68. Ever After (1998)- Andy Tennant

Ever After Trailer

Who knew that Leonado da Vinci was a key factor in the story of Cinderella? Well, he was in this version at least. Set in the early 16th century, this is a charming rendition of the classic Grimm Brothers' fairy tale. Starring Drew Barrymore as Cinderella and Angelica Huston as the evil step-mother, this film is just as enchanting and lovely as the Disney cartoon, even if it doesn't have magical animals and a pumpkin carriage. What it does have, however, is a fairy godmother in the form of one of the greatest artist and inventors of all time, da Vinci. What was interesting about this depiction of the story of Cinderella, is it is not as misogynistic as other interpretations. Danielle's (Barrymore) relationship with Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) is formed on the premise of intellectual stimulation, as opposed to solely on her beauty. He falls in love with her because she is passionate about reading books, and being educated, which is not often portrayed in performances of this classic fairy tale. It seemed to be as realistic as this story can get, and actually showed that Barrymore can be a great dramatic actress when she really wants to be.

66. Bananas (1971)- Woody Allen

Bananas Trailer

This early Woody Allen film is just as "bananas" as its title suggests. One of the goofier of Allen's works, this absurd comedy features Allen as Fielding Mellish, a product tester from New York. He soon falls in love with Nancy (but of course he did, her name is Nancy after all) who is a political activist that showed up at his door looking for him to sign her petition. He becomes instantly infatuated with Nancy, which leads to a string of bizarre instances eventually causing Fielding to become the leader of San Marcos in hopes of winning over Nancy's heart. Often times throughout the movie, I felt as if I was watching an episode of Madtv, or SNL because it had a very "campy" or vaudeville-esque feel to it. Each scene could stand alone as its own comedy sketch, loosely linked together by some sort of an unrealistic plot. This is definitely one of the more silly of Allen's films, mainly focused around physical, slapstick comedy as a way of stringing the seemingly unrelated scenes into one whole Don Quixote/Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup" inspired comedy. 

65. Good Burger (1997)- Brian Robbins

Good Burger Trailer

Who loves orange soda? Kel loves orange soda! Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell star in this ridiculous, slapstick made for Nickelodeon tv movie about good versus evil and the battle for best burger. This was one of my favorite movies growing up, and after watching it now, I can still see why. The story is based off a comedy sketch on the Nickelodeon television show, "All That" which was basically the children's version of Saturday Night Live. It was funny, wholesome comedy that wasn't focused on sex, but rather the ridiculousness of different friendships. "Good Burger" follows the always hilarious comedy duo of Kenan and Kel who both work at a burger joint who is in a constant competition with the place next-door, Mondo Burger. When Ed (Kel) develops his special sauce, the workers next door decide to lace their burgers with dangerous chemicals that make them double, sometimes triple the size of what it should be. This causes Ed and Dexter (Kenan) to do everything in their power to save the customers of Mondo Burger from getting sick from the chemicals, even if that means going undercover dressed as hideous looking women. This movie is funny, and makes me almost sad to see how different the shows I grew up watching are from the ones today. It's okay, because I will always remember the phrase, "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?"

64. The Last Song (2010)- Julie Anne Robinson

The Last Song Trailer

Oh Smiley Miley, look at you starring in a role that doesn't involve wearing sequin pants and changing your wig! This film could not have been any more stereotypically based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Its truly amazing how they all follow some sort of formula: boy meets girl, one of them pretends to not like the other one, then something happens and out of the blue they are head over heels in love with each other, but it can never work because one of them is super rich and has parents who don't approve of their child being with someone who is not wealthy, but they do anyway in spite of said parents, then everything is great and wonderful for a split second and then someone gets Cancer, or some other life threatening disease and dies. What's amazing about this formula, however, is that even though I called the ending of the movie from the second I saw the trailer, I still read the book and watched the movie with a couple of my girl friends and proceeded to cry like a baby...in a Miley Cyrus movie. Seriously? You have to give Nicholas Sparks some credit, even though they are all the same movie/book, the stories are tailored to pull at your heartstrings, despite how bad the acting may be, and trust me- it is seriously bad acting. 

63. Let It Be (1970)- Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Let It Be Trailer

This time, in my Beatles class, we watched the 1970 documentary which featured the last time the legendary iconic band The Beatles ever performed together live before any sort of audience- the rooftop concert. This documentary, errrr rockumentary features rehearsal footage of the band while they are preparing to record the songs for their final album "Let It Be." This documentary is especially unique and important because the band rarely, if ever allowed anyone (besides those who absolutely had to be there) to be in the room with them while they were recording, let alone a camera crew and a slew of other people. It was interesting to see them working through the various songs, especially knowing that these moments were some of their last together as a band. It was also fascinating to see the shots of Yoko in the background and her effect on the functions and life of the band. Yes, she may have been in the background, but he presence was certainly known. It was great to see the band so genuinely happy and seeming to be playing for no one but themselves. On top of it all they won an Academy Award for best original score! 

