Top 100 Films: 70-61

70. Pierrot le Fou (1965) - Jean-Luc Godard

It's hard to believe Jean-Luc Godard ever made a film like this today.  Shortly after Pierrot, he got more and more political and made his films more and more alienating.  This film is as carefree as you can get.  A loving homage to several gangster/lover on the run films mixed with a few odd musical numbers and an exceptional color pallet.  It even features a brief appearance from Samuel Fuller, whose dialogue is lovingly mistranslated.  The political commentary is used sparingly and to great effect.  There is a sense of humor present in the film and you get a sense that things were kept loose on the set and it's amazing to think such a serious button pushing director could take the time to make a film that's actually fun.  For people who have come to Godard from Breathless need to see this film they'll be blown away by how advanced he became in just five years.  This may also be my favorite film shot by Raoul Coutard, Godard's frequent camera man in the 60s who shot amongst many other things Francois Truffaut's Jules and Jim.

69. The Life of Oharu (1952) - Kenji Mizoguchi

There are some films that are positively devastating.  Sometimes to the point of detraction, you get a prevailing sense of doom where you stop feeling for the character and begin to wonder just how much more comically awful everything can get.  It can be said that Kenji Mizoguchi specialized in these films, often having his much suffering main characters be females, but his two best known films Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff center largely around men.  Life of Oharu a film that inexplicably seems neglected by comparison was Mizoguchi's first film to win the International Prize in Venice (a year after Rashomon won the Golden Lion).  Kinuyo Tanaka, who also appeared in Ugetsu and Sansho is devastating as Oharu, the long suffering title character, who later became the second Japanese woman to direct a movie.  Mizoguchi the director has never been better and just a quick glance at any scene shows a master very much in charge of his craft.  There may not be a better film from Japan's golden age.

68. M (1931) - Fritz Lang

Ah the film that made Kate positively terrified of Peter Lorre.  I reckon since 1931 she's hardly the first person to feel that way after watching this movie.  Fritz Lang's first sound film was made after a string of large scale disasters (keep in mind Metropolis was a dismal failure when it was first released) redeemed him in the in the eyes of many critics of the time.  The film was shown in America and proved to be decades ahead of it's time thematically.  It also happened to be Lang's personal favorite of all his films and well I agree.  Fritz Lang may have made a string of very good to great films while in Hollywood but his best work was in Germany, usually with his excellent screenwriting wife Thea von Harbau, who also was a huge fan of Hitler so she didn't make the same exodus out of Germany that Fritz did.  This film itself is part murder mystery, part serial killer film, part underworld gangster film, and a completely brilliant picture through and through.  Along with Josef Von Sternberg's The Blue Angel it helped to establish the talking picture in Germany.  This film is as good today as ever and if you haven't seen it, just trust me you'll love it, even if Peter Lorre might give you nightmares.

67. Magnolia (1999) - Paul Thomas Anderson

Following in the footsteps of Robert Altman is never easy, doing it even better is nearly impossible.  Paul Thomas Anderson's third feature film is his masterpiece (so spoilers there aren't any more of his films on this list) and I realize that there are still people out there who scratch their head wondering what all the fuss was about.  I get it, because nearly all of his films have had that sort of reaction with some people, including his newest The Master.  Although I believe Boogie Nights was a great film and a labor of love, Magnolia is something else entirely.  A rare ensemble film where every story is compelling, all the performances are stellar (Tom Cruise haters should see this before n passing judgement), and it doesn't hurt that the soundtrack is amazing either.  Where Altman is somewhat lazy in his approach and lets a story grow organically and performances develop, Anderson seems much more precise in his vision.  His shots more intricately planned out, the dialogue is more thought out, and this might be the reason why it's taking him five years between pictures now, but oh man if they're half as good as Magnolia then it's worth it.

66. Chinatown (1974) - Roman Polanski 

I'll admit that the non-existent subgenre of neo-noir is sketchy at best.  Plenty of filmmakers have attempted to channel that golden period of dark Hollywood films with period pictures featuring tough private eyes, double-crossing dames, and amping up the violence and sex to a level not allowed during the 40s and 50s.  Most of these films are instantly forgotten but when Roman Polanski took a stab at it, he produced one of the best films of the 70s further defining the decade as Hollywood's golden renaissance of auteurs.  Looking at his previous features most of them seemed to be pointing to something great (although the aptly titled What? makes you scratch your head).  The film is plot heavy, but helping to solve the mystery along with Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson in one of many iconic performances) is part of the fun and it seems like literally everyone takes at least two tries to tell the truth.  It's also considered by some a chronicle of how LA was built.

