Ryan Gosling in Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive"

It’s that time of year again when we intrepid critics whittle down the hundreds of titles we’ve seen over the last 365 days to the top 10 that made us gasp, chuckle, cringe, hope, feel and think the most. As seems to be the trend, Hollywood left us slim pickings, so the bulk of this list is made up of independent and foreign films, not out of snobbery, but, sadly, by necessity. Here are my picks, in alphabetical order, for the year’s 10 best:

A Separation
An incisive and penetrating portrait of the immovable tenets of reality. Asghar Farhadi unwraps the layers of family life in Tehran with the deftness and care of a master. No other film released this year connects with as much truth or treats its subject with as much keenness or soberness as “A Separation.”

The Artist
I love movies about movies. I also happen to love silent films. Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist” is both, and it’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies this year. Style over substance? Maybe. Melodramatic? Definitely. But that’s why I love it. Jean Dujardin’s charismatic performance as a silent screen hero struggling to find his place in the emerging world of the talkie may just be the best of the year.

John Boyega leads a street gang of alien-killers in "Attack the Block"

Attack the Block
“Attack the Block” is a movie made by film nerds fed up with the depressing banality of modern monster flicks. Set in the slums of South London, a gang of street hoodlums are the first to encounter the beginnings of an alien invasion, which they meet with a brilliant combination of youthful bravado and street-informed witticisms. And underlying it all are razor sharp barbs aimed squarely at the entrenched conservative sensibilities of England’s elite.

Certified Copy
Is a fake, a phony, a rip-off as inherently valuable as the original? Director Abbas Kiarostami leaves that up to us with a wonderfully realized imitation of life in “Certified Copy.” He leaves questions unanswered, ideas not fleshed out and relationships without resolve in this plodding, dialogue-heavy picture, which was more thrilling than Hollywood’s best high-budget action flicks this year.

Drive
Director Nicolas Winding Refn, known for other savagely macho films like “Bronson” (2008) and “Valhalla Rising” (2009) continues his reflection on male brutality with “Drive.” This time, his subject is a stone-cold, badass movie stunt driver played by Ryan Gosling. “Drive” is a quiet European arthouse-style movie, punctuated by the occasional outburst of extreme, bombastic violence. One of the most stylish, exhilarating and cinematic films of the year.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
John Hawkes was born to play a coldly menacing hillbilly capable of dehumanizing atrocity. His chilling presence combined with Elizabeth Olsen’s harrowing performance and Sean Durkin’s surprisingly controlled direction make this trying-to-find-your-place-in-society-after-escaping-from-a-cult movie the best directorial debut since Steve McQueen’s “Hunger” in 2008.

Bruce Greenwood as Meek in "Meek's Cutoff"

Meek’s Cutoff
Based on real events, “Meek’s Cutoff” takes us on a slow and tedious slog on the Oregon Trail in 1845. There is no horrific violence, no melodramatic Western cliches and no satisfying resolution. Instead, director Kelly Reichardt (“Wendy and Lucy”) gives us an understated, yet powerful vision of life on a wagon train. It may seem like nothing much happens, but every scene is encumbered by an unshakable sense of devastating uncertainty and creeping doom.

Melancholia
Director Lars von Trier isn’t known for his subtlety. He did direct the genital mutilation-fest “Antichrist” in 2009, after all. But “Melancholia,” a meditation on aloofness and depression in the face of catastrophe, is perhaps von Trier at is most restrained. Kirsten Dunst turns in one of the best performances of the year as a depressed and disinterested bride nonchalantly facing the literal apocalypse. It works, strangely, as a companion piece to Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married” (2008) and Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” (1982).

Michael Fassbender is a sex addict in "Shame"

Shame
“Hunger,” Steve McQueen’s 2008 directorial debut about IRA leader Bobby Sands’s hunger strike in a Northern Ireland prison, left me speechless. It was raw, unflinching, smart and devastating. His followup, “Shame,” though not quite as transcendent as his first effort, is nevertheless worthy of the same shower of adjectival praise. The same actor who played Bobby Sands in “Hunger,” Michael Fassbender, here plays a sex addict whose habit has crippling effects. It’s the “Requiem for a Dream” of sex addiction.

The Tree of Life
Perhaps the most divisive film of the year, Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” tackles the biggest questions on the biggest scale. It combines some of cinema’s most ambitious and breathtaking cinematography with the intimacy of a small, struggling family in a small Texas town. Whether you think it’s pretentious drudgery or profound ecstasy, the one thing it’s not is ordinary.

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Also check out:
The 10 best films of 2010
The 10 best films of 2009
TMA’s 25 best film of the decade (2000-2009)
TMA’s 100 greatest movies of all time
TMA’s 25 greatest horror movies of all time
TMA’s 25 greatest sports movies of all time

The cinema: paradise, at times, but many are the sins that writers, directors, cinema owners and fellow audience members can commit to bring the whole experience swiftly down to the ground. Dante came up with nine different levels of torture in his vision of Inferno, so allow me to lead you through cinema’s lower depths, from bad to worse.

1) Ads, trailers and anti-piracy policing

Remember the days when they’d show a short film before the main feature? Me neither, unfortunately. The same talented people who would have made short films in the old days are now employed to make commercials. Ads can be entertaining, even beautiful. But most are conformist, trying to convince us that products create happiness. What’s worse, regular cinema-goers are subjected to the same ads for months. Next come the trailers, which typically give away all the best parts of upcoming new releases. So that’s 20 minutes of your life gone. Then, they twist the knife with a moralising on-screen message against piracy. We’ve paid our money, now just show us the film.

2) Gender and racial stereotypes

The roles available to women and minorities are most often insultingly clichéd. Women are chiefly present as sex objects. Female characters are materialistic, sometimes strong on the surface, but weak deep-down, and in need of men to rescue or educate them. Non-white characters are given marginal roles which emphasise their racial background, casting them as cute, weird, exotic and expendable. If someone’s going to die early on, it’s not going to be the white male lead, but the black guy in the supporting role. We’re all paying the same price for our cinema tickets, so why should the majority of the audience be unable to see people like themselves in leading roles? This kind of stereotyping and exclusion is worse still when it starts early, in children’s movies.

3) Film raconteurs

‘You like movies? Then let me spend the next ten minutes giving you a blow-by-blow summary of a great movie I saw last night/last month/15 years ago.’ I’ve seen a lot of great films. I understand the impulse to verbally recreate the experience for another person. It can’t be done. This doesn’t stop people from trying, and it’s so painful for the listener. ‘I might want to see that movie: don’t spoil it for me!’ is unlikely to work on this kind of person. The only possible solution is to walk away, but they will probably follow you.

