* The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Dreyer, France, 1927)
* Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1927)
* M (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1931)
* L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, France, 1934) +++++
* The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, France, 1939) +++++
* The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, US, 1939)
* Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, US, 1941)
* To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch, US, 1942)
* Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, US, 1943)
* To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, US, 1944)
* Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne, France, 1945)
* Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1946)
* It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, US, 1946)
* Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, France, 1946)
* The Third Man (Carol Reed, UK, 1949)
* Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1949)
* Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1951)
* Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1951)
* Ikuru (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1952)
* Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1953)
* Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1953)
* The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, France, 1953)
* Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1954) +++++
* Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1954) +++++
* Rififi (Jules Dassin, France, 1956)
* The Searchers (John Ford, US, 1956)
* Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1957)
* A Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, US, 1958)
* Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1958)
* La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1959)
* North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1959)
* Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, US, 1959)
* L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1960)
* The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, US, 1962)
* An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Robert Enrico, France, 1962)
* High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1963)
* Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, UK, 1963)
* Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1964)
* A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, UK, 1964)
* The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy, 1966)
* Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, US, 1967)
* Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, US, 1967)
* 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, US, 1968) +++++
* Claire's Knee (Eric Rohmer, France, 1970)
* Little Big Man (Arthur Penn, US, 1970)
* M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, US, 1970)
* Patton (Franklin J. Schaffner, US, 1970) ++++++++++
OK, while it may not be an artistic masterpiece of
cinema, Patton is still a great freaking movie; I never get tired of watching it.
That is all.
* Dirty Harry (Don Seigel, US, 1971)
* Duel (Steven Spielberg, US, 1971)
* The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, US, 1971)
* Les Deux Anglaises (Francois Truffant, France, 1971)
* The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, US, 1972) +++++
* Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, Germany, 1972)
* American Graffiti (George Lucas, US, 1973)
* Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich, US, 1973)
* Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, US, 1974)
* Chinatown (Roman Polanski, US, 1974) +++++
* The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, US, 1974)
* The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, US, 1974) +++++
* The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Joseph Sargent, US, 1974)
* Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, US, 1974)
* Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, UK & US, 1975) +++++
* Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, US, 1975)
* Jaws (Steven Spielberg, US, 1975)
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, UK, 1975)
* The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni, France-Italy-US-Spain, 1975)
* All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula, US, 1976) +++++
* Stroszek (Werner Herzog, Germany, 1977)
* The Last Wave (Peter Weir, Australia, 1977)
* Alien (Ridley Scott, UK & US, 1979)
* The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, US, 1979)
* The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, UK, 1980)
* The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, UK & US, 1980)
* Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, West Germany, 1981)
* Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, US, 1982)
* The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, US, 1982)
* Local Hero (William Forsyth, UK, 1983)
* Amadeus (Milos Forman, US, 1984)
* Blood Simple (Joel Coen, US, 1984)
* Brazil (Terry Gilliam, US, 1985)
* Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton, US, 1985)
* Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Japan & France, 1985)
* Aliens (James Cameron, US, 1986)
* House of Games (David Mamet, US, 1987)
* The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, US, 1987)
* Die Hard (John McTiernan, US, 1988
* Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, US, 1989)
* Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, US, 1989)
* Flirting (John Duigan, Australia, 1989)
* Glory (Edward Zwick, US, 1989)
* Ju Dou (Yimou Zhang, China, 1989)
* Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh, US, 1989)
* Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, US, 1990)
* Miller's Crossing (Joel Coen, US, 1990)
* Reversal of Fortune (Barbet Schroeder, US, 1990)
* Damage (Louis Malle, UK & France, 1992)
* Delicatessen (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 1992)
* Proof (Jocelyn Moorhouse, Australia, 1992)
* Raise the Red Lantern (Yimou Zhang, China, 1992)
* Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, US, 1993)
* The Remains of the Day (James Ivory, UK & US, 1993)
* The music videos of Michel Gondry (1990's - present)
* Three Colours: Red (Krszystof Kieslowski, France-Switzerland-Poland, 1994)
* The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi, Iran, 1995)
* Lone Star (John Sayles, US, 1996)
* The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, US, 1998) ("Where's the money, Lebowski??)
* The Insider (Michael Mann, US, 1999)
* The Matrix (Andy & Larry Wachowski, US, 1999)
* The Straight Story (David Lynch, US, 1999)
* Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, UK, 1999)
* Yi Yi (A One and a Two) (Edward Yang, Taiwan, 1999)
* My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese, US, 1999)
* O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, US, 2000)
* You Can Count on Me (Kenneth Lonergan, US, 2000)
* In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 2000)
* The Gleaners and I (Agnes Varda, France, 2001)
* Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, US, 2001)
* The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat) (Zacharias Kunuk, Canada, 2001)
* Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2002)
* 24 Hour Party People (Micheal Winterbottom, UK, 2002)
* Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, US, 2003)
* The Station Agent (Tom McCarthy, US, 2003)
* Big Fish (Tim Burton, US, 2003)
* Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Park & Steve Box, UK, 2005)
* 49 Up (Michael Apted, UK, 2005) - ...and all the other films in the Up Series as well.
