100 Must-See Movies

The complete list of 100 movies, in no particular order. Click through the links to see the details for each movie.

1 to 10
1: The Sting (1973)
2: Poltergeist (1982)
3: Clerks (1994)
4: American Beauty (1999)
5: Birth of a Nation (1915)
6: The Killing (1956)
7: Donnie Darko (2001)
8: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
9: Crash (2004)
10: Taxi Driver (1976)
11 to 20
11: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
12: Trainspotting (1996)
13: Amelie (2001)
14: Blade Runner (1982)
15: Heathers (1989)
16: Dawn of the Dead (1978)
17: To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
18: Scream (1996)
19: Duck Soup (1933)
20: Vertigo (1958)
21 to 30
21: Aliens (1986)
22: The Shining (1980)
23: Perfect Blue (1997)
24: Dark City (1998)
25: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
26: Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
27: Mulholland Drive (2001)
28: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
29: Toy Story (1995)
30: Cabaret (1972)
31 to 40
31: Gladiator (2000)
32: Jurassic Park (1993)
33: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
34: Spellbound (1945)
35: Labyrinth (1986)
36: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
37: The Last Detail (1973)
38: Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)
39: V for Vendetta (2006)
40: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
41 to 50
41: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
42: William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996)
43: Gojira (Godzilla) (1954)
44: Fight Club (1999)
45: Brazil (1985)
46: Amistad (1997)
47: The Breakfast Club (1985)
48: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
49: High Society (1956)
50: The Matrix (1999)
51 to 60
51: Seven (1995)
52: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
53: Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (2002)
54: Strange Days (1995)
55: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 - 2003)
56: Wild Things (1998)
57: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
58: Paths of Glory (1957)
59: Empire Records (1995)
60: O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)
61 to 70
61: The Exorcist (1973)
62: Bugsy Malone (1976)
63: Ocean's Eleven (2001)
64: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
65: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
66: Goldfinger (1964)
67: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
68: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
69: Pulp Fiction (1994)
70: Cube (1997)
71 to 80
71: Om Shanti Om (2007)
72: The Ring (2002)
73: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
74: Ghostbusters (1984)
75: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
76: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
77: Paprika (2006)
78: 12 Monkeys (1995)
79: The Princess Bride (1987)
80: Rocky (1976)
81 to 90
81: Primer (2004)
82: Hot Fuzz (2007)
83: Memento (2000)
84: House on Haunted Hill (1959)
85: 3:10 To Yuma (2007)
86: Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
87: Casablanca (1942)
88: Children of Men (2006)
89: Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
90: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
91 to 100
91: Star Wars (1977)
92: 28 Days Later (2002)
93: Sneakers (1992)
94: Saw (2004)
95: Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
96: Scent of a Woman (1992)
97: Rosemary's Baby (1968)
98: No Country For Old Men (2007)
99: Schindler's List (1993)
100: Citizen Kane (1941)

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Dust Forms Words 100 Must-See Movies: 91 to 100

91: Star Wars (1977)
The original Star Wars by all rights should never have been a huge sucess. A pulp space-opera that placed a cast of largely unknown actors in a universe replete with jargon and loose ends, on face value it appeared to be identical to a range of mediocre B-grade titles that preceded it.

The genius, of course, is in the execution. The main cast has a wonderful presence and chemistry, the special effects are revolutionary, the signature John Williams score is amazing, and a host of creative energy is visible in every aspect of the production from its alien designs through to its special effects.

92: 28 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later is Danny Boyle's great revival of the zombie horror genre. Cillian Murphy plays a man who awakens from a coma to discover that while he slept a terrible plague has ravaged Britain, turning its victims into violent madmen.

Like all the best zombie films, 28 Days Later is less about the zombies than it is about the survivors; the film explores a range of individual reactions to the disaster and the real danger eventually turns out to be not the zombies but the un-infected. The movie is particularly memorable for striking cinematography depicting an abandoned London. This is a landmark in genre cinema which will continue to attract audiences for a great many years.

93: Sneakers (1992)
The formula for a good caper movie is simple to grasp yet difficult to execute; it requires a strong ensemble cast, a range of clever cons, and a well-paced script to tie them together. Sneakers is a good example of getting it right.

Robert Redford plays the head of a "tiger team", taking money from companies to test their security via attempted penenetration. However, his criminal past catches up with him when the CIA blackmail him into using his team to steal a revolutionary cryptographic device. The range of supporting stars includes Dan Akroyd, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix and Mary McDonnell, who together make for a highly entertaining film.

