Title |
Year |
Rating |
Rank |
Review |
Interstellar | 2014 | 96 | 1 | - For those that didn't follow Nolan's work prior to the Dark Knight trilogy, this is what separates him from other filmmakers. Quite frankly, this is him at his best. |
Few Good Men, A | 1992 | 94 | 2 | - One my all time favorites. What else is there to say? If you can't enjoy this movie, you can't handle the....movie industry? |
Memento | 2000 | 93 | 3 | - Watch this without knowing anyone or anything behind it and you'll say, "where has this movie been all my life?" Then discover Christopher Nolan's name and say "Ah, that explains it all." |
The Hateful Eight | 2016 | 93 | 3 | - Just an absolute blast of a time at the theater! |
Michael Clayton | 2007 | 91 | 5 | - When you draw up a big-business thriller and execute it flawlessly, very little proves to be more worth your two hours. |
Super Troopers | 2001 | 91 | 5 | - Easily one of the best Broken Lizard flicks. |
Watchmen | 2009 | 91 | 5 | - Of all the films in the DC Comics genre, this is probably my favorite. There is simply nothing else like it. Wholly entertaining and done with a visual style that is just jaw-dropping. |
Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 2014 | 90 | 8 | - One of the best Marvel movies ever! |
The Visit | 2015 | 90 | 8 | - From the director branded by his famous plot twists and showing us things that aren't what they really seem, how's this for a twist? An underdog film from a household name director that's been in a slump recently that is genuinely unsettling yet riveting, creepy yet human, and terrifying yet sincere. |
You're Next | 2011 | 90 | 8 | - Nothing short of a cinematic roller coaster, the twists, for plenty of them there are, are fast and unpredictable and it's all over before you want it to be. |
Zodiac | 2007 | 90 | 8 | - A riveting sort of 'historical thriller', but at times the film feels as though it covers its span of 22 years in realtime. |
Chinatown | 1974 | 89 | 12 | - The more you look back and the more you cut away al the bells and whistles of modern cinema, the more you realize just how much Nicholson's charisma bursts right through the screen. |
Cabin in the Woods, The | 2011 | 88 | 13 | - A funny, thrtilling horror flick that turns the genre on its head? What's not to love? |
Blair Witch Project, The | 1999 | 87 | 14 | - Absolutely terrifying. |
Shining, The | 1980 | 87 | 14 | - It's a mind-melting horror show, and might've been darn near perfect had it been about 30 minutes shorter. |
Silence of the Lambs, The | 1991 | 87 | 14 | - It's rare that a thriller is, at the same time, both genuinely creepy and compelling. Ultimately, that's what makes The Silence of the Lambs special. |
Paranormal Activity | 2007 | 85 | 17 | - This is the next landmark film in the evolution of the horror genre. |
Saw | 2004 | 85 | 17 | - Saw wants to be a commentary on society, but it doesn't need to go that far. Just be happy with having a sick S.O.B. who wants to terrorize largely innocent people for illogical reasons. It's been the key to success for countless horror classics. Why mess with the formula? |
Sixth Sense, The | 1999 | 85 | 17 | - The final plot twist (you KNOW the one I'm talking about) goes right up there with Vader telling Luke who his father is. |
All the Presidents Men | 1976 | 84 | 20 | - Successfully captures a terific story and throws it on film. |
Anatomy of a Murder | 1959 | 84 | 20 | - Solidifies James Stewart as one of the greatest actors of all time. |
Buried | 2010 | 84 | 20 | - Simple yet complex. Familiar yet unique. Stagnant yet fully engrossing. There's no other way to say it: this is a one-of-a-kind treat in filmmaking. |
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (American) | 2011 | 84 | 20 | - I like my European thrillers sleek, provocative, and chock-full of entitled white people that turn out to be bats*** crazy. That's why the American go-round of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo delivers the goods. |
Gone Girl | 2014 | 84 | 20 | - David Fincher is successful in his effort to make a story that was so compelling in novel-form as compelling when transferred to the big screen. |
Goodnight Mommy | 2015 | 84 | 20 | - One of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. |
Imperium | 2016 | 84 | 20 | - Admittedly a little rough around the edges but the tension is palpable. |
