Shared Top Border

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

  WebTSPDT

[ Home ] [ Directors A-L ] [ Directors M-Z ] [ 1,000 Greatest Films ] [ 21st Century ] [ Film Noir ] [ Ain't Nobody's Blues ] [ Recommended Viewing ] [ About ] [ Links ]
 
     
  The 1,000 Greatest Films The Top 500 (151-200)  
  • Introduction  • The Top 500 Films  • The Full List  • The Top 250 Directors  • PDF Companion  • Links  
  The Top 500: •1-25  •26-50   •51-75   •76-100  •101-150  •151-200  •201-250  •251-300  •301-350  •351-400  •401-450  •451-500  
     
     
     
 
151   152   153
Chimes at Midnight
ORSON WELLES (144)
• Campanadas a medianoche (Spanish title); Falstaff (alternative title)
1966 | 115m | BW | Spain-Switzerland | Drama, Tragi-comedy
Orson Welles, Keith Baxter, John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, Marina Vlady, Walter Chiari, Norman Rodway, Alan Webb, Fernando Rey
"Infused with a politically acute nostalgia for Merrie England, this elegiac tragi-comedy comes over as uncompromisingly modern entertainment, from its playful ruptures of traditional film grammar to its characterisation of Falstaff as hero at the crossroads of history... Welles waddles through the foreground with an eye on his own problems of patronage, while behind the camera he conjures a dark masterpiece, shot through with slapstick and sorrow. Magic. " - Paul Taylor, Time Out
Selected by Todd McCarthy, Bruce Beresford, Neil Hunter, Brian Gilbert, Tony Rayns.
102 → 105 → 120 → 124 → 142 → 144 → 151
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Senses of Cinema
 
The Maltese Falcon
JOHN HUSTON (162)
1941 | 100m | BW | USA | Mystery, Film Noir
Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Elisha Cook Jr., Lee Patrick, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan
"Huston's first film displays the hallmarks that were to distinguish his later work: the mocking attitude toward human greed; the cavalier insolence with which plot details are treated almost as asides; the delight in bizarre characterisations... Filmed almost entirely in interiors, it presents a claustrophobic world animated by betrayal, perversion and pain." - Tom Milne, Time Out
Selected by Charles Burnett, Richard Schickel, Nasreem Munni Kabir, George Armitage, Robert Benayoun.
159 → 158 → 173 → 161 → 169 → 162 → 152
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Film Reference
See Also: 250 Quintessential Noir Films
 
The Exorcist
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN (163)
1973 | 121m | Col | USA | Horror, Occult Horror
Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Jason Miller, Jack MacGowran, Kitty Winn, Linda Blair, Vasiliki Maliaros, Wallace Rooney, Titos Vandis
"Friedkin's real genius, it seems to me, was to juxtapose the scary rite of exorcism with the barbaric medical technology of the lumbar puncture. Max von Sydow and Ellen Burstyn give maturity and substance to this movie, especially considering the teen-irony-fest the genre was to become." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 2000
Selected by Alex Proyas, M. Night Shyamalan, Mark Kermode, Geoffrey Wright, Danny Cannon.
181 → 194 → 186 → 193 → 185 → 163 → 153
Amazon  Pop Matters  The A.V. Club
 

         
154   155   156
A Woman Under the Influence
JOHN CASSAVETES (149)
1974 | 155m | Col | USA | Marriage Drama, Psychological Drama
Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Katharine Cassavetes, Lady Rowlands, Fred Draper, O.G. Dunn, Elsie Arnes, Vincent Barbi, Cliff Carnell, Nick Cassavetes
"John Cassavetes's 1974 masterpiece, and one of the best films of its decade. Cassavetes stretches the limits of his narrative—it's the story of a married couple, with the wife hedging into madness—to the point where it obliterates the narrator: it's one of those extremely rare movies that seem found rather than made, in which the internal dynamics of the drama are completely allowed to dictate the shape and structure of the film... It has an emotional rhythm unlike anything else I've ever seen." - Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Selected by Tom Charity, Michael Haneke, Dennis Lim, Lodge Kerrigan, Neil Hunter.
149 → 161 → 145 → 156 → 160 → 149 → 154
Amazon  Criterion Collection Essay  Reverse Shot
 
La Jetée
CHRIS MARKER (142)
• The Pier (English title); The Jetty (alternative title)
1962 | 29m | BW | France | Science Fiction, Avant-garde/Experimental
Helene Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, Jean Negroni, Andre Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy, Etienne Becker, Ligia Branice, William Klein
"Composed almost entirely of black-and-white still frames, voice-over and an elegiac score, La Jetée propels its main character through time — from a ruined postwar Paris back to his own days as a young boy in the City of Lights... If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because Terry Gilliam essentially remade it as the full-length 12 Monkeys. Only one scene in the film steps away from still photographs to show a brief flicker of movement. The shot is so beautiful, the moment so unexpected, that it's literally breathtaking." - Gilbert Cruz, Time, 2010
Selected by Tim Lucas, Mira Nair, Glenn Myrent, Pier Marton, Anchalee Chaiworaporn.
187 → 178 → 169 → 158 → 135 → 142 → 155
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Criterion Collection Essay
 
