The 100 Most Influential Movies

Let's start with saying that we are not film historians or ever took a class on making movies. But when we were asked what the 100 Most Influential Movies are we combined our knowledge and did research and this is what we came up with.

This is not a list of our favorite movies or best movies but a list of movies we feel influenced the future of film.  Some of them started a genre others were a technical breakthrough and other introduced a new way of story telling that would often be imitated. For one reason or another these are the 100 Most Influential Movies in our opinion.
We are sure people will have lots of opinions and let us know.


100 Influential Movies the Official List 

1. A Trip To the Moon 1902
2. The Great Train Robbery 1903
3. Gertie the Dinosaur 1914
4. Birth of a Nation 1915
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligarai 1920
6. The Kid 1921
7. Nosferatu 1922
8. Nanook of the North 1922
9. The Ten Commandments 1923
10. Battleship Potemkin 1925
11. Metropolis 1927
12. The Jazz Singer 1927
13. The Broadway Melody 1929
14. M 1931
15. City Lights 1931
16. Little Caesar 1931
17. Dracula/Frankenstein 1931
18. King Kong 1933
19. Duck Soup 1933
20. It Happened One Night 1934
21. Triumph of the Will 1935
22. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves 1937
23. Gone With the Wind 1939
24. Stagecoach 1939
25. The Wizard of Oz 1939
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939
27. Fantasia 1940
28. Citizen Kane 1941
29. The Maltese Falcon 1941
30. Casablanca 1942
31. Double Indemnity 1944
32. The Best Years of Our Lives 1946
33. Rashomon 1950
34. The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951
35. The Robe 1953
36. La Strada 1954
37. Rebel Without a Cause 1955
38. The Searchers 1956
39. 12 Angry Men 1957
40. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958
41. Vertigo 1958
42. Some Like it Hot 1959
43. The 400 Blows 1959
44. The Imitation of Life 1959
45. Breathless 1960
46. Psycho 1960
47. L’Avventura 1960
48. Lawrence of Arabia 1962
49. Dr. No 1962
50. 8 ½ - 1963
51. Dr. Strangelove 1964
52. A Fistful of Dollars 1964
53. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 1966
54. Persona 1966
55. Bonnie and Clyde 1967
56. Night of the Living Dead 1968
57. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
58. The Wild Bunch 1969
59. Woodstock 1970
60. Shaft/Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song 1971
61. The Godfather 1972
62. Deep Throat 1972
63. Enter the Dragon 1973
64. Mean Streets 1973
65. Blazing Saddles 1974
66. The Exorcist 1973-
67. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974
68. Jaws 1975
69. Star Wars 1977
70. Annie Hall 1977
71. Animal House 1978
72. Days of Heaven 1978
73. Halloween 1978
74. Apocalypse Now 1979
75. Airplane! 1980
76. Tron 1982
77. This is Spinal Tap 1984
78. The Breakfast Club 1985
79. Blue Velvet 1986
80. Top Gun 1986
81. The Thin Blue Line 1988
82. Akira 1988
83. Sex, Lies, and Videotape 1989
84. The Abyss 1989
85. Do the Right Thing 1989
86. Batman 1989
87. Roger and Me 1989
88. Jurassic Park 1993
89. Pulp Fiction 1994
90. Toy Story 1995
91. The Matrix 1999
92. The Blair Witch Project 1999
93. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
94. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 2001-2003
95. The Harry Potter Series 2001-2011
96. The Bourne Supremacy 2004
97. Brokeback Mountain
98. The Passion of the Christ 2008
99. The Dark Knight 2008
100.Avatar 2009

Favorite Sci Fi Movies of the past 10 years

What makes a good sci-fi movie? That is a question I have been asking myself since a coworker of mine said that Star Trek Into Darkness was everything he wanted in a sci-fi movie.  Since I did not like the movie as much as he did it got me thinking what do I like in a sci-fi movie.  As I was thinking of some of my favorite sci-fi movies of recent years I realized that two movies coming out this year are from directors whose previous movies are some of my recent favorites.  Gravity is directed by Alfonso Cuaron who also directed Children of Men and Elysium is directed by Neill Blomkamp  who also directed District 9.  Children of Men and District 9 are easily my two favorite movies of the past 10 years. So I decided to make a list of my 5 favorite sci-fi movies of the past 10 years and see what they have in common.  In making this list I did not include any comic book movies like Iron Man or The Avengers even though they are technically sci-fi in my mind a comic book movie is something completely different.  Here is the list.

