Random Best Movies That Were Originally Panned by Critics (23 items)

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  (#1) The Shining

  • Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Barry Dennen, Barry Nelson, Anne Jackson, Danny Lloyd, Joe Turkel, Tony Burton, Philip Stone, Robin Pappas, David Baxt, Louise Burns, Lisa Burns, Lia Beldam

  Stanley Kubrick is good at making movies that everyone dislikes, realizes that they were chumps for disliking it, and then pretends to have liked all along. For example, Roger Ebert gave The Shining a bad review, only to go back on it later.

  Variety regarded the film as a destruction of everything that made the Stephen King book terrifying, and said that Shelley Duvall “transforms the warm sympathetic wife of the book into a simpering, semi-retarded hysteric.” In fact, Shelley was nominated for a Razzie for worst actress for the role, along with, no joke, Kubrick for worst director.

  In fairness, the movie wasn't exactly loyal to the source material. Jack doesn’t even have an axe in the book, but rather a mallet. But hey — can you imagine if Kubrick kept that in?
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  (#2) The Wizard of Oz

  • Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Pinto Colvig, Rolfe Sedan, Ken Darby, Billy Curtis, Adriana Caselotti, Meinhardt Raabe, Jerry Maren, Jack Haley, Billy Bletcher, Charley Grapewin, Elly Annie Schneider, Clara Blandick, Candy Candido, Ruth Duccini, Mitchell Lewis, Margaret Pellegrini, Harry Wilson, Oliver Smith, Charles Irwin, Tyler Brooke, Lois January, Buster Brodie, Mickey Carroll, nm0467071, Ethelreda Leopold, Pat Walshe, Robert St. Angelo, Eleanor Keaton, 'Little Billy' Rhodes, Abe Dinovitch, Tommy Cottonaro, Daisy Earles, Dona Massin, Harry Earles, Charles Becker, Bud Linn, Terry, Olga C. Nardone, Lee Murray, Elvida Rizzo, Lorraine Bridges, Helen Seamon, Jackie Gerlich, Paul Dale, Sig Frohlich, Rad Robinson, Jon Dodson, George Noisom, Ambrose Schindler, George Ministeri, Fern Formica, August Clarence Swenson, Amelia Batchelor, Jack Paul, Gracie Doll, Nita Krebs, Harry Cogg, Parnell St. Aubin, Dorothy Barrett, Yvonne Moray, Phil Harron, Sid Dawson, Ralph Sudam, Freddie Retter, Jimmy the raven, Johnny Winters

  “I sat cringing before M-G-M’s Technicolor production of 'The Wizard of Oz,' which displays no trace of imagination, good taste, or ingenuity… I don’t like the Singer Midgets under any circumstances, but I found them especially bothersome in Technicolor… I say it’s a stinkeroo.” – Russell Maloney, The New Yorker
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  (#3) Psycho

  • Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam, John Gavin, Ted Knight, John McIntire, John Anderson, Lurene Tuttle, Simon Oakland, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Albertson, Pat Hitchcock, Virginia Gregg, Vaughn Taylor, Sam Flint, Mort Mills, Fred Scheiwiller, George Eldredge, Francis De Sales, Kit Carson, George Dockstader, Pat McCaffrie, Frank Killmond, Fletcher Allen, Paul Jasmin, Helen Wallace, Harper Flaherty, Lillian O'Malley, Lee Kass, Prudence Beers

  Upon its release, the reviews for Psycho weren’t all terrible but rather just so-so. It's rise to Classic Film status just goes to show that if a film strikes a chord with the public, its greatness can't be denied.

  At the time, though, the film was “plainly a gimmick movie,” and even a “blot on an honorable career.” In a particularly pretentiously written review, the New York Times said it had “not an abundance of subtlety” and was an “obviously low-budget job.” No one hated it, but no one thought it to be anything all that special either.
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  (#4) Fight Club

  • Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Eion Bailey, Lauren Sánchez, David Lee Smith, Edward Kowalczyk, Holt McCallany, Zach Grenier, Bob Stephenson, Christina Cabot, David Andrews, Brian Tochi, Matt Winston, Ezra Buzzington, Carl Ciarfalio, Tim De Zarn, Jim Jenkins, Richmond Arquette, Philip Hawn, Leonard Termo, Thom Gossom Jr., Charlie Dell, David Jean Thomas, Paul Dillon, Michael Shamus Wiles, Stuart Blumberg, Marcio Rosario, Pat McNamara, Michael Arturo, Markus Redmond, Tommy Dallace, Rachel Singer, George Maguire, Robby Robinson, Paul Carafotes, Peter Iacangelo, Joel Bissonnette, Christopher John Fields, Scotch Ellis Loring, Eugenie Bondurant, Eddie Hargitay, Kevin Scott Mack, Mark Fite, Evan Mirand, Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston, Bennie Moore, Chad Randau, Lou Beatty Jr., Matt Cinquanta, Joon B. Kim, Michael Girardin, Christie Cronenweth, Baron Jay, Hugh Peddy, Tyrone R. Livingston, Andi Carnick, Owen Masterson, Rob Lanza, Van Quattro, Trey Ore, Jawara, Gregory Silva, Valerie Bickford, Alekxia Valdez, J.T. Pontino, Dierdre Downing-Jackson, Anderson Bourell, Todd Peirce, Louis Ortiz

  New York Daily News called Fight Club “hardly groundbreaking,” the Miami Herald referred to it as “a bit of a dud,” and the Boston Globe said that its “chic indictment of empty materialist values fizzles.”
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  (#5) Home Alone

  • Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Lionel Barrymore, Daniel Stern, Hope Davis, John Heard, Kieran Culkin, Kristin Minter, Roberts Blossom, Ralph Foody, Bill Erwin, Gerry Becker, Mike Maronna, Gerry Bamman, Billie Bird, Larry Hankin, Peter Siragusa, Devin Ratray, Angela Goethals, Ken Hudson Campbell, Matt Doherty, Hillary Wolf, Paula Newsome, Jim Ortlieb, Senta Moses, Alan Wilder, Ann Whitney, Anna Slotky, Larry Nazimek, Monica Devereux, Dan Charles Zukoski, Diana Rein, Clarke Devereux, Mark Beltzman, Ray Toler, Jedidiah Cohen, Jeffrey Wiseman, Michael Guido, Terrie Snell, Dianne B. Shaw, Victor Cole, Jim Ryan, Linda Wylie, Porscha Radcliffe, Sandra Macat, Peter Pantaleo, Luciano Saber, Michael Hansen, Tracy J. Connor, Robert Okrzesik, Richard J. Firfer, Brittany Radcliffe, Jean-Claude Sciore, Kate Johnson, Leo Perion, John Hardy, Frank Cernugel, Edward Bruzan, Virginia Smith, Lynn Mansbach, Eddie Korosa, Vince Waidzulis

  "When Kevin’s parents discover they’ve forgotten him, they find it impossible to get anyone to follow through on their panicked calls – if anyone did so, the movie would be over. The plot is so implausible that it makes it hard for us to really care about the plight of the kid." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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  (#6) Predator

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Peter Cullen, Kevin Peter Hall, R. G. Armstrong, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Shane Black, Elpidia Carrillo, Steve Boyum, Henry Kingi, Sonny Landham, William H. Burton, Richard Chaves

  "Predator is a slightly above-average actioner that tries to compensate for tissue-thin-plot with ever-more-grisly death sequences and impressive special effects." – Variety

  The New York Times called it “alternately grisly and dull, with few surprises,” and the Chicago Reader said, "despite the off-rhythm styling, there's not a lot going on."
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  (#7) It's a Wonderful Life

  • James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, Thomas Mitchell, Carl Switzer, Sheldon Leonard, Ellen Corby, H.B. Warner, Charles Lane, Frank Faylen, Beulah Bondi, Dick Elliott, Stanley Andrews, Johnny Indrisano, Charles Halton, Frank Albertson, Frank Hagney, Lillian Randolph, Adriana Caselotti, Lew Davis, Moroni Olsen, J. Farrell MacDonald, Mark Roberts, Argentina Brunetti, Lane Chandler, Samuel S. Hinds, Jack Bailey, Ernie Adams, Harry Cheshire, Brooks Benedict, Henry Travers, Mary Treen, Jimmy Hawkins, Cy Schindell, Max Wagner, Eddie Fetherston, Edward Clark, Charles Williams, Milton Kibbee, Karolyn Grimes, Meade Lux Lewis, Ray Walker, Sam Flint, Frank Fenton, Sarah Edwards, Eddie Kane, Harry Holman, Joseph E. Bernard, Jean Acker, Edward Keane, Wilbur Mack, Al Bridge, Mike Lally, Sam Ash, Charles Sullivan, Frank O'Connor, Constantine Romanoff, Bert Moorhouse, Almira Sessions, Tom Fadden, Tom Chatterton, Jack Lomas, Todd Karns, Bobby Anderson, Jack Gordon, Jack Cheatham, Brick Sullivan, Garry Owen, Philip Morris, Virginia Patton, William Edmunds, Charles C. Wilson, Effie Parnell, Dick Gordon, Tom Coleman, Suzanne Ridgeway, Herbert Heywood, Arthur Stuart Hull, Bert Howard, Georgie Nokes, Helen Dickson, Franklin Parker, Mary Bayless, Monya Andre, Marion Carr, Carol Coombs, Bob O'Connor, Larry Wheat, Art Howard, Charles Meakin, Netta Packer, Bryn Davis, Herschel Graham, Harold Landon, Michael Chapin, George Noisom, Danny Mummert, Larry Simms, Priscilla Montgomery, Jeanine Ann Roose, Ronnie Ralph, Carl Kent, Cedric Stevens, Harry Denny, Jean Gale, Buz Buckley, Carl Eric Hansen, Lee Frederick, Irene Mack, Beth Belden, Jimmy the raven

