Top 100 Modern Classics (1983-2007)

Entertainment Weekly presented their list of 100 "new classics" for their 1,000th issue. This was valuable, as so rarely are recent films rated... it's always "best-of-all-time." Plus I feel, with the exception of my annual top ten, I never assess contemporary movies. Putting together a top hundred, limited to the last 25 years, seems like a good exercise; and worth doing every five years to keep it fresh. My criteria: overall rating (based on acting, directing, writing, etc.)/ability to keep interest over multiple viewings/depth (i.e. worthiness of study)/sense of its era, yet timelessness/influence on later films.

With the posting of this list, onelinereview goes on fall hiatus; I'll be back on September 22 with more on the movies.

TOP 100 MODERN CLASSICS (1983-2007)


1. Pulp Fiction (1994, d. Quentin Tarantino)
2. Blue Velvet (1986, d. David Lynch)
3. Aliens (1986, d. James Cameron)
4. Schindler’s List (1993, d. Steven Spielberg)
5. Rushmore (1998, d. Wes Anderson)
6. Being John Malkovich (1999, d. Spike Jonze)
7. GoodFellas (1990, d. Martin Scorsese)
8. Ran (1985, d. Akira Kurosawa)
9. Husbands and Wives (1992, d. Woody Allen)
10. Election (1999, d. Alexander Payne)



11. The Terminator (1984, d. James Cameron)
12. Back to the Future (1985, d. Robert Zemeckis)
13. Raising Arizona (1987, d. Joel Coen)
14. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, d. Woody Allen)
15. Die Hard (1988, d. John McTiernan)
16. Unforgiven (1992, d. Clint Eastwood)
17. Toy Story 2 (1999, d. John Lasseter)
18. Swingers (1996, d. Doug Liman)
19. Boys Don’t Cry (1999, d. Kimberly Peirce)

20. The Sixth Sense (1999, d. M. Night Shyamalan)
21. Bowling for Columbine (2002, d. Michael Moore)
22. American Movie (1999, d. Chris Smith)
23. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002, d. Alfonso Cuaron)
24. Capturing the Friedmans (2003, d. Andrew Jarecki)
25. Howard’s End (1992, d. James Ivory)
26. The King of Comedy (1983, d. Martin Scorsese)
27. Breaking the Waves (1996, d. Lars von Trier)
28. Ed Wood (1994, d. Tim Burton)
29. Fargo (1996, d. Joel Coen)

30. The Bourne Supremacy (2004, d. Paul Greengrass)
31. Donnie Brasco (1997, d. Mike Newell)
32. Good Will Hunting (1997, d. Gus Van Sant)
33. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, d. Jonathan Demme)
34. Dances With Wolves (1990, d. Kevin Costner)
35. Saving Private Ryan (1998, d. Steven Spielberg)
36. Adaptation (2002, d. Spike Jonze)
37. Do the Right Thing (1989, d. Spike Lee)
38. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, d. Ang Lee)
39. The Matrix (1999, d. the Wachowski bros.)

40. Amadeus (1984, d. Milos Forman)
41. Wall Street (1987, d. Oliver Stone)
42. Bad Santa (2003, d. Terry Zwigoff)
43. The Player (1992, d. Robert Altman)
44. 28 Up (1985, d. Michael Apted)
45. The Remains of the Day (1993, d. James Ivory)
46. City of God (2002, d. Fernando Meirelles)
47. Secrets and Lies (1996, d. Mike Leigh)
48. Lost in Translation (2003, d. Sofia Coppola)
49. The Others (2001, d. Alejandro Amenabar)

51. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, d. James Cameron)
52. Apollo 13 (1995, d. Ron Howard)
53. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989, d. Woody Allen)
54. The Story of Qui Ju (1992, d. Zhang Yimou)
55. American Beauty (1999, d. Sam Mendes)
56. The Big Lebowski (1998, d. Joel Coen)
57. Drugstore Cowboy 1989, d. Gus Van Sant)
58. When Harry Met Sally…. (1989, d. Rob Reiner)
59. Beauty and the Beast (1991, d. Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)

60. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, d. Peter Jackson)
61. Heat (1995, d. Michael Mann)
62. Another Woman (1988, d. Woody Allen)
63. The Ice Storm (1997, d. Ang Lee)
64. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988, d. Pedro Almodovar)
65. The Breakfast Club (1984, d. John Hughes)
66. Dead Man Walking (1995, d. Tim Robbins)
67. Before Sunrise (1995, d. Richard Linklater)
68. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (2007, d. Cristian Mungiu)
69. JFK (1991, d. Oliver Stone)

70. The Untouchables (1987, d. Brian de Palma)
71. Sling Blade (1996, d. Billy Bob Thornton)
72. Babette’s Feast (1987, d. George Axel)
73. Titanic (1997, d. James Cameron)
74. Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987, d. Louis Malle)
75. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004, d. Michael Moore)
76. The Pianist (2002, d. Roman Polanski)
77. Jackie Brown (1997, d. Quentin Tarantino)
78. Crumb (1994, d. Terry Zwigoff)
79. Cinema Paradiso (1988, d. Giuseppe Tornatore)

80. The Grifters (1990, d. Stephen Frears)
81. Chicago (2002, d. Rob Marshall)
82. Gladiator (2000, d. Ridley Scott)
83. Broadway Danny Rose (1984, d. Woody Allen)
84. L.A. Confidential (1997, d. Curtis Hanson)
85. Say Anything… (1989, d. Cameron Crowe)
86. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2002, d. Michel Gondry)
87. The Aviator (2004, d. Martin Scorsese)
88. Fatal Attraction (1987, Adrian Lyne)
89. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006, d. Clint Eastwood)

90. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987, d. John Hughes)
91. This Is Spinal Tap (1984, d. Rob Reiner)
92. Speed (1994, d. Jan De Bont)
93. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, d. Alfonso Cuaron)
94. Big (1988, d. Penny Marshall)
95. Fight Club (1999, d. David Fincher)
97. Jerry Maguire (1996, d. Cameron Crowe)
97. Wonder Boys (2000, d. Curtis Hanson)
98. La Belle Noiseuse (1991, d. Jacques Rivette)
99. There’s Something About Mary (1998, d. Bobby and Peter Farrelly)
100. There Will Be Blood (2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson)