Top 100: Best Movies (of All-Time)

68. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Logline: World War II: The Basterds (spearheaded by Lt. Aldo Raines) comprised of a ragtag team of Jewish Americans in Nazi-occupied France who had only one mission: Find Nazis and kill ’em.

Memorable Moments: Lieutenant Aldo orders one of his sergeants (the ‘Bear Jew’, played by Eli Roth) to kill a captured Nazi official after he refuses to divulge information on his unit’s whereabouts.

Why People Love It: Simple: It A. boasts a stellar cast, including Brad Pitt at the forefront and B. is a based-on-a-true story of French vigilantes (The Basterds) that were notorious for killing Nazis one by one, in fantastical style and succession.

Best Quote: Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt): “You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin’.”

67. Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Logline: A contriving woman and rebellious gentleman (oxymoron?) have a tumultuous, even contentious relationship during the Civil War and throughout the Reconstruction era.

Memorable Moments: Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) is in labor and Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) discovers that Prissy, a midwife, lied about her midwifing skills—forcing Scarlett to get her hands messy and help deliver the baby.

Why People Love It: Besides being one of the longest feature films ever (at four hours strong), Gone With the Wind is a love story far better than many of its contemporaries, like Mr. Spark’s The Notebook.

Best Quote: Rhett Butler (Clark Gable): “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

66. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Logline: The time and place is during The Great Depression in a small, racially-segregated Alabama town. Atticus Finch is an attorney that must defend (at the dismay of nearly all the white folk) a black man accused of rape, while teaching his kids to forgo racism.

Memorable Moments: Atticus’s closing arguments where commands the jury to “In the name of God…do your duty!”, while young Scout and the accused Tom Robinson eagerly observe is one of the finest scenes of this timeless classic.

Why People Love It: If you were born pre-1990, chances are good that To Kill a Mockingbird (which evokes many fond memories of many of our own childhoods) was on your required-reading itinerary.

Best Quote: Atticus Finch (Peck): “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it-whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”

65. American Beauty (1999)

American Beauty (1999)

Logline: Lester Burnham, a midlife crisis-stricken suburban dad, whose marriage is slowly but surely falling apart, acknowledges that he must reverse course of his life after lusting for his daughter’s schoolmate.

Memorable Moments: In a scene that epitomizes Lester’s lackluster marriage: The would-be sex scene where wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) utters the unforgettably naive turn-off, “This is a $4000 sofa upholstered in Italian silk. It is NOT just a couch.”

Why People Love It: Because it’s about a middle-aged married man and father that lusts over and commits adultery with a high school cheerleader. It is, simply, political incorrectness at its finest and most genuinely entertaining.

Best Quote: Lester Burnham (Spacey): “It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you’ve forgotten about.”