  When It's a Wonderful Life was first released in 1946, it received generally negative reviews. It was the next generation of the '60s and '70s that so loved the film that it became the classic that it is today.

  Bosley Crowther, writing for the New York Times, complimented some of the actors, including Stewart and Reed, but concluded that "the weakness of this picture, from this reviewer's point of view, is the sentimentality of it – its illusory concept of life. Mr. Capra's nice people are charming, his small town is a quite beguiling place and his pattern for solving problems is most optimistic and facile. But somehow they all resemble theatrical attitudes rather than average realities."
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  (#8) The Exorcist

  • Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, William Peter Blatty, Jason Miller, Mercedes McCambridge, Jack MacGowran, Barton Heyman, Peter Masterson, Titos Vandis, Donna Mitchell, William O'Malley, Eileen Dietz, Kitty Winn, Robert Symonds, Robert Gerringer, Mason Curry, Arthur Storch, Rudolf Schündler, John Mahon, Roy Cooper, Mary Boylan, Dick Callinan, Toni Darnay, Ron Faber, Wallace Rooney, Vasiliki Maliaros, Bernard Eismann, Joanne Dusseau, Gina Petrushka, Vincent Russell, Thomas Bermingham, Paul Bateson, Elinore Blair, John Nicola, Yvonne Jones, Don LaBonte, Beatrice Hunter

  "A chunk of elegant occultist claptrap... A practically impossible film to sit through... It establishes a new low for grotesque special effects..." – Vincent Canby, the New York Times

  "Friedkin's biggest weakness is his inability to provide enough visual information about his characters... whole passages of the movie's exposition were one long buzz of small talk and name droppings... The Exorcist succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film." – Andrew Sarris, The Village Voice

  "Nothing more than a religious [adult pleasure] film, the gaudiest piece of schlock this side of Cecil B. DeMille (minus that gentleman's wit and ability to tell a story)." – Jon Landau, Rolling Stone
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  (#9) Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

  • Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Roy Kinnear, Pat Coombs, Stephen Dunne, Victor Beaumont, David Battley, Aubrey Woods, Denise Nickerson, Angelo Muscat, Leonard Stone, Günter Meisner, Nora Denney, Peter Capell, Frank Delfino, Ed Peck, Albert Wilkinson, Julie Dawn Cole, George Claydon, Paris Themmen, Peter Ostrum, Gloria Manon, Werner Heyking, Michael Bollner, Rusty Goffe, Ursula Reit, Dora Altmann, Marcus Powell, Shin Hamano, Jack Latham, Malcolm Dixon, Franziska Liebing, Kurt Großkurth, Ernst Ziegler, Diana Sowle, Michael Gahr, Bob Roe, Peter Stuart, Ismed Hassan, Madeline Stuart, Pepe Poupee, Norman McGlen, Rudy Borgstaller

  The 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory made a modest amount at the box office, but critics hated how it deviated from the source material. Author Roald Dahl even disowned the movie in protest to the changes that were made to the story.

  Over time, thanks to repeated showings on television and strong home media sales, it became more of a hit and is now thought to be a quintessential family film.
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  (#10) Alien

  • Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Helen Horton, Eddie Powell, Bolaji Badejo

  It is difficult to imagine Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie Alien receiving mixed reviews, especially when you consider the hugely popular franchise it spawned. But critics were skeptical at first; as the New York Times put it, "Don't race to it expecting the wit of Star Wars or the metaphysical pretentions of 2001 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The Guardian was harsher: "You won't see anything very original anywhere in the film."