94: Saw (2004)
Saw is the movie that kick-started the sub-genre of "torture porn", also known as torture horror, which along with the influence of Japan has been one of the driving forces behind horror cinema in the 21st century. It's a movement that has been perhaps justly criticised for its gratuitous and disturbing content, but it's important to remember that a good film is a good film regardless of its genre.

Saw is a good film. It tells the tale of the Jigsaw Killer, who places each of his victims inside a gruesome but escapable deathtrap designed to make them reflect on their life. It's clever, it's well-filmed, and it justifies each of its nightmarish set-pieces in the context of a suspenseful and gripping plot. Regardless of your opinions or apprehensions about torture horror, don't make the mistake of lumping Saw with its contemporaries, and take the chance to check it out. Possibly in a well-lit room in the company of friends.

95: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
A big-budget pirate movie was never likely to be totally awful, but Pirates of the Caribbean turned out to be something enduringly special, becoming a blockbuster adventure that captured the spirit of classics such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

Certainly Gore Verbinski's directing played a large part in the film's success, but the centrepiece of Pirates is unquestionably Johnny Depp's outrageous portrayal of the antiheroic Captain Jack Sparrow. The usual array of ancillary excellence is on show around the edges: a scintillating score, captivating visual design, and supporting performances from Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and the scene-stealing Geoffrey Rush.

96: Scent Of A Woman (1992)
Al Pacino is a fantastic actor, and it's rarely as obvious as in Scent of a Woman, a remake of Dino Risi's 1974 Profumo di donna. Pacino plays a retired lieutenant colonel suffering from blindness; he bullies a local school student (Chris O'Donnell) into acting as his aide on an unannounced visit to New York. It soon becomes clear that the lieutenant colonel plans to make this his last journey; after completing his final days in New York he intends to commit suicide.

What makes the film work is the way it introduces you to Pacino's character. What initially seems like a loud, crass, domineering soldier eventually turns out to be... well, a loud, crass, complex soldier. It's a plot arc that could only work with a truly magical performance in the lead role, and Pacino delivers in style.

97: Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski's adaptation of Ira Levin's novel Rosemary's Baby is a landmark horror thriller often overlooked in favour of later creations such as The Exorcist. Mia Farrow plays the titular Rosemary, who falls pregnant after moving into a new apartment with her husband. The pregnancy seems anything but normal, though, and soon Rosemary becomes convinced that she is the target of a Satanic conspiracy.

One of the great things about this film is how it starts out as a romantic comedy and becomes a creepy psychological horror almost by stealth. Another strong aspect is its exploration of societal attitudes towards pregnancy; Rosemary's concerns are dismissed as the delusions of "typical female hysteria", and to be fair she is irrational and hysterical, although for apparently good reason. On a historical note, Rosemary's Baby was the last movie Polanski made before his pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by members of Charlie Manson's cult.

98: No Country For Old Men (2007)
Once again the Coen Brothers deliver an offensively anticlimactic ending, but it's at the end of a film so intensely well made that you can't help but forgive them after poisoning only two or three of their pets. Josh Brolin plays a Texas redneck who stumbles across a fortune in drug money; Javier Bardem is the sociopathic killer hired to track him from Texas to Mexico and recover the money.

This is another of the Coens' "regional" films; here the region in question is Texas and the dialogue is filled with drawling accents and charming idiom. Brolin and Bardem are both fantastic, as is Tommy Lee Jones as a sherriff who never quite becomes important to the plot despite taking up a surprisingly large amount of screen time. This is the most technically accomplished film in the Coens' repertoire and its lasting beauty will remain with you long after your violent anger at the ending has passed.

99: Schindler's List (1993)
Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List was a radical shift in style for the prominent director. Where previously he'd been an industry icon known for churning out family-friendly adventure laced with cutting special effects, in Schindler's List he delivered a miserable black and white drama dealing largely with the Nazi extermination of Jews.

The movie tells the real-life story of Oskar Schindler, businessman and Nazi collaborator, who ended up saving hundreds of Jews from German death camps in the closing days of World War II. This is easily Spielberg's best film, powerfully mixing audience expectations with the real stories of Holocaust survivors to create a compelling and heart-wrenching cinematic experience.

100: Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kane has a kind of legendary status in the world of film, frequently listed as the greatest movie ever made. It's not the greatest movie ever made. It's unfocused and poorly paced, and the famous "Rosebud" angle creates an artificial narrative drive that conceals the weakness of the central plot.

But it is good. I'd go so far as to say it's very good. And it's tremendously historically significant. If the 1920s are the birth of cinema, then Citizen Kane is its coming of age. Orson Welles brings together a range of technical and artistic devices, none of them original, and uses them together to achieve a deliberate effect in the mood and perception of the viewer. It's the point at which film went from being merely an extension of photography or theatre and became a complex and unique medium in its own right. Even if only to dislike it for your own unique reasons, this is a film that you absolutely need to see.

