75. The Third Man (1949) - Carol Reed
If you want to know what my ideal movie would look like stylistically, The Third Man might be it. Carol Reed did his best Orson Welles impression and even got the man himself to deliver his most iconic acting role. Post-war black market Vienna is the backdrop for the film once named the greatest British movie of all time. Not hard to argue it as the years have only made this film better and better. Cinematographer Robert Krasker also shot Brief Encounter, easily the best looking of David Lean’s black and white features. The German Expressionist influence is all over it, but distilled through the prism of American post-war noir films, and great advancements in lenses and deep focus photography. All of that means nothing without a damn interesting story courtesy of Graham Greene, who makes this his best collaboration with Reed. There’s also the little matter of the zither score by Anton Karas, which oddly enough became a mini-sensation after the release. When the parts are this great, the sum is truly exceptional.
74. Sansho the Bailiff (1954) - Kenji Mizoguchi
This one is dedicated to John-5 wherever you are. In the long, long ago when the foreignfilms.com board was active a particular member there spoke often on how Kenji Mizoguchi was the greatest director to ever live and Sansho the Bailiff was the single greatest movie ever made. As you can tell by my numbering, I don’t quite agree with him, but 20+ years after that idea was planted in my brain I finally can at least agree it is Mizoguchi’s masterpiece. I have also posted here about Mizoguchi being Japan’s greatest director as well. Sansho is in the middle of what would prove to be a late career surge for Kenji, which saw him as prolific as ever up to his death. In fact this was one of 3 films he made in just 1954. After the triumphs of Life of Oharu (featured in the 2013 edition) and Ugetsu, the old master topped himself with Sansho. It displays a rare humanist streak in his work which would probably be more in line with Kurosawa. The world is cruel and often unforgiving but there can be some redemptive justice, but often not for everyone. The acting in the film also seems very restrained by 1950s Japanese standards with only a few violent outbursts which seem very much in context. If I had a complaint it would be that the score often sounds like a 5 year old is playing a recorder over the otherwise well composed music, something that was impossible to un-hear after my wife brought it up.
73. Pierrot le Fou (1965) - Jean-Luc Godard
There are a growing number of people who get subjected to Breathless in a film class or see it on a list only to be underwhelmed. It isn’t that Breathless is bad, but it definitely is a film with a director who had a lot to say but hadn’t figured out how to say it. I also feel like Godard was so anxious to make a movie, he didn’t actually bother to figure out what that movie should be. By 1965, Jean-Luc Godard was the figurehead and master of the Nouvelle Vague. Working again in scope with Roul Coutard he took the melancholy film-within-a-film setting of Le Mepris and opened it up. The “plot” in this film is almost completely irrelevant, it’s just a great filmmaker flexing on us all. This is before his Marxist period where the entire movie would come to a screeching halt so people can be his mouthpiece for politics. Godard was still fun, and still experimenting with how to tell a story. Flashes of bold color here, and a leap in narrative logic there, it remains a joy to experience. Perhaps the most “fun” you can have with Godard.
72. Aguirre the Wrath of God (1972) - Werner Herzog
My first encounter with Werner Herzog remains the best. Here I go bringing up Danny Peary again but this was included in Cult Movies and his write-up seemed to suggest it was superior to Apocalypse Now. While I might not agree with that, they are in many ways two-of-a-kind. The slow trip down a jungle river while descending into madness subgenre produced at least these two masterpieces. This was also the first time Herzog worked with Klaus Kinski and hearing the stories from the shoot it’s amazing that either lived long enough to make another movie together let alone four. Sometimes to capture a lunatic you need to be a little crazy yourself, and nowhere was their toxic friendship/partnership on better display than Aguirre. One of the breakthrough films of West Germany in the 70s that has lost none of its edge 50 years later. How many other movies end with a raft full of spider monkeys?
