In the first of the "Chicken Run" series, a group of chickens band together to escape their evil owners. Critics generally agreed this animated film was just as much fun for adults as it was for children.

Children of Paradise is considered one of the premier examples of poetic realist filmmaking. It tells the story of charismatic yet mysterious Parisian actress Garance (Arletty) and four very different men, each based on real-life historical figures, who bid for her affections: an actor, a count, a criminal, and a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault). Filmed during World War II, its sensitive evocation of the world's people have marked it as one of the (film article link)greatest French films.

Director Orson Wells stars as Sir John Falstaff in this compilation drawn from Shakespeare's "Henry IV," "Richard II," "Henry V," and "The Merry Wives of Windsor." The top-notch cast includes Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, and Sir John Gielgud. Many critics consider it to be Wells' best work. The filmmaker directed and starred in "Citizen Kane" in 1941.

This noir-ish thriller takes place in 1937 and centers on a private investigator J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson), who gets embroiled in a vicious scheme involving the water supply in Los Angeles. Frequently pointed to as an absolute masterclass in filmmaking, the movie delivers taut writing, exceptional acting, and an ending that goes straight to the bone. Faye Dunaway and John Huston co-star. Despite garnering an impressive 11 Oscar nominations, the film only took home one, for Best Original Screenplay.

Here's a movie so great that when something else is likewise terrific, that thing is often referred to as the "Citizen Kane" of its respective arena. Accordingly, this 1941 film—which depicts the ambitious rise of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles)—has only gotten better with age. It might no longer retain the #1 spot on lists of the greatest films, including this one, but ask the right cinephiles, and they will likely assert "Citizen Kane" is still the best movie of them all. Despite garnering nine Academy Awards, the film only walked away with one, for Best Original Screenplay.

Sticking to his well-established roots, Charlie Chaplin released this primarily silent film three years into the talkie era. Rife with signature pantomime, it follows The Tramp (Chaplin) as he resorts to various extremes while trying to make a buck. It all paves the way for one of cinema's most unforgettable final scenes, during which the story's underlying pathos is laid bare. Hailed as being one of the greatest and most inspiring films, "City Lights" went on to be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry in 1991.

Cléo from 5 to 7 is not a comedy in the way you might be thinking; there are no corny jokes nor an abundance of body-based humor. But it is a comedy in the more traditional sense, with its happy ending and generally positive outlook. The French New Wave film follows a young singer over the course of two hours as she nervously awaits the results of a medical test. Written and directed by Agnès Varda, the film is generally considered by critics to be one of the greatest movies ever made.

Combining fiction with documentary, this film from Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami plays out a real incident of identity theft with the real people who were a part of it. Hossain pretends to be filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who is supposedly looking to film the wealthy Ahankhahs—until Hossain's scheme is uncovered and he's arrested for charges of fraud. The film is (film article link)considered a masterwork and made #17 on the Sight & Sound's Greatest Films of All Time poll.

Star-crossed lovers fight to stay together during the Cold War as they travel through Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia, and Paris. This foreign movie was filmed in black and white and nabbed the 2018 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Director.

A determined group of journalists, activists, and victims takes on corruption and fraud in Romania following a devastating nightclub fire that killed 27 people and injured 180. Dozens of burn victims died in the months that followed from infections they acquired while hospitalized. Former (film article link)President Barack Obama listed the documentary as one of his favorite films in 2020.

Cool Hand Luke is one of the most influential prison dramas—films that often present ideas around the caging of the human spirit as a thematic conflict. Paul Newman portrays a charismatic hero, a prisoner infused with an unshakeable rebellious spirit in the face of relentlessly oppressive authority.

Michelle Yeoh impacted Hollywood screens with this epic action film set in 19th-century imperial China. The film features Yeoh's character, who embarks on an epic chase to retrieve her lover's sword, which was stolen from her. The film won four Academy Awards the following year, including Best Foreign Language Film.