Dust Forms Words 100 Must-See Movies: 81 to 90

81: Primer (2004)
Filmed on a mere $7,000, Primer is the best time-travel movie ever shot, despite never using the words "time" and "travel" in the same sentence. Its dense scientific jargon and frequently subtle plot twists mean that it may take several watchings before you see everything there is to see, but the film is presented in such a well-paced manner that it's a pleasure to rewatch.

The thing that stands out most in the film is how real everything feels; the discovery that leads to the time travel occurs in a way that feels believable and the technology has practical limitations that eventually turn out to not be so significant as first believed. The two main characters have very human reactions to their discovery, and the low budget brings the action into houses and garages, creating a domestic down-to-earth feel for the whole film.

82: Hot Fuzz (2007)
The second cinematic team-up between Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright is as strong as their first. Hot Fuzz is ostensibly the story of a big-city cop in a small England town, but along the way it plays with the conventions of Westerns, buddy comedies, and small-town conspiracy movies.

The first act is a little slow, but if the film spends a lot of time loading guns up front it's only because it fires so many at the end. The climax is non-stop brilliance. Hot Fuzz is easily one of the funniest British comedies ever made, and like Shaun of the Dead it carries a strong and coherent plotline behind the humour.

83: Memento (2000)
Directed by Christopher Nolan, Memento is the tale of Leonard, a man unable to form new memories after suffering a traumatic incident. Keeping track of his life with photographs, notes, and tattoos, Leonard is engaged in a search for the man who raped and murdered his wife. The film plays out backwards, starting with the conclusion of Leonard's search and moving earlier in time with each new scene, effectively keeping the audience in Leonard's situation of not knowing the past except by the notes he has left himself.

Guy Pearce is fantastic as Leonard but the real power of the movie comes from its script, written by Nolan himself after adapting it from a short story by his brother. It's a moving, thought provoking, and powerfully depressing movie that leaves the viewer stunned.

84: House On Haunted Hill (1959)
House on Haunted Hill isn't a good movie - it's a great one. But more, I suspect, for horror movie afficionadoes than average filmgoers. It's by William Castle, famed "gimmick" director, who claimed to have filmed the movie in a new technique called "Emergo". Surprised cinema-goers discovered that "Emergo" consisted of a fake skeleton on a pulley which would fly over their heads during the film's climax.

Gimmicks aside, the action on screen is still highly entertaining. This is classic Vincent Price, and forms a good education as to why Price is a horror icon. Here he plays an eccentric millionaire who has invited a group of strangers to spend the night in a haunted mansion, where those who survive the night will be paid $10,000. The movie is actually more psychological thriller than ghost story, but Price's performance dominates the film, aided by Carol Ohmart as his manipulative wife and Elisha Cook Jr and Julie Mitchum in supporting parts. House on Haunted Hill exists as a black and white original, a colorised update, and a 1999 remake; if you can get your hands on it, the original is definitely the one to watch.

85: 3:10 To Yuma (2007)
James Mangold's remake of the 1957 film 3:10 To Yuma is one of the finest Westerns ever made. It's the struggle of one man (Christian Bale) to save his farm and win the respect of his son by escorting a notorious bandit (Russell Crowe) to the 3.10 train to Yuma Prison.

Beautiful landscape photography goes a long way to establishing the mood of the film. Christian Bale's complex characterisation of the protagonist makes an interesting contrast to Crowe's suave charisma. 3:10 To Yuma does a bit of everything, and does it consistently right, reminding you exactly why the world once loved Westerns so dearly.

86: Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Simultaneously a clever horror movie and a loving exploration of the age of silent film, Shadow of the Vampire is set during the 1922 filming of the movie Nosferatu. The plot explores the notion that real-life Nosferatu star Max Shreck was in fact a vampire himself. Shadow of the Vampire narrates the outrageous lives of the cast and crew, while simultaneously delivering a horror story that mirrors the events of Nosferatu.

Willem Dafoe as Max Shreck and John Malkovich as filmmaker FW Murnau are the heart of this decidedly odd creation. It's a movie about a silent movie, shot in the style of a silent movie complete with title cards and artificially-added film defects. It's clever, it's highly original, and it's more than a little unsettling.

87: Casablanca (1942)
Ingrid Bergman is amazing in everything she touches; Humphrey Bogart's performance is far above his norm. There's romance, and stoicism, and some Nazis who are, on average, thwarted. But even that can't really explain exactly why Casablanca is so good.