65. The Conformist (1970) - Bernardo Bertolucci 

Well I'll be damned a repeat offender.  Welcome back to the list Mr. Bertolucci, remember what I said about when he's good no one is better?  A great deal of why this film is brilliant is because of Vittorio Storaro, the legendary cinematographer who is given free reign throughout.  It is based on a novel by Alberto Moravia (who also wrote the source novel that Godard made into Contempt) about a man who really wants to fit in and fascism is alright with him.  Hard to make a film interesting about essentially a boring man who wants to blend into the crowd, but that's where Storaro comes in.  For many this was the fulfillment of a prophecy for Bertolucci, who began his career as an assistant for Pier Paolo Passolini and made a string of somewhat interesting but flawed films prior to this.  This was the full realization of his gifts and it easily features the best two woman tango dance in movie history.

64. Ben-Hur (1959) - William Wyler

Like a few others on this list, this film has been with me for a long time.  I first saw it in a 6th grade social studies class and realized even then it was a damn good movie.  Hollywood epics are a loathsome genre, typified by extravagant budgets, large pageantry, and typically boring stories.  Ben-Hur however is stellar start to finish.  It doesn't hurt that Charlton Heston is damn near my favorite person to appear in a movie, so why wouldn't I love the movie he won is only Oscar for?  Wiliam Wyler, who was a rare three-time best director winner has proven himself capable of handling family dramas and some low key films but rarely has anyone not named David Lean proven themselves so adept at the widescreen historical epic  Here the richly designed shots and art design seem to compliment the film rather than distract from the story, the old equivalent of putting a bunch of explosions to hide a crappy film.  This is also I believe the last film Cathy O'Donnell made, a personal favorite of mine whose actually in three films on this list.  She plays Ben-Hur's sister who later winds up a leper, tough break.  However praised the chariot race sequence is, this film is still Charlton Heston's and no one was better in a historical setting than Heston.  This also happens to be one of the rare superior remakes to ever be made.

63. Taxi Driver (1976) - Martin Scorsese 

Even though Mean Streets might be a masterpiece and Robert DeNiro already won an Oscar for The Godfather Part 2, Taxi Driver to me is the film that really put these two on the map.  Maybe a lot of it is Paul Schraeder's script, maybe it's Bernard Hermann's score, it could be the excellent supporting cast which includes Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, a then washed-up Cybil Sheppard, a post-Young Frankenstein Peter Boyle, and Scorsese's original leading man Harvey Keitel.  However this film is largely DeNiro's and his performance is absolutely amazing.  He apparently got a taxi license and drove it around NYC before filming to prepare for his role, which is just one of many instances of his insane dedication to his craft.  From start to finish this film is incredible.  His character is complex and creepy.  The ending seems ambiguous despite appearing somewhat straight forward at first.  This is a film that leaves you with more questions than when you came in, inspiring re-watches, and endless debate and analysis.  In short this is the stuff great films are made of, and it's one of many reasons why Martin Scorsese is the best living director.

62. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Michel Gondry

Amongst the films to come out since the last time I made a top 100, Eternal Sunshine is one of the few I figured would make a definite appearance.  Charlie Kauffman the screenwriter could do no wrong by the time this films was made and he found a perfect match with Michel Gondry, a Frenchman who got his start directing music videos.  This was in that brief period of time when Jim Carrey was still trying to be taken seriously as an actor or at the very least repair the damage done by the live action Grinch movie.  Kate Winslet who is always great delivered arguably her best performance as that obscure object of desire.  However the insanity of the narrative, the complicated structure of the storytelling make this infinitely re-watchable.  Fundamentally though I find the film optimistic, the idea that two people can find each other no matter what chance or circumstance has to say about it.  It also brings up the type of ethical arguments college professors dream about, all in all one of the best of the last decade.

61. The Battle of Algiers (1966) - Gillo Pontecorvo 

The best of what was dubbed "guerrilla filmmaking" in the 60s and early 70s.  A more violent and political child of neo-realism that took to actual locations with non-actors to film staged reality as it were.  This film in particular focuses on the grossly unpopular Algerian war and it makes no secret whatsoever whose side of the conflict the filmmakers are on.  In case you weren't aware which side that it, I'll give you a hint it was banned for over five years in France.  Some of the actors were cast to play versions of themselves and the picture takes place between 1954-1957, treating the eventual Algerian independence more as an epilogue.  Here Pontecorvo is more concerned with the struggle itself and doesn't shy away from what can be considered terrorist tactics, not to mention torture at the hands of the colonial powers.  Neither side is painted in a good light but we can easily side with Algeria here.  Although the conflict in Algeria was essentially over by the time the film as a critique of the then current escalation in Vietnam.  Still one of the most powerful films of it's kind.