1. Casablanca (1942)
Director: Michael Curtiz.
Writers: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein.
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid.
During World War II, Europeans who were fleeing from the Germans, sought refuge in America. But to get there they would first have to go Casablanca and once they get there, they have to obtain exit visas which are not very easy to come by. Now the hottest spot in all of Casablanca is Rick's Cafe which is operated by Rick Blaine, an American expatriate, who for some reason can't return there, and he is also extremely cynical. Now it seems that two German couriers were killed and the documents they were carrying were taken. Now one of Rick's regulars, Ugarte entrusts to him some letters of transit, which he intends to sell but before he does he is arrested for killing the couriers. Captain Renault, the Chief of Police, who is neutral in his political views, informs Rick that Victor Laszlo, the European Resistance leader, is in Casablanca and will do anything to get an exit visa but Renault has been "told" by Major Strasser of the Gestapo, to keep Laszlo in Casablanca. Laszlo goes to Rick's to meet Ugarte, because he was the one Ugarte was going to sell the letters to. But since Ugarte was arrested he has to find another way. Accompanying him is Ilsa Lund, who knew Rick when he was in Paris, and when they meet some of Rick's old wounds reopen. It is obvious that Rick's stone heart was because of her leaving him. And when they learn that Rick has the letters, he refuses to give them to him, because "he doesn't stick his neck out for anyone".
2. The Deer Hunter (1978)
Director: Michael Cimino.
Writers: Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn.
Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale
Michael, Nick, and Steven are three buddies from the steel mill town of Clairton, Penn.They are like schoolmates, hanging out in a local bar and enjoying weekends of deer-hunting. Michael and Nick are also both in love with Linda, who seems to juggle both of the men. But their placid life is soon to be changed after they are enlisted in the airborne infantry of Vietnam. So they all celebrate a goodbye at Steven's wedding and they leave to Vietnam, where they are captured by the enemy and forced to play a game of Russian Roulette. They escape and return home, but their lives are forever changed. Nick stays in Vietnam, Michael returns to Linda, and Steven is handicapped after losing a leg in the war.
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Director: Milos Forman.
Writers: Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman.
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito.
McMurphy, a man with several assault convictions to his name, finds himself in jail once again. This time, the charge is statutory rape when it turns out that his girlfriend had lied about being eighteen, and was, in fact, fifteen (or, as McMurphy puts it, "fifteen going on thirty-five"). Rather than spend his time in jail, he convinces the guards that he's crazy enough to need psychiatric care and is sent to a hospital. He fits in frighteningly well, and his different point of view actually begins to cause some of the patients to progress. Nurse Ratched becomes his personal cross to bear as his resistance to the hospital routine gets on her nerves.
4. Goodfellas (1990)
Director: Martin Scorsese.
Writers: Nicholas Pileggi, Nicholas Pileggi.
Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci.
The lowly, blue-collar side of New York's Italian mafia is explored in this crime biopic of wiseguy Henry Hill. As he makes his way from strapping young petty criminal, to big-time thief, to middle-aged cocaine addict and dealer, the film explores in detail the rules and traditions of organized crime. Watching the rise and fall of Hill and his two counterparts, the slick jack-of-all-trades criminal Jimmy Conway and the brutish, intimidating Tommy DeVito, this true story realistically explores the core, blue-collar part of the mob.
5. Forrest Gump (1994)
Director: Robert Zemeckis.
Writers: Winston Groom, Eric Roth.
Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise.
The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump and his meeting with the love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the most important people and events in America from the late 1950's through the 1970's including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in Vietnam, etc. The problem is, he's too stupid to realize the significance of his actions. Forrest becomes representative of the baby boomer generation having walked through life blindly.
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Writers: Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas.
Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman.
Spring 1936. In the thick jungle of the South American continent, a renowned archeologist and expert on the occult is studying fragments of a map, when one of his exploration party pulls a gun. The archeologist pulls out a bullwhip and with such disarms the turncoat, sending him running - thus does Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones stay alive. He and a guide enter a dank and oppressively vast cave that contains several traps created by the ancient race which hid inside a famous handheld statue; Indy barely escapes such traps but is cornered by native tribesmen served by Belloq, an old enemy who arrogantly makes off with the statue, while Indy must flee for his life and escape on a friend's seaplane. Back in the US two agents from US Army intelligence tell him of Nazi German activities in archeology, including a gigantic excavation site in Egypt - a site that an intercepted cable indicates to Indy is the location of the Ark of the Covenant, the powerful chest bearing the Ten Commandments, that the Nazis can use to obliterate any enemy. Indy must recruit a former girlfriend (the daughter of his old professor) and an old chum in Cairo to infiltrate the Nazi site and make off with the Ark, but along the way Indy gets involved in a series of fights, chases, and traps, before the Nazis learn the full power of the Ark.
7. The Godfather (1972)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola.
Writers: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola.
Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan.
Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen, the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Director: Stanley Kubrick.
Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke.
Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester.
When the world is ruled by apes, one particular group discovers a mysterious rectangular monolith near their home, which imparts upon them the knowledge of tool use, and enables them to evolve into people. A similar monolith is discovered on the moon, and it is determined to have come from an area near Jupiter. Astronaut Dave Bowman, along with four companions, sets off for Jupiter on a spaceship controlled by HAL 9000, a revolutionary computer system that is every bit humankind's equal--and perhaps its superior. When HAL endangers the crew's lives for the sake of the mission, Bowman will have to first overcome the computer, then travel to the birthplace of the monolith.
9. Citizen Kane (1941)
Director: Orson Welles.
Writers: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles.
Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore.
Multimillionaire newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies alone in his extravagant mansion, Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud". In an attempt to figure out the meaning of this word, a reporter tracks down the people who worked and lived with Kane; they tell their stories in a series of flashbacks that reveal much about Kane's life but not enough to unlock the riddle of his dying breath.
10. Schindler's List (1993)
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Writers: Thomas Keneally, Steven Zaillian.
Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley.
"Schindler's List" is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labor to start a factory in occupied Poland. As World War II progresses, and the fate of the Jews becomes more and more clear, Schindler's motivations switch from profit to human sympathy and he is able to save over 1100 Jews from death in the gas chambers.