100 Movies 1990-2014 (40-31)

40. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999) d: Trey Parker
At once both a satire on censorship and a spoof of Disney musicals, possibly the funniest movie of the period. I can try to be sophisticated, or admit I couldn't stop laughing when Cartman rudely makes fun of Kyle's mom in song.

39. Babe (1995) d: Chris Noonan
A simple story, about a pig with heart winning over negativity, which has so many note perfect details. Baa Ram Ewe, Baa Ram Ewe ...

38. The Descendants (2011) d: Alexander Payne
Payne's gentle satire combines with genuine emotion to deliver his best film to date. (For the record, the less gentle satire of Election almost made this list.) Also notable for a star making performance by Shailene Woodley.

37. Happiness (1998) d: Todd Solondz
Solondz has struggled to find the consistency in most of his films, but he nails it here. For more than two hours, he keeps us uncomfortable yet giggling most of the time. He refuses to make judgments about characters that most people will judge.

36. Interstellar (2014) d: Christopher Nolan
Nolan delivers a space travel with a true sense of wonder, and an even truer sense of the importance of love.

35. Saving Private Ryan (1998) d: Steven Spielberg
The first 30+ minutes, a recreation of D-Day, are the most stunning portrayal of war I have ever seen. The rest of the movie is pretty good too.

34. The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996) d: Milos Forman
Who would have thought a biography of the founder of Hustler would be this entertaining? It benefits from the best work of Woody Harrelson's career as the title character.

33. City of God (2002) d: Fernando Meirelles
Life in the favelas of Brazil, portrayed in a matter of fact style which make the dangers of this impoverished neighborhood all the more real.

32. United 93 (2006) d: Paul Greengrass
Greengrass was exactly the right director to place us back in the chaos of 9/11, with a haunting third act exclusively on that fateful title flight.

31. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) d: Steven Spielberg
Started by Stanley Kubrick, finished by Spielberg, and a bit uneven. But it is filled with many memorable images and an amazing central performance by Haley Joel Osment.