Since free will is apparently boring, how about some movie recommendations? The other day I called my sister to get film recommendations, knowing that she often goes to the movies with her son Steven (my nephew), an ardent cinemaphile who makes his living writing about movies. I think his taste in cinema is quite impeccable, and so, when he emailed me with some recommendations, I asked if he’d give us a list of his favorite movies. What he sent me is indented below: a list of his 11 “greatest films ever made”, along with seven runners-up. I’ve put an asterisk next to the ones I’ve seen and have added links to each movie.
I’d pay serious attention to this list, for Steven’s recommendations have led me to some terrific films. Here we go (the list is in descending order):
Every ten years, the British magazine Sight and Sound releases two definitive lists of the greatest films ever made, the results of polling hundreds of critics (for list #1) and hundreds of filmmakers (for list #2). Everyone submits their top ten, and the ballots are aggregated. It’s a dream of mine to participate in the critics’ poll. Here, in case I’m ever invited, is my current list of 11 favorite films, presented in roughly descending order. (I’d have to eliminate one, but I can’t do it without rewatching all of them.) The list is more a record of my own subjective tastes (and what’s continued to resonate from childhood into middle age) than a syllabus for a “milestones in cinema” survey course. You’re welcome to use or share it if you think people might find it useful. I think it’s best to present them without explanation, as any buildup or interpretation I provide might color the impressions of first-time viewers.
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)*Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 1962)Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey, 1937)*Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)*Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)*Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)*The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971)*The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954)
Runners-up:
The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)*Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)*Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)*Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)*Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
Probably the very next runner-up. But Make Way for Tomorrow (roughly my #5) is actually the film that inspired Tokyo Story, and I must say I find it even more affecting. Orson Welles said it could make a stone cry.
I was appalled to discover that I’d seen only ten of the eighteen films, so I do have some watching to do. In general, the ones I’ve seen on the list are great, and I was glad to see that the largely neglected film “The Last Picture Show” was in the top eleven. I still think it’s the best American film ever, but I emphasize that Steven ranks three films I haven’t seen higher than that one.
Below is one of my favorite scenes from that movie: Sam the Lion (played by Ben Johnson) reveals a bit of his history to Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) as they’re fishing. Sam’s son Billy, played by Sam Bottoms (yes, Timothy’s younger brother) is depicted as mentally disabled. For his performance in this movie, Johnson won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1971.
To me—and this will rile people up—this scene is the modern-day equivalent of Shakespeare, but spoken in Texas jargon. I find it extremely moving when Sam confesses, in a low-key manner, that he was hugely in love with a married woman that they all know. I was so taken with this movie that when I went to a wedding in Texas, I made a special side trip to Archer City, Texas, where the movie was filmed. It’s the same as in the movie. It’s a great film and you should see it.
Many of the actors in the movie were making their first appearance and then went on to do well in movies, though Ben Johnson was already well known from his previous appearance in western movies (he started off as a real cowboy). This casting by Bogdanovich is sheer genius:
Taste is subjective, but my taste in movies is largely congruent with Steven’s. But please give your reaction to the list, suggest movies that you think should be on it, and note the movies you don’t think should be on it.
Comment by Greg Mayer
I’ve seen six of the eighteen. Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia are in my personal top-5 list. Goodfellas, The Last Picture Show, Annie Hall, and The Wild Bunch are all very good and worth seeing.
The Wild Bunch is a Western, so I thought I’d add two Westerns which I find better than it: John Ford’s Fort Apache (1948), and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). If I were composing a top-10 list, both would probably make it.
GCM
I’ve seen every movie listed (except The Wild Bunch) and every one is absolutely a classic (except Goodfellas which was merely very good). My top ten faves (if not the “best”) movies are: Quintet (Altman), Stalker (Tarkovsky), Harakiri (Kobayashi), Yanco (Gonzaléz), Woman In The Dunes (Teshigahara), Days Of Heaven (Malick), McCabe And Mrs. Miller (Altman), Dersu Uzala (Kurosawa), Nashville (Altman), Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors (Parajanov).
I forgot Days of Heaven, which was the most beautifully photographed movie I’ve seen.
Yes, Days of Heaven and Black Narcissus are likely the most breathtaking color films I’ve ever seen. For black and white, probably Night of the Hunter (also in my top 11).
