Essentials to life
This list features movies from genres: romance, drama and comedy. The rank of a film doesn't mean it's better than an another but the numbers slighty indicate a succession what is hard to tell sometimes because the judgment of a movie depends on the actual mood you're in. If you are familiar with a couple of the enlisted movies here then I'm sure you'll find more great ones below.
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49 titles
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsTom HanksRobin WrightGary SiniseThe history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.How many times i've seen the movie(s):
100 times (at least) - DirectorAlmut GettoStarsTino MewesSophie RogallHans-Martin Stier"What does your paradise look like, then?" - "Dark. Quiet. Wet. And full of fish." Jan likes Shakespeare, water and fish. Nina likes roller-skates, cars and brightly dyed hair. Jan loves Nina. Nina loves Jan, but ... Do Fish Do It? is a film about first love, the problems of growing up, the vital question if fish have sex and a threat this love is exposed to. 16-year old Jan is absent-mindedly strolling through the streets when he's run over by roller-skating Nina. As fast as she has stormed into his life, however, she rushes off again. Nina is 15 years old and full of crazy ideas. She lives together with her brother, her father and his new girlfriend. Her mother isn't in touch much. That's why there is the unconventional Angel whose own daughter disappeared years ago and who is Nina's best friend and substitute mother. Jan is a little shy, with a sheltered upbringing. Yet the image of the perfect family is an illusion. Jan feels lonely and the only person who seems to understand him is his grandfather. Jan's great passion is water and fish for they make him forget about his illness. When Jan tries to carry a newly-acquired fish home safely, Nina bumps into him after another failed attempt to brake. As a result, the fish dies. Nina feels guilty, doesn't want to let Jan go. Within a short time they get very close and Nina becomes equally fascinated by water and its scaly inhabitants. They start searching for an answer to the question if fish have sex and secretly meet at night to have picnics at the municipal aquarium. This is not without effect, friendship develops into tender love. Jan's parents, who worry about their son's health, are against the relationship. Only Jan's grandfather stands by him and doesn't begrudge him his happiness. On her birthday Nina learns that her father's girlfriend is pregnant. Appalled, she flees to Jan. For the first time they end up in bed together. Basically a rather innocent encounter but Jan realizes all of a sudden that he's dangerous for Nina and will continue to be so. He withdraws into his dream world - "dark, quiet, wet and full of fish". But Nina won't give up that easily ...4-5 times
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.3
- DirectorZach BraffStarsZach BraffPeter SarsgaardNatalie PortmanA quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.7-8
- DirectorRichard AyoadeStarsCraig RobertsSally HawkinsPaddy Considine15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: to lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.8-9
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpyAndrea EckertA young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.1
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.6-7
- DirectorMarc WebbStarsZooey DeschanelJoseph Gordon-LevittGeoffrey ArendAfter being dumped by the girl he believes to be his soulmate, hopeless romantic Tom Hansen reflects on their relationship to try and figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.8-10
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsEmilio EstevezJudd NelsonMolly RingwaldFive high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.1
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMatthew BroderickAlan RuckMia SaraA popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.10-20
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.3
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsElliot PageMichael CeraJennifer GarnerFaced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes a selfless decision regarding the unborn child.7-9
- DirectorPeter SollettStarsMichael CeraKat DenningsAaron YooTwo newly acquainted music-lovers spend the night scouting the streets of New York City in search of their favourite band's surprise secret show. All the while, they're both being chased after by their tempting but devious exes.5-6
- DirectorMiguel ArtetaStarsMichael CeraPortia DoubledayJean SmartWhile his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.6-7
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJared GilmanKara HaywardBruce WillisTwo 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.5-6
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingEmma StoneRosemarie DeWittWhile navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.1
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.3-4
- DirectorNat FaxonJim RashStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteAllison JanneyShy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.2
- DirectorJordan Vogt-RobertsStarsNick RobinsonGabriel BassoMoises AriasThree teenage friends, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.1
- DirectorBill NortonStarsCandy ClarkBo HopkinsRon HowardTold in four different New Year's Eves in the mid 1960s, John, Terry, Debbie, Steve and Laurie deal with adulthood, the Vietnam war, peace rallies, and relationships.3-4
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.4-5
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRobin WilliamsMatt DamonBen AffleckWill Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.4-5
