With all the streaming options out there and exclusives dropping on each platform every day, it can be hard to figure out just what to watch. Luckily, ONE37pm has you covered with this list of the 100 best movies on HBO Max.
Whether you want to watch classic dramas or modern comedies, the massive platform has you covered. Before you plop down on the couch and let your dinner get cold as you try to figure out what to watch, check out this assortment of the 100 best movies on HBO Max.
Who's in It: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips, Rachel Blanchard, Kenan Thompson, Flex Alexander
Rating: 69% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 46m
Not all movies are supposed to be Oscar bait; sometimes audiences just want to watch an over-the-top, action-packed B-movie like Snakes on a Plane. In order to prevent a witness from making it to Los Angeles via plane, a crime lord rigs a series of snake cages to be unleashed on an unsuspecting flight midair. Starring Samuel Jackson as Agent Neville Flynn, this adrenaline-filled flick features iconic lines and some pretty spectacular man-versus-snake fight scenes.
Who's in It: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer
Rating: 94% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 12m
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Who's in It: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, Tisha Campbell, Christopher Guest
Rating: 90% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 33m
Directed by puppet legend Frank Oz, Little Shop of Horrors is a fantastic adaptation of the off-broadway comedic musical. The film follows flower shop assistant Seymour (Rick Moranis) who is suddenly thrown in over his head when he discovers a terrifying, man-eating venus plant he has to try and satiate.
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Rating: 94% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 40m
Comic book characters appear on screen all the time, but it’s uncommon for a movie to focus on a comic book writer. In Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s American Splendor, a super stylized biography of Harvey Pekar, Paul Giamatti plays the underground writer as he advances in his career, but he is often joined at times by the real-life Pekar and even animated versions of himself to add different perspectives to Pekar’s experiences.
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Rating: 91% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 56m
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Rating: 64% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 15m
Even for viewers who never watched David Lynch’s Twin Peaks television series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is an entertaining, twisted film that will stick with you. In Fire Walk With Me, Lynch follows investigations into the death of Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley) and the final seven days of iconic Twin Peaks’ character Laura Palmer’s (Sheryl Lee) life in this multi-layered psychological horror film.
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Rating: 68% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 2m
Even without Batman hunting him down, director Todd Philips showed the world that the Joker is a fascinating character who can carry a movie on his own shoulders. Joker is a Martin Scorcese-influenced take on the Clown Prince of Crime’s origin that sees Gotham City on the edge of violence and a counter-culture revolution building against the wealthy elites. Joaquin Phoenix’s intense turn behind the nihilist makeup won him both an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 2019.
Who's in It: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
Rating: 92% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 12m
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Who's in It: Julia Roberts
Rating: 78% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 42m
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Rating: 87% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 36m
This movie is so money and it doesn’t even know it. Directed by Doug Liman, Swingers follows Mike Peters (Jon Favreau) a single twenty-something man in Los Angeles who is still reeling from a breakup. Thanks to his friends, but especially Trent Walker (Vince Vaughn), Mike is brought out on numerous late-nights and a Vegas trip to help him rebuild his self-esteem and get a taste of the good life.
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Rating: 92% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 19m
Stanley Kubrick’s history of man, stretching from the discovery of fire all the way up to man floating in space stuck as a victim to a self-righteous computer, 2001: A Space Odyssey is an incredibly intelligent, sci-fi romp. Co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote the book and a series of stories that inspired the film, 2001 features sparse dialogue and is praised for its practical effects.
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Rating: 80% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 15m
Rather than a simple story where Superman has to stop a big, spooky villain, the animated All-Star Superman sees Superman confront something else entirely: his own mortality. A beautiful adaption of the limited comic series by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly, All-Star Superman is the perfect embodiment of why Superman is such a fantastic character and so easy to root for.
