80. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Dir. Frank Darabont, 142 mins.
An adaptation of Stephen King’s prison drama that follows banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton). A film that struggled at the box office but grew in reputation thanks to word of mouth. Particularly notable are Freeman’s superb narration and Robbins compelling performance. Watch
79. Annie Hall (1977) Dir. Woody Allen, 93 mins.
A romantic comedy classic from a screenplay Allen co-wrote with Marshall Brickman. Produced by Allen’s manager, Charles H. Joffe, the film stars Allen as Alvy “Max” Singer, who tries to figure out the reasons for the failure of his relationship with the film’s eponymous female lead, played by Diane Keaton in a role written specifically for her. Watch
78. Gladiator (2000) Dir. Ridley Scott, 155 mins.
Having redefined a number of genres (Horror – Alien, Sci-fi – Blade Runner and the road movie – Thelma and Louise) Ridley Scott turned his hand to reinvigorating the sword and sandal epic with a partial remake of 1964s The Fall of the Roman Empire. Russell Crowe stars as Hispano-Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor. Scott used the latest in computer-generated imagery to deliver a technical masterclass (particularly the visceral battle sequence in Germania) which not only won 5 Oscars but also helped rekindled interest in Roman and classical history. Among an excellent cast are terrific swansongs for Harris and Oliver Reed (who passed away before filming was complete). The level of violence and the historical anachronisms will annoy some but the striking imagery, Crowe’s powerful but yet soulful performance and a superb soundtrack from Hans Zimmer make Gladiator a monumental and thrillingly entertaining epic. More…
77. Pather Panchali (1955) Dir. Satyajit Ray, 122 mins.
The first film in the Apu trilogy, Pather Panchali depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu (Subir Banerjee) and his elder sister Durga (Uma Dasgupta) and the harsh village life of their poor family. Watch
76. Paris, Texas (1984) Dir. Wim Wenders, 147 mins.
The plot focuses on an amnesiac named Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) who, after mysteriously wandering out of the desert, attempts to reunite with his brother (Dean Stockwell) and seven-year-old son. After reconnecting with the son, Travis and the boy end up embarking on a voyage through the American Southwest to track down Travis’ long-missing wife (Kinski). Stanton excels in his first real lead role. Watch
75. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 94 mins.
The film revolves around an unlikely relationship which develops between an elderly woman and a Moroccan migrant worker in post-war Germany. Watch
74. The Searchers (1956) Dir. John Ford, 119 mins.
After a break from the genre which had lasted six years, John Ford returned to the western with what many consider to be his masterpiece. The Searchers is Ford’s most psychological film and stars John Wayne, eliciting a monumental performance, as Ethan Edwards, a bitter middle-aged Civil War veteran, who spends seven years obsessively roaming the West to find his niece, who was abducted by Comanches, with Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), his adoptive nephew. Achingly poignant, it’s a film where Ford shows off his great skill for humanising the epic and finds a perfection in his measured and assured shooting style and his command of landscape as realised in his extraordinary vistas of his beloved Monument Valley. While reaction was a little muted on release, The Searchers has gone on to be acclaimed as Ford’s most important and influential film. More…
73. Miller’s Crossing (1990) Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 120 mins.
The plot concerns a power struggle between two rival gangs (led by Albert Finney and Jon Polito) and how the protagonist, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), plays both sides off against each other. Watch
72. Days of Heaven (1978) Dir. Terrence Malick, 94 mins.
Remarkably immersive and visually stunning, Days of Heaven is set in 1916 and tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest crops for a wealthy farmer. Bill encourages Abby to claim the fortune of the dying farmer by tricking him into a false marriage. Watch
71. Brazil (1985) Dir. Terry Gilliam, 94 mins.
Influenced by the surrealism of Fellini, Gilliam’s Orwellian sci-fi is set in a consumer driven dystopian world, in which there is an over reliance on whimsical and poorly maintained machines. It centres on Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), who lives in a small apartment and works in a mind numbing job while trying to find a woman who appears in his dreams. Watch
70. A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Dir. Edward Yang, 237 mins.
Set in Taiwan during the year 1960, a talented but self-centred student refuses to compromise his moral standards with anyone, teachers, friends, parents or girlfriend. Watch
69. Jaws (1975) Dir. Steven Spielberg, 124 mins.
In the story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a fictional New England summer resort town, prompting the local police chief (Roy Scheider) to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw). Watch
68. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) Dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 103 mins.
The film offers a comic depiction of Hollywood, and its transition from silent films to “talkies” and stars Gene Kelly as a popular silent film star. Watch
67. Sunset Blvd. (1950) Dir. Billy Wilder, 110 mins.
The film stars William Holden as an unsuccessful screenwriter and Gloria Swanson as a faded movie star who draws him into her fantasy world, in which she dreams of making a return to the screen. Watch
66. M (1931) Dir. Fritz Lang, 99 mins.
Set in 1930’s Berlin, the film revolves around the actions of a serial killer (Peter Lorre) who preys on children and the manhunt for him, conducted by both the police and the criminal underworld. Lorre’s performance caused a sensation. Watch
65. The Shining (1980) Dir. Stanley Kubrick, 142 mins.
The Shining is about Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic, who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the isolated historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Wintering over with Jack is his wife Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) and young son Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd), who possesses “the shining”, an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel’s horrific past. Watch