4) Cinemas with no slope

A lot of people complain about old-fashioned movie houses being replaced by the soulless multiplex. I can sympathise, but one undeniable benefit of many modern cinemas is that they are built on a fantastic pitch: the head of the person in front of you is at knee-level, or even foot-level, rather than right in the middle of the screen or blocking half the subtitles. It’s a credit to the quality of A Separation (2011) that I loved this film even though I had to lean out across the aisle at a painful angle to read the subtitles, at no less respected a venue than London’s Curzon Soho Cinema.

5) Phone addicts

I quite like the new Orange ad which parodies mobile phone addiction: it features interviews with enthusiastic audience members following a pilot screening where the movie is interrupted every 15 minutes for a phone break, allowing people to make calls or surf the net on their phones. You have to be a bit dim to think that if you use your phone to text or check e-mail in a dark room, others won’t be bothered by the bright light.

As for calls, forgetting to turn off your phone is a mistake we’ve all made. Answering your phone during a screening is something else. If mobile phone infringements were treated as seriously as piracy, we’d have proof that the cinemas cared as much about audience experience as about revenue protection. Sadly, it’s not the case.

6) Uncinematic films

I don’t mind films that could work as plays. But I usually feel claustrophobic when a film takes place in one room: it’s a tribute to Hitchcock’s talent that I can count Rear Window among my favourite films even though the camera remains in one room of the photographer’s apartment. Through voyeuristic detective surveillance of the neighbours’ windows, the film maintains a welcome connection to the outside world. The interest of the story, as well as the cinematography more generally all contribute to make this an engaging and absolutely cinematic film. If a film can be easily transplanted to the stage without losing much of what makes it great, it is unlikely to be a great film. It means that the director probably failed to make full use of the medium: not cinema’s ability to master large spaces, but to explore limited ones.

7) Boring films

Not to be confused with a slow film. If the rhythm is right, and the spectator is in the right mood, a slow-moving film can be a beautiful, contemplative, even relaxing experience. A boring film lacks the basic substance to maintain the audience’s interest during the slow-moving parts. Films with artistic ambitions are often suspected of being boring, and sometimes they are. Directors torture us by making us watch uninteresting actions from start to finish: you see a long shot of a character who begins a slow walk across a large space, and your heart sinks as you realise you’re going to have to watch every step. Or you’re subjected to characters who stare intensely into space as shorthand for their inner turmoil (for example, UV [2007] or The Prize [2011]).

Hollywood films can be just as boring, either because they’re so much alike, or because their dialogue is painfully bad. At least in the artistic film, the director intended to create a certain impression, even if it failed. The Hollywood film is boring out of sheer laziness, and this is a crime, considering the amount of money thrown at these films.

Egotistical directors

This may seem related to the previous circle of cinema hell: a director thinks his artistic vision is so great that he can get away with being boring. But no, I’m talking of something even more cringe-worthy. The egotistical director is not content with being celebrated as the creative genius behind the film. It’s not enough that people will watch his film: they have to watch the director himself. The egotistical director assumes that their banal personal anecdotes, their sex life, or their troubled personal history hold an innate interest for audiences (Jørgen Leth’s Erotic Man and Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation are particularly painful examples). Get back behind the camera. Please.

9) Dubbed films

English-speaking audiences rarely have to put up with this, but in some countries, foreign language films are routinely dubbed into the local language by voice-over artists or actors. The actor’s mouth is moving on-screen, but it just doesn’t match the sound coming out: they aren’t in synch, or often the voice itself just doesn’t suit the person we’re seeing. Could anything worse happen to a film?

Peter Finch in "Network"

#5. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Lumet’s last film was also one of his best. Following a pair of troublesome brothers who plot to rob their parents’ jewelry store, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” refuses to flinch in the face of the humanity’s darkest inclinations. Lumet catalogued the basest of human urges with both uncompromising realism and inspiring empathy.

#4. The Verdict (1982)
How did Paul Newman not win an Oscar for this movie? If we try to answer that I suppose we’ll have to wonder why Sidney Lumet never won a Best Director Oscar for any of his films. David Mamet’s masterful script leads disgraced Boston lawyer Frank Galvin (Newman) on a stirring fight against the odds in his quest for justice and redemption.

#3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
A bank heist goes horribly wrong when Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) bungle through through the ill-planned robbery. Billed as a gritty thriller, “Dog Day Afternoon” is also laugh out loud funny and socially ahead of its time. Al Pacino has never been better and John Cazale (Fredo in “The Godfather”) is tragically brilliant.

#2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
The quintessential American movie. Lumet shared his vision of an uneasy America, on the precipice of chaos, through sharp dialogue and the electrifying presence of star Henry Fonda. An intimate, low-budget triumph of reason and courage.

#1. Network (1976)
An prophetic marvel of a film that predicts the present day media circus with chilling precision. Lumet commands one of the greatest scripts ever written (Paddy Chayefsky) with virtuoso skill. Peter Finch won history’s first posthumous Best Actor Oscar and Ned Beatty’s hilarious and prescient monologue stands as one of the five greatest diatribes in all of cinema.

Luca Guadagnino's "I Am Love"

I Am Love
Luca Guadagnino’s astonishingly beautiful portrait of a woman torn between love and loyalty.  A deep, layered, stylish work of cinema with all the passion and freedom of Italy’s greatest contributions to the medium. If I had numbered this list, “I Am Love” would probably be number one.

Carlos
The epic tale of an egomaniacal playboy terrorist. Édgar Ramírez’s brilliant performance as Venezuelan terrorist, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, anchors this 330 minute tale of James Bond-style intrigue, murder and mischief. Director Olivier Assayas makes you want to be this asshole, for a little while at least, and then you realize he’s a bigger douche than you possibly could have imagined. Nice work.

The Social Network
David Fincher’s stylish direction, Aaron Sorkin’s quick-witted script, Jesse Eisenberg’s magnetic performance and Trent Reznor’s perfect score make this topical tech-drama one of the best films of the year.

Mother
Bong Joon-Ho has been wowing Korean audiences for years with films like “Memories of Murder” (2003) and “The Host” (2006). With “Mother” he manages to make high art out of an old fashioned murder mystery. Hye-ja Kim’s heartbreaking performance as the titular mother is one of the best of the year.

