Top 100: Best Movies (of All-Time)

84. The Searchers (1956)

The Searchers (1956)

Logline: When a veteran returns home to Texas, an Indian posse wrecks havoc and kidnaps his niece, Debbie. Searching for her for years with nephew Martin, the plot thickens when the nephew suspects that Ethan (John Wayne) is beginning to hate Debbie as much as the Indians themselves.

Memorable Moments: Indisputably the final scene where Edwards, after years of searching and enduring countless tribulations, places his niece back in the hands of her parents on their front porch.

Why People Love It: A gem especially among Baby Boomers, The Searchers essentially laid the foundation for myriad other classics, such Unforgiven, Dances With Wolves, and Jeremiah Johnson.

Best Quote: Ethan Edwards (Wayne) & Reverend Clayton (Ward Bond): Wayne: “Well Reverend, looks like you’ve got yourself surrounded.” Rev: “Yeah, and I figure on getting myself unsurrounded.”

83. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Logline: In this silent film, a manipulative, inner-city woman (the ‘Evil Temptress’) emotionally enslaves a rural farmer, ‘The Man’ (George O’Brien), and attempts the unthinkable: To persuade The Man to murder his downtrodden wife.

Memorable Moments: The turning point of the movie when—whilst The Man and Wife are out on the lake at night—The Man jumps up and almost follows through with the plan that the ‘Woman From the City’ planted in his head.

Why People Love It: Like The Gold Rush, A Song of Two Humans has also been heralded as one of the greatest silent pictures of all time by many.

82. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Logline: Astronauts discover a very peculiar monolith on the moon. Using the supercomputer HAL and some of the smartest scientists around, the race to find out where these extraterrestrial beings (and the ultimately intriguing artifacts that they’re leaving behind) are begins.

Memorable Moments: An astronaut is sucked up by a “star gate”, and the ensuing trip can only be summed up as an acid-induced-like, psychedelic trip of vivid colors and sounds through a space/time-vacuum.

Why People Love It: Because it’s just as relevant today, if not more (especially considering the modern-day Creationism vs. Evolution spectacle) than it was upon release. And let’s not forget being treated to some trippy visuals!

Best Quote: Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea): “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”

81. Wild Strawberries (1957)

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Logline: Isak Borg, an old, miserly professor, must travel to Lund University. Along the way, however, he experiences strong feelings of hollowness and remorse as he reflects on his past 50 years of teaching—surmising that his life as a grouchy hermit has brought about painful feelings of insufficiency and worthlessness.

Memorable Moments: The scene where Dr. Borg, deep in a dream, stands sullenly on an empty, isolated city street and encounters ghastly reminders of his life up until that point.

Why People Love It: Wild Strawberries illustrates how vital it will prove, especially in our golden years, that we live the most fulfilling, sociable lives possible. Without doing that, we risk becoming old, alienated, lonely souls in the end.

Best Quote: Gunnar Sjoberg (Sten Alman): “Me and my wife are dependent on each other. It is out of selfish reasons we haven’t beaten each other to death a long time ago.”