The Quiet Man
JOHN FORD (148)
1952 | 129m | Col | USA | Comedy Drama, Romance
John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Mildred Natwick, Arthur Shields, Jack MacGowran, Francis Ford, Eileen Crowe
"John Ford's 1952 Oscar winner is a tribute to an Ireland that exists only in the imaginations of songwriters and poets like Ford, a fairy green place where people really do say "faith and begorrah." A wonderful film, with a marvelous supporting cast headed by Barry Fitzgerald as Wayne's pixieish helper." - Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Selected by George A. Romero, Stephen Frears, Amos Gitai, Albert Serra, Montxo Armendariz.
251 → 263 → 188 → 160 → 174 → 148→ 156
Amazon  BBC  Combustible Celluloid
 
 
 
 
 
157   158   159
A Man Escaped
ROBERT BRESSON (145)
• Un Condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (original title)
1956 | 102m | BW | France | Drama, Prison Film
Francois Leterrrier, Charles LeClainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod, Jacques Ertaud, Roger Treherne, Jean-Paul Delhumeau, Jean-Philippe Delamarre, Cesar Gattegno, Jacques Oerlemans
"Based on a French lieutenant's account of his 1942 escape from a Gestapo fortress in Lyon, this stately yet uncommonly gripping 1956 feature is my choice as the greatest achievement of Robert Bresson, one of the cinema's foremost artists." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by David Ehrenstein, Fernando Martin Pena, Jan Nemec, Olivier Assayas, Georgia Brown.
104 → 103 → 116 → 130 → 134 → 145 → 157
Amazon  Masters of Cinema  Strictly Film School
 
Nights of Cabiria
FEDERICO FELLINI (167)
• Le Notti di Cabiria (original title)
1957 | 110m | BW | Italy-France | Melodrama, Tragi-comedy
Giulietta Masina, Francois Perier, Amedeo Nazzari, Aldo Silvani, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray, Mario Passante, Pina Gualandri, Polidor, Enio Girolami
"In Nights of Cabiria, Fellini weighs the cost of both isolation and connection, but it's such a graceful picture that his technique comes off as anything but ponderous -- it's more like a graceful soft-shoe, a muted shuffle on a sandy floor." - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon Magazine
Selected by James Gray, Hubert Cornfield, Susan Seidelman, Paul Mazursky, Ralph Bakshi.
155 → 156 → 162 → 180 → 184 → 167 → 158
Amazon  Bright Lights Film Journal  Roger Ebert's Great Movies
 
Rocco and His Brothers
LUCHINO VISCONTI (160)
• Rocco e i suoi fratelli (original title)
1960 | 180m | BW | Italy-France | Family Drama, Urban Drama
Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Roger Hanin, Paolo Stoppa, Suzy Delair, Claudia Cardinale, Spiros Focas, Claudia Mori
"Rocco and His Brothers, Luchino Visconti's recently restored 1960 film about the struggles of a poor southern Italian family to adjust to industrialized, big-city life, may not be a masterpiece, but it is, nonetheless, a watershed film -- turgid, overwrought, yet still profoundly affecting." - Hal Hinson, Washington Post, 1992
Selected by Arturo Ripstein, Ramin Bahrani, Albert Maysles, Gavin Lambert, Daniil Dondurei.
185 → 204 → 185 → 185 → 161 → 160 → 159
Amazon  Films de France  Bright Lights Film Journal
 

          
160   161   162
Red River
HOWARD HAWKS (159)
1948 | 133m | BW | USA | Western, Epic Western
John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, Coleen Gray, John Ireland, Noah Beery Jr., Paul Fix, Harry Carey Jr., Harry Carey
"Hawks' leisurely adaptation of Borden Chase's story about the establishing of the Chisholm Trail by Wayne and Clift's cattle train is a sheer delight that works on many levels... Immaculately shot by Russell Harlan, perfectly performed by a host of Hawks regulars, and shot through with dark comedy, it's probably the finest Western of the '40s." - Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Selected by Wes Craven, Fred Camper, D.A. Pennebaker, Andy Medhurst, Jim McBride.
130 → 127 → 137 → 139 → 150 → 159 → 160
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Roger Ebert's Great Movies
 
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
CHANTAL AKERMAN (157)
1975 | 201m | Col | Belgium-France | Avant-garde/Experimental, Feminist Film
Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Chantal Akerman, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Yves Bical
"Chantal Akerman's greatest film is one of those lucid puzzlers that may drive you up the wall but will keep you thinking for days or weeks... Akerman forges a major statement, not only in a feminist context but also in a way that tells us something about the lives we all live." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Amy Taubin, John Greyson, Laura Mulvey, Dennis Lim, Nina Menkes.
131 → 145 → 142 → 141 → 152 → 157 → 161
Amazon  The New York Times (1983)  Slant Magazine
 
The Philadelphia Story
GEORGE CUKOR (156)
1940 | 112m | BW | USA | Screwball Comedy, Romantic Comedy
Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, Virginia Weidler, Henry Daniell, John Halliday, Mary Nash
"Philip Barry's witty comedy of manners about a spoiled rich girl (Katharine Hepburn) who longs for some genuine romance... It checks in a little below Cukor's 1938 Grant-Hepburn-Barry outing, Holiday, a more tender and less cluttered variation on the same theme, but second best in this league is still something special." - Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Selected by Bill Rothman, Owen Gleiberman, Tom Hunsinger, Michael Caton-Jones, Camille Paglia.
164 → 168 → 153 → 142 → 145 → 156 → 162
Amazon  Derek Malcolm's Century of Films  Film Reference
 

