| Title |
Year |
Rating |
Rank |
Review |
| Merry Christmas | 2005 | 97 | 1 | - Absolutely wonderful. A modern Christmas classic! |
| Saving Private Ryan | 1998 | 96 | 2 | - The greatest World War II film of all time. End of story. |
| Zero Dark Thirty | 2012 | 95 | 3 | - I'm not sure this story could be told better in 100 attempts. People will come and watch for its historical and personal importance, but they'll leave satisfied solely off of Kathryn Bigelow's vision. |
| Rudy | 1993 | 93 | 4 | - The classic underdog story. Sean Astin is far better in this than in any of his Lord of the Rings work. |
| Spotlight | 2015 | 93 | 4 | - For all the talking heads, half-truths, and sensationalism that dominates the so-called "news channels" these days, we needed this film. Not only to remind us what passionate people can still do, but what journalism, true journalism, can still be. |
| 12 Years a Slave | 2013 | 92 | 6 | - What makes '12 Years a Slave' stand out is its unwillingness to censore itself. While the characters are clearly shaded in either more darkness or light, no supposition is absolute. Thus, a brilliant level of honesty comes out. |
| Insider, The | 1999 | 92 | 6 | - A corporate/political thriller of the highest order. This is the kind of film that reminds us how awesome movies can be. |
| United 93 | 2006 | 92 | 6 | - We throw the term 'heroes' around a lot, especially in films. Those men and women aboard United 93 are real heroes. In every sense of the word. And this film is a memorial to them. To tell their story. |
| Hidden Figures | 2016 | 91 | 9 | - Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae are nothing short of terrific while Octavia Spencer brings another solid performance. |
| Cinderella Man | 2005 | 90 | 10 | - It's not as good as Rocky...it's BETTER. If you don't feel anything during the film's climactic boxing sequence, you're dead on the inside. |
| Game Change | 2012 | 90 | 10 | - Jay Roach, the director of so many comedies, jumps to true-story drama and elevates transferring a tell-all book into a film into an art form. |
| Sully | 2016 | 90 | 10 | - An intense and fascinating story about how everyone -- even annointed heroes -- have their hills to climb. |
| Apollo 13 | 1995 | 89 | 13 | - You see Bill Paxton and Gary Sinise in this movie and you can't help but to think 'how did they not make more out of their careers?' |
| Dallas Buyers Club | 2013 | 89 | 13 | - Matthew McConaughey's best performance since 'We Are Marshall'. And Jared Leto's best performance since, well, ever. |
| Lincoln | 2012 | 89 | 13 | - Daniel Day Lewis is nothing short of brilliant as Lincoln. Outside of that, though, the film is a little too long and meandering for its own good. |
| Trumbo | 2015 | 89 | 13 | - Given how much the themes of communism, the first amendment, and vitriol towards those we disagree with pops up in today's political rhetoric, this is an incredibly important film for our time. For those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. |
| Selma | 2014 | 88 | 17 | - Very dark but very, very powerful! |
| 61* | 2001 | 87 | 18 | - It's a story that needed to be told. And Billy Crystal, with some big help from Tom Jane and Barry Pepper, told it beautifully. |
| Black Hawk Down | 2001 | 87 | 18 | - As time has gone on, this cast has become all-star. Also, this histo-action flick hasn't lost its edge. |
| Braveheart | 1995 | 87 | 18 | - This will stand for all time as the way historical epics SHOULD be made. |
| Gettysburg | 1993 | 87 | 18 | - Gettysburg's real achievement is being so entertaining and accurate at the same time. Sure, some of the sappy bro-to-bro dialogue is embellished, but, let's face it:: that's not why you're coming to see this movie. |
| Great Escape, The | 1963 | 87 | 18 | - Just a terrific movie. The whole cast really is incredible. |
| Lone Survivor | 2014 | 87 | 18 | - Dare I say it, Peter Berg's best film since Friday Night Lights. |
| Black Mass | 2015 | 86 | 24 | - A very-well executed rendition of an unbelievable story. |