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Rating: 85% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 56m
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Rating: 73% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 29m
A spoof of James Bond and other aspects of British pop culture, Austin Powers is a hilarious, over-the-top hit that sees an English secret agent from the 1960s cryogenically frozen and awakened in the 1990s. Starring Mike Meyers as both the charismatic, womanizing secret agent Austin Powers and the conniving, laser-loving Dr. Evil, Austin Powers is especially delightful for fans of the early Bond films, but everyone who watches will likely find themselves laughing throughout it.
Who's in It: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Rating: 96% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 31m
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Rating: 84% (Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score)
Runtime: 1h 3om
A low-key HBO original documentary, Becoming Warren Buffet tracks the slow-burning rise of the so-called “Oracle of Omaha.” An entertaining and enlightening ride, this look inside the life of one of America’s most notorious businessmen and best investors is worth watching for people who are interested in investing and those who aren’t alike.
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Rating: 93% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 21m
Even though the character debuted in another film when Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman hit theaters, the classic heroine finally got to share her origin story with the general audience. Ditching the modern setting of the film that established her, Wonder Woman explores the character’s first interactions with the outside world and men in general as the enchanted island Themyscira is breached during the outbreak of World War 1.
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Rating: 92% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 8m
In The Great Dictator, a film written, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin plays a satirical version of Adolf Hitler. When the silent comedy was released in 1940, the U.S. was formally still at peace with Nazi Germany, showing just how ahead of the curve Chaplin was on calling out and skewering fascism and antisemitism.
Who's in It: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret
Rating: 87% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 26m
Elvis Presley shaking his hips and singing songs in Las Vegas, what more do you need to know? Directed by George Sidney and released in 1964, Viva Las Vegas follows Lucky Jackson (Presley) as he heads to Vegas to compete in a Grand Prix Race.
Who's in It: Guy Pearce
Rating: 93% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 56m
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Rating: 95% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 31m
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Rating: 62% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 33m
A super-stylized and silly film, House is a 1977 Japanese horror movie about a group of girls who are all eaten by a countryside manor one by one while on vacation. Cheesy and awesome in all the best ways, House does a great job giving each character their own sharp, distinguished personality as the audience gets to watch them react to the slow-building madness taking place around them.
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Rating: 85% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 32m
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Rating: 75% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 53m
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Who's in It: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman
Rating: 94% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 18m
A strong free press is one of the best defenses against government overreach, and the 1976 film, All the President’s Men, tells a real-world story of investigative reporting helping bring about substantial change. Based directly on Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s book about the events, the film follows Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Woodward (Robert Redford) as they investigate the details of the Watergate scandal and ultimately help bring down then-President Richard Nixon.
Who's in It: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
Rating: 92% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 6m
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Rating: 87% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 59m
A Studio Ghibli classic, Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle is set in a fantastical, magic-filled world where modern-ish technology has a firm footing inside the various fictional kingdoms. The film follows Sophie, a young woman who is cursed and turned into an old woman, as she tries to reverse the curse while inadvertently getting swept up into a larger anti-war movement.
Who's in It: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaugh, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Christopher Walken
Rating: 75% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 59m
Wedding Crashers, a hilarious R-rated comedy that takes full advantage of its adult rating, follows friends John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) in their favorite time of year: wedding season. These two wedding crashers make a habit of creating personas for themselves and slipping into the best parties to pick up women, but things suddenly turn upside down when John falls for Claire (Rachel McAdams), the daughter of a U.S. Senator who is in a long-term relationship.
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Rating: 91% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 42m
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Rating: 94% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 48m
An HBO original, Cory Finley’s Bad Education is a dramedy that follows the real-world story of the largest public school embezzlement scheme in American history.
Starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as a Long Island school district superintendent and assistant superintendent, Bad Education sees the two characters who are used to being in control scramble to cover up a massive embezzlement scheme from an inquiring student reporter.
