Top 100 Films: 50-41

50. Full Metal Jacket (1987, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Stanley Kubrick's singular vision of the Vietnam War stands, perhaps, as the most haunting portrait of men in combat in film history.



49. Dead Man Walking (1995, dir. Tim Robbins)
Although Tim Robbins' film provides an impassioned argument against the death penalty, I hesitate to call it strictly political; rather, it is a powerful artistic statement about loss and personal redemption. Susan Surandon and Sean Penn give the best performances of their careers.



48. City of God (2003, dir. Fernando Meirelles)
To illustrate the importance of this 2003 film, let me ask a simple question: would Danny Boyle have ever conjured the manic inspiration to make Slumdog Millionaire without City of God. Fernando Meirelles' Academy Award nominated drama is the most resonant, sprawling, and recklessly brilliant crime film since Goodfellas.



47. The Natural (1984, dir. Barry Levinson)
At times Barry Levinson's simplistic approach as a filmmaker can be a severe detriment (Envy, Disclosure, and the utterly horrible Man of the Year are prime examples of this), but his style is perfectly suited to this sports fairy tale starring Robert Redford. Levinson's film achieves an expressive, painterly elegance that compliments the film's almost extra-mythical quality. And the film itself is as rousing a sports drama as any.



46. Se7en (1995, dir. David Fincher)
A few weeks ago I turned on the television and found myself watching a brooding, rain-drenched murder mystery. Was it Se7en? No. It was the 1999 film Resurrection starring Christopher Lambert. But that's the point. It's easy to forget just how influential David Fincher's Se7en is unless you've seen some of the numerous carbon copies like Resurrection that have been produced after it. This film is truly groundbreaking in its darkly realized stylization.

45. Being There (1979, dir. Hal Ashby)
Few actors have embodied a character as fully and as marvelously as Peter Sellers does in the remarkable comedy Being There. On first glance, one might view Seller's characterization of the simple-minded, slightly vacant, and television-obsessed Chance as being easy. And that's the genius of the performance. In this film, Sellers crosses the plane of mere performance and becomes Chance.

44. The Birds (1963, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Alfred Hitchcock's take on apocalyptic drama is as heightened and terrifying as anything that has been produced.

43. The Big Lebowski (1997, dir. Joel Coen)
There's not much to say about this film except that it's pure comedy genius.

42. The Lives of Others (2006, dir. Florian Hencknel von Donnersmarck)
In 2006 there was one foreign film that everyone was talking about: Pan's Labyrinth. And yet, what won Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards that year? The Lives of Others. At his oscar party, Sir Elton John was apparently so surprised that his favorite didn't win he said, "What the fuck?" (or something like that). In this case, I actually think the Academy got it right. Not only was Florian Hencknel von Donnersmarck's penetrating look at the East Germany the best foreign language film of the year, it was one of the most interesting and powerful films in some time.

41. Magnolia (1999, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Hard Eight... good. Boogie Nights... great. Magnolia... greatest. Although most might prefer Anderson's Boogie Nights, I'll take the epic, oblique, shamelessly emotive Magnolia any day of the week.