List of Films (and TV) To Check Out (plus see my course Engl 222 History of Film 1945-Present )
TV too:
The Wire (best show in history of television?, with The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and The Americans)
The Sopranos (final episode of the six-season series arguably the best ever finale)
The (BBC) Office and The Office Special
Prime Suspect
Fargo (Season 1 and Seasons 2&3--great)
Slings & Arrows: Seasons 1- 3
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Party Down
Breaking Bad
Better Call Saul
Bosch
Extras: Seasons 1-2: Disc 2 (2-Disc Series)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (view to end through Season 7, as a colleague states, "I believe that people who like Buffy are truly superior"--a recent Top Ten TV shows of all time list ranked Buffy at #8--The Wire was #1, followed by The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Sopranos, All in the Family, The Andy Griffith Show, Buffy, Mad Men, and Your Show of Shows (what about Dick Van Dyke show!?)
The West Wing (watched the whole series again--so good)
Freaks and Geeks
Skins
Sherlock
True Detective
Broadchurch
Line of Duty
The Protectors
The Fall
Happy Valley
Top of the Lake
Hinterland
Salamander
Luther
The Americans (utterly superb)
The Code (2014)
The Bridge (Swedish/Danish version excellent, also see strong American version)
Nobel (Netflix)
Patriot (Amazon Prime--quirkily hilarious)
Fleabag (raunchy, funny, poignant)
Godless
Killing Eve (as with Fleabag, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge)
Orphan Black
Also Orange Is the New Black; Single-Handed; Jack Taylor; Hit and Miss, The Mindy Project; ; Revenge; Continuum;
Head Case
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2 . . .
. . . . . .
Films (most dates accurate!)-plus, for a short description/info about any film, I suggest using the free search function at this site and within the description for any film, there's usually a link to a "more info" option.
Films to add to the list: Eighth Grade; The Favourite; Roma
See this not necessarily up-to-date weblink for my compilation of 501 Top-Ranked/Selected/Preferred Films, including many from Sight & Sound 2012 poll of all-time films, as well as top ranked lists from Criterion Collection, National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films, and other 'favorites'
Or recent Guardian poll of filmmakers' choices of best movies of the century so far (!)
Or Ebert site's list of Best Films of the 2010s [except they ranked Tree of Life at #1 and that film shouldn't even be in the top 25!]
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
'71 (2014)
8 1⁄2 (1963, including excellent commentary in Criterion collection release) --ranked #10 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
Aaltra (2004)
Absence of Malice (1981)
Adam's Apples (Danish-2005)
Adam's Rib (1949)
Adaptation (2002)
The African Queen (1952)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)--on Netflix streaming
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Alice in the Cities (1974)--in Criterion collection
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Alien (1979); Aliens (1986)
All About My Mother (1999)
Amélie (2001) --on Netflix streaming
The American Friend (1977)
An American in Paris (1951)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Annie Hall (1977) --on Netflix streaming
Aparajito (1956--second film in S. Ray's superb Apu Trilogy, with Criterion Collection restoration of the trilogy available in late 2015)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Arrival (2016)
A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010, En Ganske Snill Mann)
Atlantic City (1981)
Attack the Block (2011)
L'Auberge Espagnole (2002)
L'Avventura (1961)-- ranked #21 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
The Awful Truth (1937)
Babette's Feast (1987)
Back to the Future (1985)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Bagdad Café
Barton Fink (1991)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Before Sunrise (1995, first in director Linklater's trilogy, followed by Before Sunset and Before Midnight, spanning 18 years)
Before Midnight (2013)
Before Sunset (2004)
Beginners (2011)--on Netflix streaming
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Being There (1979)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)--on Netflix streaming (as Bicycle Thief)
Big Night (1996)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)
The Birds (1963)
Black Narcissus
Black Orpheus (1959)
Bladerunner (1982; director’s Final Cut, 2007)
Blame It on Fidel (La Faute à Fidel!, 2006)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blow Out (1981)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Born Into Brothels (2005)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Brazil (1985)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Breaking Away (1979)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1961)--ranked #13 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
Brick (2005)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Brief Encounter (1946)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Bullitt (1968)
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Caché (2004)
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Casablanca (1942)
Castaway (2000)
Castaway on the Moon (Korea, 2009)--on my to see list
Charade (1963)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Children of Men ( 2006)
Chinatown (1974)--on Netflix streaming
(Nuovo) Cinema Paradiso (1988)--on Netflix streaming
Citizen Kane (1941)--ranked #2 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
City of God (2002)--on Netflix streaming
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Clerks (1994)
Clueless (1995)
The Conversation (1974)--on Netflix streaming
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)--on Netflix streaming
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Dead Again (1991)
Death and the Maiden (1994)
Deliverance (1972)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Diabolique (1955)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Die Hard (1988) . . .
Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985)
Dirty Harry (1971)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Diva (1982)
Divorce Italian Style (1961)
Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition (2010)-on Netflix streaming
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Down by Law (1986)
Don't Tempt Me (Sin Noticias de Dios, 2001)
Drive (2011)
Dumbo (1941)
Easy A (2010)
Easy Rider (1969)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (2009)
Equinox Flower (1958)
Ex Machina (2015)
L'Eclisse (1962)
Educating Rita (1983)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (2009)
Fanny & Alexander (1982--in theatrical version but ALSO in television version)
Fargo (1996)
La Femme Nikita (1991)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Flirting (1991)
The French Connection (1971)
Fresh (1994)--on Netflix streaming
The Full Monty (1997)
Garden State (2004)
Gaslight (1944)
Gates of Heaven (1980)
Get Out (2017)
Ghost Town (2008)
The Girl in the Cafe (2005)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, Swedish); The Girl Who Played with Fire; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Goldfinger (1964)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
Goodbye Lenin! (2003)
GoodFellas (1990)
Gosford Park (2001)
The Graduate (1967)
Gravity (2013)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Headhunters (2011, Hodejegerne)
Henry V (1989)
Her (2013)
High Noon (1952) --on Netflix streaming
His Girl Friday (1940)--on Netflix streaming
Holiday (1938)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Hoosiers (1986)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
House of Games (1987)
The Human Stain (2003)
Ida (2014)
I Know Where I'm Going!
I vitelloni (1953)
Ikiru (1952, reviewed 1960)
In Bruges (2008)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Interiors (1978)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)
Jackie Brown (1997)--on Netflix streaming
Japanese Story (2003)
Jar City (Mýrin, 2006)
Jaws (1975)
Journey to Italy (1954)
Kes (1970)
Kill Bill: Vols. 1 and 2 (2003/2004)--on Netflix streaming
Killer of Sheep (1977, Shot in 16mm, restored to 35mm by UCLA Film and Television Archive, 2007)
Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit, 1976)
Kitchen Stories (Salmer fra kjøkkenet, 2003)
Knife in the Water (Nóz w wodzie, 1962)
Kontroll (2003)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Lady Bird (2017)
La Jetée (1963, 27 minutes)
La La Land (2016)
La Lectrice (1988)
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
L'Atalante (1934)--ranked #12 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
Late Spring (1949)
Le Mépris ('Contempt' /1963)--#21 all time greatest film in 2012 Sight & Sound poll
Le Petit Soldat (1960)
Le samouraï (1967)
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in, 2008)--on Netflix streaming
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Les Miserables (2012)
Letter to Brezhnev (1985)
Lilies of the Field (1963)
Little Big Man (1970)
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen, 2006)
Living in Oblivion (1995)
The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum (1975)
M (1931,1933)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Major Barbara (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)--ranked #8 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Manhattan (1979)--with caveat that 17-yr. old Tracy's character serves to (briefly) verbally indict the neurotic, self-indulgent and abusive adults, esp. Isaac, while ultimately? offering a chastened hope/faith even after she's been used ...a thought-provoking film that more than ever can prompt debate/disgust/revelation...
