1000 Great Films
(c) 2009, William L. Sinclair

Critics Consensus Top 1000 Films

6/24/2009

Photo: John Cassavetes' Husbands


This is a poll of polls, taking many lists into account, around 1800, and putting all that on a computer and letting it rank all those mentioned, with additional weighting given to some more important lists. This list is from They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? Great film site, check it out!



  1. Citizen Kane, Dir: Welles, Orson

  2. Vertigo, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  3. Rules of the Game, The, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  4. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  5. 8½, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  6. Godfather, The, Dir: Coppola, Francis

  7. Searchers, The, Dir: Ford, John

  8. Battleship Potemkin, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  9. Seven Samurai, The, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  10. Tokyo Story, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  11. Singin' in the Rain, Dir: Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly

  12. Sunrise, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  13. Lawrence of Arabia, Dir: Lean, David

  14. Bicycle Thieves, Dir: De Sica, Vittorio

  15. Casablanca, Dir: Curtiz, Michael

  16. Atalante, L', Dir: Vigo, Jean

  17. Passion of Joan of Arc, The, Dir: Dreyer, Carl

  18. Raging Bull, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  19. Rashomon, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  20. Godfather Part II, The, Dir: Coppola, Francis

  21. Touch of Evil, Dir: Welles, Orson

  22. Some Like it Hot, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  23. City Lights, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  24. Third Man, The, Dir: Reed, Carol

  25. Grande illusion, La, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  26. Dolce vita, La, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  27. Gold Rush, The, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  28. Taxi Driver, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  29. Sunset Blvd., Dir: Wilder, Billy

  30. General, The, Dir: Keaton, Buster/Clyde Bruckman

  31. Enfants du paradis, Les, Dir: Carné, Marcel

  32. Psycho, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  33. Breathless, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  34. Ordet, Dir: Dreyer, Carl

  35. Apocalypse Now, Dir: Coppola, Francis

  36. Chinatown, Dir: Polanski, Roman

  37. Night of the Hunter, The, Dir: Laughton, Charles

  38. Avventura, L', Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  39. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  40. Persona, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  41. Andrei Rublev, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  42. Jules et Jim, Dir: Truffaut, François

  43. Magnificent Ambersons, The, Dir: Welles, Orson

  44. 400 Blows, The, Dir: Truffaut, François

  45. It's a Wonderful Life, Dir: Capra, Frank

  46. Blade Runner, Dir: Scott, Ridley

  47. Rear Window, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  48. Modern Times, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  49. North by Northwest, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  50. Strada, La, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  51. Intolerance, Dir: Griffith, D.W.

  52. Seventh Seal, The, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  53. M, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  54. Ugetsu monogatari, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  55. Apartment, The, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  56. Contempt, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  57. Wild Strawberries, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  58. Wild Bunch, The, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  59. Pather Panchali, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  60. Gone with the Wind, Dir: Fleming, Victor

  61. Au hasard Balthazar, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  62. Wizard of Oz, The, Dir: Fleming, Victor

  63. Rio Bravo, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  64. Greed, Dir: von Stroheim, Erich

  65. Conformist, The, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  66. Leopard, The, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  67. Nashville, Dir: Altman, Robert

  68. Viridiana, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  69. Mirror, The, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  70. Metropolis, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  71. To Be or Not to Be, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  72. All About Eve, Dir: Mankiewicz, Joseph L.

  73. Once Upon a Time in the West, Dir: Leone, Sergio

  74. Fanny and Alexander, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  75. Notorious, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  76. Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The, Dir: Ford, John

  77. Letter from an Unknown Woman, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  78. Madame de..., Dir: Ophüls, Max

  79. Bringing Up Baby, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  80. Pickpocket, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  81. Ikiru, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  82. Amarcord, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  83. Stagecoach, Dir: Ford, John

  84. Pierrot le fou, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  85. My Darling Clementine, Dir: Ford, John

  86. Voyage in Italy, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  87. Playtime, Dir: Tati, Jacques

  88. Sansho the Bailiff, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  89. Last Year at Marienbad, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  90. Âge d'or, L', Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  91. Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Dir: Herzog, Werner

  92. Barry Lyndon, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  93. Clockwork Orange, A, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  94. Double Indemnity, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  95. Battle of Algiers, The, Dir: Pontecorvo, Gillo