| Butler, The (2013 F Whitaker by Lee Daniels) | 2013 | 85 | 25 | - It's a powerful story. Though, as with 'J. Edgar', 'The Butler' reminds us just how distracting poor makeup on miscast ensemble can be. |
| Charlie Wilsons War | 2007 | 85 | 25 | - One of those little stories from history that begged for it to be told. Hanks and Roberts are great but Hoffman steals the show. |
| Miracle | 2004 | 85 | 25 | - Successfull hockey films have been few and far between. Consider this one of them. |
| REcount | 2008 | 85 | 25 | - Wildly entertaining, but doesn't share anything that wasn't already known. You can only go so crazy for a two hour dramatization four years after the fact. |
| Above and Beyond | 2015 | 84 | 29 | - A fascinating look at a far too overlooked moment in history. |
| All the Presidents Men | 1976 | 84 | 29 | - Successfully captures a terific story and throws it on film. |
| Bridge of Spies | 2015 | 84 | 29 | - At its core, 'Bridge of Spies' is not a thriller about a few prisoners. No, it is a dissection of what made the 'Cold War' a terrifying and tense time. |
| Good Night, and Good Luck. | 2005 | 84 | 29 | - A beautifully cinematic docudrama, but it lacks the emotional heft needed to take it to the next level. |
| Hotel Rwanda | 2004 | 84 | 29 | - Easily the best performance of Cheadle's career. |
| Schindlers List | 1993 | 84 | 29 | - Very good, but, a tid bit overrated if we're being perfectly honest. |
| Taking Chance | 2009 | 84 | 29 | - It's equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking. And sheds light on a duty we've all been sure happens but never bothered to know about. |
| We Were Soldiers | 2002 | 83 | 36 | - Maybe it's a little high on gung-ho patriotism and a little short on global objectivity, but that's to be expected in an otherwise very well done war flick. |
| Amistad | 1997 | 82 | 37 | - What 'Amistad' lacks in brevity it makes up for in sheer power. It has the historical and cultural significance of 'Roots' combined with the legal thrills of 'A Few Good Men'. Plus, it's one of our very first insights into what a capable actor Matthew McConaughey would turn out to be. |
| Concussion | 2015 | 82 | 37 | - Easily one of the best performances of Smith's career. |
| Gangs of New York | 2002 | 82 | 37 | - What stops it from being truly great are a few peculiar and unfortunate directorial choices. Given the simpleness of the times, you can't help but to feel that the film, at times, is overproduced. |
| JFK | 1991 | 82 | 37 | - It's good or maybe even great, but certainly not excellent. It's lasting legacy will be adding fuel to the fire of conspiracy theorists everywhere. |
| Munich | 2005 | 82 | 37 | - Besides one ludicrous scene at the end of the movie, everything is done with decent taste. The real interesting aspect is the conversations it begins about issues that still exist today. |
| Race | 2016 | 81 | 42 | - Pretty good, but, quite frankly, just doesn't do a guy like Jesse Owens justice. |
| Raging Bull | 1980 | 80 | 43 | - In some ways, it's one of the saddest stories ever put on the big screen. |
| Red Army | 2014 | 80 | 43 | - Dissects the methodology and history of the Soviet hockey program with Ken Burns-esque thoroughness. |
| Rules of Engagement | 2000 | 80 | 43 | - It's no 'A Few Good Men', but it's not exactly guilty of dereliction of duty, either. |
| The Imitation Game | 2014 | 80 | 43 | - The tension of the moment is cut only by the film's inisistence on being both a biopic and a World War II era period piece. In truth, had it stuck to one, it probably would've gone a lot further. |
| The Founder | 2016 | 78 | 47 | - A story that reminds us there is a fine line between the American Dream and the American Nightmare. |
| The Square | 2013 | 76 | 48 | - It's baffling to me how such a grassroots documentary that is so clearly "inside" the story can reveal so little that we didn't already know. |
| Tora! Tora! Tora! | 1970 | 75 | 49 | - Still probably the best film on Pearl Harbor to date. |
