My Favourites
by EdwardSaberhagen | created - 14 Sep 2013 | updated - 12 Jan 2014 | PublicMovies that somehow changed me in some sort of way; films that could define me. The best for me.
It is not in order, well, maybe the first 10-15, but I'm not sure about this order.
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1. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,212 | Gross: $3.08M
What is life? Is there a reason why we are here? Or are we just here to die? Born for dying...This film doesn't give an answer to these questions but lets us think about them; because our purpose, our reason, builds from within ourselves. Sometimes we think it's too late, but "the end is built into the beginning".
2. Mr. Nobody (2009)
R | 141 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael | Stars: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh-Dan Pham
Votes: 245,796 | Gross: $0.00M
There are movies that make you wish you could watch them for the first time again. This is one of those. Different stories born from the very same point, having all their differences because of the basic unit of change: choice.
3. Waking Life (2001)
R | 99 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
A man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater, Wiley Wiggins
Votes: 66,917 | Gross: $2.89M
This is a summary of all the kind of problems within the humanity, from political views to existential questions; an exposure of what we all thought, think and will think. The questions have been made, are we ever going to get the answers?
4. 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: 2,550,134 | Gross: $292.58M
Dreams. "Awoken" life. How do we know which one is real? We don't. We choose to believe we know, or think we know. So we end up uncertain of our space of existence and question it. Nevertheless we continue to live. Difficulties will always show up and we must rely on peolpe we know and trust, and some who we don't. We may never know what's real, but Time will tell.
5. 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: 248,727 | Gross: $10.14M
Letting go is one of the issues that keeps us humans away from happiness. Sometimes we have to go through rough situations to realize what we have, and have lost too; it's a part of life and this love story gives us the chance to give it a thought. Plus, Clint Mansell's best work in my opinion.
6. Memento (2000)
R | 113 min | Mystery, Thriller
A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 1,322,601 | Gross: $25.54M
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That pretty much summarizes it.
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 547,893 | Gross: $17.74M
Read the book, watched the movie, even read the books the protagonist read in the movie. A great experience this movie is, a realistic journey of a teenager with some unsolved personal issues; excellent story that made me "feel infinite".
8. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,323,106 | Gross: $37.03M
This one gave me reasons to start to watch more movies. I was stunned for some minutes after it finished, with that expression of "Wooaaa!" on my face. Saw it about 3 years ago (yeah, I know!). His name was Robert Paulson.
9. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 742,629 | Gross: $132.09M
I had this for over 2 months on my watchlist. Two unbalanced beings tortured by different, yet similar, difficulties in which they lost a very important part of their lifes. "Excelsior".
Plus, Jennifer *beep* hot on this one!
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,072,147 | Gross: $112.00M
Just like...great, magnificent. I just...can't even.... I have no words for this, it's a masterpiece.
11. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,296 | Gross: $322.74M
I came to watch this one with my dad, it was one of the first movies I saw in a movie theater, that I recall. Made me a fan.
12. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 814,858 | Gross: $148.10M
What do you get if you have a racist old widower, an introvert filipino guy, his sister, (Clint Eastwood's coolness implied) and a bunch of gangsta' filipinos? A masterpiece. This man is a genius.
13. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
R | 102 min | Drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
Votes: 898,574 | Gross: $3.64M
It's easy to dream, you just close your eyes and think of what you want the most in the world. We live to find happiness, to seek our dreams. But, what happens when we desperately want them, when we take the wrong path to fulfill them? There's nothing wrong with dreams, only with the things we put us through to make them true.
14. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
PG-13 | 101 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
An ex-mercenary is forced out of isolation when three mysterious men kidnap and brainwash the city's children afflicted with the Geostigma disease.
Directors: Tetsuya Nomura, Takeshi Nozue | Stars: Takahiro Sakurai, Ayumi Ito, Shôtarô Morikubo, Maaya Sakamoto
Votes: 58,201
This one is really special to me. I'm a fan of this game, played it thoroughly and finished it several times, made all the side-quests and felt all the story. So when I heard they were doing a sequel in form of a movie...Great feelings returned to me.
15. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 849,050 | Gross: $10.06M
A great love story, within a strange world full of fantastic, and terrible creatures, that emphasizes on the importance of hope and true love.
16. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,869,953 | Gross: $534.86M
Everthing about this one is just perfect. This isn't just another superhero who saves the day kind of movie; it is much more. Life can be overwhelming, and may test our capacity to overcome difficult situations, even such that look impossible to solve. We can't let them win.
17. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
R | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
An Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare
Votes: 116,789 | Gross: $4.18M
This is a tough one. Justice is a common word to use, yet not a thoroughly practiced value. We may be good people, regardless of that, someone around us may not be that good. It takes true strength to overcome certain situations; but sometimes we only need a bit of friendship, dreams and/or music to forget we aren't that strong, and just smile...
18. Limitless (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 105 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
A mysterious pill that enables the user to access 100% of his brain's abilities transforms a struggling writer into a financial wizard, but it also puts him in a new world with many dangers.
Director: Neil Burger | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro
Votes: 612,281 | Gross: $79.25M
We have pills to stop a headache, to stop the symptoms of a flu, blue pills, pills that give us the painful truth of reality, etc...Why not have a pill to make us geniuses?
19. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
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: 911,927 | Gross: $32.57M
First Holocaust-related movie that I've seen. The only one I've really liked. Magnificent.
20. Dial M for Murder (1954)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams
Votes: 188,754 | Gross: $0.01M
Look for "Master of suspense" on google, this sir, the one and only result. Overwhelming story; you forget to breathe sometimes. Perfect.
21. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,626 | Gross: $0.75M
Rage. Anger. Regret. There's nothing worst than being prey of these emotions, we don't think what we do, but we do what we want. We may end up consumed by them and lose what we really are. Reverse of the Irréversible.
22. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 545,769 | Gross: $95.86M
23. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 231,880 | Gross: $115.65M
24. Departures (2008)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama
Soon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.
Director: Yôjirô Takita | Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Votes: 54,967 | Gross: $1.50M
25. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
Votes: 864,758 | Gross: $4.36M
26. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 635,611 | Gross: $0.71M
27. The Illusionist (2006)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
In turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing.
Director: Neil Burger | Stars: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell
Votes: 389,613 | Gross: $39.87M
28. The Prestige (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
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: 1,440,828 | Gross: $53.09M
29. The Iron Giant (1999)
PG | 86 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.
Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel
Votes: 227,358 | Gross: $23.16M
30. Click (2006)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.
Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff
Votes: 356,658 | Gross: $137.36M
31. Delicacy (2011)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.
Directors: David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos | Stars: Audrey Tautou, François Damiens, Bruno Todeschini, Mélanie Bernier
Votes: 13,904
32. The Breakfast Club (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Votes: 436,416 | Gross: $45.88M
33. Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
PG | 96 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A preteen's life turns upside down when he befriends the new girl in school and they imagine a whole new fantasy world to escape reality.
Director: Gabor Csupo | Stars: Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick
Votes: 173,254 | Gross: $82.27M
34. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,052,538 | Gross: $171.48M
35. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,231 | Gross: $144.80M
36. The Skin I Live In (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Jan Cornet, Marisa Paredes
Votes: 165,821 | Gross: $3.19M
37. Finding Neverland (2004)
PG | 106 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell
Votes: 212,025 | Gross: $51.68M
38. Across the Universe (2007)
PG-13 | 133 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
The music of The Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for the romance between an upper-class American girl and a poor Liverpudlian artist.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs
Votes: 114,260 | Gross: $51.66M
39. Life of Pi (2012)
PG | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Votes: 666,732 | Gross: $124.99M
40. 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: 147,224 | Gross: $45.70M
41. Cinderella Man (2005)
PG-13 | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The true story of James J. Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer, who returned to the spotlight to win the heavyweight championship of the world.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Craig Bierko, Paul Giamatti
Votes: 198,312 | Gross: $61.65M
42. A Serbian Film (2010)
NC-17 | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An aging porn star agrees to participate in an "art film" in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic | Stars: Srdjan 'Zika' Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Slobodan Bestic
Votes: 71,661
43. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 152,623 | Gross: $4.06M
44. Persona (1966)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Thriller
A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand
Votes: 130,882
45. Happiness (1998)
NC-17 | 134 min | Comedy, Drama
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Director: Todd Solondz | Stars: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker
Votes: 74,407 | Gross: $2.81M
46. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011)
Not Rated | 91 min | Horror
Inspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.
Director: Tom Six | Stars: Laurence R. Harvey, Ashlynn Yennie, Maddi Black, Kandace Caine
Votes: 42,945 | Gross: $0.12M
47. Hesher (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Director: Spencer Susser | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson
Votes: 54,095 | Gross: $0.38M
48. Green Street Hooligans (2005)
R | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
A wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent underworld of football hooliganism.
Director: Lexi Alexander | Stars: Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren
Votes: 161,802 | Gross: $0.34M
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