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | 2014 | 84 | 20 | - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has the unenviable task of being the first "legacy" film following the passing of Tom Clancy. And it works -- mostly -- but one can't help to feel that Chris Pine is too little "Jack Ryan" and too much "James Bond". |
Kill the Messenger | 2014 | 84 | 20 | - Though the title has very little (if anything) to do with the film, it is a compelling, intellectual thriller. Viewers who thought it was the B-Action movie it's poster art tries to sell it as will likely be disappointed. |
North By Northwest | 1959 | 84 | 20 | - It serves as the blueprint for every successful blockbuster thriller. It shouldn't surprise you that Hitchcock pulled it off first. |
Remember | 2015 | 84 | 20 | - It is, at once, painfully tedious and unbearably gripping. An enigma in and of itself. |
The Gift (Edgerton / Bateman) | 2015 | 84 | 20 | - It's a gripping suspense-driven drama. |
The Strangers | 2008 | 84 | 20 | - It's scary, yes, but even more so it's just very, very dark. There never seems to be any real hope of getting out alive for the poor protagonist and thus the whole movie feels like a morbid countdown to their inevitable doom. |
Basic Instinct | 1992 | 83 | 33 | - It's a well-done crime thriller, but it's not as smart as it thinks it is. |
Bourne Ultimatum | 2007 | 83 | 33 | - Before 'Legacy', 'Ultimatum' seemed to have wrapped up the franchise darn near perfectly. |
Hail, Caesar! | 2016 | 83 | 33 | - Quite possibly one of the Coen brothers' best ones yet! |
The Nice Guys | 2016 | 83 | 33 | - Crowe and Gosling are an unlikely comedy duo. But it works! |
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. |
Bourne Identity | 2002 | 82 | 37 | - The quintessential espionage action-thriller. |
Mystic River | 2003 | 82 | 37 | - You may feel as though you need to start taking anti-depressants as the end credits roll up, but it'll be worth it. |
Non-Stop | 2014 | 82 | 37 | - If we're being completely honest, it's the next 'Taken' sequel. But, more importantly, there's nothing really wrong with that. |
Scream | 1996 | 82 | 37 | - The no-frills teens slasher knows what its about and doesn't deviate from a solid concept. It's a low-risk, moderate-reward plan that leads to glass-ceiling success. |
Zootopia | 2016 | 82 | 37 | - It's amazing what a "kids" movie seems like it could teach adults today about seeing past each other's differences. |
Citizen Kane | 1941 | 81 | 43 | - The sensational story about the world's biggest sensationalist is, well, pretty sensational. |
Double Indemnity | 1944 | 81 | 43 | - Take it from me, someone who doesn't buy the notion that films are necessarily better just because their old: this one is worth your time. |
Orphan | 2009 | 81 | 43 | - Thoroughly unsettling. |
Ring, The | 2002 | 81 | 43 | - Like the constant presence of seeping water, you're eventually soaked in fear which leaves you with a queasy feeling as the credits roll. |
Scream 2 | 1997 | 81 | 43 | - The second installment steers the franchise into a surreal |
The Conjuring 2 | 2016 | 81 | 43 | - Can't quite live up to the original, but much better than 'Annabelle'. |
Arrival | 2016 | 80 | 49 | - It's a good, not great, film. And beware of rave reviews. Those buying wholeheartedly in 'Arrival' are giving it credit for being smarter than it really is. |
Imposter, The | 2012 | 80 | 49 | - A dark story that serves as an exhibition on human tendencies. |
Scream 4 | 2011 | 80 | 49 | - The sort of |
Mississippi Burning | 1988 | 79 | 52 | - The suspense in 'Mississippi Burning' is palpable, but make no mistake: this is simply a thriller involving racism, not a film that actually delves into the issue. |
10 Cloverfield Lane | 2016 | 77 | 53 | - Inside the fallout shelter lay a wonderfully thrilling story. Psychological in a cabin fever sort of way, clostrophobic as three virtual strangers are forced into confinement with one another, and eerily twisted like a Hitchcock great. Then she pops the lid, runs from aliens, and everything we go through suddenly feels a bit more silly. |
Gone Baby Gone | 2007 | 77 | 53 | - Casey Affleck's first legitimate attempt to step into the spotlight for himself comes with mixed results. |
The Lazarus Effect | 2015 | 77 | 53 | - I enjoyed it and didn't even need DMT. So sue me. |
Thing, The | 1982 | 77 | 53 | - Scarier than the alien that wants so desperately to become them is everyone's willingness to submit authority to a boozing helicopter pilot when things go awry. |