Who's in It: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin
Rating: 96% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Argo is a historical drama that follows an elaborate scheme that was backed by the CIA in the midst of the Iranian hostage crisis. Tony Mendez (Affleck) is allowed into Tehran under the assumption that he is producing a sci-fi movie, but he is actually part of an elaborate scheme that is trying to rescue the six diplomats that were being held hostage at the time.
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Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 10m
In a future Gotham City where an older Bruce Wayne is mentoring a younger Batman, everything is all of a sudden thrown out of whack when the Joker makes a shocking and very public return. Featuring a stellar voice ensemble and fantastic animation throughout, Return of the Joker is an emotionally charged, explosive film that pushes all of its characters and the resilience of the Bat-mythos to the limits.
Who's in It: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 90% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 32m
A Martin Scorsese gangster film that touches on the cat-and-mouse game between organized crime and the police, The Departed is a twist-filled movie that makes the audience question everything and everyone’s motivations. The Departed won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture, and is an entertaining, tense ride full of stellar performances from actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.
Who's in It: Christian Bale
Rating: 84% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 20m
Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman origin story and the superhero’s early days on the job, Batman Begins is a gritty, action-packed film that leans into the protagonist’s darker qualities. After an old figure from Bruce Wayne’s (Christian Bale) time training around the world reappears to wreak havoc in Gotham City, he is forced to push himself to the limits in order to save his home city before it's completely destroyed.
Who's in It: George Clooney
Rating: 46% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 9m
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Who's in It: Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson
Rating: 35% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 20m
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Who's in It: Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, James Caan
Rating: 85% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 37m
A modern Christmas classic, Jon Favreau’s Elf follows Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) as he makes a big journey from the North Pole to New York City to try and find his long-lost father. Full of over-the-top laughs and holiday heart, Elf is entertaining and worth watching any time of the year.
Who's in It: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis
Rating: 86% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 9m
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Who's in It: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
Rating: 99% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 42m
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Who's in It: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway
Rating: 89% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 51m
Starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as iconic real-world outlaw lovers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Bonnie & Clyde is a dramatic and slick flick set during the Great Depression. A counterculture touchstone that spurred what some call the New Hollywood era, the 1967 film is often praised for its openness in its presentation of sexuality and violence.
Who's in It: Harrison Ford
Rating: 89% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h 2m
Released back in 1982, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is set in the futuristic world of 2019 and follows Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) a former blade runner whose job was to track down humanoid replicants and “put them down” before they cause harm or havoc in human society.
Based on the world created in Philip K. Dick’s Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep, Blade Runner is a philosophical, noir crime story that works even separately from its sci-fi qualities.
Who's in It: Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Kline, Meg Tilly, William Hurt, Kevin Costner, JoBeth Williams, Tom Berenger
Rating: 71% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 43m
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Who's in It: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke
Rating: 73% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 2h
An Antonine Fuqua-helmed crime thriller, Training Day is a twist-filled look at fictional narcotics officers. Officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is assigned to work with and be reviewed by Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), a corrupt cop whose activities are known to several on their beat. Full of intense action scenes and PCP-laced joints, Training Day will keep viewers on the edge of their seats as they fall deeper into the corrupt world of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Who's in It: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dan Hedaya, Maggie Smith
Rating: 50% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 42m
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Who's in It: John Cusack, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet
Rating: 91% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 53m
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Who's in It: Kevin Conroy
Rating: 85% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 16m
In 1993, the creative team behind Batman: The Animated Series was given the green light to create a feature film. In Mask of the Phantasm, viewers get to see the Dark Knight’s earliest days as a masked vigilante from a different light thanks to the introduction of Andrea Beaumont, a romantic partner of Bruce’s whose affection makes him question his vengeful vow.
Otherwise, the inclusion of Mark Hamill’s vengeance-seeking Joker and some old-fashioned mobster elements make this a must-watch for any fans of pulpy action stories.