A Prophet
A brutal prison crime drama that is both sophisticated and blunt. Jacques Audiard leaves out the sentimentality and heaps on the raw, amorality that rules the world he’s chronicling. It could stand on its own a simple prison drama, but its weighty, complex themes elevate “A Prophet” into near-masterpiece territory.

True Grit
Even bad Coen brothers movies are good. “True Grit” is one of the great ones. Fantastic performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld bring this charming script to life in one of the most purely enjoyable films I’ve seen in a long time.

Exit Through the Gift Shop
A fascinating documentary detailing the ins and outs of street art that may not actually be a documentary at all.  Directed by famed and reclusive British street artist, Banksy, “Exit” takes meta to a whole new level. Is it really just an elaborate ruse indicting the uppity art world? I hope so.

I’m Still Here
Definitely, obviously fake.  So what?  Joaquin Phoenix gives the performance of his life and makes this Casey Affleck-directed fake-umentary the funniest film I saw all year. It’s also a smart film with interesting things to say about celebrity and the obsessive media.

127 Hours
Danny Boyle’s wizardry behind the camera and James Franco’s surprising skill in front of it, make this true story of survival and the triumph of the human will utterly riveting.  Throw in a little Sigur Rós on the soundtrack and you’ve got the feel-good movie of the year.

Monsters
With an entire cast and crew totaling only five, this micro-budget sci-fi flick would have been a success if it only managed to tell a cohesive story without much else to offer.  Surprisingly, director Gareth Edwards manages much more than that, creating a nuanced, sophisticated story with fabulous visuals (which he rendered himself) that surpasses almost everything the big studios churned out this year.

Black Swan
Even though I gave “Black Swan” high marks in my review, I’m still torn on this Darren Aronofsky-directed psych-thriller. I’m confident that it’s one of the most sophisticated and layered films of the year, but it may also be middle-brow, misogynistic dreck. It makes this list based solely on the internal conflict it provoked in me.

#1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Kubrick)
#2. Citizen Kane (1941, Welles)
#3. The Godfather (1972, Coppola)
#4. Andrei Rublev (1966, Tarkovsky)
#5. The Rules of the Game (1939, Renoir)
#6. Casablanca (1942, Curtiz)
#7. Vertigo (1958, Hitchcock)
#8. La Dolce Vita (1960, Fellini)
#9. Seven Samurai (1954, Kurosawa)
#10. The Godfather Pt. II (1974, Coppola)
#11. The Third Man (1949, Reed)
#12. The Wizard of Oz (1939, Fleming)
#13. Dr. Strangelove (1964, Kubrick)
#14. Goodfellas (1990, Scorsese)
#15. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Herzog)
#16. 8½ (1963, Fellini)
#17. Singin’ In The Rain (1952, Donen, Kelly)
#18. Raging Bull (1980, Scorsese)
#19. Lawrence of Arabia (1962, Lean)
#20. Solaris (1972, Tarkovsky)
#21. The Night of the Hunter (1955, Laughton)
#22. On the Waterfront (1954, Kazan)
#23. Intolerance (1916, Griffith)
#24. L’Atalante (1934, Vigo)
#25. Apocalypse Now (1979, Coppola)
#26. Birth of a Nation (1915, Griffith)
#27. Battleship Potemkin (1925, Eisenstein)
#28. Taxi Driver (1976, Scorsese)
#29. Chinatown (1974, Polanski)
#30. Rashomon (1950, Kurosawa)
#31. The Searchers (1956, Ford)
#32. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966, Leone)
#33. Yojimbo (1961, Kurosawa)
#34. Nights of Cabiria (1957, Fellini)
#35. The Curse of the Cat People (1944, Fritsch, Wise)
#36. Annie Hall (1977, Allen)
#37. Tokyo Story (1953, Ozu)
#38. M (1931, Lang)
#39. Brief Encounter (1945, Lean)
#40. Rear Window (1954, Hitchcock)
#41. Barry Lyndon (1975, Kubrick)
#42. Ikiru (1952, Kirosawa)
#43. A Clockwork Orange (1971, Kubrick)
#44. Metropolis (1927, Lang)
#45. City Lights (1931, Chaplin)
#46. Bashu, The Little Stranger (1986, Beizai)
#47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Kazan)
#48. Badlands (1973, Malick)
#49. The Asphalt Jungle (1950, Huston)
#50. Pather Panchali (Ray, 1955)
#51. Touch of Evil (1958, Welles, Keller)
#52. The 400 Blows (1959, Truffaut)
#53. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, Dreyer)
#54. King Kong (1933, Shoedsack, Cooper)
#55. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927, Murnau)
#56. L’Avventura (1960, Antonioni)
#57. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Kirshner)
#58. The Apartment (1960, Wilder)
#59. The General (1927, Keaton, Bruckman)
#60. Pierrot le Fou (1965, Godard)
#61. The Seventh Seal (1957, Bergman)
#62. Talk to Her (2002, Almodóvar)
#63. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, Altman)
#64. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, Ford)
#65. Do the Right Thing (1989, Lee)
#66. Pulp Fiction (1994, Tarantino)
#67. Ugetsu (1953, Mizoguchi)
#68. Manhattan (1979, Allen)
#69. Star Wars (1977, Lucas)
#70. F for Fake (1973, Welles)
#71. Blue Velvet (1986, Lynch)
#72. The Leopard (1963, Visconti)
#73. Modern Times (1936, Chaplin)
#74. Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Mackendrick)
#75. Yi Yi (2000, Yang)
#76. Grand Illusion (1937, Renoir)
#77. Out of the Past (1947, Tourneur)
#78. Mulholland Dr. (2001, Lynch)
#79. Wild Strawberries (1957, Bergman)
#80. Synecdoche, New York (2008, Kaufman)
#81. Psycho (1960, Hitchcock)
#82. Nayakan (1987, Ratnam)
#83. Wings of Desire (1987, Wenders)
#84. The Big Sleep (1946, Hawks)
#85. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Gondry)
#86. Ulysses’ Gaze (1995, Angelopoulos)
#87. Notorious (1946, Hitchcock)
#88. Nashville (1975, Altman)
#89. Days of Heaven (1978, Mallick)
#90. The Maltese Falcon (1941, Huston)
#91. The Bicycle Thief (1948, de Sica)
#92. A Touch of Zen (1971, Hu)
#93. Fargo (1996, Coen, Coen)
#94. Breathless (1960, Godard)
#95. Children of Paradise (1945, Carné)
#96. The Wind Will Carry Us (1999, Kiarostami)
#97. Rio Bravo (1959, Hawks)
#98. Jaws (1975, Spielberg)
#99. There Will Be Blood (2007, P.T. Anderson)
#100. Japón (2002, Carlos Reygadas)

