My Favorite Movies

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1
Casablanca 1942,  PG)
Casablanca
The Absolute Best!
2
8 1/2 1963,  Unrated)
8 1/2
this film has defined for ages what can broadly be called "the cinemas of the mind": the opening scene where mastroianni crawls out of his car's window and flies off in a balloon is a symbol of cinema's escape from the limits of Reason; it culminates in another scene when he shockingly grabs his mother's face to smooch her only to discover that the face belongs to his paramour...fellini demonstrates with 8 1/2 cinema's sinister capacity to penetrate our minds...and touch our souls.
3
It Happened One Night 1934,  Unrated)
It Happened One Night
no other hollywood film has been copied by bollywood as many times as this one: from raj kapoor's chori-chori to mahesh bhatt's dil hai ki mantaa nahi, it happened one night has been duplicated frame by frame...and despite the passage of four decades or so, lost none of its brilliance...perhaps, this is THE love story of- and for- our times...every scene is to be savored...
4
Citizen Kane 1941,  PG)
Citizen Kane
absolutely groundbreaking...after kane, cinema was no longer a prisoner of time (or to be more specific, linear story-telling)...one wonders why welles didn't come up with anything remotely as good as his debut?...together with fellini's 8 1/2 it defines modern cinema...
5
The Godfather 1972,  R)
The Godfather
which is better- the book or the movie? usually such questions have only one answer: the book of course. but with coppola's adaptation of puzo's masterpiece there can be no easy answer...both the book and the film have sought rather blatantly to glamorize the mafiosi; neither offers any regret...but they do it with such unbridled panache- class even- that one can't help but fall in love with the Godfather...brando no doubt steals the show with his unique hanky-stuffed-in-mouth portrayal of don corleone...
6
The Lion in Winter 1968,  PG)
The Lion in Winter
for sheer rawness of performances- for all we know, the actors could well have been animals in human clothing-, acerbity of golman's dialogues delivered with unmatched primordial gusto, and a crazed lust for power- that is the hallmark of all ages including ours- this is the film to watch- and then watch again and again...to me, this is the very anti-thesis of a love story; and for that reason alone, i love every moment of it.
7
The Great Dictator 1940,  G)
The Great Dictator
charles chaplin had said that had he known about the true horrors of concentration camps, he would never have made the great dictator. it is difficult to agree with him. it's all very well to have schindler's list...but films like this one do what they cannot: they look Evil straight in the face and laugh at it, tell it to go screw itself; more importantly, they are symbolic of Art's- and Humor's- triumph...
8
Singin' in the Rain 1952,  G)
Singin' in the Rain
the best film ever made about films; it takes the viewer on a magical joyride through cinema's golden age...the dancing, the singing, the acting...everything is perfect...in my opinion, it is by far the best musical ever!
9
Gone With the Wind 1939,  G)
10
Ben-Hur 1959,  G)
Ben-Hur
an eternal classic epitomizing the craft of filmmaking at its very best.
11
Gandhi 1982,  PG)
Gandhi
this has got to be the best biopic of all time. curiously, then, the secret of sir richard attenborough's encapsulation of a life as complex and charismatic as gandhi's owes much to his subject's demonic antithesis: adolf hitler who famously wrote "read the essentials, forget the non-essentials" (mein kampf). gandhi- the film- does indeed, by focusing on the essentials of gandhi's overpowering humanity even at the risk of oversimplification, mytholigification and caricaturing, create a character far more real than the mahatma...not surprisingly, people in india find ben kingsley to be more of a gandhi than gandhi himself...other auteurs who have taken on gandhi- shyam benegal, for instance, in his film 'the making of the mahatma'- fail precisely because they couldn't escape the pitfalls of non-essentials...
12
Ran 1985,  R)
Ran
possibly the best cinematic adaptation of lear...on second thoughts- that may be a bit unfair on kurosawa for two reasons: one, ran's visual vocabulary owes very little to the bard- by juxtaposing the gruesome violence- physical but also moral- that is lear against the backdrop of an otherwise placid idyll, japan's premier cinematic auteur has taken lear beyond the strictly shakespearean interpretation- wherein- and this is my second point- Nature itself becomes as ethically ambiguous a character as any other; kurosawa, like the bard, has deftly left all moral judgments to the viewer...this is by far his best work.
13
Rebecca 1940,  Unrated)
Rebecca
Hitchcock's best!
14
Annie Hall 1977,  PG)
15
Roman Holiday 1953,  Unrated)
16