  But over time — and after the director's cut was released — reviewers and the public reassessed their initial opinion. Alien became widely regarded as both a horror and sci-fi classic.
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  (#11) Apocalypse Now

  • Marlon Brando, Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Francis Ford Coppola, R. Lee Ermey, Scott Glenn, Colleen Camp, Cynthia Wood, Bill Graham, Frederic Forrest, G. D. Spradlin, Sam Bottoms, Roman Coppola, James Keane, Vittorio Storaro, Albert Hall, Christian Marquand, Tom Mason, Aurore Clément, Jim Gaines, Marc Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Evan A. Lottman, Jerry Ziesmer, Jack Thibeau, Damien Leake, Kerry Rossall, Jerry Ross, Franck Villard, Henry Strzalkowski, Nick Nicholson, Glenn Walken, Herb Rice, Linda Carpenter, Don Gordon Bell, George Cantero, Linn Phillips, Bo Byers, Ron McQueen, David Olivier, Pierre Segui, William Upton, Larry Carney, Dick White, Gilbert Renkens, Chrystel Le Pelletier, Robert Julian, Lonnie 'Lono' Woodley, Henri Sadardeil, Hattie James, Father Elias, Daniel Kiewit, Michel Pitton, Yvon LeSeaux

  This one got mixed reviews. While some praised it, Frank Rich in Time said, "While much of the footage is breathtaking, Apocalypse Now is emotionally obtuse and intellectually empty."
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  (#12) The Thing

  • Kurt Russell, Keith David, John Carpenter, Adrienne Barbeau, Wilford Brimley, Richard Masur, Norbert Weisser, Donald Moffat, Charles Hallahan, Joel Polis, David Clennon, Richard A. Dysart, T. K. Carter, Peter Maloney, Thomas G. Waites, Larry J. Franco, Nate Irwin, Jed, William Zeman

  The Thing was nearly universally derided by critics in 1982. Reviewers complained about the over-the-top special effects, gruesome action sequences, and a plot that seemed to make little sense.

  The film is still definitely gruesome, but the critical consensus has changed. The Thing is now widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made and a huge influence on the genre as a whole.
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  (#13) Bonnie and Clyde

  • Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Gene Wilder, Warren Beatty, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Michael J. Pollard, Patrick Cranshaw, Owen Bush, Evans Evans, Ken Mayer, Ann Palmer, Mabel Cavitt, Martha Adcock, Frances Fisher, Harry Appling, Russ Marker, Clyde Howdy, Ken Miller, Garry Goodgion, Stuart Spates, James Stiver, Ada Waugh, Sadie French

  “It is a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick comedy that treats the hideous depredations of that sleazy, moronic pair as though they were as full of fun and frolic as the jazz-age cutups in Thoroughly Modern Millie… This blending of farce with brutal [slayings] is as pointless as it is lacking in taste, since it makes no valid commentary upon the already travestied truth. And it leaves an astonished critic wondering just what purpose Mr. Penn and Mr. Beatty think they serve with this strangely antique, sentimental claptrap.” – Bosley Crowther, the New York Times
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  (#14) Scarface

  • Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, F. Murray Abraham, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

  Scarface received a highly negative reception from critics when it premiered in 1983, thanks to its graphic violence and nonstop foul language. The New York Times described it as "a relentlessly bitter, satirical tale of greed, in which all supposedly decent emotions are sent up for the possible ways in which they can be perverted." Even its box office success did little to sway the minds of reviewers.

  Despite this, Scarface has been reexamined in a much more positive light since. It is regularly considered to be one of the best gangster films ever created.
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  (#15) The Graduate

  • Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Richard Dreyfuss, Katharine Ross, Norman Fell, Buck Henry, Elaine May, Mike Farrell, William Daniels, Ben Murphy, Alice Ghostley, Murray Hamilton, Kevin Tighe, Elizabeth Wilson, Marion Lorne, Noam Pitlik, Walter Brooke, Elisabeth Fraser, Donald F. Glut, Harry Holcombe, Eddra Gale, Brian Avery, David Westberg, Jonathan Hole, Buddy Douglas, Lainie Miller

  “The Graduate only wants to succeed and that’s fundamentally what’s the matter with it. There is a pause for a laugh after the mention of ‘Berkeley’ that is an unmistakable sign of hunger for success; this kind of movie-making shifts values, shifts focus, shifts emphasis, shifts everything for a sure-fire response. Mike Nichols’ ‘gift’ is that be lets the audience direct him; this is demagoguery in the arts.” – Pauline Kael, Harper’s
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  (#16) Vertigo

  • James Stewart, Kim Novak, Alfred Hitchcock, Barbara Bel Geddes, Ellen Corby, Henry Jones, Lee Patrick, Raymond Bailey, Tom Helmore, Konstantin Shayne

  Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo wasn't exactly rapturously received. Reviewers were particularly critical of the overcomplicated plot and the slow pacing, as well as the perceived stylistic departure for Hitchcock.

  These days, though, Vertigo is considered to be one of the defining films of Hitchcock's career, not to mention cinematic history. The British Film Institute even named it the best film ever made in a 2012 poll – edging out Citizen Kane.
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  (#17) 2001: A Space Odyssey

  • Arthur C. Clarke, Leonard Rossiter, Ed Bishop, Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Margaret Tyzack, Ann Gillis, Robert Beatty, Kenneth Kendall, Glenn Beck, Douglas Rain, Sean Sullivan, Bill Weston, Vivian Kubrick, Burnell Tucker, William Sylvester, Alan Gifford, Terry Duggan, Daniel Richter, S. Newton Anderson, Frank A. Miller, Marcella Markham, Simon Davis, John Ashley, John Swindells, Penny Brahms, Péter Delmár, Danny Grover, Heather Downham, Brian Hawley, Bob Wilyman, Andy Wallace, Jimmy Bell, Joe Refalo, Sheraton Blount, Jonathan Daw, Edwina Carroll, Scott MacKee, Richard Woods, John Jordan, Krystyna Marr, Irena Marr, Tony Jackson, David Hines, Laurence Marchant, David Charkham, Martin Amor, Penny Francis, Jane Pearl, Ann Bormann, Jane Hayward, Penny Pearl, John Clifford, Kevin Scott, Julie Croft, Mike Lovell, David Fleetwood, Darryl Paes, Kim Neil

  It is easy to see why 2001: A Space Odyssey drew such a negative reaction from critics when it premiered. It ran almost three hours, and was filled with special effects and a confusing story.

  The movie slowly began to build a cult following over the next few years and began influencing other sci-fi films. Since then, 2001: A Space Odyssey has appeared in several lists detailing the greatest films of all time and is widely seen as one of the most influential movies in cinema history.
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  (#18) Once Upon a Time in the West

  • Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards Jr., Keenan Wynn, Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Lionel Stander, Don Galloway, Robert Hossein, Aldo Sambrell, Gabriele Ferzetti, Fabio Testi, Benito Stefanelli, Frank Wolff, Paolo Stoppa, Ricardo Palacios, Frank Braña, Antonio Molino Rojo, Lorenzo Robledo, Al Mulock, Spartaco Conversi, Robert Spafford, Dino Mele, Conrado San Martín, Claudio Mancini, Bruno Corazzari, Renato Pinciroli, Claudio Scarchilli, Aldo Berti, Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia, Luukialuana Kalaeloa Strode, John Merrick, Francesca Leone, Salvatore Basile, Frank Leslie, Saturno Cerra, Raffaella Leone, Marco Zuanelli, Paolo Figlia, Enzo Santaniello, Simonetta Santaniello, Michael Harvey, Tullio Palmieri, Livio Andronico, Luigi Magnani, Marilù Carteny, Umberto Morsella, Enrico Morsella, Stefano Imparato, Sandra Salvatori, Dino Zamboni, Luigi Ciavarro

  Initially receiving negative reviews, Once Upon a Time in the West has gained an ardent cult following around the world, particularly among cinéastes and filmmakers. In the 1970s, it was re-evaluated by many young filmmakers and critics, many of whom called it a masterpiece.

  "The movie stretches on for nearly three hours, with intermission, and provides two false alarms before it finally ends." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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  (#19) All About Eve

  • Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm, Gregory Ratoff, Walter Hampden, Hugh Marlowe, Barbara Bates, Gary Merrill, Barbara White, Craig Hill, Randy Stuart, Leland Harris

  As one reviewer said, “The [witchiest] fabrication since Mrs. Luce’s The Women. It is not true, as you may have heard, that All About Eve is a great picture and proof that Hollywood has grown up overnight. Its highly polished, often witty surface hides an unenterprising plot and some preposterous human behavior.” – Richard Hatch, The New Republic
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  (#20) Selena