This influential submarine thriller captures the claustrophobic isolation of German World War II soldiers who endure harrowing combat missions and mishaps. The film's success launched German filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen as a major director of Hollywood action movies, including the ocean-set thrillers "The Perfect Storm" and "Poseidon."

Wong Kar-wai is one of (film article link)Hong Kong's major directors, renowned for his vibrant, dreamlike visual style that brings epic emotional scope to the everyday lives of his characters. "Days of Being Wild" is an early career drama that follows a listless young man searching for his birth mother while stringing along women vying for his heart.

Director Spike Lee details events that led to a race riot between residents in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. The events center around an Italian American pizza parlor owner named Sal (Danny Aiello), his employee Mookie (Spike Lee), and Mookie's friend Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito). Some see this groundbreaking movie as a (film article link)Black nationalist manifesto, as well as one of the most important films of its time.

A married couple played by Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland are mourning the death of their daughter when they meet a psychic in Venice who says she can see their lost child. The two leads met initially on the set, and the first scene they shot was the film's well-known sex scene. The scene was removed by censors when the movie was released in Ireland, and it had to be cut by nine frames, which was less than a half second, to avoid being rated X in the United States.

In this 1944 film noir from Billy Wilder, an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) is lured into a murderous plot by a gorgeous femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck). While accomplished mystery author Raymond Chandler helped write the screenplay and even has a (film article link)secret cameo in the film, the movie itself is based on a book by James M. Cain. Another one of Cain's novels, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," featured a similar premise and was adapted twice for the big screen. Despite being nominated for seven Academy Awards, it didn't win any.

Acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick enters the list with 1964's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," a movie that puts the "dark" in dark comedy. In the film, a series of miscommunications lead to a nuclear showdown between the world's most powerful nations. As intentionally ridiculous as the movie is, an early version of the script was even more so, with aliens watching the whole fiasco from space. The film garnered four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.

A widowed Japanese stage actor and director seeks a chauffeur for his car while he takes on work directing a new play. He has initial misgivings about the woman appointed to him, 20-something Misaki, but the two slowly form a special bond. The film's title references the Beatles' song of the same name, which director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi had (film article link)wanted to use; however, getting permission to use the song proved too difficult.

Groucho Marx is Rufus T Firefly, head of the country of Fredonia, which badly needs a financial boost from Mrs. Gloria Teasdale, played by Margaret Dumont. Harpo and Chico Marx play spies from a neighboring country hoping to overthrow Freedonia. In Italy, Benito Mussolini saw the movie as an affront and banned it. It was the last Marx Brothers' movie with Zeppo Marx, who quit the family troupe.

Dumbo is the beloved story of a baby elephant ridiculed for his giant ears. It was Disney's most financially successful movie at the time, following the costly productions of "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia." Cels from the movie are extremely rare. Most were fragile and were destroyed.

Director Christopher Nolan's gripping World War II drama recounts the Battle of Dunkirk when hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were forced to evacuate a French coastal town as the German enemy closed in. From the first scene to the last, the film delivers a pulse-pounding ride, pitting various soldiers against what seems to be their inevitable demise. Some journalists (film article link)criticized the film for its supposed inaccuracies, but critics and audiences definitely didn't mind.

In postwar Tokyo, Noriko is 28 and still single, but she lives a happy life nonetheless with her extended family. However, that same family would prefer Noriko get married. When she's proposed to by her father's older business associate, Noriko finds her heart torn in two directions as her now-widowed childhood friend also reappears in her life. As with a number of Ozu's postwar films, "Early Summer" examines rifts between family generations and the increased independence of women.

Writer-director Bo Burnham highlights the awkwardness of adolescence through the story of an eighth-grader named Kayla (Elsie Fisher). The audience watches Kayla as she makes it through the last week of middle school.

French director Louis Malle's debut film, a crime thriller with a soundtrack (film article link)Miles Davis and his crew improvised over two days, imbues film noir with a jazz edge. An adulterous couple plots a murderous scheme that leaves one of them locked in an elevator in scenes that teem with claustrophobic suspense. One thing after another goes awry as the crimes go from bad to worse on a twisting path toward doom.

