40) Back to the Future (Universal Pictures)
1985 - Although not director Robert Zemeckis’s first feature length film, Back to the Future is the film that undoubtedly turned Zemeckis into a high-demand talent. With a gifted cast featuring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover and the perfectly cast Christopher Lloyd, this film is certainly a blockbuster action spectacle guaranteed to entertain. That being said, it’s the heart at the core of this film that makes it so special. Imagine how you’d feel if you could travel back in time to where your own parents were the same age as you. Imagine meeting them and interacting with them before your mere existence wasn’t even a thought. Oh, and then the fate of not just your parents, but your own life is now put into your hands. How would you react? How would you handle it emotionally or psychologically. The way Fox handles the scene where he first meets his mother from the past is the perfect balance of nervous humor and genuine awe. The fact that the potential Mrs. McFly develops a bit of a crush on her future son, unbeknownst to her, adds much more to the awkward humor.
39) Blazing Saddles (Warner Bros.)
1974 - It may not be the best Mel Brooks film, but it sure comes close. Blazing Saddles was crass, goofy, and unabashedly politically incorrect. This film did for westerns what Airplane! and The Naked Gun series would later do for disaster and crime movies respectively. While overall a goofy movie - which it’s meant to be - the various references and use of racial humor are strongly written and as witty as they come. Plus the timing and chemistry between Gene Wilder and the late Cleavon Little proves that these two provided us with one of the best comic duos in film history. Blazing Saddles also shows why Mel Brooks is by far the greatest film satirist of all-time. “Well, raise my rent!”
38) Forrest Gump (Paramount Pictures)
1994 - The first of the three movies I mentioned that were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in the same year, Forrest Gump follows the life of a simpleton from Greenbow, Alabama. We witness him first meeting Elvis as a child and then growing up to become an All-American football player, enlisting in the Army, meeting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon (the funniest moment in the film, by the way), serving his country in Vietnam (It's this whole other country), and proving to us that if you're persistent enough, you'll eventually win that girl you simply refuse to let go of. Plus, I'm not ashamed to admit this is one of the few movies that can get me to tear up at the end. It's really unfortunate that this film - by a minority, mind you - gets some undeserved hate for snubbing out two other films I will later mention in this list for Best Picture at the 1995 Oscars. While I agree Forrest Gump wouldn't have been my pick for Best Picture, it certainly deserved the Best Director and Best Actor Oscars (Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks respectively) it took home that night. It also certainly, without a doubt, doesn't change the fact that this is an unforgettably beautiful, funny, and moving film.
37) Midnight Cowboy (United Artists)
1969 - If Dustin Hoffman hasn't yet convinced you he's one of the greatest actors of all-time, the scene I just played was mostly improvised. The cab you see in the shot wasn't supposed to be on set. One unsuspecting taxi driver was apparently unaware traffic was blocked off for filming. End result: Hoffman does what he can to salvage the scene and gives us one of the most memorable moments in cinema. Midnight Cowboy, may seem like a cheap X-rated movie (To date, it's the only X-rated film to win the Best Picture Oscar). Strip away the sex, the excess and hedonism and you're still left with two richly written characters in Joe Buck and "Ratso" Rizzo, wonderfully played by Oscar winners Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman respectively. Their unlikely friendship is the heart and soul of this movie while also capturing the seedy essence of the Manhattan underbelly, perfectly crafted by director John Schlesinger and screenwriter Waldo Salt.
36) Caddyshack (Warner Bros.)
1980 - Caddyshack is the comedy film equivalent to a "Supergroup" rock band. You had two Saturday Night Live alums in Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, a sitcom veteran from The Mary Tyler Moore Show in Ted Knight, the late great comic Rodney Dangerfield, and SCTV veteran Harold Ramis as director/co-writer. Put them all together into one film and you achieve comic gold... or total consciousness. What makes this film so hilarious is that it's a movie about golfers that - save the final golf tournament bet - focuses very little on the actual golfing. Like any great comedy - or any great film for that matter - it's about the characters here. So its got that going for it... which is nice. Oh, and you'll never look at a Baby Ruth candy bar the same ever again after watching this.
35) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (United Artists)
1966 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is filmmaker Sergio Leone's masterpiece. While I would recommend watching this along with the two previous films in the Man With No Name trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More being the other two), this film can still stand alone as its own great movie. Bolstered by three top notch performances from Clint Eastwood (The Good), Lee Van Cleef (The Bad) and Eli Wallach (The Ugly), a memorable score from the great Ennio Morricone, and one of the most edge of your seat, climatic gun showdowns ever, this is the quintessential western. Plus, with all due respect to the amazing Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach's Tuco character is the true star of this film.
34) The Shawshank Redemption (Columbia Pictures)
1994 - While it is technically a “prison break” movie, The Shawshank Redemption is much, much, much, much more than that. Touching on everything from corruption within the prison system, who to trust in the prisons (watch out for the Warden and the bull queers), and the difficulty of long-term prisoners trying to assimilate within society once back out in the real world, it's hard - no, impossible - not to be eyes glued to the screen for the entire near two and a half hour running time. Both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman share pitch perfect chemistry together. Bob Gunton plays a terrifically cold Warden Samuel Norton, and the shot of Andy Dufresne finally escaping prison in the rain is one of the most enduring images in film. For the record, this is the second of the three Best Picture nominations from the 1995 Oscars. "Get busy living or get busy dying."
1994 - While it is technically a “prison break” movie, The Shawshank Redemption is much, much, much, much more than that. Touching on everything from corruption within the prison system, who to trust in the prisons (watch out for the Warden and the bull queers), and the difficulty of long-term prisoners trying to assimilate within society once back out in the real world, it's hard - no, impossible - not to be eyes glued to the screen for the entire near two and a half hour running time. Both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman share pitch perfect chemistry together. Bob Gunton plays a terrifically cold Warden Samuel Norton, and the shot of Andy Dufresne finally escaping prison in the rain is one of the most enduring images in film. For the record, this is the second of the three Best Picture nominations from the 1995 Oscars. "Get busy living or get busy dying."
1975 - What makes One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest such an excellent movie is the character of Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson). His gradual change of character is essential to this film's greatness. At first, you can understand his frustration in having to deal daily with not just his fellow patients in the nuthouse but also the bitch that is Nurse Ratched as well. At the same time, though, you wanna slap him as well for thinking he could skate by on an easier sentence. Then, over time, we start to see him, bit by bit, warm up to his fellow patients, particularly Billy Bibbit (superbly played by Brad Dourif in an Oscar nominated role). At the beginning of the film, McMurphy's a smug rebel trying to scam the system. By the end of it, we find ourselves caring for him. That's great storytelling.
32) The French Connection (20th Century Fox)
1971 - How the hell are there no clips other than film trailers of this film? Get with the program, Youtube! The French Connection was a breath of fresh air in the crime thriller genre. Having a director like William Friedkin and actors such as Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey doesn't hurt either. Centering on two narcotics detectives, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo, trying to track down a heroin source all the way from Europe, this film was an innovative take on police dramas. It's gritty, fast paced, the protagonist was actually someone you'd find hard to like, and yes, it features the best car chase scene ever. I said ever. Take that Fast and Furious movies!
31) Taxi Driver (Columbia Pictures)
1976 - You really think director Martin Scorsese wouldn't eventually wind up on this list? It won't be the last time either. Taxi Driver is all about Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) and his slow descent into madness. Your first impression of Travis, following him being spurned by presidential campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), and maybe a bit before then, is - well, he's fucking nuts. That is until he meets Iris "Easy" Steensma (Jodie Foster). She may be twelve, but take a stab at how she got that nickname. It's through Iris that we start to see a little crack of humanity within Travis. Don't get me wrong, he's still not all there. Nevertheless, what he's willing to do for this girl to help her - as bloody as it turns out to be - shows there's still some humanity left in him. With Taxi Driver, director Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader have created a brilliant look into the human psychosis. It's funny many people have Travis Bickle pegged as a film villain. Watch this film, and you'll realize by the end, that's not entirely true.
Well, that's all for Part II. We got one, two, three more parts in the series, with the third being the pinacle - the top 10 greatest movies ever. Once again, feel free to comment on what you think are the greatest films ever, what are your personal favorites, or even if you disagree with any picks I made.
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