  96. Hiroshima mon amour, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  97. Man with a Movie Camera, The, Dir: Vertov, Dziga

  98. Rome, Open City, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  99. GoodFellas, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  100. Sherlock Jr., Dir: Keaton, Buster

  101. Napoléon, Dir: Gance, Abel

  102. His Girl Friday, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  103. Duck Soup, Dir: McCarey, Leo

  104. On the Waterfront, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  105. Nosferatu, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  106. Jaws, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  107. Blue Velvet, Dir: Lynch, David

  108. Gertrud, Dir: Dreyer, Carl

  109. Olvidados, Los, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  110. Star Wars, Dir: Lucas, George

  111. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The, Dir: Huston, John

  112. Broken Blossoms, Dir: Griffith, D.W.

  113. Manhattan, Dir: Allen, Woody

  114. Lady Eve, The, Dir: Sturges, Preston

  115. King Kong, Dir: Cooper, Merian C./Ernest B. Schoedsack

  116. Annie Hall, Dir: Allen, Woody

  117. Out of the Past, Dir: Tourneur, Jacques

  118. Ashes and Diamonds, Dir: Wajda, Andrzej

  119. Vivre sa vie, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  120. Exterminating Angel, The, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  121. Ran, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  122. Best Years of Our Lives, The, Dir: Wyler, William

  123. Birth of a Nation, The, Dir: Griffith, D.W.

  124. Chimes at Midnight, Dir: Welles, Orson

  125. Stalker, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  126. Matter of Life and Death, A, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  127. Grapes of Wrath, The, Dir: Ford, John

  128. Red Shoes, The, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  129. Umberto D., Dir: De Sica, Vittorio

  130. Man Escaped, A, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  131. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dir: Forman, Milos

  132. Dekalog, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  133. Paisan, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  134. Earth, Dir: Dovzhenko, Alexander

  135. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  136. Don't Look Now, Dir: Roeg, Nicolas

  137. Bonnie and Clyde, Dir: Penn, Arthur

  138. Black Narcissus, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  139. Red River, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  140. Belle de jour, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  141. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Dir: Akerman, Chantal

  142. Philadelphia Story, The, Dir: Cukor, George

  143. Once Upon a Time in America, Dir: Leone, Sergio

  144. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The, Dir: Wiene, Robert

  145. Brief Encounter, Dir: Lean, David

  146. Mean Streets, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  147. Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  148. Shining, The, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  149. Ivan the Terrible, Part One, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  150. Ivan the Terrible, Part Two, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  151. Pulp Fiction, Dir: Tarantino, Quentin

  152. Shoah, Dir: Lanzmann, Claude

  153. Partie de campagne, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  154. Cries and Whispers, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  155. Travelling Players, The, Dir: Angelopoulos, Theo

  156. Woman Under the Influence, A, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  157. Band Wagon, The, Dir: Minnelli, Vincente

  158. Jetée, La, Dir: Marker, Chris

  159. Gospel According to St. Matthew, The, Dir: Pasolini, Pier Paolo

  160. Quiet Man, The, Dir: Ford, John

  161. Maltese Falcon, The, Dir: Huston, John

  162. Trouble in Paradise, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  163. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  164. Days of Heaven, Dir: Malick, Terrence

  165. World of Apu, The, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  166. Badlands, Dir: Malick, Terrence

  167. Chien andalou, Un, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  168. Palm Beach Story, The, Dir: Sturges, Preston

  169. McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Dir: Altman, Robert

  170. Monsieur Verdoux, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  171. Sullivan's Travels, Dir: Sturges, Preston

  172. Mother and the Whore, The, Dir: Eustache, Jean

  173. Last Laugh, The, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  174. Sweet Smell of Success, Dir: Mackendrick, Alexander

  175. Kind Hearts and Coronets, Dir: Hamer, Robert

  176. Brazil, Dir: Gilliam, Terry

  177. Conversation, The, Dir: Coppola, Francis

  178. Crowd, The, Dir: Vidor, King

  179. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  180. Nights of Cabiria, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  181. Celine and Julie Go Boating, Dir: Rivette, Jacques

