(Photo by MGM. Thumbnail: WB/Everett Collection.)
100 Best Movies on HBO Max (January 2021)
HBO comes out swinging in the increasingly crowded streaming arena, with HBO Max offering the masses arguably the deepest, most far-reaching library of titles among platform competitors. That’s why we’ve combed through the entire archive and pulled out movies with the highest Tomatometer scores, creating the 100 Best Movies on HBO Max to Watch Right Now!
Our selection process for this list was simple: Certified Fresh movies only, meaning each entry’s Tomatometer score was at least 75% after hitting a review count threshold. For contemporary mainstream movies, that minimum is 80 reviews, while it takes 40 reviews for limited releases and older films for consideration. With that, take the plunge into the 100 Best Movies on HBO Max!
Update: Dog Day Afternoon, Chinatown, Mad Max: Fury Road, This Is Spinal Tap, You Can Count On Me added.
#100
Adjusted Score: 99.462%
Critics Consensus: Ivan Reitman's refreshingly earnest political comedy benefits from an understated, charming script and a breezy performance by Kevin Kline.
Synopsis: The ghost of Frank Capra must have smiled when he saw Dave, an amusing and effective update of one of...
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#99
Adjusted Score: 98.661%
Critics Consensus: A powerful, thought-provoking film that covers different angles of its topic without resorting to preaching, Dead Man Walking will cause the viewer to reflect regardless of their political viewpoint.
Synopsis: Tim Robbins' second directorial effort (after the political satire Bob Roberts) was this drama based on a true story, which...
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#98
Adjusted Score: 101.458%
Critics Consensus: Solaris is a haunting, meditative film that uses sci-fi to raise complex questions about humanity and existence.
Synopsis: Based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem, Solaris centers on widowed psychologist Kris Kelvin (Donata Banionis), who is sent to...
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#97
Adjusted Score: 101.571%
Critics Consensus: A landmark Sergio Leone spaghetti western masterpiece featuring a classic Morricone score.
Synopsis: In Sergio Leone's epic Western, shot partly in Monument Valley, a revenge story becomes an epic contemplation of the Western...
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#96
Adjusted Score: 100.01%
Critics Consensus: Smartly directed, brilliantly acted, and packed with endlessly quotable moments, This Is Spinal Tap is an all-time comedy classic.
Synopsis: A spoof about a filmmaker making a documentary about a once-famous, now almost forgotten British heavy metal band returning to...
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#95
Adjusted Score: 99.746%
Critics Consensus: Smartly written, smoothly directed, and solidly cast, A Fish Called Wanda offers a classic example of a brainy comedy with widespread appeal.
Synopsis: An ambitious and sexy con artist uses every tool at her disposal to obtain a fortune in jewels stolen by...
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#94
Adjusted Score: 104.283%
Critics Consensus: With its magical optical effects and enchanting performances, Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast remains the most surreal -- and soulful -- of the fairy tale's film adaptations.
Synopsis: Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (originally released in France as La Belle et la Bte) stars Josette...
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#93
Adjusted Score: 97.936%
Critics Consensus: Thoroughly disquieting but impossible to ignore, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a searing investigative work from a master documentarian.
Synopsis: Directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney and based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright, Going Clear profiles...
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#92
Adjusted Score: 98.376%
Critics Consensus: You Can Count On Me may look like it belongs on the small screen, but the movie surprises with its simple yet affecting story. Beautifully acted and crafted, the movie will simply draw you in.
Synopsis: Two siblings, orphaned at an early age, have grown apart as adults. Sammy, the older of the two, has stayed...
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#91
Adjusted Score: 98.544%
Critics Consensus: Affectionate without sacrificing honesty, Behind the Candelabra couples award-worthy performances from Michael Douglas and Matt Damon with some typically sharp direction from Steven Soderbergh.
