By Adam McPartlan
No time to waste here. Make sure to return on Monday for the next installment, #41-26, because now we're getting to my absolute favorites. Only two more until my top 11, and after that, we get into the 101 movies to see before you die. But for now, I give you #56-42.
56: The Hunt (Jagten)
And so we arrive at the final movie on my list that I absolutely hate, this one from 2012. I have seen this movie exactly once, in the movie theater, and I was unable to speak words for about an hour, not exaggerating. I kind of just walked home in a daze, trying to comprehend this Danish film about a teacher falsely accused of child molestation. Mads Mikkelsen deserved an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the wrongly accused teacher, and the movie criminally lost the Oscar for Best Foreign Film to some Italian piece of crap called The Great Beauty (OK, it wasn’t crap, but compared to The Hunt, it was garbage). Watch the movie, become enthralled by the acting of Mikkelsen, and make sure you watch to the very end; it’s unforgettable.
No time to waste here. Make sure to return on Monday for the next installment, #41-26, because now we're getting to my absolute favorites. Only two more until my top 11, and after that, we get into the 101 movies to see before you die. But for now, I give you #56-42.
56: The Hunt (Jagten)
And so we arrive at the final movie on my list that I absolutely hate, this one from 2012. I have seen this movie exactly once, in the movie theater, and I was unable to speak words for about an hour, not exaggerating. I kind of just walked home in a daze, trying to comprehend this Danish film about a teacher falsely accused of child molestation. Mads Mikkelsen deserved an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the wrongly accused teacher, and the movie criminally lost the Oscar for Best Foreign Film to some Italian piece of crap called The Great Beauty (OK, it wasn’t crap, but compared to The Hunt, it was garbage). Watch the movie, become enthralled by the acting of Mikkelsen, and make sure you watch to the very end; it’s unforgettable.
55: The Ten Commandments
I could talk about how great this movie is, because it is. Its scene of the parting of the Red Sea still lives in film history. Charlton Heston (Moses), Yul Brynner (Rameses), and Anne Baxter (Nefretiri) are just fantastic. The sets and scenery are beautiful. Its faithfulness to the Biblical tale, and extra-Biblical sources, is close to spot-on. And Cecil B. DeMille’s directing, and use of thousands of extras rather than green screens for the actual Exodus moment, is something directors to this day should be emulating. But none of that is why I love the movie. Every year, this movie plays on ABC during Easter weekend. Growing up, my grandmother would, without fail, watch it every time it came on TV. The woman was a large part of my childhood and, minus a few dark teenage years, has been a part of my entire life and is a large influence on how I act. She happened to die during Easter week when I was 12, and we buried her three days before the movie aired. I haven’t missed a showing in my life, always making sure I catch it. I know very little about the future and what will happen, but I know that I will never go any Easter weekend without watching The Ten Commandments, because it doesn’t feel like a 3 hour and 40 minute film. And because it’s one holiday I can still spend with my grandmother.
54: The Omen
Talk about the exact opposite of the previous film. This thing. The remake gave me nightmares as a kid, but watching this one when I was older still freaked me out. That’s what a great scary movie does, regardless of age. Made in 1976, only three years after The Exorcist, this movie began a trilogy of horror films about the Antichrist. The other two were decent, but this one, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as the adoptive parents of the demonic child Damien (Harvey Stephens), is just creepy. I don’t even want to tell you what happens, because it takes the creepy factor away. Just know that there is death, hell hounds, a Satanic disciple for a nanny, and some of the creepiest deaths you’ll ever see on screen. The music, which was won an Oscar for Best Score and was nominated for Best Original Song (not even joking, the name of the song nominated is called, “Ave Satani,” Latin for, “Hail Satan") is also intensely bone-chilling and goosebumps-inducing. And just remember, it’s all for you Damien.
53: Silver Linings Playbook
This movie has the best response to, “I love you” since Star Wars. You gotta watch closely to grab why that’s the case, because it’s very subtle, but honestly it’s wonderful and worth it to pay that kinda attention and catch it. Even if you just wanna watch a romcom that’s more than just a Nicholas Sparks book on a screen with all its bs tear-inducing crap and sappy soap opera acting, this is the movie for you. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are absolutely fantastic in this film that covers lost love, mental illness, the Philadelphia Eagles (fly, Eagles, fly), and dance competitions. Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Jackie Weaver all got Oscar nominations, with Lawrence winning for Best Actress, making it one of only a handful of movies to get Oscar nods in all four acting categories. It’s short, funny, sweet, and just a great all-around movie. Especially if you’re an Eagles fan.