62. Never Let Me Go (2010)

Never Let Me Go Trailer

Now, I'm all for the freaky dystopian society movies, but this one just straight up creeped me out...in a good way... The first part of the movie takes place in the late 1970s, following three young children who live at a very strange boarding school which is focused around staying on the grounds and being overly healthy. As the film goes on, and the children grow up, it becomes more and more clear as to why they grew up at this school, it wasn't to grow up and be successful adults, but organ donors instead. In this strange society, there are a group of people who were cloned from other people and are only kept alive until their early 20s when they have to start donating their organs to sick people. They do the donation surgeries in three rounds, with the donor becoming increasingly more sick with each surgery- until they die after the third one. The story was so incredibly unsettling that I felt like I was being stabbed in the stomach the whole time. That being said, Carrey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield were all wonderful and added a sense of realism that made it seem like this world was actually possible. As a huge fan of the books "The Giver," and "1984," this was the most realistic dystopian story that I have either seen or read. I feel like it could easily happen, as scary as that sounds. I personally don't know what the future will hold, but I really hope we don't get to that point where we are raising generations of people just to have their lives abruptly cut short, raising children to die. 

61. The Room (1999 or 2003???...typical)- Tommy Wiseau

The Room Trailer

Depending on who you ask, "The Room" is either the greatest film ever made, or the worst excuse for a "movie" ever in the history of film. It is written, produced, edited, and written by Tommy Wiseau who has the strangest accent that I have ever heard in my life. It can only be described as if Nicholas Cage (with black Tarzan hair) attempted to do an eastern European accent while slightly choking on water, while pretending to be a pretentious, sex obsessed psycho. Anyway, I feel like anything I say about this movie won't be doing it justice- besides the fact that it is incredibly hilarious and should only be watched in a large group of people. There are eight minute long sex scenes to obscure/horrible R&B songs, pictures of spoons everywhere, stock footage of San Francisco and other random cities,  actor changes mid film, breast cancer, lies, adultery, a cute red dress, Lisa and Danny or Dinny?... or is it Denny? Either way, all I have to say is that this film deservingly had a $6 million budget because Wiseau didn't know the difference in film and digital, so he shot the movie in both, which is clearly the logical explanation. Now, if you have seen this film (which everyone should because its simply that good) you might be wondering where in the world Mr. Wiseau got the funding from? No need to worry there, he reportedly imported leather jackets from Korea- that just sounds so legal, right? 

60. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Wet Hot American Summer Trailer


Set in 1981 on the last day at a Jewish summer camp, this is probably one of the most underrated hilarious comedies ever. Whether it is the hyper-sexual post traumatic stress disorder affected Vietnam vet cook, the nerdy, over confident college professor who is convinced that a meteor is headed towards the campsite, or the power hungry duo of Susie and Ben who turn the camp talent show into as big a deal as a Broadway production, this movie takes every stereotype to the extreme without being offensive. The counselors are all having sex with each other, the kids are broken up into different cliques based on their interests, and there is always that kid who doesn't see the need to shower. Every line is belly laugh funny, and should get more recognition, especially seeing as the cast is essentially perfect- Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper (his first movie!!), Janeane Garofalo, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks...need I say more? It is completely worth watching, especially with a group of friends, and it would help if one of them actually went to a Jewish summer camp so they can sit there and tell you how accurate every aspect of the movie is.

59. 27 Dresses (2008)- Anne Fletcher

27 Dresses Trailer

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Jane (Katherine Heigl) has embodied this phrase ever since her first wedding when she was a little girl just after her mother died. She had to step in and save the day when the bride's dress ripped all down the back. Ever since then she has been a bridesmaid or maid of honor in 27 weddings (all of which had hideously nasty dresses that the selfish brides forced her to wear..."don't worry you can always shorten it and wear it again." yeah okay). Constantly out shadowed by the brides, Jane is a workaholic mainly because of her sitcom perfect boss, George (Edward Burns). This quickly becomes an underdog story, seeing as George falls in lust with Jane's younger, beautiful, rebellious sister Tess (Malin Akerman) who just happens to bug the shit out of you and who you want to slap across the face and tell her to "grow up! the entire movie. Jane's saving grace through all of the annoying situations with her sister are the commitment columns in her local newspaper written by a Mr. Malcom Doyle (James Marsden). This movie is definitely well written and a total "chick flick," but...
I did have two of my guy friends willingly watching it with me, rooting for Jane along her journey to finally become the person that she has helped so many times during her life- the bride, so go figure! 

58. The Hunger Games (2012)- Gary Ross

The Hunger Games Trailer


No, it is not the new "Twilight." This is not a love story, by any means whatsoever. It is a cautionary tale about the effects of war on a nation. This is set in the future where twenty four boys and girls, ages 11-18 are sent into an arena to fight to the death, with one winner in the end, oh and while the entire world is watching from the comfort of their own homes. It's children killing children, all in the name of remembering what happened during their war. The movie itself was actually very good, with a Tim Burton esque feel at times and a very good cast (Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, etc.) to back up the strangeness. Now, I am probably biased since I read the books in under a week, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was so much more disturbing to see the events on the screen than to read it in the book. If you stop and think about how upsetting the premise is, you will soon realize how great the story actually is. I have several friends who saw the movie and really enjoyed it even if they hadn't read the books- definitely worth it. 

57. Miss Congeniality (2000)- Donald Petrie

Miss Congeniality Trailer

This movie is unfortunately a complete guilty pleasure of mine. It is part drama, action and rom com with a guest appearance by Michael Caine, and who doesn't love Michael Caine? Also, respect to Sandra Bullock for taking a role in which in the first part of the movie she has to act and look completely grimy. Bullock plays Agent Gracie Hart, who completely epically fails during a mission which nearly causes a complete disaster. This causes her next assignment to be one in which she must go undercover as a beauty pageant queen who competes in the Miss United States pageant in order to prevent it from being blown up. It is very funny and charming, as she is not feminine in any way, shape, or form and must transform into the ultimate idealized symbol of femininity- a pageant girl.