71. Sherlock Jr. (1924) - Buster Keaton
What makes a film a feature? This is a debate that might have actually defined rules when it comes to Academy Award consideration but simply a feature is a feature. Buster Keaton’s 1924 gem Sherlock Jr. holds the distinction of being the shortest film on this list, by a pretty wide margin if I’m being honest. I first heard of this specific film when it was ranked one spot higher than Schindler’s List on Entertainment Weekly’s 1999 edition of the 100 Greatest Films. At the time I felt insulted, how could some dumb silent comedy really be better than Spielberg’s Holocaust epic? Well 20+ years later it seems far less crazy to me. In my lifetime I have thought Steamboat Bill Jr., Our Hospitality, and now this are Keaton’s greatest achievements. Funny I never seemed to love The General as much as others, although I had the revelation that it felt like a proto-Fury Road last time but that can be a stretch. Sherlock Jr. remains a perfect, and succinct Keaton film. It shows his ingenuity, his inventiveness, and how extremely gifted and occasionally insane of a comedic actor he was. I can’t guarantee a future visit might make me change my favorite of his a fourth time, but in the year of 2023, Sherlock Jr. is the tops. The phrase all-killer no-filler certainly applies to Sherlock Jr.
70. The Cremator (1968) - Juraj Herz
There are few national cinemas I dove as deep into as Czechoslovakia. Between roughly 1964-70 it was arguably the most interesting national cinema around. The films were weird, subversive, darkly comical, and always inventive. Among those early Czech filmmakers only one seemed to embrace horror as a genre. That was Juraj Herz, who continued working in and around the genre for decades after The Cremator. You can argue whether The Cremator is a proper horror film, but it is quietly unnerving and there’s something just unsettling about Rudolf Hrusinsky’s constant grin and endless narration. Stanislav Milota films so much of the film with a wildly distorted wide-angle lens to add to the creepiness. It’s the kind of psychological horror that doesn’t necessarily creep you out, just kinda gets under your skin and makes you feel uneasy. With all due respect to Daisies, Diamonds of the Night, Closely Watched Trains, or Marketa Lazarova this remains my favorite Czech film.
69. A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Stanley Kubrick
I can count about a half dozen films from Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2 on this list. It was probably the first real book on film I ever read, but let's be honest I was mainly interested in the movies with boobs. At the age of roughly 12 I watched A Clockwork Orange for the first time, and along with The Shining I’m pretty sure Stanley Kubrick became my favorite director not long after that. Truth be told he’s probably the only person to ever occupy that space for me. Some of that credit should go to John Alcott who shot both A Clockwork Orange and The Shining (along with 2001 and Barry Lyndon). Together they created a look that just spoke to me. Kubrick’s background in still photography I’m sure played no small role in his near perfect style. With Clockwork though he takes a seemingly juvenile story, makes it simultaneously a parable on fascism and communism. There is hardly a wasted moment and the few things that seem extraneous just sprinkle the right amount of absurdity into the mix. Malcolm McDowell is absolutely perfect as Alex, and just how damn memorable is Wendy Carlos’s score? Oh yeah, the movie also has boobs.
68. Predator (1987) - John McTiernan
I’m not sure what is about male bonding, but I have entire friend groups who can speak exclusively in Predator quotes. From the world’s greatest handshake to two Shane Black pussy jokes, this movie has possibly the most testosterone ever committed to celluloid. John McTiernan instantly became a major force in directing action and it’s still shocking this was his first film. He handles the task well, always keeping his camera moving, tracking across the jungle, and visually giving us tiny slivers of information before the rest of our swole cast gets it. How the film goes from generic action movie to slasher to science fiction is a tour-de-force. Fox has spent the better part of 35 years insisting this is a franchise but nothing ever came remotely close to this movie. Legendary score, legendary cast, phenomenal creature design and Bill Duke shaving his sweat. This isn’t even a guilty pleasure, I defy you not to find this an incredibly well made movie. Arnold’s signature one-liners earlier in the film seem to be repaid tenfold when he starts getting his ass handed to him. It has everything, even two future governors.