52: The Big Lebowski
The movie basically opens with a guy, in a grocery store, wearing a bathrobe and slippers, and writing a check to the cashier for the half gallon of milk he’s buying. We can also thank this Coen Brothers movie for popularizing the White Russian drink. It’s absolutely hysterical, with John Goodman constantly yelling at people, Steve Buscemi interjecting and getting quieted at every turn, and at one point, a dude in an iron lung and two cars that get absolutely destroyed. We also get the wonderful, laugh-inducing line, “This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass.” You want to know the context, you must watch the movie.
51: Amadeus
This movie is incredibly long. Like “pain in the ass” long. Not as bad as Gone with the Wind, which clocks in at like 4 hours, but still. Regardless, I love it. I can sit down and watch this near 3 hour movie and feel like I’ve only been there an hour. This has everything to do with the amazing directing of Milos Foreman, the beautiful scenery and sets, but most importantly, the acting. The way Foreman compares the free-spirited, carefree Mozart with the stern-faced, calculating Antonio Salieri is just perfect. But as well as it works, without F. Murray Abraham as Salieri, or Tom Hulce as Mozart, it would be nothing. Abraham won Best Actor, Foreman won Director, and the film won Best Picture. Interestingly, though, Abraham had almost no career up to his casting as Salieri. He worked in small roles and then in voice overs and commercials before becoming a house husband. His 1984 role as Salieri revived his career and is still his best. Abraham is one of very few actors and actresses to beat another cast member from the same movie in an Oscar category. During the 1984 Oscars, both Abraham and Hulce received nominations for Best Actor, leading many to think they would split the vote. Many speculate this is why Joel Gray won Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for Cabaret instead of one of the three actors nominated from The Godfather (a claim I angrily and loudly disagree with) or why Jodie Foster won Best Actress for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 instead of Susan Sarandon or Geena Davis for Thelma & Louise. Anyway, that diatribe aside, this movie is fantastic and while not historically accurate, is worth watching at least twice in your lifetime.
50: A Man for All Seasons
It might be easier to mention which movies on this list haven’t won or been nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture at this rate. This winner, from 1966, tells a mellowed version of the life of Saint Thomas More. In reality, More was kinda psychotic, railing against the Counter-Reformation, saying that Protestants should burn, and a bunch of other NYC street corner preacher bs. But the man, no matter his beliefs, did stand up for what he believed was right, even in the face of death. Henry VIII wanted everyone to sign off on his divorce to his first wife so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Under threat of being killed, everyone in the Church of England signed off on this, except More, who believed his grounds for divorce were wrong. Played beautifully by Paul Scofield (who won an Oscar for his acting), More refuses to bend and is put to death. His trial scene is some of the most beautiful acting, writing, and production design of the decade, and Robert Shaw’s long monologue as Henry VIII earlier in the film, in spite of that being his only scene, was enough to get him an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor.
49: Inglorious Basterds
This movie. This movie is why I’m writing all of this, why I wrote everything I have about movies, and why I will write about movies for the rest of my life. In 2009, I saw an advertisement for this movie about World War II that also looked funny and stupid (in a good way). Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds delivered everything I thought it would, and more. I watched this and, at age 16, remarked to my mother that this movie, which she hates, was really great and could get some Oscar nominations. Sure enough, the nominations came out, and it got quite a number of them, winning one for Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz). The movie is about American Jewish Nazi-hunting soldiers who go through Europe killing Nazis and scalping them. It also follows Waltz’s character, Hans Landa, who hunts Jews effectively and mercilessly. The opening 15 minutes is nothing but Waltz ensuring he would win an Oscar. Without this film, I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing today. I highly recommend this movie that made me realize I should be a film critic.
48: American Beauty
A movie with fantastic writing by Alan Ball, great directing by Sam Mendes, and superior acting up and down the cast makes this an absolute must to watch. Of course, the reason it might be hard to watch is because it stars Kevin Spacey. But this is about the movie and the work done on and in it, not the perverse personal actions of the lead actor. If you want to watch a movie that has some fantastic acting, you must watch this movie. Wes Bentley basically got his start in this film; Spacey gave the best performance of his life; and Spacey, Ball, and Mendes all won Oscars, with the movie winning Best Picture. Annette Bening gives the story emotion and an edge, and just when you think she’s going full psycho, she gives it heart. For that, she got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
47: The Dark Knight Trilogy
Until Logan came along, this was the gold standard for how superhero films should be made. Some still argue this is the pinnacle, and that’s fine; Nolan’s dark filmmaking, Bale’s Batman, Ledger’s Joker, and Hardy’s Bane are hard to top. And let’s be honest: Tom Hardy as Bane is probably one of the most underrated villain performances ever. I lump them together because, let’s face it, trilogies and series are all one story, and should be considered as one bunch rather than three separate films. Plus it allows me to put more films on my list than just the 101.
46: Network
Let me just tell you now: it’s very hard to tell which between this film and Good Night, and Good Luck is more appropriate to watch given the guy who’s running the country. Given it’s the news taking on a screaming blowhard who needs to be checked up on by the Senate, it’s Good Night, and Good Luck by a nose. Network comes inches away, though, about corruption, ratings, suicide, censorship, unemployment, and more. Peter Finch died before he could accept his Oscar, but damn did he give us one hell of a farewell with his memorable line, “I’m as mad as hall, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!”
45: The Sting
Honestly, this is maybe the best con artist movie I’ve ever seen. Robert Redford and Paul Newman have some of the best buddy-movie chemistry in cinematic history. If you wanna watch a movie with great, upbeat music, some hysterical conversations, and enjoy rooting for the fun criminals to screw over a bigger criminal, you’ll love this movie. It also won Best Picture, among many other Oscars, in 1973.
44: 12 Angry Men
The mother of all courtroom dramas. Henry Fonda stars as the dissenting juror who acts as conscience for all eleven others. He goes toe to toe with juror number 3, played exceptionally well by Lee J. Cobb. It explores lots of different ideas, from things said in the heat of the moment to personal influences causing bias in passing judgment. The most important piece of information is that the boy who is on trial for killing his father was heard yelling that he was going to kill him. Fonda embarks upon his journey to prove the boy innocent, and starts prodding Cobb’s character. In one moment, perhaps the most memorable exchange in the movie, Cobb is so pissed off he lunges at Fonda yelling, “I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him!” Fonda calmly responds, “You don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?” It’s a wonderful 90 minute film that will make you wish there was more of it to see.
43: The Prince of Egypt
Honestly, Val Kilmer (Moses), Ralph Fiennes (Rameses), and Jeff Goldblum (Aaron) absolutely kick the crap out of voicing their characters for the movie. It’s for kids, so it obviously doesn’t get into the whole “while Moses got the commandments, everyone else flipped out and started acting like Las Vegas gone wild.” Doesn’t matter though, because it gets into the heart of the story better than The Ten Commandments: people were enslaved and finally freed, and Moses was blind, saw the light, humbly faced his people, and then stoically faced his oppressors. And an Oscar winning song from Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey makes it even better…and adds a great deal to the emotion.
42: Zodiac
A really long movie that goes a long way into discussing the history of one of America’s most notorious serial killers. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a reporter who becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the killer and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detective charged with hunting down the Zodiac Killer. I love mystery movies, and this is one of the best ones you’ll find, but its length can get annoying. Only watch it if you really want a 2.5 hour film that recreates its time incredibly well and has acting and writing to make it great and worth watching for about 2 hours of the running time.
I could talk about how great this movie is, because it is. Its scene of the parting of the Red Sea still lives in film history. Charlton Heston (Moses), Yul Brynner (Rameses), and Anne Baxter (Nefretiri) are just fantastic. The sets and scenery are beautiful. Its faithfulness to the Biblical tale, and extra-Biblical sources, is close to spot-on. And Cecil B. DeMille’s directing, and use of thousands of extras rather than green screens for the actual Exodus moment, is something directors to this day should be emulating. But none of that is why I love the movie. Every year, this movie plays on ABC during Easter weekend. Growing up, my grandmother would, without fail, watch it every time it came on TV. The woman was a large part of my childhood and, minus a few dark teenage years, has been a part of my entire life and is a large influence on how I act. She happened to die during Easter week when I was 12, and we buried her three days before the movie aired. I haven’t missed a showing in my life, always making sure I catch it. I know very little about the future and what will happen, but I know that I will never go any Easter weekend without watching The Ten Commandments, because it doesn’t feel like a 3 hour and 40 minute film. And because it’s one holiday I can still spend with my grandmother.
54: The Omen
Talk about the exact opposite of the previous film. This thing. The remake gave me nightmares as a kid, but watching this one when I was older still freaked me out. That’s what a great scary movie does, regardless of age. Made in 1976, only three years after The Exorcist, this movie began a trilogy of horror films about the Antichrist. The other two were decent, but this one, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as the adoptive parents of the demonic child Damien (Harvey Stephens), is just creepy. I don’t even want to tell you what happens, because it takes the creepy factor away. Just know that there is death, hell hounds, a Satanic disciple for a nanny, and some of the creepiest deaths you’ll ever see on screen. The music, which was won an Oscar for Best Score and was nominated for Best Original Song (not even joking, the name of the song nominated is called, “Ave Satani,” Latin for, “Hail Satan") is also intensely bone-chilling and goosebumps-inducing. And just remember, it’s all for you Damien.
53: Silver Linings Playbook
This movie has the best response to, “I love you” since Star Wars. You gotta watch closely to grab why that’s the case, because it’s very subtle, but honestly it’s wonderful and worth it to pay that kinda attention and catch it. Even if you just wanna watch a romcom that’s more than just a Nicholas Sparks book on a screen with all its bs tear-inducing crap and sappy soap opera acting, this is the movie for you. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are absolutely fantastic in this film that covers lost love, mental illness, the Philadelphia Eagles (fly, Eagles, fly), and dance competitions. Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Jackie Weaver all got Oscar nominations, with Lawrence winning for Best Actress, making it one of only a handful of movies to get Oscar nods in all four acting categories. It’s short, funny, sweet, and just a great all-around movie. Especially if you’re an Eagles fan.
52: The Big Lebowski
The movie basically opens with a guy, in a grocery store, wearing a bathrobe and slippers, and writing a check to the cashier for the half gallon of milk he’s buying. We can also thank this Coen Brothers movie for popularizing the White Russian drink. It’s absolutely hysterical, with John Goodman constantly yelling at people, Steve Buscemi interjecting and getting quieted at every turn, and at one point, a dude in an iron lung and two cars that get absolutely destroyed. We also get the wonderful, laugh-inducing line, “This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass.” You want to know the context, you must watch the movie.
51: Amadeus
This movie is incredibly long. Like “pain in the ass” long. Not as bad as Gone with the Wind, which clocks in at like 4 hours, but still. Regardless, I love it. I can sit down and watch this near 3 hour movie and feel like I’ve only been there an hour. This has everything to do with the amazing directing of Milos Foreman, the beautiful scenery and sets, but most importantly, the acting. The way Foreman compares the free-spirited, carefree Mozart with the stern-faced, calculating Antonio Salieri is just perfect. But as well as it works, without F. Murray Abraham as Salieri, or Tom Hulce as Mozart, it would be nothing. Abraham won Best Actor, Foreman won Director, and the film won Best Picture. Interestingly, though, Abraham had almost no career up to his casting as Salieri. He worked in small roles and then in voice overs and commercials before becoming a house husband. His 1984 role as Salieri revived his career and is still his best. Abraham is one of very few actors and actresses to beat another cast member from the same movie in an Oscar category. During the 1984 Oscars, both Abraham and Hulce received nominations for Best Actor, leading many to think they would split the vote. Many speculate this is why Joel Gray won Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for Cabaret instead of one of the three actors nominated from The Godfather (a claim I angrily and loudly disagree with) or why Jodie Foster won Best Actress for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 instead of Susan Sarandon or Geena Davis for Thelma & Louise. Anyway, that diatribe aside, this movie is fantastic and while not historically accurate, is worth watching at least twice in your lifetime.
50: A Man for All Seasons
It might be easier to mention which movies on this list haven’t won or been nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture at this rate. This winner, from 1966, tells a mellowed version of the life of Saint Thomas More. In reality, More was kinda psychotic, railing against the Counter-Reformation, saying that Protestants should burn, and a bunch of other NYC street corner preacher bs. But the man, no matter his beliefs, did stand up for what he believed was right, even in the face of death. Henry VIII wanted everyone to sign off on his divorce to his first wife so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Under threat of being killed, everyone in the Church of England signed off on this, except More, who believed his grounds for divorce were wrong. Played beautifully by Paul Scofield (who won an Oscar for his acting), More refuses to bend and is put to death. His trial scene is some of the most beautiful acting, writing, and production design of the decade, and Robert Shaw’s long monologue as Henry VIII earlier in the film, in spite of that being his only scene, was enough to get him an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor.
49: Inglorious Basterds
This movie. This movie is why I’m writing all of this, why I wrote everything I have about movies, and why I will write about movies for the rest of my life. In 2009, I saw an advertisement for this movie about World War II that also looked funny and stupid (in a good way). Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds delivered everything I thought it would, and more. I watched this and, at age 16, remarked to my mother that this movie, which she hates, was really great and could get some Oscar nominations. Sure enough, the nominations came out, and it got quite a number of them, winning one for Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz). The movie is about American Jewish Nazi-hunting soldiers who go through Europe killing Nazis and scalping them. It also follows Waltz’s character, Hans Landa, who hunts Jews effectively and mercilessly. The opening 15 minutes is nothing but Waltz ensuring he would win an Oscar. Without this film, I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing today. I highly recommend this movie that made me realize I should be a film critic.
48: American Beauty
A movie with fantastic writing by Alan Ball, great directing by Sam Mendes, and superior acting up and down the cast makes this an absolute must to watch. Of course, the reason it might be hard to watch is because it stars Kevin Spacey. But this is about the movie and the work done on and in it, not the perverse personal actions of the lead actor. If you want to watch a movie that has some fantastic acting, you must watch this movie. Wes Bentley basically got his start in this film; Spacey gave the best performance of his life; and Spacey, Ball, and Mendes all won Oscars, with the movie winning Best Picture. Annette Bening gives the story emotion and an edge, and just when you think she’s going full psycho, she gives it heart. For that, she got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
47: The Dark Knight Trilogy
Until Logan came along, this was the gold standard for how superhero films should be made. Some still argue this is the pinnacle, and that’s fine; Nolan’s dark filmmaking, Bale’s Batman, Ledger’s Joker, and Hardy’s Bane are hard to top. And let’s be honest: Tom Hardy as Bane is probably one of the most underrated villain performances ever. I lump them together because, let’s face it, trilogies and series are all one story, and should be considered as one bunch rather than three separate films. Plus it allows me to put more films on my list than just the 101.
46: Network
Let me just tell you now: it’s very hard to tell which between this film and Good Night, and Good Luck is more appropriate to watch given the guy who’s running the country. Given it’s the news taking on a screaming blowhard who needs to be checked up on by the Senate, it’s Good Night, and Good Luck by a nose. Network comes inches away, though, about corruption, ratings, suicide, censorship, unemployment, and more. Peter Finch died before he could accept his Oscar, but damn did he give us one hell of a farewell with his memorable line, “I’m as mad as hall, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!”
45: The Sting
Honestly, this is maybe the best con artist movie I’ve ever seen. Robert Redford and Paul Newman have some of the best buddy-movie chemistry in cinematic history. If you wanna watch a movie with great, upbeat music, some hysterical conversations, and enjoy rooting for the fun criminals to screw over a bigger criminal, you’ll love this movie. It also won Best Picture, among many other Oscars, in 1973.
44: 12 Angry Men
The mother of all courtroom dramas. Henry Fonda stars as the dissenting juror who acts as conscience for all eleven others. He goes toe to toe with juror number 3, played exceptionally well by Lee J. Cobb. It explores lots of different ideas, from things said in the heat of the moment to personal influences causing bias in passing judgment. The most important piece of information is that the boy who is on trial for killing his father was heard yelling that he was going to kill him. Fonda embarks upon his journey to prove the boy innocent, and starts prodding Cobb’s character. In one moment, perhaps the most memorable exchange in the movie, Cobb is so pissed off he lunges at Fonda yelling, “I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him!” Fonda calmly responds, “You don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?” It’s a wonderful 90 minute film that will make you wish there was more of it to see.
43: The Prince of Egypt
Honestly, Val Kilmer (Moses), Ralph Fiennes (Rameses), and Jeff Goldblum (Aaron) absolutely kick the crap out of voicing their characters for the movie. It’s for kids, so it obviously doesn’t get into the whole “while Moses got the commandments, everyone else flipped out and started acting like Las Vegas gone wild.” Doesn’t matter though, because it gets into the heart of the story better than The Ten Commandments: people were enslaved and finally freed, and Moses was blind, saw the light, humbly faced his people, and then stoically faced his oppressors. And an Oscar winning song from Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey makes it even better…and adds a great deal to the emotion.
42: Zodiac
A really long movie that goes a long way into discussing the history of one of America’s most notorious serial killers. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a reporter who becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the killer and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detective charged with hunting down the Zodiac Killer. I love mystery movies, and this is one of the best ones you’ll find, but its length can get annoying. Only watch it if you really want a 2.5 hour film that recreates its time incredibly well and has acting and writing to make it great and worth watching for about 2 hours of the running time.