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100 Movies to See Before You Die


by The Yahoo! Movies Editorial Staff
100 Movies to See Before You Die: The Modern Classics

It's easy for classic movie lovers to be nostalgic for Hollywood's "Golden Age" of the 1930s and '40s. And many cineastes will tell you that film as an art reached its peak in the late '60s and early '70s. But the truth is there have been remarkable movies made in the 1990s and 2000s. From big budget blockbusters, to breakout independent films, to discoveries from around the world, we have seen exciting and groundbreaking cinematic work created in the last two decades.

For our second installment of our "100 Movies to See Before You Die," we decided to highlight these "Modern Classics" made between 1990 and 2009. Like our first list, we chose movies based on their artistry, originality, and pure cinematic entertainment. And even we were surprised by the results.

While big stars like George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Morgan Freeman are well-represented on the list with three films each, it's acclaimed actress Catherine Keener who appears in the most movies. By working in both independent films like "Being John Malkovich" and studio productions like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," she personifies the best of the era.

Look through the list below to see our choices for the top movies made in the last twenty years. Click on a title to add your comments about that particular choice. And take a look at the original "100 Movies to See Before You Die" to see the seventeen films that appear on both lists.

editors_pickWHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT
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1990

  • Goodfellas

    DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese

    STARRING: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci

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  • Misery

    DIRECTED BY: Rob Reiner

    STARRING: James Caan, Kathy Bates

1991
1992
1993

  • Dazed and Confused

    DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater

    STARRING: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey

  • Groundhog Day

    DIRECTED BY: Harold Ramis

    STARRING: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Stephen Tobolowsky

  • Schindler's List

    DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg

    STARRING: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes

1994
1995

  • Babe

    DIRECTED BY: Chris Noonan

    STARRING: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski

  • Before Sunrise

    DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater

    STARRING: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

  • Clueless

    DIRECTED BY: Amy Heckerling

    STARRING: Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy

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  • Heat

    DIRECTED BY: Michael Mann

    STARRING: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer

  • Living in Oblivion

    DIRECTED BY: Tom DeCillo

    STARRING: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener

  • Sense and Sensibility

    DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee

    STARRING: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant

  • Toy Story

    DIRECTED BY: John Lasseter

    STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen

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  • The Usual Suspects

    DIRECTED BY: Bryan Singer

    STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri

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1996

  • Big Night

    DIRECTED BY: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci

    STARRING: Tony Shaloub, Stanley Tucci, Ian Holm

  • Dead Man

    DIRECTED BY: Jim Jarmusch

    STARRING: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen

  • Fargo

    DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen

    STARRING: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy

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  • Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku kidotai)

    DIRECTED BY: Mamoru Oshii

    STARRING: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka

  • Lone Star

    DIRECTED BY: John Sayles

    STARRING: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey,

  • Scream

    DIRECTED BY: Wes Craven

    STARRING: Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore

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  • Secrets & Lies

    DIRECTED BY: Mike Leigh

    STARRING: Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Timothy Spall

  • Sling Blade

    DIRECTED BY: Billy Bob Thornton

    STARRING: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Lucas Black

  • Swingers

    DIRECTED BY: Doug Liman

    STARRING: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham

  • Trainspotting

    DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle

    STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle

1997

  • Boogie Nights

    DIRECTED BY: Paul Thomas Anderson

    STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore

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  • Eve's Bayou

    DIRECTED BY: Kasi Lemmons

    STARRING: Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan

  • L.A. Confidential

    DIRECTED BY: Curtis Hanson

    STARRING: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey

  • The Sweet Hereafter

    DIRECTED BY: Atom Egoyan

    STARRING: Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Polley

  • Titanic

    DIRECTED BY: James Cameron

    STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

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1998

  • The Big Lebowski

    DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen

    STARRING: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore

  • Fireworks (Hana-bi)

    DIRECTED BY: Takeshi Kitano

    STARRING: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto

  • Out of Sight

    DIRECTED BY: Steven Soderbergh

    STARRING: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Catherine Keener

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  • Saving Private Ryan

    DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg

    STARRING: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore

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  • There's Something About Mary

    DIRECTED BY: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly

    STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller

1999

  • All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre)

    DIRECTED BY: Pedro Almodovar

    STARRING: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz

  • American Beauty

    DIRECTED BY: Sam Mendes

    STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch

  • Being John Malkovich

    DIRECTED BY: Spike Jonze

    STARRING: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich

  • Election

    DIRECTED BY: Alexander Payne

    STARRING: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein

  • Fight Club

    DIRECTED BY: David Fincher

    STARRING: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton

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  • The Matrix

    DIRECTED BY: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski

    STARRING: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne

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  • Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime)

    DIRECTED BY: Hayao Miyazaki

    STARRING: Yoji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida

  • Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)

    DIRECTED BY: Tom Tykwer

    STARRING: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu

  • The Sixth Sense

    DIRECTED BY: M. Night Shyamalan

    STARRING: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette

  • Three Kings

    DIRECTED BY: David O. Russell

    STARRING: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube

2000

  • Almost Famous

    DIRECTED BY: Cameron Crowe

    STARRING: Patrick Fugit, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson

  • Best in Show

    DIRECTED BY: Christopher Guest

    STARRING: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara

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  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)

    DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee

    STARRING: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang

  • Yi Yi

    DIRECTED BY: Edward Yang

    STARRING: Wu Nien-jen, Issey Ogata, Elaine Jin

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2001
2002

  • The Pianist

    DIRECTED BY: Roman Polanski

    STARRING: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Fox

  • Y Tu Mama Tambien

    DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron

    STARRING: Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna

2003

  • City of God (Cidade de Deus)

    DIRECTED BY: Fernando Meirelles

    STARRING: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino De Hora Phellipe, Seu Jorge

  • Elephant

    DIRECTED BY: Gus Van Sant

    STARRING: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson

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  • Finding Nemo

    DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton

    STARRING: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres

2004
2005

  • The 40-Year-Old Virgin

    DIRECTED BY: Judd Apatow

    STARRING: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Seth Rogen

  • Brokeback Mountain

    DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee

    STARRING: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal

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  • A History of Violence

    DIRECTED BY: David Cronenberg

    STARRING: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris

  • Oldboy

    DIRECTED BY: Park Chan-wook

    STARRING: Choi Min-shik, Kang Hye-jeong

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2006
2007
2008

  • The Dark Knight

    DIRECTED BY: Christopher Nolan

    STARRING: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

  • Slumdog Millionaire

    DIRECTED BY: Danny Boyle

    STARRING: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto

  • WALL-E

    DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton

    STARRING: Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin

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2009

  • Avatar

    DIRECTED BY: James Cameron

    STARRING: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

  • The Hurt Locker

    DIRECTED BY: Kathryn Bigelow

    STARRING: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

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  • Inglourious Basterds

    DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino

    STARRING: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent
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