Margaret (2011, see also extended version)
Margin Call (2011)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Me, and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Metropolis (1927)--on Netflix streaming
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Mister Roberts (1955)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
mon oncle antoine (1971)
Moneyball (2011)
Monsieur Hire (1989)
Moonlight (2016)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Moonstruck (1987)
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)
Mud (2012)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Muscle Shoals (2013)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1986)
My Dinner With Andre (1981)
My Fair Lady (1964)
My Life as a Dog (1987)
Mystery Train (1989)
Network (1976)
Never on Sunday (1960)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Ninotchka (1939)
North by Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946)
La Notte (1961)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Old Boy (2003)
Once (2007)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Opposite of Sex (1998)
Ossessione (1942)
The Page Turner (2007)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Pariah (2011)--on Netflix streaming
Paris, Texas (1984, including Criterion Collection version with director Wim Wenders' commentary)
Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955—first film in Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy)
The Passenger (1975)
Persona (1967) --ranked #17 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Pierrot le fou (1965)
The Pink Panther (1964)
Pinocchio (1940)
Police, adjective (2009, Romanian)
Il Postino (The Postman) (1994)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)--on Netflix streaming
Purple Noon (1960)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Pygmalion (1938)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rain Man (1988)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Rashomon (1950)
Red Desert (1964)
The Red Shoes
Rear Window (1954)
Repo Man (1984)
The Revenant (2015)
Risky Business (1983)
The River (1951)
Roger & Me (1989)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Rome Open City (1945)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Run Lola Run (1998)
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Sans Soleil (1983--#3 on Sight and Sound 2014 poll of greatest documentaries)
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina, 2009)
The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)
Seven Beauties (1976)
Seven Samurai (1956)--ranked #17 all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
7 Up/28 Up (1985) to 49 Up--on Netflix streaming
The Seventh Seal (1958)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Shane (1953)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Shrek (2001)
Sidewalls (Medianeras, 2011)
Sing Street (2016)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
16 to Life (2009)
Sleeper (1973)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
Son of Rambow (2007)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Spirit of the Beehive (El Espíritu de la colmena, 1973)
Spirited Away (2001)
Stagecoach (1939)
Stand By Me (1986)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Star Wars (1977); STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
Submarine (2011)
Superbad (2007)
The Station Agent (2003)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Stranger than Fiction (2006)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Swimming Pool (2003)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Swept Away (By an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August) (1974)
Swing Time (1936)
Talk to Her (2002)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The 400 Blows (1959, Les Quatre cents coups, including excellent Criterion Collection critic's commentary)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
The Great Beauty (2013) "La grande bellezza"
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
The Silence (1963)
The World of Apu (Aparajito (1959--third film in S. Ray's superb Apu Trilogy, with Criterion Collection restoration of the trilogy available in late 2015)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
The Terminator (1984)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)--on Netflix streaming
The Third Man (1949)
The Trip (2010)--on Netflix
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Three Colours: BLUE(1993), Three Colours: WHITE (1994), Three Colours: RED(1994)
Through a Glass Darkly(1961)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Toni Erdmann (2016)
Tootsie (1982)
Top Hat (1935)
Toy Story (1995)
Toyko Story (1953)--can view this via online streaming with subscription to Hulu (Criterion Collection)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Tree of the Wooden Clogs (1979)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Tsotsi (2005)
12 Angry Men (1957, see also 1997 remake, plus "12", a fascinating 2007 Russian version)
Two Days, One Night (2014)--on Netflix
Umberto D. (1952)
Under the Skin (2013)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
Vernon Florida (1982)
Vertigo (1958)--ranked #1all time film in Sight & Sound 2012 poll--see further below.
The Virgin Spring (1960)
Wait Until Dark (1967)
Waking Life (2001)
West Side Story (1961)
What Just Happened (2008)
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Whiplash (2014)
Wild Strawberries (1959)
Wings of Desire (1988)
Winter Light (1962)
Winter's Bone (2010)
The Witch
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Women in Love (1970)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Excerpt from series of Top Ten recommended films by various critics, in The Criterion Collection (some obvious choices already noted above, such as “M” etc., left out of list below--and it's interesting/fun to explore the Criterion site to learn of others' top ten lists and observations, such as playwright Annie Baker's Top Ten):
3 Women
8 1⁄2
Ace in the Hole
À nous la liberté/ Le million/
A Woman Is a Woman
A Woman Under the Influence
Ace in the Hole
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Alphaville
Amarcord
Andrei Rublev
Ashes and Diamonds
Au hasard Balthazar
Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau)
Bad Timing
Big Deal on Madonna Street/Mario Monicelli
Billy Liar
Black Narcissus
Bob le flambeur
Brute Force
Burden of Dreams
Carl Theodor Dreyer (Criterion Box Set)
Carnival of Souls
Children of Paradise
Close-up (1990)
Contempt
Cries and Whispers
Crrazed Fruit
Day of Wrath
Dazed and Confused
Eyes Without a Face
F for Fake
Fishing with John
Fists in the Pocket
Floating Weeds/A Story of Floating Weeds
Forbidden Games
General Idi Amin Dada
Get Out (2017)
Gimme Shelter
Great Expectations (David Lean)
Grey Gardens
Hard Boiled
Häxan
Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch)
High and Low (1963)
Hiroshima mon amour
Hoop Dreams
I Know Where I'm Going!
