A Glean movie guide
The 10 Greatest Films Ever Made
The Essential Watchlist
A definitive collection of cinematic masterpieces that defined the art of storytelling.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Godfather
A masterclass in tension and family legacy that redefined the crime epic for generations.
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.
- 02
The Shawshank Redemption
A deeply moving story of hope and friendship that remains a universal audience favorite.
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.
- 03
Citizen Kane
A revolutionary achievement in cinematography and narrative that changed filmmaking forever.
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
- 04
Schindler's List
A harrowing and essential historical drama that captures the resilience of the human spirit.
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.
- 05
12 Angry Men
A gripping, single-room drama that proves the power of a perfectly executed screenplay.
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.
- 06
Seven Samurai
An epic feat of action and character study that laid the foundation for modern blockbuster cinema.
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.
- 07
Casablanca
The gold standard for Hollywood romance, blending wartime intrigue with unforgettable dialogue.
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
- 08
Pulp Fiction
A bold, non-linear explosion of style and wit that revitalized independent cinema in the 90s.
A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
- 09
2001: A Space Odyssey
A visual and philosophical journey that remains the high-water mark for science fiction.
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
- 10
The Dark Knight
A visceral crime thriller that elevated the superhero genre into a profound psychological study.
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.