The 50 best films ever

by serafimova63 | created - 11 Oct 2015 | updated - 11 Oct 2015 | Public
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1. The Reader (2008)

R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

58 Metascore

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain

Votes: 259,601 | Gross: $34.19M

2. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History

96 Metascore

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt

Votes: 740,721 | Gross: $56.67M

3. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery

72 Metascore

A mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer

Votes: 985,964 | Gross: $170.74M

4. Anna and the King (1999)

PG-13 | 148 min | Drama, History, Romance

56 Metascore

The story of the romance between the King of Siam and widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, during the 1860s.

Director: Andy Tennant | Stars: Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Bai Ling, Tom Felton

Votes: 38,961 | Gross: $39.26M

5. Beyond Borders (2003)

R | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

32 Metascore

The world's cruelty is confronted with the love of two different people who try to save humanity from poverty and war.

Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Clive Owen, Angelina Jolie, Linus Roache, Teri Polo

Votes: 29,048 | Gross: $4.43M

6. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

R | 134 min | Drama, Romance

87 Metascore

Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.

Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid

Votes: 381,865 | Gross: $83.04M

7. Capote (2005)

R | 114 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

88 Metascore

In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.

Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, Allie Mickelson

Votes: 140,668 | Gross: $28.75M

8. Doubt (I) (2008)

PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Mystery

68 Metascore

A Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.

Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis

Votes: 136,021 | Gross: $33.42M

9. Forrest Gump (1994)

PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, Romance

82 Metascore

The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field

Votes: 2,253,919 | Gross: $330.25M

10. Frida (2002)

R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

61 Metascore

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro

Votes: 95,252 | Gross: $25.89M

11. Gia (1998 TV Movie)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

The story of the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s, from her meteoric rise to the forefront of the modeling industry, to her untimely death.

Director: Michael Cristofer | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mercedes Ruehl

Votes: 50,219

12. Gladiator (2000)

R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

67 Metascore

A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed

Votes: 1,617,985 | Gross: $187.71M

13. Good Will Hunting (1997)

R | 126 min | Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård

Votes: 1,066,327 | Gross: $138.43M

14. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

G | 93 min | Biography, Drama, Family

Professor Wilson discovers a lost Akita puppy on his way home. Despite objections from his wife, Hachi endears himself to the family and grows to be Parker's loyal companion. As their bond grows deeper, a beautiful relationship unfolds.

Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Sarah Roemer

Votes: 311,024

15. I Am Sam (2001)

PG-13 | 132 min | Drama

28 Metascore

An intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.

Director: Jessie Nelson | Stars: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest

Votes: 155,226 | Gross: $40.31M

16. Insomnia (2002)

R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

78 Metascore

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan

Votes: 318,844 | Gross: $67.36M

17. King Kong (2005)

PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance

81 Metascore

A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.

Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann

Votes: 446,415 | Gross: $218.08M

18. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

R | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

63 Metascore

Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Martin Hancock

Votes: 314,168 | Gross: $47.40M

19. Legends of the Fall (1994)

R | 133 min | Drama, Romance, War

45 Metascore

In the early 1900s, three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of Montana are affected by betrayal, history, love, nature, and war.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond

Votes: 182,758 | Gross: $66.64M

20. Letters to Juliet (2010)

PG | 105 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

50 Metascore

Sophie dreams of becoming a writer and travels to Verona, Italy where she meets the "Secretaries of Juliet".

Director: Gary Winick | Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave, Marcia DeBonis

Votes: 107,119 | Gross: $53.03M

21. Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)

R | 139 min | Drama, Romance

43 Metascore

Florentino, rejected by the beautiful Fermina at a young age, devotes much of his adult life to carnal affairs as a desperate attempt to heal his broken heart.

Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt, Gina Bernard Forbes

Votes: 24,126 | Gross: $4.61M

22. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

PG-13 | 145 min | Drama, Romance

54 Metascore

The heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Suzuka Ohgo

Votes: 160,588 | Gross: $57.49M

23. My Sister's Keeper (2009)

PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Family

51 Metascore

Anna Fitzgerald looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive.

Director: Nick Cassavetes | Stars: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Walter Raney

Votes: 98,276 | Gross: $49.20M

24. Pay It Forward (2000)

PG-13 | 123 min | Drama

40 Metascore

A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.

Director: Mimi Leder | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Jay Mohr

Votes: 123,827 | Gross: $33.52M

25. Quills (2000)

R | 124 min | Biography, Drama

70 Metascore

In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine

Votes: 56,705 | Gross: $7.06M

26. Schindler's List (1993)

R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History

95 Metascore

In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall

Votes: 1,448,944 | Gross: $96.90M

27. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

PG-13 | 136 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

55 Metascore

Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong, Mako

Votes: 155,800 | Gross: $37.96M

28. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

84 Metascore

A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.

Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor

Votes: 877,245 | Gross: $141.32M

29. Still Alice (2014)

PG-13 | 101 min | Drama

72 Metascore

A linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland | Stars: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth

Votes: 143,400 | Gross: $18.75M

30. The Age of Adaline (2015)

PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

51 Metascore

A young woman, born at the turn of the 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident. After many solitary years, she meets a man who complicates the eternal life she has settled into.

Director: Lee Toland Krieger | Stars: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker

Votes: 202,782 | Gross: $42.48M

31. The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Romance

69 Metascore

Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Annie Corley, Victor Slezak

Votes: 88,804 | Gross: $71.52M

32. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

PG-13 | 166 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

70 Metascore

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond

Votes: 695,169 | Gross: $127.51M

33. The English Patient (1996)

R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War

86 Metascore

At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.

Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas

Votes: 200,497 | Gross: $78.65M

34. The Four Feathers (2002)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

49 Metascore

A young British officer resigns his commission just before his regiment is sent to battle and soon receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they view as his cowardice.

Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Mohamed Bouich

Votes: 35,473 | Gross: $18.31M

35. The Great Gatsby (2013)

PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Romance

55 Metascore

A writer and wall street trader, Nick Carraway, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age.

Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire

Votes: 596,243 | Gross: $144.84M

36. The Help (2011)

PG-13 | 146 min | Drama

62 Metascore

An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.

Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard

Votes: 492,155 | Gross: $169.71M

37. The Holiday (2006)

PG-13 | 136 min | Comedy, Romance

52 Metascore

Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.

Director: Nancy Meyers | Stars: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black

Votes: 322,674 | Gross: $63.22M

38. The Hours (2002)

PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane

Votes: 138,441 | Gross: $41.68M

39. The Imitation Game (2014)

PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller

71 Metascore

During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.

Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech

Votes: 824,218 | Gross: $91.13M

40. The Pianist (2002)

R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music

85 Metascore

During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox

Votes: 910,961 | Gross: $32.57M

41. The Prestige (2006)

PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

66 Metascore

After a tragic accident, two stage magicians in 1890s London engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine

Votes: 1,439,617 | Gross: $53.09M

42. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

R | 142 min | Drama

82 Metascore

Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.

Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler

Votes: 2,885,206 | Gross: $28.34M

43. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.

Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Votes: 1,546,629 | Gross: $130.74M

44. The Theory of Everything (2014)

PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

Stephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.

Director: James Marsh | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry

Votes: 481,706 | Gross: $35.89M

45. Titanic (1997)

PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance

75 Metascore

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates

Votes: 1,278,811 | Gross: $659.33M

46. Troy (2004)

R | 163 min | Drama

56 Metascore

An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.

Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover

Votes: 569,909 | Gross: $133.38M

47. V for Vendetta (2005)

R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

62 Metascore

In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.

Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea

Votes: 1,178,459 | Gross: $70.51M



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