100 All-Time Greatest Movies by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly's 100 All-Time Greatest Movies was printed in the magazine's July 5/12, 2013 double-issue.
Weight: 100
Films (100)
1. Citizen Kane
Directed by Orson Welles | 119 min | 1941
Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.
2. The Godfather
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | Rated R | 175 min | 1972
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
3. Casablanca
Directed by Michael Curtiz | Rated PG | 102 min | 1942
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
4. Bonnie and Clyde
Directed by Arthur Penn | 111 min | 1967
A somewhat romanticized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.
5. Psycho
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | Rated R | 109 min | 1960
A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
6. It's a Wonderful Life
Directed by Frank Capra | Rated PG | 130 min | 1946
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
7. Mean Streets
Directed by Martin Scorsese | Rated R | 112 min | 1973
Following the life of a small-time hood who struggles with a moral crisis regarding his friends, family, business, and his conflicting religious beliefs.
8. The Gold Rush
Directed by Charles Chaplin | 95 min | 1925
A prospector goes to the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.
9. Nashville
Directed by Robert Altman | Rated R | 159 min | 1975
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.
10. Gone with the Wind
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Rated G | 238 min | 1939
A manipulative Southern belle carries on a turbulent affair with a blockade runner during the American Civil War.
11. King Kong
Directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | 100 min | 1933
A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star. Then he's captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.
12. The Searchers
Directed by John Ford | 119 min | 1956
A Civil War veteran embarks on a journey to rescue his niece from an Indian tribe.
13. Annie Hall
Directed by Woody Allen | Rated PG | 93 min | 1977
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.
14. Bambi
Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright | 70 min | 1942
The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.
15. Blue Velvet
Directed by David Lynch | Rated R | 120 min | 1986
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
16. Singin' in the Rain
Directed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | 103 min | 1952
A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
17. Seven Samurai
Directed by Akira Kurosawa | 207 min | 1954
A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.
18. Jaws
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated PG | 124 min | 1975
When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.
19. Pulp Fiction
Directed by Quentin Tarantino | Rated R | 154 min | 1994
The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
20. The Sorrow and the Pity
Directed by Marcel Ophüls | Rated PG | 251 min | 1969
From 1940 to 1944, France's Vichy government collaborated with Nazi Germany. Marcel Ophüls mixes archival footage with 1969 interviews of a German officer and of collaborators and ...
21. Some Like It Hot
Directed by Billy Wilder | 120 min | 1959
When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
22. Toy Story
Directed by John Lasseter | Rated G | 81 min | 1995
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.
23. Notorious
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 101 min | 1946
A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
24. The Sound of Music
Directed by Robert Wise | Rated G | 174 min | 1965
A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower.
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | Rated G | 149 min | 1968
Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.
26. Bicycle Thieves
Directed by Vittorio De Sica | 89 min | 1948
Set in Post-WWII Italy, a working class man's bicycle is stolen. He and his son set out to find it.
27. The Maltese Falcon
Directed by John Huston | 100 min | 1941
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
28. The Wizard of Oz
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, King Vidor | 102 min | 1939
Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.
29. North by Northwest
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 136 min | 1959
A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.
30. Sunrise
Directed by F.W. Murnau | 94 min | 1927
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
31. Chinatown
Directed by Roman Polanski | Rated R | 130 min | 1974
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder.
32. Duck Soup
Directed by Leo McCarey | 68 min | 1933
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
33. The Graduate
Directed by Mike Nichols | 106 min | 1967
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
34. Adam's Rib
Directed by George Cukor | 101 min | 1949
Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
35. Apocalypse Now
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | Rated R | 153 min | 1979
During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.
36. Rosemary's Baby
Directed by Roman Polanski | Rated R | 136 min | 1968
A young couple move into an apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to control her life.
37. Manhattan
Directed by Woody Allen | Rated R | 96 min | 1979
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
38. Vertigo
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | Rated PG | 128 min | 1958
A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
39. The Rules of the Game
Directed by Jean Renoir | 110 min | 1939
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
40. Double Indemnity
Directed by Billy Wilder | 107 min | 1944
An insurance representative lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.
41. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Directed by George Miller | Rated R | 94 min | 1981
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline rich, community escape a band of bandits.
42. Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese | Rated R | 113 min | 1976
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
43. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Directed by Peter Jackson | Rated PG-13 | 201 min | 2003
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
44. On the Waterfront
Directed by Elia Kazan | 108 min | 1954
An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.
45. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Directed by Frank Capra | 129 min | 1939
A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down.
46. The Adventures of Robin Hood
Directed by Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | Rated PG | 102 min | 1938
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.
47. A Clockwork Orange
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | Rated X | 136 min | 1971
In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem - but not all goes according to plan.
48. It Happened One Night
Directed by Frank Capra | 105 min | 1934
A spoiled heiress, running away from her family, is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story.
49. Goldfinger
Directed by Guy Hamilton | 110 min | 1964
Investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.
50. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Directed by D.W. Griffith | 197 min | 1916
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
51. A Hard Day's Night
Directed by Richard Lester | 87 min | 1964
A 'typical' day in the life of the Beatles, including many of their famous songs.
