Films that don't make sense until the end
by jaketest | created - 01 Mar 2015 | updated - 02 Mar 2015 | PublicSometimes a movie seems pointless until the last scene, and then the whole experience becomes worthwhile in an instant.
MAY BE MILD SPOILERS!!!! How the heck could I make such a list without some spoilage?
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1. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
GP | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Josh Albee
Votes: 34,977 | Gross: $47.74M
Not really an explanation, but an indicator for how we cope with an insane world.
2. About Schmidt (2002)
R | 125 min | Drama
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates
Votes: 133,561 | Gross: $65.02M
About what matters, how life can surprise us when it should no longer.
3. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
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: 1,450,118 | Gross: $96.90M
The Holocaust was an utter misery, and most films leave us there. But this one redeems us at the very end.
4. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,216 | Gross: $45.70M
So many Woody Allen movies seem an utter inanity, and then resolve into a point of Eureka! This, for me, was one.
5. Syriana (2005)
R | 128 min | Drama, Thriller
A politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
Director: Stephen Gaghan | Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Kayvan Novak
Votes: 134,253 | Gross: $50.82M
Most of you won't agree with this, or will miss it right out. Us or Them, U.S. vs. Muslims: Whose right? Clooney crystallizes a thought, a question , a sad hypothetical at the very end.
6. 1900 (1976)
Unrated | 317 min | Drama, History
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini
Votes: 27,279
What is it all about? In the end, what was worthy? Such a common theme, but I never regret a good implementation.
7. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 920,248 | Gross: $28.26M
Not my favorite, not the first time, but after a few watches, I got what the director was trying to say. Still not a joyous theme. But important to be said.
8. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 195,825 | Gross: $3.03M
It's not the very end where the point is realized, but nearly so. A sort of de du maux follows.
9. Runaway Train (I) (1985)
R | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving.
Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner
Votes: 32,983 | Gross: $7.94M
Easy to dismiss this film, but take note of the directors. There are several points of thematic exposition throughout the film, but end is colossal.
10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
R | 111 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman
Votes: 120,580
Not a favorite, but it qualifies. I found the different values put on violence depending upon its originator to be typically liberal in mindset.
11. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,670 | Gross: $102.31M
We all end. One of the few facts. So do we choose, or do we cower?
12. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 76,758 | Gross: $40.08M
Ok, you hate Woody Allen. Granted, some of the dialogue is not great, but the message is clear. Is it a valid one? I have followed this tactic with much success, but you'll have to decide.
13. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks, Tom McCamus
Votes: 36,729 | Gross: $3.25M
The message is given piece-meal throughout, like finding clues, and doesn't coalesce til near the end. A vicious message, that I don't personally believe, or if it's true, it's only so in specific cases and experiences. It's not a general truth.
14. Pineapple Express (2008)
R | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A process server and his marijuana dealer wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after he witnesses his dealer's boss murder a competitor while trying to serve papers on him.
Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Danny McBride
Votes: 357,387 | Gross: $87.34M
Way off the beam? Perhaps. But the ending caught me off-guard, which is always a pleasurable experience. Age has taught me that simple truths are capable of bringing more happiness than the most complex philosophies.
15. The Descendants (2011)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause
Votes: 251,755 | Gross: $82.58M
A seemingly erratic and shallow film, but with an interesting ending. Is life truly about the big stuff?
16. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,861 | Gross: $1.59M
Possibly the first film to use this technique, resolving everything into the end, creating the most forceful insertion of a total thought at once into the viewer's consciousness.
17. Sunshine (1999)
R | 181 min | Drama, History, Romance
The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Ehle
Votes: 15,790 | Gross: $5.10M
A complete inverse of Shindler's List, in terms of idea, anyway. Whereas Shindler's is about the triumph of hope through generations, this is - not.
18. Zelig (1983)
PG | 79 min | Comedy
"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Patrick Horgan, John Buckwalter
Votes: 44,165 | Gross: $11.80M
Anyone watch this besides me? Another great "Gotcha". Blink and you'll miss it! It's ironical and misty all at once.
19. The Grey (2011)
R | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
Director: Joe Carnahan | Stars: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts
Votes: 263,287 | Gross: $51.58M
The Difficult Viewing Hour(s). Don't try this at home. Remember, his wife had just died in a tragic accident. Is it worth it? I don't know, it all comes down to if you feel you need to understand it all, to have a "point" to yourself. If you worry about such things. If not, don't bother.
