FEBRUARY 2007
There are many more films I love that didn't make it onto this list. Indeed, there are many more movies that I watch more often than these. It was a definite exercise to examine why I think these films are more important. I thought about the magic created when different elements come together, and about finding intelligence within an atmosphere; but I still can't identify a common theme.
I am not ranking them as there is no reason to compare them to each other. Instead I've listed them by date - I've learned lately that technology should be judged by its time. Films are as much art as technique.
Oh, and I'm including the name of the director(s) or producers(s), although I'm not always convinced that they are responsible for what I like about the film....
1895-1897
Serpentine Dances of Chrissie Sheridan and Annabelle d. Biograph Films
1906
A Trip Down Market Street p. the Miles Brothers
1913
Suspense d. Lois Weber
1920
Manhatta d. Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand
1922
Foolish Wives d. Erich von Stroheim
1924
Greed d. Erich von Stroheim
He Who Gets Slapped d. Victor Sjostrom
1927
The Chess Player d. Raymond Bernard
The Unknown d. Tod Browning
1928
The Crowd d. King Vidor
1929
A Cottage on Dartmoor d. Anthony Asquith
Diary of a Lost Girl d. Georg W Pabst
Man With a Movie Camera d. Dziga Vertov
Pandora's Box d. Georg W Pabst
Queen Kelly d. Erich von Stroheim
Woman in the Moon d. Fritz Lang
1930
The Big Trail d. Raoul Walsh
1931
M d. Fritz Lang
Public Enemy d. William A Wellman
White Zombie d. Victor Halperin
1932
Scarface d. Howard Hawks
Vampyr d. Carl Theodor Dreyer
1933
Footlight Parade d. Lloyd Bacon
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse d. Fritz Lang
1934
L'Atalante d. Jean Vigo
Imitation of Life d. John M Stahl
The Thin Man d. W S Van Dyke
1935
Mark of the Vampire d. Tod Browning
1936
After the Thin Man d. W S Van Dyke
My Man Godfrey d. Gregory La Cava
The Petrified Forest d. Archie Mayo
1937
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves p. Walt Disney
Stage Door d. Gregory La Cava
A Star is Born d. William A Wellman
1938
The Lady Vanishes d. Alfred Hitchcock
1940
His Girl Friday d. Howard Hawks
1941
Citizen Kane d. Orsen Welles
Shadow of the Thin Man d. W S Van Dyke
Sullivan's Travels d. Preston Sturges
1942
Bambi p. Walt Disney
The Magnificent Ambersons d. Orsen Welles
The Man Who Came to Dinner d. William Keighley
To Be or Not To Be d. Ernst Lubitsch
1943
Lifeboat d. Alfred Hitchcock
Ossessione d. Luchino Visconti
Shadow of a Doubt d. Alfred Hitchcock
1944
Aventure Malgache d. Alfred Hitchcock
Double Indemnity d. Billy Wilder
Miracle of Morgan's Creek d. Preston Sturges
1945
Leave Her to Heaven d. John M Stahl
Mildred Pierce d. Michael Curtiz
The Southerner d. Jean Renoir
And Then There Were None d. Rene Clair
1946
Best Years of Our Lives d. William Wyler
Ritual in Transfigured Time d. Maya Deren
1947
Crossfire d. Edward Dmytryk
Gentlemen's Agreement d. Elia Kazan
Radio Dynamics d. Oskar Fischinger
1949
Holiday Affair d. Don Hartman
Le Sange des Betes d. Georges Franju
The Third Man d. Carol Reed
White Heat d. Raoul Walsh
1950
All About Eve d. Joseph L Mankiewicz
DOA d. Rudolph Mate
Gun Crazy d. Joseph H Lewis
Sunset Boulevard d. Billy Wilder
1951
Strangers on a Train d. Alfred Hitchcock
1953
Wages of Fear d. Henri-Georges Clouzot
1954
It Should Happen to You d. George Cukor
Rear Window d. Alfred Hitchcock
A Star is Born d. George Cukor
1955
All That Heaven Allows d. Douglas Sirk
Night of the Hunter d. Charles Laughton
1956
The Solid Gold Cadillac d. Richard Quine
1957
Desk Set d. Walter Lang
1958
A Night To Remember d.Roy Ward Baker
1959
Fires on the Plain d. Kon Ichikawa
North By Northwest d. Alfred Hitchcock
Wedlock House an Intercourse d. Stan Brakhage
1960
Jazz on a Summer's Day d. Bert Stern
Psycho d. Alfred Hitchcock
Yeux Sans Visage d. Georges Franju
1962
Carnival of Souls d. Herk Harvey
Days of Wine and Roses d. Blake Edwards
1963
Lord of the Flies d. Peter Brook
1964
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer p. Rankin /Bass
1965
A Charlie Brown Christmas d. Bill Melendez
The Collector d. William Wyler
1966
Mademoiselle d. Tony Richardson
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf d. Mike Nichols
1967
Point Blank d. John Boorman
1968
Bullitt d. Peter Yates
Razor Blades d. Paul Sharits
The Swimmer d. Frank Perry
1971
The Abominable Dr. Phibes d. Robert Fuest
1973
Badlands d. Terrence Malick
Don't Look Now d. Nicolas Roeg
Paper Moon d. Peter Bogdanovich
1974
The Conversation d. Francis Ford Coppola
Day of the Locust d. John Schlesinger
1975
Monty Python and the Holy Grail d. Gilliam/ Jones
Overlord d. Stuart Cooper
1976
Carrie d. Brian De Palma
Sybil d. Daniel Petrie
1978
Halloween d. John Carpenter
1979
Kristallnacht d. Chick Strand
1980
Bad Timing d. Nicolas Roeg
The Shining d. Stanley Kubrick
1982
Blade Runner d. Ridley Scott
1985
Brazil d. Terry Gilliam
A Zed and Two Noughts d. Peter Greenaway
1987
Angel Heart d. Alan Parker
Wish You Were Here d. David Leland
1988
Drowning By Numbers d. Peter Greenaway
I... Dreaming d. Stan Brakhage
1990
Wild at Heart d. David Lynch
1991
Barton Fink d. Joel Cohen
Man Bites Dog d. Belvaux/Bonzel
Zentropa d. Lars von Trier
1992
Enchanted April d. Mike Newell
1993
Passage a l'Acte d. Martin Arnold
1994
Heavenly Creatures d. Peter Jackson
Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle d. Alan Rudolph
1997
Butcher Boy d. Neil Jordan
1998
Last Night d. Don McKellar
2000
American Psycho d. Mary Herron
Requiem for a Dream d. Darren Aronofsky
2003
In The Cut d. Jane Camion
2006
Brilliant Noise d. Semiconductor