52. Titanic
Directed by James Cameron | Rated PG-13 | 194 min | 1997
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
53. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Directed by Irvin Kershner | Rated PG | 124 min | 1980
After the rebels have been brutally overpowered by the Empire on their newly established base, Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training with Master Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke.
54. Breathless
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard | 90 min | 1960
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he reunites with a hip American journalism student and attempts to persuade her to run away with him to Italy.
55. Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale | 70 min | 1931
An obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.
56. Schindler's List
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated R | 195 min | 1993
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazi Germans.
57. Midnight Cowboy
Directed by John Schlesinger | Rated X | 113 min | 1969
A naive hustler goes to New York to seek personal fortune but in the process finds himself a new friend.
58. The Seventh Seal
Directed by Ingmar Bergman | 96 min | 1957
A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
59. All the President's Men
Directed by Alan J. Pakula | Rated PG | 138 min | 1976
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
60. Top Hat
Directed by Mark Sandrich | 101 min | 1935
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
61. The Silence of the Lambs
Directed by Jonathan Demme | Rated R | 118 min | 1991
A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.
62. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated PG | 115 min | 1982
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world.
63. Network
Directed by Sidney Lumet | Rated R | 121 min | 1976
A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit.
64. The Best Years of Our Lives
Directed by William Wyler | 172 min | 1946
Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
65. Last Tango in Paris
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci | Rated NC-17 | 129 min | 1972
A young Parisian woman meets a middle-aged American businessman who demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex.
66. The Shining
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | Rated R | 146 min | 1980
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.
67. Rebel Without a Cause
Directed by Nicholas Ray | Rated PG-13 | 111 min | 1955
A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
68. Goodfellas
Directed by Martin Scorsese | Rated R | 146 min | 1990
Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy.
69. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | Rated PG | 95 min | 1964
An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.
70. L'Avventura
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni | 143 min | 1960
A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
71. American Graffiti
Directed by George Lucas | Rated PG | 110 min | 1973
A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
72. The 400 Blows
Directed by François Truffaut | 99 min | 1959
Moving story of a young boy who, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
74. The Hurt Locker
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow | Rated R | 131 min | 2008
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
75. Touch of Evil
Directed by Orson Welles | Rated PG-13 | 95 min | 1958
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
76. Lawrence of Arabia
Directed by David Lean | Rated PG | 216 min | 1962
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
77. Dog Day Afternoon
Directed by Sidney Lumet | Rated R | 125 min | 1975
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation; it turns into a hostage situation and a media circus.
78. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated PG | 115 min | 1981
Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
79. Night of the Living Dead
Directed by George A. Romero | 96 min | 1968
A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.
80. Dazed and Confused
Directed by Richard Linklater | Rated R | 102 min | 1993
The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
81. Blade Runner
Directed by Ridley Scott | Rated R | 117 min | 1982
A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
82. Scenes from a Marriage
Directed by N/A | Rated PG | 283 min | 1973
Ten years of Marianne and Johan's relationship are presented. We first meet them ten years into their marriage. He is a college professor, she a divorce lawyer. They say that they are ...
83. The Wild Bunch
Directed by Sam Peckinpah | Rated R | 145 min | 1969
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
84. Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl | Rated N/A | 111 min | 1938
The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.
85. Dirty Harry
Directed by Don Siegel | Rated R | 102 min | 1971
When a mad man calling himself 'the Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath.
86. All About Eve
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz | 138 min | 1950
An ingenue insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.
87. La Dolce Vita
Directed by Federico Fellini | 174 min | 1960
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering paparazzo journalist living in Rome.
88. The Dark Knight
Directed by Christopher Nolan | Rated PG-13 | 152 min | 2008
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to fight injustice.
89. Woodstock
Directed by Michael Wadleigh | Rated R | 184 min | 1970
The film chronicle of the legendary 1969 music festival.
90. The French Connection
Directed by William Friedkin | Rated R | 104 min | 1971
A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.
91. Do the Right Thing
Directed by Spike Lee | Rated R | 120 min | 1989
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
92. The Piano
Directed by Jane Campion | Rated R | 121 min | 1993
A mute woman along with her young daughter, and her prized piano, are sent to 1850s New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, and she's soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation.
93. A Face in the Crowd
Directed by Elia Kazan | 126 min | 1957
An Arkansas drifter becomes an overnight media sensation. As he becomes drunk with fame and power, will he ever be exposed as the fraud he has become?
94. Brokeback Mountain
Directed by Ang Lee | Rated R | 134 min | 2005
The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.
95. Rushmore
Directed by Wes Anderson | Rated R | 93 min | 1998
The extracurricular king of Rushmore preparatory school is put on academic probation.
96. Sullivan's Travels
Directed by Preston Sturges | 90 min | 1941
A director of escapist films goes on the road as a hobo to learn about life, which gives him a rude awakening.
97. Diner
Directed by Barry Levinson | Rated R | 110 min | 1982
A group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.
98. All About My Mother
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar | Rated R | 101 min | 1999
Young Esteban wants to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his father, carefully concealed by his mother Manuela.
99. There Will Be Blood
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | Rated R | 158 min | 2007
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
100. Sweet Smell of Success
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick | 96 min | 1957
Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.