1.      Children of Men (2006)- A post-apocalyptic movie that never really explains what happens but thrusts you into the dark world.  While some movies unanswered questions are frustrating this one does it in a way that works.  After I saw it in the theaters I didn’t know what to think, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it.  Why did humans stop having babies? What will happened now that a baby has been born? Who knows.  But the movie is brilliantly written and it got a well deserve Oscar nomination. 

2.     District 9 (2009)- This movie came out of nowhere and blew me away.  The movie felt new and original and at the same time had everything you would expect in an alien invasion movie.  It is a throwback to when sci-fi movies where metaphors for societal issues but updated with some amazing action.   

3.     Inception (2010)- One of the most original stories in a long time.  Love him or hate him but Christopher Nolan knows how to craft a fun movie with twists and turns that under further scrutiny maybe doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is fun to go on the ride.  Here he gets some incredible acting from Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt and it just keeps you on the edge of your seat once it gets going.  Of course the ending is frustrating but I like that it leaves the viewer to come up with their own theories. 

4.     Attack the Block (2011)- Ever wonder what would happen if an alien invaded the hood?  Well this movie hilariously explores that idea.  It is one of the few sci-fi movies to combine humor with great action.  The movie feels really low budget but the aliens look awesome and scary. 

5.     Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)-Wasn’t sure what to expect from this prequel but it captured everything that was great about the first and still felt fresh. 

Honorable Mentions go to -Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Moon (2009), Primer (2004)

Based on that list what does that tell me.  Well first off besides Rise of the Planet of the Apes none of them are sequels or prequels and  Children of Men is based on a book but the rest are purely original works.  Also, they all have action and a adventure mixed with a little humor.  But, I think what I like most about these movies and sci-fi in general is that they take an out of the world idea to expose truths of our society.  District 9 is probably the best example of this.  It takes place in South Africa and is about having aliens quarantined in a specific area.  It doesn't take much to realize that this movie is exploring  themes of apartheid and racism while having giant spaceships and crazy gadgets.  Afterward it leaves you thinking.  Not only can they be great fun but they can make you think.  Don’t get me wrong I like movies like Transformers because it is a lot of fun to watch giant robots fight each other but it doesn't compare to a movie that can explore complex situations at the same time.  I look at classic sci-fi from the 50’s like The Day the Earth Stood Still that was clearly about the dangers of nuclear war but at the same time it was just a fun movie.  Now just because you have a message in your movie doesn't mean it works for me either.  Avatar felt like the message was too in your face and the characters we too clichéd. 

So what do I think was lacking in  Star Trek Into Darkness?  It had the action and comedy but it didn't make me think.  It was mindless fun but not enough to get on my list.

What are your thoughts?  What movies do you think belongs on the list? I know I left off some pretty popular ones like Avatar, Looper, Wall-E, and Prometheus.

Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Movies

Here is the list of EW's Top 100 Movies that they released in 2013.

1.  Citizen Kane
2.  The Godfather
3. Casablanca
4. Bonnie and Clyde
5.  Psycho
6.  It's a Wonderful Life
7.  Mean Streets
8.  The Gold Rush
9.  Nashville
10.  Gone with the Wind
11.  King Kong
12. The Searchers
13. Annie Hall
14. Bambi
15. Blue Velvet
16. Singin' in the Rain
17. Seven Samurai
18. Jaws
19. Pulp Fiction
20. The Sorrow and the Pity
21. Some Like it Hot
22. Toy Story
23. Notorious
24. The Sound of Music
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey
26. Bicycle Thieves
27. The Maltese Falcon
28. The Wizard of Oz
29. North by Northwest
30. Sunrise
31. Chinatown
32. Duck Soup
33. The Graduate
34. Adam's Rib
35. Apocalypse Now
36. Rosemary's Baby
37. Manhattan
38. Vertigo
39. The Rules of the Game
40. Double Indemnity
41. The Road Warrior
42. Taxi Driver
43. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
44. On the Waterfront
45. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
46. The Adventures of Robin Hood
47. A Clockwork Orange
48. It Happened One Night
49. Goldfinger
50. Intolerance
51. A Hard Day's Night
52. Titanic
53. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
54. Breathless
55. Frankenstein
56. Schindler's List
57. Midnight Cowboy
58. The Seventh Seal
59. All the President's Men
60. Top Hat
61. The Silence of the Lambs
62. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
63. Network
64. The Best Years of our Lives
65. Last Tango in Paris
66. The Shining
67. Rebel Without a Cause
68. Goodfellas
69. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
70. L'Avventura
71. American Graffiti
72. The 400 Blows
73. Cabaret
74. The Hurt Locker
75. Touch of Evil
76. Lawrence of Arabia
77. Dog Day Afternoon
78. Raiders of the Lost Ark
79. Night of the Living Dead
80. Dazed and Confused
81. Blade Runner
82. Scenes from a Marriage
83. The Wild Bunch
84. Olympia
85. Dirty Harry
86. All About Eve
87. La Dolce Vita
88. The Dark Knight
89. Woodstock
90. The French Connection
91. Do the Right Thing
92. The Piano
93. A Face in the Crowd
94. Brokeback Mountain
95. Rushmore
96. Sullivan's Travels
97. Diner
98. All About my Mother
99. There Will Be Blood
100. Sweet Smell of Success