A breakdown of the list

Most represented directors (2 or more):
Akira Kurosawa (4), Alfred Hithcock (4), Stanley Kubrick (4), Orson Welles (3), Francis Ford Coppola (3), Martin Scorsese (3), Frederico Fellini (3), Elia Kazan (2), Fritz Lang (2), Woody Allen (2), Jean Renoir (2), John Huston (2), John Ford (2), David Lean (2), David Lynch (2), Terrence Mallick (2), Jean Luc Godard (2), Howard Hawks (2), Charlie Chaplin (2), Robert Altman (2), D.W. Griffith (2)

Most represented decades (10 or more):
1950s (21), 1970s (19), 1960s (14), 1940s (11)

Be sure to check out the other lists in our TMA’s Greatest series:
TMA’s 25 Greatest Horror Movies of All Time
TMA’s 25 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time

1. Citizen Kane (directed by Orson Welles)

2. Eraserhead (David Lynch)

3. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero)

4. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)

5. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)

The full list featuring the top 100 can be found here.

25. The Ring (2002)
It’s become popular among fanboys and purists to claim that “Ringu,” the Japanese film upon which it is based, is better than Gore Verbinski’s remake starring Naomi Watts. No. As good as Hideo Nakata’s original is, Verbinksi’s version retains and improves all of its great elements and cuts most of the flaws. What’s most impressive is perhaps the film’s mild PG-13 rating. Verbinksi proved that mindless gore and over-the-top violence are unnecessary in the quest for horror. Mood, sound storytelling and carefully placed pertinent imagery are more than enough to get the job done.

Black Sunday

24. Black Sunday (1960)
This list wouldn’t be complete without the work of Italian exploitation icon, Mario Bava.  Some of his work has faded with time and he’s even been criticized by some as an overrated director, but one thing is certain, “Black Sunday” has withstood the test of time and remains one of the great horror films ever produced.  The film takes a familiar storyline and maximizes its potential with breathtaking imagery and an eerie, unsettling tone.  It may not scare in the same way that modern audiences have come to expect, but its unique hypnotic, atmospheric aura and its stunning visuals are what make “Black Sunday” special.

23. Dead Alive (1993)
Most casual movie fans have no idea that the beloved New Zealander behind the epic fantasy blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” films was actually quite well-known for some of the most absurd, schlockiest, funniest, goriest, cheesiest horror movies of all time.  And his third feature, “Dead Alive,” is the culmination of it all.  At once hysterically funny and nauseatingly disgusting, Jackson’s ridiculous and surprisingly intelligent send up of 1950s New Zealand culture ranks among the most enjoyable movie-watching experiences of all time.

22. The Haunting (1963)
Another early sixties horror classic makes the list in Robert Wise’s “The haunting.” This time period in American cinema was a hotbed for artful frights. What makes this black and white gem so special is not necessarily that it was the scariest movie ever released at the time (which it was), but that its approach to the genre was so effective and unique. The house, not some monstrous killer, became the central character and the film’s amorphous supernatural element lent itself to some interesting psychological commentary and some of the best scares ever put to film.

21. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Audiences are still polarized on this trend-bucking experimental film billed as real “found footage” of some students working on a documentary about a local ghost legend. The shaky cam made some people sick while others simply refused to buy into the concept. Their loss. The impact this creative little film had on the landscape of horror is undeniable. It tapped into the most primal of human fears — being utterly lost and at the mercy of something you do not know and do not understand. And the perfectly understated ending is one of the best of any horror film ever made. Dozens of copycats emerged but none could capture the magic of “Blair Witch.”

Carnival of Souls

20. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Expensive special effects? Big name actors? Award-winning creature makeup? Who needs it? Herk Harvey’s classic creep-fest sure doesn’t. This super-mini budget 1962 horror flick does just fine without a Hollywood-sized checkbook, and it’s all the better for it. This strikingly original little film is one of the best products of America’s love affair with drive-in B-movies during the late fifties and early sixties. Horror movies are all about atmosphere, and it doesn’t get much better than the unbearably tense, unnerving creepiness of “Carnival of Souls.”

19. Nosferatu (1922)
Kids these days that equate horror with gallons of blood and brutalized coeds are missing the point. Any hack with a camera can do that. What sets F.W. Murnau’s creepy silent masterpiece apart is the storytelling. Silent films don’t have the luxury of dialogue which means if you don’t want people to fall asleep or lose interest you’re going to have tell a cohesive, compelling story using images alone. It’s not easy, but “Nosferatu,” an unauthorized retelling of Bram Stoker’s famed story “Dracula,” maximizes its strengths and has endured as one of the best vampire films ever made.

18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Don Siegel’s cult masterpiece of McCarthy-era paranoia stands the test of time as one of the most chilling depictions of destructive tribalism every put to film. Few viewers got the political message in 1956, and considering its expert manipulation of perception and very creepy imagery, it’s not hard to see why.  Siegel’s brilliant direction lends “Body Snatcher” a unique balance of paranoia, politics, terror and fun.  It’s every bit as good today as it was in 1956.

17. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Another unique film in that it is a significant improvement over its classic predecessor. James Whale’s sequel to the already beloved and influential “Frankenstein” (1931) accomplishes the unthinkable by upping the satire, sharpening the wit, improving the horror and maximizing the nuance and intrigue associated with the iconic character. It also doesn’t hurt to have the genius of Boris Karloff at your disposal. The master partnership of Karloff and Whale with the addition of Elsa Lanchester make this surreal romp a great watch even three quarters of century later.

16. 28 Days Later (2003)
Danny Boyle puts a stylish spin on the zombie apocalypse picture. Shot on beautiful digital video, “28 Days Later” is a multi-layered exploration of humanity in the information age, animal rights, Darwinian science, survival and the meaning of personal relationships. Boyle tempers the political content with a heap of gory action, great scares and an expertly executed sense of unavoidable terror and isolation. “28 Days Later” may be the best horror movie of the modern era.

Night of the Living Dead

15. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
What if the most terrifying evil of all wasn’t some hulking monster with giant fangs or some crazed serial killer? What if everyone around you, even the nicest most non-threatening folks you knew suddenly wanted nothing more than to rip your flesh apart and eat you alive? George Romero wondered this and decided to follow the concept to its logical conclusion. He ended up with a groundbreaking, socially conscious film that marked the birth of a brand new horror sub-genre and would seep into every crevice of society and change the course of horror movies forever.

14. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven’s unforgettable foray into the last place you thought you were safe — dreamland. This is the film that introduced us to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a wise-cracking undead child murderer who with his grotesquely burnt face and crudely fashioned clawed glove forever stigmatized striped sweaters and fedoras. The concept was unique and terrifying, but like most great horror films “Nightmare” synthesized the underlying issues of its time into a fun, scary and intelligent reflection of the darkest corners of society.

13. Jaws (1975)
Steven Spielberg isn’t the first guy people usually think of when talking about horror. In his prime most of his films were huge family friendly blockbusters that sought the widest audiences possible. And he certainly made some brilliant studio movies, but one of his best is his ode to old fashioned B-movie monster flicks — “Jaws.” By only showing glimpses of a 24 foot mechanical shark named Bruce a couple of times and laying an ominous two-note score under shots of dozens of water-treading adolescent legs, Spielberg successfully terrified a generation into staying out of the water.

Evil Dead 2

12. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
Our respects to fans of “Army of Darkness” and the original “Evil Dead,” both of which are great films, but the second installment in Sam Raimi’s wholly original trilogy of schlocky horror/comedy fun is the best of the bunch. This time Ash (Bruce Campbell) is back in the foreboding woods battling more over-the-top evil Sam Raimi creations. “Evil Dead 2″ is the perfect combination of the outlandish comedy of the third film and the innovative camera techniques, sound design and thrillingly unique approach of the first.

11. The Fly (1986)
It’s not often that a remake bests the original, but director David Cronenberg isn’t known for reinforcing the status quo. His update of Kurt Neumann’s 1956 classic does just about everything right. It’s disgusting, intriguing, thoughtful, intelligent, creepy and — did I mention disgusting? Geena Davis is great (whatever happened to her? Isn’t she in MENSA?), but Jeff Goldblum turns in the best performance of his career as the titular fly. And with layers of subtext ranging from what it means to age, to the implications of the AIDS epidemic, “The Fly” is a masterful film from a master director.

10. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
George Romero practically invented the zombie movie with his brilliant landmark effort, the minimalist masterpiece, “Night of the Living Dead,” in 1968. And then a decade later he perfected it with the bloody, claustrophobic, relentlessly terrifying sequel. Like any great work of art, “Dawn of the Dead” holds a mirror up to society and effectively and unapologetically rips into its absurdities. In this case the target is modern consumer culture.

9. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
An evil, evil movie — pure and simple. Master director, Roman Polanski, brought his distinct visual flair and unique insight into human psychology to mutate one of life’s great events into an horrific, tormenting, hellish curse. With a murderers’ row of film luminaries working on the film including Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans and Ruth Gordon starring, and legendary huckster William Castle producing, it’s no wonder Polanski’s thrilling adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel is one of the great horror films of all time.

Halloween

8. Halloween (1978)
Fittingly, still a Halloween favorite to this day, John Carpenter’s masterpiece of faceless horror is the pinnacle of boogieman terror. Its introduction into the world spawned legions of imitators and profoundly impacted not only the horror genre but the shape of cinema and popular culture on the whole. Far from a mindless slasher flick, John Carpenter’s precise and calculated direction elevates the material to the level of true art. Aside from its noted influence and impact as a landmark in the industry, this movie works on visceral level — tapping into the deepest of human insecurities. This is one for the ages.

7. Alien (1979)
Few directors had as much creativity and disciplined control of their craft as Ridley Scott in his heyday. And “Alien,” only his second feature film, holds the rare distinction of being simultaneously among the greatest sci-fi and horror movies of all time. This slasher flick set in space is the premier demonstration of audience control. Scott plays his viewers like a piano, building unbearable tension and wisely choosing to limit the exposure of the grotesque killer extraterrestrial to maximize the effect of its blood-letting appearances.

6. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Although some would probably categorize this Jonathan Demme flick as a psychological crime thriller, there’s no denying the sheer terror, creepiness and sense of impending doom its many horror elements evoke. Armed with a formidable triumvirate of world-class talent (Demme, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster), “Lambs” delves inside the minds and explores the motivations behind a brilliant cannibal, a plucky FBI rookie and a twisted serial killer, and flawlessly performs a delicate ballet of cutting psychological terror, human insecurity and a pinch of good old fashioned horror movie gore.

5. Psycho (1960)
Hailed not only as a great horror movie, but as a major landmark in visual storytelling. The red herring found great favor in Hitchcock’s directing quiver and wowed movie-goers like never before in this brilliant exercise in audience manipulation and misdirection. Packed with the expert craftsmanship that only Hitchcock could deliver and some of the most iconic scenes ever put to film, including the infamous shower scene and the chilling twist ending, horror was never the same after “Psycho” — and that’s a good thing.

4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Remarkably gory for its time, the influence of Tobe Hooper’s innovative and uncompromising indie slash-fest can still be felt decades after its release. Although the film is completely fictional (with some elements of real life serial killer Ed Gein thrown in), Hooper and company had a stroke of genius by billing it as the true story of a group of teens massacred on a road trip in rural Texas by a family cannibals, which added a sense of real terror to the experience. And the primary antagonist, Leatherface, a mentally retarded serial killer who wears a mask made of human skin, remains the preeminent slasher villain, setting the precedent for the hordes of hulking, unstoppable power tool-wielding killers that followed.

3. The Exorcist (1973)
Based on William Peter Blatty’s supposedly true story of the demonic possession of a young child, “The Exorcist” insidiously exploits and subverts deep-seeded religious fears to the max. As far as we know, “The Exorcist” is the only film to be nominated for Best Picture that features an adolescent violating herself with a cross, spewing green pea soup and deviously laughing while her head spins. But what’s so great about the movie is that it’s really not about demonic possession at all. It’s called “The Exorcist” for a reason. The real conflict is actually raging inside of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), the young priest and first-time exorcist. The end product is a surprisingly mature meditation on guilt, faith, masculinity and the loss of a loved one.

2. The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter’s magnum opus.  This sci-fi tinged horror remake follows a crew of rough-and-tumble scientists stationed at an Antarctic base pitted against a devious shape-shifting alien. “The Thing,” unlike most traditional horror films with clearly defined villains, leaves our small crew at the mercy of an evil that could be anywhere, anyone, or anything — even the dog. It is a masterpiece of mood, tone and tension that also boasts some of the best practical monster effects in film. They’re so good, in fact, that they’re still more believable than most of Hollywood’s high tech CGI effects used today.