This is a tale of separated lovers who reunite in the Moroccan city of Casablanca during its Nazi occupation; Bogart plays an expatriot nightclub owner while Bergman is the wife of an important resistance leader seeking to escape the city. Sometimes movies just come together to be more than the sum of their parts; Casablanca is one such indefinably excellent film.

88: Children of Men (2006)
Children of Men may ostensibly be a science fiction film, but the sci-fi takes a back seat to real human drama and disturbing political commentary. It's directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who has a genius for creating this kind of pensive fantasy. Clive Owen plays Theo, who lives in a world where no child has been born in eighteen years; the world economy is in chaos and Britain, under the rule of a totalitarian regime, is under siege from an unceasing tide of refugees seeking political stablity and freedom.

The film concerns Theo's journey escorting the world's only pregnant woman to the custody of the near-mythical Human Project, all the while hunted both by the government and by revolutionary extremists. It's an amazing film from start to finish, particularly the technically complex battle scenes in the third act. It's a tragedy that more people haven't seen this movie.

89: Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Cruel Intentions is a movie based on a film based on a play based on a book based on allegedly real events. Dangerous Liaisons is one step simpler, being the film based on the play, and is by a process of logic therefore an exponentially better movie. Attempts to extrapolate this logic into some sort of blessing of the play or the book are unsafe and should not be attempted.

John Malkovich and Glenn Close play rival 18th century nobles, who obtain their chief amusement through the seduction and ruination of the innocent. The two leads are amazing, particularly Close as the complex Marquise de Merteuil. Period dramas like this rise and fall on their wit, costuming and visual authenticity, so it's no surprise Dangerous Liaisons won Oscars for its screenplay, costume design and art direction.

90: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Jack Nicholson has one of the most enviable careers in Hollywood; his list of Oscar nominations alone is longer than the entire resume of many actors. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is yet another of his signature roles, in which he plays criminal Randle McMurphy, who schemes his way out of jail and into a mental ward in the belief it will allow him to finish his sentence in luxury. However, he finds himself and his fellow mental patients under the jurisdiction of Nurse Ratched, a petty tyrant who runs the ward with an iron fist.

Told in the style of a jailbreak film, Randle's struggle against Ratched is the classic story of one man against an unjust system; Nicholson is absolutely perfect in the role and does full justice to the poignant script. There's very little to criticise about One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and it well deserves its place in film history.

Dust Forms Words 100 Must-See Movies: 71 to 80

71: Om Shanti Om (2007)
It's hard to be more Bollywood than Om Shanti Om. Not only is it the highest grossing Hindi film of all time, but it features no less than 32 A-list Bollywood stars together in one movie. Om Shanti Om is like two movies back to back. The first act is a romantic tragedy in which Shahrukh Khan plays a bumblingly loveable would-be actor who falls for a glamorous Bollywood diva. The second act sees Khan reincarnated as a wealthy but brilliant playboy who is driven by visions of his past life to wreak revenge upon an evil film producer.

The narrative is littered with Bollywood parodies and in-jokes which are likely to be mostly lost on Western audiences, but the humour and enthusiasm shine through regardless. More importantly, the plot is solid and exceedingly well told, built around a showstopping performance from Khan. Each and every musical number is catchy, dynamic and perfectly choreographed, both complementing and advancing the plot. If you're new to Bollywood, then Om Shanti Om is what the fuss is all about, and if you somehow get a chance to see it on the big screen then you should quietly murder your own family in order to do so.

72: The Ring (2002)
People regularly try and tell me that the Japanese Ringu is better than the Western remake. With all due respect, I just don't know how they could possibly think that. It has everything that worked in the original, with the added benefits of Gore Verbinski's stunning direction and Naomi Watts' incredible perfomance in the lead role.

The movie relates the tale of a cursed video that sentences its viewers to seven days of horror followed by death. Despite its horror origins, this is a beautiful film. It's filled with stark and powerful images, not the least of which is the footage comprising the cursed video itself. Other memorable shots include the "burning tree", and the death of the mad horse. Not only is this an eye-wideningly well made film, but it single-handedly reshaped Western horror for the 21st century by exposing audiences to the bleak and inexplicable Japanese explorations of the genre.

73: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Often seen as "the British answer to Pulp Fiction", Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is an ensemble-cast crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, a man probably now more famous for being married to Madonna.

Along with Snatch, also by Ritchie, Lock Stock is responsible for triggering a short-lived revival of the British crime sub-genre. Featuring great performances from Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham, Lock Stock is an enjoyable tightly paced ride through London's underworld driven mostly by clever dialogue and a labrynthine plot.