Here are my thoughts. 
First you have your usual suspects Citizen Kane (1), The Godfather (2), Casablanca (3), Gone with the Wind (10). But they threw in some interesting choices. 

Bonnie and Clyde at 4 - I have seen Bonnie an Clyde on other lists but never this high.

Nashville at 9 a movie that doesn't usually get talked about and one I have never seen this high on the list.

Bambi at 14. Here is a movie that never gets talked about as the greatest of all time and it is higher then The Wizard of Oz (28) and they list it as the greatest family movie.

The Road Warrior never thought I would see a Mad Max film on a list like this.

Titanic at 52 the movie seems to be getting more love as time goes on.

The Hurt Locker at 74 is the most recent movie on the list.

Dazed and Confused at 80 loved the movie but again never expected it to make a top 100

and no Coen Brothers movies (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) on the list. 

Come join the conversation over on Milwaukee Movie Talk's Facebook Page and let us know your thoughts. 

New Movies Opening 4/5/13

A pretty quiet weekend.  Only two movies getting wide releases.  One of them is 20 years old and the other is a remake of a movie that is 32 years old. 

First up is the remake of Evil Dead.  A remake of the classic Sam Raimi movie from 1981.  The movie is about a group of kids who head to a cabin and make a bunch of bad decisions and unleashes an evil spirit.  Directed by newcomer Fede Alvarez with a cast of unknowns the only thing the movie has going for it is its name and the endorsement of Sam Raimi and star of the original Evil Dead Bruce Campbell.  The movie did get some positive buzz after it showed at SXSW film festival.  With the promise of lots of gore and violence with no special effects the movie has horror fans very excited. 

 

Next up is the 3D release of Jurassic Park.  Originally released in 1993 the movie was groundbreaking for its use of computer effects.  One of Steven Spielberg’s most loved film about a crazy scientist who genetically creates dinosaurs as a theme park attraction.  Of course things go horribly wrong and people start dying.   It will be interesting to see how this does as Jurassic Park has a big following but are people getting tired of older movies getting 3D conversions? 

A limited release opening locally is Ginger and Rosa.  About two girls who grow up best friends in London during the 60’s.  As the Cuban missile crisis heats up their friendship is put to the test.  The movie is opening at the Landmark Downer.

Sunday Spotlight: Most Anticipated Movies of 2013

This week on the Sunday Spotlight we take a look at the movies that we are most excited for in 2013. 

First up is Chris. 

1.      Evil Dead - I was very skeptical when this was first announced. After seeing set photos and the first trailer, I was sold. This looks like it will be THE horror film of 2013.

2.      Star Trek into Darkness - I really liked the first film in this reboot of the franchise. This looks to continue the story and expand in it's alternate timeline. Definitely one to look for.

3.      Man of Steel - Zach Snyder's first 2 feature films were great films to start a directing career. He has slipped a bit with his recent films but, Man Of Steel looks to bring him back. With a great cast and Chris Nolan producing, This looks great.

4.      Oz the Great and Powerful - Cards on the table, I am a fan of James Franco. Directed by Sam Raimi, a very visionary director, Oz looks good. While, it may be too intense for young children, this looks like a fun family film.

5.      The Hobbit 2 - This chapter should up the ante in the action area. An Unexpected Journey set us up for more great adventure. Looking forward to seeing if the 48 fps technology has advanced any.

6.      Iron Man 3 - Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Kingsley star in the third Iron Man. The second film left much to be desired for many fans but, this looks to right those wrongs. I just hope that Downey's "schtick" doesn't get too old.