Who's in It: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor
Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 1h 40m
A 1941 noir adaptation of the classic Dashiell Hammett novel, The Maltese Falcon, follows private investigator Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) as he is suddenly forced into a deadly mission to discover a jewel-studded statue of a falcon. Full of femme fatale-fueled intrigue and fantastic, moody cinematography, this John Huston-directed movie is a must-watch for anyone who appreciates classic detective stories.
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Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)
Runtime: 3h 28m
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is a samurai epic that follows seven ronin who assemble to combat a gang of bandits trying to steal a village’s crops after a harvest. An intricate production, Seven Samurai is an incredibly entertaining film, but it deserves extra praise for its excellent use of massive numbers of extras and constantly making sure every shot looks dynamic and eye-popping.
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Loosely based on Channing Tatum’s own experiences as a young stripper, Magic Mike follows 18-year-old Michael “Magic Mike” Lane (Tatum) as he enters the male-strip club industry for the first time. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this ensemble film is incredibly dramatic and full of impressive choreography that will leave both fans of male strippers and non-fans entertained alike.
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Runtime: 1h 41m
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The final entry in Peter Jackson’s adapted Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, is an emotional, action-packed conclusion. The Best Picture Oscar winner features some massive action sequences in addition to some smaller, quieter moments that make the viewer’s final outing with their favorite hobbits an extremely dramatic and rewarding film.
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Runtime: 1h 39m
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Another Hayao Miyazaki classic, Princess Mononoke is a fantastical story about a young prince named Ashitaka who is cursed by a demon boar god and must find a cure before it kills him. A film about the symbiotic and splintering relationships between humans and nature, Princess Mononoke is both emotionally touching and visually stunning.
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Runtime: 1h 35m
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A sci-fi twist on the heist genre, Christopher Nolan’s Inception sees Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) lead a group of operatives on a dangerous mission inside a businessman’s dreams in an attempt to subconsciously plant an idea. Inception is an emotionally charged, action-packed film that gives each member of its impressive ensemble a moment to shine.
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Decades before social media put creators and their fans in too close of contact, Rob Reiner’s adaptation of the Stephen King book Misery tells a harrowing story that explores the blurred boundaries between writers/celebrities and superfans.
Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a famous novelist whose car spins out of control in a blizzard and he awakens to find himself under the care of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a nurse and obsessive fan. Instead of simply caring for the hurt man, Annie traps and torments Paul as she pushes her literary desires on the writer in this psychological thriller.
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A stop-motion animated film, Corpse Bride follows Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), a nervous man on the verge of entering an arranged marriage, who accidentally marries a reanimated corpse named Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) while practicing his vows in a forest. Co-directed by Tim Burton, the film is full of beautiful set design and silly dialogue that makes it worth watching again and again.
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George Romero’s first foray into zombie film-making, Night of the Living Dead is a slow-burning, delightful horror film. Originally released in 1968, the black-and-white film follows a group of strangers who suddenly find themselves trapped inside a farmhouse as a group of mindless killers gathers outside.
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An adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is an emotional story about a group of patients at a strict mental hospital whose lives are suddenly turned upside down by the introduction of Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a veteran who has been convicted of numerous crimes and is sent to the institution rather than prison.
While Nicholson’s Oscar-winning performance is the heart of the movie, its impressive ensemble also features stellar performances from a young Danny Devito and Christopher Lloyd.
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The film that really put Quentin Tarantino on the cultural map, Pulp Fiction, is a 1994 neo-noir crime film that pokes fun of its pulpy ancestors while also telling an entertaining, multi-faceted story with numerous entertaining characters. Jumping back and forth between character perspectives and sequential chronology, the film is full of snappy dialogue and over-the-top violence that the director is now known for.
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Directed and written by Ingmar Bergman, Persona is a Swedish psychological drama that follows Alma (Bibi Andersson), a nurse, and her famous patient Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann), as they move to a cottage as part of her care after Elisabet suddenly stops speaking.
