Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time

279

National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
Director: John Landis
The gross-out comedy, but still with a keen sense of satire for US campus rituals. Let’s face it: this is why toga parties, food fights and road trips are so damned attractive. Read Review

278

Carlito’s Way (1993)
Director: Brian De Palma
Pacino shines as the eponymous ex-con, De Palma mounts another terrific railway station set-piece and David Koepp’s script throws such cool lines as, "You think you’re big-time? You’re gonna die big-time!"

277

On The Town (1949)
Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Sailors on 24-hour shore leave. The pursuit of a pin-up girl. New York in the ’40s. If On The Town isn’t the most famous musical, it is perhaps the most archetypal. Created by the musical galácticos (Kelly, Donen, Sinatra, Bernstein), the classic premise is embroidered with great numbers (New York, New York, Prehistoric Man, the title song), ballsy innovation (it was the first musical to partly shoot on location) and some of the most muscular, inventive choreography ever committed to celluloid — in Ann Miller, Kelly found that rare thing: a dancer who could match him step for step. Between the songs Kelly makes the central romance affecting, Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s script sparkles (“Did you see The Lost Weekend?” “Yes, I’m living through it!”), and forget New York — the whole thing has enough energy to get to the moon. And back. Read Review

276

Layer Cake (2004)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
The film that made the Brit gangster genre respectable once more turned the world on to Daniel Craig, who plays its nameless drug dealer, and marked Matthew Vaughn as a cinematic talent beyond the producer’s chair. All that, and Sienna at her sexiest. Read Review

275

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Two girls move to the country and have magical encounters with wondrous forest sprites. Miyazaki in genteel and languid mode, but deeper and without the familiarity factor of Spirited Away.

This poll was conducted in November 2008. The list was compiled using votes from Empire readers, Hollywood actors, actress and key film critics.

In conjunction with the poll results, we produced 100 individual covers celebrating some of the key films in the list. View 100 Covers

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