7.      World War Z - Brad Pitt is in a zombie film. I never thought I would be typing that. Based on parts of Max Brooks (Mel Brooks' son) book, this has a great story to tell.

8.      A Good Day to Die Hard - Bruce Willis returns as John Mclane. What's not to look forward to?

9.  Pacific Rim- With what looks like a live action Robotech movie, I was on the fence about adding this. I have faith in Del Toro's directing though and am a big fan of his.

10.  Elysium - With Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, Elysium has a lot going for it. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, this should be nothing short of a thrilling sci fi thriller.

Steve’s Turn

I want to start by saying that many of the trailers for the big movies coming out this year have not really excited me.  Movies like Man of Steel, Pacific Rim, The Lone Ranger and even Star Trek into Darkness have given us less than stellar trailers. I will say the exceptions are Iron Man 3 and Evil Dead both of those movies do look good but I didn't want to duplicate any of Chris’ picks so we could include a larger number of movies and that is why they are not on my list.

1.       Now You See Me – This looks like a fun heist movie with an all-star cast. Including Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Michael Caine.  

2.      This is the End- One of the funniest trailers I have seen so far for this year.  A movie with actors playing a version of themselves in a post-apocalyptic world.  With Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride. 

3.       The Wolverine- I am excited to see where this movie goes.  It looks like it will be a darker movie then the previous Wolverine.  I was excited when Darren Aronofsky was set to direct and am a little disappointed he stepped away from the project but I am still excited to see it.   

4.      Saving Mr. Banks- A true story about how Walt Disney bought the rights to Mary Poppins to turn it into a movie.  The script has been getting a lot of attention and casting Tom Hanks as Walt Disney seems to fit.  The movie feels like Oscar bait.

5.      Wolf of Wall Street- Martin Scorsese reteaming with Leonardo DiCaprio what more needs to be said.  The two have made some great movies together and this one about corruption on Wall Street has all the making of another great one. 

6.      The Worlds End- Fans of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz should be excited about this one.  The movie reteams Simon Pegg and Nick Frost with Director Edgar Wright.  This will complete what they call The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.  The movie is about five friends who do a pub crawl and somehow become the survivors of an apocalypse. 

7.      Gravity- Alfonso Curon directed one of my favorite sci-fi movies of recent years Children of Men.  This time he takes a journey into space with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.  I am hoping he can create something equally as interesting as he did in Children of Men. 

8.      Only God Forgives- Another director reteaming with an actor. This time it is Nicholas Winding Refn reteaming with Ryan Gosling.  The last movie they made together was the violent but slow Drive.  This time Ryan Gosling is involved in a brutal boxing match so looks to be much more violent. 

9.      Kick-Ass 2- The first Kick-Ass was a pleasant surprise in 2010 and I am hoping that the sequel can recapture thzt fun.

10.   After Earth- M. Night Shyamalan has lost a lot of respect in Hollywood after his last couple of movies.  But the guy has made some great movies and I am hoping that teaming up with Will Smith will bring back the Shyamalan we love.  This is the third movie on my list that is post-apocalyptic but the only one that is not a comedy. It is about a father and son who crash land on Earth 1,000 years after it was evacuated. 

The Movies that Shaped My Obession

I figured if you are going to read my movie reviews, which I hope you do, you might want to know a little about me and the movies I like.

People always ask have I always wanted to be a film critic? The answer is no. My passion and obsession with movies grew gradually. I have always like movies. Even as a kid I would watch movies all the time. The Goonies and Stand by Me were some of my favorite movies as a kid. But it wasn’t until my college years that movies became an obsession.

I decided to make a list of movies that played an important part of shaping my passion. This is not a list of my favorite movies because it is a movie that I didn’t like that probably had the biggest impact. But I will start with the movie that had a big impact on me as a kid.

 

 

The Stuff- I am sure very few people have even heard of this movie, but it does play an important part in my movie history. While it is not the first movie I saw in the theatre (my parents took me to see E.T. at a drive in but I fell asleep) it is one of the first horror movies I saw. At a sleepover when I was in 4^th grade my friend rented a bunch of horror movies and the first one we watched was The Stuff. For those that don’t know it is about this stuff that looks like marshmallow fluff that turns people to zombies. Stupid premise but to a nine year old it was great. That night we also watched A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween 2. While A Nightmare on Elm St. has become one of my favorite horror movies The Stuff still holds a special place as the first horror movie I saw. After that my and my friend would rent all the horror movies we could. I think this disturbed my mom a little because she would always say “Why don’t you get something nice like a Disney movie” Don’t worry mom I turned out ok even after watching all those horror movies.