67. Kill Bill (2003-2004) - Quentin Tarantino
There are people out there who hate Quentin Tarantino, and hate his films. Sucks to be them, because let me tell you they are missing out. Tarantino made the 6 year wait after Jackie Brown worth it with the first installment of Kill Bill. Knowing a lot about classic martial arts films may help, but it certainly isn’t necessary. Tarantino has always been a master of taking the best elements of what he loved in cinema and making it his own creation. Most of the best directors did similar things and you can hear someone like Scorsese pointing to exact shots in Powell/Pressburger films or Godard that he swiped for his movies. As one giant epic, Kill Bill seems to have everything, covering yakuza films, anime, kung fu, horror, and some spaghetti western while we’re at it. A gleefully entertaining bloody mess of an epic that never ceases to impress me. It is maximalism at its finest, all reigned in by some of the best performers in the business.
66. Duck Soup (1933) - Leo McCarey
Pure fucking chaos, and I mean that in the most hilarious way possible. The Marx Brothers final film with all four of them, and their final Paramount picture will forever be the best. Sure it’s funny and ridiculous, but the mere absence of their trademark musical interludes might be the real secret. Simply put nothing slows down the mayhem here, unlike the usual grind-to-a-halt piano and harp solos we were blessed with. Not that we don’t love those, but this film barely creeps past the hour mark, and that’s just the way it should be. There are still musical numbers, most of which are pedestrian but the brothers themselves just wreak havoc. Nearly every line of dialogue Groucho and Chico speak is a joke, and Harpo has never been funnier ruining everyone’s day who crosses his path. There is some subtle political satire here, but that is all irrelevant, it’s just a backdrop for more gags and absurdity. A brazen anti-establishment masterpiece that needs to be seen at least a dozen times just to catch your breath and get all the jokes.
65. The Apartment (1960) - Billy Wilder
Many times on these lists I am content to have one movie represent a director. Many times these filmmakers deserve multiple spots but with only 100 to go around I often find myself making a concession and picking one to stand in for many. Of course there are a few exceptions and Billy Wilder is certainly one of them. The interesting thing about The Apartment though is that 10 years ago I might have considered this his 6th best film. Well with a little age and wisdom this could very well be Wilder’s masterpiece. So why do I feel like it’s underrated? It won a best picture Oscar, and nabbed Wilder his second best director trophy. Even Wilder himself claimed this was his best film, as he felt it was the best balance between comedy and drama that he did. I’ll hold off on proclaiming this his supreme masterpiece but I can’t find a single flaw with the film. Even the dated sexist central premise works beautifully. Much in the same way there is heart-wrenching drama from the reformers taking The Dear One’s baby in Intolerance. Hell how many classic horror films wouldn’t exist without a cell phone? It sums up everything Wilder did well, there are genuine laughs, both Lemmon and MacLaine are perfect, and I just absolutely love it. I have a friend who watches this movie every New Years and makes sure it’s the first film of the year. Not a bad tradition, certainly can start the year off worse.
64. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - Wes Anderson
Before he was a meme and a brand of filmmaking unto himself Wes Anderson made this absolutely perfect film. The Anderson aesthetic was really only two films deep, although early hints of it might have been present in Bottle Rocket. Rushmore was truly the birth of his style, but this was his first time juggling the approach with an ensemble. He has never come close to balancing all the moving parts this well, despite some very noble attempts. It may have something to do with the fact that this was the first Wes Anderson film I’ve seen, and to date probably the one I’ve watched the most. I sadly skipped re-watching it for my last list, and it probably would have made the cut. Now when I watch the note perfect cast I can’t help but miss Gene Hackman. He’s still alive but hasn’t acted in nearly 2 decades. This was also perhaps the first time I realized I might actually be able to stomach Ben Stiller in a movie. Brings a little bit of sadness to know people aren’t discovering Wes Anderson through this movie, and his style and reputation appears to precede him.
