Gravity (2013)

Gravity (2013)

[6]

Gravity is so harrowing, I’m tempted to call it crisis porn. The movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in orbit over Earth after debris destroys their spacecraft. Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, A Little Princess) warns us from the get-go with some on-screen text that life in space is impossible, and then proceeds to throw everything you can imagine at Bullock and Clooney’s characters. They’ve got dwindling oxygen supplies, they’ve got the debris looping back around at them every ninety minutes, their spacesuits are running out of propulsion, and their connection to Huston has gone dark. There are the threats of burning alive, freezing to death, drowning, and slipping into coma. They see other members of their crew frozen solid, flesh exposed to the vacuum of space — one guy with a tidy hole clean through his head.

Inception (2010)

Inception (2010)

[8] Dreams are a notoriously difficult thing on which to base a movie. In dreams there are no rules, no parameters -- and in movies about dreams, writers and filmmakers are often all too eager to take advantage of our suspension of…
The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)

The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)

[10] Peter Jackson (Dead Alive, The Frighteners) embraces the Herculean task of bringing Tolkien's supreme fantasy to the silver screen, and hits a home run. The Fellowship of the Ring gets the trilogy off to a strong start, as Frodo Baggins and…
The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix (1999)

[9] A man slowly discovers that reality is not what it seems and that we are all actually slaves to more advanced technological organisms in this uber-cool, groundbreaking sci-fi flick with an incredible screenplay and visionary aesthetics. There is a place in…
Titanic (1997)

Titanic (1997)

[9] By anchoring his screenplay in one of the most inherently compelling tragedies of the twentieth century and placing the the weight of the story on Kate Winslet's able shoulders, James Cameron concocts a recipe for the biggest money-making movie of all…
Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

[9] If you think of this movie as Jaws on land, as director Steven Spielberg has suggested, it can't quite compare to that masterpiece. The characters aren't strong enough. But it's still a hell of a summer event movie, delivering groundbreaking effects…
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

[9] Director Michael Mann (Manhunter, Heat) adapts James Fenimore Cooper's novel (with additional credit to the screenwriters of a 1936 version of this movie) set during America's French and Indian War. Three Mohican fur trappers, the last of their dying tribe, rescue…
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

[9] This is one of those rare sequels that is arguably better than its predecessor. It may not be as raw and moody as The Terminator, but Terminator 2 is a kick-ass action movie -- one of the best ever made, frankly.…
Dances With Wolves (1990)

Dances With Wolves (1990)

[10]

Kevin Costner’s ambitious ode to the American frontier is grand, romantic storytelling at its best. And talk about an underdog. People were calling it ‘Kevin’s Gate’ months prior to release — and why shouldn’t they? A three-hour long western with most of its dialogue in Lakota Sioux? How could such a movie find an audience, much less sweep the Academy Awards?

Amadeus (1984)

Amadeus (1984)

[10]

Straight biographies rarely make great film, but by filtering the subject through another man’s envy, director Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) delivers one of the best bio-films I’ve ever seen. This isn’t a film about a composer and his music (how boring would that be?) — it’s a film about an insanely jealous contemporary named Salieri. Salieri, played brilliantly by F. Murray Abraham, turns Mozart’s life and accomplishments into his own personal battle with God. Just watch Abraham pretend to be Mozart’s best friend, all while plotting to destroy him, and you quickly appreciate why the man won an Oscar for his performance.