Welcome to the 2012 edition of Best of the Best Picture Nominees, the 50 best-reviewed movies blessed with the Academy's notions of what elevates film into the realm of legend and lore.
A wise movie's promotional slogan once said, "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies." Perhaps by this same coin, Hollywood doesn't get to 5 million movies without making a few good masterpieces. Catch 'em all in our countdown.
The French Connection (1971)
98%
Adjusted Score: 103.322%
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Critics Consensus: Realistic, fast-paced and uncommonly smart, The French Connection is bolstered by stellar performances by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, not to mention William Friedkin's thrilling production.
Synopsis: This gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Ernest...
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Directed By:
William Friedkin
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50
Marty (1955)
100%
Adjusted Score: 103.213%
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Critics Consensus: Scriptwriter Paddy Chayefsky's solid dialogue is bolstered by strong performances from Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in this appealingly low-key character study.
Synopsis: Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning slice-of-life drama originated as a live 1953 broadcast directed by Delbert Mann on The Philco-Goodyear Television...
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Directed By:
Delbert Mann
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49
Great Expectations (1946)
100%
Adjusted Score: 103.732%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: Immediately grabbing the audience's attention with a heart-stopping opening scene in a dark graveyard, acclaimed British director David Lean realizes...
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Directed By:
David Lean
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48
The Thin Man (1934)
97%
Adjusted Score: 103.663%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: Filmed on what MGM considered a B-picture budget and schedule (14 days, which at Universal or Columbia would have been considered extravagant), The...
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Directed By:
W.S. Van Dyke
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47
The Lost Weekend (1945)
100%
Adjusted Score: 104.208%
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Critics Consensus: Director Billy Wilder's unflinchingly honest look at the effects of alcoholism may have had some of its impact blunted by time, but it remains a powerful and remarkably prescient film.
Synopsis: Billy Wilder's searing portrait of an alcoholic features an Oscar-winning performance by Ray Milland as Don Birnam, a writer whose lust for booze...
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Directed By:
Billy Wilder
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46
Ninotchka (1939)
97%
Adjusted Score: 100.957%
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Critics Consensus: With Greta Garbo proving her comedy chops in the twilight of her career, Ninotchka is a can't-miss classic.
Synopsis: "Garbo Laughs!" declared the ads for Ninotchka. In the face of dwindling foreign revenues, MGM decided to put Greta Garbo, a bigger draw in Europe...
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Directed By:
Ernst Lubitsch
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45
Annie Hall (1977)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.234%
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Critics Consensus: Filled with poignant performances and devastating humor, Annie Hall represents a quantum leap for Woody Allen and remains an American classic.
Synopsis: Woody Allen's romantic comedy of the Me Decade follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Jewish comedy writer Alvy...
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Directed By:
Woody Allen
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44
The Social Network (2010)
96%
Adjusted Score: 103.928%
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Critics Consensus: Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.
Synopsis: Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) teams with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) to explore the meaning of success in the early 21st...
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Directed By:
David Fincher
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43
Captain Blood (1935)
100%
Adjusted Score: 103.998%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: When British actor Robert Donat dropped out of Warner Bros. Captain Blood, the studio took a chance on its new contractee, Tasmania-born Errol Flynn....
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Directed By:
Michael Curtiz
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42
Suspicion (1941)
100%
Adjusted Score: 104.052%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: Wealthy, sheltered Joan Fontaine is swept off her feet by charming ne'er-do-well Cary Grant. Though warned that Grant is little more than a...
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Directed By:
Alfred Hitchcock
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41
The Artist (2011)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.216%
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Critics Consensus: A crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare.
Synopsis: Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and...
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Directed By:
Michel Hazanavicius
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40
It Happened One Night (1934)
98%
Adjusted Score: 106.015%
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Critics Consensus: Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired.
Synopsis: Frank Capra's seminal screwball comedy, which won all five major Academy Awards for 1934, is still as breezy and beguiling today. Claudette Colbert...
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Directed By:
Frank Capra
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39
Raging Bull (1980)
98%
Adjusted Score: 103.767%
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Critics Consensus: Arguably Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's finest film, Raging Bull is often painful to watch, but it's a searing, powerful work about an unsympathetic hero.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese's brutal character study incisively portrays the true rise and fall and redemption of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, a violent man...