 

 

Titanic- OK I know what you’re thinking “Titanic really?” Well yes. For a movie I didn’t like very much it had a big impact on my relationship with movies. This is when my obsession really started. The two main effects of the movie had little to do with the movie itself and more to do with the way it was received in the world. The first effect was the box office. The amount of money it made was amazing and the number of weeks it spent at number 1 unprecedented and has yet to be matched. It intrigued me to why a movie that I felt was mediocre at best (at the time I would have said it was awful) was doing so well. Because of that I started checking the box office results weekly. I found a website and would read it a couple of times a week. I was fascinated by why some movies made a lot of money and others didn’t and why movies that made a lot opening weekend weren’t the ones that were number 1 all time. For a while I had the top 10 grossing movies of all time and the top 10 opening weekends memorized. The second big effect Titanic had on me was my obsession with The Oscars. Which is still somewhat inexplicable why I am so obsessed to this day. I remember watching the Oscars with my mom as a kid and we would always try to guess who was going to win even though we hadn’t seen any of the movies. But when Titanic was getting all the Oscar talk about best picture I couldn’t believe it. So, I made it a point to watch every other movie that was nominated that year (I still think Good Will Hunting should have won). But after that it was all over. I have seen every movie nominated for best picture since then. I now follow the Oscar race closely and always have an idea of who the favorites are to be nominated. Every year I try to see all the nominees before the nominations are even announced so when the Academy gets it wrong I can authoritatively say who I think should have won. My obsession with the Oscars culminated with me watching every movie that won best picture and blogging about it. Check out that blog at www.stevesmoviepage.blogspot.com.

 

 

Men in Black- While Men in Black was a good movie the reason it is on here is because it was the first movie I ever saw by myself in the theatre. There was something always a little weird about going to see a movie by myself. One summer day in Boston it was hot and I was bored. Most of my friends went home for summer break so I decided to see a movie by myself. The first time it felt weird and like everyone was looking at me. And even after the first time it was a while before I did it a second time. Then I met someone who was also a big movie buff and he said he goes to movies by himself all the time. This made me feel a little better. When I moved to Wisconsin and didn’t have any friends in the area it became commonplace to see a movie by myself. While most of the movies I see now are by myself there are times when it does get depressing and I say I won’t go to another movie by myself. But that doesn’t usually last long.

 

 

Super Size Me- This is the movie that opened my eyes to how good documentaries could be. It was funny and informative. Before it I always thought that documentaries were boring educational movies. But after seeing Super Size Me I was hooked. Documentaries are now one of my favorite types of movies. I try to convince people to give them a chance that they are not all as boring as some people think they are.

 

 

Casablanca- You might be wondering why an old movie is on this list. Well this is the movie that made me realize that old B&W movies can be good. I am ashamed to admit that I use to think that old movies were just boring and if it wasn’t in color it wasn’t worth watching. In 1998 the American Film Institute (AFI) released their 100 Greatest Movies of all time. After I moved to Wisconsin I had a lot of free time and Blockbuster was still around and had this deal where you could rent one new movie and get an older movie for free. Well never one to pass up a deal I decided to watch all the movies on the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list. Casablanca was listed a number 2 and I couldn’t believe how great that movie was. Bogart is amazing the dialogue was great. I loved it. And I went on to watch the rest of the movies on the list thanks to Blockbuster and TCM. After that was done I watched the 100 Greatest Thrills and started watching movies that were on IMDB Top 250. I now have a pretty good list of favorite older movies. Even though the AFI Lists are criticized for not having foreign film’s on it. I credit it and Casablanca with introducing me to great old movies.

 

Stephanie Daley- A movie I am pretty sure no one has ever heard of but it in 2006 it was the first movie I saw at Sundance. Going to Sundance in 2006 was a complete fluke. My dad invited me on a ski trip to Salt Lake City and while I was looking into the trip I discovered that Sundance was going to be going on the same time he was planning on going. I figured it would be impossible for me to get tickets but it turned out that it is not that hard. So, I flew in a few days before my dad and saw a couple of movies including Stephanie Daley, and I was hooked. I have been back 3 times since and now watch a larger variety of independent films. One year I got tickets to the documentary short program and that has become one of my must sees every year I go now. It also led me to being on the Short Film Selection Committee for the Milwaukee Film Festival. 

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