The editorial staff of Yahoo! Movies, in what must be a blatant attempt to spike traffic to their site (take it from me, I know how these things work). have issued not one but two lists titled “100 Movies to See Before You Die.” One of them covers “The All-Time Greats” from throughout cinema history, from all over the world. I’ve seen more than my share of all-time top 100 movie lists, so it’s their second list that intrigues me more.
The second list, labeled “The Modern Classics,” singles out the top 100 films of just the last 20 years. As such, it’s more focused in scope, and by its very existence it asserts that the films of the last 20 years are as praiseworthy as any other era of cinema; I appreciate that since I’ve heard my share of “the best years of cinema are behind us” moans and groans.
Still, taking a look at this list, you can’t help but notice glaring inclusions and omissions. Overall, it’s rather boringly mainstream, not getting to far afield into arthouse or edgy independent fare. I guess that’s to be expected from the likes of Yahoo! Still, it’s worth making grievances; lists like these practically beg for them. But at the same time I’ll point out what I was most delighted to see unexpectedly included. Feel free to leave your reactions in the comments.
Films that should have made it: Close-Up; Underground; Breaking the Waves; The Thin Red Line; Flowers of Shanghai; The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein; Platform; A.I.: Artificial Intelligence; Los Angeles Plays Itself; L’Intrus
Films that shouldn’t have made it: Misery; Run Lola Run; Best in Show; Amelie; City of God
Most delighted by: Dead Man; Eve’s Bayou; Yi Yi; Anchorman; 4 Months, 3 Weeks and Two Days
Feel free to leave your own reactions in the comments.
1990
Goodfellas
DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese
STARRING: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci
Misery
DIRECTED BY: Rob Reiner
STARRING: James Caan, Kathy Bates
1991
Beauty and the Beast
DIRECTED BY: Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale
STARRING: Paige O’Hara, Robbie Benson
The Silence of the Lambs
DIRECTED BY: Jonathan Demme
STARRING: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Thelma & Louise
DIRECTED BY: Ridley Scott
STARRING: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis
1992
Hard Boiled (Lat sau san taam)
DIRECTED BY: John Woo
STARRING: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Malcolm X
DIRECTED BY: Spike Lee
STARRING: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett
The Player
DIRECTED BY: Robert Altman
STARRING: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi
Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gao gua)
DIRECTED BY: Zhang Yimou
STARRING: Gong Li, Ma Jingwu
Supercop (Ging chat goo si 3: Chiu kup ging chat)
DIRECTED BY: Stanley Tong
STARRING: Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung
Unforgiven
DIRECTED BY: Clint Eastwood
STARRING: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman
1993
Dazed and Confused
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater
STARRING: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey
Groundhog Day
DIRECTED BY: Harold Ramis
STARRING: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Stephen Tobolowsky
Schindler’s List
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
1994
Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam)
DIRECTED BY: Wong Kar-Wai
STARRING: Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong
Ed Wood
DIRECTED BY: Tim Burton
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Forrest Gump
DIRECTED BY: Robert Zemeckis
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
Four Weddings and a Funeral
DIRECTED BY: Mike Newell
STARRING: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Simon Callow
Pulp Fiction
DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino
STARRING: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
The Shawshank Redemption
DIRECTED BY: Frank Darabont
STARRING: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge)
DIRECTED BY: Krzysztof Kieslowski
STARRING: Irene Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant
1995
Babe
DIRECTED BY: Chris Noonan
STARRING: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski
Before Sunrise
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater
STARRING: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Clueless
DIRECTED BY: Amy Heckerling
STARRING: Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy
Heat
DIRECTED BY: Michael Mann
STARRING: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer
Living in Oblivion
DIRECTED BY: Tom DeCillo
STARRING: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener
Sense and Sensibility
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant
Toy Story
DIRECTED BY: John Lasseter
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
The Usual Suspects
DIRECTED BY: Bryan Singer
STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri
1996
Big Night
DIRECTED BY: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci
STARRING: Tony Shaloub, Stanley Tucci, Ian Holm
Dead Man
DIRECTED BY: Jim Jarmusch
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen
Fargo
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen
STARRING: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy
Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku kidotai)
DIRECTED BY: Mamoru Oshii
STARRING: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka
Lone Star
DIRECTED BY: John Sayles
STARRING: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey,
Scream
DIRECTED BY: Wes Craven
STARRING: Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore
Secrets & Lies
DIRECTED BY: Mike Leigh
STARRING: Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Timothy Spall
Sling Blade
DIRECTED BY: Billy Bob Thornton
STARRING: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Lucas Black
Swingers
DIRECTED BY: Doug Liman
STARRING: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham
Trainspotting
DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle
STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle
1997
Boogie Nights
DIRECTED BY: Paul Thomas Anderson
STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore
Eve’s Bayou
DIRECTED BY: Kasi Lemmons
STARRING: Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan
L.A. Confidential
DIRECTED BY: Curtis Hanson
STARRING: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey
The Sweet Hereafter
DIRECTED BY: Atom Egoyan
STARRING: Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Polley
Titanic
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
1998
The Big Lebowski