74: Ghostbusters (1984)
Sci-fi comedy isn't always something that works particularly well, but one of the reasons people keep trying is just how entertaining it can be when done right. Ghostbusters is the gold standard in the genre; a fantastic cast, strong writing, unique ideas and a solid plot come together to form a timelessly enjoyable film.

Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis play three parapsychology professors who go into business as "ghost busters", claiming to detect and trap "spectral entities" with the aid of their custom technology. Initially regarded as a laughing stock, the three become uniquely placed to save reality when New York is threatened by the invasion of the Sumerian god Gozer. If the three main Ghostbusters aren't enough to sell you on the film, then try memorable supporting performances by Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver, or fantastic set pieces including the capture of the green ghost Slimer or the battle against the giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

75: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Western buddy film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid follows two turn-of-the-century bandits through the tail end of their career. After a failed bank robbery, Butch (played by Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) become the target of a determined manhunt by lawman Joe Lefours; the film follows them as they take to the road, leaving a string of robberies in their wake.

Much like The Sting, the core of the movie is the on-screen chemistry of Newman and Redford, and the light-hearted and frequently funny dialogue between them. Although based on real events, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is unapologetic in romanticising its subject matter, which ultimately results in its memorable and often-parodied final scene.

76: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
This is the greatest jailbreak movie of all time. Tim Robbins stars as a man unjustly sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Shawshank Prison. Morgan Freeman plays a fellow lifer with a heart of gold, and doubles as the film's narrator. The story tells of Robbins' heartbreaking experiences in prison and his decades-in-the-making escape plan.

This is the signature performance of both Freeman and Robbins; their ability to command the audience's attention is the fuel that keeps the film moving. It's based on a Stephen King novella, and directed by Frank Darabont, a man who's made his career out of adapting King to the big screen (other Darabont films include The Green Mile and The Mist). The Shawshank Redemption is cleverly and sensitively made, and hugely powerful and moving.

77: Paprika (2006)
Where Perfect Blue was a plot-focused murder mystery, Paprika is a film which wilfully ignores story and structure in order to present a beautifully psychedelic visual odyssey. Like Perfect Blue, Paprika comes from director Satoshi Kon. The narrative of Paprika focuses on a new psychiatric therapy that treats patients by allowing the therapist to directly enter the patient's dreams. However, soon after its development signs are revealed that patients' dreams are merging into a single nightmare, into which is sucked protagonist Atsuko Chiba and her dream-state alter-ego Paprika.

The movie looks and sounds astonishing, particularly the opening sequences. At times it feels more like an extended music video than a story. Despite all that, the movie remains satisfying from beginning to end and is a generally uplifting experience.

78: 12 Monkeys (1995)
Terry Gilliam's time-travelling end-of-the-world story 12 Monkeys has the unfortunate curse of being middle child in a decade of exemplary science fiction. While not forgotten by audiences, its unique charm often suffers for being released so close to classics like Dark City, Cube and The Matrix. In a world ravaged by the aftermath of a terrible plague, Bruce Willis plays a prisoner who "volunteers" to take part in a dangerous experiment: to travel back in time to 1996 and identify the source of the plague that destroyed mankind. However, when he goes off course and lands in 1990 instead of 1996, he is committed to a psychiatric institution where he begins to doubt that the future he came from ever really existed.

A great performance by Brad Pitt makes up for a decidedly lackluster one by Madeleine Stowe. Paul Buckmaster's catchy off-beat theme music helps set the tone of the movie as it examines questions of sanity, memory and predestination.

79: The Princess Bride (1987)
Rob Reiner's comedic fairytale The Princess Bride ranks next to (or just below) The Labyrinth as the finest fantasy movie of the 80s, and until the release of The Lord of the Rings had a strong claim as the finest fantasy ever made. Telling an unlikely tale of romance, kidnapping and revenge, it succeeded in winning over audiences of all ages, despite returning only a modest profit at the box office.

The outrageous narrative is carried by the charisma of all of the leads, with Robert Wright Penn in the title role as Buttercup, Cary Elwes as her lost love Westley, and supporting parts from Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant and Billy Crystal. The excellent script has led to The Princess Bride being a regularly-quoted pop-culture icon.

80: Rocky (1976)
If a court were ever to put Sylvester Stallone's career on trial, Rocky would be the star witness for the defence. Stallone plays a third-rate amateur boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance when he is picked to fight in a promotional match against the heavweight boxing champion.

As well as starring, Stallone is also the man behind the script, and its lack of polish works to its advantage in making the characters seem like real, fallible people. That feeling of flawed humanity is what makes the film exceptional, continuing into the complex figure of Rocky's trainer Micky, and the movie's ending, which is far from typical Hollywood fare. Regardless of the experiences you may have had with other Stallone films, Rocky is something special.

