Top 100 Movies of All Time, 51-60

60. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Directed by Michael Cimino; Written by Deric Washburn

Starring Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, John Savage & John Cazale

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award winner for Best Picture
In the classic three act structure, "The Deer Hunter" feels more like a Shaw play than a film - and that's where the brilliance of the film occurs. This epic sprawls across oceans, from small town Pennsylvania to Vietnam and adds a bang of Russia if you catch my drift. DeNiro is powerful as the protagonist, Streep is beautiful, but the main focus will always be on Walken's dark and turbulant performance as Nick. Wanna play some roullette?

59. Fargo (1996)

Directed by Joel Coen; Written by Joel & Ethan Coen

Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, John Carroll Lynch, Steve Buscemi & Kristin Rudrud

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award winner for Best Actress - Frances McDormand
"Fargo" incorporates the Coen's brothers' fascinating angle of comedy plus the drama and thrills. Set in northern U.S.A., we hear dozens of silly talking folks in serious and silly situations. But don't be fooled by their Sarah Palin-like dialect, McDormand's Police Cheif Marge Gunderson; she's one sharp pregnant cop. The Coen brothers never fail to understand that humor lies under humanity.

58. American Beauty (1999)

Directed by Sam Mendes; Written by Alan Ball

Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher & Allison Janney

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award winner for Best Picture

An intricate and interesting analysis on the middle class American, Mendes captures a glossy beauty in every scene. The acting is excellent - especially Spacey & Cooper - and scenes, such as the plastic bag, the rose pedals atop Suvari, and each character's reaction to the ending, are forever embeded in my mind as one of the greatest spectacles on film.

57. Fantasia (1940)

Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, & Ben Sharpsteen; Written by a bunch of other people

Voiced by Walt Disney & Deems Taylor

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award Honorary Award in 1942

Although, as a child, this film seemed to be ten hours long, it always amazed me. I will forever love classical music because of this intriguing cartoon - yet, it's beyond that word. Only certain children appreciate this film. Without words, how do we express ourselves? Nietzsche would love this masterpiece. I still remember hiding when the dinosaurs fight.

56. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Lui, Vivica A. Fox, Darryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, Chiyaki Kuriyama & David Carradine

Greatest Award/Nomination: Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress (Drama) - Uma Thurman

Though "Vol. 2" is just as worthy with leading performances by Hannah and Madsen, the first "Kill Bill" will always reign supreme for me. It appears to conjure more realms and genres than the second and incorporates more mystery. Thurman gives her best performance ever while Tarantino delivers his most artsy, kickass film to date.

55. Pretty Woman (1990)

Directed by Garry Marshall; Written by J. F. Lawton

Starring Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Jason Alexander, Laura San Giacomo & Hector Elizondo

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award nominee for Best Actress - Julia Roberts

This is one of those movies I can watch over and over and over again. It never gets old. EVER. Julia Roberts couldn't have picked a more perfect role and, although he doesn't shine as brightly as she does, Gere isn't so bad himself. By far the sexiest Cindarella story out there.

54. Fight Club (1999)

Directed by David Fincher; Written by Jim Uhls

Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt & Helena Bohnam Carter

Greatest Award/Nomination: MTV Movie Awards nominee for Best Fight - Edward Norton vs. Edward Norton

It still astonishes me how perfectly the movie follows the book. It's as if Uhls was behind Palahniuk's shoulder when he wrote the novel. Norton embodies the narrating protagonist while Pitt allows the audience to envy, hate, love, and want to be Tyler Durden. It's cinematography is dark and dirty, the characters sweaty and confusing, and the effects leading to the end result mesmerizing.

53. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Written & Directed by Roman Polanski

Starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Sidney Blackmer & Ruth Gordon

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress - Ruth Gordon

Probably one of the creepiest movies ever. I first saw this film on Christmas night two years ago and freaked myself out. Ruth Gordon gives a twisted performance that is menacing for Rosemary, played by Farrow. Gordon is sweet, yet not, and trustworthy, yet not. The parallels of the movie to Christianity are also astonishing and eerie. Don't watch it on Christmas day!

52. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Directed by Jonathan Demme; Written by Ted Tally

Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn & Ted Levine

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award winner of THE BIG FIVE

One would never guess that this movie would be one of the three films to win "the big five" Oscars, but after one viewing, you know they deserve every single one. Foster, on the case of a psychotic killer, must trust an even deadlier man - Hannibal Lector (Hopkins). This evaluation of trust, truth, and evils send shivers down the spine and makes you never want to use night-vision goggles again.

51. Being John Malkovich (1999)

Directed by Spike Jonze; Written by Charlie Kauffman

Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener & John Malkovich

Greatest Award/Nomination: Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay

Erratic, goofy, intriguing, exciting, and inspirational - just a few of the adjectives that come to mind after watching this movie. Kauffman writes his most off-the-wall scripts, while all four aforementioned actors become characters they normally would not choose - even Malkovich as himself! Part love-quadralateral, part ode to Alexander Pope, part interpretation of the American Dream, "Being John Malkovich" shocked the cinematic world, allowing films that don't quite make sense at first to be invited into Hollywood.