Synopsis: Before Elvis, before Elton John, Madonna and Lady Gaga, there was Liberace: virtuoso pianist, outrageous entertainer and flamboyant star of...
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#90
Adjusted Score: 100.31%
Critics Consensus: Visually lush, refreshingly free of family-friendly clatter, and anchored with soulful depth, The Secret World of Arrietty lives up to Studio Ghibli's reputation.
Synopsis: Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses...
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#89
Adjusted Score: 99.808%
Critics Consensus: Filled with engaging dialogue, Before Sunset is a witty, poignant romance, with natural chemistry between Hawke and Delpy.
Synopsis: Nine years ago, two strangers met by chance, spent a night together in Vienna, and parted before sunrise. Now, they're...
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#88
Adjusted Score: 101.087%
Critics Consensus: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a subtly touching and wonderfully eccentric adventure featuring Wallace and Gromit.
Synopsis: Eccentric inventor Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis) and his faithful if often perplexed dog Gromit are back in their first...
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#87
Adjusted Score: 100.864%
Critics Consensus: With death-defying action sequences and epic historic sweep, Hero offers everything a martial arts fan could ask for.
Synopsis: Hero is two-time Academy Award nominee Zhang Yimou's directorial attempt at exploring the concept of a Chinese hero. During the...
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#86
Adjusted Score: 102.51%
Critics Consensus: The Two Towers balances spectacular action with emotional storytelling, leaving audiences both wholly satisfied and eager for the final chapter.
Synopsis: Frodo and Samwise press on toward Mordor. Gollum insists on being the guide. Can anyone so corrupted by the ring...
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#85
Adjusted Score: 103.458%
Critics Consensus: Girded by strong performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and lifted by some of the Coens' most finely tuned, unaffected work, True Grit is a worthy companion to the Charles Portis book.
Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) joins an aging U.S. marshal (Jeff Bridges) and another lawman (Matt Damon) in tracking her...
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#84
Adjusted Score: 100.608%
Critics Consensus: Framed by great work from director Sidney Lumet and fueled by a gripping performance from Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon offers a finely detailed snapshot of people in crisis with tension-soaked drama shaded in black humor.
Synopsis: Based on a true 1972 story, Sidney Lumet's 1975 drama chronicles a unique bank robbery on a hot summer afternoon...
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#83
Adjusted Score: 101.879%
Critics Consensus: Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, Diabolique is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock's best work and with a brilliant twist ending.
Synopsis: The greatest film that Alfred Hitchcock never made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique is set in a provincial boarding school run by...
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#82
Adjusted Score: 100.156%
Critics Consensus: The Right Stuff packs a lot of movie into its hefty running time, spinning a colorful, fact-based story out of consistently engaging characters in the midst of epochal events.
Synopsis: Covering some 15 years, this film recounts the formation of America's space program, concentrating on the original Mercury astronauts. The...
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#81
Adjusted Score: 101.02%
Critics Consensus: One of the most influential of all teen films, American Graffiti is a funny, nostalgic, and bittersweet look at a group of recent high school grads' last days of innocence.
Synopsis: This Academy Award-nominated classic, voted one of the American Film Institute's top 100 Films Of All Time, features the coming...
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#80
Adjusted Score: 102.101%
Critics Consensus: Exhilarating and intense, this high-impact chase thriller is a model of taut and efficient formula filmmaking, and it features Harrison Ford at his frantic best.
Synopsis: This 1993 box-office smash partly adheres to the 1960s TV series on which it is based and partly goes off...
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#79
Adjusted Score: 98.053%
Critics Consensus: With Revanche, Götz Spielmann has crafted a debut as surprising as it is suspenseful.
Synopsis: A happily married couple becomes unlikely friends with a man whose life has been marked by chaos and violence in...
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#78
Adjusted Score: 102.317%
Critics Consensus: The endearing Iron Giant tackles ambitious topics and complex human relationships with a steady hand and beautifully animated direction from Brad Bird.
Synopsis: "Iron Giant" is based upon the 1968 story,'Iron Man,' by the British poet laureate Ted Hughes. The film is about...
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#77
Adjusted Score: 102.808%
Critics Consensus: Birds of Passage traces the familiar arc of the drug crime thriller from a different direction that's as visually absorbing as it is hard-hitting.
Synopsis: From the Oscar (R)-nominated team behind the genre-defying Embrace of the Serpent, comes an equally audacious saga centered on the...
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#76
Adjusted Score: 101.715%
Critics Consensus: With help from a strong performance by Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life wunderkind con artist Frank Abagnale, Steven Spielberg crafts a film that's stylish, breezily entertaining, and surprisingly sweet.
Synopsis: Based on a true story, Frank W. Abagnale was employed as a doctor, a lawyer, and as a co-pilot for...
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#75
Adjusted Score: 106.094%
Critics Consensus: Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, The Lego Movie is colorful fun for all ages.
Synopsis: "The LEGO (R) Movie" is the first-ever, full-length theatrical LEGO (R) adventure. The original 3D computer animated story follows Emmet...
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#74
Adjusted Score: 115.353%
Critics Consensus: BlacKkKlansman uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events -- and brings out some of Spike Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along the way.
Synopsis: From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It's the early 1970s, and Ron...
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#73
Adjusted Score: 97.345%
Critics Consensus: Raw and rich in decade-spanning detail, Jane Fonda in Five Acts paints a living portrait of one popular culture's most compelling figures.
Synopsis: This documentary provides an intimate perspective on Jane Fonda's multi-faceted life as an award-winning actress, sex icon, political activist, feminist,...
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#72
Adjusted Score: 105.826%
Critics Consensus: The Red Shoes is one of the best-looking movies ever, and blends multiple moods and styles with balletic grace.
Synopsis: The tale of a famous ballerina who must choose between art and love....
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#71
Adjusted Score: 103.086%
Critics Consensus: A classic blend of satire and political thriller that was uncomfortably prescient in its own time, The Manchurian Candidate remains distressingly relevant today.
Synopsis: A U.S. Army hero returns to New York from Korea, but has been mysteriously programmed by Communists to assassinate a...
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#70
Adjusted Score: 104.406%
Critics Consensus: Breathless rewrote the rules of cinema -- and more than 50 years after its arrival, Jean-Luc Godard's paradigm-shifting classic remains every bit as vital.
Synopsis: Enjoy brunch in the Torpedo Room before screening BREATHLESS hosted by John DeSando and Johnny DiLoretto. There was before BREATHLESS,...
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#69
Adjusted Score: 101.349%
Critics Consensus: The rare family-friendly feature with a heart as big as its special effects budget, Babe offers timeless entertainment for viewers of all ages.
Synopsis: A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian...
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#68
Adjusted Score: 102.443%
Critics Consensus: Refreshingly sweet and undeniably funny, Big is a showcase for Tom Hanks, who dives into his role and infuses it with charm and surprising poignancy.
Synopsis: More than anything else, 13-year old New Jerseyite Josh (David Moscow) wants to be "big". That's the wish he makes...
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#67
Adjusted Score: 104.044%
Critics Consensus: While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.
Synopsis: Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director James Cameron turned what should have been...
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#66
Adjusted Score: 99.979%
Critics Consensus: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck makes a persuasive case for its subject without resorting to hagiography -- and includes plenty of rare and unreleased footage for fans.
Synopsis: Kurt Cobain, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Nirvana, remains an icon 20 years after his death. Here, we take...
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#65
Adjusted Score: 100.818%
Critics Consensus: In a striking debut, Moreno carries the movie and puts a human face on the drug trade.
Synopsis: A bright, spirited 17-year old, Maria Alvarez, lives with three generations of her family in a cramped house in rural...