The Silence of the Lambs 1991,  R)
17
The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957,  PG)
18
The Shining 1980,  R)
The Shining
Not surprisingly, everyone associated with the cast of this film went mad, much like the character played by Jack Nicholson. Kubrick proves that the real horror lies within us; and isolation, more than anything else, is the best catalyst for awakening the demons inside...
19
Amadeus 1984,  PG)
20
Lost Horizon 1937,  Unrated)
21
Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander) 1982,  R)
22
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) 1999,  R)
23
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975,  R)
24
Blow-Up 1966,  Unrated)
Blow-Up
This is perhaps the sexiest film I've ever seen: don't ask me why. Kundan Shah did a superb adaptation with Jaane bhi do yaaron, turning it into the best comedy Indian cinema has produced. Antonioni cannot be surpassed in his mastery of the Desolation of contemporary life: everything, it seems, becomes an object, beautiful but without feelings; incapable of arousal...Ironically, then, this is what makes Blow Up so sexy!
25
Sabrina 1954,  Unrated)
26
The Sound of Music 1965,  G)
27
Lawrence of Arabia 1962,  PG)
28
Ba wang bie ji (Farewell My Concubine) 1993,  R)
29
The Color Purple 1985,  PG-13)
30
Mary Poppins 1964,  G)
31
The General 1926,  Unrated)
32
The Godfather, Part II 1974,  R)
33
Dersu Uzala 1975,  G)
34
A Matter of Taste 2000,  Unrated)
A Matter of Taste
A brilliant film about unrequited self-love...
35
Pan's Labyrinth 2006,  R)
36
Pulp Fiction 1994,  R)
37
La Dolce Vita 1960,  Unrated)
38
My Fair Lady 1964,  G)
39
A Clockwork Orange 1971,  R)
40
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966,  R)
41
Hello, Dolly! 1969,  G)
42
American Beauty 1999,  R)
43
The Passion of the Christ 2004,  R)
44
Charade 1963,  G)
45
Doctor Zhivago 1965,  PG-13)
46
Terms of Endearment 1983,  PG)
47
Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier) 1960,  Unrated)
48
On Golden Pond 1981,  PG)
49
Babel 2006,  R)
50
Jaane bhi do yaaro(Who Pays the Piper ) 1983,  Unrated)
51
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006,  R)
52
As Good As It Gets 1997,  PG-13)
53
A Streetcar Named Desire 1951,  PG)
54
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989,  PG-13)
55
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) 1981,  PG)
56
Out of Africa 1985,  PG)
57
The Matrix 1999,  R)
The Matrix
no film has made me think more about the meaning of life- monty python included- than matrix. the world it propounds cannot be denied (or for that matter, verified); therein lies its true horror. the wachowski brothers, however, should have left it at that. the sequels are an unequivocal disaster- given to much pointless philosophizing.
58
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001,  PG-13)
59
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003,  PG-13)
60
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002,  PG-13)
61
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie) 1972,  PG)
62
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.) 1966,  R)
63
Y Tu Mamá También 2001,  R)
64
The Guns of Navarone 1961,  Unrated)
65
Three Colors: White (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) 2003,  R)
66
Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) 1993,  R)
67
Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) 1994,  R)
68
The Manchurian Candidate 1962,  PG-13)
69
My Man Godfrey 1936,  Unrated)
My Man Godfrey
Among the best all-time feel-gooders; this is one movie I am going to love viewing again and again!
70
Chinatown 1974,  R)
71
Die Hard 1988,  R)
72
Umrao Jaan 1981,  Unrated)
73
Belle de jour 2002,  R)
74
North by Northwest 1959,  Unrated)
75
Match Point 2005,  R)
76
It's a Wonderful Life 1946,  G)
77
The Maltese Falcon 1941,  PG)
78
Pretty Woman 1990,  R)
79
The Seventh Seal ,  Unrated)
80
Grand Hotel 1932,  Unrated)
81
Indiscreet 1958,  PG)
82
MacKenna's Gold 1968,  PG)
83
Rebel Without a Cause 1955,  PG-13)
84
The World of Apu ,  Unrated)
85
Lolita 1962,  Unrated)
86
Fargo 1996,  R)
87
To Be or Not to Be 1983,  PG)
88
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969,  PG)
89
Howards End 1992,  PG)
90
Death Becomes Her 1992,  PG-13)
91
A Room With A View 1986,  PG)
92
The Lives of Others 2006,  R)
93
The Sting 1973,  PG)
94
There's Something About Mary 1998,  R)
95
The Royal Tenenbaums 2002,  R)
96
No Country for Old Men 2007,  R)
97
Goodbye, Mr. Chips 1939,  Unrated)
98
The Pink Panther 1963,  Unrated)
99
Amélie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) 2001,  R)
100
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 1953,  Unrated)
101
Back to the Future 1985,  PG)
102
Jurassic Park 1993,  PG-13)
103
Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) 1988,  R)
104
Forrest Gump 1994,  PG-13)
105
Dr. No 1962,  PG)
106
Dave 1993,  PG-13)