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Directed By:
Martin Scorsese
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38
Roman Holiday (1953)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.583%
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Critics Consensus: With Audrey Hepburn luminous in her American debut, Roman Holiday is as funny as it is beautiful, and sets the standard for the modern romantic comedy.
Synopsis: Audrey Hepburn became a star with this film, in which she played Princess Anne, weary of protocol and anxious to have some fun before she is mummified...
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Directed By:
William Wyler
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37
The Hurt Locker (2008)
97%
Adjusted Score: 104.228%
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Critics Consensus: A well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is thus far the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.
Synopsis: Based on the personal wartime experiences of journalist Mark Boal (who adapted his experiences with a bomb squad into a fact-based, yet fictional...
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Directed By:
Kathryn Bigelow
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36
High Noon (1952)
96%
Adjusted Score: 104.214%
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Critics Consensus: A classic of the Western genre that broke with many of the traditions at the time, High Noon endures -- in no small part thanks to Gary Cooper's defiant, Oscar-winning performance.
Synopsis: This Western classic stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, about to retire from office and go on his honeymoon with his new Quaker...
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Directed By:
Fred Zinnemann
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35
L.A. Confidential (1997)
99%
Adjusted Score: 104.221%
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Critics Consensus: Taut pacing, brilliantly dense writing and Oscar-worthy acting combine to produce a smart, popcorn-friendly thrill ride.
Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel by James Ellroy and directed by Curtis Hanson, this award-winning crime drama explores both the dark side of the Los...
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Directed By:
Curtis Hanson
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34
The Red Shoes (1948)
98%
Adjusted Score: 105.026%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's influential musical tragedy set the stage for the climactic dance ballets that became a staple of the Arthur...
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33
The Last Picture Show (1971)
100%
Adjusted Score: 104.817%
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Critics Consensus: Making excellent use of its period and setting, Peter Bogdanovich's small town coming-of-age story is a sad but moving classic filled with impressive performances.
Synopsis: Produced by Hollywood iconoclast BBS Productions, film critic-turned-director Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 film pays homage to Hollywood's classical age...
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Directed By:
Peter Bogdanovich
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32
All the President's Men (1976)
98%
Adjusted Score: 102.609%
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Critics Consensus: A taut, solidly acted paean to the benefits of a free press and the dangers of unchecked power, made all the more effective by its origins in real-life events.
Synopsis: Conspiracy film specialist Alan J. Pakula turned journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their Watergate investigation...
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Directed By:
Alan J. Pakula
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31
Taxi Driver (1976)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.728%
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Critics Consensus: A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best.
Synopsis: "All the animals come out at night" -- and one of them is a cabby about to snap. In Martin Scorsese's classic 1970s drama, insomniac ex-Marine Travis...
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Directed By:
Martin Scorsese
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30
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
98%
Adjusted Score: 105.342%
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Critics Consensus: The epic of all epics, Lawrence of Arabia cements director David Lean's status in the filmmaking pantheon with nearly four hours of grand scope, brilliant performances, and beautiful cinematography.
Synopsis: This sweeping, highly literate historical epic covers the Allies' mideastern campaign during World War I as seen through the eyes of the enigmatic T....
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Directed By:
David Lean
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29
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.617%
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Critics Consensus: Drawing on strong performances by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola's continuation of Mario Puzo's Mafia saga set new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken.
Synopsis: Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his...
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Directed By:
Francis Ford Coppola
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28
Stagecoach (1939)
100%
Adjusted Score: 104.949%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: Although there were Westerns before it, Stagecoach quickly became a template for all movie Westerns to come. Director John Ford combined action,...
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Directed By:
John Ford
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27
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
100%
Adjusted Score: 105.676%
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Critics Consensus: A potent drama that is as socially important today as when it was made, The Grapes of Wrath is affecting, moving, and deservedly considered an American classic.
Synopsis: The adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of dirt-poor Dust Bowl migrants by 4-time Oscar-winning director...