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#64
Adjusted Score: 101.128%
Critics Consensus: A haunting depiction of a disintegrating family, and a powerful argument on the elusiveness of truth.
Synopsis: The Friedmans are a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest...
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#63
Adjusted Score: 102.25%
Critics Consensus: Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them.
Synopsis: Master animation director Hayao Miyazaki follows up on his record-breaking 1997 opus Princess Mononoke with this surreal Alice in Wonderland-like...
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#62
Adjusted Score: 113.946%
Critics Consensus: With exhilarating action and a surprising amount of narrative heft, Mad Max: Fury Road brings George Miller's post-apocalyptic franchise roaring vigorously back to life.
Synopsis: Filmmaker George Miller gears up for another post-apocalyptic action adventure with Fury Road, the fourth outing in the Mad Max...
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#61
Adjusted Score: 100.717%
Critics Consensus: No doubt most will come to My Left Foot for Daniel Day-Lewis' performance, but the movie's refusal to go downbeat will keep it in viewer minds afterwards.
Synopsis: An alternative to the general run of "triumph over the odds" biopics, My Left Foot is the true story of...
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#60
Adjusted Score: 100.717%
Critics Consensus: Kiki's Delivery Service is a heartwarming, gorgeously-rendered tale of a young witch discovering her place in the world.
Synopsis: Veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki directs this buoyant children's adventure yarn about a young witch striking out on her own. At...
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#59
Adjusted Score: 102.356%
Critics Consensus: A Star is Born is a movie of grand scope and intimate moments, featuring Judy Garland's possibly greatest performance.
Synopsis: The 1954 musical remake of A Star is Born could have been titled A Star is Reborn, in that it...
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#58
Adjusted Score: 98.415%
Critics Consensus: GasLand patiently and powerfully outlines alarming problems with modern fuel extraction -- and the horrific public health risks that go along with them.
Synopsis: Can you imagine being able to light your tap water on fire? This is just one of the many shocking...
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#57
Adjusted Score: 100.657%
Critics Consensus: Hairspray is perhaps John Waters' most accessible film, and as such, it's a gently subversive slice of retro hilarity.
Synopsis: Forever interested in the kitsch built into past eras, director John Waters chooses the TV dance show craze of the...
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#56
Adjusted Score: 103.667%
Critics Consensus: Ikiru is a well-acted and deeply moving humanist tale about a man facing his own mortality, one of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's most intimate films.
Synopsis: Akira Kurosawa's drama stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe, a government clerk who learns he has only months to live....
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#55
Adjusted Score: 102.205%
Critics Consensus: The Young Girls of Rochefort pays colorful homage to classic Hollywood musicals while earning its own emotionally affecting place of honor in the genre.
Synopsis: Romance begins busting out all over in Rochefort. A fair is being organized, giving the town an air of excitement...
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#54
Adjusted Score: 107.265%
Critics Consensus: One of Alfred Hitchcock's last British films, this glamorous thriller provides an early glimpse of the director at his most stylishly entertaining.
Synopsis: Miss Froy disappears on her return train trip from a vacation in the Balkans. However, Iris Henderson is the only...
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#53
Adjusted Score: 104.026%
Critics Consensus: A film that requires and rewards patience in equal measure, Pather Panchali finds director Satyajit Ray delivering a classic with his debut.
Synopsis: Pather Panchali (Father Panchali), Indian director Satyajit Ray's first feature film, relates the story of an impoverished Bengalese family. When...
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#52
Adjusted Score: 101.187%
Critics Consensus: Three Colors: Blue contains some of director/co-writer Krzysztof Kieslowski's most visually arresting, emotionally resonant work -- and boasts an outstanding performance from Juliette Binoche in the bargain.
Synopsis: A woman (Juliette Binoche) loses her composer husband and child in a tragic accident and must learn to deal with...
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#51
Adjusted Score: 104.75%
Critics Consensus: A complex and timely satire with as much darkness as slapstick, Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be delicately balances humor and ethics.
