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.

#35 Adaptation. poster

Adaptation.

Release 2002 Genres Comedy, Crime, Drama IMDb 7.6 Runtime 115 min Language English
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Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.
#37 Drive poster

Drive

Release 2011 Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime IMDb 7.8 Runtime 100 min Language English
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Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.
#38 Looper poster

Looper

Release 2012 Genres Action, Thriller, Science Fiction IMDb 7.4 Runtime 118 min Language English
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In the year 2044, time travel has not yet been invented but in 30 years it will have been. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.