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen
STARRING: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore
Fireworks (Hana-bi)
DIRECTED BY: Takeshi Kitano
STARRING: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto
Out of Sight
DIRECTED BY: Steven Soderbergh
STARRING: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Catherine Keener
Saving Private Ryan
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore
There’s Something About Mary
DIRECTED BY: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller
1999
All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre)
DIRECTED BY: Pedro Almodovar
STARRING: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz
American Beauty
DIRECTED BY: Sam Mendes
STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
Being John Malkovich
DIRECTED BY: Spike Jonze
STARRING: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Election
DIRECTED BY: Alexander Payne
STARRING: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein
Fight Club
DIRECTED BY: David Fincher
STARRING: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton
The Matrix
DIRECTED BY: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
STARRING: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne
Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime)
DIRECTED BY: Hayao Miyazaki
STARRING: Yoji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida
Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)
DIRECTED BY: Tom Tykwer
STARRING: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu
The Sixth Sense
DIRECTED BY: M. Night Shyamalan
STARRING: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Three Kings
DIRECTED BY: David O. Russell
STARRING: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube
2000
Almost Famous
DIRECTED BY: Cameron Crowe
STARRING: Patrick Fugit, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson
Best in Show
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Guest
STARRING: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang
Yi Yi
DIRECTED BY: Edward Yang
STARRING: Wu Nien-jen, Issey Ogata, Elaine Jin
2001
Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain)
DIRECTED BY: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
STARRING: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz
Donnie Darko
DIRECTED BY: Richard Kelly
STARRING: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze
In the Mood For Love (Fa yeung nin wa)
DIRECTED BY: Wong Kar-Wai
STARRING: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-wai
The Lord of the Rings
DIRECTED BY: Peter Jackson
STARRING: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen
Memento
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Nolan
STARRING: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Mulholland Drive
DIRECTED BY: David Lynch
STARRING: Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring
The Royal Tenenbaums
DIRECTED BY: Wes Anderson
STARRING: Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow
2002
The Pianist
DIRECTED BY: Roman Polanski
STARRING: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Fox
Y Tu Mama Tambien
DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron
STARRING: Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna
2003
City of God (Cidade de Deus)
DIRECTED BY: Fernando Meirelles
STARRING: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino De Hora Phellipe, Seu Jorge
Elephant
DIRECTED BY: Gus Van Sant
STARRING: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Finding Nemo
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton
STARRING: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres
2004
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
DIRECTED BY: Adam McKay
STARRING: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
DIRECTED BY: Michel Gondry
STARRING: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
Shaun of the Dead
DIRECTED BY: Edgar Wright
STARRING: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Sideways
DIRECTED BY: Alexander Payne
STARRING: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen
2005
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
DIRECTED BY: Judd Apatow
STARRING: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Seth Rogen
Brokeback Mountain
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
STARRING: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
A History of Violence
DIRECTED BY: David Cronenberg
STARRING: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris
Oldboy
DIRECTED BY: Park Chan-wook
STARRING: Choi Min-shik, Kang Hye-jeong
2006
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
DIRECTED BY: Larry Charles
STARRING: Sacha Baron Cohen, Kenneth Davitian
Children of Men
DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron
STARRING: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
DIRECTED BY: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
STARRING: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian Koch
Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno)
DIRECTED BY: Guillermo del Toro
STARRING: Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones
2007
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile)
DIRECTED BY: Cristian Mungiu
STARRING: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov
The Bourne Ultimatum
DIRECTED BY: Paul Greengrass
STARRING: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon)
DIRECTED BY: Julian Schnabel
STARRING: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze
Michael Clayton
DIRECTED BY: Tony Gilroy
STARRING: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton
No Country for Old Men
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
STARRING: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
There Will Be Blood
DIRECTED BY: Paul Thomas Anderson
STARRING: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano
2008
The Dark Knight
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Nolan
STARRING: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Slumdog Millionaire
DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle
STARRING: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto
WALL-E
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton
STARRING: Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin
2009
Avatar
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
STARRING: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver
The Hurt Locker
DIRECTED BY: Kathryn Bigelow
STARRING: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Inglourious Basterds
DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino
STARRING: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent
