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2004-08-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

King List.

Pre-1930s

1. The General (Clyde Bruckman/Buster Keaton; 1927)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Th. Dreyer; 1928)
3. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau; 1927)
4. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein; 1925)
5. The Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov; 1929)
6. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton; 1924)
7. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene; 1919)
8. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin; 1925)
9. The Kid (Charles Chaplin; 1921)
10. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith; 1919)

1902

1. A Trip to the Moon (Georges Melies)

1911

1. The Lonedale Operator (?)

1914

1. Hazards of Helen: #26 (J.P. McGowan)

1919

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene)
2. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith)
3. Sunnyside (Charles Chaplin)
4. A Day's Pleasure (Charles Chaplin)

1921

1. The Kid (Charles Chaplin)
2. The Playhouse (Buster Keaton/Eddie Cline)

1922

1. Cops (Buster Keaton/Eddie Cline)
2. Pay Day (Charles Chaplin

1923

1. The Pilgrim (Charles Chaplin)

1924

1. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton)

1925

1. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein)
2. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)

1927

1. The General (Buster Keaton)
2. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau)
3. Many a Slip (Charley Bowers)
4. The Wild Roomer (Charley Bowers)

1928

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Th. Dreyer)
2. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Charles F. Reisner)
3. The Fall of the House of Usher (Jean Epstein)

1929

1. The Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
2. Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel)
3. The River (Frank Borzage)

1930s

1. Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir; 1937)
2. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir; 1939)
3. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey; 1933)
4. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin; 1936)
5. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone; 1930)
6. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch; 1932)
7. History Is Made At Night (Frank Borzage; 1937)
8. Pepe le Moko (Julien Duvivier; 1937)
9. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin; 1931)
10. The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke; 1934)

1930

1. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
2. Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)

1931

1. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin)
2. A Nous la Liberte (Rene Clair)
3. Le Million (Rene Clair)
4. Delicious (David Butler)

1932

1. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. One Hour with You (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. Freaks (Tod Browning)
3. Scarface (Howard Hawks)
4. Horse Feathers (Norman McLeod)
5. Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding)

1933

1. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
2. Laughing Heirs (Max Ophüls)
3. Baby Face (Alfred E. Green)
4. Ladies They Talk About (Bretherton/Keighley)
5. The Water Magician (Kenji Mizoguchi)

1934

1. The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke)
2. The Merry Widow (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. A Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
4. La Signora di tutti (Max Ophüls)

1935

1. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood)

1936

1. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
2. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava)
3. Desire (Frank Borzage)
4. The Tender Enemy (Max Ophüls)
5. Osaka Elegy (Kenji Mizoguchi)

1937

1. Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir)
2. History Is Made at Night (Frank Borzage)
3. Pepe le Moko (Julien Duvivier)
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney)

1938

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz & William Keighley)
2. Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Eisenstein)
3. Port of Shadows (Marcel Carne)
4. Three Comrades (Frank Borzage)
5. Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
6. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)

1939

1. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
2. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming)
3. Of Mice and Men (Lewis Milestone)
4. Stagecoach (John Ford)

1940s

1. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne; 1945)
2. Brief Encounter (David Lean; 1945)
3. The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica; 1947)
4. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles; 1941)
5. The Third Man (Carol Reed; 1949)
6. Le Corbeau (Henri-Georges Clouzot; 1943)
7. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch; 1940)
8. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu; 1949)
9. Thieves' Highway (Jules Dassin; 1949)
10. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur; 1947)

1940

1. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen)
3. Pinocchio (Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske)
4. The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin)
5. Fantasia (Ben Sharpsteen)
6. The Sea Hawk (Michael Curtiz)
7. The Bank Dick (Edward Cline)

1941

1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
2. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)
3. Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen)
4. Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges)
5. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
6. Hideko the Bus Conductress (Mikio Naruse)

1942

1. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
2. Bambi (David Hand)

1943

1. Le Corbeau (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
2. Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)

1944

1. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
2. Henry V (Laurence Olivier)

1945

1. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne)
2. Brief Encounter (David Lean)
3. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer)
4. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
5. Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz)
6. Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (Robert Bresson)
7. The White Gorilla (H.L. Fraser)

1946

1. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
2. Green for Danger (Sidney Gilliat)
3. It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
4. My Darling Clementine (John Ford)
5. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. The Killers (Robert Siodmak)
7. Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau)
8. The Stranger (Orson Welles)
9. The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett)

1947

1. The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica)
2. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur)
3. Body and Soul (Robert Rossen)
4. Quai des Orfevres (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
5. Brute Force (Jules Dassin)
6. Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger)
7. L'ecole des facteurs (Jacques Tati)
8. The Exile (Max Ophüls)

1948

1. The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed)
2. Hamlet (Laurence Olivier)
3. Key Largo (John Huston)
4. Red River (Howard Hawks)
5. Moonrise (Frank Borzage)

1949

1. The Third Man (Carol Reed)
2. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu)
3. Thieves' Highway (Jules Dassin)
4. Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa)
5. Blood of the Beasts (Georges Franju)
6. Caught (Max Ophüls)
7. D.O.A. (Rudolph Maté)
8. The Reckless Moment (Max Ophüls)
9. Christ in Concrete (Edward Dmytryk)
10. Too Late for Tears (Byron Haskin)

1950s

1. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray; 1950)
2. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock; 1954)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock; 1958)
4. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut; 1959)
5. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick; 1957)
6. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton; 1955)
7. Night and the City (Jules Dassin; 1950)
8. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson; 1959)
9. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu; 1951)
10. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi; 1953)

1950

1. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
2. Night and the City (Jules Dassin)
3. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder)
4. All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
5. The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston)
6. III. Circular Tensions - Harry Smith
7. Cinderella (Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske & Clyde Geronimi)
8. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa)
9. Victims of Sin (Emilio Fernandez)
10. Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)

yeah: Los Olvidados (Bunuel)

1951

1. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
2. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder)
3. Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. Repast (Mikio Naruse)
5. The River (Jean Renoir)
6. A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan)
7. Ginza Cosmetics (Mikio Naruse)
8. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (Maya Deren)
9. A Place in the Sun (George Stevens)

1952

1. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
2. Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica)
3. Mother (Mikio Naruse)
4. The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi)
5. Lightning (Mikio Naruse)
6. The White Sheik (Federico Fellini)
7. High Noon (Fred Zinnemann)

1953

1. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi)
2. The Earrings of Madame de... (Max Ophüls)
3. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
4. Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi/Wilfred Jackson)
5. Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller)
6. Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
7. Older Brother, Younger Sister (Mikio Naruse)
8. I Vitelloni (Federico Fellini)
9. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (Roy Rowland)
10. M. Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati)

notable: Roman Holiday (Wyler); All I Desire (Sirk)

meh: Shane (Stevens); Summer with Monika (Bergman)

1954

1. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
4. Late Chrysanthemums (Mikio Naruse)
5. Sound of the Mountain (Mikio Naruse)
6. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
7. La Strada (Federico Fellini)
8. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi)
9. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Richard Fleischer)
10. Them! (Gordon Douglas)

1955

1. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
2. Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman)
3. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich)
4. Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
5. Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray)
6. All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk)
7. Lola Montés (Max Ophüls)
8. The Man from Laramie (Anthony Mann)
9. East of Eden (Elia Kazan)
10. Bob le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville)

notable: The Trouble with Harry (Hitchcock); The Big Combo (Lewis); A Bloody Spear at Mt. Fuji (Uchida)

meh: Rififi (Dassin); To Catch a Thief (Hitchcock)

1956

1. The Searchers (John Ford)
2. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel)
4. The Killing (Stanley Kubrick)
5. There's Always Tomorrow (Douglas Sirk)
6. Street of Shame (Kenji Mizoguchi)
7. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (Nunnally Johnson)
8. Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Anderson)

1957

1. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
2. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)
3. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick)
4. Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder)
5. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa)
6. The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov)
7. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)
8. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
9. Rhythm (Len Lye)
10. Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)

1958

1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati)
3. Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle)
4. Anzukko (Mikio Naruse)
5. The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa)
6. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
7. Summer Clouds (Mikio Naruse)
8. The Vikings (Richard Fleischer)
9. Les Mistons (Francois Truffaut)

1959

1. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut)
2. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson)
3. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)
4. Shadows (John Cassavetes)
5. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder)
6. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
8. Ballad of a Soldier (Grigori Chukhraj)
9. Wedlock House: an Intercourse (Stan Brakhage)
10. Fires on the Plain (Kon Ichikawa)

meh Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Resnais); Journey to the Center of the Eart (Levin)

1960s

1. Il Posto (Ermanno Olmi; 1961)
2. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky; 1966)
3. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo; 1965)
4. Playtime (Jacques Tati; 1967)
5. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone; 1968)
6. Charade (Stanley Donen; 1963)
7. Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard; 1964)
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick; 1968)
9. L'Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni; 1962)
10. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini; 1963)

1960

1. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju)
3. L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni)
4. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse)
5. The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
6. Approach of Autumn (Mikio Naruse)
7. Swiss Family Robinson (Ken Annakin)
8. Daughters, Wives, and a Mother (Mikio Naruse)
9. The Magnificent Seven (John Sturges)

1961

1. Il Posto (Ermanno Olmi)
2. Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman)
3. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards)
4. A Woman is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni)
6. Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut)
7. The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson)

1962

1. L'Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni)
2. Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman)
3. An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu)
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford)
5. Window Water Baby Moving (Stan Brakhage)
6. Ivan's Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky)
7. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda)
8. La Commare Secca (Bernardo Bertolucci)
9. The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer)
10. I Fidanzanti (Ermanno Olmi)

notable: Heaven and Earth Magic (Smith); To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan); Mamma Roma (Pasolini); Lawrence of Arabia (Lean); Antoine and Colette (Truffaut); Long Day's Journey Into Night (Lumet); Ride the High Country (Peckinpah)

meh: Lolita (Kubrick)

1963

1. Charade (Stanley Donen)
2. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini)
3. The Silence (Ingmar Bergman)
4. La Jetée (Chris Marker)
5. Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller)
6. The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. The Great Escape (John Sturges)
8. Mothlight (Stan Brakhage)
9. Black Sabbath (Mario Bava)
10. The Pink Panther (Blake Edwards)

1964

1. Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard)
2. Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick)
3. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)
4. A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone)
5. The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller)
6. Early Abstractions 1-5 (Harry Smith)
7. Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton)
8. Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson)
9. Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni)
10. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Pier Paolo Pasolini)

meh: The Killers (Siegel)

1965

1. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo)
2. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone)
3. Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah)
4. A High Wind in Jamaica (Alexander Mackendrick)
5. Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard)
6. Kustom Kar Kommandos (Kenneth Anger)
7. The City Tramp (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
8. The Reticule of Love (Storm De Hirsch)

1966

1. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky)
2. Closely Watched Trains (Jiri Menzel)
3. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Sergio Leone)
4. The Endless Summer (Bruce Brown)
5. Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
6. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols)
7. Seconds (John Frankenheimer)
8. Black Girl (Ousmane Sembene)
9. Persona (Ingmar Bergman)
10. The Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto)

notable: The Wagoner (Sembene)

1967

1. Playtime (Jacques Tati)
2. Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville)
3. The Graduate (Mike Nichols)
4. Mouchette (Robert Bresson)
5. La Cotta (Ermanno Olmi)
6. Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg)
7. The Perfect Human (Jorgen Leth)
8. Eye Myth (Stan Brakhage)
9. Belle de jour (Luis Bunuel)
10. Hot Leatherette (Robert Nelson)

meh: The Fearless Vampire Killers, or: Pardon Me, but Your Teeth Are in My Neck (Polanski)

1968

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
3. Faces (John Cassavetes)
4. If.... (Lindsay Anderson)
5. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero)
6. Mandabi (The Money Order) (Ousmane Sembene)
7. Danger: Diabolik (Mario Bava)
8. Stolen Kisses (Francois Truffaut)
9. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski)

1969

1. Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville)
2. Z (Costa-Gavras)
3. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill)
5. Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper)
6. A Day with the Boys (Clu Gulager)
7. The Magic Christian (Joseph McGrath)

1970s

1. Manhattan (Woody Allen; 1979)
2. The Godfather Pts. I & II (Francis Ford Coppola; 1972/1974)
3. Annie Hall (Woody Allen; 1977)
4. The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder; 1978)
5. Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah; 1971)
6. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes; 1974)
7. Badlands (Terrence Malick; 1973)
8. Nashville (Robert Altman; 1975)
9. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg; 1971)
10. Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville; 1970)

1970

1. Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville)
2. M*A*S*H (Robert Altman)
3. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (Sam Peckinpah)
4. Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson)
5. Gimme Shelter (Maysles/Maysles/Zwerin)
6. Bed and Board (Francois Truffaut)
7. Duel (Steven Spielberg)
8. The Ossuary (Jan Svankmajer)
9. Aristotle (Storm De Hirsch)

1971

1. Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah)
2. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg)
3. Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman)
4. The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda)
5. The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich)
6. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman)
7. Vanishing Point (Richard C. Sarafian)
8. Dirty Harry (Don Siegel)
9. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick)
10. The French Connection (William Friedkin)

notable: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Stuart); WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Makavejev); The Pittsburgh Trilogy (Brakhage); Macbeth (Polanski)

meh: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (De Sica); Punishment Park (Watkins)

1972

1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
2. Fat City (John Huston)
3. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
4. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel)
5. The Boxer from Shantung (Zhang Che/Bao Xueli)
6. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky)
7. Boxcar Bertha (Martin Scorsese)
8. Un Flic (Jean-Pierre Melville)
9. Deliverance (John Boorman)
10. The Getaway (Sam Peckinpah)

notable: Refrain (Kieslowski); The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Fassbinder)

meh: Cries and Whispers (Bergman)

1973

1. Badlands (Terrence Malick)
2. O Lucky Man! (Lindsay Anderson)
3. The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman)
4. Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich)
5. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice)
6. American Graffiti (George Lucas)
7. Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse)
8. 5 Fingers of Death (Chang Ho Cheng)
9. The Sting (George Roy Hill)
10. Sleeper (Woody Allen)

notable: Day for Night (Truffaut); Papillon (Schaffner); The Paper Chase (Bridges)

meh: The Exorcist (Friedkin); Flesh for Frankenstein (Morrissey; although the movie was mediocre on the whole, lines like "To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life in the gallbladder," are pretty much excellent.)

1974

1. The Godfather Pt. II (Francis Ford Coppola)
2. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes)
3. F for Fake (Orson Welles)
4. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
5. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
6. Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
7. Céline and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
8. Hearts & Minds (Peter Davis)
9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah)
10. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Joseph Sargent)

notable: Blood for Dracula (Morrissey); Amarcord (Fellini); Scenes from a Marriage (Bergman)

ridiculously fun, relatively meh: Earthquake (Robson)

purely meh: Phase IV (Bass)

1975

1. Nashville (Robert Altman)
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam)
3. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
4. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet)
5. The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni)
6. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky)
7. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir)
8. Master of the Flying Guillotine (Jimmy Wang Yu)
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman)
10. Hand of Death (aka Coundown in Kung Fu) (John Woo)

1976

1. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
2. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman)
3. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes)
4. Network (Sidney Lumet)
5. Small Change (Francois Truffaut)
6. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or: Sitting Bull's History Lesson (Robert Altman)
7. Rocky (John G. Avildsen)
8. Coup de Grace (Volker Schlondorff)
9. The Scar (Krzysztof Kieslowski)

1977

1. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
2. Star Wars (George Lucas)
3. 3 Women (Robert Altman)
4. Opening Night (John Cassavetes)
5. Eraserhead (David Lynch)
6. Suspiria (Dario Argento)
7. The American Friend (Wim Wenders)
8. Clans of Intrigue (Chu Yuan)
9. Equus (Sidney Lumet)
10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg)

notable: The Last Wave (Weir); That Obscure Object of Desire (Bunuel)

1978

1. The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
2. Big Wednesday (John Milius)
3. Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Bertrand Blier)
4. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick)
5. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino)
6. National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis)
7. Grease (Randal Kleiser)

1979

1. Manhattan (Woody Allen)
2. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
3. Dirty Ho (Lau Kar-leung)
4. Love on the Run (Francois Truffaut)
5. Monty Python's Life of Brian (Terry Jones)
6. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky)
7. Alien (Ridley Scott)
8. The Muppet Movie (James Frawley)
9. Last Hurrah for Chivalry (John Woo)
10. Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton)

1980s

1. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee; 1989)
2. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank; 1980)
3. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen; 1986)
4. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker; 1983)
5. The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris; 1988)
6. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese; 1983)
7. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders; 1988)
8. The Decalogue (Krzysztof Kieslowski; 1988)
9. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick; 1980)
10. The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese; 1988)

1980

1. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank)
2. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner)
4. Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris)
5. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
6. The Long Riders (Walter Hill)
7. The Blues Brothers (John Landis)
8. Airplane! (Abrahams/Zucker/Abrahams)

1981

1. Coup de torchon (Bertrand Tavernier)
2. The Garden of Earthly Delights (Stan Brakhage)
3. The Road Warrior (George Miller)
4. Ms. 45 (Abel Ferrara)
5. Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan)
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
7. Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam)
8. Lola (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
9. The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson)
10. Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson)

1982

1. One from the Heart (Francis Ford Coppola)
2. Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog)
3. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman)
4. Burden of Dreams (Les Blank)
5. Veronika Voss (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
6. Diner (Barry Levinson)
7. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
8. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
9. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling)

1983

1. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker)
2. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)
3. Style Wars (Henry Chalmant/Tony Silver)
4. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
5. The Dresser (Peter Yates)
6. Zelig (Woody Allen)
7. Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand)
8. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (Terry Jones)
9. Scarface (Brian De Palma)
10. Freeze Frame (Peter Tscherkassky)

notable: A Christmas Story (Clark); The Right Stuff (Kaufman)

1984

1. Secret Honor (Robert Altman)
2. Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme))
3. The Element of Crime (Lars von Trier)
4. Repo Man (Alex Cox)
5. Amadeus (Milos Forman)
6. This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner)
7. Antonio Gaudi (Hiroshi Teshigahara)
8. Blood Simple (Joel Coen)
9. Sixteen Candles (John Hughes)
10. The Terminator (James Cameron)

yeh: Ghostbusters (Reitman)

1985

1. Broken Down Film (Osamu Tezuka)
2. Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
4. Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon)
5. Death of a Salesman (Volker Schlondorff)
6. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis)
7. Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood)
8. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes)
9. Heroes Shed No Tears (John Woo)

1986

1. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
2. Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch)
3. Stand by Me (Rob Reiner)
4. Platoon (Oliver Stone)
5. Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
6. Something Wild (Jonathan Demme)
7. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes)
8. A Better Tomorrow (John Woo)
9. Aliens (James Cameron)
10. The Fly (David Cronenberg)

Notable: Nightmusic (Brakhage)

Meh: Sid & Nancy (Cox)

1987

1. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick)
2. The Dante Quartet (Stan Brakhage)
3. House of Games (David Mamet)
4. The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner)
5. Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi)
6. Raising Arizona (Joel Coen)
7. Au revoir, les enfants (Louis Malle)
8. Robocop (Paul Verhoeven)
9. Kindering (Stan Brakhage)
10. Spaceballs (Mel Brooks)

notable: Predator (McTiernan); City on Fire (Lam)

1988

1. The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris)
2. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders)
3. The Decalogue (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
4. The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese)
5. Die Hard (John McTiernan)
6. The Firm (Alan Clarke)
7. Tanner '88 (Robert Altman)
8. A Better Tomorrow II (John Woo)
9. Damnation (Bela Tarr)
10. I...Dreaming (Stan Brakhage)

Notable: Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore); The Dead Pool (Van Horn); Rage Net (Brakhage); Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis)

1989

1. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
2. The Killer (John Woo)
3. Henry V (Kenneth Branagh)
4. Say Anything... (Cameron Crowe)
5. Heathers (Michael Lehman)
6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg)
7. Elephant (Alan Clarke)
8. Batman (Tim Burton)
9. Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson)
10. Glory (Edward Zwick)

1990s

1. Rushmore (Wes Anderson; 1998)
2. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino; 1994)
3. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood; 1992)
4. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick; 1998)
5. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (Berlinger/Sinofsky; 1996)
6. Short Cuts (Robert Altman; 1993)
7. Fargo (Joel Coen; 1996)
8. Exotica (Atom Egoyan; 1995)
9. Satantango (Bela Tarr; 1994)
10. Rounders (John Dahl; 1998)

1990

1. Miami Blues (George Armitage)
2. Miller's Crossing (Joel Coen)
3. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)
4. Nikita (Luc Besson)
5. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard)
6. Wild at Heart (David Lynch)
7. Misery (Rob Reiner)
8. Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton)
9. Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli)
10. Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner)

bleh: Dreams (Kurosawa)

1991

1. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant)
2. Barton Fink (Joel Coen)
3. Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh)
4. JFK (Oliver Stone)
5. Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg)
6. Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse (Stan Brakhage)
7. Dogfight (Nancy Savoca)
8. Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro)
9. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron)
10. Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott)

yeah: The Silence of the Lambs (Demme)

1992

1. Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood
2. Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino
3. Glengarry Glen Ross - James Foley
4. A River Runs Through It - Robert Redford
5. For Marilyn - Stan Brakhage
6. Hard Boiled - John Woo
7. Aladdin - John Musker/Ron Clements
8. Bad Lieutenant - Abel Ferrara
9. Crack Glass Eulogy - Stan Brakhage
10. Wayne's World - Penelope Spheeris

notable: The Last of the Mohicans (Mann)

1993

1. Short Cuts - Robert Altman
2. Naked - Mike Leigh
3. The Piano - Jane Campion
4. Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg
5. True Romance - Tony Scott
6. Blue - Krzysztof Kieslowski
7. Army of Darkness - Sam Raimi
8. Stellar - Stan Brakhage
9. Dazed and Confused - Richard Linklater
10. Groundhog Day - Harold Ramis

Meh: Carlito's Way (De Palma); Study in Color and Black and White (Brakhage)

1994

1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
2. Satantango (Bela Tarr)
3. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai)
4. Hoop Dreams (James/Marx/Gilbert)
5. Ed Wood (Tim Burton)
6. Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson)
7. Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
8. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont)
9. The Hudsucker Proxy (Joel Coen)
10. Black Ice (Stan Brakhage)

notable: The Endless Summer II (Brown)

meh: Clerks (Smith)

1995

1. Exotica (Atom Egoyan; 1994)
2. Se7en (David Fincher)
3. Safe (Todd Haynes)
4. Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai)
5. Heat (Michael Mann)
6. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam)
7. Billy Madison (Tamra Davis)
8. The City of Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
9. Toy Story (John Lasseter)
10. Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis)

notable: Sonic Outlaws (Baldwin); Odilon Redon or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity (Maddin)

meh: The Usual Suspects (Singer); Institute Benjamenta (Quay)

bleh: Casino (Scorsese); Kids (Clark)

1996

1. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (Berlinger/Sinofsky)
2. Fargo (Joel Coen)
3. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson)
4. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier)
5. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh)
6. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch)
7. Kill the Day (Lynne Ramsay)
8. Welcome to the Dollhouse (Todd Solondz)
9. Swingers (Doug Liman)
10. Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton)

notable: American Buffalo (Corrente); Happy-End (Tscherkassky)

1997

1. Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant)
2. Happy Together (Wong Kar-Wai)
3. George of the Jungle (Sam Weisman)
4. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)
5. The Game (David Fincher)
6. Commingled Containers (Stan Brakhage)
7. L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson)
8. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Jay Roach)
9. Gasman (Lynne Ramsay)
10. Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith)

yeah: Cure (K. Kurosawa); Grosse Pointe Blank (Armitage)

eh: Jackie Brown (Tarantino)

meh: The Roe's Room (Majewski)

bleh: A Thousand Acres (Moorhouse)

1998

1. Rushmore (Wes Anderson)
2. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)
3. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen)
4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam)
5. Rounders (John Dahl)
6. Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni)
7. Buffalo '66 (Vincent Gallo)
8. Mr. Jealousy (Noah Baumbach)
9. Meet Joe Black (Martin Brest)
10. Instrument (Jem Cohen)

yeah: Run, Lola, Run (Tykwer); Pi (Aronofsky); Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg)

bleh: Happiness (Solondz)

1999

1. Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky)
2. The Matrix (Wachowski Bros.)
3. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. Fight Club (David Fincher)
5. Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay)
6. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)
7. The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)
8. Three Kings (David O. Russell)
9. The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan)
10. The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola)

yeah: The Insider (Mann); American Beauty (Mendes); Office Space (Judge)

meh: 6ixtynin9 (Ratanaruang); Dogma (Smith)

bleh: The Terrorist (Sivan)

2000s

1. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears; 2000)
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai; 2001)
3. The Man Who Wasn’t There (Joel Coen; 2001)
4. Dogville (Lars Von Trier; 2004)
5. 25th Hour (Spike Lee; 2002)
6. Miami Vice (Michael Mann; 2006)
7. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson; 2002)
8. Code Unknown (Michael Haneke; 2000)
9. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier; 2000)
10. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen; 2000)

2000

1. High Fidelity - Stephen Frears
2. Code Unknown - Michael Haneke
3. Dancer in the Dark - Lars von Trier
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Joel Coen
5. Unbreakable - M. Night Shyamalan
6. George Washington - David Gordon Green
7. Yi Yi - Edward Yang
8. Heart of the World - Guy Maddin
9. The Emperor's New Groove - Mark Dindal
10. Traffic - Steven Soderbergh

Notable: Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky); Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jarmusch)

2001

1. In the Mood for Love - Wong Kar-Wai (2000)
2. The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel Coen
3. Mulholland Drive - David Lynch
4. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
5. Memento - Christopher Nolan
6. Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000)
7. Amelie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
8. Audition - Takashi Miike (2000)
9. Ocean's Eleven - Steven Soderbergh
10. Moulin Rouge - Baz Luhrmann

Notable: Ghost World (Zwigoff); The King is Alive (Levring); Donnie Darko (Kelly); Hell House (Ratliff); Mysterious Object at Noon (Weerasethakul) (2000); Okie Noodling (Beesley); Training Day (Fuqua); Y Tu Mama Tambien (Cuaron)

2002

1. 25th Hour (Spike Lee)
2. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Gerry (Gus Van Sant)
4. Solaris (Steven Soderbergh)
9. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Sam Jones)
5. Igby Goes Down (Burr Steers)
6. Signs (M. Night Shyamalan)
7. City of God (Fernando Meirelles/Katia Lund)
8. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki; 2001)
10. Spider-Man (Sam Raimi)

Notable: Dream Work (Tscherkassky); 28 Days Later (Boyle); Morvern Callar (Ramsay); Intacto (Fresnadillo); The Pianist (Polanski); The Skywalk is Gone (Tsai); Spellbound (Blitz)

Meh: Adaptation (Jonze); Better Luck Tomorrow (Lin); The Piano Teacher (Haneke)

2003

1. Elephant - Gus Van Sant
2. The Son - Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (2002)
3. Irreversible - Gaspar Noe (2002)
4 Kill Bill Vol. 1 - Quentin Tarantino
5. Intolerable Cruelty - Joel Coen
6. Angels in America - Mike Nichols
7. The Triplets of Belleville - Sylvain Chomet
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Gore Verbinski
9. All the Real Girls - David Gordon Green
10. The Fog of War - Errol Morris

Notable: Decasia: The State of Decay (Morrison, 2002); Lost in Translation (Coppola); Mystic River (Eastwood); School of Rock (Linklater); Shattered Glass (Ray)

Meh: American Splendor (Berman/Pulcini); A Mighty Wind (Guest); Seabiscuit (Ross)

Bleh: The Cooler (Kramer); Monster (Jenkins)

2004

1. Dogville (Lars Von Trier; 2003)
2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
4. Primer (Shane Carruth)
5. Cowards Bend the Knee (Guy Maddin; 2003)
6. Closer (Mike Nichols)
7. I [Heart] Huckabees (David O. Russell)
8. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk; 2003)
9. Birth (Jonathan Glazer)
10. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)

yeah: The Incredibles (Bird); Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Tarantino) ; 7:35 in the Morning (Vigalondo); A Very Long Engagement (Jeunet); Collateral (Mann); Crimson Gold (Panahi, 2003); Distant (Ceylan, 2002);The Five Obstructions (von Trier/Leth, 2003); Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai, 2003); The Saddest Music in the World (Maddin, 2003); Sideways (Payne); Spartan (Mamet); Spider-Man 2 (Raimi); Super Size Me (Spurlock); Touching the Void (Macdonald, 2003); Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Berlinger/Sinofsky); The Village (Shyamalan)

meh: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore); Hero (Zhang); The Manchurian Candidate (Demme); The Motorcycle Diaries (Salles); Open Water (Kentis); Team America: World Police (Parker)

bleh: The Passion of the Christ (Gibson); Twentynine Palms (Dumont); Million Dollar Baby (Eastwood)

2005

1. The Wayward Cloud (Tsai Ming-liang)
2. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)
4. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
5. Instructions for a Light and Sound Machine (Peter Tscherkassky)
6. Cache (Hidden) (Michael Haneke)
7. 3-Iron (Ki-Duk Kim)
8. Capote (Bennett Miller)
9. The New World (Terrence Malick)
10. Last Days (Gus Van Sant)

notable: Broken Flowers (Jarmusch); Oldboy (Park); Sin City (Miller/Rodriguez/Tarantino); Fever Pitch (Farrely); Kung Fu Hustle (Chow; 2004); Gabrielle (Chereau); Layer Cake (Vaughn); Brokeback Mountain (Lee); We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (Irwin); The World (Jia; 2004); Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul); Howl's Moving Castle (Miyazaki; 2004); Living Rights (Tellegen)

meh: The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach); Land of the Dead (Romero); Batman Begins (Nolan)

bleh: Crash (Haggis)

2006

1. Miami Vice (Michael Mann)
2. The Prestige (Christopher Nolan)
3. Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt)
4. Brick (Rian Johnson)
5. The Departed (Martin Scorsese)
6. INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch)
7. Down in the Valley (David Jacobson)
8. The Host (Bong Joon-ho)
9. Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck)
10. The Child (Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne)

yeah: Mission Impossible: III (Abrams); Dave Chappelle's Block Party (Gondry); Marie Antoinette (Coppola); Borat (Charles); The Guatemalan Handshake (Rohal)

eh: Sleeping Dogs Lie (Goldthwait); Children of Men (Cuaron); Babel (Iñárritu)

meh: Art School Confidential (Zwigoff); Lady in the Water (Shyamalan); Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Verbinski)

bleh: The Bridge (Steel)

2007

1. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2. The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson)
3. No Country for Old Men (Ethan Coen/Joel Coen)
4. Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
5. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)
6. My Kid Could Paint That (Amir Bar-Lev)
7. Ocean's 13 (Steven Soderbergh)
8. Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino)
9. Joshua (George Ratliff)
10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik)

yeh: Zodiac (David Fincher); Time (Kim; 2006); Superbad (Mottola); Quinoa (Lynch); Eastern Promises (Cronenberg); Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (Temple); Dedication (Theroux); Black Snake Moan (Brewer); Atonement (Wright)

eh: Southland Tales (Kelly); Knocked Up (Apatow); Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul; 2006); Disturbia (Caruso); Paprika (Kon; 2006)

meh: 300 (Snyder); Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Yates)

bleh: License to Wed (Kwapis)

2008

1. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
2. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
3. Speed Racer (The Wachowski Bros.)
4. Iron Man (Jon Favreau)
5. The Fall (Tarsem Singh; 2006)
6. Cloverfield (Matt Reeves)
7. My Blueberry Nights (Wong Kar Wai)
8. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Steven Spielberg)
9. Hancock (Peter Berg)

bleh: Mamma Mia! (Lloyd)