Dust Forms Words 100 Must-See Movies: 61 to 70

61: The Exorcist (1973)
William Friedkin's adaptation of The Exorcist is one of the best and most significant horror movies ever filmed. The plot deals with the possession of 12-year-old Regan MacNeill by an evil force, the reaction to that event by her mother, and the subsequent attempted exorcism. The Exorcist is very much in the vein of Roman Polanski's earlier film Rosemary's Baby but where that movie was really more psychological thriller than horror film, The Exorcist is definitely out to shock and scare.

Linda Blair in the role of Regan is forcefully unsettling, and at release the film traumatised many audiences both with its confronting and arguably blasphemous content, and with its regular superimposition of demonic faces onto the screen at near-subliminal speeds. Two theatrical versions exist - the original cut, and an extended "version you've never seen". Personally I feel the latter is by far the better but some fans prefer the more concise original; watch them both and make up your own mind.

62: Bugsy Malone (1976)
A 1930s gangster musical with all the roles played by children? It sounds like a recipe for disaster but somehow became one of the most lovable movies ever produced for the big screen. An itsy-bitsy Scott Baio plays Bugsy, a two-bit boxing promoter who gets fast-talked into working for mob boss Fat Sam. When gang war breaks out between Fat Sam and Dandy Dan, Bugsy is caught in the middle, while at the same time he strives to win the affections of girl-next-door Blousey Brown.

The majority of the child cast is good, but 15-year-old Jodie Foster as the sultry Tallulah blows her co-stars out of the water. The musical score is catchy and poignantly delivered, and the script is sharp and peppered with well-honed jokes. Watch out for cameos from pint-sized versions of Press Gang's Dexter Fletcher and Doctor Who's Bonnie Langford.

63: Ocean's Eleven (2001)
With all due respect to Messrs. Sinatra, Martin and Davis, the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven is easily the better version. George Clooney plays Danny Ocean, who collects an ensemble cast in order to perform the heist of a lifetime by stealing from a legendary Vegas casino vault. Matt Damon and Brad Pitt co-star, and the rapport between the lead actors is the heart and soul of this first-class film.

Wrapped around the dynamic central cast is a genuinely clever heist plan, snappy dialogue, and a host of well-used cameos from Hollywood and Vegas notables. Considering that it's directed by Steven Soderbergh, the man who made the annoying Erin Brokovich and the interminable Solaris remake, it's all the more surprising that Ocean's Eleven is one of the most thoroughly fun films that America has to offer.

64: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Four movies later, it seems the original is still the best. A charismatic performance by Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and an iconic musical score by John Williams are the backbone of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Shot on the relatively low budget of $20 million, the film re-invigorated Steven Spielberg's career after his poorly-received 1941 and ended up making back close to $350 million at the box office.

Themed on the pulp serials of the 30s and 40s, the success of Raiders is in its non-stop over-the-top adventure, the real humanity of Jones as a character, and in the presence that Harrison Ford invests the role with.

65: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War opus Full Metal Jacket initally suffered unfairly from comparison to Oliver Stone's Platoon, released around the same time. History seems to have largely come to the conclusion, though, that Full Metal Jacket is the superior film. The plot initially deals with the traumatising of awkward new recruit "Gomer Pyle" by his now-iconic drill sergeant, and then moves to Vietnam to follow an army reporter on a journey across the country towards a fateful confrontation with a Vietcong sniper in Hue City.

Full Metal Jacket starts with an impressive script adapted from Gustav Hasford's novel The Short Timers, and fleshes it out with strong performances, excellent directing, and one of the best uses of a licensed soundtrack in any movie ever. It's a war movie that manages to be simultaneously traumatic and a lot of a fun, and is well worth anyone's time.

66: Goldfinger (1964)
If there's one film that perfectly summarises everything that James Bond is about, it's Goldfinger. The magic starts with the Shirley Bassey theme song, and continues through a cast of unforgettable characters including the hat-throwing Oddjob, the absurdly named Pussy Galore, and head villain Auric Goldfinger himself.

While GoldenEye and Casino Royale both lay strong claims to being the greatest Bond movies ever made, Goldfinger is ultimately the movie that best captures the outrageous over-the-top charm that makes Bond so enjoyable.

67: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Sometimes an amazing script can drive a movie to greatness despite some distinctly sub-par directing, and that's the case with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It has both the amazing luck to be written by Tom Stoppard, and the cruel misfortune to be directed by Tom Stoppard.

