15 Modern Movies That Deserve To Be Classics

When people are asked about their favorite classic Hollywood movies, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Casablanca often come to mind. But there are plenty of relatively recent movies that also belong on that list. With that in mind, we’re taking a look at some of the best modern movies that deserve to be talked about for years to come. As a rule, we chose movies from the past 20 years, although you’ll have to forgive us for adding Saving Private Ryan (made 21 years ago).

1. No Country For Old Men (2007)
This is modern Western about a hunter (Josh Brolin) who stumbles across a suitcase full of cash and is pursued by a merciless killer (Javier Bardem) who is constantly on the verge of tracking him down. It’s an intense movie from start to finish with a perfect cast. Being a fan of the Coen brothers (Fargo is one of my favorite movies ever), I had high expectations going in and was not disappointed.

2. Saving Private Ryan (1997)
Opening scene of the D-Day Normandy Beach invasion is perhaps of the most realistic depiction of war in cinematic history. Add to this a compelling partially-based-on-a-true-story about US Army captain (Tom Hanks) who takes his men behind enemy lines in occupied France in search of a soldier (Matt Damon) whose three brothers were killed in battle.

3. Wall-E (2007)
One of my favorite WALL-E (which stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) is the last robot on Earth who spends 700 years in isolation until he is visited by EVE, a probe sent on a scanning mission. He falls in love and follows her around the galaxy. Remarkably, the first half of the movie contains almost no dialogue and yet it is still very compelling.

4. Inception (2010)
This Christopher Nolan-directed movie features a thief (Leonard DiCaprio) who has the ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their thoughts from their subconscious. Nearly a decade later, there is still a lot of controversy about how to interpret the movie’s end. At Brainberries we don’t believe in spoiling the movie for friends like you, so you’ll just have to watch it for yourself!

5. The Dark Knight (2009)
I’m not generally a fan of superhero movies, but Heath Ledger was so good as the Joker and the non-stop action made this one so much fun. In hindsight it’s a bit ridiculous to think about everything that had to work out perfectly in order for the Joker to carry out his plot, but this is definitely one movie where I’m willing to suspend my belief.