The Shining

1. The Shining (1980)
We realize this isn’t really fair. Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest artists, of any medium, of the 20th century. His credits include perhaps the greatest comedy ever made (“Dr. Strangelove”) the greatest science fiction movie of all time (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) and one of the most subversive, insightful social commentaries ever made (“A Clockwork Orange”). So it’s only natural that this titan would eventually make it around to horror. And when he finally did in 1980 adapting Steven King’s chilling book about a small family left alone in a haunted hotel in the secluded mountains of Colorado, the result was nothing less than terrifying, atmospheric, haunting brilliance. Combine one of Jack Nicholson’s most demanding and iconic performances with the sure hand and unmatched craftsmanship of a master director and you’ve got the greatest horror film ever made.

10. Tyson (James Toback)
The Baddest Man on the Planet bares his soul, and every minute is riveting. Whether you love him or hate him, “Tyson” will give you a new perspective on one of the most polarizing athletes in history.

9. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)
A beautiful and heart-wrenching film about the tropes of love and lust. Alexis Zabe’s breathtaking cinematography accents the poignancy and drama in the excellent performances by actual residents of the Mennonite community.

8. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog)
Both Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog are at their most bizarre and nonsensical in this hilarious tale of a good police lieutenant turned bad by the gnawing vice of addiction.

7. An Education (Lone Scherfig)
Carey Mulligan’s powerhouse performance anchors the brilliant ensemble cast in this gem of a coming-of-age drama.

6. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
Wes Anderson’s brilliant return to form. His adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book is funny, endearing, witty, and incredibly creative. His best movie since “The Royal Tenenbaums” and the best animated film of the year.

5. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
Tarantino pulls off the unthinkable — he makes a Tarantino movie out of the Holocaust…and it’s brilliant.

4. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
A grim, gorgeous, gripping drama about the violence and malice that overtake a small German town as World War I approaches. Haneke’s best film to date.

3. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
The psychology, drama, hate, fear, brotherhood, and addiction of war has rarely been captured with such authenticity.

2. A Serious Man (Coen bothers)
The Coens score another gem with this hilarious Job allegory that explores deep existential questions through Joel and Ethan’s unique style of comedy and sadism.

1. Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s beyond neo-realism. Bahrani’s work feels more real than, well… reality. It’s that good. Roger Ebert was right on the mark when anointed Bahrani, “the new great American director.”

Bauby's painstaking communication system

25. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, Julian Schnabel)
The true story of French magazine editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, while paralyzed, wrote an entire book literally with the blinks of his eye.  Its dazzling, innovative camerawork breaks new ground on the creative cinema front.

24. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001, Steven Spielberg)
Spielberg’s tribute and farewell to the great master, Stanley Kubrick, who languished on the project for decades. A visually stunning and emotionally mature imitation of Kubrick’s sensibilities that runs on all cylinders.

23. Vera Drake (2004, Mike Leigh)
Imelda Staunton’s powerhouse performance drives this delicately and expertly told examination of the polarizing subject of abortion.

22. Grizzly Man (2005, Werner Herzog)
Herzog finds yet another fascinating subject in this complex, twisted odyssey into the dark recesses of the mind of a madman.  At once an incredible document of nature’s beauty and a cautionary tale of its dangers.

21. Mystic River (2003, Clint Eastwood)
Clint Eastwood’s directorial masterwork. A thrilling police procedural/murder mystery driven by fantastic performances and punctuated by a heartbreaking examination of the nature of friendship.

20. Elephant (2003, Gus Van Sant)
A highly nuanced and meditative look at the Columbine shootings.  Unflinching and fearless storytelling by a virtuoso storyteller.

Michael Fassbender as IRA leader Bobby Sands

19. Hunger (2008, Steve McQueen)
A disturbing, unflinching work of art about the horrific prison conditions suffered by Bobby Sands and his fellow IRA members in 1981 Britain. One of the most assured directorial debuts in recent memory.

18. Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2 (2003-2004, Quentin Tarantino)
Pure style. Pure thrill. Pure fun. It doesn’t get any better than this for hyper-exaggerated, pulpy entertainment.

17. Adaptation (2002, Spike Jonze)
A surreal and truly funny look into the nightmarish world of a writer.  How hard is it to write a screenplay? Charlie Kaufman should know.  Nicolas Cage’s best performance since “Raising Arizona.”

16. Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan)
Dark. Original. Hilarious. Nolan’s most unique and innovative work.  It redefines what we thought cinema could be.

Benicio Del Toro embodies Che Guevara

15. Che (2008, Steven Soderbergh)
A lot of people skipped this one thanks to its 4½ hour run-time.   Too bad, considering it’s the best work from both Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro to date.

14. City of God (2003, Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund)
Stylized portrait of life in the slums that manages to be both unbearably grim and rivetingly beautiful.

13. Into the Wild (2007, Sean Penn)
An elegiac ode to the importance of both community and self-exploration.  Penn proves he can be as adept behind the camera as he is in front of it.

12. The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan)
Not only the best Batman film ever made, but the greatest superhero movie of all-time.  Nolan manages to seamlessly insert the exaggerated characters of a comic book into the gritty world of a realistic crime drama.

11. Inglourious Basterds (2009, Quentin Tarantino)
Tarantino pulls off the unthinkable — he makes a Tarantino movie out of the Holocaust…and it’s brilliant.

10. The New World (2005, Terrence Malick)
As stirringly evocative, contemplative and astonishing as any of Malick’s previous work.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview -- Oil Man

9. There Will Be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson)
Two modern masters, P.T. Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis, unite to create a gripping, visceral meditation on the true foundations of America — not freedom and tolerance, but (for better or worse) unfettered capitalism and puritanical religion.

8. Amélie (2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Whimsical, sweet, hilarious and utterly dazzling.  Aided by the adorable Audrey Tautou, Jeunet taps into a rich well of creativity, humanity and new-wave charm to create one indelible image after another.

7. Synecdoche, New York (2008, Charlie Kaufman)
Sometimes maligned because people unfortunately “just don’t get it,” Kaufman’s grand opus is a fully realized, heartbreaking, inspiring, nuanced, intricate work of genius. Though not fully appreciated yet, this brilliant piece of art will someday take its rightful place in the pantheon of great cinema.

6. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Edward Yang)
Perhaps the most human film on the list. Yang adeptly and deliberately composes a sonata of realistic family relationships that breathes an air of sympathy, understanding and love into the often contentious atmosphere of the family unit.

