BEST FILMS of ALL TIME

It is so ridiculously hard to make a list of the best films of all time. No matter what you decide to include, most people will disagree with a majority of the list. Should one choose nothing but personal favorites? Should one place emphasis on films that have had influence and importance in the world of cinema? For me, the term ‘best’ should be a combination of every factor you can think of. So I present this list as an amalgam of the aforementioned criteria coupled with a little whimsy and guesswork. The list is an ever changing one and will be updated three or four times a year.

To give a little insight as to some of my reasoning… Citizen Kane is easily the most influential film in history, but, although I like it a great deal, it doesn’t happen to be one that I enjoy watching time and time again. There are some films that are undeniably re-watchable but may not carry enough substance to scale the elite list to the top… Die Hard might be a fitting example of that. Can a silent film crack the list? Buster Keaton’s The General is arguably one of the best from the silent era, but I am unconvinced that a great silent film can reach the lofty heights of a great talkie. Should slapstick comedies be given leeway in spite of their lack of depth? Airplane would make many top comedy lists… but very few critics would include it in an all time Top 100. Apocalypse Now is a film I just cannot bring myself to like… can I justify a spot in the Top 100 for a film I don’t like? What about a brand new film? Should movies that have just been released be allowed on to the list immediately or would a waiting period be prudent? Irreversible made my list immediately… it was too good to omit just because it was released in 2003.

The decennial Sight & Sound Poll doesn’t typically include films from the 1980′s or 1990′s & the AFI list of the 100 greatest films is a veritable showcase of black and white. Now, I can understand the exclusion of most movies from the 80′s because that decade was a baron wasteland of cinema! However, since 1993 we have seen a renaissance in cinematic art, due to the spectacular influence of independent filmmakers, the likes of which I don’t think we have ever seen before. I truly believe that history will prove that the past decade (1993-2004) has been a ‘golden age’ of movies. I have seen over 3000 films in my life and about 1800 of them are post 1990. It would seem logical to presume that the same percentage would apply to the Top 100 list. However, that is not the case. The median year seems to be 1980. About half of the list is comprised of films from 1925-1980. The rest are ‘contemporary’ films. My list is definitely more contemporary than the AFI list or that of an older critic… I think that is only to be expected.

All this taken in to account, I will try to present the films that have had the greatest impact on my life and the ones I cherish the most. I have also given weight to longevity and historical influence. These lists are not to be agreed or disagreed with… this list is factual in that my opinion holds that these are the best films of all time. Feel free to email me your own lists, but don’t bother criticizing mine or anybody else’s for that matter… You won’t get anywhere! Just try to have fun with the list and come up with your own. So without further ado, here we go…

1    Shawshank Redemption, The
2    Casablanca
3    Schindler’s List
4    Pulp Fiction
5    City Lights
6    Eyes Wide Shut
7    Great Escape, The
8    Irreversible
9    Graduate, The
10    2001: A Space Odyssey
11    Thin Red Line, The
12    Grave of the Fireflies
13    Mulholland Dr.
14    Brief Encounter
15    Die Hard
16    Belle de jour
17    Notti bianche, Le
18    Titanic
19    Amélie
20    Magnolia
21    Breathless (1960)
22    Lost in Translation
23    Village, The
24    Atalante, L’
25    Glengarry Glen Ross
26    Black Book
27    Braveheart
28    Boogie Nights
29    American Beauty
30    Rules of the Game, The
31    Avventura, L’
32    Rashomon
33    Rear Window
34    Lilya 4-ever
35    Pride & Prejudice
36    Ecstasy
37    Citizen Kane
38    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
39    Birds, The
40    Run Lola Run
41    Third Man, The
42    English Patient, The
43    Papillon
44    Fargo
45    Goodfellas
46    Das Boot
47    Hunt for Red October
48    Shoot the Piano Player
49    Life Is Beautiful
50    Cashback
51    Battleship Potemkin
52    When Harry Met Sally
53    General, The
54    12 Angry Men
55    Swingers
56    Requiem for a Dream
57    Seven Samurai, The
58    Last Kiss, The (L’Ultimo bacio)
59    Dolce vita, La
60    Unfaithful
61    Angel-A
62    Midnight Express
63    Ben-Hur
64    Gerry
65    Professional, The
66    Rounders
67    Man Who Wasn’t There, The
68    Metropolis
69    Hard Eight
70    Airplane!
71    Beautiful Girls
72    Princess Bride, The
73    Raging Bull
74    Closer
75    Girl in the Cafe, The
76    Jules et Jim
77    Rocky
78    Tokyo Story
79    Crimson Tide
80    Godfather, The
81    Chicago
82    Enemy at the Gates
83    Umbrellas of Cherbourg
84    Bicycle Thief, The
85    Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
86    Traffic
87    Simple Plan, A
88    Departed, The
89    Psycho
90    Amadeus
91    Leaving Las Vegas
92    Elephant Man, The
93    Forrest Gump
94    Wild Strawberries
95    Taxi Driver
96    Good Shepherd, The
97    Office Space
98    Trou, Le
99    Pumpkin
100    Flying Deuces, The

100 RUNNERS-UP
(In Alphabetical Order)

Affair of Love, An
Almost Famous
Apocalypto
Apollo 13
Being John Malkovich
Birthday Girl
Blair Witch Project
Blazing Saddles
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Bourne Identity, The
Bridge on the River Kwai
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The
Casino Royale
Cincinnati Kid, The
City Slickers
Count of Monte Cristo, The
Dangerous Liaisons
Dark City
Day the Earth Stood Still, The
Dead Calm
Descent, The
Dirty Dozen, The
Dog Day Afternoon
Dogville
Donnie Brasco
Dr. Strangelove
Dreamers, The
Dumb & Dumber
Edge, The
End of the Affair, The
Fahrenheit 9/11
Falling Down
Far From Heaven
Firefox
Fly, The
Fountain, The
Fugitive, The
Full Metal Jacket
Garden State
Gattaca
Gilda
Gladiator
Good Will Hunting
Grand Illusion
Groundhog Day
Heaven
In the Company of Men
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Jacob’s Ladder
Jaws
Jean de Florette
Joe Versus the Volcano
Jude
Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2
Killing Fields, The
King Kong (1933)
Kramer vs. Kramer
Last Tango in Paris
Lifeboat
LolliLove
Love & Sex
Maltese Falcon, The
Mansfield Park
Marie Antoinette
Mission: Impossible
Moulin Rouge
My Life
Myth of Fingerprints, The
Nixon
North by Northwest
Oasis
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Pan’s Labyrinth
Passion of the Christ, The
Pickpocket
Player, The
Pleasantville
Ponette
Punch-Drunk Love
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raise the Red Lantern
Rebecca
Remains of the Day, The
Reservoir Dogs
Roger & Me
Ronin
Rosetta
Runaway Train
Secretary
Shape of Things, The
Signs
Sixth Sense, The
Sliding Doors
Squid and the Whale, The
Syriana
Threesome
Tombstone
Tommy Boy
Top Secret!
Truman Show, The
Usual Suspects, The
Vanilla Sky
Vertigo
Very Long Engagement, A
Where Eagles Dare