Some films don’t just entertain—they change the way we see cinema, storytelling, and even life itself. As a filmmaker and cinephile, these are the movies that have left a lasting impact on me, shaping my vision, inspiring my craft, and fueling my ion for cinema. Each one has taught me something—about cinematography, narrative, emotion, or the sheer magic of filmmaking.
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Taxi Driver
1976
8.2 (981k)# 1
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action.
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Citizen Kane
1941
8.3 (482k)# 2
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.' s
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Mad Max: Fury Road
2015
8.1 (1m)# 3
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
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Suspiria
2018
6.7 (100k)# 4
A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.
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Drive
2011
7.8 (737k)# 5
Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.
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Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
7.2 (22k)# 6
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
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2001: A Space Odyssey
1968
8.3 (755k)# 7
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
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The Turin Horse
2011
7.7 (20k)# 8
A monumental windstorm and an abused horse's refusal to work or eat signal the beginning of the end for a poor farmer and his daughter.
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Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
2019
7.6 (912k)# 9
Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…
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Fight Club
1999
8.8 (2m)# 10
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
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Memories of Murder
2003
8.1 (242k)# 11
During the late 1980s, two detectives in a South Korean province attempt to solve the nation's first series of rape-and-murder cases.
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The Great Beauty
2013
7.7 (102k)# 12
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
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There Will Be Blood
2007
8.2 (672k)# 13
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
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They Live
1988
7.2 (155k)# 14
A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1966
8.8 (856k)# 15
While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.
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Caliber 9
1972
7.4 (5k)# 16
Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.
