Letterboxed Best 250, a list by smccrack

8.6

/88624/

85

/1880/

84

/1144/

4.7

/197912/

100

/10/

97

/415/

85

/9/

4.0

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

89

78

8.8

/8481/

86

/212/

84

/202/

4.6

/25705/

97

/28/

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.

93

9.0

/968210/

88

/16216/

85

/9632/

4.6

/1286853/

100

/63/

97

/6765/

97

/18/

4.0

age 12+

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

89

8.3

/119651/

82

/2946/

82

/1724/

4.6

/408767/

90

/60/

95

/929/

4.0

age 16+

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

92

8.6

/398058/

84

/5714/

84

/4069/

4.6

/383477/

100

/103/

97

/6724/

98

/7/

4.0

age 13+

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

89

8.4

/69684/

84

/1467/

83

/1059/

4.6

/185667/

97

/70/

95

/556/

90

/17/

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

91

9.0

/1475099/

87

/21054/

85

/13460/

4.6

/1231676/

96

/129/

97

/18705/

90

/18/

age 16+

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

89

IMDb 47

9.3

/3143286/

91

/51922/

87

/29483/

4.6

/2415769/

89

/146/

98

/53482/

82

/22/

3.5

age 15+

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

84

81

8.5

/10828/

82

/306/

81

/270/

4.5

/32508/

73

/15/

95

/56/

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.

89

8.6

/861535/

85

/13747/

84

/7929/

4.6

/998306/

91

/162/

97

/15604/

79

/33/

4.0

age 18+

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

87

8.1

/33027/

81

/946/

79

/631/

4.5

/158869/

97

/91/

91

/517/

94

/25/

3.5

A Taipei family faces personal and moral uncertainty as everyday events test their relationships and sense of purpose.

89

9.0

/2135204/

88

/54490/

84

/25842/

4.5

/1926836/

94

/279/

86

/2050091/

94

/41/

3.5

age 11+

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.

93

9.0

/1567942/

88

/25430/

86

/16980/

4.5

/1253752/

98

/135/

97

/22910/

95

/30/

4.0

age 15+

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

91

IMDb 95

8.5

/1133005/

85

/43852/

84

/19932/

4.5

/4795835/

99

/485/

90

/2503/

97

/56/

4.0

age 16+

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

93

IMDb 79

9.2

/2194209/

88

/35257/

86

/22250/

4.5

/2344268/

97

/153/

98

/41096/

100

/16/

4.0

age 16+

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

90

8.3

/100744/

82

/1704/

83

/1271/

4.5

/174362/

98

/57/

96

/1465/

92

/20/

4.0

age 11+

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

90

8.2

/149647/

80

/2532/

80

/1722/

4.5

/224656/

96

/94/

95

/2188/

97

/21/

4.0

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

88

8.8

/881268/

85

/13572/

84

/9335/

4.5

/660478/

97

/76/

97

/11687/

90

/7/

3.0

age 15+

While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.

85

8.1

/221431/

82

/5040/

80

/4394/

4.5

/906491/

96

/73/

95

/2372/

3.0

age 16+

After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when confronting the police.

88

8.5

/23015/

82

/594/

82

/538/

4.5

/47250/

95

/19/

96

/114/

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

88

8.2

/14728/

80

/533/

83

/366/

4.5

/68776/

100

/26/

94

/99/

91

/6/

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

87

8.5

/313776/

84

/4805/

84

/4690/

4.5

/417211/

90

/84/

96

/5148/

80

/21/

3.5

age 14+

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

90

IMDb 90

9.1

/3119452/

88

/87256/

85

/34962/

4.5

/3849185/

94

/341/

94

/173380/

85

/41/

4.0

age 15+

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

84

8.1

/41551/

81

/795/

80

/673/

4.5

/120450/

85

/33/

92

/358/

After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.

