For absolutely different reasons, each movie in this list is one of the number one movies ever made. Due to the incredibly high gross(out) of bad movies that have been coming out, 10:1, at least and growing, every year since 1900, the good movies have been harder to spot, much easier to miss. This list is in no particular order and these movies are all must own. The Big Lebowski, Titanic, and forrest Gump do not appear on this list and do not belong near it, though those films are enjoyable in their own rights.
Go to your favorite video purchasing site and buy:
Raising Arizona - The ultimate family adventure film featuring: romance, action, some minimal swearing, the best chase scene in motion picture history(involving: cops, a store clerk, an old man in a pickup truck, a pack of dogs, a holdup man, his wife, a kidnapped infant, and a pack of huggies), kidnapping, adorable babies, the wrath os Hell, escaped prison inmates, stolen cars, Polish jokes and a very good reason never to tell derogatory jokes, life's hardships, a person who once ate sand, prison psychology, and a man called Nathan Arizona.
Duck Soup - Produced in 1933, as a response to a dinner invitation from Adolph Hitler, this mockery of big government is the ultimate satire to any politicain you could ever think of. It's got laughs, it's got a diabolical plot, and it's got a president driving his country into war for the stupidest reason imaginable: he was called an upstart.
The Blues Brothers - In 1980, John Landis teamed up with Dan Akyroid to make the best comedy the world had ever seen. On a mission from God to raise five thousand dollars and deliver it to the Cooke County Assesser's Office in the Honorable Richard J. Daley building in Downtown Chicago, Illinois, Jake and Elwood Blues must find a way to finance an orphanage on the verge of foreclosure. The two drive across the state in the hopes of reviving their old band; they promote their upcoming show with the help of some famous faces, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Cab Calloway. A cop chase of immeasurable proportions coincides with a car battle between the Blues Brothers and the Illinois Nazis, headed by Henry Gibson. More cops than you ever thought existed and a race against the clock to save the orphanage make the crescendo a heart stopping thrill-ride. The musical interludes throughout are a wonderful tribute to Vaudeville and to the original Saturday Night Live.
The Hudsucker Proxy - The wonderful story of a kid from the country moving to the city with his big idea. His rise to the top as a captian of industry and his fall back to paupery. Very touching, comical and real with powerful performances from Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Lee, as well as a battle between good and evil that fills the halls of every corporation. Wonderful piece of cinema.
The Petrified Forest - Leslie Howard and Bette Davis team up to battle wits with Humphry Bogart, as the mob boss, trapped in a little shack of a cantina in Arizona's Petrified Forest. Stark drama and humorous circumstance, maintained by a grandfather who's always meeting interesting people but nobody believes him and now finally gets to prove that interesting people are drawn to him by chatting with the mob gboss as he holds the group hostage. Characters include a never-was football star and a failure of a writer.
Of Human Bondage - A young man has a club foot in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. All his life he is made to feel shame for his affliction until he meets a beautiful girl. She seems to love him in spite of himself. Through the years she treats him as a bank account and a cripple, until a startling climax in which he must save her life from a drug overdose. Unbelievable performances perfect film from the same people who produced The Petrified Forest.
A Clockwork Orange - It's just... WOW!
2001: A Space Odyssey - The reason behind this film is never clear bu it must be watched again and again. The presentation is incredible and production value this high is rarer than rare.
The Seventh Seal - A knight returning home from the crusades inadvertantly carries the black plague and infects his whole country. A chess game between the knight, played by Max Von Sydow, and death intersperses moments of heavy drama and dark comedy. Directed by Ingmar Bergman.
The Wizard of Speed and Time - This movie was made at a time when studios were just getting computers, titles were done with computers and minor special effects were done with computers. The computer effects of the time were terrible. This is the story of a man who directs and stars in an animated sequence abaout a wizard. Throughout history, actors have acted arolund special effects and the effects are inserted after-the-fact. Mike Jitlov creates a whole world for his wizard character in which the character is able to genuinely interact with the special effects rater than just imagine them being there. This is a movie made by a person who cares about how a movie is made more than whether or not it is made.
Fantasia - Fantasia is simply a view ihnto the world of classical music, an introduction to a place most people never go. It is incredible, a true masterpiece from Walt Disney.
Contact - All of the science in Contact makes sense. The alien in Contact makes sense. Jodie Foster is brilliant in Contact. James Woods is incredible in Contact. Matthew McConaughey is fantastic in Contact. Contact is a wonderful film for any person who loves science fiction, and the effects arew wonderful.
Moby Dick - "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!" Moby Dick is an incredible storyh, though it is difficult to digest for many, Ray Bradbury's adaptation of Herman Mellville's novel, starring Gregory Peck as Ahab, is as good as it gets.
Tarzan the Ape Man - Because Jo0hnny Weismuller was Jackie Chan.
Kill Bill Vol. 1-2 All the elements of a Tarantino movie from true Romance to Jackie Brown and including Four Rooms, this homage to hollywood and product placement is brutal(in more ways than one) and honest(in more ways than you think).
Casablanca - "Play it once, Sam. For old times' sake." It's the most loved movie ever for good reason, find out.
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Errol Flynn is dashing and marvelous. It's an incredible film of epic proportions.
Punch Drunk Love - Adam Sandler only sucks when you let him think. Otherwise he's actually a very capable and talented actor.
The Robe and Claudius and the Gladiators - Two movies that look deep into the mythology of Christian faith, the first two movies ever presented in CinemaScope, starring Victor Mature, Get them and watch them again.