#39 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

1964
Director: Stanely Kubrick
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

One commander in the US Military is convinced that the Soviets are using the nations water supply to poison the American people and orders a bombing without authority.  He is the only one who knows the code to recall the bombers and has locked himself inside his office.  In the war room, top officials meet on how to solve this problem.  Peter Sellers plays 3 different roles, including Dr, Strangelove.  Completely indifferent to this movie. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Trivia: Peter Sellers improvised most of his lines and this was James Earl Jones' screen debut.


Up Next: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

#40 The Sound of Music

1965
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer

Rogers and Hammerstein's classic musical... This movie just makes you feel good when you watch it. You know that everything will be ok somehow, even in the face of Nazi's coming into Austria, ruining the life the VonTrapp's have come to know.  My favorite scene is the last one at the abbey when the two nuns confess to "sinning" and then take car parts from beneath their robes. 

Trivia: Julie Andrews almost turned down the part of Maria, fearing the character would be too similar to Mary Poppins. 

Up Next: Dr. Strangelove

# 41 King Kong

1933
Director: Merian Cooper (uncredited), Ernest Schoedsack (uncredited)
Starring: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

I watched this movie on a plane ride home to New York, and couldn't have loved it more... This movie when viewed in 1933 was probably way ahead of its time in terms on special effects.  People were probably in awe when they first saw it!  I had seen this or parts of it when I was much younger, so I didn't really remember it other than the Empire State Building scene.  I loved the personality that they were able to give to Kong, the subtle things like his curiosity about the other giant creatures he kills and even the hair on Kong blowing and moving in the wind while he's on the top of the empire state... All in all, the movie was sad.  You can't help but feel bad for King Kong.  If you haven't seen it, you need to! Classic.

Trivia: King Kong's roar was a lion's and a tiger's roar combined and run backwards.

Up Next: The Sound of Music

# 42 Bonnie and Clyde

1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman

This movie tells the true story of real-life bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. It completely romanticizes violence and makes the life of a bank robber look glamorous and exciting. I mean, who wouldn't want to rob banks after seeing this movie? Well, except for the end...

The actors seemed to play their parts perfectly, and even Gene Wilder makes one of his first on screen appearances as one of their hostages.

If you haven't seen this one, I definitely recommend!

Trivia: Warner Bros. gave the movie a limited, "B" movie-type release at first, sending it to drive-ins and lesser theaters. When critics began raving about the film and young people began to show up at screenings, it was better promoted, given a wider release and became a huge hit. 

Up Next: King Kong

#43 Midnight Cowboy

1969
Director: John Schlesinger
Starring: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman

Different kind of guy/buddy movie... Voight plays southern guy Joe Buck who moves to NYC to try to make it as a "hustler" (male prostitute.) He doesn't have much luck, and along the way meets Hoffman's Ratso.  Eventually the two try to make Joe succeed at his hustle, struggling all the way.  It was an interesting watch, but I didn't come away loving it.  I think this was my first time seeing a movie with a young Jon Voight though!

Trivia: Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for this film, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the "beggar" less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity. 

Up Next: Bonnie and Clyde

#44 The Philadelphia Story

1940
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart

Fun love-triangle movie, with dramatic moments mixed in.  I was rooting for Cary Grant the whole time :)
I love the way movies looked in the 40's - the coloring of the black and white, the lighting, the fashions... they have such a wonderful feel to them!
A few weeks ago I caught the movie High Society on tv, so I realized immediately when I started watching the Philadelphia Story that High Society was a remake! I like the original much better.

Trivia: The film was shot in eight weeks, and required no retakes. During the scene where James Stewart hiccups when drunk, you can see Cary Grant looking down and grinning. Since the hiccup wasn't scripted, Grant was on the verge of breaking out laughing and had to compose himself quickly. James Stewart thought of hiccuping in the drunk scene himself, without telling Cary Grant. When he began hiccuping, Grant turned to Stewart saying, "Excuse me." The scene required only one take. 

Up next: Midnight Cowboy

#45 Shane

1953
Director: George Stevens
Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin

This is the second western on the list I actually liked.  The movie builds right up to the final scene, and I was interested the whole time.  The three main characters were very strong- I don't think I've ever seen an Alan Ladd movie before!  I also liked seeing Jack Palance! His smile after he shoots one of the settlers was priceless.

Trivia:  According to the commentary on the DVD, during the scene where Shane and Joe are fighting in the corral, the tied horses were supposed to panic. To instill hysteria in the horses, the director had two men dressed in a bear costumes to scare them. 

Up Next: The Philadelphia Story

#46 It Happened One Night

1934
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

Adorable movie, and I don't use that word often.  I loved the chemistry between these two.  I can't think of a single bad thing to say about this movie!  I really enjoyed watching it!!