Originally intended as legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's last film, "Fanny and Alexander" tells the semi-autobiographical tale of two children coming of age in a theatrical Swedish family in the early 1900s. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film. Bergman described it as the sum total of his life as a filmmaker.

The animated collection of works of classical music won an honorary Academy Award for its creation of visualized music and for advancing the use of sound in motion pictures. Accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra, (film article link)the stories include "Night on Bald Mountain" and Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The film's creators considered, but abandoned, the idea of spraying scents into theaters such as jasmine for the "Waltz of the Flowers" segment and incense for "Ave Maria."

A clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) sets out to find his lost son Nemo after the two become separated in the Great Barrier Reef. Along the way, Marlin meets up with forgetful Pacific regal blue tang Dory (Ellen DeGeneres). The animated film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and spawned a successful sequel 13 years later.

This black comedy tackles a marriage that dissolves under the pressure of an impending avalanche. Set in the French Alps, the movie was widely praised for its cinematography and almost too awkward to watch humor. An English-language version of the story, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell ("Downhill"), was released in 2020.

The movie follows film star and comedian Fanny Brice and her relationship with gambler Nicky Arnstein. Barbra Streisand won an Academy Award for her role in this musical comedy.

Released in two parts due to its over-five-hour running time, this popular, innovative spectacle of Indian cinema offers a revision of the gangster genre that references both classic and contemporary movies in its kinetic, colorful style. Exuberant long takes, vibrant action scenes, and ultra-violence accompany this mafia revenge tale set across 70 years.

Set in Israel, the story follows a woman seeking a divorce from a cruel husband but must contend with rabbinical law, which favors the will of men. The acclaimed drama, which examines a woman caught in a patriarchal system, is the third film in a series about fraught marriage. Ronit Elkabetz (who also stars in the lead role) co-directed "Gett," a co-production of Israel, Germany, and France, with her brother Shlomi Elkabetz. The result of their effort is what The New York Times called a "(film article link)gripping cinema from start to finish."

Adapted from Daniel Clowes' comic book of the same name, "Ghost World" stars an angsty Scarlett Johansson alongside Thora Birch. The film explores the friendship of two teenage girls as they leave high school. (film article link)New York Times critic A.O. Scott said the film was "the best depiction of teenage eccentricity since 'Rushmore.'"

Sagas don't get much more sweeping than this four-hour epic from 1939. Based on Margaret Mitchell's equally voluminous novel, "Gone with the Wind" depicts the ongoing struggles of an eccentric woman named Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), as she encounters hardship and romance during the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction era. Meanwhile, getting the film made in the first place was its own sweeping saga. Specifically, the studio went through numerous directors, writers, and actors before arriving at the final product. The classic film walked away with 10 of the 13 awards for which it was nominated at the 12th Academy Awards.

A stark departure from Yasujirô Ozu's typical refined and somber style, "Good Morning" is a Japanese comedy about two boys who stop speaking to protest their parents' decision to not buy a TV. Shot in color and filled with juvenile humor, the delightful movie is a loose remake of an earlier black-and-white silent film of Ozu's called "I Was Born, But…"

In Nazi-occupied France, two young boys develop a close bond despite their differences while at a Catholic boarding school. However, Julien doesn't realize that his new friend, Jean, is a Jew seeking refuge from the Holocaust and that the school's headmaster is working to protect him. The film is (film article link)semi-autobiographical, based in part on a disturbing experience from director Louis Malle's own childhood. The film won the Golden Lion at the 1987 Venice Film Festival.