Angels And Demons | 2009 | 76 | 57 | - Where the first (The DaVinci Code) felt about as exciting as a real history investigation, Angels and Demons puts the thrill back into this thriller series. |
Inferno | 2016 | 76 | 57 | - It's definitely different than the first two, but all the key ingredients -- the gripping thriller elements, the puzzle-piece plot, the historical hide-and-seek -- are all there. If you liked the first two, you're going to like this one just fine. |
Kiss the Girls | 1997 | 76 | 57 | - Don't focus on the fact that it's a James Patterson novel too much. What 'Kiss The Girls' really is adapted from is 'The Silence of the Lambs', which it wants to be oh so very badly. |
Insomnia | 2002 | 75 | 60 | - This is one of Christopher Nolan's lesser-known works, probably with sound reason. |
The Accountant | 2016 | 75 | 60 | - For about three quarters of its runtime it's a fairly smart, engaging, intriguing thriller. And then it devolves into cliche and tacky plot developments and the eye rolls begin. |
Contact | 1997 | 74 | 62 | - It's not out of this world, but it does fly. |
Felony | 2014 | 74 | 62 | - Perhaps in Australia, audiences haven't seen quite the number of police thrillers we have here in the states. That's about the only way 'Felony' doesn't come across as astonishingly formulaic. |
Along Came a Spider | 2001 | 72 | 64 | - It absolutely feels like a novel transferred to the big screen. Is it that a good or bad thing, though? |
Now You See Me 2 | 2016 | 72 | 64 | - As with the first, 'Now You See Me 2', like a magician, wows you with flash and pizzazz. It all makes for an exciting spectacle. But when you peek behind the curtains, you realize there really isn't much to it. |
Sahara | 2005 | 72 | 64 | - Infamous as one of the biggest financial flops of all time, the film itself is a mediocre product mosied along by the charm of McConaughey and Zahn. |
Sleepy Hollow | 1999 | 72 | 64 | - The frustrating thing here is that Tim Burton can't help but to put his own little twist on a classic story. Everything feels a little less scary "Burton-ized". |
House at the End of the Street | 2012 | 71 | 68 | - It's Hitchcock-ian twists are fun, but the level of material is clearly only satisfactory. |
Joy Ride | 2001 | 71 | 68 | - Your standard-issue thriller destined to be a Saturday matinee on cable channels everywhere. |
Oblivion | 2013 | 70 | 70 | - Stylistically, it's a pretty cool movie. But behind its appetizing facade, Oblivion, like most sci-fi adventures, has very little substance. Or faux substance. |
Shooter | 2007 | 70 | 70 | - It's your standard-issue action thriller. If I didn't know Fuqua had directed it, Michael Bay would've felt like a safe bet. |
Source Code | 2011 | 70 | 70 | - What stops it from being better? An utterly frustrating ending. |
True Story | 2015 | 70 | 70 | - What starts out as a brick and mortar true crime story devolves into some attempt at an altered realty mental thriller and that's where it will lose people. |
While We're Young | 2014 | 70 | 70 | - The flaw with 'While Were Young' ultimately is that it can't be two things. It can't both be an essay on the internal battle of getting older and the awkward middle ground between youthful angst and older rationality but also be a drama playing out between two documentarians. And 'While Were Young' so very much wants to do both. |
Closed Circuit | 2013 | 69 | 75 | - It's all been done before... |
Eastern Promises | 2007 | 69 | 75 | - If you want to delve into the saturated genre of organized crime noirs, you better bring something special. 'Eastern Promises' does not. |
Phone Booth | 2002 | 69 | 75 | - You get the idea that its supposed to be a scary situation, but you have a very hard time buying it. |
Usual Suspects | 1995 | 69 | 75 | - Big surprise endings are made all the better by the audience being invested in the characters and/or the outcome of the movie. In 'The Usual Suspects', too many won't be. |
Rear Window | 1954 | 68 | 79 | - Hitchcock did better in his career. |
Flypaper | 2011 | 67 | 80 | - Instead of being what I imagine was intended as a sort of quarky comedy/thriller, 'Flypaper' sticks to you as a cheap satire. |
Regression | 2015 | 67 | 80 | - I guess we weren't supposed to see the obvious twist coming? |