- DirectorMike MillsStarsEwan McGregorChristopher PlummerMélanie LaurentA young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover.5-6
- DirectorAlfonso Gomez-RejonStarsThomas MannRJ CylerOlivia CookeHigh schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.4-5
- DirectorAnna BodenRyan FleckStarsKeir GilchristZach GalifianakisEmma RobertsA clinically-depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.3
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsEwan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupA frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.5-6
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsAdrienne ShellyMartin DonovanRebecca NelsonAfter being thrown out of her house, Maria encounters a married woman who complains of not having children. Maria ends up in an abandoned house, where she meets Matthew. When a baby is kidnapped Maria sets out to find the woman.1
- DirectorGriffin DunneStarsDiane LaneDonald SutherlandAnton YelchinA massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Ishkanani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.2-3
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsFranka PotenteMoritz BleibtreuHerbert KnaupAfter a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.2
- DirectorHervé PaludStarsThierry LhermitteLudwig BriandPatrick TimsitThe Parisian broker Stephan only needs the signature from his wife Patricia for their divorce - but she left 13 years ago for living with Amazonas Indians. Stephan finds her in the village and gets stuck for two days, where he learns that he has got a son, who grew up as an Indian. Meanwhile he fails to confirm a soy bean transaction and promises his son Mimi-Siku to show him Paris as soon as he will become a man. However, this happens next day when the tribe celebrates the children's festival. So both fly back to Paris, where Stephan and his partner Richard try to limit their losses by selling the beans to the Russian mafia, and Mimi-Siku discovers the city with bare feet. He climbs the Eiffel tower and prefers to hunt doves with bow-and-arrow instead of eating cornflakes. Stephan moves his son to the family of his partner, where Mimi-Siku falls actively in love with Richard's daughter Sophie. Discovered, Sophie is set to be sent into a boarding school, and therefore rescued by Mimi-Siku, while the mafia has discovered the dropped bean price and is threatening and claiming their money back. Both operations are entangled, and finally they get the money, and Mimi-Siku is sent back to the tribe. But, of course, this is not the end ..10+
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsMichael CeraMary Elizabeth WinsteadKieran CulkinIn a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.6-7
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMolly RingwaldAnthony Michael HallJustin HenryA girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.1
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.1
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsWil WheatonRiver PhoenixCorey FeldmanA writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.1
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJohn CusackIben HjejleTodd LouisoRob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.2-3
- DirectorJon PollStarsAnton YelchinRobert Downey Jr.Hope DavisA rich kid becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school.2-3
- DirectorWill GluckStarsEmma StoneAmanda BynesPenn BadgleyWhen Olive lies to her best friend about losing her virginity to one of the college boys, a girl overhears their conversation. Soon, her story spreads across the entire school like wildfire.3-4
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJason SchwartzmanBill MurrayOlivia WilliamsA teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.1
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.2-3
- DirectorPéter GothárStarsAnikó IvánIstván ZnamenákPéter GálfyA teenager boy has to grow up in the shifting political and moral landscape of post-1956 Hungary.1
- DirectorGyörgy DobrayPéter HorváthStarsAri BeryMariann SzilágyiErzsi GalambosFüge is studying at a high-school. He rarely visits his divorced parents. He establishes a successful music group with his friends. He falls in love with his class-mate, Ágota.2
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsGael García BernalCharlotte GainsbourgMiou-MiouA man entranced by his dreams and imagination is love-struck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.1
- DirectorHoward FranklinBill MurrayStarsBill MurrayGeena DavisRandy QuaidThree thieves successfully rob a New York City bank, but making the escape from the city proves to be almost impossible.4-5
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsBill MurrayAndie MacDowellChris ElliottA narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.4-5
- DirectorJared HessStarsJon HederEfren RamirezJon GriesA listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.1
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsBajram SeverdzanSrdjan 'Zika' TodorovicBranka KaticMatko and his son Zare live on the banks of the Danube river and get by through hustling and basically doing anything to make a living. In order to pay off a business debt Matko agrees to marry off Zare to the sister of a local gangster.4-5
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsMadeline CarrollCallan McAuliffeRebecca De MornayTwo eighth-graders start to have feelings for each other despite being total opposites.1
- DirectorChris WeitzPaul WeitzStarsHugh GrantNicholas HoultToni ColletteWill, who attends single parent meetings to woo women, meets Marcus, a troubled 12-year-old boy. As they become friends, Will learns to be responsible while he helps Marcus with his studies.1
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMolly RingwaldAnthony Michael HallJustin HenryA girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.1