Films That Inspire Me
by neilnoah | created - 12 Aug 2011 | updated - 12 Aug 2011 | PublicThis list is in no particular order. Every film inspired me in a different way. There is no way I can rate them in a list starting at number one. So this should give you an idea of who I am.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. American Movie (1999)
R | 107 min | Documentary, Comedy
Documentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.
Director: Chris Smith | Stars: Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank, Tom Schimmels, Monica Borchardt
Votes: 19,350 | Gross: $1.16M
2. My Dinner with Andre (1981)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn, Jean Lenauer, Roy Butler
Votes: 25,799 | Gross: $5.25M
3. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 466,124 | Gross: $1.59M
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,072,807 | Gross: $112.00M
5. Infamous (2006)
R | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
While researching his novel "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Toby Jones, Daniel Craig, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver
Votes: 18,223 | Gross: $1.15M
6. Sling Blade (1996)
R | 135 min | Drama
Karl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
Director: Billy Bob Thornton | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter
Votes: 98,832 | Gross: $24.48M
7. As Good as It Gets (1997)
PG-13 | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Votes: 318,544 | Gross: $148.48M
8. The Big Lebowski (1998)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Crime
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 860,714 | Gross: $17.50M
9. Dogma (1999)
R | 130 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loop-hole and reenter Heaven.
Director: Kevin Smith | Stars: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Bud Cort
Votes: 228,710 | Gross: $30.65M
10. The Ninth Gate (1999)
R | 133 min | Mystery, Thriller
A book broker discovers his latest find may summon Satan.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner
Votes: 197,573 | Gross: $18.66M
11. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Robin Hood decides to fight back as an outlaw when faced with the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater
Votes: 208,472 | Gross: $165.50M
12. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,369 | Gross: $5.51M
13. The Big Kahuna (1999)
R | 90 min | Drama, Comedy
Two veteran salesmen dissect a sales pitch to a particular client, through their young protégé.
Director: John Swanbeck | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli, Paul Dawson
Votes: 15,038 | Gross: $3.15M
14. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 815,218 | Gross: $148.10M
15. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,613 | Gross: $6.10M
16. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 332,991
17. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,780 | Gross: $106.26M
18. The Odd Couple (1968)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy
A New Yorker newly separated from his wife moves in with his best friend, a divorced sportswriter, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.
Director: Gene Saks | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herb Edelman
Votes: 37,462 | Gross: $44.53M
19. Manhunter (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 80,973 | Gross: $8.62M
20. Looking for Richard (1996)
PG-13 | 111 min | Documentary, Drama
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
Director: Al Pacino | Stars: Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Frederic Kimball
Votes: 8,572 | Gross: $1.36M
21. Barton Fink (1991)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Votes: 129,004 | Gross: $6.15M
22. Factotum (2005)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
Director: Bent Hamer | Stars: Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei, Didier Flamand
Votes: 15,040 | Gross: $0.81M
23. Bukowski: Born into This (2003)
R | 130 min | Documentary, Biography
Documentary on Charles Bukowski, author of 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man', 'Love Is a Dog from Hell', and the autobiographical novels, 'Women', 'Hollywood', and 'Post Office'.
Director: John Dullaghan | Stars: Charles Bukowski, Bono, John Bryan, Linda Lee Bukowski
Votes: 3,644 | Gross: $0.30M
24. Barfly (1987)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Based on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance
Votes: 21,986 | Gross: $3.22M
25. The Shining (1997)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A recovering alcoholic must wrestle with demons within and without when he and his family move into a haunted hotel as caretakers.
Stars: Rebecca De Mornay, Steven Weber, Wil Horneff, Courtland Mead
Votes: 18,302
26. The Stand (1994)
Not Rated | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
After a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a malevolent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.
Stars: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 38,428
27. Sleeper (1973)
PG | 89 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A nerdish store owner is revived out of cryostasis into a future world to fight an oppressive government.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory
Votes: 44,834 | Gross: $2.91M
28. Whatever Works (2009)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A middle-aged, misanthropic divorcé from New York City surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated Southern girl.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Larry David, Henry Cavill, Adam Brooks
Votes: 76,909 | Gross: $5.31M
29. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,537
30. Polytechnique (2009)
Not Rated | 77 min | Crime, Drama, History
A dramatization of the 1989 Montréal Massacre, during which several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Maxim Gaudette, Sébastien Huberdeau, Karine Vanasse, Martin Watier
Votes: 19,028
Tell Your Friends