20 Best Movies To Watch High

Critics Consensus: Though unabashedly juvenile and silly, Airplane! is nevertheless an uproarious spoof comedy full of quotable lines and slapstick gags that endure to this day.

Synopsis: This spoof comedy takes shots at the slew of disaster movies that were released in the 70s. When the passengers and crew of a jet… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Peter Graves, Robert Stack

Directed By: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams

Critics Consensus: Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them.

Synopsis: 10-year-old Chihiro moves with her parents to a new home in the Japanese countryside. After taking a wrong turn down a wooded path, Chihiro and… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, Susan Egan

Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter

Critics Consensus: Typically stylish but deceptively thoughtful, The Grand Budapest Hotel finds Wes Anderson once again using ornate visual environments to explore deeply emotional ideas.

Synopsis: In the 1930s, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a popular European ski resort, presided over by concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Zero, a junior lobby… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody

Directed By: Wes Anderson, Molly Cooper, Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser

Critics Consensus: Shaun of the Dead cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit.

Synopsis: Shaun is a 30-something loser with a dull, easy existence. When he’s not working at the electronics store, he lives with his slovenly best friend,… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost

Directed By: Edgar Wright, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Alison Owen

Critics Consensus: Injecting its compendium of crime tales with the patois of everyday conversation, Pulp Fiction is a cinematic shot of adrenaline that cements writer-director Quentin Tarantino as an audacious purveyor of killer kino.

Synopsis: Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those… View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino, Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher

Critics Consensus: A cult classic as gut-bustingly hilarious as it is blithely ridiculous, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has lost none of its exceedingly silly charm.

Synopsis: A comedic send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle

Directed By: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Goldstone

Critics Consensus: One of the most influential of all sci-fi films — and one of the most controversial — Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 is a delicate, poetic meditation on the ingenuity — and folly — of mankind.

Synopsis: An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter

Directed By: Stanley Kubrick

Critics Consensus: Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually.

Synopsis: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His skill has… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy

Directed By: Christopher Nolan, Chris Brigham, Thomas Tull

Critics Consensus: A smart, affectionate satire of ’80s nostalgia and teen movie tropes, 21 Jump Street offers rowdy mainstream comedy with a surprisingly satisfying bite.

Synopsis: When cops Schmidt and Jenko join the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover as high-school students. They trade in… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco

Directed By: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum

Critics Consensus: Thanks to the Wachowskis’ imaginative vision, The Matrix is a smartly crafted combination of spectacular action and groundbreaking special effects.

Synopsis: Neo believes that Morpheus, an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Directed By: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, Bruce Berman, Andrew Mason

Critics Consensus: With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder is a triumphant late summer comedy.

Synopsis: Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), pampered action superstar, sets out for Southeast Asia to take part in the biggest, most-expensive war movie produced, but soon after… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte

Directed By: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux

Critics Consensus: Solid acting, amazing direction, and elaborate production design make Fight Club a wild ride.

Synopsis: A depressed man suffering from insomnia meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf

Directed By: David Fincher, Arnon Milchan

Critics Consensus: Waking Life‘s inventive animated aesthetic adds a distinctive visual component to a film that could easily have rested on its smart screenplay and talented ensemble cast.

Synopsis: Transcending the boundaries of technology and imagination, “Waking Life” is a revolutionary breakthrough in film animation. In “Waking Life,” Wiley Wiggins (“Dazed and Confused”) travels… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Wiley Wiggins, Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater, Glover Gill

Directed By: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan, John Sloss

Critics Consensus: Fantastic Planet is an animated epic that is by turns surreal and lovely, fantastic and graceful.

Synopsis: This animated tale follows the relationship between the small human-like Oms and their much larger blue-skinned oppressors, the Draags, who rule the planet of Ygam…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Barry Bostwick, Mark Gruner, Marvin Miller, Hal Smith

Directed By: René Laloux

Critics Consensus: A visual treat rich in symbolism, The Holy Mountain adds another defiantly idiosyncratic chapter to Jodorowsky’s thoroughly unique filmography.

Synopsis: A Mexican master (Alexandro Jodorowsky) leads a Christ figure (Horacio Salinas) and other disciples to a mountain of immortal wise men.

Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara

Directed By: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Critics Consensus: Pink Floyd’s expression of generational angst is given striking visual form The Wall, although this ambitious feature’s narrative struggles to marry its provocative images and psychedelic soundtrack into a compelling whole.

Synopsis: In this visual riff on Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall,” successful but drugged-out musician Pink (Bob Geldof) is looking back on his isolated childhood from… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves, James Laurenson, Eleanor David

Directed By: Alan Parker, Stephen O'Rourke

Critics Consensus: Visually inventive and gleefully over the top, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element is a fantastic piece of pop sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously.

Synopsis: The Earth is about to be destroyed by a huge ball of fire racing toward the planet. Cornelius, an old monk, knows how to stop… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich

Directed By: Luc Besson

Critics Consensus: More visually elaborate than the fragmented story can sometimes support, The Fall walks the line between labor of love and filmmaker self-indulgence.

Synopsis: A bedridden patient (Lee Pace) captivates a hospitalized girl (Catinca Untaru) with a fantastic tale involving heroes, mystics and villains on a desert island.

Starring: Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Robin Smith

Directed By: Tarsem Singh, Arjit Singh, Tommy Turtle

Critics Consensus: Step Brothers indulges in a cheerfully relentless immaturity that will quickly turn off viewers unamused by Ferrell and Reilly — and delight those who find their antics hilarious.

Synopsis: Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) and Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) have one thing in common: they are both lazy, unemployed leeches who still live with… View Full Synopsis

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen

Directed By: Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, David B. Householter

Critics Consensus: Tron Legacy boasts dazzling visuals, but its human characters and story get lost amidst its state-of-the-art production design.

Synopsis: Sam (Garrett Hedlund), the son of famous video-game developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), has been haunted for a long time by his father’s mysterious disappearance…. View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner

Directed By: Joseph Kosinski, Donald Kushner