Altman’s Kansas City has a superb soundtrack if you can find it. There’s also an additional recording out there with more tunes.
Just raw mic (“mike” 😁) in a room sound – the musicianship more than makes up for it.
I have the soundtrack even though I’m not a jazz guy, but I have every Altman soundtrack that has been digitially released, and even some that I created by ripping from vinyl, or ripping the audio track from the movie itself and editing it into a cohesive music presentation. (I’m a total Altman nut…)
Love Dersu Uzala. Never a dry eye in the house at the end.
Ah, love this post.
Yeah, I had a period where I saw every Fellini movie they had at a nearby cinema – great stuff. Anthony Quinn in La Strada! Same for Kurosawa, though more DVD-based. (I fell asleep in Dreams though… that was unintentionally funny…)…
PCC(E) :
“this scene is the modern-day equivalent of Shakespeare, but spoken in Texas jargon.”
Agree.
I think this is where cinema really hits home – you think it’s some new thing, but then it sinks in that there is an enduring element of human nature at the core.
Another example :
Apocalypse Now and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
My personal ‘riling-up’ movie-literature demonstration (which is widely known) :
George Lucas created Star Wars as a mash-up/homage of genres and archetypes:
• Kurosawa
• Westerns
• ‘hot rod’ culture (e.g. American Graffiti)
• Buck Rogers (see the ‘opening crawl’!)
• bildungsroman
• Kubrick’s 2001 (especially visually)
• Wagner (esp. leitmotif in the soundtrack )
… etc… and see this very interesting book which Lucas personally cited as the impetus for the characters :
The Hero of a Thousand Faces
Jospeh Campbell
1949, 1968, 2008
Pantheon
BTW Lucas made it not to be serious film-as-lit, but because he thought it’d be cool or fun or whatever – certainly not on this list!
PS : totally unlike Star Trek – which is its own whole thing! Also not on the list! 😁
I will add just one film, The Man Who Would Be King, an adaptation by John Huston, released in 1975, of a novella by Rudyard Kipling. It was an amazing film, swashbuckling film, with excellent casting (Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Christopher Plummer) and considered one of Huston’s best films late in his career. The tune that Caine and Connery sing has stuck in my head for 51 years now and according to AI, it is: “The Son of God Goes Forth to War”, a traditional 19th-century Irish melody originally composed by Thomas Moore as “The Minstrel Boy”. Maurice Jarre, known for his sweeping scores to Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago, composed the score for this movie. Two Thumbs Up!
I’ve only seen two of the top three, and based on my experience with those movies: I REALLY need to see “The Third Man”.
I’m no film expert, so I won’t try to list any “best” film. However, I can certainly write down the film that almost literally astounded me. I wonder if there has ever been anything like it since it came out in 1961. I doubt it! It’s Last Year at Marienbad, directed by Alain Resnais and written by Alain Robbe-Grillet. I still turn scenes over in my mind. Yes, it has been included in “worst” lists, but I do not agree. Emphatically not!
Agreed. A mesmerizing film, like a dream that only partly makes sense but draws your whole consciousness in. I can completely understand why it doesn’t work on some people, but it truly resonated with me.
I’ve seen 4 of his top11, none of the runners up. Good to see that Citizen Kane wasn’t on his list.
Thought Annie Hall and Lawrence were pretty good, and Casablanca much better than I was expecting.
I absolutely hated Goodfellas, though, and can’t understand why anyone would like it. All the people in it were utter jerks, and the film would have been far better if the police had turned up and shot them all after 10 minutes.
“I absolutely hated Goodfellas, though, and can’t understand why anyone would like it. All the people in it were utter jerks, and the film would have been far better if the police had turned up and shot them all after 10 minutes.”
But couldn’t you say the same about The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America, The Sopranos, etc? Trenchant studies of the American dream perverted by greed and sustained with brutality. Stories that are vital to our national mythology and present moment, but not ones that can be told with likable characters.
Fair enough point, but I’d argue that while characters don’t need to be likable, they do need to be interesting. Some of those in The Godfather were interesting, all those in Goodfellas were just deeply annoying. (Not seen the other two).
I agree with The Third Man and Night of the Hunter for frame upon frame directorial brilliance. But, on this basis, how can any list of great films omit The Seventh Seal, which keeps astounding me on each of ~15 re-viewings?