20. Sliding Doors (1998)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After personal and professional setbacks, a woman experiences an alternate reality.
Director: Peter Howitt | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Votes: 71,482 | Gross: $11.88M
The question that represents the theme of the film is clear very early. The value is in the constant unveiling of different outcomes for different decisions. This plays on our biological need to ascertain the perfect choice in all things.
21. The Age of Innocence (1993)
PG | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Linda Faye Farkas
Votes: 67,754 | Gross: $32.20M
Not really a great one, though I can't find fault with it. It's the ending. Let not indecision decide your fate, young wastrel!
22. Three Colors: White (1994)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After his wife divorces him, a Polish immigrant plots to get even with her.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Stuhr
Votes: 79,581 | Gross: $1.46M
Again and Again: What is Love? What kills it, what disgusts us, what is unforgivable?
23. Casualties of War (1989)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly
Votes: 48,120 | Gross: $18.67M
And then...who can release us from our torment?
24. The Lion in Winter (1968)
PG | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.
Director: Anthony Harvey | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle
Votes: 34,202 | Gross: $22.28M
I don't know if any great message lies in its ending, but sometimes I think so. There are many emergent themes recast throughout the film, all filled with pathos, but only in the end do we suspect the real message.
25. The Sacrifice (1986)
PG | 149 min | Drama
At the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir
Votes: 30,967 | Gross: $0.30M
Ah, if only we could dramatically save all the lost with our sacrifice. A bit delusional in real life, but wonderful in a dramatic what-if. What would we sacrifice for all the world? I, on the other hand, would sacrifice all for the sake of a warm dinner. Sophist.
26. Beautiful Girls (1996)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A piano player at a crossroads in his life returns home to his friends and their own problems with life and love.
Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Matt Dillon, Timothy Hutton, Noah Emmerich, Annabeth Gish
Votes: 34,718 | Gross: $10.60M
Strange, and not all encapsulated in the end, but a big chunk! Mildly unsettling in a "mind your own business" kind of way.
27. Once Around (1991)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Renata Bella feels like a failure at life and career. But when Renata attends a seminar on selling real estate, she finally finds True Love. Sam Sharpe, while a top-notch, successful ... See full summary »
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Danny Aiello, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 5,152 | Gross: $14.85M
Maybe not a beloved film to all who watch it. Perhaps too simplistic and maudlin. But life has had such moments for me. And the ending is grand.
28. Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
R | 107 min | Drama
A disillusioned young writer living in New York City turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 8,967 | Gross: $16.12M
You might notice many films in this list meander quite a bit. This one may be too mundane for many's tastes. But I often have been caught in unthinking disasters as if caught in a spell, only to find (eventually) some deep reason for the madness, and then a solution.
29. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
PG | 84 min | Comedy
In his attempts to reconcile a lounge singer with his mistress, a hapless talent agent is mistaken as her lover by a jealous gangster.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Sandy Baron
Votes: 26,937 | Gross: $10.60M
What a triumph of sentimentality!
30. Interiors (1978)
PG | 92 min | Drama
Three sisters find their lives spinning out of control in the wake of their parents' sudden, unexpected divorce.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt
Votes: 20,929
I can't remember what happened, but it was at the very end.
31. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
An ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Bill Bernstein, Claire Bloom
Votes: 60,778 | Gross: $18.25M
Ooh, this is a rascally one! I love going in with the expectations of the American film-goer, and being beaten to a pulp. You can feel your own biases and sense of right and wrong wailing in denial.
32. Annie Hall (1977)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
Votes: 278,329 | Gross: $39.20M
Just watch it. And it's the end. And it's a meandering mess.
33. September (1987)
PG | 83 min | Drama
At a summer house in Vermont, neighbor Howard falls in love with Lane, who's in a relationship with Peter, who's falling for Stephanie, who's married with children.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Elaine Stritch, Denholm Elliott, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 10,407 | Gross: $0.49M
Very slight, very depressing, very black. Oh, but the touch at the end, leaving us in a haze of mild horror.
34. Another Woman (1988)
PG | 81 min | Drama
Facing a mid-life crisis, a woman rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office to write a new book, only to become drawn to the plight of a pregnant woman seeking that doctor's help.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Blythe Danner
Votes: 15,040 | Gross: $1.56M
Jungian, or Freudian, not really sure. Allen was a Freudian, but the imagery feels Jungian. I think a lot of people will lose this one, but I still felt touched. I can't quite remember the ending, though.