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Directed By:
John Ford
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26
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
100%
Adjusted Score: 105.489%
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Critics Consensus: One of cinema's greatest courtroom dramas, Anatomy of a Murder is tense, thought-provoking, and brilliantly acted, with great performances from James Stewart and George C. Scott.
Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel by Robert Traver (the pseudonym for Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker), Anatomy of a Murder stars James...
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Directed By:
Otto Preminger
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25
12 Angry Men (Twelve Angry Men) (1957)
100%
Adjusted Score: 105.926%
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Critics Consensus: Sidney Lumet's feature debut is a superbly written, dramatically effective courtroom thriller that rightfully stands as a modern classic.
Synopsis: A Puerto Rican youth is on trial for murder, accused of knifing his father to death. The twelve jurors retire to the jury room, having been admonished...
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Directed By:
Sidney Lumet
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24
Rebecca (1940)
100%
Adjusted Score: 105.835%
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Critics Consensus: Hitchcock's first American film (and his only Best Picture winner), Rebecca is a masterpiece of haunting atmosphere, Gothic thrills, and gripping suspense.
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, the classic psychological thriller Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock's first American film. Joan Fontaine plays...
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Directed By:
Alfred Hitchcock
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23
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
98%
Adjusted Score: 105.911%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her...
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Directed By:
Elia Kazan
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22
Chinatown (1974)
98%
Adjusted Score: 104.617%
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Critics Consensus: As bruised and cynical as the decade that produced it, this noir classic benefits from Robert Towne's brilliant screenplay, director Roman Polanski's steady hand, and wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.
Synopsis: "You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't," warns water baron Noah Cross (John Huston), when smooth...
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Directed By:
Roman Polanski
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21
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
100%
Adjusted Score: 106.023%
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Critics Consensus: Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.
Synopsis: John Huston's 1948 treasure-hunt classic begins as drifter Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), down and out in Tampico, Mexico, impulsively spends his...
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Directed By:
John Huston
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20
Toy Story 3 (2010)
99%
Adjusted Score: 106.331%
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Critics Consensus: Deftly blending comedy, adventure, and honest emotion, Toy Story 3 is a rare second sequel that really works.
Synopsis: Pixar returns to their first success with Toy Story 3. The movie begins with Andy leaving for college and donating his beloved toys -- including Woody...
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Directed By:
Lee Unkrich
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19
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
100%
Adjusted Score: 106.312%
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Critics Consensus: Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, The Philadelphia Story is an unqualified classic.
Synopsis: We open on Philadelphia socialite C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) as he's being tossed out of his palatial home by his wife, Tracy Lord (Katharine...
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Directed By:
George Cukor
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18
Jaws (1975)
98%
Adjusted Score: 105.272%
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Critics Consensus: Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg's Jaws has remained a benchmark in the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.
Synopsis: Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while...
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Directed By:
Steven Spielberg
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17
Gone With the Wind (1939)
96%
Adjusted Score: 106.401%
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Critics Consensus: Filmed and presented on a scale not seen in modern productions, Gone with the Wind is, if not the definitive Hollywood film, then certainly near the top of the list.
Synopsis: Gone With the Wind boils down to a story about a spoiled Southern girl's hopeless love for a married man. Producer David O. Selznick managed to expand...
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16
On the Waterfront (1954)
100%
Adjusted Score: 106.957%
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Critics Consensus: With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan's thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape.
Synopsis: This classic story of Mob informers was based on a number of true stories and filmed on location in and around the docks of New York and New Jersey....
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Directed By:
Elia Kazan
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15
An American in Paris (1951)
96%
Adjusted Score: 104.425%
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Critics Consensus: The plot may be problematic, but such concerns are rendered superfluous by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron's star power, the Gershwins' classic songs, and Vincente Minnelli's colorful, sympathetic direction.
Synopsis: Gene Kelly does his patented Pal Joey bit as Jerry Mulligan, an opportunistic American painter living in Paris' "starving artists" colony. He is...
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Directed By:
Vincente Minnelli
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14
Casablanca (1942)
97%
Adjusted Score: 107.628%
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Critics Consensus: An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood's quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Synopsis: One of the most beloved American films, this captivating wartime adventure of romance and intrigue from director Michael Curtiz defies standard...