Then, we need to add two further categories. #1: animated films, which must include Fantasia and the first Madagascar. #2: utterly silly films, which must include Le Pacte des Loups and that sci fi classic about a giant anti-matter chicken.
I agree with Jerry: His nephew has great taste in movies. Of his 18 movies, I think I have seen them all. Must rewatch The Lady Eve and Nashville. Also agree, The last picture show is an outstanding movie.
List of my favorite movies:
All about Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder)
Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder)
Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa)
Come and see (1985, Elem Klimov)
The red shoes (1948, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell)
Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
The Blue Angel (1930, Josef von Sternberg)
Raise the red lantern (1991, Zhang Yimou)
In the mood for love (2000, Wong Kar-wai)
Shoah (1985, Claude Lanzmann)
That’s a great list.
I’d forgotten about Nashville. A work of genius! I’m going to rewatch it.
I loved The Last Picture Show, too. And even though it didn’t get very good reviews (although Roger Ebert thought highly of it), I’ve always wanted to see the sequel – Texasville. But I’ve never been able to find it streaming anywhere.
My favorite movies seldom appear on critics’ lists, probably because I tend towards quirkier films, but for what its worth and off the top of my head, a few of my all-time favorites are: The Graduate, Poor Things, Bugonia, Melancholia, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Last, I’ll add The Zone of Interest, about Rudolf Hoess’ life when he wasn’t busy gassing human beings. It’s superb.
I’ve seen The Graduate, Poor Things, and Bugonia. I liked them all. The latter two definitely shows that the movie industry is willing to take chances!
I’ve seen eleven of the eighteen listed. Glad to see Night of the Hunter and The Last Picture Show on the list.
I must see Make Way for Tomorrow!
I’ve seen 8 of your nephew’s 11, and 4 of his runners-up. I’ve never understood the appeal of Jules et Jim, an ineffably tedious, directionless, and self-regarding film. Annie Hall is fun but not a patch on Hannah and her Sisters. In the Sight and Sound survey the directors’ poll is considerably more sensible than the critics’.
My personal favourite, and very sadly one few will ever have had the chance to see, is Bill Douglas’s “Comrades” (1986), about the Tolpuddle Martyrs (though it is available on DVD/Blu-Ray). Much more than a costume drama or piece of political agitprop, it’s a breathtakingly beautiful work of art by one of the great poets of cinema. Anyone who enjoys Bresson or Tarkovsky, or anyone intrigued by multi-layered visual puzzles, will be entranced.
Jules and Jim is a young man’s film from an old man’s novel about the lifelong toll of young love, so inevitably it’s going to feel pulled in all directions. If the film seems self-regarding and given to whims and melancholy, that’s because its characters are those things.
I’ll seek out Comrades, it sounds wonderful.
Two outstanding moves haven’t made the list:
, the only movie I know of made to be only watched on a movie-theatre screen with a major sound system. I was absolutely engulfed the first time I saw it a 16 years of age. A visual and aural experience not experienced since. I subsequently saw it at least 20 times.
remains my scariest horror movie. Anything I say about it might be a spoiler alert, so I just recommend that people find it and watch it.
Depending on my mood, one of the following films tops my list:
Le Magnifique (Philippe de Broca 1973)
When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner 1989)
A Touch of Zen (King Hu 1970)
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky 1972)
Trois Couleurs: Bleu (Krzysztof Kieślowski 1993)
When I’m sad, no film cheers me up like Le Magnifique, when I’m OK, three hours of Zen are ideal, when I’m happy, there is beauty in Blue. Harry with Sally and Solaris are just right for moderate states of sadness and happiness. All are great films in their own way.
The original Solaris was great, but not so much the Hollywood remake with George Clooney.
Didn’t see The “Heart is a Lonely Hunter” on any list.
With Alan Arkin.
Excellent.
I second your opinion!
a great list of movies – but I’d put the Three Colours trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslwski right up there, and Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch.
