Ranked List

Top 100

These are the films I would most readily return to or recommend to someone who asks where to start. I have weighed the lasting impression each one made on me as much as its reputation, so this is a personal ranking rather than a tally of awards or review scores. Use it as a route into old favourites and a few discoveries you might have missed.

#2 Back to the Future poster

Back to the Future

Release 1985 Genres Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction IMDb 8.5 Runtime 116 min Language English
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Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
#3 There Will Be Blood poster

There Will Be Blood

Release 2007 Genres Drama IMDb 8.2 Runtime 158 min Language English
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Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
#10 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo poster

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Release 2011 Genres Thriller, Crime, Mystery IMDb 7.8 Runtime 158 min Language English
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Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.