After much deliberation and consideration, I have come up with an updated Top 100 Films list for November 2011. It has been nearly 12 months since I last updated. There are quite a few changes, both with substitutions and with the order - mostly as a result of the new films I have seen this year. The highest new addition is The Double Life of Veronique (#25). The top 8 remain exactly the same. The oldest film is The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928 and #100) and the newest film is Senna (2011 and #72). Please. I'd love some feedback. Let me know what you think.
100. The Passion of Jeanne D'Arc [The Passion of Joan of Arc] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
99. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)
98. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
97. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)
96. Requeim for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
95. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
94. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
93. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
92. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
91. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
90. The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963)
89. The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)
88. Cache [Hidden] (Michael Haneke, 2005)
87. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)
86. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1972)
85. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
84. Wall-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
83. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
82. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
81. The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
80. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
79. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
78. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, 1974)
77. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
76. Aguire: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
75. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
74. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
73. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
72. Senna (Asif Kapadia, 2011)
71. Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972)
70. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
69. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
68. It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
67. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
66. Black Narcissus (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1947)
65. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
64. Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971)
63. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009)
62. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)
61. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
60. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
59. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
58. The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)
57. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969)
56. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
55. Miller's Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1990)
54. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)
53. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
52. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
51. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002)
49. Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
48. The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998)
47. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
46. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
45. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
44. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)
43. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)
42. The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992)
41. The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
40. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
39. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
38. The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
37. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
36. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
35. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
34. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
33. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
32. Glory (Edward Zwick, 1989)
31. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
30. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
29. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
28. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977)
27. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
26. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
Top 25
25. The Double Life of Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
24. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
23. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
22. JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
21. Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)
20. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
19. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
18. L.A Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
17. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
16. Trois Couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
15. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
14. Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
13. Fargo (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1996)
12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
11. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
10. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
9. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
8. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
7. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
6. There Will be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
5. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
4. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
3. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
2. Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
1. Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)
Color me surprised that you picked Platoon as your #1. There's only three movies in your top 20 I haven't seen. One is Three Colors: Red that I just got on Blu-ray. I love going through lists like these.
ReplyDeleteMe to, I love Top 100 lists - or lists in general.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen Platoon, but I was too surprised to see it's your #1. It's always nice with some fresh air in people's top 10.
I don't think I've seen many of your choices, but still a great list.
Hard to disagree with a lot of these films. Obviously, my order would be different, but there were a bunch on here that I was really happy to see.
ReplyDeleteMy top-10 would be completely different, I think, but most of your top-10 would be on my list somewhere.
Honestly, there isn't really anything I can disagree with. I have bot updated my list in forever, but right now i'd say Blade Runner, It's a Wonderful Life, and Raging Bull are my top 3. Also, great to see The Shawshank Redemption! Everyone always compares it to Pulp Fiction, which they find somehow makes Shawshank overrated.
ReplyDeleteOh well, great list!
@ Max and Mette - I guess it is a bit of a surprise, but it's been my favourite film for ten years. I am pretty set on it being #1. Max, You will love Rouge (and the other two also). Magical cinema.
ReplyDelete'When' I watched films in my life - and the initial impact they had on me - figures to be pretty essential to my list. When I first saw Platoon, I didn't like it very much (I was horrified by some of the content). But when I watched it again a few days later (it lingered with me) it was the best film experience of my life at that point. I bought it on VCR (and later on DVD) and it became my unanimous #1 selection.
Se7en and The Usual Suspects have similar stories - having loved them on first viewing, I obsessed over them for years - watching them repeatedly. While I have similar experiences with films now, I cherish the films that got me really interested in films, over the ones now. Some of these selections might seem a little odd, but there is a reason. All of the films you haven't seen I can wholeheartedly recommend :-)
@ Steve - I would hope my Top 10 would appear somewhere on everyone's list :-p Out of interest, what would your Top 10 be? I'm going to guess Jaws is one!
@ Matt - Shawshank has always been a favourite. I am guilty of thinking that Forrest Gump is overrated when I compare it to Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. I never got into that film, which is a shame.
I don't love Raging Bull, but I respect Scorsese and admire both his filmmaking and De Niro's performance. As you know, the other two you mention, appear on my list. Blade Runner...what a film.
Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!
Still need to compile my own list, but I think it's going to have to wait until I've seen a few more classics so I can judge a bit better - Taxi Driver for example :) Great list though, Andy!
ReplyDeleteGreat list - no scratch that, FANTASTIC list. And nice pictures too (I so rarely see that image from THE SHINING across the Internet). Seriously, I love almost all your choices. I'm planning on updating my site's list in January (and believe me, it needs to be updated).
ReplyDelete@ Ruth - You should still give it a go. It's a lot of fun. There were lots of changes based on what I had seen this year - so it is forever evolving. Taxi Driver is indeed a classic.
ReplyDelete@ Tyler - Thanks man. Took plenty of work to put together. I tried to use obscure pics - but I found most of them on the net. Glad you liked the choices. Your list is rad too!
Hidden! Good stuff, love that film.
ReplyDelete@ filmdrivel - I watched it initially twice on the same day. I wanted to understand the ending. But that's what I like about it - not knowing for sure.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is quite the list! Nice work on compiling all of it, I can only imagine how long it took. A lot of my personal favorites are on there, and Platoon is a fantastic choice at the top. It kind of makes me want to make my own list, but there are so many movies I need to see...
ReplyDeleteIt did take quite a while. But even after watching RATATOUILLE last night I wanted to shuffle it around to include it. I'll never be content with it. Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing The Passion of Joan of Arc slipping in, one of my favorites. Also love that you slipped A Serious Man in! I know Sam will love that.
ReplyDeleteAlso love seeing Aguirre and Black Narcissus. Also love seeing The Thin Red Line and some Kieslowski.
Strong list, my friend.
@ James - Yeah, Sam will love A Serious Man. I know he checked out my list the other day but he never mentioned it. I have only seen The Passion of Joan of Arc fully once, but I watched some scenes on Youtube not long ago and got really absorbed. I think it is incredible - and then I watched Vampyr because of Dreyer and that film. Black Narcissus I loved (one of the best new films I have seen this year) and of course Kieslowski (Red and Veronique were my favourite as you know). Cheers mate. I appreciate the feedback.
ReplyDeleteHard to argue with much of that. I do love Fight Club & Airplane must be in there surely?... [insert Shirley joke here]
ReplyDeleteFight Club is a film I have fallen out of favour with over the years - possibly from watching it too much. I enjoy it when I watch it, but I haven't had an urge to watch it in a while. Airplane I find hilarious - but not enough to be in my Top 100.
ReplyDelete