63. Moonlight (2016) - Barry Jenkins
Moonlight might seem better known for being part of the most hilariously awkward fuck up in Academy Awards history. It’s a shame because god damn was it great. I’ll let you decide if you think it deserved to beat La La Land, but its placement on this list would at least tell you both were deserving. What made Jenkins' film somewhat of a revelation when it came out, was how subtle it is. It tells of a uniquely personal story of black America that most of the people outside of a Miami project wouldn’t know anything about. Rather than give you some narration or a large set up, it plays out in tiny slices of life. Watching the film a second time I’m not even sure there is a single white person in the movie. We get something of an anthology structure with three separate actors playing Chiron in different phases of his life, and how those small slices of life make a man. Few if any films shot in the last decade look as beautiful as well, Jenkins making sure that even if the surroundings aren’t glamorous they can still be visually enticing.
62. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Michel Gondry
Film school nerds are occasionally right, even if insufferable, and I say this as one of them. Before he became hell bent on alienating everyone Charlie Kauffman was the most exciting screenwriter in Hollywood. Before he became too preoccupied with being “inventive” and sacrificing style for substance Michel Gondry was what you might call a “visionary”. After two extremely successful (at least creatively) collaborations with Spike Jonze, Kauffman and Gondry made this film that can quietly break your heart in between its leaping narratives. The entire concept is playing with the idea of what would people do if they could erase painful memories. In the end we realize it’s always better to have loved and lost, but it also shows how well these small moments and interactions shape who we are as a person, and sometimes we may be doomed to do it all over again. Without the heart of this film I don’t think it holds up and probably plays out more like Mood Indigo or The Science of Sleep. Jim Carrey after a decade of trying to convince people he was capable of being a great dramatic actor, put all doubts to rest here. Kate Winslet perfected the archetype of the damaged girl with the weird hair who can “complete someone” only to realize she’s just another fucked up person trying to figure their own shit out. Its setting makes me wonder if it isn’t the best or the worst film to watch on Valentine’s Day.
61. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) - Bela Tarr/Agnes Hranitzky
The thought of long, slow takes in black and white with an oppressive gloominess might send some people running and screaming. Lucky for me that is absolutely my jam. It may sound like blasphemy but I will be honest, Satantango is too long. I know it shouldn’t sound preposterous to say a 7 hour movie is a bit lengthy, but it seems like it could have been 3 hours or under and lost none of its impact. There’s a weird psychological effect to watching something that long where you have to convince yourself you didn’t waste your time. That particular epic I’ve watched three times so imagine how I feel. Tarr’s follow-up Werckmeister seems like he understood that memo. It has everything in it that made Damnation and Satantango so memorable while also keeping it around 130 minutes, perfectly acceptable for a slow burner like this. For my money this is a master at his best, balancing a gripping narrative with those never ending shots. Between the form, style, music, and story which is still a bit loose everything succeeds. Even watching this on the ancient and awful Facets DVD didn’t distract from how incredible it is. Look for the new 4k restoration from Janus/Criterion soon and be prepared to be blown away. I believe this is also the first time he credited his wife Agnes Hranitzky as co-director.
60. City Lights (1931) - Charles Chaplin
The theme of this list could very well be described as “what a difference a decade makes.” I knew before I started this process that a few titles were going to be swapped around, and my favorites from particular filmmakers might change. Well in the case of Mr. Chaplin, you have to go all the way back to 2003 when City Lights sat comfortably perched on the top of my list as his best work. It was something of a shock to me a decade ago when it was Modern Times that seemed to hit the spot so perfectly. City Lights and its blustering drunken friend-turned-sober-asshole that seemed to wear on me. In 2023 however any annoyance at this character was gone and I was left with what feels like the perfect Chaplin movie. It has the pathos his best work has, some genuinely good comedic bits, and just enough social commentary to still be subtle rather than preachy. In short, my once and current choice for his masterpiece.