Synopsis: Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be is a black comedy about a Polish theater company--led by Joseph and...
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#50
Adjusted Score: 104.121%
Critics Consensus: The Searchers is an epic John Wayne Western that introduces dark ambivalence to the genre that remains fashionable today.
Synopsis: If John Ford is the greatest Western director, The Searchers is arguably his greatest film, at once a grand outdoor...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 100.231%
Critics Consensus: An engrossing documentary that's as much about a time and a place as it is about a fight.
Synopsis: On October 30, 1974, perhaps the most famous heavyweight championship boxing match of all time took place in Kinshasa, Zaire:...
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#48
Adjusted Score: 103.77%
Critics Consensus: Inventive, thought-provoking, and funny, 8 1/2 represents the arguable peak of Federico Fellini's many towering feats of cinema.
Synopsis: Exhausted from the success of his latest blockbuster film, already feeling pressured to come up with another smash hit, and...
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#47
Adjusted Score: 104.872%
Critics Consensus: The Passion of Joan of Arc is must-see cinema for Renée Maria Falconetti's incredible performance alone -- and an all-time classic for innumerable other reasons.
Synopsis: With its stunning camera work and striking compositions, Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc convinced the world...
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#46
Adjusted Score: 103.495%
Critics Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was in 1959.
Synopsis: A brilliant but crazed surgeon resorts to horrifying measures to restore the beauty of his daughter's disfigured face....
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#45
Adjusted Score: 106.574%
Critics Consensus: One of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's most acclaimed films, Rashomon features an innovative narrative structure, brilliant acting, and a thoughtful exploration of reality versus perception.
Synopsis: This landmark Japanese masterpiece is Akira Kurosawa's cinematic examination of the subjective nature of truth. In feudal Japan, three men...
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#44
Adjusted Score: 102.26%
Critics Consensus: Beyond ravishing, Wings of Desire is Wim Wenders' is aching and heartbreaking exploration of how love makes us human.
Synopsis: Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are angels who watch over the city of Berlin. They don't have harps...
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#43
Adjusted Score: 101.574%
Critics Consensus: One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumping-off point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern America.
Synopsis: This documentary about the aspirations of high-school basketball players from inner city Chicago won awards from the Sundance film festival,...
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Directed By:
#42
Adjusted Score: 107.445%
Critics Consensus: A feverish rendition of a heart-rending story, A Streetcar Named Desire gives Tennessee Williams' stage play explosive power on the screen thanks to Elia Kazan's searing direction and a sterling ensemble at the peak of their craft.
Synopsis: In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 107.649%
Critics Consensus: An Italian neorealism exemplar, Bicycle Thieves thrives on its non-flashy performances and searing emotion.
Synopsis: This landmark Italian neorealist drama became one of the best-known and most widely acclaimed European movies, including a special Academy...
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#40
Adjusted Score: 109.761%
Critics Consensus: King Kong explores the soul of a monster -- making audiences scream and cry throughout the film -- in large part due to Kong's breakthrough special effects.
Synopsis: "How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?" Enticed by these words, brunette leading...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 102.525%
Critics Consensus: Bitingly cynical without succumbing to bitterness, The Player is one of the all-time great Hollywood satires -- and an ensemble-driven highlight of the Altman oeuvre.
Synopsis: Robert Altman's provocative satire of the movie industry stars Tim Robbins as Griffin Mill, an unscrupulous Hollywood studio executive who...
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#38
Adjusted Score: 102.735%
Critics Consensus: It follows a predictable narrative arc, but Good Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey -- and is loaded with enough powerful performances -- that it remains an entertaining, emotionally rich drama.
Synopsis: The most brilliant mind at America's top university isn't a student, he's the kid who cleans the floors. Will Hunting...