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | 2005 | 66 | 82 | - Some terrific acting that can't be reigned in by a weak script. |
Trance | 2013 | 66 | 82 | - It was pretty good...until it tried to be some reimagining of Inception and The Butterfly Effect. |
The Witch | 2015 | 65 | 84 | - Humanity's capacity for paranoia is the real villain here. |
Seven | 1995 | 63 | 85 | - It's not nearly the philosophical essay on morals that it thinks it is. |
88 Minutes | 2007 | 62 | 86 | - For all the smart characters its story surrounds, this movie is rather dumb. |
Da Vinci Code, The | 2006 | 61 | 87 | - It meanders along at a frustratingly slow pace and, in the process, sucks all the momentum out of its big, climactic ending. |
Words, The | 2012 | 61 | 87 | - It's a story about a story about a story. And none of the stories are as good as the movie makes them out to be. |
Alien | 1979 | 60 | 89 | - Even if you can forgive the first half of the movie essentially being build-up, the pace is just brutally tedious. No me gusta for a sci-fi horror flick. |
Deja Vu | 2006 | 60 | 89 | - I can say matter-of-factly the using-time-travel-to-solve-crime concept has thoroughly been warned out. Hasn't been used that much, you say? My point exactly. |
Mulholland Drive | 2001 | 60 | 89 | - David Lynch's headlong dive into the troubled (understatement!) mind of a young starlet is wholly intoxicating. Not the fun-night-out-with-friends kind of intoxicating, though. The I'm-sick-make-this-night-stop kind. |
Now You See Me | 2013 | 60 | 89 | - For a movie that preaches being the smartest man in the room, 'Now You See Me' is not. |
Dark Places | 2015 | 59 | 93 | - If you're expecting a second 'Gone Girl', prepare to be disappointed. |
Final Destination 5 | 2011 | 59 | 93 | - It's actually a noticeable comeback from the travesty that was 'The Final Destination', but let's be honest: this franchise would still be better off just stopping. |
Inherent Vice | 2014 | 58 | 95 | - The 70's crime noir leaves something to be desired. |
Audition | 2000 | 57 | 96 | - What's Japanese for "bitches be crazy"? |
Glass Chin | 2015 | 57 | 96 | - I've been waiting for a great film that can finally harness the underrated abilities of Corey Stoll. And after 'Glass Chin', I'm still waiting. |
Vantage Point | 2008 | 57 | 96 | - Political thrillers are supposed to be grand in scope and delivery. This one just feels small and tedious. |
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close | 2011 | 55 | 99 | - Imagine the darkest of clouds with the tiniest of silver linings. That, in a nutshell, is 'Extremely Loud'. |
Raven, The | 2012 | 54 | 100 | - Bland and inconsistent. |
Transcendence | 2014 | 53 | 101 | - Like the movie's main character, 'Transendence' gets carried away. Running far past the depths of a story one might actually buy, 'Transendence' doesn't stop until it's plot borders on the ridiculous. |
Videodrome | 1983 | 52 | 102 | - 'Videodrome' could've easily been renamed 'Supreme Irony', since afterall in discovering some weird version of plotless torture porn, it itself becomes just that. |
Prometheus | 2012 | 50 | 103 | - Visually stunning, substantively lacking. |
Vertigo | 1958 | 50 | 103 | - Alfred Hitchcock's thriller piques your interest, but fails to keep it. |
Glengarry Glen Ross | 1992 | 49 | 105 | - Sadly, this flick is a bigger loser than those its characters prey upon. |
The Third Man | 1949 | 49 | 105 | - Underneath its steely cinematography and chilling score, there's just not a whole lot there. |
Enemy | 2013 | 47 | 107 | - The whole time you're asking the question the movie obviously wants you to ask: Does Adam really have a double or is he bonkers? The movie probably does NOT anticipate, however, that you could care less. |
Gosford Park | 2001 | 42 | 108 | - Flawlessly acted but painfully drab. |
Final Destination, The (part 4) (2009) | 2009 | 41 | 109 | - It's not Final Destination 4, it's THE Final Destination. As in, THE worst Final Destination. It's just that definitive. |
Alex Cross | 2012 | 36 | 110 | - There's no other way to say this: it's just a bad, bad movie. |
2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 | 31 | 111 | - Typical Kubrick: he can't just tell a story. Everything has to be commentary on humanity. |
Nines, The | 2007 | 29 | 112 | - Returns nothing for the investment of your time. How in the hell did Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy get roped into this? |