59. Videodrome (1983) - David Cronenberg
There are a number of films I gave another watch to that I don’t think I even considered a decade ago. I’m not sure how much Cronenberg I checked out for the 2013 edition, but that’s an oversight on my part. Perhaps it was the semi-retirement of Cronenberg that seemed to elevate him from cult genre master to world class filmmaker in the eyes of more established credits, or maybe I’m just more into this shit than I used to be. Crimes of the Future reminded everyone that the old man still had it, but for my money Videodrome is the movie you show people when they want to see what David Cronenberg is all about. Like his best work, it fucks with your head, is sexually perverse, there is body horror a plenty, and it all feels like a bit of a bad but fascinating dream. You can argue whether or not other films of his are better, but few seem to sum up everything that made him great quite like Videodrome. Not at all an exaggeration to say this is Canada’s greatest export. Long live the new flesh.
58. Weekend (1967) - Jean-Luc Godard
Weekend is the apex of Godard’s career. The moment where he emptied his bag of tricks and delivered his most nihilistic, experimental, yet coherent attack on upper middle class colonialist values. His message would get progressively more acerbic and his delivery would get far more abstract in the coming years/decades, but here there is still a solid grounding. That isn’t to say Weekend is entirely coherent and narratively straightforward. The film throws as many diversions and curveballs as our married couple seem to go through. It depicts a literal capitalist hellscape, which is perhaps optimistically upended by violent slightly cannibalistic guerillas. We are also blessed with perhaps the most famous tracking shot in all of cinema, or French cinema anyways, with a traffic jam that dips into surrealist territory as the movie continues its descent into madness.
57. Touch of Evil (1958) - Orson Welles
It can be hard to define what makes a great director. Styles are all over the place and some directors seem allergic to camera movements. For Welles though he had an almost compulsion to avoid any flat shot/reverse-shot set up. Everything needs an angle, a track, a crane shot, something visually to make things flow better. Sometimes you notice it, such as the legendary opening shot of this movie, other times it’s a lot more subtle like the two even longer single shots during the interrogation. There have been numerous iterations of Touch of Evil, and even in its butchered form it is still a stone cold classic. Sure Charlton Heston is one of the least convincing Mexicans in cinema history, but at least he spares us the embarrassment of a shitty offensive accent. Truthfully if it weren’t for Heston, Welles wouldn’t have been hired to direct, so we have him to thank. It shows for one final time what a master can do with just a little bit of a budget. If I had one thing negative to say about it, I still very much do not understand Dennis Weaver.
56. Ali Fear Eats the Soul (1974) - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Every decade I cast a wide net with this list. Certain films I’ve seen a couple times I realize probably have no shot, and others I think a fresh take would be in order. After deciding Berlin Alexanderplatz was not eligible (it is technically a mini-series), I had a vacancy for my favorite Fassbinder “film”. The likely candidate to replace it is the fantastic Marriage of Maria Braun, and although that film is still damn good, its larger budget and scope almost betrays what made Fassbinder so remarkable. So I took another look at Fear Eats the Soul, a film I thought was a little preposterous as a central premise and I was far too cynical to take it seriously. My stomach for melodrama and improbable love stories has apparently grown. This went from middle of the road to one of my new all time favorites. What a difference a couple decades make. It broke my heart, but oddly enough just felt so much more grounded in reality this time. Just two lonely people finding each other and dealing with some of the bullshit surrounding it. Before I even knew what it was, I will forever associate couscous with Ali. It’s simple and powerful, and sometimes you just need a little life experience to understand how great a movie this could be.
55. No Country for Old Men (2007) - Joel and Ethan Coen
It’s hard to remember now, but by the mid-2000s it seemed like the Coen brothers' best work was behind them. The 1-2 punch of Fargo and The Big Lebowski was years ago and they were coming off of Intolerable Cruelty and a deeply forgettable remake of The Ladykillers. With this backdrop they returned to what they did so well, back to Texas where their brilliant debut Blood Simple was set. Adapting Cormac McCarthy’s neo-noir tinged contemporary western, would land them a best picture and director Oscar. Among many great Oscar battles it was between this and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. I have always preferred the Coen’s film and 15+ years later and several revisits for each I still do. A profoundly perfect film that brilliantly illustrates how two minds in sync can work wonders if given the right material and backdrop. Just another in a long series of goofy haircut psychopaths played by Javier Bardem, this is also his most terrifying and menacing. The brother’s work would get slightly more nihilistic after but this film remains pretty god damn bleak, yet always compelling.
