The 40 Best Movies of the Last 40 Years

40 years. 40 movies. What’s the best of the best?

Today at ScreenCrush we’re looking back at the last four decades of films and ranking more than three dozen modern classic titles. (Does something that’s 30 years old still count as “modern”? Maybe not. But 1995 doesn’t feel that long ago to me, darn it! I remember 1995. I saw Billy Madison in the theater in 1995! Ugh, I’m so old.)

Of course, this ranking is mine and mine alone. You might hate my number one pick. (You shouldn’t, and I will look at you askance if you do, but you might.) You likely obsess over at least one or two movies that didn’t make my list at all. A lot of genuinely great motion pictures are guaranteed to get overlooked when you’re trying to distill 40 years of cinema down to just 40 top choices. (Sorry Total Recall. Can you ever forgive me Midnight Run? I still love you, Ed Wood!)

But I like lists like this as much or more than broad critical surveys that aggregate a wider consensus among film critics. Those lists tend to regurgitate the same films over and over in a canonical feedback loop. While you’ll find some familiar favorites on my list, you’ll also find a few films that would never show up on the once-a-decade Sight & Sound critics poll. (By the way, Sight & Sound has never invited me to contribute to their poll. Coincidence?!?)

Probably not! Anyway, here are my personal picks for the 40 best movies of the last 40 years.

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