The Film Buff's Bucket List. Chris Stuckmann

win for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, and remains to this day the gold standard for animation around the world.

      Director: Hayao Miyazaki

      Starring: Mari Natsuki, Bunta Sugawara, Miyu Irino

      Studio: Studio Ghibli

      Donnie Darko (2001)

      Drama | Sci-Fi

      The term “cult classic” was invented specifically for films like Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko. Initially dismissed by the masses and denied by critics, its lasting appeal is indisputable and its cultural impact impossible to ignore. Put simply, Donnie Darko is too strange to forget.

      On the surface, Donnie Darko is about young Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), who survives a near-fatal accident only to find himself haunted by visions of a large rabbit creature. That hook alone aroused my interest enough to seek the film out. Other canny filmgoers did the same, and they’ve been spouting hordes of theories, explanations, and analyses for years since.