60. “The Martian” (2015)
Populism has gotten a bad name in the last year or so, but Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” displayed the kind of populism we can get behind: a joyous, curiously goofy, often thrilling love letter to science, human ingenuity and people. Though the deep-bench supporting cast is often a joy, and Scott’s clearly having a blast letting his hair down, the MVP duties are split between Drew Goddard’s tonally assured script, and Matt Damon carrying the whole thing on his shoulders.
59. “Brooklyn” (2015)
You could make an argument that the central dramatic argument in “Brooklyn” — new home vs. old home, Emory Cohen vs. Domhnall Gleeson — is kind of a foregone closure, given how appealingly director John Crowley paints the titular city, and how goddamn charming Emory Cohen is here. But that’s beyond the point: this is such a finely crafted, beautifully performed (especially by Saoirse Ronan), sensitively piece of melodrama that you enjoy every frame and every second of it.
58. “Hugo” (2011)
It’s so weird that “Hugo” exists. A 3D mega-budget family film from one of cinema’s most profane proponents of violence, that serves as a love-letter to silent cinema. But it exists, and while it’ll never be as beloved by “The Wolf Of Wall Street” superfans, it’s one of Scorsese’s best recent films, a genuinely magical, utterly singular piece of work that shows what 3D can do in the hands of a genuine master.
57. “True Grit” (2010)
It’s a mark of the highest standards that the Coen Brothers have set for themselves that a film as consistently entertaining, faultlessly made and deeply human as “True Grit” can end up feeling like a slight disappointment, if only because it feels a touch more familiar than some of their more singular work. But as a relatively classical Western, it’s hard to beat in its wit (god, what a great Matt Damon performance it has), its melancholy or its beauty.
56. “The Fighter” (2010)
After years in the wilderness, David O. Russell reinvented his career with this boxing biopic, the first of what we call his “family and yelling” trilogy. There’s little in the story, from the unlikely ringside comeback for Mark Wahlberg’s Micky to the addiction drama of Christian Bale’s Dicky, that you haven’t seen in some form before, but Russell brings the raucous energy and furious love of a Boston Irish wake and makes it all feel fresh again.
55. “Lincoln” (2012)
You’d think you’d know what to expect from a Steven Spielberg biopic of the greatest President, but “Lincoln” sort of turned out to frustrate those expectations. Rather than covering the whole sweep of his life, Tony Kushner’s smart script focuses on Lincoln the politician, and his efforts to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, and by doing so illuminates Lincoln the man. It’s a deceptively funny and entertaining film with an extraordinary cast that will age like a fine wine over time.
54. “Room” (2015)
Emma Donoghue’s novel “Room,” to those who read it on release, felt nearly unfilmable: a story about a beyond-harrowing subject matter, of a young woman kidnapped, imprisoned and repeatedly raped, bearing her captor’s child, escaping but struggling to adjust to life in the outside. Oh, and it’s told through the eyes of the child. But Lenny Abrahamson’s film did a remarkable job in capturing the subjectivity, the thorniness and the heartache, thanks in large part to a pair of extraordinary peformances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay at the centre.
53. “Gladiator” (2000)
The film that spawned over a decade’s worth of sword-and-sandal imitators, “Gladiator” did it better than every one of them, Ridley Scott’s tale of the general who became a slave etc etc melding bloody pulp thrills with A+ production value and the director’s icon-creating visual sensibilities with a rare effectiveness. The script brings proper dramatic meat, the performances (particularly Joaquin Phoenix’s gloriously weird villain) devour it, and it’s big studio filmmaking of rare effectiveness.
52. “The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers” (2002)
The awkward middle child of Peter Jackson’s original trilogy, “The Two Towers” is neither as perfectly structured as ‘Fellowship,’ nor as bloated as “Return Of The King.” The epic battle at Helm’s Deep shows the first glimpse of action overload that would eventually sink the “Hobbit” movies, but it also has some of the best material in the trilogy with the Gollum scenes. For its flaws, though, it’s remains as remarkable an achievement as what came before and after it.
51. “Traffic” (2000)
The film that finally won Steven Soderbergh the Best Director Oscar is, we would argue, probably a little way off his absolute best: Stephen Gaghan’s script for the war-on-drugs epic works best when it plays in the grey areas (as with the Benicio Del Toro storyline), less when it tips into oddly reactionary melodrama. But it’s made with such thrilling craft and intelligence, and is so stuffed with great performances, that you couldn’t begrudge its awards success at all.