         
163   164   165
Freaks
TOD BROWNING (164)
1932 | 64m | BW | USA | Drama, Psychological Thriller
Harry Earles, Olga Baclanova, Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Henry Victor, Daisy Earles, Roscoe Ates, Rose Dione, Daisy Hilton, Violet Hilton
"Browning's film succeeds in being, as one critic has put it, 'moving, harsh, poetic and genuinely tender'. It was undoubtedly before its time and no one has equalled it... Today, it looks like a damning antidote to the cult of physical perfection and an extraordinary tribute to the community of so-called freaks who made up its cast." - Derek Malcolm, The Guardian, 1999
Selected by Werner Herzog, Carlos Garcia Brusco, Dan Georgakas, Jean-Max Mejean, Ed Gonzalez.
279 → 284 → 221 → 207 → 177 → 164 → 163
Amazon  Bright Lights Film Journal  Slant Magazine
 
The Conversation
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (151)
1974 | 113m | Col | USA | Psychological Thriller, Paranoid Thriller
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Cindy Williams, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Robert Duvall, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Harrison Ford
"Between The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather, Part II (1974), Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed a small-scale thriller, The Conversation, which, like Hitchcock’s Rear Window, is an authentic American classic of voyeurism and paranoia." - David Denby, The New Yorker, 2007
Selected by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Atom Egoyan, Ted Bonnitt, Yvonne Tasker, Gore Verbinski.
192 → 180 → 183 → 177 → 166 → 151 → 164
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Gerald Peary
 
Un Chien andalou
LUIS BUÑUEL (170)
• An Andalusian Dog (English title)
1928 | 20m | BW | France | Surrealist Film, Avant-garde/Experimental
Pierre Batcheff, Simone Marevil, Jaime Miravilles, Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel, Robert Hommet, Marval, Fano Messan, Jeanne Rucas
"Neither the title (An Andalusian Dog) nor anything else in the film was intended to make sense. It remains the most famous short film ever made, and anyone halfway interested in the cinema sees it sooner or later, usually several times." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 2000
Selected by Peter Tscherkassky, Ian Christie, Lalitha Gopalan, Babak Payami, Andrzej Wajda.
198 → 193 → 152 → 167 → 167 → 170 → 165
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Slant Magazine
 

         
166   167   168
Belle de jour
LUIS BUÑUEL (161)
1967 | 100m | Col | France-Italy | Drama, Satire
Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi, Francisco Rabal, Georges Marchal, Francoise Fabian, Maria Latour, Macha Meril
"Never before has Buñuel’s view of the spectacle seemed so obliquely Ophülsian in its shy gaze from behind curtains, windows and even peepholes... Buñuel was one of the few men of the left not afflicted by Puritanism and bourgeois inhibitions about the sex lives of the masses." - Andrew Sarris, The New York Observer, 2006
Selected by Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Philip Kaufman, John Powers, Bryan Forbes.
144 → 159 → 126 → 140 → 151 → 161 → 166
Amazon  Strictly Film School  Slant Magazine
 
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
SERGIO LEONE (171)
• Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (original title)
1966 | 161m | Col | Italy-Spain | Spaghetti Western, Epic Western
Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffre, Luigi Pistilli, Rada Rassimov, Enzo Petito, Claudio Scarchilli, John Bartha, Mario Brega
"Leone's magnificent style is all contrasts (huge panoramic shots alternating with tight close-ups, very slow build-ups to lightning-fast action). This perfectly matches a narrative that encompasses sadistic brutality, wild humor and, yes, a tragic vision of war and its consequences." - Richard Schickel, Time
Selected by Gore Verbinski, Quentin Tarantino, Errol Morris, Richard Schickel, Darren Aronofsky.
182 → 173 → 189 → 187 → 165 → 171 → 167
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Chicago Tribune
 
Do the Right Thing
SPIKE LEE (176)
1989 | 120m | Col | USA | Urban Drama, Ensemble Film
Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Paul Benjamin, John Savage
"With the possible exception of his cable miniseries When the Levees Broke, this 1989 feature is still Spike Lee's best work... Overall this is a powerful and persuasive look at an ethnic community and what makes it tick--funky, entertaining, packed with insight, and political in the best, most responsible sense." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Kevin Smith, Pam Cook, David Parkinson, Asif Kapadia, John Singleton.
222 → 213 → 235 → 205 → 179 → 176 → 168
Amazon  Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)  Reel Views
 

         
169   170   171
Shoah
CLAUDE LANZMANN (166)
1985 | 566m | Col | France | History, Documentary
Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaidl, Hanna Zaidl, Jan Piwonski, Itzhak Dugin, Richard Glazer, Paula Biren, Pana Pietyra, Pan Filipowicz
"Shoah is one of the most remarkable films ever made - a terrible matter-of-fact document that makes David Irving's anti-history fade into insignificance. Strangely, the quieter Shoah gets, the more it resonates. Once seen, never forgotten." - Derek Malcolm, The Guardian, 2000
Selected by Amy Taubin, Jean-Michel Frodon, Heddy Honigmann, Daniel Talbot, Nina Menkes.
121 → 117 → 148 → 152 → 159 → 166 → 169
Amazon  Fred Camper  Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
 