Trivia:  This was the first film to win the Oscar "grand slam" (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Screenplay).

Up Next: Shane

#47 A Streetcar Named Desire

1951

Director: Elia Kazan

Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden

Fantastic movie based on a play by Tennessee Williams.  It's no wonder why Vivien Leigh won the Best Actress oscar! She was chilling & haunting & straight up crazy as Blanche.  Marlon Brando stars in one of his first major roles and plays his character perfectly.  I loved the scene right after he screams his famous Stella! line and Kim Hunter walks down the stairs slowly... that scene defines their relationship perfectly.  

Up Next: It Happened One Night

#48 Rear Window

1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly

James Stewart is stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg and gets nosy with his neighbors. He ends up convincing himself based on circumstance that one of his neighbors killed his wife, and gets those around him involved in the tale.  It's Hitchcock, so you know it's good... filmed perfectly, with perfect lighting.  The movie builds in suspense, right up to the very end.  Side note: how pretty is Grace Kelly? It's crazy!

Trivia: All of the sound in the film is diegetic, meaning that all the music, speech and other sounds all come from within the world of the film [with the exception of non-diegetic orchestral music heard in the first three shots of the film]. 

Up next #47- A Streetcar Named Desire

#49 Intolerance

1916
Director: DW Griffith
Starring: Miriam Cooper, Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Mae Marsh, Constance Talmadge

Ok, so just before I sat down to watch this movie, I noticed that it was over 3 hours long... and is a silent movie.  I wasn't very hopeful. But, I have to say I actually enjoyed this one. Granted I had to watch it over the course of 2 days, but it was very intriguing.  I tried to place myself in 1916, and remember the fact that this must have been a spectacle back then.
The movie is billed as "Loves struggle throughout the ages" and follows 4 story lines with overlapping themes.  Intolerance is of course the central theme- the powerful taking advantage of the lower classes because they think they are better and are intolerant of their beliefs.  There was use of subtle sarcasm which I loved also.  Overall, I very much enjoyed watching this one and recommend checking it out next time you have 3 hours to kill.

Up Next: #48 Rear Window

#50 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean

You know you've all seen this movie... don't lie.  I've seen it more than 10 times probably! But I hadn't seen it in a while, and it is number 50, which means I'm halfway through my list!! Very exciting. Back to the movie... we follow the first part of the journey to return the one ring to Mordor.  It's exciting, lays the groundwork for future films, and is definitely an epic tale.  Even though I don't really like Elijah Wood, I can overlook it or this movie, it's great... Except now every time I watch this one, I think about the Family Guy episode where Chris points out the hole in the story about why the giant eagle that saves Gandalf in this movie doesn't just take Frodo to Mordor... classic.

Trivia:  Eight of the nine members of the Fellowship got a small tattoo of the word "nine" spelled out in Tengwar, which is the Elvish script created by Tolkien. They got it at a tattoo parlor in Wellington, New Zealand, to commemorate the experience of the movie. The ninth member, John Rhys-Davies, declined and sent his stunt double in his place.

Up Next: Intolerance

# 51 West Side Story

1961
Director: Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris

This one is definitely a classic. And tells the classic story of Romeo and Juliet, set in more modern times.  The songs are perfect, and every actor brings something unique to the movie.  It's been about 10 years since I've seen this, and it didn't disappoint.  As I was watching and listening to Maria sing, I knew it wasn't Natalie Wood, but thought it sounded like Audrey Hepburn's singing in My Fair Lady (which I also knew wasn't Audrey), so I looked it up and sure enough, same lady sang both parts- Marni Nixon I have nothing bad to say, except if you haven't seen this and you can get past the idea of gang members singing and dancing, see it!

Trivia: Opening dance sequences were shot on the upper west side of Manhattan where Lincoln Center stands today. This area was condemned and the buildings were in the process of being demolished to make way for Lincoln Center. The demolition of these buildings was delayed so that the filming of these sequences could be completed. 

Up Next: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#50!! Halfway)

#52 Taxi Driver

1976
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert DeNiro (Lots of people in this movie! Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks)

Story about a NYC man who literally goes crazy... you can see the progression from the beginning when he takes the job as a cabbie; you can see he grows paler and looks more exhausted, especially after things don't work out with Cybill Shepherd's character.  By the time he is purchasing guns, and training physically, he is definitely insane.  I thought I had seen this movie once before, but I didn't remember the end, when he was hailed as a hero and returns to work in his cab.  One thing I didn't like at all was the weird music that played most of the time in the background.  Overall, I would say I liked but didn't love this one!

Trivia: De Niro worked twelve hour days for a month driving cabs as preparation for this role. He also studied mental illness. 

