Year Released: 1990
Martin Scorsese makes yet another appearance on the “best of” list with his classic 1990 gangster drama, Goodfellas. The film stars Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta as members of the infamous NYC Lucchese crime family.
Goodfellas holds a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely regarded as one of the best movies in film history. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture, and won the Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci.) That was among several other accolades and nominations, which include a number of Golden Globes and British Academy Film Awards.
City Lights
Year Released: 1931
This pre-Code romantic comedy was made in 1931, when Charlie Chaplin was still producing his silent hits. The film is widely regarded as the star’s masterpiece, which follows The Little Tramp on his attempts to court a blind girl that he’s fallen for.
Sight and Sound magazine’s 1952 poll named it the second-best film of all time, and that was one of many times it’s been given that honor. American Film Institute has included it in seven of their “100 Years” lists and called it the single “Best Romantic Comedy” on their 2008 “10 Top 10.”
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Year Released: 2018
This installment in Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise is a huge hit with children, families, critics and just humans in general. The animated film made over $375 million at the box office upon its 2018 release, and nearly every review is glowing.
The film won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film/Best Animated Feature Film. It also won a number of other awards in 2019 from all over the world, including Best Imported Film at the Bandung Film Festival in Indonesia.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Year Released: 1975
Of course we’d include this 1975 classic drama on our list. The film stars Jack Nicholson as a psychiatric patient who leads an uprising in a mental hospital. The film was based on the 1962 novel of the same name, written by Ken Kesey, and is often referred to as one of the best films of all time, both by critics and audience members.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was the winner of several prestigious awards, including the big five Oscars; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress. It also won six Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture (Drama) and Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama.)
The Third Man
Year Released: 1949
Orson Welles is known both in and out of the film industry for being one of the best filmmakers of all time. His work on-screen in The Third Man is no different, and is highly regarded as a favorite, both in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The British Film Institute called it the greatest film in history in 1999, and a poll of 150 actors, directors, critics and producers in Time Out magazine ranked it second-best of all time. It won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and was nominated for two others, including Best Director, and also won the British Academy Film Award for Best British Film.