107
No Man's Land 2001,  R)
108
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967,  Unrated)
109
All the President's Men 1976,  PG)
110
Hable con Ella (Talk to Her) 2002,  R)
111
Strangers on a Train 1951,  PG)
112
Fiddler on the Roof 1971,  G)
113
The Sunshine Boys 1975,  PG)
114
Julius Caesar 1953,  Unrated)
115
The Dark Knight 2008,  PG-13)
116
Hamlet 1948,  Unrated)
117
Cape Fear 1991,  R)
118
The Age of Innocence 1993,  PG)
119
Apocalypto 2006,  R)
120
The Ten Commandments 1956,  G)
121
The Exorcist 1973,  R)
122
Alien 1979,  R)
123
Chungking Express 1994,  PG-13)
124
Where Eagles Dare 1969,  PG)
125
The Day of the Jackal 1973,  PG)
126
The Seven Year Itch 1955,  Unrated)
127
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex 1939,  Unrated)
128
Queen Christina 1933,  Unrated)
129
The Usual Suspects 1995,  R)
130
Air Force One 1997,  R)
131
The Hunt for Red October 1990,  PG)
132
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 1982,  PG)
133
Ghost 1990,  PG-13)
134
Home Alone 1990,  PG)
135
Independence Day 1996,  PG-13)
136
Mrs. Doubtfire 1993,  PG-13)
137
Ocean's Eleven 2001,  PG-13)
138
A Short Film About Love 1988,  Unrated)
139
Elephant 2003,  R)
140
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003,  PG-13)
141
Shrek 2001,  PG)
142
Padosan 1968,  Unrated)
143
36 Chowringhee Lane 1981,  Unrated)
144
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 1980,  PG)
145
Taxi Driver 1976,  R)
146
The Bourne Ultimatum 2007,  PG-13)
147
The Mask 1994,  PG-13)
148
The Mummy 1999,  PG-13)
149
The Pianist 2002,  R)
150
Barefoot in the Park 1967,  G)
151
The Good Earth 1937,  Unrated)
152
Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988,  PG)
153
My Left Foot 1989,  R)
154
The Naked Gun - From the Files of Police Squad! 1988,  PG-13)
155
Hot Shots! 1991,  PG-13)
156
Lage Raho Munna Bhai 2006,  PG)
157
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (Munnabhai M.B.B.S.) 2003,  Unrated)
158
Little Big Man 1970,  PG)
159
Omkara 2006,  Unrated)
160
Superman 1978,  PG)
161
Cidade de Deus (City of God) 2002,  R)
162
L.I.E. 2001,  NC-17)
163
Le Mépris (Contempt) 1963,  PG)
164
Battleship Potemkin 1925,  Unrated)
165
Solyaris (Solaris) 1976,  PG)
166
Requiem for a Dream 2000,  R)
167
A Short Film About Killing 1987,  Unrated)
168
Heat and Dust 1982,  R)
169
Jab We Met 2007,  PG)
Jab We Met
the definitive romance for- and of- our times. guaranteed to make those butterflies in your stomach flutter. pity the real-life romance b/w the lead couple didn't play out like the movie though.
170
Paranoid Park 2007,  R)
171
Chak De! India 2007,  Unrated)
172
Rang De Basanti (Paint it Yellow) 2005,  Unrated)
173
Maqbool 2003,  Unrated)
174
The Remains of the Day 1993,  PG)
175
Chhoti Si Baat 1975,  R)
176
Angoor 1982,  Unrated)
177
Junoon 1979,  Unrated)
178
Black 2005,  Unrated)
179
Amar Akbar Anthony 1977,  Unrated)
180
Straight From the Heart (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) 1999,  Unrated)
181
The Fugitive 1993,  PG-13)
182
Goldfinger 1964,  PG)
183
Thunderball 1965,  PG)
184
From Russia With Love 1963,  PG)
185
3:10 to Yuma 2007,  R)
3:10 to Yuma
the best western to come out after dances with wolves...there is something uncanny about the relationship between russell crowe and christian bale's characters, which our conventional sense of morality- right and wrong, good and evil- can't quite comprehend...more than anything else, this is what makes this movie so great. go see it!
186
The Third Man 1949,  Unrated)
187
Notorious 1946,  Unrated)
188
Knocked Up 2007,  R)
189
Secret Window 2004,  PG-13)
190
Sholay (Embers) (Flames) (Flames of the Sun) 1975,  PG)
Sholay (Embers) (Flames) (Flames of the Sun)
The Casablanca of Indian Cinema: no other film has embedded itself so deeply into our nation's collective conscious as this one.
191
Guide 1965,  Unrated)
192
Mr. India 1987,  Unrated)
Mr. India
As a child, I saw this 18 times. Even now, I think everything about Mr India is perfect.
193
The Notebook 2004,  PG-13)
The Notebook
Absolutely brilliant.
194
Children of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman) 1997,  PG)
Children of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman)
The best children's film I've seen. Watching it made me feel like a child all over again.
195
Slumdog Millionaire 2008,  R)
Slumdog Millionaire
For millions like me raised on a staple-diet of commercial Hindi cinema, there's nothing particularly novel about its plot: the relatively lukewarm response it has gotten from Indian filmgoers compared to the rapturous applause elsewhere is proof of this. Its rags-to-riches tale, adapted from a novel penned by a diplomat, could well be a cinematic-metaphor for India's own rise during the period in which it unfolds. In so many ways, it is the story of India as well as those of us who have lived here through the tumultuous past two decades.