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#37
Adjusted Score: 107.972%
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...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 101.067%
Critics Consensus: A triumphant coda to a beloved series, Deadwood: The Movie will satisfy fans longing for a little f---ing closure.
Synopsis: In this original movie based on David Milch's acclaimed, Emmy (R)-winning HBO series of the same name which debuted 15...
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#35
Adjusted Score: 109.198%
Critics Consensus: A Hard Day's Night, despite its age, is still a delight to watch and has proven itself to be a rock-and-roll movie classic.
Synopsis: The year is 1964 and four young lads from Liverpool are about to change the world - if only the...
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#34
Adjusted Score: 115.656%
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,...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 103.175%
Critics Consensus: Helmed in elegant and exhilarating style by Spike Lee, David Byrne's American Utopia is a concert film that doubles as a joyously cathartic celebration.
Synopsis: The brilliant minds of Spike Lee and Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne collide in the film version of Byrne's wildly...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 109.69%
Critics Consensus: A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.
Synopsis: "In space, no one can hear you scream." A close encounter of the third kind becomes a Jaws-style nightmare when...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 105.498%
Critics Consensus: Jacques Demy elevates the basic drama of everyday life into a soaring opera full of bittersweet passion and playful charm, featuring a timeless performance from Catherine Deneuve.
Synopsis: Jacques Demy's 1964 masterpiece is a pop-art opera, or, to borrow the director's own description, a film in song. This...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 101.524%
Critics Consensus: The Tale handles its extraordinarily challenging subject matter with sensitivity, grace, and the power of some standout performances led by a remarkable Laura Dern.
Synopsis: Based on the filmmaker's own story, THE TALE is an investigation into one woman's memory as she's forced to re-examine...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 107.548%
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...
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#28
Adjusted Score: 109.096%
Critics Consensus: A documentary-like depiction of a nation's real-life efforts to expel a colonizing force, The Battle of Algiers puts viewers on the front lines with gripping realism.
Synopsis: This highly political film about the Algerian struggle for independence from France took "Best Film" honors at the 1966 Venice...
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#27
Adjusted Score: 113.668%
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...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 105.013%
Critics Consensus: An impressive technical achievement with a walloping emotional impact, They Shall Not Grow Old pays brilliant cinematic tribute to the sacrifice of a generation.
Synopsis: Peter Jackson directs this homage to the British troops of the First World War with never-before-seen-footage of soldiers as they...
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Starring:
#25
Adjusted Score: 108.557%
Critics Consensus: Powerfully acted and directed, Never Rarely Sometimes Always reaffirms writer-director Eliza Hittman as a filmmaker of uncommon sensitivity and grace.
Synopsis: Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder)...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 102.626%
Critics Consensus: Pehaps Kenneth Branagh's most fully realized Shakespeare adaptation, Henry V is an energetic, passionate, and wonderfully acted film.
Synopsis: Kenneth Branagh makes his feature-film directorial debut with this adaptation of William Shakespeare's +Henry V. After the Chorus (Derek Jacobi)...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 104.788%
Critics Consensus: Rio Bravo finds director Howard Hawks -- and his stellar ensemble cast -- working at peak performance, and the end result is a towering classic of the Western genre.
Synopsis: Set in Texas during the late 1860s, Rio Bravo is a story of men (and women) and a town under...
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#22
Adjusted Score: 106.011%
Critics Consensus: Open City fills in the familiar contours of its storyline with three-dimensional characters and a narrative depth that add up to a towering -- and still powerfully resonant -- cinematic achievement.
Synopsis: This was Roberto Rossellini's revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 106.102%
Critics Consensus: An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today's thrillers.
Synopsis: Together with Diabolique, The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French...
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#20
Adjusted Score: 105.996%
Critics Consensus: Typifying the best that the Western genre has to offer, Stagecoach is a rip-roaring adventure given dramatic heft by John Ford's dynamic direction and John Wayne's mesmerizing star turn.