Souleymane Sy Savane in Bahrani's brilliant "Goodbye Solo"

5. Goodbye Solo (2008, Ramin Bahrani)
It’s beyond neo-realism.  Bahrani’s work feels more real than, well… reality.  It’s that good.  Roger Ebert was right on the mark when anointed Bahrani, “the new great American director.”

4. No Country for Old Men (2007, Coen Brothers)
A stunning, uncompromising study of the nature of fate, violence and evil… friendo.

3. Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch)
A neo-noir thriller in true Lynchian fashion.  Bizarre, frightening, tragic and full of mind-bending mystery.   A masterpiece of mood and tone.  Pay close attention to Lynch’s unique command of film grammar.  Movie-making at its best.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)
An emotional epic. An odyssey of the mind and soul that’s full of poignancy, heartache, and jubilation. Gondry redefines visual storytelling without losing sight of the humanity at its core.

"The Royal Tenembaums" are the picture of dysfunction

1. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, Wes Anderson)
Anderson’s greatest achievement.  At once hilarious and tragic, “Tenenbaums” explores the dysfunction and artificiality in us all through the unique vision of a unique auteur.  It is Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons” completed, but better.  Not to mention it features Gene Hackman’s greatest performance.

Bill Murray as Big Ern McCracken in "Kingpin"

#25. Miracle (2004)

This stirring tale about the US Olympic hockey team’s improbable 1980 upset over the invincible Soviets may be built on a clichéd script and a formulaic narrative, but stellar performances, a profound understanding of the team dynamic, and incredibly shot athletic action make this Gavin O’Connor flick a fun, gripping piece of American nostalgia. A worthy tribute to one of the all-time great upsets in sports history.

#24. A League Of Their Own (1992)

Some macho dudes may balk (pun intended) at the inclusion of a movie about an all female baseball league formed during WWII, but these trash-talkin’ ladies are fine by us.  Anchored by a stellar ensemble cast including Madonna, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, and Tom Hanks, Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own” delivers a belly full of laughs, memorable one-liners, and just the right amount of sentimentality. Just remember, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

#23. Kingpin (1996)

This absolutely absurd and hilarious slapstick comedy has been called “the Caddyshack of bowling.” And rightly so. Woody Harrelson commands the laughs as Roy Munson, a balding, has-been bowler with a rubber hand that’s resorted to hustling seedy marks for extra cash.  But the real genius comes in Bill Murray’s unequaled turn as bowling’s most revered hot-shot jerk-off, Big Ern McCracken.  Truly one of the great comedic performances in cinema history.

#22. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Roger Ebert calls Clint Eastwood’s compelling tale of redemption, ambition, and friendship a “masterpiece, pure and simple, deep and true.” Strong words, but it’s hard to disagree with him. Eastwood adeptly stars in his own film alongside Hilary Swank, who delivers a brilliant and inspiring performance that powerfully and acutely echoes the narrative’s themes.  One of the most proficiently acted and beautifully photographed films on this list.

#21. When We Were Kings (1996)

The “Rumble in the Jungle,” the 1974 world heavyweight bout in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and the champion at the time, George Foreman, is one of the most famous fights of all time. “Kings,” the quintessential boxing documentary, covers the incredible fight, Ali’s stunning underdog victory through his infamous “Rope-A-Dope” strategy, and and its striking political and social significance, with calculated genius.

Robert Ryan in "The Set-up"

#20. Chariots of Fire (1981)

One man runs for God.  The other for fame, fortune, and status.  “Chariots of Fire” is a beautiful film that pits Christian agains Jew but adeptly depicts their rivalry with mutual respect, refusing to take sides.  What plays out on screen, in the minds of our characters, and in the world around them is an elegaic ode to competition, ambition, respect, and overcoming prejiduce, both inward and outward.  And what a musical score!

#19. The Wrestler (2008)

A dramatic instance of life imitating art. Mickey Rourke stars as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a broke, washed-up professional wrestler that gets a chance to relive his past glory in the comeback of a lifetime. Rourke makes a parallel, real-life comeback of his own delivering, without hyperbole, one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema.  “I don’t hear as good as I used to, and I ain’t as pretty as I used to be. But I’m still here – I’m the Ram.”

#18. The Set-up (1949)

Robert Wise’s 1949 boxing-noir about a washed up, but stubbornly prideful fighter (Robert Ryan) surrounded by corruption. His daring choice whether or not to take a dive, coupled with gritty and stark intensity, including an 18-minute fight shot in real time, and striking drama make this early triumph of sports cinema a timeless classic. “Well, that’s the way it is. You’re a fighter, you gotta fight.”

#17. Rudy (1993)

The ultimate tale of the sheer power of heart and determination.  The true story of Notre Dame football player, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger who was under-sized, under-skilled, and too stupid to know that he wasn’t supposed to succeed.  Sean Astin gives the most heartfelt, inspirational performance of his career in this misty-eyed celebration of the underdog.

#16. Brian’s Song (1971)

The true story of the Chicago Bears’ Brian Piccolo and hall of famer, Gale Sayers. James Caan is at his best as the free spirited Piccolo diagnosed with cancer and Billy Dee Williams is pitch-perfect as his friend, the legendary Sayers. Together, they forge an unlikely bond that tears down racial barriers and exemplifies loyalty, courage, and humanity. We dare any man to make it through this flick without shedding a tear. “Gayle, I think I’m pregnant.”

Paul Newman in "The Hustler"

#15. The Bad News Bears (1976)

A brilliant foul-mouthed comedy about a group of misfit Little Leaguers coached by an alcoholic. Walter Matthau leads the way with an understated performance for the ages, and helps this Michael Ritchie flick deconstruct cliched sports stories, feel-good family movies, and youth athletic leagues, all at the same time. “This quitting thing, it’s a hard habit to break once you start.”

#14. Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)

Robert De Niro, before he was Robert De Niro, stars as a naive, rookie catcher who is taken under the wing of a veteran pitcher (Michael Moriarty) only to be diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and face the awful possibility that he may be playing his last season. There isn’t a man alive who hasn’t teared up during this powerful tale of respect, loyalty, friendship, and the love of the game. One of the first baseball films to study the game from the inside out.

#13. The Hustler (1961)

Jackie Gleason turns heads with his dark, deep, and eerily fleshed out performance as champion pool player, Minnesota Fats, facing his own demons and his possible downfall personified by baby-faced upstart, Paul Newman.  Newman’s performance is equally breathtaking as the young, cocky, Fast Eddie Felson, who must decide whether to risk it all for superficial glory, or discover what’s really important in life.  “A 25% slice of something big is better than a 100% slice of nothing.”

