Collection: Years' Best Films
by the_cinema_connoisseur | created - 11 Jan 2019 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The End We Start From (2023)
R | 102 min | Drama, Thriller
A woman tries to find her way home with her newborn while an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters.
Director: Mahalia Belo | Stars: Jodie Comer, Joel Fry, Yves Rassou, Ramanique Ahluwalia
Votes: 3,802
Top film of 2024
Runner up:
Honorable mentions:
2. Suzume (2022)
PG | 122 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A modern action adventure road story where a 17-year-old girl named Suzume helps a mysterious young man close doors from the other side that are releasing disasters all over in Japan.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu, Shôta Sometani
Votes: 39,265
Top film of 2023
Runner up: A Good Person
Honorable mentions:
* Blackberry
* Knock at the Cabin
* Oppenheimer
3. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
PG-13 | 192 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
Votes: 494,571 | Gross: $659.68M
Top film of 2022
Runner up: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Honorable mention: Pompo the Cinephile
4. New Order (2020)
R | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A lavish high-society wedding unexpectedly turns into a class struggle that leads to a violent coup.
Director: Michel Franco | Stars: Naian González Norvind, Eligio Meléndez, Mónica Del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle
Votes: 9,485
Top film of 2021
Runner up: In The Heights
Honorable mentions:
* Dune
* Pig
5. Wendy (2020)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up.
Director: Benh Zeitlin | Stars: Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin
Votes: 3,757 | Gross: $0.14M
Top film of 2020
Runner up: Promising Young Woman
Honorable mention: Wolfwalkers
6. Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A deactivated cyborg's revived, but can't remember anything of her past and goes on a quest to find out who she is.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali
Votes: 293,840 | Gross: $85.71M
Top film of 2019
Runner up: Katie Says Goodbye
Honorable mentions:
* Teen Spirit
* I Am Mother
* Then Came You
7. Blame (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to 'The Crucible'.
Director: Quinn Shephard | Stars: Quinn Shephard, Marcia DeBonis, Elizabeth Howell, Carlyle Owens
Votes: 3,250
Top film of 2018
Runner up: Leave No Trace
8. Gifted (2017)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer
Votes: 130,396 | Gross: $24.80M
Top film of 2017
Runner up: Newness
Honorable mention: Hidden Figures
9. American Pastoral (2016)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An All-American college star and his beauty queen wife watch their seemingly perfect life fall apart as their daughter joins the turmoil of '60s America.
Director: Ewan McGregor | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Peter Riegert
Votes: 18,055 | Gross: $0.54M
Top film of 2016
Runner up: Girl Flu.
Honorable mention: Arrival
10. When Marnie Was There (2014)
PG | 103 min | Animation, Drama, Family
Anna, a shy 12-year-old girl, is sent to spend time with her aunt and uncle who live in the countryside, where she meets Marnie. The two become best friends. But Anna gradually discovers that Marnie is not quite who she appears to be.
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi | Stars: Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima, Susumu Terajima
Votes: 47,948 | Gross: $0.77M
Top film of 2015
Runner up: The Age of Adaline
Honorable mentions:
* These Final Hours
* No Escape
* The Martian
11. Snowpiercer (2013)
R | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris
Votes: 389,122 | Gross: $4.56M
Top film of 2014
Runner up: Interstellar
Honorable mention: Ask Me Anything
12. The Host (2013)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie Stryder risks everything to protect the people she cares about.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Diane Kruger
Votes: 118,591 | Gross: $26.63M
Top film of 2013
Runner up: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Honorable mentions:
* Frozen
* Ender's Game
* The Lifeguard
13. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
PG-13 | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Two 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray
Votes: 366,804 | Gross: $45.51M
Top film of 2012
Runner up: Sound of My Voice
14. Another Earth (2011)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
Director: Mike Cahill | Stars: Brit Marling, William Mapother, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, DJ Flava
Votes: 100,032 | Gross: $1.32M
Top film of 2011
Runner up: Midnight in Paris
15. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,305 | Gross: $2.43M
Top film of 2010
Runner up: Agora
Honorable mentions:
* Inception
* Monsters
16. Ink (I) (2009)
Not Rated | 107 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
A mysterious creature, known as Ink, steals a child's soul in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip to join the Incubi - the group of supernatural beings responsible for creating nightmares.
Director: Jamin Winans | Stars: Christopher Soren Kelly, Quinn Hunchar, Jessica Duffy, Jennifer Batter
Votes: 22,383
Top film of 2009
Runner up: The Time Traveler's Wife
Honorable mentions: Avatar
17. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor
Votes: 877,962 | Gross: $141.32M
Top film of 2008
18. Stardust (2007)
PG-13 | 127 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Ian McKellen
Votes: 285,302 | Gross: $38.63M
Top film of 2007
Runner up: The Man From Earth
Honorable mentions: Death at a Funeral
19. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,179,574 | Gross: $70.51M
Top film of 2006
Runner up: The Fountain
Honorable mentions:
* Cashback
* Children of Men
20. Pretty Persuasion (2005)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.
Director: Marcos Siega | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Ron Livingston, James Woods, David Wagner
Votes: 10,821 | Gross: $0.31M
Top film of 2005
Runner up: Sideways
Honorable mentions:
* Off The Map
* Brick
21. The Village (2004)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A series of events tests the beliefs of a small isolated countryside village.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 277,853 | Gross: $114.20M
Top film of 2004
Runner up: The Phantom of the Opera
Honorable mentions:
* The Place Promised in Our Early Days
* The Notebook
* I Heart Huckabees
* Hotel Rwanda
22. The Last Samurai (2003)
R | 154 min | Action, Drama
Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, William Atherton
Votes: 471,265 | Gross: $111.11M
Top film of 2003
Runner up: Beyond Borders
Honorable Mentions:
* Whale Rider
* Voices of a Distant Star
* The Spanish Apartment
23. Gangs of New York (2002)
R | 167 min | Crime, Drama
In 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 473,062 | Gross: $77.81M
Top film of 2002
Runner up: Secret Things
24. Vanilla Sky (2001)
R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Votes: 285,760 | Gross: $100.61M
Top film of 2001
Runner up: Donnie Darko
Honorable mention: Moulin Rouge!
25. The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Fantasy, Sport
A down-and-out golfer attempts to recover his game and his life with help from a mystical caddie.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Bruce McGill
Votes: 59,471 | Gross: $30.70M
Top film of 2000
Runner up: Pitch Black
Honorable mention: Chocolat
26. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,053,937 | Gross: $171.48M
Top film of 1999
Runner up: American Beauty
Honorable mentions:
* Eyes Wide Shut
* Being John Malkovich
27. Meet Joe Black (1998)
PG-13 | 178 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Death, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber
Votes: 264,917 | Gross: $44.62M
Top film of 1998
Runner up: What Dreams May Come
Honorable mention: Shakespeare in Love
28. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,068,563 | Gross: $138.43M
Top film of 1997
Runner up: The Fifth Element
Honorable mention: Titanic
29. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,835 | Gross: $306.17M
Top film of 1996
Runner up: Twister
Honorable mention: The Ghost and the Darkness
30. Powder (1995)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An off-the-charts genius who is home schooled and shunned after his last relative dies shows the unconscious residents of his town about connection awareness and the generosity of the spirit.
Director: Victor Salva | Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum
Votes: 32,606 | Gross: $30.86M
Top film of 1995
Runner up: Twelve Monkeys
Honorable mentions:
* Beyond Rangoon
* Before Sunrise
* The Secret of Roan Inish
31. Léon: The Professional (1994)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama
12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Votes: 1,246,261 | Gross: $19.50M
Top film of 1994
Runner up: Don Juan
Honorable mentions:
* The Crow
* Stargate
32. Swing Kids (1993)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Music
A group of teens adores forbidden music in Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of World War II.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 17,355 | Gross: $5.63M
Top film of 1993
Runner up: Indian Summer
33. The Lover (1992)
R | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 1929 French Indochina, a French teenage girl embarks on a reckless and forbidden romance with a wealthy, older Chinese man, each knowing that knowledge of their affair will bring drastic consequences to each other.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jane March, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Jeanne Moreau, Frédérique Meininger
Votes: 23,505 | Gross: $4.90M
Top film of 1992
Runner up: Far and Away
34. The Man in the Moon (1991)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama, Romance
A coming of age story set in the south of the U.S. when Elvis was King.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Gail Strickland, Reese Witherspoon
Votes: 18,462 | Gross: $2.85M
Top film of 1991
Runner up: Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
Honorable mention: My Girl
35. Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.
Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack
Votes: 39,814 | Gross: $39.40M
Top film of 1990
Runner up: Edward Scissorhands
36. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,325 | Gross: $95.86M
Top film of 1989
Runner up: Young Einstein
Honorable mention: The Little Mermaid
37. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 240,033 | Gross: $114.97M
Top film of 1988
Runner up: They Live
Honorable mentions:
* Grave of the Fireflies
* Akira
Possible honorable mentions:
* Die Hard
* Cocktail
* Beetlejuice
* Bull Durham
* Young Guns
38. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 451,050 | Gross: $30.86M
Top film of 1987
Runner up: Dirty Dancing
Honorable mention: Full Metal Jacket
39. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 763,332 | Gross: $85.16M
Top film of 1986
Runner up: Top Gun
Honorable mention: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
40. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,314 | Gross: $210.61M
Top film of 1985
Runner up: The Goonies
Honorable mention: Ladyhawke
41. The Last Starfighter (1984)
PG | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
High schooler Alex Rogan conquers the Starfighter video game, only to find out it was just a test, and is transported to another planet. He has been recruited to join a team of the best starfighters to defend their world from the attack.
Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Kay E. Kuter, Dan Mason
Votes: 46,038 | Gross: $28.73M
Top film of 1984
Runner up: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Honorable mentions:
* Ghostbusters
* 2010
* Top Secret
42. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,121,718 | Gross: $309.13M
Top film of 1983
Runner up: Barefoot Gen
Honorable mention: Krull
43. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,318 | Gross: $32.87M
Top film of 1982
Runner up: The Dark Crystal
Honorable mention: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
44. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,156 | Gross: $1.02M
Top film of 1943
45. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Not Rated | 79 min | Drama
After falling pregnant by a pharmacist and refusing to marry, a young woman is ejected from her home and sent to a strict girls' reform school.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Louise Brooks, Josef Rovenský, Fritz Rasp, Edith Meinhard
Votes: 4,823
Top film of 1929
Tell Your Friends