The Hall of Fame

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) dir. Frank Capra Inducted December 2024

I’m a sucker for Christmas and Christmas movies. This will always be the GOAT. If you don’t love this, you are soulless.

Déjà Vu (2006) dir. Tony Scott Inducted June 2024

It's every bit as cool and fun as Tenet, though this one has a soul, so it doesn't bother trying to convince us it has a brain.

Tony Scott is peerless when it comes to this stuff. You could compare him to Michael Bay, and while Scott may lack the formal ambition, he makes up for it with soul. The car chase scene here is one of the most audacious things I’ve ever seen on screen, yet it’s not the draw. I keep returning here for the other stuff: A post-Katrina New Orleans fantasy that sees technology as a miraculous bridge between humans.

Ex Machina (2015) dir. Alex Garland Inducted March 2024

It feels like some time in the last year this movie got infinitely more relevant. Maybe it took the unstoppable march of technology for me to full give myself over. Maybe it just took seeing it in IMAX. But it’s Garland’s masterpiece and my favorite sci-fi movie of the 21st century. Incredible for a movie to accomplish all this does. It’s somehow equal parts haunting and beautiful while still being hilarious.

Fallen Angels (1995) dir. Wong Kar-wai Inducted January 2024

The diptych Fallen Angels forms with Chungking Express is one of my favorite pairings in movie history––two films in direct conversation with one another while twisting in opposite directions. This one’s the weirder of the two, but I love it for that. Fractured and bloody but bearing some of WKW’s most achingly tender moments.

Midsommar (2019) dir. Ari Aster Inducted October 2023

Gorgeous, disgusting, and hilarious, with a gripping star you want to root for (and look at) and a plot you want to pick apart. It took a fourth or fifth viewing—back in a theater this time––to finally vault this thing into my hall of greatness. In a dark room with a bright screen, this will just swallow you whole and burn you alive.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) dir. Peter Weir Inducted May 2023

One of the most versatile movies on this list. In a 138-minute package, it manages to embody, like, four different types of movies I love. This is timeless filmmaking: fun enough to hang out with and intelligent enough to geek out over.

Chungking Express (1994) dir. Wong Kar-wai Inducted January 2023

Wong Kar-wai has become one of my favorite directors, and he’s been hovering just outside the list since its creation. This most recent viewing finally put it over the edge for me—the greatest vibe movie I’ve ever seen. In addition to phenomenal hard traits (cinematography, music, writing) there’s an intangible magic here that I can’t really get outside of movies from this era, by this director.

Cure (1997) dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa Inducted August 2022

Every country gets a modern serial killer masterpiece. What I love most about Cure is that it splits the difference between the disquieting (e.g., The Vanishing) and the outwardly horrific (e.g., Se7en). It also boasts a visual and sonic palette that makes you want to crawl out of your skin.

Close-Up (1990) dir. Abbas Kiarostami Inducted July 2022

I watched this for the first time and immediately added it to the Hall of Fame. At some point, you start to get a grip on the different types of things movies can do, and then one like this comes along and cracks your skull in half, doing something you’ve never seen in your life and saying something profound in the process.

The Conversation (1974) dir. Francis Ford Coppola Inducted May 2022

Perhaps the film world is the only place in popular culture where 48 years isn’t enough to get a film its full credit. Still, The Conversation deserves a place alongside the best in American cinematic history. It’s both perfectly built and completely exhilarating.

Stalker (1979) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky Inducted April 2022

It may be the only movie that earned its way onto this list despite my inability to totally get my head around it. It’s the closest thing I’ve ever felt to actual hypnosis—a slippery film attempting to say something terrifying about humanity.

Heat (1995) dir. Michael Mann Inducted March 2022

Mann’s masterpiece, if only for being the first to put Pacino and De Niro in the same frame and squeeze every drop out. This movie is about ambition as addiction—a cinematography hall of famer that can only end one way. At the end of its three hours, it delivers.

The Godfather (1972) dir. Francis Ford Coppola Inducted March 2022

Sometimes, we take for granted the classics that are precisely as good and as fun as decades of film lovers have said they are. The Godfather has carried the mantle for 50 years and still feels as fresh and potent now, serving as the basis for countless prestige dramas.

The Vanishing (1988) dir. George Sluizer Inducted September 2021

A bulletproof script supporting a kind of horror that feels genuinely subversive. This movie came out before I was born, and I don’t think anything has been able to tap this vein since. Come out of morbid curiosity. Stay for a tormented portrait of grief. When Stanley Kubrick calls it the scariest movie ever made, you know it’s doing something.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) dir. Coen Brothers Founding member

I love the Coen Brothers a lot, yet among probably seven films I consider to be fantastic, this is the only one currently in the Hall of Fame. How many true comedies are this artfully built? How many have a soundtrack that won Album of the Year at the Grammys? There are many days when I think this is my favorite movie of all time.