In the Mood for Love
Insomnia (Erik Skjoldbjaerg)
Ivan the Terrible, Parts I & II
John Cassavetes: Five Films
Jules and Jim
Kes (1970)
Kind Hearts and Coronets
La collectionneuse
La La Land (2016)
La Strada
Le bonheur (1965)
Le million
Le trou
Lola
Lord of the Flies
Loves of a Blonde
M. Hulot's Holiday
Mamma Roma
Man Bites Dog
Masculin féminin
Medium Cool
Metropolitan
Mon oncle
Mona Lisa
Moonlight (2016)
Monterey Pop
Murmur of the Heart
My Man Godfrey
My Own Private Idaho
Naked
Night and Fog
Night and the City
Oliver Twist (David Lean)
Opening Night
Pandora’s Box
Pickpocket
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Playtime
Red Beard
Richard III (Laurence Olivier)
A River Called Titas (1973)
Rushmore
Salesman
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai Trilogy
Scenes from a Marriage
Schizopolis
Secret Honor
Shock Corridor
Short Cuts
Slacker
Straw Dogs
Stray Dog
Sullivan's Travels
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm
That Obscure Object of Desire
The 400 Blows
The Bad Sleep Well
The Battle of Algiers
The BRD Trilogy
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Firemen's Ball
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
The Horse's Mouth
The Insect Woman (1963)
The Killer
The Killers (1964)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
The Lady Eve
The Lady Vanishes
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Wave
The Leopard
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Naked Kiss
The Night Porter
The Pornographers
The Red Shoes
The Rules of the Game
The Shop on Main Street
The Sword of Doom
The Tin Drum
The Vanishing
The Wages of Fear
Time Bandits
Tokyo Story--on to see list!
Trouble in Paradise
Two Days, One Night (2014)
Umberto D.
Unfaithfully Yours
Veronika Voss (1982)
Videodrome
Walkabout
Winter Light
The Witch
Written on the Wind
Young Mr. Lincoln
And see this 2012 Sight & Sound magazine poll (regarded as a premiere poll conducted every ten years since 1952, based on votes from international critics, programmers, academics, and distributors):
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time
or Tim Robey's list of The 100 Greatest Films of All Time
or 28 Best Movies of All Time That You've Probably Never Seen
or 25 Great Movies from the past 25 Years That You May Have Missed
BBC Culture site's 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (October 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries--see this link for a short sampling of how some critics voted)
12 Amazing Lesser Known Foreign Language Films
Here are the top 10 films on the 2012 Sight & Sound poll list are (with each critic submitting a top ten list, so votes are any votes for any ranking within each top ten list, so that personal rankings do not count from each individually submitted top ten list--this of course means that films listed further down, at spot 50, for instance, had at least some votes from some critics who placed that film in his or her top ten list):
1. "Vertigo" (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 191 votes
2. "Citizen Kane" (1941), dir. Orson Welles, 157 votes
3. "Tokyo Story" (1953), dir. Ozu Yasujiro, 107 votes
4. "La Regle du jeu" (1939), dir. Jean Renoir, 100 votes
5. "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans"(1927), dir. FW Murnau, (93 votes
6. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), dir. Stanley Kubrick, 90 votes
7. "The Searchers" (1956), dir. John Ford, 73 votes
8. "Man with a Movie Camera" (1939), dir. Dziga Vertov, 68 votes
9. "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1927), dir. Carl Dreyer, 65 votes
10. "8 1/2" (1963), dir. Federico Fellini , 64 votes
and the rest in the poll:
11. Battleship Potemkin
Sergei Eisenstein, 1925 (63 votes)
12. L’Atalante
Jean Vigo, 1934 (58 votes)
13. Breathless
Jean-Luc Godard, 1960 (57 votes)
14. Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola, 1979 (53 votes)
15. Late Spring
Ozu Yasujiro, 1949 (50 votes)
16. Au hasard Balthazar
Robert Bresson, 1966 (49 votes)
17= Seven Samurai
Kurosawa Akira, 1954 (48 votes)
17= Persona
Ingmar Bergman, 1966 (48 votes)
19. Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974 (47 votes)
20. Singin’ in the Rain
Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1951 (46 votes)
21= L’avventura
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960 (43 votes)
21= Le Mépris
Jean-Luc Godard, 1963 (43 votes)
21= The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 (43 votes)
24= Ordet
Carl Dreyer, 1955 (42 votes)
24= In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar-wai, 2000 (42 votes)
26= Rashomon
Kurosawa Akira, 1950 (41 votes)
26= Andrei Rublev
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966 (41 votes)