Trouble in Paradise
ERNST LUBITSCH (168)
1932 | 83m | BW | USA | Sophisticated Comedy, Romantic Comedy
Herbert Marshall, Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Charlie Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Greig, George Humbert, Rolfe Sedan, Luis Alberni
"Trouble in Paradise is the most fondly memorable—if rarely seen—Hollywood screwball comedy. Its combination of suaveness, hilarity, and sexiness has had a mighty influence. There would be no Bringing Up Baby, no The Lady Eve, no Pat and Mike, without the delicious trouble Ernst Lubitsch and screenwriter Samson Raphaelson stirred up." - Armond White, The Criterion Collection, 2003
Selected by Todd McCarthy, James Naremore, Richard Schickel, Pascal Merigeau, Jean-Loup Bourget.
157 → 169 → 182 → 162 → 172 → 168 → 170
Amazon  San Francisco Chronicle  Images Journal
 
Partie de campagne
JEAN RENOIR (165)
• A Day in the Country (English title)
1936 | 45m | BW | France | Comedy Drama, Romance
Sylvia Bataille, Georges St. Saens, Jane Marken, Andre Gabriello, Jacques Brunius, Paul Temps, Gabrielle Fontan, Jean Renoir, Marguerite Renoir, Pierre Lestringuez
"It may be only a featurette, but this masterly adaptation of a Maupassant story is rich in both poetry and thematic content... The careful reconstruction of period (around 1860) is enhanced by a typically touching generosity towards the characters and an aching, poignant sense of love lost but never forgotten. And, as always in Renoir, the river is far, far more than just a picturesque stretch of water. Witty and sensuous, it's pure magic. " - Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Selected by D.A. Pennebaker, Denys Arcand, Kevin MacDonald, John Pym, Richard Armstrong.
211 → 216 → 147 → 153 → 170 → 165 → 171
Amazon  Film Reference  The Film Journal
 

         
172   173   174
Ivan the Terrible, Part Two
SERGEI EISENSTEIN (169)
• Ivan Groznyy II: Boyarsky zagovor (original title)
1946 | 88m | BW | USSR | Historical Film, Biography
Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Mikhail Nazvanov, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosi Buchma, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Aleksandr Mgebrov, Andrei Abrikosov
"Thematically fascinating both as submerged autobiography and as a daring portrait of Stalin's paranoia... this is one of the most distinctive great films in the history of cinema--freakishly mannerist, yet so vivid in its obsessions and expressionist angularity that it virtually invents its own genre." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Paul Verhoeven, Alexandre Astruc, Ian Christie, Jean-Louis Leutrat, Jonathan Rosenbaum.
128 → 130 → 140 → 150 → 157 → 169 → 172
Amazon  Criterion Collection Essay  Film Reference
 
Cries and Whispers
INGMAR BERGMAN (175)
• Viskningar och rop (original title)
1972 | 106m | Col | Sweden | Drama, Family Drama
Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann, Anders Ek, Inga Gill, Erland Josephson, Henning Moritzen, Georg Arlin, Lena Bergman
"Dreamlike and surreal, this movie impacts directly upon the soul, not the mind. Images and the disquieting feelings they engender linger long after the movie's 90 minutes have elapsed. In order to understand why Cries and Whispers is a great film, it must be experienced, not merely watched." - James Berardinelli, Reel Views, 2002
Selected by Michael Winterbottom, Terence Davies, Jonathan Glazer, Fernando Martin Pena, Santosh Sivan.
166 → 148 → 167 → 154 → 162 → 175 → 173
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Criterion Collection Essay
 
Raiders of the Lost Ark
STEVEN SPIELBERG (182)
1981 | 115m | Col | USA | Adventure, Action
Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina, Wolf Kahler, Anthony Higgins, Vic Tablian
"Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark plays like an anthology of the best parts from all the Saturday matinee serials ever made... The movie is just plain fun. The Kasdan screenplay is a construction of one damn thing on top of another." - Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times, 2000
Selected by M. Night Shyamalan, Edgar Wright, Anurag Mehta, John Singleton, Garth Jennings.
225 → 247 → 233 → 179 → 188 → 182 → 174
Amazon  Film Reference  Reel Views
 

         
175   176   177
Sweet Smell of Success
ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK (173)
1957 | 96m | BW | USA | Drama, Media Satire
Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene, Barbara Nichols, Emile Meyer, Jeff Donnell, Joseph Leon, Edith Atwater
"A psychopathic gossip columnist (Burt Lancaster) rules Broadway with an iron fist, destroying everyone who dares to cross him. These include a small time press agent (Tony Curtis) and a sister (Susan Harrison) on whom he casts an incestuous eye. The dialogue (by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets) is etched in acid, and Mackendrick's direction perfectly captures the dark side of The Great White Way." - Richard Schickel, Time, 2005
Selected by F. Gary Gray, Terence Davies, Scott McGehee, Philip Kemp, James Mangold.
142 → 142 → 155 → 174 → 158 → 173 → 175
Amazon  Images Journal  Film Reference
See Also: 250 Quintessential Noir Films
 
