Movie Genre: Drama
Fictional or non-fictional movies where the story takes place during the 20th and/or 21st century. The titles are not in any special order. Does not include war time related films. They are listed under their own genre.
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1.
A Beautiful Mind
(2001)
After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish. (135 mins.)
Director: Ron Howard
2.
Adaptation.
(2002)
A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean for the screen. (114 mins.)
Director: Spike Jonze
3.
Almost Famous
(2000)
A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies it on their concert tour. (122 mins.)
Director: Cameron Crowe
4.
American Beauty
(1999)
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend. (122 mins.)
Director: Sam Mendes
5.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
(1991)
Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians... (189 mins.)
Director: Hector Babenco
6.
August Rush
(2007)
A drama with fairy tale elements, where an orphaned musical prodigy uses his gift as a clue to finding his birth parents. (114 mins.)
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
7.
Australia
(2008)
Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand. (165 mins.)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
8.
Bad Lieutenant
(1992)
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness. (96 mins.)
Director: Abel Ferrara
9.
Being John Malkovich
(1999)
A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich. (112 mins.)
Director: Spike Jonze
10.
Brokeback Mountain
(2005)
The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years. (134 mins.)
Director: Ang Lee
11.
Cast Away
(2000)
A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island. (143 mins.)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
12.
Chicago
(2002)
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago. (113 mins.)
Director: Rob Marshall
13.
Chocolat
(2000)
A woman and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a small French village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community. (121 mins.)
Director: Lasse Hallström
14.
Crazy Heart
(2009)
A faded country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him. (112 mins.)
Director: Scott Cooper
15.
Dead Man Walking
(1995)
A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families. (122 mins.)
Director: Tim Robbins
16.
Dead Poets Society
(1989)
English teacher John Keating inspires his students to look at poetry with a different perspective of authentic knowledge and feelings. (128 mins.)
Director: Peter Weir
17.
Doctor Zhivago
(1965)
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during the First World War and then the October Revolution. (197 mins.)
Director: David Lean
18.
Doubt
(2008)
A Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student. (104 mins.)
Director: John Patrick Shanley
19.
Eastern Promises
(2007)
A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family. (100 mins.)
Director: David Cronenberg
20.
Fargo
(1996)
Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson. (98 mins.)
Director: Joel Coen
21.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986)
A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that. (103 mins.)
Director: John Hughes
22.
Forrest Gump
(1994)
Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him. (142 mins.)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
23.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
(1999)
An African American mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob. (116 mins.)
Director: Jim Jarmusch
24.
Good Will Hunting
(1997)
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life. (126 mins.)
Director: Gus Van Sant
25.
Gran Torino
(2008)
Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino. (116 mins.)
Director: Clint Eastwood
26.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
(2001)
A transsexual punk-rock girl from East Berlin tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the former lover/band-mate who stole her songs. (95 mins.)
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
27.
Inglourious Basterds
(2009)
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same. (153 mins.)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
28.
Instinct
(1999)
When a noted anthropologist who left society to live in the jungle is imprisoned for murder, it's up to a young psychiatrist to get through to him. (126 mins.)
Director: Jon Turteltaub
29.
Legends of the Fall
(1994)
Epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, love and betrayal. (133 mins.)
Director: Edward Zwick
30.
Léon: The Professional
(1994)
Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade. (110 mins.)
Director: Luc Besson
31.
Million Dollar Baby
(2004)
A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. (132 mins.)
Director: Clint Eastwood
32.
Mississippi Burning
(1988)
Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists. (128 mins.)
Director: Alan Parker
33.
Mr. Holland's Opus
(1995)
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher. (143 mins.)
Director: Stephen Herek
34.
Mrs Henderson Presents
(2005)
Laura Henderson buys an old London theater and opens it up as the Windmill, a performance hall which goes down in history for, among other things, its all-nude revues. (103 mins.)
Director: Stephen Frears
35.
No Country for Old Men
(2007)
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande. (122 mins.)
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
36.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
(2003)
Hitman "El Mariachi" becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent and a corrupt Mexican general. (102 mins.)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
37.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975)
A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients. (133 mins.)
Director: Milos Forman
38.