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Directed By:
Michael Curtiz
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13
Top Hat (1935)
100%
Adjusted Score: 106.705%
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Critics Consensus: A glamorous and enthralling Depression-era diversion, Top Hat is nearly flawless, with acrobatics by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that make the hardest physical stunts seem light as air.
Synopsis: One of the best of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, Top Hat centers on a typical mistaken-identity plot, with wealthy Dale Tremont (Rogers),...
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Directed By:
Mark Sandrich
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12
Up (2009)
98%
Adjusted Score: 106.806%
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Critics Consensus: Another masterful work of art from Pixar, Up is an exciting, hilarious, and heartfelt adventure impeccably crafted and told with wit and depth.
Synopsis: A feisty septuagenarian teams with a fearless wilderness ranger to do battle with a vicious band of beasts and villains in this computer-animated...
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11
Apocalypse Now (1979)
99%
Adjusted Score: 106.802%
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Critics Consensus: Francis Ford Coppola's haunting, hallucinatory Vietnam War epic is cinema at its most audacious and visionary.
Synopsis: One of a cluster of late-1970s films about the Vietnam War, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now adapts the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness...
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Directed By:
Francis Ford Coppola
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10
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
100%
Adjusted Score: 107.233%
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Critics Consensus: Suspenseful, labyrinthine, and brilliantly cast, The Maltese Falcon is one of the most influential noirs -- as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest.
Synopsis: After two previous film versions of Dashiell Hammett's detective classic The Maltese Falcon, Warner Bros. finally got it right in 1941--or, rather,...
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Directed By:
John Huston
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9
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
98%
Adjusted Score: 107.341%
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Critics Consensus: Arguably the greatest movie about Hollywood, Billy Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Boulevard is a tremendously entertaining combination of noir, black comedy, and character study.
Synopsis: Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard ranks among the most scathing satires of Hollywood and the cruel fickleness of movie fandom. The story begins at the...
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Directed By:
Billy Wilder
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8
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
98%
Adjusted Score: 108.216%
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Critics Consensus: Playing as both an exciting sci-fi adventure and a remarkable portrait of childhood, Steven Spielberg's touching tale of a homesick alien remains a piece of movie magic for young and old.
Synopsis: Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the...
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Directed By:
Steven Spielberg
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7
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
100%
Adjusted Score: 108.529%
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Critics Consensus: Errol Flynn thrills as the legendary title character, and the film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen.
Synopsis: In order to avoid the material copyrighted by Douglas Fairbanks Sr. for his 1922 Robin Hood, the scripters of this Flynn version relied on several...
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6
La Grande illusion (Grand Illusion) (1937)
97%
Adjusted Score: 109.002%
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Critics Consensus:
Synopsis: For its 75th Anniversary, Rialto Pictures presents a stunning 4K restoration of GRAND ILLUSION, Jean Renoir's powerful and eloquent anti-war film set...
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Directed By:
Jean Renoir
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5
All About Eve (1950)
100%
Adjusted Score: 109.157%
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Critics Consensus: Smart, sophisticated, and devastatingly funny, All About Eve is a Hollywood classic that only improves with age.
Synopsis: Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress Eve...
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Directed By:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
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4
The Godfather (1972)
100%
Adjusted Score: 109.747%
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Critics Consensus: One of Hollywood's greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema.
Synopsis: Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the...
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Directed By:
Francis Ford Coppola
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3
Citizen Kane (1941)
100%
Adjusted Score: 111.163%
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Critics Consensus: Orson Welles's epic tale of a publishing tycoon's rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.
Synopsis: Orson Welles first feature film -- which he directed, produced, and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role -- proved to be his most important and...
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Directed By:
Orson Welles
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2
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
99%
Adjusted Score: 115.019%
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Critics Consensus: An absolute masterpiece whose groundbreaking visuals and deft storytelling are still every bit as resonant, The Wizard of Oz is a must-see film for young and old.
Synopsis: L. Frank Baum's classic tale comes to magisterial Technicolor life! The Wizard of Oz stars legendary Judy Garland as Dorothy, an innocent farm girl...
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