Night of the Living Dead
GEORGE A. ROMERO (201)
1968 | 96m | BW | USA | Horror, Creature Film
Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Karl Hardman, Russell Streiner, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Marilyn Eastman, Kyra Schon, Bill Heinzman, Charles Craig
"Night of the Living Dead came out of nowhere, or to be more precise, Pittsburgh, and turned into the most influential horror film since Psycho. George Romero's remarkably assured debut, made on a shoestring, about a group of people barricaded inside a farmhouse while an army of flesh-eating zombies roams the countryside, deflates all genre clichés." - Elliott Stein, Village Voice, 2003
Selected by Mario Van Peebles, Wes Craven, Jeff Krulik, Joe Bob Briggs, Alexandra Juhasz.
303 → 285 → 270 → 260 → 214 → 201 → 176
Amazon  Slant Magazine  Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
 
Alien
RIDLEY SCOTT (186)
1979 | 117m | Col | USA | Horror, Science Fiction
Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton, Eddie Powell
"It is a genuinely frightening movie which makes splatterfests like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre look juvenile... Ridley Scott puts together a white-knuckle intergalactic ride of tension and fear, which is also an essay on the hell of other people, the vulnerability of our bodies, and the idea of space as a limitless new extension of human paranoia." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 2003
Selected by Alejandro Amenábar, Tom Hunsinger, Louis Leterrier, David Michôd, Jason Reitman.
335 → 362 → 250 → 230 → 216 → 186 → 177
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Slant Magazine
 

         
178   179   180
The Graduate
MIKE NICHOLS (194)
1967 | 105m | Col | USA | Coming-of-Age, Sex Comedy
Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson, Norman Fell, Buck Henry, Brian Avery, Walter Brooke
"Dustin Hoffman gives the inspired performance that launched his movie career, and director Mike Nichols shows a gift for social satire that has never glistened quite so brightly since. Anne Bancroft and Katherine Ross head the marvelous supporting cast. Simon & Garfunkel spice up the soundtrack with The Sound of Silence and other hits." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor, 1997
Selected by David O. Russell, Scott Rosenberg, Juan Jose Campanella, Frank Coraci, Gary Sinyor.
256 → 215 → 229 → 215 → 215 → 194 → 178
Amazon  Film Reference  Chicago Reader
 
The Deer Hunter
MICHAEL CIMINO (172)
1978 | 183m | Col | USA | Ensemble Film, War Drama
Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren, Shirley Stoler, Rutanya Alda, Pierre Segui
"What distinguishes The Deer Hunter most is its many rich characters and the size of its vision. This is a big film, dealing with big issues, made on a grand scale. Much of it, including some casting decisions, suggest inspiration by The Godfather." - Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune, 1979
Selected by Julio Medem, Milos Forman, F.X. Feeney, Agustin Diaz Yanes, Ricardo Darin.
273 → 257 → 225 → 200 → 205 → 172 → 179
Amazon  Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)  Time Out
 
The Wages of Fear
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT (178)
• Le Salaire de la peur (original title)
1952 | 105m | BW | France-Italy | Thriller, Adventure Drama
Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck, Vera Clouzot, Folco Lulli, Dario Moreno, William Tubbs, Jo Dest, Antonio Centa, Louis de Lima
"Here is a film that stands alone as the purest exercise in cinematic tension ever carved into celluloid, a work of art so viscerally nerve-racking that one fears a misplaced whisper from the audience could cause the screen to explode." - Dennis Lehane, The Criterion Collection
Selected by John Sayles, Philip Kaufman, Hubert Cornfield, Bong Joon-ho, Alex Cox.
200 → 191 → 205 → 206 → 206 → 178 → 180
Amazon  DVD Savant  Film Reference
 

         
181   182   183
The Travelling Players
THEO ANGELOPOULOS (177)
• O Thiasos (original title)
1975 | 230m | Col | Greece | Drama, Political Drama
Eva Kotamanidou, Aliki Georgouli, Stratos Pahis, Maria Vassiliou, Petros Zarkadis, Kiriakos Katrivanos, Yannis Firios, Nina Papazaphiropoulou, Alekos Boubis, Kosta Stiliaris
"Angelopoulos' firm grasp of politics and theater—and how their tragedies are bound throughout history—gives The Travelling Players enormous thematic complexity and relevance, however difficult it is to understand at times. But even the most clueless outsider can still soak in the magisterial beauty of Angelopoulos' images, which mournfully depict corroded buildings and emptied streets while celebrating the country's enduring natural beauty." - Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club, 2002
Selected by Michel Ciment, Fredric R. Jameson, Dan Georgakas, Dan Fainaru, Martin McLoone.
169 → 179 → 174 → 155 → 171 → 177 → 181
Amazon  Derek Malcolm's Century of Films  Time Out
 