#12. Breaking Away (1979)

Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley all turn in amazing performances as a smalltown team of cyclists called the “Cutters.”  They have their work cut out for them racing against Indiana U’s snobby rich kids for the Little 500 trophy.  The perfectly captured feeling of just beginning adulthood, combined with Christopher’s amazing scenes on his bike set against Mozart and Rossini, help this superb film break away from its peers.

#11. Major League (1989)

The tagline reads, “When these three oddballs try to play hardball, the result is totally screwball.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. This hilarious romp is the classic tale of a team of misfits working together to become a team of ballplayers. What makes it standout from the crowd are the insanely memorable and wacky characters.  “Hats for bats, keep bats warm.”

Steve James' Dramatic Doc, "Hoop Dreams"

#10. Slap Shot (1977)

With the boon of hilarity inherent in the game of hockey — missing teeth, Billy Ray Cyrus-esque mullets, Canadians that pronounce ‘about’ as if they’re talking about footwear — it’s amazing more comedies haven’t been made about this funny, funny game.  Maybe it’s the fact that Paul Newman’s sailor-mouthed masterpiece does it so well it would futile to try and best it. “What did the old man trade for these assholes, a used puck bag?”

#9. The Natural (1984)

Robert Redford’s fantastic, mythical take on the reverence and awe that are still inspired by America’s grandest game. Roy Hobbs embodies the grace, power, mystery, and legend of the luminaries of baseball’s golden era. Few other films have ever been made with such respect, love, and nostalgia for the magical game of baseball. “When I walked down the street people would’ve looked and they would’ve said, ‘there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was…’”

#8. Hoop Dreams (1994)

A striking and harrowing look at life in the inner city.  A tale of two impoverished high school basketball players that dream of a life of fame and fortune in the NBA only to be faced with the harsh realities of the cut-throat, unapologetic world of competitive basketball and White America.  “Hoop Dreams” is both an inspiring and heartbreaking film that exposes the harsh truths of exploitation and inequality in America.

#7. Pride of the Yankees (1942)

“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” Some of the most poignant, heart-wrenching, and inspiring words ever uttered in the realm of sports, or otherwise.  Lou Gehrig.  A true American hero.  The Iron Horse was a strong, confident, but humble soul who was tragically taken from us at the young age of 36 by ALS.  This brilliant film offers a beautifully elegiac and harrowing glimpse into the life and untimely death of a legend thanks to Gary Cooper’s inspired performance.

#6. Field of Dreams (1989)

Kevin Costner finds his niche as a baseball loving, 1960s idealist farmer with daddy issues who, after hearkening to a mysterious, heavenly voice, builds a baseball diamond in the middle of his Iowa cornfields. Ghostly reincarnations of legendary ballplayers from baseball’s golden age soon find a Mecca in the homemade field and relive their glory days. Misty eyes are unavoidable when Costner discovers the true meaning of the cryptic message, “If you build it…he will come.”

Kevin Coster & Susan Sarandon in "Bull Durham"

#5. Hoosiers (1986)

One of the most finely crafted underdog stories ever told. The premise is familiar–an obscure Indiana high school basketball team digs deep to overcome impossible odds and win the state title. It may now be considered cliched but Gene Hackman’s performance coupled with a timeless script propel this little film into the pantheon of greatest sports stories ever told.

#4. Caddyshack (1980)

“He’s on his final hole. He’s about 455 yards away, he’s gonna hit about a 2 iron I think.” The most hilariously farcical anti-establishment sports movie ever made. Comedy legends Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Rodney Dangerfield team up to make this tale of an uppity country club turned on its head one of the funniest and most quotable movies of all time.

#3. Bull Durham (1988)

Though it has some minor issues–Tim Robbins’ 90+ mph fastball looks more like 65 mph–this 1988 classic gets almost everything else spot-on.  Say what you will about Kevin Costner’s ventures into epic, post-apocalyptic  science fiction, e.g. “Waterworld” — he was born to play a washed up, endlessly quotable veteran ball-player. “You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service, and the women all have long legs and brains. ”

#2. Rocky (1976)

“Yo Adrian!”  Rocky Balboa, the charming southpaw from the mean streets of Philly, captures our imagination and our hearts on his quest to, “Go the distance.”  It’s a tale about an ordinary man with an extraordinary spirit set against impossible odds.  Sidestepping cliché but embracing fairytale, “Rocky,” a near-perfect film, is the measuring stick by which all other sports movies are judged.

Robert De Niro is Jake Lamotta in "Raging Bull"

#1. Raging Bull (1980)

A masterpiece. That word is thrown around far too often, but Martin Scorsese’s technically and philosophically groundbreaking character study of deeply troubled fighter, Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro), embodies the term.  Offering the grittiest, most unflinchingly realistic depiction of a brutal sport and its accompanying lifestyle in all their poetic barbarism, “Raging Bull” shocks, disgusts, compels, and inspires.  The Academy’s snub of this film for Best Picture is one of the most grievous missteps in industry history as it is not only the greatest sports film ever made, but one of the finest achievements in all of cinema.  De Niro famously set a new precedent for method actors adding 60 pounds to his frame in his Oscar-winning performance.

Honorable Mentions (most of these could have made our list on another day. And you know, some of them probably should have… oh well): Jerry Maguire (1996), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), The Sandlot (1993), Without Limits (1998), White Men Can’t Jump (1992), This Sporting Life (1963), Rocky III (1982), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Eight Men Out (1988), North Dallas Forty (1976), Olympia (1936), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Prefontaine (1997), The Jericho Mile (1979), Tin Cup (1996), Friday Night Lights (2004), Better Off Dead (1985), The Longest Yard (1974), The Color of Money (1986), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002), The Endless Summer (1966), Hurricane (1999), The Freshman (1925), Downhill Racer (1969), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)

TMA’s 25 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time: Abbreviated List

#1. Raging Bull
#2. Rocky
#3. Bull Durham
#4. Caddyshack
#5. Hoosiers
#6. Field of Dreams
#7. Pride of the Yankees
#8. Hoop Dreams
#9. The Natural
#10. Slapshot
#11. Major League
#12. Breaking Away
#13. The Hustler
#14. Bang the Drum Slowly
#15. Bad News Bears
#16. Brian’s Song
#17. Rudy
#18. The Set-up
#19. The Wrestler
#20. Chariots of Fire
#21. When We Were Kings
#22. Million Dollar Baby
#23. Kingpin
#24. A League of Their Own
#25. Miracle

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