Up Next: West Side Story

#53 The Deer Hunter

1978
Director: Michael Cimino
Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, George Dzunda

The movie follows a group of friends from a small town in Pennsylvania.  The first hour was slightly boring... ok, very boring.  The whole wedding scene was beyond too long... Once the movie moves to Vietnam, it gets much more interesting.  I found myself closing my eyes a lot, mainly during the Russian Roulette scenes.  After the war, you see how it effects them all in different ways.  Obviously, De Niro was fantastic.  Walken was great, and I liked John Savage a lot too.  (This was his last movie...) Overall, I liked it, but didn't love it.  And I was a little glad when it was over!

Trivia: Robert De Niro and John Savage performed their own stunts in the fall into the river, filming the 30 ft drop 15 times in two days; and Meryl Streep improvised many of her lines.  

Up Next: Taxi Driver

#54 MASH

1970
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duval

I had never seen this one before, and never watched the tv show either.  There is no major plot; it follows a group of army doctors in Korea.  They use jokes and sex to get through war time...Entertaining, but I don't know that I would put it on a list of the 100 best movies of all time!  Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye, Tom Skerritt as Duke and Elliott Gould as McIntyre were great in their roles and made the movie fun to watch though.  (BTW- Strange lyrics to the opening song!!)

Trivia: The loudspeaker shots and announcements were added after the editing process had begun and the filmmakers realized that they needed more transitions. Some of the loudspeaker shots have the Moon visible and were shot while the Apollo 11 astronauts were on the Moon. 

Up next: The Deer Hunter

#55 North by Northwest

1959
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint

Absolutely loved this movie.  I think I've seen bits and pieces before, but never all the way through.  Hitchcock has such a style all his own, right down to the lightness around actresses eyes.  Cary Grant is always perfect, his timing is amazing, and his subtle comedy doesn't go unnoticed.  Martin Landau was also amazing in his role- played a great bad guy!
This was the first of  a couple Hitchcock movies on the list, and I can't wait for the rest!

Up Next: MASH

#56 Jaws

1975
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, 

Another movie I hadn't seen in years... and it still holds up as a great movie, scary, suspenseful, funny... it has everything!  I have nothing bad to say about this movie, and I think it's been one of my favorites on the list so far!


Trivia: After the shark was built, it was never tested in the water, and when it was put in the water at Martha's Vineyard, it sank straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it. 


Up next: North by Northwest

#57 Rocky

1976
Director: John G. Avildsen
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith

What a great movie to watch around the 4th of July (I watched on the 5th, but close enough!) I hadn't seen this movie since I was a kid, and I think I liked it and appreciated it much more as an old(er) person!  I had no idea that Stallone wrote this.  I really liked him in this movie, he was so natural in this role!

Trivia: The movie was shot in 28 days!

#58 The Gold Rush

1925
Director/Writer: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin is a prospective miner and shows up to Alaska (in not enough layers) to look for gold.  One of a few silent movies on the list, and I liked this one a lot.  I was laughing out loud (which is rare, because I don't typically like comedy movies!!) The humor is so basic, it's just naturally funny...
Bit of trivia- there's a scene where he a fellow prospector are so hungry, they boil and eat Chaplin's boot, which was actually made of licorice for the movie!!

Up next: Rocky

#59 Nashville

1975
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Too many people

Ok, I had to fight to get through this one.  I wasn't interested in the story or the music.  I don't get why this movie made this list!! I can think of movies that were further up on the list that were 100 times better!!  Oh well, I can't like them all...

#60 Duck Soup

1933
Director: Leo McCarey
Starring: Groucho, Harpo, Chico Zeppo Marx


Groucho Marx as Rufus Firefly, who gets elected president of Freedonia.... and mayhem follows.  The second of the Marx bros. movies on this list, and I am still up in the air about whether I like them!  I didn't expect there to be singing in this one... don't know that it needed it!

#61 Sullivan's Travels

1941
Director: Preston Sturges
Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest

Great old movie about a movie director who wants to make a movie about hard times.  Once he realizes that he doesn't really know about hard times, he sets out to learn for himself... on the way he meets Veronica Lake (how gorgeous is she?!) And then he really learns about hardships, but learns by the end of the movie about the strength of laughter.


Up Next: Duck Soup!

#62 American Graffiti

1973

Director: George Lucas

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Charles Martin Smith, Paul Le Mat

The movie follows a group of high school graduates as some prepare for college, and some stay in their small town.  Overall, a fun movie to watch!

Cameos are awesome- Wolfman Jack, Suzanne Somers and Harrison Ford. And the music is probably some of my favorite- might be one of the best soundtracks ever!