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
PIER PAOLO PASOLINI (179)
• Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (original title)
1964 | 135m | BW | France-Italy | Drama, Religious Drama
Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini, Marcello Morante, Mario Socrate, Settimo Di Porto, Otello Sestili, Ferruccio Nuzzo, Giacomo Morante, Alfonso Gatto
"Pasolini's is one of the most effective films on a religious theme I have ever seen, perhaps because it was made by a nonbeliever who did not preach, glorify, underline, sentimentalize or romanticize his famous story, but tried his best to simply record it." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 2004
Selected by Scott Hicks, Jonathan Glazer, Veronique Godard, Michael Radford, Rajko Grlic.
139 → 138 → 157 → 159 → 181 → 179 → 182
Amazon  Derek Malcolm's Century of Films  The New York Times
 
Blow-Up
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI (207)
• Blowup (alternative spelling); Blow Up (alternative title)
1966 | 111m | Col | Italy-UK | Mystery, Psychological Thriller
David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Peter Bowles, Sarah Miles, Jane Birkin, Gillian Hills, John Castle, Julian Chagrin, Harry Hutchinson, Susan Broderick
"This is so ravishing to look at (the colors all seem newly minted) and pleasurable to follow (the enigmas are usually more teasing than worrying) that you're likely to excuse the metaphysical pretensions." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by John Carpenter, William Friedkin, Trevor Steele Taylor, Pavel Branko, Raoul Coutard.
233 → 229 → 206 → 197 → 192 → 207 → 183
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Slant Magazine
 

         
184   185   186
Ivan the Terrible, Part One
SERGEI EISENSTEIN (174)
• Ivan Groznyy I (original title)
1944 | 96m | BW | Russia | Historical Film, Biography
Nikolai Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Mikhail Nazvanov, Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosi Buchma, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Pavel Kadochnikov, Andrei Abrikosov, Aleksandr Mgebrov
"Thematically fascinating both as submerged autobiography and as a daring portrait of Stalin's paranoia... this is one of the most distinctive great films in the history of cinema--freakishly mannerist, yet so vivid in its obsessions and expressionist angularity that it virtually invents its own genre." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Hal Hartley, Ian Christie, Jean-Louis Leutrat, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Theo Angelopoulos.
129 → 128 → 138 → 149 → 164 → 174 → 184
Amazon  Criterion Collection Essay  Film Reference
 
La Belle et la bête
JEAN COCTEAU (181)
• Beauty and the Beast (English title)
1946 | 95m | BW | France | Fairy Tale, Romantic Fantasy
Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel Andre, Mila Parely, Nane Germon, Michel Auclair, Georges Auric, Raoul Marco, Noel Blin, Jean Cocteau
"I'm prepared to entertain the argument that Beauty and the Beast is not Cocteau's most "important" film and that it does have some creaky moments. But it is probably his most perfect, because it speaks to so wide an audience with its intensity of vision and the emotions that it inspires in us." - Derek Malcolm, The Guardian, 1999
Selected by Ken Russell, David Siegel, Tim Lucas, Shawn Levy, Xavier Dolan.
208 → 259 → 190 → 196 → 175 → 181 → 185
Amazon  Film Reference  Criterion Collection Essay
 
The Great Dictator
CHARLES CHAPLIN (185)
1940 | 128m | BW | USA | Comedy, Anti-War Film
Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Maurice Moscovich, Billy Gilbert, Emma Dunn, Grace Hayle, Carter DeHaven
"Though the slapstick may seem tired now. there are moments of greatness, notably Charlie's graceful globe-juggling routine and, for all its idealism, the final speech during which any sense of the barber, the dictator or the little tramp fades away, leaving only Chaplin himself speaking directly from the heart." - David Parkinson, Empire
Selected by Julio Medem, Michel Gondry, Jonathan Glazer, Santosh Sivan, Angela Baldassarre.
277 → 280 → 252 → 234 → 198 → 185 → 186
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Reverse Shot
 

         
187   188   189
The Last Laugh
F.W. MURNAU (183)
• Der Letzte Mann (original title)
1924 | 77m | BW | Germany | Drama, Psychological Drama
Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Max Hiller, Emilie Kurz, Hans Unterkircher, Olaf Storm, Hermann Vallentin, Georg John, Emmy Wyda, Harald Madsen
"The 1924 film in which F.W. Murnau freed his camera from its stationary tripod and took it on a flight of imagination and expression that changed the way movies were made. Cameras had tracked and panned before, but never to such a deliberate and spectacular degree." - Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Selected by Gilles Jacob, Ingmar Bergman, Sidney Gottlieb, Richard Brody, Laurence Kardish.
216 → 187 → 184 → 173 → 178 → 183 → 187
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Roger Ebert's Great Movies
 
The Palm Beach Story
PRESTON STURGES (180)
1942 | 90m | BW | USA | Screwball Comedy, Comedy of Manners
Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallee, Mary Astor, Siegfried Arno, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Arthur Stuart Hull, Torben Meyer
"Rudy Vallee turns in his best performance as a gentle, puny millionaire named Hackensacker in this brilliant, simultaneously tender and scalding 1942 screwball comedy by Preston Sturges--one of the real gems in Sturges's hyperproductive period at Paramount." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Gus Van Sant, Tom Charity, Kevin MacDonald, Taylor Hackford, James Mangold.
165 → 175 → 164 → 168 → 168 → 180 → 188
Amazon  Ozu's World Movie Reviews  Time Out
 