Synopsis: Although there were Westerns before it, Stagecoach quickly became a template for all movie Westerns to come. Director John Ford...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 102.515%
Critics Consensus: Thought-provoking and beautifully filmed, Before Sunrise is an intelligent, unabashedly romantic look at modern love, led by marvelously natural performances from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
Synopsis: The film revolves around the story of a young man and woman who meet on a train and impulsively decide...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 106.576%
Critics Consensus: Tokyo Story is a Yasujiro Ozu masterpiece whose rewarding complexity has lost none of its power more than half a century on.
Synopsis: Originally Tokyo Monogatari, Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story centers on a provincial Japanese family. The elderly parents and youngest daughter journey...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 110.198%
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...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 106.197%
Critics Consensus: A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.
Synopsis: After the success of Strike (1924), Sergei Eisenstein was commissioned by the Soviet government to make a film commemorating the...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 107.327%
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...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 106.343%
Critics Consensus: A delightful blend of slapstick humor, poignant emotion, and social commentary, The Gold Rush encapsulates Chaplin's strengths as a writer, director, and star.
Synopsis: During the Gold Rush, prospectors brave Alaska's dangerous Chilkoot Pass, hoping to strike it rich in the snowy mountains. Just...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 105.608%
Critics Consensus: Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.
Synopsis: Paul Newman was nominated for an Oscar and George Kennedy received one for his work in this allegorical prison drama....
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#12
Adjusted Score: 103.116%
Critics Consensus: A complex, stirring, and beautifully realized portrait of interconnected lives, Red is the captivating conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.
Synopsis: A beautiful model named Valentine crosses paths with a retired judge, whose dog she runs over with her car. The...
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#11
Adjusted Score: 103.788%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Juzo Itami's offbeat humor and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture.
Synopsis: The tale of an enigmatic band of ramen ronin who guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 109.316%
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...
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#9
Adjusted Score: 103.895%
Critics Consensus: Only Yesterday's long-delayed U.S. debut fills a frustrating gap for American Ghibli fans while offering further proof of the studio's incredibly consistent commitment to quality.
Synopsis: It's 1982, and Taeko (Daisy Ridley) is 27 years old, unmarried, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 101.613%
Critics Consensus: Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is a touching, bittersweet, and ultimately charming love story that serves as a poignantly effective tribute to the strangely complicated, uniquely resilient mother/daughter duo.
Synopsis: The story of a family's complicated love, this hilarious and heart-rending film is an intimate portrait of a unique mother/daughter...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 108.138%
Critics Consensus: A landmark psychological thriller with arresting images, deep thoughts on modern society, and Peter Lorre in his finest performance.
Synopsis: Fritz Lang's classic early talkie crime melodrama is set in 1931 Berlin. The police are anxious to capture an elusive...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 112.424%
Critics Consensus: A slapstick skewering of industrialized America, Modern Times is as politically incisive as it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Synopsis: This episodic satire of the Machine Age is considered Charles Chaplin's last "silent" film, although Chaplin uses sound, vocal, and...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 111.175%
Critics Consensus: Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' in the Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical.
Synopsis: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor star in Singin' in the Rain, one of the greatest and most successful...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 108.772%
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: Set among the upper class in 1930s Philadelphia, this irreverent classic romantic comedy features radiant performances by three legendary stars....
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#3
Adjusted Score: 108.848%
Critics Consensus: Arguably Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, The Seven Samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made.
Synopsis: Akira Kurosawa's epic tale concerns honor and duty during a time when the old traditional order is breaking down. The...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 116.013%
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: This is the labyrinthine study of the life of a newspaper tycoon....
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#1
Adjusted Score: 103.182%
Critics Consensus: Boasting narrative depth, frank honesty, and exquisite visual beauty, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a modern animated treasure with timeless appeal.
Synopsis: Legendary Studio Ghibli cofounder Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko) revisits Japan's most famous folktale in this gorgeous,...
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