Keith Simanton's Top 30 Hidden Gems from the Last 30 Years
Well, "hidden" is debatable but I wish these 30 films had received more notice during their theatrical runs.
IMDb celebrates 30 years of movies and, as we stand at a critical
juncture for the art form, it's heartening that there's been 30 years of these films to continue to inspire the theatrical experience. I've also made a rule for myself which is that if a film appears on one list it cannot appear on another. These were gawd-awfully painful to create, and movies can slide on and off of it with the passing years. Thus I'll also include earlier year-end lists: 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010
Top 30 International Movies from the Last 30 Years -
Top 30 Movies from the Last 30 Years -
Top 30 Entertainments -
Top 30 Animated/Family Films -
by Keith Simanton, Senior Film Editor
IMDb celebrates 30 years of movies and, as we stand at a critical
juncture for the art form, it's heartening that there's been 30 years of these films to continue to inspire the theatrical experience. I've also made a rule for myself which is that if a film appears on one list it cannot appear on another. These were gawd-awfully painful to create, and movies can slide on and off of it with the passing years. Thus I'll also include earlier year-end lists: 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010
Top 30 International Movies from the Last 30 Years -
Top 30 Movies from the Last 30 Years -
Top 30 Entertainments -
Top 30 Animated/Family Films -
by Keith Simanton, Senior Film Editor
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30 titles
- DirectorNed BensonStarsJames McAvoyJessica ChastainViola DavisOne couple's story as they try to reclaim the life and love they once knew and pick up the pieces of a past that may be too far gone.
- DirectorDan GilroyStarsJake GyllenhaalRene RussoBill PaxtonWhen Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
- DirectorDestin Daniel CrettonStarsBrie LarsonFrantz TurnerJohn Gallagher Jr.A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsFerdia Walsh-PeeloAidan GillenMaria Doyle KennedyA young lad notices a beautiful girl who begins to occupy his thoughts. While struggling with poverty, personal relationships and life's woes, he starts a band, hoping to catch her attention.
- DirectorDavid MackenzieStarsChris PineBen FosterJeff BridgesToby is a divorced father who's trying to make a better life. His brother is an ex-con with a short temper and a loose trigger finger. Together, they plan a series of heists against the bank that's about to foreclose on their family ranch.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsMichael DouglasTobey MaguireFrances McDormandAn English Professor tries to deal with his wife leaving him, the arrival of his editor who has been waiting for his book for seven years, and the various problems that his friends and associates involve him in.
- DirectorDee ReesStarsAdepero OduyeKim WayansAasha DavisA Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
- DirectorDavid MichôdStarsGuy PearceRobert PattinsonScoot McNairy10 years after a global economic collapse, a hardened loner pursues the men who stole his only possession, his car. Along the way, he captures one of the thieves' brother, and the duo form an uneasy bond during the dangerous journey.
- DirectorLone ScherfigStarsCarey MulliganPeter SarsgaardAlfred MolinaA coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsIan McKellenBrendan FraserLynn RedgraveThe last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsGary OldmanColin FirthTom HardyIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.
- DirectorSteven ZaillianStarsJoe MantegnaBen KingsleyMax PomerancA prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
- DirectorTommy Lee JonesStarsTommy Lee JonesBarry PepperDwight YoakamRanch foreman Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
- DirectorMarc LawrenceStarsHugh GrantDrew BarrymoreScott PorterA washed up singer is given a couple days to compose a chart-topping hit for an aspiring teen sensation. Though he's never written a decent lyric in his life, he sparks with an offbeat younger woman with a flair for words.
- DirectorCharlie McDowellStarsMark DuplassElisabeth MossTed DansonA troubled couple vacate to a beautiful getaway, but bizarre circumstances further complicate their situation.
- DirectorDavid AyerStarsJake GyllenhaalMichael PeñaAnna KendrickShot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
- DirectorJohn CrowleyStarsSaoirse RonanEmory CohenDomhnall GleesonAn Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsJohn C. ReillyJoaquin PhoenixJake GyllenhaalEli and Charlie Sisters, an infamous duo of gunslinging assassins, chase a gold prospector and his unexpected ally in 1850s Oregon.
- DirectorJane AndersonStarsJulianne MooreWoody HarrelsonLaura DernIn order to support her ten children, Evelyn Ryan enters a commercial jingle-writing contest.
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsNicolas CageDennis HopperLara Flynn BoyleUpon arriving to a small town, a drifter is mistaken for a hitman, but when the real hitman arrives, complications ensue.
- DirectorTony GilroyStarsGeorge ClooneyTilda SwintonTom WilkinsonA law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.
- DirectorBilly RayStarsHayden ChristensenChloë SevignySteve ZahnThe story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was discovered he fabricated over half of his articles from the publication The New Republic magazine.
- DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsEileen AtkinsKate BeckinsaleSheila BurrellA recently orphaned young woman goes to live with eccentric relatives in Sussex, where she sets about improving their gloomy lives.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsPaul NewmanBruce WillisJessica TandyA stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsToni ColletteCameron DiazShirley MacLaineStrait-laced Rose breaks off relations with her party girl sister, Maggie, over an indiscretion involving Rose's boyfriend. The chilly atmosphere is broken with the arrival of Ella, the grandmother neither sister knew existed.
- DirectorSean PennStarsEmile HirschVince VaughnCatherine KeenerAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
- DirectorMirrah FoulkesStarsDaisy AxonDon BridgesMichael PapasSeaside (nowhere near the sea), puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show in an an anarchic town on the brink of mob rule.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNicolas CageAlison LohmanSam RockwellA phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.