28. Mulholland Dr.
David Lynch, 2001 (40 votes)
29= Stalker
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979 (39 votes)
29= Shoah
Claude Lanzmann, 1985 (39 votes)
31= The Godfather Part II
Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (38 votes)
31= Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese, 1976 (38 votes)
33. Bicycle Thieves
Vittoria De Sica, 1948 (37 votes)
34. The General
Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926 (35 votes)
35= Metropolis
Fritz Lang, 1927 (34 votes)
35= Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 (34 votes)
35= Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles
Chantal Akerman, 1975 (34 votes)
35= Sátántangó
Béla Tarr, 1994 (34 votes)
39= The 400 Blows
François Truffaut, 1959 (33 votes)
39= La dolce vita
Federico Fellini, 1960 (33 votes)
41. Journey to Italy
Roberto Rossellini, 1954 (32 votes)
42= Pather Panchali
Satyajit Ray, 1955 (31 votes)
42= Some Like It Hot
Billy Wilder, 1959 (31 votes)
42= Gertrud
Carl Dreyer, 1964 (31 votes)
42= Pierrot le fou
Jean-Luc Godard, 1965 (31 votes)
42= Play Time
Jacques Tati, 1967 (31 votes)
42= Close-Up
Abbas Kiarostami, 1990 (31 votes)
48= The Battle of Algiers
Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966 (30 votes)
48= Histoire(s) du cinéma
Jean-Luc Godard, 1998 (30 votes)
50= City Lights
Charlie Chaplin, 1931 (29 votes)
50= Ugetsu monogatari
Mizoguchi Kenji, 1953 (29 votes)
50= La Jetée
Chris Marker, 1962 (29 votes)
→ Explore the complete critics’ and directors’ polls with every individual entry on our special poll site
Also see 2015 BBC poll of critics for Top 100 American Films
See this site and list below for National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films
100 Essential Films
by The National Society of Film Critics
(alphabetical, unranked)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
42nd Street (1933)
The 400 Blows (1959)
All About Eve (1950)
Annie Hall (1977)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
L'Atalante (1934)
The Bank Dick (1940)
The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
Blow-Up (1966)
Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
Breathless (1960)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Casablanca (1942)
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Children of Paradise (1945)
Chinatown (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Closely Watched Trains (1967)
Close-up (1990)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
The Decalogue (1988)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
Diner (1982)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
La Dolce Vita (1959)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Duck Soup (1933)
Easy Rider (1969)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
The Entertainer (1960)
The Exorcist (1973)
Faces (1968)
Fargo (1996)
Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The General (1927)
The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974)
Gone With The Wind (1939)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
The Graduate (1967)
Greed (1924)
Happy Together (1997)
High Noon (1952)
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Ju Dou (1990), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Red Sorghum (1987)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Landscape in the Mist (1988)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
M (1931)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Metropolis (1927)
Modern Times (1936)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Nashville (1975)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Nosferatu (1922)
Los Olvidados (1950)
On The Waterfront (1954)
[Rome] Open City (1945)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Pandora's Box (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1958), The World of Apu (1960)
The Piano (1993)
Psycho (1960)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Raging Bull (1980)
Rashomon (1950)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Schindler's List (1993)
The Searchers (1956)
The Seven Samurai (1954)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Singin' In The Rain (1952)
Star Wars (1977)
La Strada (1955) and Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Sunrise (1927)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Toni Erdmann (2016)--great film
Top Hat (1935)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Ugetsu Monogatori (1953)
Unforgiven (1992)
Les Vampires (1915)
Vertigo (1958)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Written on the Wind (1956)
http://www.filmsite.org/300films.html [see site for further information that highlights top 100 with the list and other details]
300 Greatest Films by Decade
(chronologically and alphabetically ordered)
Pre-20's:
The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
Intolerance (1916)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
The 1920's:
The Kid (1921)
Greed (1924)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Big Parade (1925)
The Freshman (1925)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The General (1927)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
The Wind (1928)
The 1930's:
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)
Little Caesar (1930)
City Lights (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Freaks (1932)
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
Footlight Parade (1933)
42nd Street (1933)
King Kong (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It's a Gift (1934) (tie)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night At The Opera (1935)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935)
Top Hat (1935)
Camille (1936)
Dodsworth (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Modern Times (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Swing Time (1936)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Way Out West (1937)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Jezebel (1938)
Pygmalion (1938)
Dark Victory (1939)
Gone With The Wind (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The 1940's:
The Bank Dick (1940) (tie)
Fantasia (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Letter (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Bambi (1942)
Casablanca (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Kings Row (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Henry V (1944) (tie)
Laura (1944)
Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Brief Encounter (1946)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
The Killers (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Notorious (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Stairway To Heaven (1946), aka A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Out Of The Past (1947)
Key Largo (1948)
The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)
Red River (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Adam's Rib (1949)
All the King's Men (1949)
The Heiress (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
White Heat (1949)
The 1950's:
All About Eve (1950)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Gun Crazy (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The African Queen (1951)
An American In Paris (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
The Thing (From Another World) (1951)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
High Noon (1952)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Singin' In The Rain (1952)
The Big Heat (1953)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Shane (1953)
On The Waterfront (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
A Star Is Born (1954)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
East of Eden (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Marty (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The 1950's: (continued)
Baby Doll (1956)
Bus Stop (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Killing (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Witness For the Prosecution (1957)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Ben-Hur (1959)
North By Northwest (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)--
The 1960's:
The Apartment (1960)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
The Hustler (1961)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
West Side Story (1961)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)
