EWB Top 20 Films

[brenchill]

12. SIN CITY (2005) 53 Points

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez

Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba & Rosario Dawson "Sin City" is four stories inter-weaved telling tales of corruption in Basin City. The first story (The Customer is always right) is short, and is based on the depression of women that they need to pay a man to feel loved when they commit suicide. The next story is Part 1 of "That Yellow Bastard" about a cop who needs to save a young girl from being raped. The third story (The Hard Goodbye) features a man taking revenge on a heartless killer who murdered his one-night stand. The fourth story (The Big, Fat Kill) stars a man who must dispatch a cop's body, but it will be a tough ride to do it. Following that are two conclusions to Sin City, the ending of "That Yellow Bastard" which is set 8 years later, and a short story that ends Sin City.

11. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) 56 Points

Directed by: Irvin Kershner

Starring: Mark Hammill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher & Billy Dee Williams

After receiving a vision from Obi-Wan Kenobi and fleeing the ice world of Hoth with his friends after an Imperial attack, Luke Skywalker travels to the marsh planet of Dagobah, where he is instructed in the ways of the Force by the legendary Jedi master Yoda. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Princess Leia make their way to planet Bespin, where they are greeted by Han's old friend, a shifty gambler named Lando Calrissian. Ambushed by the Empire shortly after their arrival, Han and his friends are imprisoned by Darth Vader. Luke leaves Dagobah to rescue his friends, and is met by Vader and a startling revelation.

10. HEAT (1995) 60 Points

Directed by: Michael Mann

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer & Tom Sizemore

Neil McCauley is a thief... an expert thief... one of the best. His philosophy in life - become attached to nothing in life that you can't walk away from in 30 seconds if you spot the "Heat" around the corner. His crew of criminals is a high-tech outfit pulling off professional jobs that impress even the likes of Detective Vincent Hanna. But Hanna, a man driven through life only by his work, becomes obsessed, at the expense of his private life, with bringing McCauley down. As McCauley's crew prepare for the score of a lifetime, and Hanna's team tries to bring him in, the two find that they are challenged by the greatest minds on the opposite side of the law that either one has ever encountered.

9. THE GODFATHER (1972) 61 Points

Directed by: Darren Afonofsky

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan & Robert Duval

Vito Corleone is the aging don of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen, the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.

8. DIE HARD (1988) 69 Points

Directed by: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Reginald Veljohnson & Bonnie Bedelia

John McClane is a cop from New York City who is on his way to Los Angeles to see his kids and his wife Holly, who moved to LA because of a job at the Nakatomi Corporation. When he arrives at Nakatomi Plaza, he meets Holly's boss Joe Takagi and her co-worker Harry Ellis. He and Holly go into a private bathroom and get into an argument. When Holly leaves to give a speech, thirteen armed terrorists lead by Hans Gruber seize control of the building and take the occupants of the 30th floor, who are the only ones left in the building, hostage. Luckily, they missed John since he was in the bathroom. He sneaks out and witnesses Gruber kill Takagi. He goes to floor 32 and pulls the fire alarm, but the terrorists cancel the alarm and send someone up to kill John. However, he kills the terrorist and steals his machine gun. Now he has to kill the rest of the terrorists and save the hostages before the terrorists get their way.

7. RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) 71 Points

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen & Chris Penn

They were six strangers, assembled to pull off the perfect crime: Mr. White, a professional criminal; Mr. Orange, a young newcomer; Mr. Blonde, a trigger-happy killer; Mr. Pink, a paranoid neurotic; Mr. Brown; and Mr. Blue. Hired by mob boss Joe Cabot and given fake names so no one could identify the others, they thought there was no way their heist could have failed. But after a police ambush, killing Mr. Brown and seriously injuring Mr. Orange, the criminals return to their rendezvous point (a warehouse), and realize that one of them had to have been a police informant. But who?

6. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994) 84 Points

Directed by: Frank Darabont

Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton & William Sadler

After the murder of his wife, hotshot banker Andrew Dufresne is sent to Shawshank Prison, where the usual unpleasantness occurs. Over the years, he retains hope and eventually gains the respect of his fellow inmates, especially longtime convict "Red" Redding, a black marketeer, and becomes influential within the prison. Eventually, Andrew achieves his ends on his own terms.

Edited March 1, 2008 by Butch and Cassidy

[Sousa]

If Ghostbusters isn't in the top ten, then we as a community have failed.

Just sayin'.

[GoGo Yubari]

... so films tie and then you only focus on one?

... admittedly I mostly care because Donnie Darko tying with Seven Samurai and then all the focus going on Donnie Darko of all films gives me hives, but.