35. Husbands and Wives (1992)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When their best friends announce that they're separating, a professor and his wife discover the faults in their own marriage.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack, Judy Davis
Votes: 31,200 | Gross: $10.56M
One of his best, and here he attempts to make it more personal (amazingly). Very cathartic. But the bow at the end is well done, but different from the previous, which were more of a tone poem, where this is more like a cracked note.
36. Of Mice and Men (1992)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Western
A nomadic farm worker looks after his dimwitted, gentle-giant friend during the Great Depression.
Director: Gary Sinise | Stars: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Ray Walston, Casey Siemaszko
Votes: 47,271 | Gross: $5.10M
Nice to have a classic in here, where the same pattern exists, and yet a well-respected novel. How'd this get in with this unseemly company?
37. Lord Jim (1965)
Not Rated | 154 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Peter O'Toole, James Mason, Curd Jürgens, Eli Wallach
Votes: 4,262
The film loses a lot of the irony of the book, but that's to be expected. The ending is not a surprise, really, but a cap on a perfect sonnet.
38. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,324 | Gross: $104.95M
Great throughout ("Plastics!"), and we get a hint in the pool scene, perhaps in the stripper scene too, and then the end takes that corny rescue and reverses it in our face.
39. House of Games (1987)
R | 102 min | Crime, Thriller
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
Director: David Mamet | Stars: Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum, Lilia Skala
Votes: 24,036 | Gross: $2.59M
Many films are morality plays, but to what morality? All set it up the same way, and we are left with our own prejudices to run wham! into the end.
40. The Trial (1993)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Joseph K. (Kyle MacLachlan) awakens one morning to find two strange men in his room, telling him he has been arrested. Joseph is not told with what he is charged, and despite being "... See full summary »
Director: David Hugh Jones | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Anthony Hopkins, Jason Robards, Juliet Stevenson
Votes: 2,532
I think it was this one I saw. But all will be the same story, and it is the story that resolves in the end. I love it as a final commentary on the foolishness of men's plans and rules.
41. The Killing (2011–2014)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police investigation, the saga of a grieving family, and a Seattle mayoral campaign all interlock after the body of 17-year-old Rosie Larsen is found in the trunk of a submerged car.
Stars: Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, Billy Campbell, Liam James
Votes: 123,327
OMG! The tension is unbelievable!
42. Insignificance (1985)
R | 109 min | Comedy
Four 1950s icons meet in the same hotel room and two of them discover more in common between them than they ever anticipated.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Gary Busey, Tony Curtis, Theresa Russell, Michael Emil
Votes: 3,883
When I first saw this, I felt a magical awe, all the way through to the end. Again, the entanglement of complex lives all fully populated with their own demons. Sound and fury...
43. The Glass House (1972 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
A young guard and a college professor convicted of manslaughter both start their first day in prison.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Vic Morrow, Alan Alda, Clu Gulager, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 931
Sad and shocking, even if it's old.
44. On the Beach (1959)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Votes: 14,407 | Gross: $11.00M
Quiet film, early example of the genre.
45. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,713 | Gross: $10.14M
Not a real surprise at the end, more of a bow.
46. The Best Intentions (1992)
Not Rated | 182 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 1909, poor theology student Henrik falls in love with Anna, the intelligent daughter of a rich family in Uppsala. After marrying Henrik becomes a priest in northern Sweden. Urbane Anna hates living in the county, growing restless.
Director: Bille August | Stars: Samuel Fröler, Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Ghita Nørby
Votes: 3,501 | Gross: $1.25M
An interesting study of such a seemingly minor action's consequences.
47. Zardoz (1974)
R | 105 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
In the late 23rd century, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, John Alderton
Votes: 24,556 | Gross: $0.07M
What a strange brew! And the ending, strangely, made me ponder a bit.
48. The Unforgiven (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Drama, Romance, Western
The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their adopted daughter was stolen from the local Kiowa tribe.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, John Saxon
Votes: 9,724
The title is given meaning in the last scene, though perhaps not a great aha moment, it settles the violence in a structure, a fine.
49. American Beauty (1999)
R | 122 min | Drama
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley
Votes: 1,210,567 | Gross: $130.10M
Very difficult and uncomfortable film, but only because of preconceptions I brought, and none I am sure of. The ending is a reflection of a horror into - its transverse?