The Birds (1963)
Dr. Strangelove or: (1964)
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Repulsion (1965)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Blow-Up (1966)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The Producers (1968)
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Easy Rider (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The 1970's:
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Patton (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Cabaret (1972)
Deliverance (1972)
The Godfather (1972) (tie)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
American Graffiti (1973)
Badlands (1973)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Mean Streets (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
Chinatown (1974)
The Conversation (1974)
The Godfather Part II (1974) (tie)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Jaws (1975)
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Nashville (1975)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Network (1976)
Rocky (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Annie Hall (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Star Wars (1977) (tie)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Halloween (1978)
Alien (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Being There (1979)
Manhattan (1979)--on Netflix
The 1980's:
Airplane! (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (tie)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Atlantic City (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Road Warrior (1982)
Tootsie (1982)
The King of Comedy (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Brazil (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Platoon (1986)
A Room With a View (1986)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Bull Durham (1988)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Glory (1989)
Henry V (1989) (tie)
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
The 1990's:
GoodFellas (1990)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
JFK (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
The Crying Game (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Piano (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Babe (1995)
Toy Story (1995) (tie)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Fargo (1996)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Titanic (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Toy Story 2 (1999) (tie)
BBC Culture Poll of 209 critics from 43 countries to determine 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films
100. Landscape in the Mist (Theo Angelopoulos, 1988)
99. Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
98. In the Heat of the Sun (Jiang Wen, 1994)
97. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997)
96. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)
95. Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse, 1955)
94. Where Is the Friend's Home? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987)
93. Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)
92. Scenes from a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman, 1973)
91. Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955)
90. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
89. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
88. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1939)
87. The Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
86. La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)
85. Umberto D (Vittorio de Sica, 1952)
84. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
83. La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954)
82. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
81. Celine and Julie go Boating (Jacques Rivette, 1974)
80. The Young and the Damned (Luis Buñuel, 1950)
79. Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
78. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
77. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
76. Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001)
75. Belle de Jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967)
74. Pierrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
73. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
72. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
71. Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)
70. L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
69. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
68. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
67. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
66. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973)
65. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
64. Three Colours: Blue (Krzysztof Kie?lowski, 1993)
63. Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)
62. Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973)
61. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
60. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
59. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
58. The Earrings of Madame de… (Max Ophüls, 1953)
57. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
56. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
55. Jules and Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
54. Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 1994)
53. Late Spring (Yasujirô Ozu, 1949)
52. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)
51. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
50. L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
49. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
48. Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
47. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
46. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945)
45. L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
44. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
43. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
42. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund, 2002)
41. To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
40. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
39. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
38. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991)
37. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
36. La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
35. The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963)
34. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
33. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
32. All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
31. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
30. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
29. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
28. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
27. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973)
26. Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988)
25. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
24. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei M Eisenstein, 1925)
23. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
22. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
21. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
20. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974)
19. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
18. A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989)
17. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
16. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
15. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
14. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
13. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
12. Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993)
11. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
10. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
9. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
8. The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)
7. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
6. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
5. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
4. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
3. Tokyo Story (Yasujirô Ozu, 1953)
2. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)
1. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)