* When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (Spike Lee, US, 2006)
* The Departed (Martin Scorsese, US, 2006)
* Sweet Land (Ali Selim, US, 2006)
* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, US, 2007)
* Protagonist (Jessica Yu, US, 2007)
* The Visitor (Tom McCarthy, US, 2007)
* Once (John Carney, Ireland, 2007)
* Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani, US, 2008)
* Man on Wire (James Marsh, UK, 2008)
* Tulpan (Sergey Dvortsevoy, Kazakhstan, 2008)
* Departures (Yojiro Takita, Japan, 2008)
* Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, US, 2008)
* A Serious Man (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, US, 2009) +++++
* Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, US, 2009)
* God's Architects (Zack Godshall, US, 2009)
* Despicable Me (Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud, US, 2010)
* Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, US, 2010)
* Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, US, 2012)
* Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, US, 2013)
* Get Out (Jordan Peele, US, 2017)
* Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Questlove, US, 2021)
* The Holdovers (Alexander Payne, US, 2023)
* Past Lives (Celine Song, US & South Korea, 2023)
* Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, Japan & Germany, 2023)
* Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor, US, 2025)
Not quite the greatest films of all time, or perhaps nowhere near the greatest, but I do like them:
* The African Queen
* Airplane
* Amelie
* American Splendor
* Amores Perros
* The Anderson Tapes
* Andrei Rublev
* The Andromeda Strain
* Animal House
* Annie Hall
* Argo
* Babe (i.e. the one with the talking pig)
* The Bad News Bears
* Batman Begins
* The Best Years of Our Lives
* Beverly Hills Cop
* The Birds
* Breaking Away
* Casino Royale (2006 version)
* Cat People (the original, not the remake)
* A Christmas Story
* Clerks
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind
* Comfort and Joy
* Control
* The Cool School
* The Cowboys
* Les Diaboliques (the original, not the remake)
* Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy
* Donnie Darko
* Double Indemnity
* Duck Soup
* An Education
* The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (AKA Every Man For Himself and God Against All)
* End of the Tour
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
* Eyes Wide Shut
* Fast Times at Ridgemont High
* Five Million Years to Earth
* The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
* Forbidden Games
* Frances Ha
* The French Connection
* From Russia With Love
* Garden State
* Ghost World
* Go Fish
* Goldfinger
* Good Will Hunting
* Gosford Park
* Hot Fuzz
* The Hours
* Hud
* The Hustler
* The Ice Storm
* I, Claudius (TV series)
* I'm Not There
* In Bruges
* The Incredibles
* Inside Man
* Intolerable Cruelty
* John Adams (TV series)
* Kundun
* L.A. Confidential
* Lantana
* Lars and the Real Girl
* Le Mepris (Contempt)
* Lonesome Dove (TV series)
* Lost in Translation
* Magnolia
* Malcolm X
* A Man Escaped
* Masculin-Feminin
* McCabe & Mrs. Miller
* Miracle
* Mississippi Masala
* Monsters, Inc.
* Moonlighting (not the TV series)
* The Motorcycle Diaries
* My Architect
* My Favorite Year
* Mystery Train
* A Night at the Opera
* Night of the Hunter
* Nouvelle Vague
* Office Space
* Pan's Labyrinth
* Paris, Texas
* Performance
* Persepolis
* Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
* Planes, Trains and Automobiles
* The Player
* Rachel Getting Married
* Raging Bull
* Raiders of the Lost Ark
* Rain Man
* Raising Arizona
* A Real Pain
* The Right Stuff
* The Road Warrior
* The Royal Tenenbaums
* Ruby in Paradise
* Rushmore
* Russian Ark
* Secretariat
* 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
* Schindler's List
* Shaun of the Dead
* The Shawshank Redemption
* Sideways
* 61*
* SLC Punk
* Stranger Than Fiction
* Stranger Than Paradise
* Sunset Boulevard
* Superbad
* Talladega Nights
* Terminator 2
* This is Spinal Tap
* To Kill a Mockingbird
* Touchez Pas au Grisbi
* Toy Story
* Trading Places
* Tropic Thunder
* True Grit (the 2010 Coen Brothers remake)
* 25th Hour
* The Untouchables
* The War of the Worlds (the original, not the Spielberg remake)
* Weekend
* What's Up, Doc?
* When We Were Kings
* The Wind Will Carry Us
* Y Tu Mama Tambien
* Yellow Submarine
* Zero Dark Thirty
*** And if George Lucas had quit in 1977, I'd have the original Star Wars. Where's Chaplin? I dunno; a genius, yes, but his work could get annoyingly cute at times. Call it the McCartney syndrome.