Its phenomenal 'rules-breaking success'- to paraphrase the longtime film-critic, Roger Ebert- therefore owes equally if not more to the disenchanted times the world suddenly finds itself thrust into as it does to the movie's delightful intrinsic-charms (of which there are several): after all, what better medicine than a good healthy dose of unbridled Hope wrapped in wondrously uplifting Jai-hos to cure the globe of its seemingly insurmountable Recession-blues?

All the other films nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars reflect the Gloom around- but also, within- us; none with the solitary exception of this film offers a way-out: even- or, especially- if the way-out is an implausibly exhilaratingly happy ending. And that is precisely what makes it work.

I leave you with this particular mise-en-scene: as Jamal weaves his way through Mumbai's reptilian traffic to answer that one last remaining two million-rupee question, a wrinkly old beggar knocks at his car-window. Thinking she has come to ask for money he ignores her at first only to be confronted with the realization that she doesn't want his money at all; on the contrary, she wants him to win it all. 'Beta,' she beams to Jamal as he is driven away, 'jeet ke aana.' (Son, win & come.) His victory, after all, would be hers as well. Much as Slumdog Millionaire's victory on Oscar Night would be India's- and of Underdogs everywhere.
196
The Kite Runner 2007,  PG-13)
The Kite Runner
The film loses none of the book's charm: a tale of innocence lost and ultimately reclaimed, it would no doubt lift your soul.
197
Diva 1981,  R)
Diva
This film isn't about piracy, prostitution, blackmail or even murder- although it has loads of all that. At its heart, Diva is about music- no, not the loud jarring sort but the kind that occupies the space between silences.

And we don't just listen to it; what is more, we actually see this music: in the eerie emptiness of Diva's cinematography; in the uncluttered labyrinth of Parisian urban lofts; on an enchanted castle by the sea; in the meaningful relationships between strangers; and in the wild applause of an empty opera house.

Beineix's weaves a world that is, for lack of a better word, hypnotic. And we, his viewers, simply drift to it.
198
The Shawshank Redemption 1994,  R)
199
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life 1983,  R)
200
A Fish Called Wanda 1988,  R)
201
When Harry Met Sally 1989,  R)
202
Three Idiots 2009,  PG-13)
203
Avatar 2009,  PG-13)
204
Driving Miss Daisy 1989,  PG)
205
The Wizard of Oz 1939,  G)
206
The Hurt Locker 2008,  R)
207
Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) ,  R)
208
Back to the Future Part III 1990,  PG)
209
Dial M for Murder 1954,  PG)
210
Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961,  PG)
211
Dumb and Dumber 1997,  PG-13)
212
Modern Times 1936,  G)
213
Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) 1994,  R)
214
Red ,  R)
215
Up 2009,  PG)
216
Sabrina 1995,  PG)

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