20) To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Pictures)
1962 - Gregory Peck deservedly won a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the iconic literary character Atticus Finch. Based on the acclaimed novel by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of Finch, a small Alabama town lawyer, who puts his career on the line to represent Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man accused of rape. The true gem of this story lies not in Finch, but through the eyes of his children, daughter Scout (Mary Badham) and her older brother Jem (Philip Alford), as they witness the events surrounding the trial. Badham was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar and this also marked the film debut of Robert Duvall as the iconic recluse Boo Radley. While still a riveting courtroom drama, it's the strong relationships outside the courtroom that really make this film such a joy to watch.
19) The Deer Hunter (Universal Pictures)
1978 - It sucks that all the clips of this film on youtube had the embedding function disabled. What we have instead is a typical 1970's trailer, which basically gives away the entire plot. Regardless, The Deer Hunter is still one of the most emotionally heart-wrenching depictions of the Vietnam War. Centering on the lives of four men - Mike (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), Stan (John Cazale) and Steve (John Savage) - right before they head off to Vietnam, this is a sobering tale of the effects war can have on a man emotionally and psychologically. Christopher Walken wound up winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his powerful performance of the broken and scarred Nick, which culminates in one of the most heartbreaking moments in film. This was also the late John Cazale's last film who succumbed to cancer before the filming of this even ended.
18) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Warner Bros.)
1968 - You already know that Hal 9000 was given the top spot on my 50 greatest villains series, and it's this clip here that really shows you why. The idea of a inanimate machine becoming sentient was a frightening one to say the least back in the late 60's. The movie as a whole, though, is more than just a film with a great villain. It's a haunting, beautiful and visually stunning sci-fi epic. This certainly isn't for everyone. I could most definitely see those with ADHD throwing fits trying to watch this. I, on the other hand, marvel at this grand achievement, not just in visual effects (which once again, for the time, was groundbreaking) but also in narrative as it explores the imagination, ingenuity and also the folly of mankind.
1960 - Extremely controversial at the time, Psycho is now a film I would strongly recommend to anyone wanting to get into horror filming. The use of the camera here is genius whether it's focusing on the water beading down from the shower head, the blood trickling down the drain, or the zooming out while focusing on Marion Crane's lifeless expression. Masterful director Alfred Hitchcock did more than just create another "horror classic". With Psycho, he legitimized the horror film franchise and revolutionized the way horror, suspense thrillers and mysteries would be handled in the future. With great performances from Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam and original Scream Queen Janet Leigh (who's daughter Jamie Lee Curtis would become another Scream Queen in 1978's Halloween), pitch perfect direction from Hitchcock, and one of the best, most ominous musical score ever by Bernard Herrmann, Psycho is more than just a phenomenal horror film. It's a phenomenal film. Hitchcock's created more than his share of great movies. Psycho, though, remains the best.
16) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Universal Pictures)
1982 - Hey, look, another Spielberg flick! Able to touch the hearts of both adults and children, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial centers on Elliott (Henry Thomas), a young boy raised by his single mother Mary (Dee Wallace) along with his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Upon finding an aging alien botanist mistakenly left behind, Elliott gradually befriends the "little squashy guy". While it's definitely an entertaining sci-fi adventure, E.T. delivers more than that. What it also brings is a beautifully moving portrait of childhood and friendship, and I dare you not to at least choke up in the final scene when E.T. points to Elliott's head and says, "I'll... be... right... here." Full disclosure - I balled my eyes out every time as a kid during that scene... Dammit! Not again! Where's the tissues?
15) The Exorcist (Warner Bros.)
1973 - It's grotesque, frightening, vile, and that little girl said what? As a horror film, we witness innocence lost through the adorable twelve year old Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) as she is possessed by the demon Pazuzu. This is more than a horror film though. It's about the characters and how one event through that little girl changes their lives. Whether it's Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), an atheist that seeks the aid and help of a priest after witnessing things happen to her daughter that she cannot possibly explain, or Father Damien Karras, the priest Chris consults who's in the middle of losing his own faith following the death of his mother, these are characters we genuinely care about. In a day and age today where people want their horror films to be about how gory you can get or how many jump scares you can cram into one scene, I look back on this film and realize a true horror film begins with characters you can empathize with.
14) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney Pictures)
1937 - All it takes is one look at just how gosh darn loveable Snow White is to realize just how big of bitch the Queen is. I've said it before on here that I'm not ashamed to admit how much I love Disney's animated films. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs stands above them all as the greatest. The animation, for 1937, is as vibrant and colorful as anything they can put out today. The characters are full of life and heart, and the story, for being a children's film, is rather sobering. You'd expect nothing less from a Grimm's Fairy Tale, but seriously, the Queen is really - she's just a bitch. It's ironic that at the time this was referred to as "Disney's folly". The naysayers thought this would never be successful. $416 million box office dollars later as well as an earned status as one of the greatest animated films ever, I'm sure those naysayers changed their tune rather quickly.
13) It's a Wonderful Life (RKO Radio Pictures)
1946 - The ultimate Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life could get a dead man to gain a lump in his throat by the end of the movie. While the first half gives us one of the greatest romantic pairings ever with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, it's the second half's "no man's an island" tale that makes this film as great as it is. We've all wondered at some point what life would be like if we didn't exist. I'd like to think the people in my life would be downright devastated if not flat out suicidal if I never existed. It's that moment when the angel Clarence tells George, "You've been given a great gift, George - a chance to see what the world would be like without you.", and then all the moments that follow when George sees how much different life would be without him. Bedford Falls is now named Pottersville. Bailey Park is just an old cemetery. His children don't exist. His wife has no idea who he is, and his brother - since he was never born and wasn't there to save his life like he does in the beginning - died at a young age. The message is both timeless and universal, and no matter how many times I watch this film, it never gets old.
12) Schindler's List (Universal Pictures)
1993 - While Apocalypse Now captured the "horror" of war better than most movies, it was more kinda like a nightmare unfolding before our eyes. Schindler's List captured the horror and stark reality of war, specifically the Holocaust, better than any other film of its kind. With Academy Award winner Steve Spielberg's masterful direction combined with Academy Award winner Steven Zaillian's powerfully emotional screenplay, and three superb performances from Academy Award nominees Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, this is a film that in no way holds back on the grim reality of the Holocaust. Ultimately, the silver lining in this story is the character of Oskar Schindler, who in the midst of literal and moral black and white is the gray center. He's a man that at the beginning of the film sees hiring Jews to operate his business as a way of running cheap labor. By the end of the film though, when he sees the result of the 1,100 lives he saved 'cause of this, he realizes the difference he really made in just one quote mentioned by Kingsley's Itzhak Stern: "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire."
11) Citizen Kane (RKO Radio Pictures)
1941 - Now before any of you run a stake through my heart as to why this isn't in the top 3, or top 5, or even top 10, consider this. Is the 11th spot out of the top 50 greatest movies ever out of every single movie ever made really that bad? Orson Welles directed, co-wrote, produced and starred in this masterpiece of the rise and fall of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, based on the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It's a truly haunting portrayal by Welles, and the fact that this was also his directorial debut is all the more impressive. The use of lighting and cinematography is exquisite and the writing by both Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz is simple yet profound. By the way, you'll definitely find out what "Rosebud" is, but what it means is still open for debate.
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