Top 100 movies of all time: 37 - 34

NR. 37:

WHATS EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993)

Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Starring: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis



Gilbert has care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

It might sound dull, a movie set in the fictional small town of Endora where nothing ever happens. But this is a beautiful shot film with heavy character focus and small personal stories. The cast is perfect with the exception of Juliette Lewis whom I've never acquired a taste for as an actress. This is a film where nothing really happens, but when it ends you really don't want to leave Endora.



NR. 36:

PSYCHO (1960)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles



A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Psycho is the grandfather of all thriller-/horror movies. A revolution in both storytelling and, of course, suspense that shocked a nation. The movie might not be as shocking today, but it still holds up as a truly masterful movie. Psycho is perhaps one of the most influenced movies of its genre and have seen many copies, sequels and remake all of which fall short of the original vision. If you have not seen Psycho then you are way over due for one of the greatest thriller/horror movies of all time.



NR. 35:

UNBREAKABLE (2000)

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright



A suspense thriller with supernatural overtones that revolves around a man who learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

If Alfred Hitchcock had directed a Twilight Zone about a superhero, you would get Unbreakable (which seem to be two of M. Night's two major inspirations). Unbreakable is M. Night's follow up to the 6th sense and in when it comes to style and atmosphere I think it is a better movie (a controversial point of view for some). It is a fantastical superhero origin story set in a the non-fantastical, gritty reality we all inhabit. It is as much about character relationships and a dysfunctional family trying to reconnect as much as it is about a man discovering superhuman powers. A masterpiece. Too bad it was his last.



NR. 34:

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (2007)

Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Sam Shepard



Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

The assassination of Jesse James is a masterful Western with phenomenal acting (especially Casey Affleck who deserved an Oscar for the role of Robert Ford), a bleak yet beautiful cinematography and a soundtrack that sets the tone of the film perfectly.The movie is long, but never gets boring since you are so invested in the characters and the inevitable fate of Jesse James, which is a character you are made to care for throughout the movie. The fact that the climax of the movie is revealed in the title and it still manages to be suspenseful and heartbreaking is quite the feat and a sign of a truly great movie.