As the trip unfolds, Elisabet starts sharing secrets with Alma, and the two form a deep emotional bond that causes the nurse’s understanding of her own self to start slipping in this black-and-white classic.
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Say what you want about Suicide Squad, but at least it introduced Margot Robbie's take on the zany Harley Quinn to the world. Directed by Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey is a colorful and humorous tour-de-force that pushes Harley into a leadership role as she joined forces with some of DC's other classic street-level heroines to defeat the villainous Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
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At this point, David Lynch’s name is associated with strange, dark stories, but the 1977 film Eraserhead was the first time feature audiences were exposed to the director’s strange ideas. A twisted metaphor about the stresses of fatherhood, Eraserhead is a tense and horrific story that pushes its main character Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) to his mental limits.
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Struggling rocker Dewey Finn (Jack Black) finagles his way into a substitute music teacher gig and suddenly turns all of the private school students’ lives upside down when he decides to turn them into his new rock band for an upcoming contest. Directed by Richard Linklater, School of Rock is a hilarious film about the power of self-expression filled with some fantastic performances from its young ensemble members.
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Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa, is an inter-weaving he-said-she-said story that tells multiple people’s accounts of an incident rotating around the murder of a man and the sexual assaulting of his wife. Like so many Kurosawa movies, Rashomon has an amazing cast, but it is really held together by an amazing, sometimes unhinged performance by the always iconic Toshiro Mifune as the outlaw Tajōmaru, one of the four individuals who share their interpretation of the incident that highlights their ideal selves.
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Forget Mank, because I’m talking about Orson Welles’ debut feature film Citizen Kane. Citizen Kane tracks the life of media magnate Charles Foster Kane (portrayed by Welles himself) by cutting back and forth between flashbacks and various interviews that flesh out his feelings and motivations at different times in his life. Often praised for its editing, the film itself is laid out as a journalistic investigation as a young reporter is tasked with deciphering the meaning of Kane’s final word: Rosebud.
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In 2001, director Peter Jackson brought Middle Earth to life for the first time in Fellowship of the Ring. The first of three Lord of the Rings films, Fellowship of the Ring may be lighter on the action side compared to its two sequels, but it does an amazing job at establishing the complex setting and exploring the emotional motivations of the large ensemble as they are tasked with destroying a legendary ring in a far-off volcano.
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Elia Kazan’s adaptation of the Pulitzer-Prize winning play of the same name, A Streetcar Named Desire follows Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) as she ditches her small-town setting and moves in with her sister and brother-in-law in New Orleans. Blanche's southern belle charm ends up exacerbating marital problems in her new household, opening the door for some good old-fashioned 1950s conflict. An entertaining film in its own right, it is often credited with making the then-unknown Marlon Brando an A-list actor for playing Blanche’s host and brother-in-law.
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With massive sci-fi blockbusters dropping on an almost annual basis now, it's hard to understate just how big a deal The Matrix was when it first dropped in 1999. Directed by the Wachowski sisters, the film is set in a dystopian world where people are trapped in a simulated reality without them knowing it.
It's only when a hacker who goes by the name Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers the truth and joins a rebellion does humanity stand a chance to reassert their control over their own destinies. This cult classic is equal parts heady philosophy and awesome fight scenes.
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When it was announced director Denis Villeneuve was making a sequel to Blade Runner, the internet nearly broke in half. Set 30 years after the original, Blade Runner 2049 is every bit as gritty and entertaining as the original, but it is also visually stunning and filled with great performances from original franchise star Harrison Ford and newcomer Ryan Gosling as K, a new blade runner who gets pulled into a large conspiracy involving the corporation that creates replicants.
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Before superhero films dominated the box office and every streaming service, director Richard Donner brought the granddaddy of all superheroes, Superman, to the big screen for the first time in 1978. Superman is wonderfully charming and features an iconic score from John Williams, but the whole thing is propped up by Christopher Reeve’s fantastic performances as both Clark Kent and Superman that exemplify just why the big blue Boy Scout and his affable alter-ego are so easy to fall in love with.
