entertainment weekly new classics: best 100 movies of the past 25 years

If you've been reading this blog o' mine for a while, you know about my love affair with lists. (If you haven't, you can go here, here, and especially here.)

So imagine my delight when I got home yesterday, and waiting in my mailbox was the 1,000th issue of Entertainment Weekly. The cover boldly proclaimed: "The New Classics: The 1000 best movies, TV shows, albums, books, and more of the past 25 years". Did I wait to read it till I got inside? Silly blogosphere. You know me better than that. Of course I ripped it open right there in the apartment lobby.

And now you get to be treated to the movie portion of the list. This is EW's 100 best movies of the past 25 years... basically, anything that's come out since 1983. The ones I've seen are in bold; also, because I'm eminently proud of my own top 100, my ranking appears next to the title of any movies that happened to make my list.

  1. Pulp Fiction
  2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1,2,3)
  3. Titanic (77)
  4. Blue Velvet
  5. Toy Story
  6. Saving Private Ryan
  7. Hannah and Her Sisters
  8. The Silence of the Lambs
  9. Die Hard
  10. Moulin Rouge (4)
  11. This Is Spinal Tap
  12. The Matrix (21)
  13. GoodFellas
  14. Crumb
  15. Edward Scissorhands (40)
  16. Boogie Nights
  17. Jerry Maguire
  18. Do the Right Thing
  19. Casino Royale
  20. The Lion King
  21. Schindler's List (7)
  22. Rushmore
  23. Memento
  24. A Room With a View
  25. Shrek
  26. Hoop Dreams
  27. Aliens
  28. Wings of Desire
  29. The Bourne Supremacy
  30. When Harry Met Sally...
  31. Brokeback Mountain
  32. Fight Club
  33. The Breakfast Club
  34. Fargo (34)
  35. The Incredibles
  36. Spider-Man 2
  37. Pretty Woman
  38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (72)
  39. The Sixth Sense
  40. Speed
  41. Dazed and Confused
  42. Clueless (59)
  43. Gladiator
  44. The Player
  45. Rain Man (86)
  46. Children of Men
  47. Men in Black
  48. Scarface
  49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  50. The Piano
  51. There Will Be Blood
  52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad
  53. The Truman Show
  54. Fatal Attraction
  55. Risky Business
  56. The Lives of Others
  57. There’s Something About Mary
  58. Ghostbusters
  59. L.A. Confidential
  60. Scream
  61. Beverly Hills Cop
  62. sex, lies and videotape
  63. Big
  64. No Country For Old Men (41)
  65. Dirty Dancing
  66. Natural Born Killers
  67. Donnie Brasco
  68. Witness
  69. All About My Mother
  70. Broadcast News
  71. Unforgiven
  72. Thelma & Louise
  73. Office Space
  74. Drugstore Cowboy
  75. Out of Africa
  76. The Departed
  77. Sid and Nancy
  78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  79. Waiting for Guffman
  80. Michael Clayton (60)
  81. Moonstruck
  82. Lost in Translation
  83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
  84. Sideways
  85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
  86. Y Tu Mamá También
  87. Swingers
  88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
  89. Breaking the Waves
  90. Napoleon Dynamite (81)
  91. Back to the Future
  92. Menace II Society
  93. Ed Wood
  94. Full Metal Jacket
  95. In the Mood for Love
  96. Far From Heaven
  97. Glory
  98. The Talented Mr. Ripley
  99. The Blair Witch Project
  100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
There you have it. I've seen 61/100, and 15 of my favorite 100 movies made their list. I've done much better with this list than either the IMDB 250 or the AFI 100, probably because EW picked so many mainstream movies.

So now it's your turn. How many have you seen on this list? Do you have any thoughts on EW's choices?
Posted by Nayana Anthony in , , , , , at 11:13 AM on Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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13 people had something brilliant to say.

13 Response to "entertainment weekly new classics: best 100 movies of the past 25 years"

  1. Ric Burke says:
    June 24, 2008 at 1:56 PM

    I'm totally obsessed with lists as well; as my 1,000 greatest film project will testify. Of that list I've seen 75/100, thanks to my lousy cinema I've still not seen There Will Be Blood.

    As lists go it's not the most imaginative, some of those films are questionable but that's the nature of lists in general, that's why they're so much fun.

  2. Ryan McNeil says:
    June 24, 2008 at 1:58 PM

    I've seen 88 out of 100...I'm not sure if that means that I'm really good at picking 'em, or just have WAY too much time on my hands.

    Thought the list had a handful of omissions, as lists often do, but couldn't really complain with most of the choices.

    Oh, and because I'm geeky that way, here are the five movies of the ones you haven't seen that I'd suggest you see first (in no particular order)...

    - ED WOOD
    - RUSHMORE
    - L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
    - SWINGERS
    - SID & NANCY

  3. Nayana Anthony says:
    June 24, 2008 at 2:02 PM

    Ibetolis... I didn't really do the list much credit. In the article, they explain much more about how they arrived at those particular choices. I was thrilled that they included LOTR as well as Moulin Rouge, but disappointed at the exclusion of Love, Actually.

    Mad Hatter...Thanks for the tip. I'm adding those to my Netflix queue.

  4. Shannon the Movie Moxie says:
    June 24, 2008 at 2:10 PM

    I am with you on the list love! I've seen 78/100 with the remaining films either on my 'too see' on 'not going to watch' lists.

    It's wild to see the trends and changes in films over the past 25 years. But 25 feels like a long time especially in the look and feel of film, I mean Scarface feels like it was so long ago when you compare it to something like Casino Royale.