54. LA Confidential (1997) - Curtis Hanson
Some 21 years ago I rented this movie from the library. I watched it, went to work and didn’t stop thinking about it. When I got home, I watched it again. This is not a normal occurrence for me but it still stands out because every time I return to LA Confidential it hooks me right back in. In the 26 years since it was released there is less and less discussion about the film. Few people seem to dislike it, but it rarely gets brought up in the greatest ever debates, and the spark that Curtis Hanson had after that movie, which continued through Wonder Boys and 8-Mile seems to have faded. Sure they didn’t quite measure up to this, but look at this list, not many films have. Some credit must be given to Ellmore James who wrote the novel this was based on. When the plot can throw some twists in there and still be exciting after 6 viewings, something is working. As revisionist history continues to downgrade Polanski’s work, I wonder if this may be re-discovered by another generation as the ultimate neo-noir. I, for one, need no validation for loving it. However with the eradication of Kevin Spacey it might just be a wash. Just the facts, folks.
53. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Frank Capra
Even the most hardened of hearts tend to soften a bit when confronted with Frank Capra. It’s hard not to feel a little bit of optimism in the human race when faced with his particular brand of Capra-corn. After a torrid stretch where Capra won best director 3 times in 5 years and helmed 2 best picture winners, he outdid himself. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington began as a sequel to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town but morphed into something unique. That isn’t saying Gary Cooper couldn’t have played Jefferson Smith, but this was the role of Jimmy Stewart’s lifetime. Many people may point to It’s a Wonderful Life or even Vertigo, but Mr. Smith is Stewart at his best. Watching it in 2023 stings a little because we do know the entire government has been bought and paid for decades ago. However this is the movies and for just a little bit it’s nice to think that people of integrity can still fight for the right thing. Top-billed Jean Arthur’s Saunders is probably my favorite role she ever played.
52. Magnolia (1999) - Paul Thomas Anderson
Sometimes the pupil becomes the “master”, ah a PTA joke. Paul Thomas Anderson took a healthy cue from Robert Altman, particularly Short Cuts, and fashioned his own definitive ensemble epic. Armed with a perfect cast, and perhaps an even better group of songs from Aimee Mann, Magnolia was as good as he ever got. PTA might have gotten more serious, perhaps even more ambitious in later films, but Magnolia is a marvelous juggling act. All the pieces fit and rarely have 3 hours flown by so fast. Like many of the greatest films, and ones that populate this list, it rewards the viewer who pays attention and watches it repeatedly. All those 82s hiding in plain sight, all those sexy connective tissues between one story and another. It is a gigantic swing and is just surreal enough to work.
51. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - John Ford
Classic literature and Hollywood have been strange bedfellows since the earliest days of cinema. Popular fiction and Hollywood have also worked well together over the years, but rarely has a truly great book been turned into a truly great film. The Grapes of Wrath is certainly one of the exceptions if not the ultimate example of getting it right. Perhaps it was those stars aligning. Henry Fonda was a perfect Tom Joad, Greg Tolland was the right cinematographer, and John Ford was absolutely the correct choice to direct. Ford won his second of a record 4 best director Oscars for this, and for my money it’s the one he probably deserved the most. Condensing a gut-wrenching cross country migration to a little over two hours is no small task. The film breaks things up beautifully with Ford’s trademark humor and sense of community, but when things need to get bleak, boy do they. The original ending of the book wasn’t shot for censorship reasons, but the film chooses to end on a slightly more optimistic note, straight from the pen of Steinbeck. I used to cringe at what I perceived was hogwash sentimentality but now I see it as the summation of what makes these Okie’s persevere. What can you say besides it’s one of the all time greats?
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