50. “American Hustle” (2013)
Man, “American Hustle” is a strange movie. Full of plot but virtually without a premise, coasting along on movie-star charm and its almost jazz-like rhythms, it sort of marks the peak of the style that David O. Russell had developed with his two earlier films (which then went off the rails two years later with “Joy”). It often frustrates, and never quite satisfies, but by god, is it a lot of fun to watch, particularly when it just sits back and lets its superb cast play off each other.
49. “Hell Or High Water” (2016)
A little film that could, “Hell Or High Water” seemed from a distance like it could be some kind of Coen-esque B-movie that plays at Tribeca and is barely heard from again. But Taylor Sheridan’s textured script, David Mackenzie’s stellar direction and utterly fine work from its three leads (and the supporting players — that waitress!) led to a film that was more than the sum of its parts, a throwback crime thriller that nevertheless felt like it had its finger on the pulse of America in 2016.
48. “Captain Phillips” (2013)
Having disappointed with Iraq war drama “Green Zone,” Paul Greengrass came roaring back to the docudrama world with this gripping thriller based on the real-life hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates. Driven by a career-best turn by Tom Hanks, it brings the big-scale action and scope but always ends up coming down to the central clash between two men (with newcomer Barkhad Abdi more than standing his own against Hanks).
47. “Juno” (2007)
It became popular for a while to bash “Juno,” particularly when it landed in one of the better Oscar-line ups in recent years, and over other great films like “Zodiac” and “The Assassination Of Jesse James.” Is Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s comedy as good as those films? No. Is it a quotable, characterful comedy of surprising depth and genuine flair, with a cast that never put a foot wrong (think of how heartbreaking Jennifer Garner is, for one)? Absolutely.
46. “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012)
A romantic comedy good enough that it convinced everyone that it wasn’t a romantic comedy, David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” nevertheless follows the genre’s formula down to the letter. And yet the director fills the film with so much life, gives his cast so much room to build out their characters (it was the first film in thirty years to win nominations in all four acting categories), gives it just enough edge, that it somehow felt new.
45. “Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World” (2002)
Old-fashioned to the extent that it’s still deeply underrated by many, Napoleonic naval adventure “Master And Commander” never quite became the franchise-starter or the high-seas “Gladiator” that it was hoped to be, but it’s still as absorbing as anything else that the always-absorbing Peter Weir has ever made. The action and adventure is absorbing, but it excels most when it focuses on the central relationship between Russell Crowe’s captain, part Richard Burton, part Errol Flynn, and Paul Bettany’s ship’s doctor.
44. “Winter’s Bone” (2010)
The kind of tiny movie that benefited from the Academy’s expansion to more than five films (a move actually intended to help the likes of “The Dark Knight” more), “Winter’s Bone” is remembered best as the film that birthed megastar Jennifer Lawrence. As great as she is, though, she’s only the most prominent of the film’s virtues, which also include great supporting work from John Hawkes and Dale Dickey, and ferocious, noirish direction from Debra Granik.
43. “Erin Brockovich” (2000)
The first part of the double-header that saw Steven Soderbergh pick up double nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, “Erin Brockovich” is a prime example of the melding of studio movie and indie sensibility that started to take hold at the beginning of the 2000s. Susannah Grant’s script might be formulaic in places, sure, but it transcends the formula through sheer great execution, and Soderbergh (and performances from leads Julia Roberts and Albert Finney) keeps it light on its feet and artful even when it hits familiar beats.
42. “District 9” (2009)
As weird (and definitely as violent) a movie as ever picked up a Best Picture nomination, Neill Blomkamp’s Verhoeven-ish sci-fi still feels like a firecracker up the ass of the tentpole, even if the helmer’s yet to live up to its promise elsewhere. Funny, stylish and with cracking, splattery action sequences, its central metaphor doesn’t hold as much water as it might like, but it’s still something of a classic of the genre.
41. “Good Night And Good Luck” (2005)
His taste in subject matter is usually strong, but as “Leatherheads,” “Monuments Men” and even “The Ides Of March,” to some extent, proved, George Clooney’s direction sometimes ends up disappointing a bit. Not so with “Good Night And Good Luck,” his politically charged (and suddenly deeply relevant again) love letter to TV news, exposing Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn)’s battle with Joseph McCarthy. Shot in lovely black-and-white, it’s focused, superbly acted and rousing without resulting to grandstanding.