Introduction
340. Django Unchained (2012) Dir. Quentin Tarantino, 165 mins.
Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal, finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.
339. The World of Apu (1959) Dir. Satyajit Ray, 105 mins.
It is the third part of The Apu Trilogy, about the childhood and early adulthood of a young Bengali named Apu in the early twentieth century Indian subcontinent.
338. Forrest Gump (1994) Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 142 mins.
The story depicts several decades in the life of its titular character (Tom Hanks), a slow-witted but kind-hearted, good-natured and athletically prodigious man from Alabama.
337. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Dir. John Frankenheimer, 126 mins.
The Manchurian Candidate concerns the brainwashing of Raymond Shaw, the son of a prominent political family, who becomes an unwitting assassin in an international communist conspiracy. Government officials from China and the Soviet Union follow Shaw around the world to brainwash him based on their theory that an assassin who has been brainwashed cannot feel fear or guilt.
336. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) Dir. Max Ophuls, 86 mins.
Perhaps the finest American film from the famed European director Max Ophüls, Letter from an Unknown Woman stars Joan Fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert pianist.
335. Toy Story 3 (2010) Dir. Lee Unkrich, 102 mins.
The plot focuses on the toys Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and their friends dealing with an uncertain future as their owner, Andy, prepares to leave for college.
334. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Dir. George Roy Hill, 110 mins.
The film tells the story of bank robbers Butch Cassidy (played by Paul Newman) and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (played by Robert Redford), which is based loosely on historical fact.
333. Patton (1970) Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 172 mins.
Patton is an epic biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. George C. Scott wins the plaudits for his turn as the General.
332. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 108 mins.
The film is about the relationship between an Uncle, Charlie (Joseph Cotton) and his niece (Teresa Wright). He seems to be a good man on the surface, however, secrets about him soon become revealed to his niece and she will need to make choices that could end up destroying the whole family.
331. The 39 Steps (1935) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 86 mins.
Very loosely based on the 1915 adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, the film is about an everyman civilian in London, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), who becomes caught up in preventing an organisation of spies called the 39 Steps from stealing British military secrets. After being mistakenly accused of the murder of a counter-espionage agent, Hannay goes on the run to Scotland with an attractive woman in the hopes of stopping the spy ring and clearing his name. Much more than just entertaining escapism, The 39 Steps is a complex and effective spy thriller that’s arguably the best of Hitchcock’s films made in England and called a masterpiece by Orson Welles. More…
330. Sans Soleil (1983) Dir. Chris Marker, 100 mins.
Recognised as one of the major films of the 1980s, Chris Marker’s documentary, with a narrative concerning time travel, is a meditation on the nature of human memory, showing the inability to recall the context and nuances of memory, and how, as a result, the perception of personal and global histories is affected. With haunting images from Tokyo and Guinea Bissau, Sans Soleil is an eloquent melancholic take on the perishable ideological certainties of the 1960s.
329. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Dir. Alexander Mackendrick, 96 mins.
The film tells the story of powerful newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (portrayed by Burt Lancaster and based on Walter Winchell) who uses his connections to ruin his sister’s relationship with a man he deems unworthy of her.
328. The Social Network (2010) Dir. David Fincher, 120 mins.
Adapted from Ben Mezrich’s 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits.
327. Band of Outsiders (1964) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard, 95 mins.
The film is about three people who commit a robbery.
326. Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928) Dir. Charles Reisner, 71 mins.
Willie Canfield (Buster Keaton) is the namby-pamby son of rough-and-tumble steamboat captain “Steamboat Bill” Canfield (Ernest Torrence). When he’s not trying to make a man out of his boy, the captain is carrying on a feud with Tom Carter (Tom McGuire), the wealthy owner of a fancy new ferryboat. Carter has a pretty daughter, Mary King (Marion Byron), with whom Willie falls in love. The two younger folks try to patch up the feud, but this seems impossible once the captain is jailed for punching out Carter.
325. The Piano (1993) Dir. Jane Campion, 121 mins.
The film follows a mute piano player (Holly Hunter) and her daughter and is set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater town on the west coast of New Zealand. It revolves around the musician’s passion for playing the piano and her efforts to regain her piano after it is sold.
324. Life of Brian (1979) Dir. Terry Jones, 94 mins.
The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman), a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.
323. 12 Angry Men (1957) Dir. Sidney Lumet, 96 mins.
Directed by Sidney Lumet, this trial film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men, as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt, forcing the jurors to question their morals and values.
322. Rebecca (1940) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 130 mins.
Hitchcock’s first American film is a haunting gothic tale starring Laurence Olivier as the brooding, aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the shy and naive young woman who becomes his second wife. When Maxim returns with his new bride to his vast English estate, Manderly, the servants are hostile towards her, having adored his first wife Rebecca, whose death is shrouded in mystery.
321. Ivan’s Childhood (1962) Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 95 mins.
Ivan’s Childhood tells the story of orphan boy Ivan and his experiences during World War II.
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