[DT]

1. Training Day

2. The Sandlot

3. Beverly Hills Cop 3

4. Coming To America

5. Under Siege

6. Gone In Sixty Seconds

7. The Waterboy

8. Malibu's Most Wanted

9. The Hills Have Eyes

10. Any Given Sunday

11. Leon The Professional

12. Little Giants

13. Happy Gilmore

14. Knocked Up

15. The Matrix

16. Spiderman 2

17. The Replacements

18. Major League II

19. Bull Durham

20. American Gangster

Damn my list being posted 80 days late

Edited March 1, 2008 by DT

[brenchill]

... so films tie and then you only focus on one?

Edited March 1, 2008 by Butch and Cassidy

[Sousa]

But doesn't that idea sort of fall apart when, for example, American Beauty receives significantly more votes than Superbad but gets 0% of the attention, presumably because you know more about Star Wars and could think of more interesting things to say?

Edited March 2, 2008 by JP Sousa is Not a Shark

[brenchill]

But doesn't that idea sort of fall apart when, for example, American Beauty receives significantly more votes than Superbad but gets 0% of the attention, presumably because you know more about Star Wars and could think of more interesting things to say?

[brenchill]

5. THE DEPARTED (2006) 85 Points

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson & Mark Wahlberg

Years ago, a powerful Irish mafia figure placed a small selection of his youngest, brightest men into the Massachusetts State Police Academy as cadets. Their purpose is to eventually rise within the prestigious ranks of the state police department, to serve as the eyes and ears of their boss. While somewhere else, a young cadet was assigned with an equally dangerous task: infiltrate the Irish syndicate headed by the man sending in his own to the Massachusetts State Police. Now, one cadet is an up and coming police official with a torn allegiance to his job and to the criminal mastermind that put him there. While the other cadet is the trusted number two of that man, only finding his professional duties are becoming blurred with his current state. But new clues have lead to unfortunate discoveries, when both sides realize they're being watched by the enemy. It's now all just a matter of time before the men assigned to find out whose the infiltrator, could come to a bloody end when someone's identity may be revealed.

4. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) 87 Points

Directed by: Michel Gondry

Starring: Jim Carey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood & Mark Ruffalo

On a Valentine Day, Joel Barish feels the impulse of going to Montauk instead of working. After spending the cold day on the beach, he meets Clementine Kruczynski on the train station and they have a crush on each other. Joel and Clementine do not know that they were mates in the past. Joel has just erased Clementine from his memories when he found that Clementine did exactly the same, when their relationship ended. However, along his erasing process, Joel becomes astonished when he finds that he still loves Clementine and he does not want to lose her, fighting for keeping the memories of their moments together instead.

3. GOODFELLAS (1990) 94 Points

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci & Lorraine Braco

This film views the mob lives of three pivotal figures in the 1960's and 70's New York. Henry Hill is a local boy turned gangster in a neighborhood full of the roughest and toughest. Tommy Devito is a pure bred gangster, who turns out to be Henry's best friend. Jimmy Conway puts the two of them together, and runs some of the biggest hijacks and burglaries the town has ever seen. After an extended jail sentence, Henry must sneak around the back of the local mob boss, Paulie Cicero, to live the life of luxury he has always dreamed of. In the end, the friends end up in a hell of a jam, and must do anything they can to save each other, and stay alive.

2. FIGHT CLUB (1999) 129 Points

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter & Meat Loaf

A lonely, isolated thirty-something young professional seeks an escape from his mundane existence with the help of a devious soap salesman. They find their release from the prison of reality through underground fight clubs, where men can be what the world now denies them. Their boxing matches and harmless pranks soon lead to an out-of-control spiral towards oblivion

AND THE WINNER IS...

1. PULP FICTION (1994) 138 Points

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman & Bruce Willis

Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield are two hitmen on the hunt for a briefcase whose contents were stolen from their boss, Marsellus Wallace. They run into a few unexpected detours along the road. Marsellus is out of town, and he's gotten Vincent to take care of his wife, Mia. That is, take her out for a night on the town. Things go smoothly until one of them makes a huge error. Butch Coolidge is a boxer who's been approached by Marsellus and been told to throw his latest fight. When Butch ends up killing the other boxer, he must escape Marsellus. Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (not their real names) are two lovebirds/thieves who have decided to rob the restaurant they're currently eating at. But the restaurant doesn't turn out to be as easy as the other places they've robbed.

Edited March 4, 2008 by BC

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Thankyou for doing the list.....

.....But the Fight Club synopsis makes me laugh hard.

[Pepsi]

When did they make money in Fight Club?

Why not just post a synopsis off like IMDb or Amazon?

[brenchill]

Why not just post a synopsis off like IMDb or Amazon?

Edited March 4, 2008 by BC

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

They only made money when the narrator threatened his boss and promised to keep quiet about "the incident" in return for continued pay even though he no longer worked for them. They also got given computer equipment. This allowed them to fund Project Mayhem, training and such like.