all-time great classic. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 6, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 10, 1990s: 10, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 7

I really enjoy your countdown! Yours are always some of the most interesting!

Bong-Joon

Number 192 All the King's Men (1949) "Jack, there's something on everybody. Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption." Most Valuable Player: Robert Penn Warren's novel Box Office: N/A Tomatometer: 97% Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars, including Best Picture Synopsis: The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal. Critic Opinion: "Robert Rossen, a top Hollywood producer- director-writer, has made a tremendously impressive picture from Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, “All the King’s Men.” It is one of the most vital and honest films to come out of Hollywood in a long time. Produced by Columbia Pictures, “All the King’s Men” had its first New York exhibition at the Victoria Theatre yesterday. Election Day was an appropriate time to release the picture, since it is concerned with political shenanigans and serves to remind us that when politicians are too long in this elective jobs, they are apt to abuse the power the public has given them and may fall into dictatorial ways." - Kate Cameron, New York Daily News (1949) User Opinion: None Reasoning: All the King's Men is a story that doesn't lose its power or timeliness overtime, the words and themes still resonate as strongly today as they did back in 1949 when the dangers of authoritarianism and corruption were just as prevalent in the world as they are now. All the King's Men is a picture how men become corrupted in power and the corrosive effects that office and the appeal of a crowd have on a man. Broderick Crawford delivers an excellent performance as the lead, and Rossen directs and adapts the novel finely. All the King's Men is an excellent Best Picture winner that deserves to be seen. Decade Count: 1930s: 4, 1940s: 5, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 10, 1990s: 10, 2000s: 11, 2010s: 7