64. Battleship Potemkin (1925) Dir. Sergei M. Eisenstein, 75 mins.
Throughout the silent era Sergei Eisenstein attempted to harmonise his experiments with film aesthetic with the propaganda dictates of the Russian state. By presenting a dramatised version of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers, particularly the moving and shocking portrayal of the tsarist troops massacring innocents on the Odessa steps, he won sympathy and respect for the regime. Watch
63. City Lights (1931) Dir. Charles Chaplin, 87 mins.
The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin’s Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire (Harry Myers). Watch
62. Rear Window (1954) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 112 mins.
Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goings-on in the other apartments around his courtyard. Watch
61. Spirited Away (2001) Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 125 mins.
The film follows a sullen ten-year-old girl who is in the process of moving to a new town, and chronicles her adventures in a world of spirits and monsters. Buy
In 2004 The New York Times published a book that listed the 1000 films that they consider the finest ever made. The book features a collection of original reviews by the critics of the paper, and the list encompasses movies of every conceivable genre, including musicals, dramas, comedies, foreign films and animated features. The films are listed in alphabetical order. Buy – The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made: An Indispensable Collection of Original Reviews of Box-Office Hits and Misses (Film Critics of the New York Times)
1931 René Clair
2002 Alexander Payne
1981 Sydney Pollack
1949 George Cukor
. 2002 Spike Jonze
1991 Atom Egoyan
1938 Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
1997 Paul Schrader
1951 John Huston
1930 Luis Buñuel
2001 Steven Spielberg
1980 Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker
1992 Ron Clements, John Musker
1938 Dmitriy Vasilev, Sergei M. Eisenstein
1974 Martin Scorsese
1969 Arthur Penn
1986 James Cameron
1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
1999 Pedro Almodóvar
1930 Lewis Milestone
1955 Douglas Sirk
1949 Robert Rossen
1976 Alan J. Pakula
1984 Milos Forman
1973 Federico Fellini
In 1999 American publication, Rolling Stone Magazine, in their end of the year Millennium issue, and film critic Peter Travers published a list of the 100 best maverick movies of the 20th century. Films made by those who “busted rules to follow their obsessions…in the defiant spirit of rock & roll.”
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Total Film’s 100 Greatest Movies was compiled from the movie magazine’s 5-star reviews in 2010. The list is in alphabetical order. Half Nelson stands out as the one film that would struggle get a 5-star review in most publications.
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IGN.com published a list of the top 25 sci-fi films in September 2010. There’s little to surprise here, with 
Entertainment Weekly Magazine published their list of the Top 50 Cult Movies in their May 23, 2003 issue. So what is a cult film? It’s normally considered to be something that has a small but very passionate fanbase. While there are plenty of films here that completely fit the bit, I would have to say that The Shawshank Redemption has long past the time when it could be considered ‘cult’ as it now seems one of the most popular choices among your average cinema-goer when asked what are their favourite films. 
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A list taken from the 2013 edition of the book ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ in alphabetical order. The reference book is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a London-based company, and published in English-language versions by Cassell Illustrated (UK), ABC Books (the publishing division of Australian Broadcasting Corporation), and Barron’s (US) and features original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. Buy 2013 edition – 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
2017 (kindle/book)
2015 (book)
2005 (book)
2004 book
The One-Line Review is a film that features quick & short film Reviews.
MovieMaker is an American magazine focused on the art and business of making movies with a special emphasis on independent film.
Movieline is a website, formerly a Los Angeles–based film and entertainment magazine, started in 1985 as a local magazine, which went national in 1989. Known for its cult status and popularity among film critics, the magazine eventually was retooled and named Movieline’s Hollywood Life. The magazine closed in 2009.
Leonard Michael Maltin is an American film critic and historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is known as a “go-to” critic for the major studios, for writing the shortest review in the U.S. for Isn’t It Romantic? and for creating the Walt Disney Treasures series.
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., between 1987 and 2010. The original version of the magazine, Première, was established in France in 1976 and is still being published there.
Film 100 is a now defunct film website based known for its list of the 100 most influential people in the history of cinema.
The cinema magazine from Germany publishes information on new releases, films, DVDs, news, photos and insider information.
New Scientist
The “1001 Before You Die” series originated with Quintessence Editions Ltd, a publishing company based in London. Typically, the titles in this series are intended as reference books. They are illustrated books authored by multiple contributors. The series features 1001 lists for movies, books, paintings, historic sites, albums, battles and many more.
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organisation. The organisation is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States.
The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper.
The A.V. Club is an entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop culture media. The A.V. Club was created in 1993 as a supplement to The Onion.
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media.
Cable News Network is an American basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel.
Filmsite.org is a film-review website established in 1996 by film critic Tim Dirks, and owned since 2008 by AMC Networks. The site contains over 300 reviews of English language films for which Dirks argues “there is reasonable consensus by most film historians, critics and reviewers” regarding their status as revered movies.
Newsweek is an American weekly magazine founded in 1933. The publication provides in-depth analysis, news and opinion about international issues, technology, business, culture and politics.
The Associated Press is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association.
Slant Magazine is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians.
TIME’s Richard Corliss updates the All-TIME 100 list of the greatest films made since 1923, when TIME was founded and includes 20 new entries. The lists are in alphabetical order.
In 2002, 115 members of the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists were polled to produce the top 100 Sci-Fi Films of the Past 100 Years list. A terrific list on the whole but it’s interesting to see films like Highlander, the disappointing Until the End of the World and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension and yet no place for David Lynch’s Dune which despite its obvious flaws is still a visually interesting piece.