100 Favorite Films

» My list always leans heavily toward recent viewings, along with the old favorites that continue to stay with me strongly, of course. I am more interested in what I love now than what I have loved. So I am never hesitant to rank something that blew me away highly immediately. As a general rule, films in the top 50 or so (new or old) are likely to stick around; films in the bottom 50 may cycle off more quickly.

» Artificial limit: maximum three films per director. Most of my favorite directors by rights deserve four or five places, but those extra films can easily be gleaned from my top directors list. I have also attempted to construct the list with an eye to representing all decades and regions, but not to the extent of including films that are not actually as beloved as the rest. Broad swaths of film are noted barely or not at all.

» There are many other films I rate a 10/10 for undeniable brilliance but don’t place in my list. These one hundred films mean the most to me [at this moment]. This is very definitely a list of my favorites, and not the greatest (although I would argue for the merits of each).

R: Reviews | S: Screencaps

Bringing Up Baby 1938, Howard Hawks S “I can’t give you anything but love, baby.”

Last Year at Marienbad 1961, Alain Resnais “They could as well be you and I. Or anyone.”

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 1976, Chantal Akerman R

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant 1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder “My daughter loves a girl. How strange. A girl! My daughter.”

La Notte 1961, Michelangelo Antonioni S “I haven’t a thought now, but I’m expecting one.”

Minnie & Moskowitz 1971, John Cassavetes “I think about you so much I forget to go to the bathroom!”

The Awful Truth 1937, Leo McCarey S “Maybe things could be the same again… Only a little different, huh?”

Red Desert 1964, Michelangelo Antonioni R | S “I can’t look at the sea for long and not lose interest in what happened on land.”

Manhattan 1979, Woody Allen S “Not everybody gets corrupted.”

Céline & Julie vont en bateau 1974, Jacques Rivette R “What is pretty does no harm.”

Trouble in Paradise 1932, Ernst Lubitsch R | S “Do you remember the man who walked into the Bank of Constantinople, and walked out with the Bank of Constantinople?”

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964, Jacques Demy “Why is absence so heavy to bear?”

The Green Ray 1986, Eric Rohmer “I’m not very operational in life.”

Jules & Jim 1962, Francois Truffaut R | S “We played with life and lost.”

Three Colors: Red 1994, Krzystof Kieslowski R | S “That’s all: be.”

Providence 1977, Alain Resnais R | S “I’m not a person; I’m a fucking construction. Was. Yours.”

Gertrud 1964, Carl Th Dreyer “I believe in the pleasures of the flesh and the irreparable loneliness of the soul.”

Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux 1962, Jean-Luc Godard S “Words should express just what one wants to say.”

Queen Christina 1933, Rouben Mamoulian S “I shall die a bachelor!”

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1988, Pedro Almodovar R | S “Ivan loves the way I mix it.”

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966, Mike Nichols “I am the Earth Mother and you are all flops!”

Opening Night 1977, John Cassavetes “I’ll do just about anything to make my character more authentic.”

Kings & Queen 2004, Arnaud Desplechin R | S “Enough of all that. Don’t you ever wear strange things sometimes?”

Holiday 1938, George Cukor “”

Cries and Whispers 1972, Ingmar Bergman “Come what may, this is happiness. I cannot wish for anything better.”

Yi Yi (a one and a two…) 2000, Edward Yang “”

A Man & a Woman 1966, Claude Lelouch “”

L’Avventura 1960, Michelangelo Antonioni “Tell me you love me.”

Code Unknown 2000, Michael Haneke R | S

I Fidanzati 1963, Ermanno Olmi “”

Another Woman 1988, Woody Allen “”

Madame de… 1953, Max Ophuls “”

Muriel ou Le temps d’un retour 1963, Alain Resnais “”

Love Affair 1939, Leo McCarey “”

Daisies 1966, Vera Chytilova “”

Johnny Guitar 1954, Nicholas Ray “”

Martha 1974, Rainer Werner Fassbinder “”

The Philadelphia Story 1940, George Cukor “”

Love Me Tonight 1932, Rouben Mamoulian “”

Dead Again 1991, Kenneth Branagh “”

Zerkalo 1975, Andrei Tarkovsky “”

Le Notti di Cabiria 1957, Federico Fellini “”

McCabe & Mrs Miller 1971, Robert Altman “”

Interiors 1978, Woody Allen “”

The Lion in Winter 1968, Anthony Harvey “”