| Glory Road | 2006 | 74 | 50 | - It's all just a bit too "Disney-ish" to be as good as a film about this story should be. |
| Hacksaw Ridge | 2016 | 74 | 50 | - A frustrating film. With such high positives and low negatives, it's hard to decide where 'Hacksaw Ridge' should truly sit amongst this year's films. |
| The Bridge on the River Kwai | 1957 | 73 | 52 | - "Epic" does not have to be shorthand for "slow-moving drama" as it is here for most of 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. |
| Frost/Nixon | 2008 | 72 | 53 | - Tells the a part of the Watergate story often forgotten. Frank Langella plays a convincing Nixon. |
| Das Boot | 1981 | 70 | 54 | - This is the absolute antithesis of those patrotism-infused epic WWII battle sagas. Called 'The Boat', it very well could've been called 'The Dark'. Everything's miserable, the food sucks, and, yes, death is inevitable. Take your prozac before watching this one. |
| Best of Enemies | 2015 | 69 | 55 | - Where 'The Best of Enemies' was really on to something was documenting a birthpoint of superficial news content that now dominates the cable network. But rather than focus on this relevant notion, it's a footnote to much less interesting, much less important concepts. |
| Experimenter | 2015 | 68 | 56 | - Stanley Milgram's findings were interesting, but you can't help but to wonder if the story of his experiments would be better told in documentary form than this overly artsy drama. |
| Miles Ahead | 2016 | 68 | 56 | - We've seen this sort of biopic a lot recently where the story focuses on the post-peak-of-fame years. I, for one, do not get the appeal. |
| Steve Jobs | 2015 | 68 | 56 | - Unlike 'Jobs' where Kutcher played the Apple god, 'Steve Jobs' commits the vast majority of the story and its emotional pull to the personal life of the man. But a movie about Jobs' personal life is sort of like making a movie about the Kardashians' business acumen. |
| Eddie the Eagle | 2016 | 65 | 59 | - A great underdog story needs a glaring obstacle. Rudy's size. TC Williams High School Football overcoming race and integration. Eddie's only obstacle is that he's weird. |
| Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 | 65 | 59 | - I like biopics as much as anyone, but 'Lawrence of Arabia' is and always will be overrated. There, I said it. |
| The Witch | 2015 | 65 | 59 | - Humanity's capacity for paranoia is the real villain here. |
| Kings Speech, The | 2010 | 63 | 62 | - Sorely overrated. If you can't sell the audience on caring about the protagonist's struggles, what chances does your film have? |
| Thin Red Line, The | 1998 | 61 | 63 | - Ultimately, the problem with 'The Thin Red Line' is itself. It wants to be both a gritty war flick and a cinephile's wet dream. Had it committed one way or the other -- likely the former -- we probably would've had a great flick on our hands. |
| Amadeus | 1984 | 58 | 64 | - Rather than using quirks as a pleasant garnish, in Amadeus it is the main ingredient. And, somewhere past the two-hour mark, amusement turns into eye-rolling. |
| 300 | 2006 | 57 | 65 | - It's use for memes and satire is sadly its best quality. Homophobes will have a field day with this one. |
| The Look of Silence | 2014 | 50 | 66 | - Following 'The Act of Killing', 'The Look of Silence' fits squarely into the "Did Not Need To Be Made" category. |
| Ed Wood | 1994 | 46 | 67 | - Feels like Tim Burton doing a Wes Anderson impersonation doing a 50's era film expose. |
| 300: Rise of an Empire | 2014 | 45 | 68 | - More graphic-novel-on-the-big-screen eye porn. But this time it has the bonus of being almost utterly plotless! |
| Ben-Hur | 2016 | 43 | 69 | - The original novel was an influential literary piece about a man whose interactions with one religion's lord and savior convinced him to choose forgiveness over revenge. Here, it's been twisted into a storyless canvass for brutish war scenes. |
| Red Tails | 2012 | 37 | 70 | - The fact that the trailer combined a dubstep soundtrack to a World War II dogfight scene warns you well how ludicrously executed this movie is. |