Performance
NICOLAS ROEG & DONALD CAMMELL (191)
1970 | 105m | Col | UK | Psychological Drama, Satire
James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michele Breton, Ann Sidney, Johnny Shannon, Anthony Valentine, John Burdon, Stanley Meadows, Allan Cuthbertson
"If Michelangelo Antonioni put one foot in the waters of late-'60s London with Blow-up, Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell dove right into the deep end of the pool, emerging with this rock & roll version of Ingmar Bergman's Persona... Performance is no simple wallow in the mutually decadent lifestyles of criminals and musicians, but an honest attempt to understand the roles we play every day." - Tom Wiener, Allmovie
Selected by Todd Haynes, Chris Chang, Trevor Steele Taylor, Noel King, Chuck Stephens.
172 → 177 → 195 → 188 → 186 → 191 → 189
Amazon  BFI Screen Online  Senses of Cinema
 

         
190   191   192
Vampyr
CARL DREYER (188)
• Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (original title)
1932 | 73m | BW | France-Germany | Horror, Gothic Film
Julian West, Henriette Gerard, Jan Hieronimko, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Albert Bras, N. Babanini, Jane Mora
"With the help of Rudolph Maté's luminous photography, Dreyer creates a film of great beauty. Often the close-ups are particularly haunting, but the main achievement is the correctness of each shot, and their relationship to each other." - Chris Petit, Time Out
Selected by Elliott Stein, Yomota Inuhiko, Linda Williams, Jacques Aumont, Alexandre Astruc.
212 → 186 → 193 → 183 → 183 → 188 → 190
Amazon  Film Reference  Chicago Reader
 
The Mother and the Whore
JEAN EUSTACHE (184)
• La Maman et la putain (original title)
1973 | 210m | BW | France | Psychological Drama, Urban Drama
Jean-Pierre Leaud, Francoise Lebrun, Bernadette Lafont, Isabelle Weingarten, Jacques Renard, Jean-Noel Picq, Pierre Cottrell, Bernard Eisenschitz, Jean Douchet, Jean Eustache
"The Mother and the Whore has the energy and quick, almost surreptitious illumination of the best improvised work. The low-contrast black and white photography gives the film a cool, astringent look that cuts nicely against the gathering force of the script." - Jay Cocks, Time, 1974
Selected by Richard Linklater, Mark Cousins, John Waters, Quim Casas, Chris Chang.
197 → 221 → 156 → 172 → 176 → 184 → 191
Amazon  Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)  Strictly Film School
 
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
LUIS BUÑUEL (189)
• Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (original title)
1972 | 100m | Col | France | Satire, Black Comedy
Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran, Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Frankeur, Julien Bertheau, Claude Pieplu, Michel Piccoli, Milena Vukotic
"The film's discreet charm is Buñuel's finesse. The six principals always look simultaneously pleased with themselves and completely confounded. With each thwarted meal comes a look of astonishment as if letting the actors know that something absurd was about to happen had slipped Buñuel's mind. If there's a granddaddy of breezy situationalism, it's probably Buñuel." - Wesley Morris, San Francisco Examiner, 2000
Selected by Denys Arcand, Karel Reisz, Neil Hunter, Sophie Barthes, Federico Fellini.
111 → 120 → 151 → 163 → 173 → 189 → 192
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Criterion Collection Essay
 
 
 
 
193   194   195
Kind Hearts and Coronets
ROBERT HAMER (225)
1949 | 104m | BW | UK | Black Comedy, Crime Comedy
Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson, Audrey Fildes, Miles Malleson, Clive Morton, Hugh Griffith, John Penrose, Cecil Ramage
"Hamer's direction is a thing of dry delicacy, but it's the script that makes it the definitive Ealing Studio comedy. This is one of the few works of dramatic literature, and the only film I know, whose epigrammatic wit and wickedness bear comparison to Oscar Wilde's. In a word, perfection!" - Richard Corliss, Time
Selected by Terry Jones, Peter Bradshaw, Terence Davies, James King, Whit Stillman.
137 → 146 → 158 → 175 → 207 → 225 → 193
Amazon  Screen Online  Criterion Collection Essay
 
Paths of Glory
STANLEY KUBRICK (192)
1957 | 86m | BW | USA | Anti-War Film, War Drama
Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Meeker, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Timothy Carey, Joseph Turkel, Richard Anderson, Peter Capell, Suzanne Christian
"With Paths of Glory, director Stanley Kubrick established himself not simply as the leading commercial filmmaker of his generation, but a world-class talent as well.... Unlike any other war film of its kind, Paths of Glory divides its attention equally among officers and enlisted men, constructing a complex picture of a war fought not only on open battlefields, but in boardrooms as well... Paths of Glory remains one of his most lucid, powerful achievements." - David Ehrenstein, The Criterion Collection, 1989
Selected by Barry Norman, Fernando Martin Pena, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Rod Lurie, Freddie Francis.
195 → 166 → 181 → 195 → 191 → 192 → 194
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Salon
 
The Bridge on the River Kwai
DAVID LEAN (202)
1957 | 161m | Col | UK | POW Drama, War Drama
William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Andre Morell, Geoffrey Horne, Peter Williams, John Boxer, Percy Herbert
"The Bridge on the River Kwai is an epic masterpiece that rests on the electric, black-comic relationship between British POW Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and Japanese commandant Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa)." - Michael Sragow, Salon, 2001
Selected by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Paul Mazursky, Norman Jewison, Billy Wilder, Nicholas Meyer.
176 → 182 → 204 → 231 → 220 → 202 → 195
Amazon  Screen Online  Roger Ebert's Great Movies
 