The story follows, unsurprisingly, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, as they attempt to live normal and fulfilling lives, despite being poorly-defined and ultimately ill-fated supporting characters in another person's play. Surpassingly strange and brilliantly written, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is highbrow British humour at its finest, despite being, as it turned out, filmed in Slovenia.

68: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
It's a matter of debate whether you can best describe the career of Tim Burton as "memorably average" or "on average, memorable". He keeps churning out these beautifully quirky stench-piles with names like Edward Scissorhands or Beetlejuice and the public just keeps nodding appreciatively and asking for more. I can't stand the things personally but a kind of deep-seated masochism makes me keep paying money to see them. In any case, it just wouldn't be a 100 Must-See Movies without mentioning Burton somewhere, so I'm throwing in the only one of his creations which I would actually recommend to people who I like.

Sweeney Todd is an adaptation of the similarly-named Stephen Sondheim stage musical, and follows the quest for revenge of one Benjamin Barker, a barber-slash-convict who turns out to be at least five beers short of a sixpack. After slouching his way through earlier Burton films, Johnny Depp apparently went away and learned how to act, and returns to inhabit the title role as if he was born for it. Helena Bonham Carter is so excellent as Mrs Lovett that you're almost tempted to forgive her the rest of her career. Stage musicals don't often work well on screen so when one is as uncompromisingly high-quality as this it's a rare and quite special treat.

69: Pulp Fiction (1994)
Quentin Tarantino's stylish crime adventure Pulp Fiction is not often compared to Citizen Kane, which is perhaps a shame. The genius of Kane was using a wide variety of cinematic techniques, none new, in concert to achieve a comprehensive, deliberate and powerful on-screen effect. Pulp Fiction pulls off much the same trick.

The narrative is presented non-sequentially, not just to aid in telling the story but as a deliberate challenge to audiences to pay attention and think about what's taking place. The soundtrack makes use of Tarantino's signature laid-back 70s surf rock to set a tone both evocative of spaghetti Westerns and often deliberately at odds with the action on screen. The pacing alternates low-key comedic dialogue with gruesome violence to dramatic effect. However, against everyting good in this film, it should be remembered that this is also the movie that brought John Travolta's career back to horrible, shambling, brain-devouring life.

70: Cube (1997)
Focused, bleak, and cerebral, Cube is one of the best science-fiction movies ever made, and is all the more amazing for having been made in Canada on a budget of less than half a million dollars. It concerns the plight of a group of apparently average people who wake to find themselves in a three-dimensional maze of cubical rooms interlaced with lethal traps.

The film moves quickly from the opening shots and doesn't stop to let the audience draw its breath, even when the plot starts to work in some reasonably complex mental mathematics. Part psychological thriller and part cabin-fever horrorshow, Cube is a movie that will stay with you long after its breathtaking final scenes.

Dust Forms Words 100 Must-See Movies: 51 to 60

51: Seven (1995)
Seven is simultaneously a disturbing serial-killer mystery and a classic buddy film. It contains frequent homages to its source genres, including an extensive opening sequence that parallels the start of Lethal Weapon, but it ultimately oustrips its origins to rise as one of the best movies of its kind ever made.

Morgan Freeman plays a methodical and intellectual police officer on the edge of a lonely retirement, while Brad Pitt is the cocky and impatient new guy brought in to replace him. Over the course of Freeman's last seven days on the force, the pair investigate a series of ritualistic murders themed around the seven deadly sins. Director David Finchner skilfully creates not only the film's key characters, but also the grimly gothic city which they police. With the aid of fantastic performances from the leads as well as supporting actors Kevin Spacey and Gwyneth Paltrow, the movie builds beautifully and powerfully towards an uncompromisingly bleak finale.

52: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Mike Myers has made a massive one-man contribution to popular culture over the course of his film career, but his best movie remains the first of his Austin Powers titles. His satirical look at a Bond-esque super-spy taken out of his 1960s context and placed in today's globalised world is still amusing more than ten years after its release.

The film's moments of spot-on hilarity overcome its occasional descents into painfulness, something that unfortunately can't be said as easily for the sequels. Highlights include Myers' portrayal of mad genius Dr Evil, Seth Green in the role of Evil's disaffected son Scott, and the memorable Austin Powers theme tune.

53: Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (2002)
The first film in Park Chan-wook's loosely connected Vengeance Trilogy, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is an unrelentingly miserable and forcefully gripping tale of a kidnapping gone terribly wrong. Each and every character evokes the audience's pity and commands their respect, before going on to their horrible, horrible fates.

This is an unremittingly depressing film, but so mesmerisingly well told that you won't be able to look away for a second. Park Chan-wook uses unique and beautiful wide-angle cinematography to frame the action, which makes the non-stop tragedy all the more poignant.