Up next: Sullivan's Travels

#63 Cabaret

1972
Director: Bob Fosse
Starring: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey

Set in 1930's Berlin, the movie follows Sally Bowles who is an entertainer at a local club. Joel Grey is phenomenal as the night club host.  I noticed that most of the women entertainers at the night club were fairly unattractive and looked like men! This movie won tons of Oscars, and rightfully so. Even though I couldn't really stand Liza as an actress, she can sing!

Up Next: American Graffiti

#64 Network

1976
DirectorL Sidney Lumet
Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall

Drama about tv news networks in the 70's... it kept my interest and gave an inside look into the news and television during that time period. All in all, I liked it but didn't love it!

Up Next: Cabaret

#65 The African Queen

1951

Director: John Huston

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn

Two great actors in what I thought was a good movie. I loved Hepburns character, she was much tougher than she first appeared! I had seen bits and pieces of this movie a while ago, but never the whole thing.  Check this one off the list and onto the next!!

Up Next:  Network

#66 Raiders of the Lost Ark

1981
Director: Stephen Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott

This movie seriously never gets old. I wasn't sure exactly when it was coming up on my list, so when it was on tv a few weeks ago, I watched it. And then just a couple weeks later, I saw that it was next on my list, and had no trouble watching it again.  It has one of the greatest opening scenes, and one of the best (almost) last scenes (the one with the warehouse.) I have nothing bad to say about this movie!!

Up Next: The African Queen

#67 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1966
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal

I get why Elizabeth Taylor won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a housewife gone crazy... but she was the only good point about this movie for me. I didn't find it all that interesting, or exciting. There was a moment about half way through that I thought it would pick up, but I was disappointed!

#68 Unforgiven

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman

Finally! A western I liked! I guess you really can't go wrong with this cast!

Up next: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

#69 Tootsie

1982
Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray

I liked this movie more than I thought I would.  Hoffman plays an actor who can't get work as a man, so decides to try out for a part as a woman, and gets it.  He struggles with who to tell, and who not to, and of course falls in love with his co-star, who thinks he's a woman. Pretty funny!

Up next: Unforgiven

#71 Saving Private Ryan

1998
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Ed Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi

ALSO in this movie: Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti

I forgot how real this movie looks and feels.  I haven't watched this one in a few years, and it was just as good as I remember.  I love all of the actors, and guest actors.
And I loved Barry Pepper in this movie!

Up Next: Tootsie

#72 The Shawshank Redemption

1994
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman

One of my favorites, I think I've seen this movie a hundred times.  It's so simple, and so detailed at the same time. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are perfect in their roles.  There's nothing bad I can say about this movie.  And who didn't want to go to Zihuatanejo after seeing it!

Funny trivia- Kevin Costner turned down the role of Andy, and the part of Tommy (the young guy who comes in and tries to prove Andy is innocent) was originally intended for Brad Pitt.

Up next: Saving Private Ryan

#73 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1969
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Starring: Robert Redford, Paul Newman


"Who are these guys?" These guys are Paul Newman and Robert Redford (and that was my favorite quote they kept repeating in the movie when being tracked and chased.)
I saw this movie when I was a teenager, and didn't really like it the first time around.  This time, I loved it.
The two main characters are "the bad guys," bank robbers, so it feels wrong hoping they'll make it out! But you almost have to...

Up next: #72 The Shawshank Redemption

#74 The Silence of the Lambs

1991
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn

Another one I haven't seen in forever! And I forgot how creepy it is! The part where she's in the killers house and he's got the night vision glasses on... he's centimeters away!
Anthony Hopkins couldn't have been more perfect as Lecter. Literally no one could have played it better.
(I still don't get how he got his doctor's pen in his room though!)

Up Next: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

#75 In the Heat of the Night

1967
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger

Liked this one a lot...
Nothing too complex in terms of plot, but great characters and setting.  Its incredible and disgusting to think that this type of behavior in regards to race was common, especially in small southern towns.  Its incredible and disgusting to think that some people still think that way.
Trivia: Rod Steiger was asked by director Norman Jewison to chew gum when playing the part. He resisted at first but then grew to love the idea,and eventually went through 263 packs of gum during the shooting of the film. 
Up next: #74 The Silence of the Lambs

#76 Forrest Gump

1994
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinese, Sally Field

I havent watched this one in a while! And it didn't disappoint.
I actually think I liked it more than when I watched it in '94 when it first came out.  There are so many details in this movie, and of course weaving Tom Hanks into old footage was an awesome touch.  Plus, this movie probably has one of the best soundtracks!

#77 All the President's Men

1976
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Hal Holbrook, Jack Warden

Two thumbs up, I liked this one a lot!  I thought Redford and Hoffman were great on-screen together.  I knew about Watergate before watching this movie, but not the details, and not how it was all found out.  This movie told that story, and it wasn't confusing.  Good one!