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A visually stunning adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining, this Stanley Kubrick-helmed psychological horror film follows the Torrance family after they suddenly move to the remote Overlook Hotel during the off-season. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), the patriarch of the family, takes a job as a caretaker there and thinks the isolation will allow him to spend some time writing.
As the family settles in for the winter, things start to unfold around them as the hotel turns out to be a place filled with dark spirits that infect Jack and test the supernatural abilities of the young Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd).
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Not only does Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman feature some of the most beautiful gothic set designs I’ve ever seen, but it also unlocked the door for even more dark superhero stories to hit the big screen throughout the next two decades. Starring Michael Keaton as the titular hero, Batman follows the early days of Bruce Wayne’s crime-fighting career.
While on patrol, Batman fails to save Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), a mobster who falls into a vat of chemicals and is inadvertently transformed into a devilish crime lord named the Joker.
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Maybe it’s cheating putting The Dark Knight this close to Batman, but the tonally different movies both do a wonderful job showing audiences just why the Caped Crusader is such an iconic, empathetic character.
The second installment in Christopher Nolan’s Bat-trilogy, The Dark Knight also sees Batman (Christian Bale) confront a chaos seeking Joker (Heath Ledger), but Ledger’s twister performance and the film’s ability to display the psychological torment protecting Gotham City has on Bruce Wayne helps it stand out from its counterparts.
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The final Hayao Miyazaki film on this list, Spirited Away, follows a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro Ogino whose life falls apart after she and her family move to a new city and inadvertently enter a different dimension while taking a shortcut. After stopping at a restaurant in this strange setting, her parents are turned into pigs by an evil witch, and Chihiro is forced to work for her until she can figure out how to free her parents and return back to the normal world.
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Not only is Mad Max: Fury Road the best and first Mel Gibson-less Mad Max film, it is one of the most visually stunning films ever made. Set in a desert wasteland where civilization has fallen and resources are scarce, Max (Tom Hardy) is suddenly dragged into the crossfires of the evil Immortan Joe when he crosses paths with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who is smuggling away Joe’s five slave wives. Directed and co-written by franchise creator George Miller, Fury Road features incredible choreography and practical effects that make every action scene feel larger than life.
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The centerpiece in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, many fans consider The Two Towers to be the most entertaining chapter. With the Fellowship splintered, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continue their quest to transport the ring to Mt. Doom as Mordor’s evil forces continue to gather and prepare for war against the Kingdom of Rohan. Featuring some incredible action and incredibly emotional scenes, The Two Towers is a must-watch for any cinephile.
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A Stanley Kubrick adaptation of a novel by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange sees Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the leader of a small gang who delight in spreading ultra-violence and sexual assaults, jailed and forced to submit to behavior modification therapies to be eligible to return to normal society. Full of shocking images, classical music, and incredible performances, A Clockwork Orange is a brutally honest social commentary that doesn’t hesitate to say how nasty people can be and the long-winded mental consequences of violence on victims.
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A horror classic, The Exorcist is a tense, dramatic film all about the demonic possession of the young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair ) and the exorcist attempts by investigating priests. While the visuals might not appease modern horror fans who are addicted to CGI jumpscares, The Exorcist still stands up as one of the most compelling, mentally terrifying films of all time.
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Another amazing Akira Kurosawa movie featuring another iconic Toshiro Mifune performance, Yojomibo follows a wandering ronin who happens into a small village on the brink of civil war between its rival gangs. The master swordsman plays both sides, using his charisma to make everyone believe he’s working for them, and does whatever he has to do to return peace to the village.
Full of expressive performances and entertaining, tense action scenes, Yojimbo is one of the few movies I sincerely rate a 10/10 and tell everyone they have to watch.
