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The Greatest Movies You Might Not Have Seen

The Greatest Movies You Might Not Have Seen

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The film industry is responsible for a large amount of the world’s entertainment. In 2022 alone it is estimated that movie theaters around the globe sold 5.7 billion tickets, while in the United States, almost half of all adults visit the theater monthly. With the number of movies released each year – in the U.S. and Canada alone, there were more than 400 movies released in that same year – moviegoers have a significant amount of options.

But not all films are created equal. Some are often considered artistic triumphs and yet, are barely regarded while others are all hype and perhaps not as impactful but manage to reach a higher percentage of audiences. It can be easy to overlook certain films. Many outstanding films just don’t get the same publicity as others and even the most zealous cinephiles can overlook worthwhile films, some of them the work of Hollywood acting and directing legends.

To determine the greatest movies you might not have seen, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of early October 2023, weighting all ratings equally.

Only movies with between 10,000 and 50,000 audience reviews on either IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes were considered (documentaries were excluded). Directorial credits are from IMDb. Of the films chosen, some have earned a perfect 100 score on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The films highlighted on this list encompass a wide variety of genres — horror, comedy, Westerns, drama, and even animation. (Here’s a list of the best Westerns you probably haven’t seen.)

While Hollywood features a great deal here, these cinematic masterpieces don’t all come from the hotbed of movie creation; many of them are foreign films. Two of these received perfect scores – the Japanese movies “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya,” directed by Isao Takahata, and “Tampopo,” from Jûzô Itami.

Film icons Spencer Tracy, Ernest Borgnine, and Michael Caine each appear in two movies on this list, as do the husband-and-wife team of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes. Among the Oscar winners gracing our list are “Babette’s Feast,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” and “The Last Picture Show.”

Here are the greatest movies you might not have seen:

25. My Life as a Zucchini (2016)

Source: Courtesy of GKIDS

Source: Courtesy of GKIDS
  • IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (23,440 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (6,575 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 99% (137 reviews)

24. Babette’s Feast (1987)

Babette's Feast (1987) | Vibeke Hastrup in Babette's Feast (1987)
Source: Courtesy of Orion Classics

N/A

Source: Courtesy of Orion Classics
  • IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (20,191 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (5,000 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (34 reviews)

23. A Taxi Driver (2017)

Source: Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

Source: Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (28,194 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (1,652 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (28 reviews)

22. Opening Night (1977)

Source: Courtesy of Faces Distribution

Source: Courtesy of Faces Distribution
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (10,093 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (4,369 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (27 reviews)

21. Love and Death (1975)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (37,440 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (19,082 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (21 reviews)

20. Once Were Warriors (1995)

Once Were Warriors (1994) | Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen in Once Were Warriors (1994)
Source: Courtesy of Fine Line Features

N/A

Source: Courtesy of Fine Line Features
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (35,833 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (29,728 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (46 reviews)

19. Sleuth (1972)

Sleuth (1972) | Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

N/A

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (46,421 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (9,451 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (25 reviews)

18. Secrets & Lies (1996)

Secrets & Lies (1996) | Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Secrets & Lies (1996)
Source: Courtesy of October Films

N/A

Source: Courtesy of October Films
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (45,526 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (11,346 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (45 reviews)

17. The Killer (1989)

Source: Courtesy of Circle Films

Source: Courtesy of Circle Films
  • IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (48,969 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (25,000 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (41 reviews)

16. Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (12,179 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (2,569 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (14 reviews)

15. Limelight (1952)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (19,395 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (7,303 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (35 reviews)

14. Paper Moon (1973)

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (44,587 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (11,421 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (41 reviews)

13. Z (1969)

Source: Courtesy of Cinema V

Source: Courtesy of Cinema V
  • IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (30,319 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (6,578 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (50 reviews)

12. The Big Country (1958)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (16,962 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (5,532 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (11 reviews)

11. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (47,356 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (4,853 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (37 reviews)

10. Central Station (1998)

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (41,163 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (13,643 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (50 reviews)

9. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000)

Source: Courtesy of WinStar Cinema

Source: Courtesy of WinStar Cinema
  • IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (26,769 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (7,700 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (87 reviews)

8. The Court Jester (1955)

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (12,327 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (9,213 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (30 reviews)

7. The Big Heat (1953)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (25,267 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (5,985 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (32 reviews)

6. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (30,043 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (6,974 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (53 reviews)

5. The Last Picture Show (1971)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (45,056 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (14,197 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (58 reviews)

4. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)

Source: Courtesy of Gkids

Source: Courtesy of Gkids
  • IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (42,434 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (14,047 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (96 reviews)

3. Tampopo (1985)

Source: Courtesy of New Yorker Films

Source: Courtesy of New Yorker Films
  • IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (19,034 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (5,000 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (56 reviews

2. Raise the Red Lantern (1992)

Raise the Red Lantern (1992) | Gong Li in Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Source: Courtesy of Orion Classics

N/A

Source: Courtesy of Orion Classics
  • IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (34,222 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (22,285 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (29 reviews)

1. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

Source: Courtesy of Cinemad Presents

Source: Courtesy of Cinemad Presents
  • IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (12,509 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (1,442 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (32 reviews)
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