Out of Africa
(1985)
In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter. (161 mins.)
Director: Sydney Pollack
39.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
(2006)
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent. (147 mins.)
Director: Tom Tykwer
40.
Philadelphia
(1993)
When a man with AIDS is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit. (125 mins.)
Director: Jonathan Demme
41.
Powder
(1995)
A young bald albino boy with unique powers shakes up the rural community he lives in. (111 mins.)
Director: Victor Salva
42.
Priest
(1994)
Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache) is torn between his call as a conservative Catholic priest and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover... (105 mins.)
Director: Antonia Bird
43.
Bottle Shock
(2008)
The story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as "Judgment of Paris". (110 mins.)
Director: Randall Miller
44.
I'm Not Rappaport
(1996)
Old Nat Moyer is a talker, a philosopher, and a troublemaker with a fanciful imagination. His companion is Midge Carter... (135 mins.)
Director: Herb Gardner
45.
Reds
(1981)
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States. (195 mins.)
Director: Warren Beatty
46.
Reservoir Dogs
(1992)
After a simple jewelry heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant. (99 mins.)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
47.
Searching for Bobby Fischer
(1993)
A prepubescent chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer. (109 mins.)
Director: Steven Zaillian
48.
Slumdog Millionaire
(2008)
A Mumbai teen reflects on his upbringing in the slums when he is accused of cheating on the Indian Version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" (120 mins.)
Director: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
49.
Swimming with Sharks
(1994)
A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss. (93 mins.)
Director: George Huang
50.
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
"The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. (117 mins.)
Director: Joel Coen
51.
The Breakfast Club
(1985)
Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought. (97 mins.)
Director: John Hughes
52.
The Dresser
(1983)
An effeminate personal assistant of a deteriorating veteran actor struggles to get him through a difficult performance of King Lear. (118 mins.)
Director: Peter Yates
53.
The English Patient
(1996)
At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair. (162 mins.)
Director: Anthony Minghella
54.
The Great Debaters
(2007)
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. (126 mins.)
Director: Denzel Washington
55.
The Green Mile
(1999)
The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift. (189 mins.)
Director: Frank Darabont
56.
The Hunt for Red October
(1990)
In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect or to start a war? (135 mins.)
Director: John McTiernan
57.
The Italian Job
(2003)
After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally. (111 mins.)
Director: F. Gary Gray
58.
The Ninth Gate
(1999)
A rare book dealer, while seeking out the last two copies of a demon text, gets drawn into a conspiracy with supernatural overtones. (133 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
59.
The Painted Veil
(2006)
A British medical doctor fights a cholera epidemic in a small Chinese village, while being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife. (125 mins.)
Director: John Curran
60.
The Right Stuff
(1983)
The story of the original Mercury 7 astronauts and their macho, seat-of-the-pants approach to the space program. (193 mins.)
Director: Philip Kaufman
61.
The Shawshank Redemption
(1994)
Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. (142 mins.)
Director: Frank Darabont
62.
There Will Be Blood
(2007)
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business. (158 mins.)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
63.
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
(1995)
Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly. (115 mins.)
Director: Gary Fleder
64.
Traffic
(2000)
A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business. (147 mins.)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
65.
Winter's Bone
(2010)
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact. (100 mins.)
Director: Debra Granik
66.
With Honors
(1994)
Convinced his thesis will have him graduate with honors from Harvard University, a stuffy student finds himself at the mercy of a homeless man's demands when he holds the papers hostage. (103 mins.)
Director: Alek Keshishian
67.
Pirate Radio
(2009)
A band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that wanted classical music, and nothing else, on the airwaves. (135 mins.)
Director: Richard Curtis
68.
Titanic
(1997)
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind, but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic. (194 mins.)
Director: James Cameron
69.
House of Tolerance
(2011)
Life in an elegant Parisian brothel in the early twentieth century. The madam essentially owns the women: their expenses exceed earnings... (122 mins.)
Director: Bertrand Bonello
70.
Rampart
(2011)
Set in 1999 Los Angeles, veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, works to take care of his family, and struggles for his own survival. (108 mins.)
Director: Oren Moverman