54: Strange Days (1995)
Kathryn Bigelow's cyberpunk thriller Strange Days is a kind of Crash-meets-Johnny Mnemonic. Set in the closing days of the 20th century, the film follows a dealer of "recorded memories" who comes into possession of snuff tapes recorded from the perspective of the killer. As he investigates the origin of these tapes he finds himself drawn into escalating Los Angeles race tensions and the murder of a prominent black recording artist by the LA police.

Ralph Fiennes plays the lead role in a story by James Cameron. The film never becomes B-grade yet refuses to conform to the expectations of a Hollywood blockbuster. The science-fiction is almost completely incidental to the plot; the whole film could have been placed in a contemporary setting with only minor changes. Strange Days is an odd yet memorable film and one of those few titles that does cyberpunk well.

55: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 - 2003)
It's impossible to not take these films as a single narrative unit. They're the best fantasy feature films of all time; they're the best book adapatations; they elevate special effects, costume design and artistic vision to new heights; and they're damn entertaining to watch.

These are the films that raised the bar for genre cinema. Director Peter Jackson deftly interweaves action, drama, and comedy to create a satisfying epic to please all audiences. The trilogy is visually appealing from beginning to end and manages to maintain an enjoyable pace despite the regularly rambling nature of the books it was drawn from. This is how big-budget fantasy should be made.

56: Wild Things (1998)
This is a movie that would perhaps not have made it to a list of the 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time; but if we're talking must-see then it easily earns its spot. Wild Things starts out as a sexually-charged but nevertheless fairly mundane thriller. Gratuitous bisexuality involving female leads Denise Richards and Neve Campbell keeps the plot moving forward but for most of its running time the film appears to be strictly B-grade.

It's in the third act that Wild Things justifies itself. Revelation after revelation starts to come forward, and in amongst the frantically unravelling plot twists the audience is reminded that Neve Campbell, is, in fact, a rather good actor. A stunning ending caps the proceedings. Wild Things is one of the best movies that nobody saw.

57: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Eternal Sunshine is from director Michel Gondry, who no one much cares about, but more importantly is scripted by Charlie Kaufman, the genius who wrote Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. It tells the tale of a revolutionary new technology which can erase memories. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett play two lovers; after a bad break-up, Winslett has her memory erased to no longer remember Carrey or her relationship with him. Distraught, Carrey requests the same procedure, but as his memories begin to vanish he changes his mind and must fight to hold on to his cherished experiences.

The film is remarkably transcendental; Kaufman approaches the issues in the story with a clarity and lack of self-doubt that his earlier scripts lack. Carrey and Winslett both deliver strong performances, and the supporting cast do well enough, but the real star is the writing, which sparkles from beginning to fantastic end.

58: Paths of Glory (1957)
Another of Stanley Kubrick's early films, Paths of Glory is a World War I courtroom drama starrinng Kirk Douglas. Douglas plays Colonel Dax, officer and lawyer. When men under his command refuse to obey an order to commit a suicidal charge, they face court-martial and execution. Dax attempts their defence with every odd stacked against him.

Grim, moving, and powerfully anti-war, Paths of Glory is an excellent film that gives Kirk Douglas a fertile setting in which to show off his acting skills. Less aggressively quirky than many of Kubrick's later films, it is easy to recommend regardless of your other experiences with this director.

59: Empire Records (1995)
If there is any director who has managed to capture and repeat the magic of John Hughes' teen movies, it is Allan Moyle. After his success with Pump Up The Volume, Moyle went on to make what is essentially a "film about nothing" with Empire Records. Equal parts The Breakfast Club and Clerks, the film follows the lives and loves of young employees at Empire Records over the last 24 hours before the store sells out to a major chain.

Driven by an amusingly mid-90s soundtrack and scene-stealing parts by Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler, and Rory Cochrane, Empire Records did poorly at the box office but enjoys a continuing cult fandom today.

60: O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)
O Brother Where Art Thou? is yet another shaggy-dog story from the Coen Brothers, which once again balances an antclimactic ending against a thoroughly amusing lead-up. Set in the 1930s, the film follows the journey of three escapees from a chain-gang as they try to make their way home and uncover a buried treasure. The plot loosely follows that of Homer's Odyssey.

George Clooney takes the lead role as Ulysses Everett McGill and provides most of the film's life and spark. The 1930s setting is reinforced by constant Depression-era folk music, and a sepia tinge on the visuals which results from the colour-correction of the entire film. Some beautiful set-pieces including a meeting with a blind prophet, a baptism, and an encounter with sirens.