The Shining (1980) dir. Stanley Kubrick Founding member

Gun to my head, this might be my favorite movie of all time when you take everything into account. From its timeless Saul Bass art direction to its chilling score and impeccable lead performance, there isn’t anything I love about movies that isn’t represented here.

Parasite (2019) dir. Bong Joon-ho Founding member

One of the best of its decade. One of my favorites of all time. It put me on to Bong Joon-ho, who I now call one of my favorite directors. He has movies I may even like more, depending on the day, but this is his masterpiece. It’s a modern Hitchcock on family and class that somehow beat the Oscars game and restored faith in the mainstream movie system.

There Will Be Blood (2007) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson Founding member

Paul Thomas Anderson has been a genius since his early 20s. He made an earlier play at a legendary movie with Magnolia, but in There Will Be Blood, he managed to connect. It’s 21st-century Citizen Kane centered around an awe-inspiring Daniel Day-Lewis––extremely rewatchable in that sometimes you crave perfection.

Se7en (1995) dir. David Fincher Founding member

There are darker films on this list, but none feature Brad Pitt or raked in more than $300 million at the worldwide box office. Here, Fincher states something truly deplorable about humanity and scarcely softens his blow. Modern noir meets Hollywood in all the best ways.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme Founding member

A movie about a killer starring an all-time horror movie villain that’s less about him than it is about the woman he squares off with. Jodie Foster probably doesn’t get enough credit for playing the pivotal role in the last movie to sweep the major categories at the Oscars.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2014) dir. Derek Cianfrance Founding member

I saw this in theaters in college, and it knocked my head off my shoulders. Maybe it’s not quite as masterful as I thought it was at 21 years old, but I don’t love it any less. What a cast. What a soundtrack.

The Squid and the Whale (2005) dir. Noah Baumbach Founding member

A deeply hilarious movie about a splintering family of unlikable people. Not only was this my introduction to Noah Baumbach and Jesse Eisenberg, but it’s the first indie movie I ever fell in love with. Also, give it credit for clearly providing a roadmap for Eisenberg’s role as Zuckerberg in The Social Network.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. Michel Gondry Founding member

I love a good supernatural romance, and nobody is better suited for it than Michel Gondry. For this type of story to survive the hipster, navel-gazing reckoning that came for a lot of pop culture of this era, it needed to be really good, and it is.

The Social Network (2010) dir. David Fincher Founding member

It’s hard to explain how silly “a movie about Facebook” seemed in 2010. Yet for as much as Fincher had his finger on what was coming, he still probably went too easy on Zuckerberg. This is still a movie that saw the future.

Old Joy (2006) dir. Kelly Reichardt Founding member

At just 73 minutes, it’s the shortest movie in the hall of fame. It’s also the slightest, as there is hardly any narrative here. Yet it shook me deeply, not just in its cozy construction and gorgeous soundtrack but also in its intimate portrayal of male friendship.

Palm Springs (2020) dir. Max Barbakow Founding member

If it’s uncool to think this movie is incredible, then maybe I don’t want to be cool. Finding someone to spend the rest of your life with is a miracle, and Palm Springs manifests that supernatural occurrence in a way that’s more literal (and charming and hilarious).

The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019) dir. Joe Talbot Founding member

The most underrated movie in an underrated movie year means nobody seems to hold The Last Black Man in San Francisco in much regard. It’s one of the prettiest movies of its decade and serves as a heartbreaking portrait of friendship, identity, and belonging in an ever-changing world.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) dir. Quentin Tarantino Founding member

One could criticize this movie for being long and unfocused. First, those people probably don’t like hang-out movies, and their opinions should be discounted. Second, not many hang-out movies are able to successfully pull off the kinds of things this movie does. I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve seen since 2019 that I wish were just doing this.

Before Sunset (2004) dir. Richard Linklater Founding member

A perfect 80 minutes of understated chemistry, dialogue, and acting which also contains 30 minutes of abject perfection to close things out. I’m not putting the entire trilogy on here (although I could), but this one is the perfect encapsulation of its magic.

Michael Clayton (2007) dir. Tony Gilroy Founding member

It’s hard to make a legal thriller much better, yet Michael Clayton succeeds in being so much more than that. For all about this that’s narratively satisfying in the most basic sense, it also dares to flirt outside the lines, elevating it to so much more than a movie about a fixer.

Sorcerer (1977) dir. William Friedkin Founding member

It's one of the best elevator pitches in movie history, and it delivers on every single promise it makes. It’s both better and more thrilling than both Friedkin’s The Exorcist and The French Connection.