  • Jennifer Lopez, Constance Marie, Edward James Olmos, Alex Meneses, Jon Seda, Lupe Ontiveros, Jacob Vargas, Seidy López, Jackie Guerra, Gil Glasgow, Sal Lopez, Gail Cronauer, Joe Stevens, Jeff Dylan Graham, Barbara Petricini-Buxton, Richard Coca, Panchito Gomez, Larry Cashion, Rick Olmos, León Singer, Ricky Vela, Erick Carrillo, John Verea, Marta Flores, George Perez, Don Cass, Lori Berlanga, Frank Mendez, Raven Kaylor, Andie X, Everett Sifuentes, Cora Cardona, Rueben Gonzales, Xavier Ramirez, Tom Christopher, Bel Hernandez, Molly Moroney, Pete Astudillo, Ray Melendez, Victoria Elena Flores, Valerio Longoria, Sr., Donnie Neubauer, Marc Kenneth Robinson, Marcos Padilla, Terry Elena Ordaz, Desi McGill, Mark Carrillo, Darline Tigrett, Elisabeth Gonzalez, Michael Guerrero, Carmen Martínez, Carl William Holler, Richard Iglesias, Ronald Gonzales, Don Shelton, Elia Ortiz, Keith Kaslow, Michelle McManus, Richard Emanuelle, Marika Baca, Philip Raybourn, Peter P. Montejano, Leonardo Martinez, Jason Bradley Jacobs, Richard William Hughes, Nicole Young, Fernando Cubillas, Francisco J. De La Fuente, Amin Mery, Rafael Tamayo, Rebecca Lee Meza, Chris Doughton, Brian Fallteen

  The 1997 movie Selena, which told the life story of singer Selena Quintanilla, featured Jennifer Lopez’s breakout role and turned out to be a big box office success. But the biopic received mixed reviews. Many critics praised Lopez's performance and the musical numbers, while taking issue with the lack of character development and the thin plot.
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  (#21) Metropolis

  • Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich, Theodor Loos, Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Alfred Abel, Erwin Biswanger, Fritz Alberti, Grete Berger, Olly Boeheim

  “It is a technical marvel with feet of clay, a picture as soulless as the manufactured woman of its story. Its scenes bristle with cinematic imagination, with hordes of men and women and astounding stage settings. It is hardly a film to be judged by its narrative, for despite the fantastic nature of the story, it is, on the whole, unconvincing, lacking in suspense and at times extravagantly theatric.” – Mordaunt Hall, the New York Times
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  (#22) The Night of the Hunter

  • Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Peter Graves, James Gleason, John Hamilton, Gloria Pall, James Griffith, Kathy Garver, George D. Wallace, Corey Allen, Don Beddoe, Emmett Lynn, Paul Bryar, Evelyn Varden, Billy Chapin, Gloria Castillo, Sally Jane Bruce, Cheryl Callaway, Mary Ellen Clemons, Michael Chapin, Kay Lavelle

  This classic film, now widely studied as a masterpiece of horror by film students everywhere, was not a success with either audiences or critics at its initial release, and Laughton never directed another film.
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  (#23) The Third Man

  • Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Joseph Cotten, Carol Reed, Alida Valli, Lee Strasberg, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Geoffrey Keen, Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Eric Pohlmann, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Karel Štěpánek, Paul Hörbiger, Martin Miller, Paul Birch, Paul Carpenter, Charles Irwin, Lily Kann, Martin Boddey, Madge Brindley, Siegfried Breuer, Gordon Tanner, Paul Hardtmuth, Harold Ayer, Vernon Greeves, Annie Rosar, Ernst Ulman, Reed De Rouen, Hannah Norbert, Leo Bieber, Peter Fontaine, Alexis Chesnakov, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Hugo Schuster, Frederick Schreicker, Ray Browne, Guy De Monceau, Brookes Kyle, Harry Belcher, Nelly Arno, Jack Arrow, Helga Wahlrow, Herbert Halbik, Jenny Werner, Walter Hertner, Jack Faint, Thomas Gallagher, Marie-Louise Charlier

  “The Third Man's murky, familiar mood springs chiefly from Graham Greene’s script, which proves again that he is an uncinematic snob who has robbed the early Hitchcock of everything but his genius. Living off tension maneuvers which Hitchcock wore out, Greene crosses each event with one bothersome nonentity (a Crisco-hipped porter; schmoo-faced child) tossed in without insight, so that the script crawls with annoying bugs.” – Manny Farber, The Nation

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