  5. valis says:
    June 24, 2008 at 5:21 PM

    1. Pulp Fiction
    2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
    3. Titanic
    4. Blue Velvet
    5. Toy Story - ground breaking animation sure, but otherwise who cares? (I used to put the army men promotional toys in the deep fryer when I worked at Burger King, they get really flexible!) - seen 1/2 on tv
    6. Saving Private Ryan
    7. Hannah and Her Sisters
    8. The Silence of the Lambs
    9. Die Hard
    10. Moulin Rouge - I thought this was boring crap, replace with Hedwig and the Angry Inch
    11. This Is Spinal Tap
    12. The Matrix
    13. GoodFellas
    14. Crumb - in Netflix queue
    15. Edward Scissorhands
    16. Boogie Nights
    17. Jerry Maguire - Another boring movie. I detest this movie whose plot seems to revolve around Jerry not thinking to call his clients one at a time instead of all at once
    18. Do the Right Thing - seen 1/3 of this on tv
    19. Casino Royale
    20. The Lion King
    21. Schindler's List
    22. Rushmore
    23. Memento
    24. A Room With a View
    25. Shrek - I hate this movie, more Mike Meyers using the same Scottish voice
    26. Hoop Dreams
    27. Aliens - I like Die Hard but Aliens is a much better action movie
    28. Wings of Desire - I actually was given a vhs copy of this but still haven't watched it. I really should.
    29. The Bourne Supremacy
    30. When Harry Met Sally...
    31. Brokeback Mountain
    32. Fight Club - A movie so great that it's biggest fans don't know it's making fun of them
    33. The Breakfast Club
    34. Fargo
    35. The Incredibles - in Netflix queue
    36. Spider-Man 2
    37. Pretty Woman
    38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    39. The Sixth Sense
    40. Speed
    41. Dazed and Confused
    42. Clueless
    43. Gladiator - in Netflix queue
    44. The Player
    45. Rain Man - seen 1/2 on tv
    46. Children of Men - I think this movie will be forgotten when Y: The Last Man gets made into a movie or three
    47. Men in Black
    48. Scarface - in Netflix queue
    49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    50. The Piano
    51. There Will Be Blood - Bowling Pins! :)
    52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad
    53. The Truman Show
    54. Fatal Attraction - seen last 1/3 on tv
    55. Risky Business - seen first 1/3 on tv
    56. The Lives of Others
    57. There’s Something About Mary - I think this is extraordinarily overrated
    58. Ghostbusters
    59. L.A. Confidential
    60. Scream
    61. Beverly Hills Cop
    62. sex, lies and videotape
    63. Big - Shows how far a movie can go fulfilling fantasies on an audience
    64. No Country For Old Men
    65. Dirty Dancing
    66. Natural Born Killers
    67. Donnie Brasco
    68. Witness
    69. All About My Mother
    70. Broadcast News - in Netflix queue
    71. Unforgiven
    72. Thelma & Louise
    73. Office Space
    74. Drugstore Cowboy
    75. Out of Africa
    76. The Departed
    77. Sid and Nancy - Movie that brought us:There's no fucking!, the I want a job song, and best movie performance by the World Trade Center towers ever (hint, at the end)
    78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
    79. Waiting for Guffman
    80. Michael Clayton
    81. Moonstruck
    82. Lost in Translation
    83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn - One of the top three movies ever (with 2001 and Brazil)
    84. Sideways
    85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin - saw first 1/4 on tv
    86. Y Tu Mamá También - in Netflix queue
    87. Swingers - was told all the funny parts
    88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
    89. Breaking the Waves
    90. Napoleon Dynamite
    91. Back to the Future
    92. Menace II Society
    93. Ed Wood
    94. Full Metal Jacket
    95. In the Mood for Love
    96. Far From Heaven
    97. Glory
    98. The Talented Mr. Ripley
    99. The Blair Witch Project
    100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut



    I've seen 70 of these (in bold).

    Missing: Brazil (1985), Repo Man (1984), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), the Killer (1989) and Hard-Boiled (1992) by John Woo

  6. Linda says:
    June 24, 2008 at 6:05 PM

    Love lists, I've seen 79 films on this one. Interesting to me that the bulk were in the top 50! Good list for rental recommendations.

  7. David Bishop says:
    June 25, 2008 at 1:42 AM

    I don't like the word 'boring' that much, especially when used to describe a movie like Moulin Rouge. I'm used to hearing negative responses, but 'boring?'

    I think Memento is the only movie I'd condemn you for if you don't watch it before you die (Lucky I don't guard the pearly gates).

  8. David Bishop says:
    June 25, 2008 at 1:46 AM

    Oh, and given that this is a list of movies over the past 25 years, and I'm only 21, I'm at a disadvantage and thusly, will not divulge my 'score.' Which is just another way of saying, "it's low."

  9. Patricia Perry says:
    June 25, 2008 at 12:24 PM

    As someone who shares your love of lists, I enjoyed seeing this one. I've seen 82/100.

    Overall, I think it's kind of a lame list,though, and mine would look different (I second valis about "Brazil" belonging on the list,for starters - and it should probably be in the top 20.) I'd give you more specific updates, but my list-making brain cells are shutting down now.

  10. Anonymous Says:
    June 26, 2008 at 1:44 AM

    Nayana,

    I'd have to agree with Pat, it's kinda lame, only 5 out of the 100 are foreign language films.

    But be that as it may, I've seen 90 of them.

  11. Anonymous Says:
    June 30, 2008 at 11:21 PM

    Forest Gump? Shawshank Redemption? Star Wars? Narnia? to name a few... these should be in the top 100

  12. Anonymous Says:
    June 30, 2008 at 11:26 PM

    oh... and crash???? where's requiem for a dream?

  13. Nayana Anthony says:
    July 1, 2008 at 9:41 AM

    Wow, you guys are passionate. But I feel you. Word.

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