  182. Eclisse, L', Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  183. Vampyr, Dir: Dreyer, Carl

  184. Death in Venice, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  185. Rocco and His Brothers, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  186. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  187. Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The, Dir: Leone, Sergio

  188. Performance, Dir: Roeg, Nicolas/Donald Cammell

  189. Pandora's Box, Dir: Pabst, G.W.

  190. Late Spring, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  191. Close-Up, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  192. Music Room, The, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  193. Exorcist, The, Dir: Friedkin, William

  194. Spirit of the Beehive, The, Dir: Erice, Victor

  195. Paths of Glory, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  196. Belle et la bête, La, Dir: Cocteau, Jean

  197. Blow-Up, Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  198. It Happened One Night, Dir: Capra, Frank

  199. Written on the Wind, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  200. Deer Hunter, The, Dir: Cimino, Michael

  201. Argent, L', Dir: Bresson, Robert

  202. Night at the Opera, A, Dir: Wood, Sam

  203. Imitation of Life, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  204. Notte, La, Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  205. Do the Right Thing, Dir: Lee, Spike

  206. Wages of Fear, The, Dir: Clouzot, Henri-Georges

  207. Freaks, Dir: Browning, Tod

  208. Orpheus, Dir: Cocteau, Jean

  209. Unforgiven, Dir: Eastwood, Clint

  210. Nanook of the North, Dir: Flaherty, Robert

  211. Birds, The, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  212. Schindler's List, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  213. Berlin Alexanderplatz, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  214. Star is Born, A, Dir: Cukor, George

  215. Graduate, The, Dir: Nichols, Mike

  216. Tabu, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  217. Alexander Nevsky, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  218. Only Angels Have Wings, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  219. River, The, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  220. Meet Me in St. Louis, Dir: Minnelli, Vincente

  221. Peeping Tom, Dir: Powell, Michael

  222. Last Tango in Paris, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  223. Bride of Frankenstein, Dir: Whale, James

  224. Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  225. Solaris, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  226. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  227. Throne of Blood, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  228. Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, The, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  229. Week-End, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  230. Alien, Dir: Scott, Ridley

  231. Bridge on the River Kwai, The, Dir: Lean, David

  232. Rosemary's Baby, Dir: Polanski, Roman

  233. Sans soleil, Dir: Marker, Chris

  234. Great Dictator, The, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  235. Diary of a Country Priest, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  236. Germany, Year Zero, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  237. Shop Around the Corner, The, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  238. Crime of Monsieur Lange, The, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  239. Zero for Conduct, Dir: Vigo, Jean

  240. Samouraï, Le, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  241. Johnny Guitar, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  242. Mr. Hulot's Holiday, Dir: Tati, Jacques

  243. Passenger, The, Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  244. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Dir: Pasolini, Pier Paolo

  245. Shoot the Piano Player, Dir: Truffaut, François

  246. Tree of Wooden Clogs, The, Dir: Olmi, Ermanno

  247. Wings of Desire, Dir: Wenders, Wim

  248. Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The, Dir: Demy, Jacques

  249. Shane, Dir: Stevens, George

  250. West Side Story, Dir: Wise, Robert/Jerome Robbins

  251. Miracle in Milan, Dir: De Sica, Vittorio

  252. To Kill a Mockingbird, Dir: Mulligan, Robert

  253. Strangers on a Train, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  254. Meshes of the Afternoon, Dir: Deren, Maya

  255. Blue Angel, The, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  256. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dir: Hand, David

  257. In the Realm of the Senses, Dir: Oshima, Nagisa

  258. Life of Oharu, The, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  259. Floating Clouds, Dir: Naruse, Mikio

  260. Night of the Living Dead, Dir: Romero, George A.

  261. Piano, The, Dir: Campion, Jane

  262. Senso, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  263. Big Sleep, The, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  264. Last Picture Show, The, Dir: Bogdanovich, Peter

  265. Kiss Me Deadly, Dir: Aldrich, Robert

  266. Day of Wrath, Dir: Dreyer, Carl

  267. 1900, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  268. Kings of the Road, Dir: Wenders, Wim

  269. Mouchette, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  270. Cabaret, Dir: Fosse, Bob

  271. High Noon, Dir: Zinnemann, Fred

  272. Crimes and Misdemeanors, Dir: Allen, Woody

  273. Salvatore Giuliano, Dir: Rosi, