56. Inglorious Basterds
Year: 2009
IMDB rating: 8.3
Awards: 1 Oscar Award
The Story: In World War Nazi – occupied France, a group of U.S. soldiers acting like ruthless vigilantes follow a very precise and determined plan – the extermination of Nazi leaders – coincides with Shosanna Dreyfus’ plan of similar revenge, as she is the fortunate survivor of Nazi assassinating her family when she was only a child. Now a grown up, her plan may be exactly what the U.S soldiers need…
Why is it on the list: Because Christoph Waltz playing Hans Landa. And taking an Oscar for it. Because this is a … more serious Tarantino movie which keeps the director’s sick sense of humor and predilection to bloody violence, but which also tells a frightening and beautiful story about the human spirit. Because it makes you see all Waltz’s movies and so you end up in the cinema watching the last Tarantino art manifesto, Django Unchained. Because there are few moments of boredom, and every slow moving scene is made to build tension. And it is a war movie that doesn’t look like any war movies ever done before.
Quintessential quote: “We got a German here who wants to die for his country! Oblige him!” (Lt. Aldo Raine)
57. Erin Brockovich
Year: 2000
IMDB rating: 7.2
Awards: 1 Oscar Award
The Story: Erin is the mother of three, two time divorcee and a woman on the brink of complete failure, as she has no money, little options to go to and start over and, above them all, a legal situation that went in her disfavor, despite the fact that she did nothing wrong. Having to work as a legal assistant for a merciful lawyer, she discovers by accident a case that determines her to take down a whole system, in an attempt to make the world a better place for her fellow citizens.
Why is it on the list: Because the world needs some heroes and not the “super” type, but the average ones, who are willing to take up a fight with the system in the name of justice. Because Julia Roberts didn’t lose her skill for this motion picture, but delivered the best she got for her character. Because the movie is an ode to humanity, the power to fight injustice, the ambition of the innocent to rise above and make their voices heard. Because it’s not your regular “man against the system” drama, but it is also funny, intriguing and challenging, most of its quality being provided by Julia Robert’s acting the role of a woman who saves herself while saving others.
Quintessential quote: “NOT PERSONAL! That is my WORK, my SWEAT, and MY TIME AWAY FROM MY KIDS! IF THAT IS NOT PERSONAL, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS!” (Erin Brockovich)
58. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
Year: 2004
IMDB rating: 8.4
Awards: 1 Oscar Award
The Story: Joel and Clementine had a good thing going on, until things gone bad and they split up. Ready to move on and leave the past behind, Clementine undergoes a bizarre procedure of specifically erasing all her memories that involved Joel and their affair. Finding out, Joel intends to follow the same procedure, only to discover the reasons he loved Clementine and wishing to undo everything to get back their love.
Why is it on the list: Because this was a very strange movie, to say the least. Surrealist, odd, with a cliche premises that soon turned into science – fiction – and not the kind we’re used to – this movie made some points about human relationships in a very different and special manner, even if the messages in themselves are universal. Because it was a good thing seeing Jim Carrey in a role that required more than his funny gestures and making faces, but real, hard core acting and because Winslet gave Clementine a semi-psychotic feature that we all still remember even now. Because it was a twisted love story, with a twisted plot and even a more twisted ending and because it is still very highly appreciated by the public and the critics alike.
Quintessential quote: “I can’t remember anything without you.” (Joel)
59. Scent of a Woman
Year: 1992
IMDB rating: 7.8
Awards: 1 Oscar Award
The Story: Young Charlie is in for a quick buck on his way home and the idea of looking after blind Col. Slade seems alright, as the task itself looks easy and interesting. But there’s nothing easy about Frank Slade and everything is interesting about their trip together.
Why is it on the list: Because everybody expects to find Pacino listed in these types of lists not only for his awesome Godfather, but also for Scarface, Carlito’s Way, Devil’s Advocate, Donnie Brasco, Serpico or Dog Day Afternoon and the truth is all of these movies deserve a place in cinema’s archives. But Scent of a Woman is on this list because here we have a different type of badass usual Pacino act. Not a soldier, not a mobster, not a ruthless lawyer, not bound to an acting pattern that turned him into a superstar. This time he plays a man (former military, true) who needs to face not external enemies, but his internal demons. Because this is a story about a man’s dark side trying to see the light, a story about maturity, about adjusting to reality, about seizing the day in spite everything. Because Pacino is terrifying both when displaying his rage and both when he dances the famous tango. Because this movie is above all a masterpiece still remembered, still talked about, still a cinematography icon.
Quintessential quote: “I’m in the dark, here!” (Col. Frank Slade)
60. Gone With The Wind
Year: 1939
IMDB rating: 8.2
Awards: 8 Oscar Awards
The Story: The American Civil War crashes and burns the peaceful lives of Southern families, who face the extinction in a world they thought to be unbreakable. In a landscape of war and terror, beautiful Scarlett O’Hara does everything in order to survive this apocalypse, while turned apart by the love for a man who doesn’t love her back and the attraction for a man whom she was educated to despise.
Why is it on the list: It is obvious you can’t create a list like this and ignore this movie, while placing it quite up in the ranks. So why is it on this list is quite easy to understand: it is a cinema’s favorite projects and classics, it gave the world two iconic actors, transposed on the silver screen a story that is deeply embed in America’s history and heart, had some epic scenes and made everybody shed at least a tear. Since we are in 2013, you’ll hear some voices complaining the movie didn’t capture half of the book’s message and timeline, that the novel is more than a love story and the characters were too preoccupied with their affair to pay a really good attention to the war, but controversy will always follow this movie, no matter the historical period people watch it. It is on this list because it’s a classic and will remain a classic until the end of time.
Quintessential quote: “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow!” (Scarlett O’Hara)