         
196   197   198
It Happened One Night
FRANK CAPRA (197)
1934 | 105m | BW | USA | Romantic Comedy, Screwball Comedy
Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Alan Hale, Ward Bond, Henry Wadsworth, Claire McDowell, Arthur Hoyt, Blanche Frederici
"It Happened One Night was made in 1934, in the years before there was such a thing as screwball romantic-comedy formula. It's among the first of its kind, and it's one of the greatest. Audiences responded at the time (the picture was a huge hit), and today It Happened One Night still feels unbeatably fresh and shiveringly touching." - Stephanie Zacharek , Salon, 2001
Selected by Kevin Thomas, Andrew Bergman, Gilberto Perez, Morgan Spurlock, Simon Relph.
248 → 197 → 202 → 198 → 194 → 197 → 196
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Film Reference
 
In the Mood for Love
WONG KAR-WAI (211)
• Fa yeung nin wa (original title)
2000 | 97m | Col | Hong Kong-France | Melodrama, Romantic Drama
Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Rebecca Pan, Lui Chun, Ping Lam Siu, Chin Chi-Ang, Chan Man-Lui, Koo Kam-Wah, Ysu Hsien, Chow Po-Chun
"Boldly mannered yet surprisingly delicate, In the Mood for Love is a wondrously perverse movie that not only evokes a lost moment in time but circles around an unrepresentable subject... Governed by laws as strict as the old Hollywood production code, it's rhapsodically sublimated and ultimately sublime." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice, 2001
Selected by Mira Nair, Ernest R. Dickerson, Jonathan Ross, Paul McGuigan, Havana Marking.
518 → 382 → 317 → 344 → 246 → 211 → 197
Amazon  Senses of Cinema  Slant Magazine
See Also: The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
 
Bride of Frankenstein
JAMES WHALE (203)
1935 | 75m | BW | US | Monster Film, Sci-Fi Horror
Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester, Ernest Thesiger, Una O'Connor, Dwight Frye, O.P. Heggie, Gavin Gordon, Douglas Walton
"Some movies age; others ripen. Seen today, Whale's masterpiece is more surprising than when it was made because today's audiences are more alert to its buried hints of homosexuality, necrophilia and sacrilege. But you don't have to deconstruct it to enjoy it; it's satirical, exciting, funny, and an influential masterpiece of art direction." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 1999
Selected by Guillermo del Toro, Joe Dante, Stuart Gordon, David Rooney, Ed Lewis.
202 → 196 → 230 → 223 → 213 → 203 → 198
Amazon  Bright Lights Film Journal  Film Reference
 

         
199   200  

• To 201-250

The World of Apu
SATYAJIT RAY (187)
• Apur Sansar (original title)
1959 | 103m | BW | India | Drama, Family Drama
Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Swapan Mukherji, S. Alke Chakravarty, Alok Chakravarty, Dhiresh Majumdar, Sefalika Devi, Dhiren Ghosh, Balarani, Shanti Bhattacherjee
"In The World of Apu, the third film in his Apu Trilogy, the late Indian film maker Satyajit Ray offers a rich, sympathetic portrait of his title character as an adult -- struggling with artistic aspirations, stumbling into an arranged marriage and finding his way as the grieving father of a young son." - Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle, 1995
Selected by Bill Rothman, Daniel Talbot, Joseph Strick, Mary Harron, Simon Louvish.
162 → 164 → 178 → 165 → 180 → 187 → 199
Amazon  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  Strictly Film School
 
Death in Venice
LUCHINO VISCONTI (190)
• Morte a Venezia (original title)
1971 | 130m | Col | Italy | Drama, Period Film
Dirk Bogarde, Bjorn Andresen, Silvana Mangano, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci, Marisa Berenson, Carole Andre, Leslie French, Franco Fabrizi
"Dirk Bogarde gave the greatest performance of his career, in fact one of the greatest of any screen performances, in Visconti's magnificent 1971 version of the Thomas Mann novella, played out in a series of long, often wordless takes which are miraculously suffused with spiritual meaning." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 2003
Selected by Nikita Mikhalkov, Henrik Uth Jensen, Alfredo Guevara, George Sluizer, Suzi Feay.
214 → 226 → 207 → 184 → 187 → 190 → 200
Amazon  Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)  BBC
 
 
     
     
     
  • Introduction  • The Top 500 Films  • The Full List  • The Top 250 Directors  • PDF Companion  • Links  
  The Top 500: •1-25  •26-50   •51-75   •76-100  •101-150  •151-200  •201-250  •251-300  •301-350  •351-400  •401-450  •451-500  
     

 

[ Home ] [ Directors A-L ] [ Directors M-Z ] [ 1,000 Greatest Films ] [ 21st Century ] [ Film Noir ] [ Ain't Nobody's Blues ] [ Recommended Viewing ] [ About ] [ Links ]
[ Recommended Reading Archives ] [ The Shooting Gallery ]
 
Contact Us: bill@theyshootpictures.com.
©2002-2012 They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?