Number 29
Donnie Darko
A little bit off, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) hears the voice of a six foot tall bunny named Frank who tells him the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. Frank begins to possess Donnie and make him commit random acts of vandalisms. It's not your average high school movie, but then again, your average high school movie generally kinda stinks. If you're a fan of the movies that are maybe a bit "off" so to speak give this a try.
Also Recommended Viewing: Better Luck Tomorrow, Virgin Suicides, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Number 28
Fight Club
A young office worker (Edward Norton) has become disenchanted about where his life has taken him. He becomes excited when he meets a stranger, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), who teaches him about the beauty of living without material things. This is one of those movies with an ending that will blow you away. While I actually disliked this movie the first time I saw it, I've come to love Fight Club.
Also Recommended Viewing: American Psycho, Snatch, American History X

Number 27
The Passion of the Christ
Focusing on the last 12 hours of Jesus's life, the Passion is one of the most emotionally moving movies that I've ever seen. What really makes this movie great is the fact that I knew the whole plot and I also knew the ending, yet I was still moved. I was pretty skeptical coming in, but I think Mel Gibson and his crew did a wonderful job. It's great that people are taking an interest in this movie and I hope it leaves a lasting impression.
Also Recommended Viewing: Schindler's List, Gandhi, Lawrence of Arabia

Number 26
American History X
Edward Norton stars as a former neo-Nazi skinhead, Derek Vinyard, who has just gotten out of jail. Realizing his ways were wrong, he tries to convince his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) that he was wrong in what he did. Derek has a hard time, though, because all his friends accuse him of being a sell-out. Easily one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen.
Also Recommended Viewing: He Got Game, Vanilla Sky, The Game

Number 25
Toy Story 2
Hands down my favorite animated movie of all-time. Besides being absolutely beautifully done artistically, Toy Story 2 is a brilliant story about Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) who is stolen by a toy collector (voiced by Wayne Knight). The rest of the toys, led by Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) must travel across town to save Woody. Buzz and Woody are two of my favorite animated characters of all time. Everything about this movie just screams fun, yet at the same time, it is just a well made movie.
Also Recommended Viewing: Monsters Inc, Ice Age, Shrek

Number 24
Amores Perros
It would be easy to excuse this movie as being a Spanish Pulp Fiction knock off. When you look a little deeper, though, I think you'll realize that the three interweaving stories combine in the end to produce a movie that is an absolute masterpiece. I'm sounding a little bit too much like James Lipton here, but really this is a movie that shouldn't be missed!
Also Recommended Viewing: 21 Grams, Pulp Fiction, City of God

Number 23
Say Anything
I can't say enough how much I like Cameron Crowe's work... the same can usually be said for John Cusak. Lloyd Dobler (Cusak) falls in love with the most overachieving member of his high school graduating class, Diane Court (Ione Skye). Although Diane's father (John Mahoney) doesn't approve of Lloyd, he still continues to try win her over before she leaves for England on a college scholarship in the fall. Probably my favorite movie that could be categorized as a chick flick...
Also Recommended Viewing: 10 Things I Hate About You, A Walk to Remember, Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Number 23
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone... in hindsight, it makes perfect sense, but I honestly don't know how these two hooked up. This is easily my favorite western of all time. The music is among the best music you'll ever hear in any film, the story is interesting, and the characters are in depth. It's a slower moving movie with depth that doesn't bore you to death.
Also Recommended Viewing: Unbreakable, Once Upon a Time in the West, High Noon

Number 22
Saving Private Ryan
People remember that the first 20 minutes of the movie is just filled with realistic action, but they seem to forget that the rest of the movie is very well done as well. The cast which includes Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, and Vin Diesel are all spectacular. This is my favorite war movie of all time which is actually saying quite a bit, since war movies are generally pretty well done.
Also Recommended Viewing: Black Hawk Down, Band of Brothers (not technically a movie, but...), Platoon

Number 21
Memento
Leonard (Guy Pearce) has lost his short term memory which makes searching for his wife's killer quite a task. The only way he can figure things out is by taking pictures, writing notes to himself and tattooing the really important information to his body. Also starring Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie and Joe Pantoliano as Teddy, Memento is shot in completely non-linear fashion meaning the end is the first thing you see. Basically, you spend the whole moving trying to figure out how things got to the point they did. Paying attention is a requirement for this movie.
Also Recommended Viewing: Stir of Echoes, L.A. Confidential, The Sixth Sense