About the Author

Past Blog Posts

Monica&Murph Tracker 

Follow @travelingandtwenties

The Top 100 List

Below you'll find a list of the movies that constitute Life-in-Colour's Top 100 and which I'll [eventually] be devoting a single blog to each. Want to know the nitty-gritty of how I narrowed them all down (it wasn't easy), read more about it HERE

Disagree with my Top 100? Tell me about it in the comments. Or don't, that's cool too. 

A Prophet (2009)

This crime drama follows Malik El Djebena, a delinquent young Muslim man, who is struggling to get by in a French prison. 

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes /Aguirre, the Wrath of God '72

In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Alien (1979)

After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, its landing on the source moon brings a mysterious life-form on-board their vessel. 

Blog Post: HERE

All about eve (1950)

An ingenue insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Amadeus  (1984)

The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told by his peer and secret rival Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum.

Annie Hall (1977)

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.  

Apocalypse Now (1979)

During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.

Ben-Hur (1959)

When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

Blade Runner (1982)

A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Brazil (1985)

A bureaucrat in a retro-future world tries to correct an administrative error and himself becomes an enemy of the state.

Casablanca (1942)

In Casablanca in Dec. 1941, a cynical American expatriate encounters a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

Chinatown (1974)

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder.

Blog Coming Soon...

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance, "Rosebud".

Blog Post: HERE

City Lights (1931)

With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.

City of God (2002)

Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)

Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

At the dawn of the 20th century, a family in the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina -- former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors' Yoruba traditions -- suffers a generational split

Die Hard (1988)

John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save his wife Holly Gennaro and several others that were taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

After a painful breakup, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Fargo (1996)

Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.

Goodfellas (1980)

The story of Henry Hill and his life, covering his relationship with wife Karen Hill and his Mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVitto in the Italian-mafia crime syndicate

Blog Coming Soon...

Harold & Maude (1971)

Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) 

A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Ikiru (1952)

A bureaucrat tries to find a meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost ark (1981)

Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.

It Happened One Night (1934)

A spoiled heiress running away from her family is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

Jaws (1975)

A giant great white shark arrives on the shores of a New England beach resort and wreaks havoc with bloody attacks on swimmers, until a local sheriff teams up with a marine biologist and an old seafarer to hunt the monster down.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.

Let the Right One In (2008)

Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who shares her dark, macabre secret with Oskar. 

Blog Post: HERE

Life is Beautiful (1997)

When an open-minded Jewish librarian and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.

Memento (2000)

A man juggles searching for his wife's murderer and keeping his short-term memory loss from being an obstacle.

Blog Post: HERE

Metropolis (1927)

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Midnight cowboy (1969)

A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York to seek personal fortune but, in the process, finds himself a new friend.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down.

Nashville (1975)

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.

North by Northwest (1959)

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive

Notorious (1946)

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Danny Ocean and his eleven accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

On the Waterfront (1954)

An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

In 1940's Francoist Spain, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

Blog Post: HERE

Persona (1966)

A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personas are melding together.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Psycho (1960)

A secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Raging Bull (1980)

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life and love outside it.

Rashômon  (1950)

The story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife are recalled from four different people's perspectives.

Rear Window (1954)

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Rocky (1976)

Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer, gets a supremely rare chance to fight heavy-weight champion Apollo Creed.

Roman Holiday (1953)

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

Rushmore (1998)

The extracurricular king of Rushmore preparatory school is put on academic probation.

Scarface (1983)

In Miami in 1980, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.

Schindler's List (1993)

In German-occupied Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazi Germans.

Seven Samurai (1954)

A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Some Like it Hot (1959)

When two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

Spirited Away (2001)

During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.

Stand By Me (1986)

After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

After the Empire has overpowered the rebels, Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training with Master Yoda, as his friends are pursued by Darth Vader.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A screenwriter is hired to rework a faded silent film star's script only to find himself developing a dangerous relationship.

Talk to Her (2002)

Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.

Taxi Driver (1976)

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran takes a job as a night-time New York City cabbie as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.

The 400 Blows (1959)

The story of a young Parisian boy who, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.

The Bicycle Thief (1948)

In post-war Italy, unemployed Antonio Ricci is elated when he finally finds work. Disaster strikes when Antonio's bicycle is stolen, and he is left without transportation to his new job. Antonio and his son set out to find it and the thief. 

Blog Post: HERE

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972)

A surreal, virtually plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.

The Godfather (1972)

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.

The Graduate (1967)

A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.

The Great Dictator (1940)

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

The Lives of Others (2006)

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

A former prisoner of war is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

The Revenant (2015)

A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

The Searchers (1956)

An American Civil War veteran embarks on a journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

The Third Man (1949)

Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy Gale is swept away to the magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return to Kansas.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice.

Tokyo Story (1953)

An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city; but the children have little time for them.

Tootsie (1982)

Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.

Training Day (2001)

On his first day on the job, a rookie cop goes beyond a full work day in training within the narcotics division of the LAPD with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Blog coming soon...