I’d agree with some of them (Vertigo, Casablanca, Annie Hall, Lawrence of Arabia, Singin’ in the Rain), but many of the others listed I haven’t seen or didn’t care for. Among my favourites that I think are among the best-made films ever are:
The Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)
Double Indemnity (1942, Billy Wilder)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
A Room with a View (1985, James Ivory)
Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch)
I’d prefer a “best of” genre-based approach to movie lists, e.g.:
Best Comedy: Life of Brian
Best Black Comedy: Sunset Boulevard
Best Western (not the hotel chain): three-way tie – The Searchers, Fort Apache, Red River
Best Sci-Fi: 2001 A Space Odyssey
Best War Movie: tie – Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day
Best Romantic Drama: Wuthering Heights (1939 version with Lawrence Olivier and Merle Oberon)
Best Romantic Comedy: would have to be something from Woody Allen
Best Musical: Wizard of Oz (1939)
Best Horror Movie: Psycho (Hitchcock version of course)
Best Mystery: Vertigo
and so on.
In the comedy department: no argument about Life of Brian, but Marx bros. films (either Duck Soup or Horse Feathers) and several early Woody Allen films are equally worthy of the accolade. And surely the impossibly brilliant Dr. Strangelove merits an accolade in a special category, something beyond mere comedy.
I’d place Dr. Strangelove in the “Best Political Satire” category.
I’m happy to see “Nashville” mentioned several times. It doesn’t get nearly the respect it deserves. I’ll add “Cabaret” and “The Apartment,” two movies that I never get tired of watching.
I have a weakness for slow, intense art films, so my list is (Warning: load up on caffeine before watching these!):
Bergman – “Winter Light”
Bergman – “The Seventh Seal”
Tarkovsky – “Stalker”
Tarkovsky – “Solaris”
A few wonderful Zen Buddhist films I’ve discovered lately:
Bae Yong-kyun – “Why has Bodhi Dharma Left for the East?”
Kim Ki-duk – “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring”
And as others have mentioned:
Kubrick: “2001”
Lynch: “Mulholland Drive”
Best comedy ever is clearly “The Life of Brian”
I would add Tarkovsky’s “Andrei Rublev” to complete the full house.
I like the choices on the list, though I would not try ranking them. I would just suggest are additions, especially comedies like Young Frankenstein and Life of Brian. And I think that Kurosawa’s films deserve mention.
The de Broca film, King of Hearts, has always been one of my favorites, with Genevieve Bujold on the tightrope my favorite scene. And. One more film deserves mention: a Japanese movie called Shogun’s Samurai, or Yagyu Clan Conspiracy. With an intricate plot, fantastic acting, and unparalleled cinematography, it would have to be on my list.
I’ve seen them all. Most of them many times. This is a very good list. All the films are masterpieces – unlike in that ridiculous S&S-list. Although I do think Jules & Jim is a bit overrated…
“La Strada” (subtitled only so one hears it in Italian) has always been one of my favorites.
Another, not mentioned above, is “The Entertainer” with Laurence Olivier, directed by Tony Richardson, adapted from a John Osborne play.
Another unmentioned previously is “Michael Clayton” with George Clooney, a most incredible Tom Wilkinson, a fine Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack. This is the only film I can watch several times every year and still enjoy each time.
Regarding Solaris, I prefer the George Clooney remake.
As to the rest of the lists, I have seen the great majority, primarily when they came out with only some repeat viewings through the years.
Chacun a son gout, I guess (seen 17 of 18). My list includes:
Tokyo Stoy, Ozu
Some Like It Hot, Wilder
Double Indemnity, Wilder
Rear Window, Hitchcock
Gosford Park, Altman
Le Rayon Vert, Rohmer
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Sturges (just about any Sturges)
The Big Sleep Hawks
The Wild Bunch, Peckinpah
In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-Wai
Army of Shadows, Melville
Modern Times, Chaplin
Grand Illusion, Renoir
Rashomon, Kurosawa
IMHO there are only two films that everyone should see:
Life of Brian
Dr Strangelove
As its not been mentioned before, IMHO the best film of the last few years is The Death of Stalin. It’s Stalin’s death and the struggle to succeed him, done in a similar sort of style to Dr Strangelove, directed by Armando Ianucci, and its every bit as good as that makes it sound. Superb, went straight into my top 10.
I think two ways to think about movies or even TV shows/book adaptations: 1) immediate reaction, as in wow, that really seems new, that is really great, there is nothing else like it; 2) a long- term evaluation/test of time. I remember watching animated Beauty and the Beast movie for the first time, and thought, wow. Even BBC’s Pride and Prejudice (old Colin Firth one) brought, to many, that immediate reaction that the show was exceptionally great compared to anything similar at the time.