The Town (2010) dir. Ben Affleck Founding member

It’s doing the staid cops vs. robbers thing but doing it in such a relentlessly fun way that it circles back around to being impressive. Ben Affleck knows exactly how movies work and is really good at this.

The Descendants (2011) dir. Alexander Payne Founding member

This won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and still feels like it hasn’t lasted in the way it should. It’s a dramedy with deep dramatic stakes that also contains better jokes than many straight comedies do. It’s also shot in Hawaii, earning it bonus points in the rewatchable sense.

Catch Me If You Can (2002) dir. Steven Spielberg Founding member

Perhaps sacrilegious, but this is my favorite Spielberg movie, overlapping with one of my favorite Hanks performances and one of my favorite Leo performances. Watch it as a con-man thriller, or watch it as a sad depiction of trust, truth, and family.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) dir. Quentin Tarantino Founding member

At some point, this movie became unfashionable to love alongside some of Tarantino’s more acclaimed works, but it’s what I want from him. A story of sacrificial love alongside a scene featuring Hitler getting pumped full of bullets is just one way this manages to have its cake and eat it, too.

Boyhood (2014) dir. Richard Linklater Founding member

It’s a shame this movie’s production schedule stole the narrative because it’s given the movie the stain of gimmickry. But I have a hard time not falling for a swing this big, attempting to distill something as universal as childhood, and mostly succeeding.

Gone Girl (2014) dir. David Fincher Founding member

Airport paperback pulp as high art, delivering the same type of guilty schadenfreude one might receive from reading a celebrity gossip magazine. Affleck and Pike are good here, for sure. But this show belongs to Fincher and Gillian Flynn, who wrote the story.

The Sandlot (1993) dir. David Mickey Evans Founding member

A love letter to the childhood of suburban America. Very little of my actual upbringing mirrors this, yet it still feels like it was pulled from my memories.

Field of Dreams (1989) dir. Phil Alden Robinson Founding member

Pouring it on insanely thick yet sticking enough that I love it dearly. It’s a movie about America’s pastime that is not patriotic and even confronts some of our nation’s sins, choosing instead to focus on baseball’s (supernatural) ability to connect generations. Rob Manfred should be forced to watch this monthly.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) dir. Nicholas Stoller Founding member

One of the best romcoms of the 21st century, nailing all the required elements: Killer jokes, sympathetic and attractive leads, an alluring location, and a musical about Dracula.

I Love You, Man (2009) dir. John Hamburg Founding member

The best movie ever made about the Dudes Rock movement. I think this was the final entry in this very particular kind of sub-genre starring these kinds of actors. What a way to end an era.

Moneyball (2011) dir. Bennett Miller Founding member

Perhaps more illogical than a really good movie about Facebook is an emotionally stirring movie about Billy Beane. There’s a more obvious version of this that’s about number crunching and toppling the machine, but this is far more interested in tying career success to love and passion.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) dir. Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Founding member

I’m not sure a major studio romcom has been better since. Come for a bunch of actors you love doing Their Thing really well. Stay for a climactic reveal that’s one of my favorite movie theater memories ever.

Only God Forgives (2013) dir. Nicolas Winding Refn Founding member

I actually looked on Letterboxd and was able to determine that this is the lowest-rated movie on this list, which makes me even more certain of its inclusion. Russo's soulless Gray Man dared to tread in these waters, and it made me furious. Only God Forgives is a movie more concerned with being lethally cool than conventionally good, and I love it for that.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) dir. Alfonso Cuarón Founding member

Harry Potter means more to me than it should, and The Prisoner of Azkaban, in which Cuarón plunged the story to deeper depths, is the movie that secured the franchise’s ability to age with me. Anyone who read the books knew it was coming, but Cuarón managed the tonal shift wonderfully. I wish he were crazy enough to direct more of the series.

Mulholland Drive (2001) dir. David Lynch Founding member

I’ve tried and failed to fall for Lynch since first seeing Mulholland Drive, but nothing has clicked quite like this. Completely disorienting while driving at clear ideas, it’s a haunting movie crafted by a master. Few movies are paced this well, and few feature a performance as impressive as Naomi Watts here.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018 )dir. Christopher McQuarrie Founding member

Pound-for-pound, this has to be my favorite action movie of all time. Everyone here is doing their schtick really well, but what makes the movie most impressive is that it’s perhaps the only movie I can watch at home and still be gobsmacked in the way I only am in the theater. The IMAX scenes are truly that good.

Uncut Gems (2019) dir. Safdie Brothers Founding member

I keep watching this, fearful I’ll eventually realize it wasn’t as good as I immediately felt, but it hasn’t happened yet. Even if I were to soften on its whirling chaos eventually, there are still the performances—not just Sandler, but Kevin Garnett and the cast of bit players that make this feel lived-in. And that score!