50. 'night, Mother (1986)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama
A mother and daughter spend a night together after the daughter reveals that she will kill herself by the end of it.
Director: Tom Moore | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Anne Bancroft, Ed Berke, Carol Robbins
Votes: 2,547 | Gross: $0.44M
Didn't like it, but the ending can't be beat.
51. The Mind Snatchers (1972)
PG | 94 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A German scientist works on a way of quelling overly aggressive soldiers by developing implants that directly stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain.
Director: Bernard Girard | Stars: Christopher Walken, Joss Ackland, Ralph Meeker, Ronny Cox
Votes: 681
Not much loved, but what dialogue and the acting is superb!. The concept too is so apropos. And a delicious ending.
52. Awakenings (1990)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson
Votes: 158,670 | Gross: $52.10M
Sad, true, unexpected.
53. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,841 | Gross: $26.12M
54. Truly Madly Deeply (1990)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A woman dealing with inconsolable grief over the death of her partner gets another chance when he returns to earth as a ghost.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Jenny Howe, Carolyn Choa
Votes: 10,007 | Gross: $1.55M
Unexpected turn at the end of a simply tale.
55. Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
I.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah
Votes: 236,434 | Gross: $40.14M
Which is true, of course.
56. House of Sand and Fog (2003)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama
An abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.
Director: Vadim Perelman | Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher
Votes: 72,587 | Gross: $13.01M
Escalation!
57. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
M | 100 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert
Votes: 10,147
Not typical, not great.
58. Marathon Man (1976)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane
Votes: 70,199 | Gross: $21.71M
How will this madness end? Often action films fail in the ending department. But not this one.
59. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,144
A deep film, as the French often provide, and on many levels, with horror inextricably entwined.
60. Lathe of Heaven (2002 TV Movie)
91 min | Sci-Fi
In a near future society, a man claims that his dreams physically change reality. His therapist is confused at first, but soon decides to use him for his own gain.
Director: Philip Haas | Stars: James Caan, Lukas Haas, Lisa Bonet, David Strathairn
Votes: 1,045
Very clever!
61. 1984 (1984)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 78,967 | Gross: $8.40M
Only surprising if you haven't read the book, otherwise technically surprising, but like a smooth slide after a terrifying ride.
62. THX 1138 (1971)
R | 86 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie
Votes: 54,605 | Gross: $2.44M
Awe-inspiring end.
63. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,456 | Gross: $30.57M
How this minor horror film managed to upset me, I don't know. The ending is somehow the sharpest cut.
64. The Plague Dogs (1982)
PG-13 | 103 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Two dogs escape from a laboratory and are hunted as possible carriers of the bubonic plague.
Director: Martin Rosen | Stars: John Hurt, Christopher Benjamin, James Bolam, Nigel Hawthorne
Votes: 8,804
Mandatorally depressing. Unexpected tie-in across several themes in the end.
65. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,549,838 | Gross: $292.58M
It's not a crystallizing event of mammoth proportions, but it is nod to the style of nesting states of being-type movie this is. Is it real, or is it Memorex?
66. Looper (2012)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano
Votes: 602,849 | Gross: $66.49M
"Inception" reminded me "Looper", as far as the ending. Most time-travel movies have cataclysmic endings in hopes of shocking the unbelievable-ness of it all out of the viewer.
67. Munich (2005)
R | 164 min | Action, Drama, History
After the Black September capture and massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, five men are chosen to eliminate the people responsible for that fateful day.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Marie-Josée Croze, Ciarán Hinds
Votes: 238,233 | Gross: $47.40M
An intricate examination of a dark subject and dark time. In the end, the whole of Judaism is seen in schismatic form, split between what must be done, and their own laws.
68. Bullitt (1968)
M/PG | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A nonconformist San Francisco cop is determined to find the underworld kingpin who killed the witness under his protection.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon
Votes: 75,810 | Gross: $42.30M
Moody piece, like Noir without the black and white, more a photograph than a film. The end is a period that seems like it should have been an exclamation point, but it is still a release, a justice.
69. Fearless (1993)
R | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce
Votes: 24,552 | Gross: $7.00M
Who expected this ending? Not me.
70. Pay It Forward (2000)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
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: 123,871 | Gross: $33.52M
A touchy-feely movie, with the usual heart-string pulling. Not a surprise to you? I was.
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