Favourite films top 40
by amypoppins | created - 21 Jul 2011 | updated - 20 Oct 2011 | PublicFilms that are my fave and are highly recommended. Not in any order.
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1. The Big Lebowski (1998)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Crime, Sport
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 735,935 | Gross: $17.50M
2. Drive (I) (2011)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama
A mysterious Hollywood stuntman and mechanic moonlights as a getaway driver and finds himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Votes: 574,444 | Gross: $35.06M
3. Donnie Darko (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 742,779 | Gross: $1.48M
4. Léon: The Professional (1994)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Votes: 1,041,362 | Gross: $19.50M
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,315,787 | Gross: $534.86M
6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
In a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick
Votes: 381,407 | Gross: $31.49M
7. Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 188,016 | Gross: $2.40M
8. Human Traffic (1999)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Music
Five friends spend one lost weekend in a mix of music, love and club culture.
Director: Justin Kerrigan | Stars: John Simm, Lorraine Pilkington, Shaun Parkes, Nicola Reynolds
Votes: 23,327 | Gross: $0.10M
9. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
R | 153 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent
Votes: 1,276,238 | Gross: $120.54M
10. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano
Votes: 169,625
11. The Running Man (1987)
R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.
Director: Paul Michael Glaser | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown
Votes: 141,829 | Gross: $38.12M
12. The Goonies (1985)
PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman
Votes: 245,809 | Gross: $61.50M
13. Salem's Lot (1979)
PG | 200 min | Horror
A novelist and a young horror fan attempt to save a small New England town which has been invaded by vampires.
Stars: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia
Votes: 20,848
14. X-Men: First Class (2011)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
Votes: 647,702 | Gross: $146.41M
15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebels are brutally overpowered by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader and a bounty hunter named Boba Fett all over the galaxy.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,164,892 | Gross: $290.48M
16. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,079,809 | Gross: $292.58M
17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Family
With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts.
Director: David Yates | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 514,225 | Gross: $292.00M
18. The Crow (1994)
R | 102 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 167,119 | Gross: $50.69M
19. 28 Days Later... (2002)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer
Votes: 378,141 | Gross: $45.06M
20. The Lost Boys (1987)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes
Votes: 124,636 | Gross: $32.22M
21. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A rough-and-tumble trucker helps rescue his friend's fiancée from an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong
Votes: 124,243 | Gross: $11.10M
22. Toy Story (1995)
G | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.
Director: John Lasseter | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney
Votes: 892,225 | Gross: $191.80M
23. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 373,169 | Gross: $13.78M
24. Event Horizon (1997)
R | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson
Votes: 160,299 | Gross: $26.67M
25. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Three years into the Clone Wars, the Jedi rescue Palpatine from Count Dooku. As Obi-Wan pursues a new threat, Anakin acts as a double agent between the Jedi Council and Palpatine and is lured into a sinister plan to rule the galaxy.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson
Votes: 715,952 | Gross: $380.26M
26. Trainspotting (1996)
R | 93 min | Drama
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd
Votes: 637,124 | Gross: $16.50M
27. Shallow Grave (1994)
R | 89 min | Crime, Thriller
Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott
Votes: 57,218 | Gross: $2.88M
28. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Horror
A man's uneventful life is disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis
Votes: 514,114 | Gross: $13.54M
29. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a 12-year-old girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 363,405 | Gross: $232.91M
30. Point Break (1991)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
Votes: 159,871 | Gross: $43.22M
31. Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
PG | 108 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Votes: 183,922 | Gross: $112.49M
32. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 313,260 | Gross: $171.24M
33. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,242,623 | Gross: $216.54M
34. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 93,361 | Gross: $30.57M
35. Stand by Me (1986)
R | 89 min | Adventure, Drama
After the death of one of his friends, a writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Votes: 365,013 | Gross: $52.29M
36. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 146 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,027,318 | Gross: $46.84M
37. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 545,094 | Gross: $260.00M
38. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather's grave in Texas fall victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 138,203 | Gross: $30.86M
39. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A San Francisco poet who fears commitment suspects his girlfriend may have a knack for killing off her significant others.
Director: Thomas Schlamme | Stars: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer
Votes: 33,551 | Gross: $11.59M
40. Wayne's World (1992)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Music
Two slacker friends try to promote their public-access cable show.
Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere
Votes: 144,662 | Gross: $121.70M
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