90

8.5

/374856/

85

/9884/

84

/6266/

4.5

/1023250/

100

/50/

95

/5486/

94

/16/

MAL

8.5

/449120/

4.0

age 15+

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

86

80

8.5

/8673/

82

/227/

82

/211/

4.5

/23248/

94

/897/

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

85

8.1

/74665/

83

/3739/

82

/1764/

4.5

/466608/

92

/12/

87

/249/

MAL

8.5

/676895/

age 16+

SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.

90

8.4

/25018/

81

/540/

82

/500/

4.5

/59770/

100

/33/

93

/343/

4.0

A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.

86

8.2

/697596/

80

/13445/

81

/7166/

4.5

/1153051/

91

/244/

86

/36700/

93

/42/

3.5

age 16+

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

91

8.7

/1371221/

85

/25752/

84

/13899/

4.5

/1908257/

93

/167/

97

/29224/

92

/21/

4.0

age 18+

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

85

84

8.3

/22044/

80

/440/

79

/430/

4.4

/51709/

96

/26/

93

/249/

76

/9/

Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

89

8.1

/74420/

78

/1175/

79

/847/

4.5

/112151/

99

/94/

95

/1191/

96

/22/

4.0

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

89

8.4

/236235/

81

/3644/

82

/3165/

4.5

/277050/

96

/77/

95

/1856/

90

/18/

4.0

age 13+

A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

91

8.6

/950309/

86

/30099/

85

/17811/

4.5

/3244089/

96

/225/

96

/23081/

96

/41/

MAL

8.7

/1391593/

4.0

age 9+

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

85

8.0

/59991/

78

/874/

79

/909/

4.4

/83069/

96

/46/

93

/674/

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

85

8.3

/243819/

82

/5357/

81

/3107/

4.4

/494346/

91

/124/

92

/1356/

80

/42/

3.5

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

89

8.4

/762405/

82

/13566/

83

/8800/

4.4

/885199/

91

/148/

94

/16503/

94

/15/

4.0

age 16+

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

89

8.6

/549485/

84

/9344/

82

/4729/

4.4

/703880/

94

/97/

95

/14103/

89

/17/

4.0

age 9+

A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

89

8.3

/216273/

81

/3989/

81

/2537/

4.4

/329365/

93

/107/

94

/2385/

94

/21/

4.0

age 13+

Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.

83

IMDb 68

8.7

/2461153/

86

/90597/

84

/38563/

4.4

/4902103/

73

/375/

87

/14174/

74

/46/

3.5

age 11+

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

82

8.2

/11968/

81

/243/

78

/240/

4.4

/37795/

100

/5/

62

/5/

91

/20/

3.0

Four vignettes on the lives of the Cuban people in the pre-revolutionary era. In Havana, Maria is ashamed when a man she loves discovers how she makes a living. Pedro, an old farmer, discovers that the land he cultivates is being sold to an American company. A student sees his friends attacked by the police while they distribute leaflets supporting Fidel Castro. Finally, a peasant family is threatened by Batista's army.

90

8.1

/76639/

81

/1435/

82

/1171/

4.4

/135798/

100

/52/

93

/871/

100

/19/

4.0

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

90

8.4

/258545/

81

/3742/

83

/2829/

4.4

/326940/

98

/125/

95

/3486/

94

/32/

4.0

age 13+

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

86

83

8.2

/11904/

78

/289/

78

/231/

4.4

/42250/

100

/29/

91

/65/

Two Soviet partisans leave their starving band to get supplies from a nearby farm. The Germans have reached the farm first, so the pair must go on a journey deep into occupied territory, a voyage that will also take them deep into their souls.

89

8.1

/67307/

79

/1163/

79

/1045/

4.4

/119726/

98

/63/

93

/953/

98

/21/

4.0

A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.

89

8.5

/1128739/

84

/31455/

83

/16195/

4.4

/3844987/

94

/304/

94

/5075/

89

/50/

4.0

age 15+

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

87

8.8

/1929021/

87

/53331/

84

/23266/

4.4

/1885599/

95

/258/

95

/72895/

87

/39/

3.0

age 11+

Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.

89

8.1

/70851/

77

/952/

77

/847/

4.4

/70186/

100

/46/

94

/1018/

100

/8/