Few movies are more quotable or compulsively watchable than 1990's "Goodfellas," which chronicles the rise and fall of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a criminal with close ties to the Italian American mafia. Between the deft camerawork, the brilliant acting, the gripping violence, and the iconic soundtrack, the movie is quite simply a gift that keeps on giving, revealing new details with every viewing. A number of actors in the film would later appear in HBO's hit show "The Sopranos," and that's no coincidence. After all, "The Sopranos" creator (film article link)David Chase did once refer to "Goodfellas" as his Koran. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, earning Joe Pesci the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Robert Altman directs this mystery in which the lives of both the guests and servants are upended when a murder occurs at a party. The ensemble cast includes Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith, and Kristin Scott Thomas, among others.

Based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka, "Grave of the Fireflies" follows teenage Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and his younger sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) as they struggle to survive World War II-era Japan in the aftermath of an American firebombing attack. Roger Ebert considered it to be one of the (film article link)most powerful war movies ever made. To this day, "Grave of the Fireflies" stands out as one of the most mature and resonant Studio Ghibli films.

Before wowing critics with 2018's "Roma," director Alfonso Cuarón unleashed "Gravity" in 2013. The film is about two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) who must fight for survival after their shuttle gets destroyed. By capitalizing on the latest 3D technology, the film brought viewers along for the ride, proverbially speaking. Between that and the engaging narrative, the movie earned heaping amounts of critical acclaim and (film article link)over $700 million at the box office.

A live recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit Broadway musical, "(film article link)Hamilton," was recorded in 2015 and features the play's original cast, including Miranda as the titular Alexander Hamilton. Based on Ron Chernow's biography of the founding father, the show tells the real-life tale of Hamilton's life from childhood to death. Originally slated to be released in 2021, the movie hit streaming services early as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This 1986 comedy-drama written and directed by Woody Allen follows a family over two years culminating in a Thanksgiving dinner. The cast includes Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Dianne Wiest, Carrie Fisher, and Farrow's real-life mother Maureen O'Sullivan. The film won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Masaki Kobayashi's masterpiece set in 17th-century feudal Japan features striking widescreen compositions that depict the rebellion beneath a staid tradition of samurai rules and conventions. Intense violence and arresting fight scenes surround the tragedy of a family caught up in the upheaval within a brutal regime reliant on the suicidal practice of Harakiri.

The final film from Russian director Aleksei German follows a team of scientists to a distant planet, where civilization is in the midst of its own Dark Ages. From this premise swells a philosophical treatise with no shortage of contemporary undertones. It wasarticle link)made over several years and completed after German's death in 2013.

Director Spike Jonze shows viewers a future in which artificial intelligence can help with loneliness. The film tells the story of a quiet, solitary Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) falling in love with his operating system Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). New York Times critic Manohla Dargis says the film is a touching and (film article link)remarkably believable love story between man and machine.

In "High and Low," a Japanese executive's comfortable life is upended when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Soon, his entire family is under threat. The movie is loosely based on the Ed McBain novel "King's Ransom," and stands as a strong example of a Japanese police procedural. (film article link)Criterion describes the movie as "a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society."

The feature debut from Iranian director Panah Panahi follows an idiosyncratic family on a road trip across the desolate countryside. As memories and tensions arise within the confines of their vehicle, the story wrangles in broader examinations of Iranian society. Expect to cry tears of both joy and sorrow before the final credits roll.

One of the most acclaimed documentaries of all time, 1994's "Hoop Dreams" follows two high school basketball players from inner-city Chicago as they come up against various challenges in pursuit of their goals. Were this a Hollywood film, it would probably have a happier ending. Instead, it's an utterly engaging snapshot of American life in its triumphs and failures alike.

Using an unfinished novel by writer and social critic James Baldwin as its foundation, this award-winning documentary explores the history of race in America. Against a harrowing tapestry of archival footage, actor Samuel L. Jackson reads excerpts from "Remember This House," Baldwin's intended tribute to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers. Interspersed throughout are interviews with Baldwin himself, whose words continue to emanate with poignancy to this day.

This sardonic 1953 film follows five young men in Italy who are facing a turning point in their lives. In English, the title roughly translates to "The Overgrown Teenagers" or "The Big Loafers." The movie was Fellini's third feature.