The Apartment 1960, Billy Wilder “”

Abigail’s Party 1977, Mike Leigh “”

Love Streams 1984, John Cassavetes “”

Cluny Brown 1946, Ernst Lubitsch “”

The Young Girls of Rochefort 1967, Jacques Demy “”

India Song 1975, Marguerite Duras “”

Law of Desire 1987, Pedro Almodovar “”

Loulou 1980, Maurice Pialat “”

My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days 1989, Andrzej Zulawski “”

Angst vor der Angst 1975, Rainer Werner Fassbinder “”

The Smiling Madame Beudet 1923, Germaine Dulac “”

Baby Face 1933, Alfred E Green “”

All About My Mother 1999, Pedro Almodovar “”

Nashville 1975, Robert Altman “”

Little Man, What Now? 1934, Frank Borzage “”

L’Important c’est d’aimer 1975, Andrzej Zulawski “”

The Red Shoes 1948, Powell & Pressburger “”

Les Bas-fonds 1936, Jean Renoir “”

Easy Living 1937, Mitchell Leisen “”

A Sunday in the Country 1984, Bertrand Tavernier “”

My Man Godfrey 1936, Gregory La Cava “”

Dodsworth 1936, William Wyler “”

The Royal Tenenbaums 2001, Wes Anderson “”

Contempt 1963, Jean-Luc Godard “”

History is Made at Night 1937, Frank Borzage “”

Scenes From a Marriage 1973, Ingmar Bergman “”

Pépé le Moko 1937, Julien Duvivier “”

Cleo from 5 to 7 1962, Agnes Varda “”

L’Imortelle 1963, Alain Robbe-Grillet “”

Double Indemnity 1944, Billy Wilder “”

Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis 1966, Jean-Luc Godard “”

The Double Life of Véronique 1991, Krzystof Kieslowski “”

The Third Man 1949, Carol Reed “”

The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting 1979, Raoul Ruiz “”

Duelle (une quarantine) 1976, Jacques Rivette “”

The Gay Divorcee 1934, Mark Sandrich “”

The Thin Man 1934, WS Van Dyke “”

Unfaithfully Yours 1948, Preston Sturges “”

Diary of a Chambermaid 1964, Luis Bunuel “”

North By Northwest 1959, Alfred Hitchcock “”

La Pianiste 2001, Michael Haneke “”

Letty Lynton 1932, Clarence Brown “”

The Last Metro 1980, Francois Truffaut “”

Darling 1965, John Schlesinger “”

Now, Voyager 1942, Irving Rapper “”

One Hour with You 1932, Ernst Lubitsch “”

Orlando 1992, Sally Potter “”

My Night at Maud’s 1969, Eric Rohmer “”

25 Firemans St 1973, Istvan Szabo “”

Reds 1981, Warren Beatty “”

All About Eve 1950, Joseph L Mankiewicz “”

Bad Timing 1980, Nicolas Roeg “”

À nos amours 1983, Maurice Pialat “”

Sabrina 1954, Billy Wilder “”

The Lady Eve 1941, Preston Sturges “”

Miss Julie 1951, Alf Sjoberg “”

Whether I go through several drafts or give up having a list altogether in the meantime, I am going to try to collect my top 100 twice every year for comparison.

July 2008
January 2008
July 2007
January 2007
July 2006
January 2006
July 2005
January 2005
July 2004

6 Comments »

There needs to be a review link for every single one of these, as well as connections and links and a whole bunch of cool stuff. If you are going to list your favorites, at least make it interactive.

Comment by Mango — 19 April 2008 @ 19 April 2008

Ooo, there’s some good ideas…

Comment by Lauren — 21 April 2008 @ 21 April 2008

Yes, it’s a lovely list, but I kept thinking the same thing. If I could just come to this page and have each of your reviews but a click away, it would just be wonderful.

Comment by (the) Bob Dylan — 27 April 2008 @ 27 April 2008

Awesome ideas, y’all. Hope you enjoy the new look (probably expand it more bit by bit)

Comment by Lauren — 2 May 2008 @ 2 May 2008

great list, thank you.

Comment by artgrl — 22 August 2008 @ 22 August 2008

Thanks for the list. I spend my time looking for something I haven’t seen or positive comments on films I’m thinking about seeing. Now I have a list of treasures waiting for me to enjoy. Again, thanks.

Comment by christopher — 28 November 2008 @ 28 November 2008

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