Where Citizen Kane changed the way live action films were looked at and made forever, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs did the exact same thing for animation. It remains one of the finest examples of the art form, and anyone who considers themselves a film snob or animation fan must have this on their shelf.

The movie is filled with great music, original choreography, and memorable songs. Along with a story that's a great update of Romeo & Juliet, it's really no surprise that the film is considered to be one of the best musicals ever made.

A full-tilt biopic unlike any before it, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is as stunning as it is terrifying.

White Heat is to the gangster genre what The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly was to Westerns: it took all the clichés, tropes and general violence of its genre and made it into art.

An extraordinary first feature and one of the best films of 2025 so far, Sorry, Baby pulls off astounding feats of storytelling.

John Wick: Chapter 4’s incredibly staged set pieces, engaging ensemble, and stylish production design coalesce into a modern action masterclass.

There are so many little details, seemingly inconsequential touches – the filmmaker’s style, if you will – that all add up bit by bit to turn this amazing movie into a masterpiece.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a complex film that encompasses a variety of subjects, but it does justice to each of them with a carefully written script, marvelous performances, and a healthy dose of bizarre humor to counter its bleak story. Michelle Yeoh in particular gives a powerhouse performance in a story that puts a fresh, welcome spin on the idea of the multiverse.

If the first film could be considered to glorify violence and organized crime, this one shows the consequences of that life. It also serves as a thinly veiled metaphor for American capitalism and its destructive effect on family, cultural heritage, community identity and morality.

There are too many classic moments in this film to possibly count, and I won't even bother trying to quote lines or describe gags.

Kemp Powers' thoughtful script gives us an insight into what might have been going on behind the sports and entertainment performances that awed us, and in doing so urges us to look at what's still going on now. Director Regina King's cast delivers some of the best performances of the year, unveiling the hidden pain of public figures. Through a keen focus and confident flow, she unfurls their struggles in a poignant display to show how they live on today.

What Nolan and Co. have created doesn't just function as a thrill ride or even a terrific movie, but rather as a substantive and philosophical examination of why we need heroes, and then when we need them, what they mean.

The film never slips into cheap melodrama, and ultimately offers a remarkable portrait of humanity at its best and worst, not to mention an ideal to which all people should aspire.

Matt Reeves’ violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon.

Big ambitions inspire great designs; little things bring them to life. Nausicaa has both in abundance.

Chinatown's deep focus cinematography, dialogue direction and long takes are identifiably Polanski.

A bizarre tale about a family of sasquatch is an emotional masterpiece of experimental cinema and fart jokes.

If Spirited Away can be considered the top anime film of this age, Castle of Cagliostro is most certainly its age-old counterpart, and a true masterpiece.

Where Night of the Living Dead was a straight up horror film (with some minor social commentary buried beneath the ever-present threat of the shambling undead), Dawn is something a bit more intriguing. Sure, much of Dawn's first thirty minutes or so has the same unrelenting feel of the earlier film, but once our heroes arrive at their final destination, the tone changes.

It's that rare movie that I will not only continue to enjoy as a moviegoer and all-around romantic, but recommend as a legitimate standard-bearer for the animated classics yet to come.

Mason Reeves delivers one of the most stunning child performances in recent memory, while Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan lean into their familiar acting hallmarks but find uncomfortable new layers as a mother and father bound by their own upbringings. The result is visceral, gentle, and ultimately, shattering.

It’s hard to overstate how immaculately crafted Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is, both as a prequel to Max Max: Fury Road and as a stand-alone story of how the Wasteland created a powerful character.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have told their own story in a funny, highly engaging way that doesn’t feel precious or sanitized, but instead is relatable and engrossing from start to finish. And you’ll laugh a hell of a lot.

The times they are a-changin’ but the Coens keep bringing the hits back home. A masterpiece.

Featuring a riveting, fully realized, and Oscar-worthy performance by Joaquin Phoenix, Joker would work just as well as an engrossing character study without any of its DC Comics trappings; that it just so happens to be a brilliant Batman-universe movie is icing on the Batfan cake. You will likely leave Joker feeling like I did: unsettled and ready to debate the film for years to come.

Writer-director Aaron Sorkin's star-studded chronicle of The Trial of the Chicago 7 is timely and terrific.

It is a damn good detective movie.

The Wolf Man is one of a kind.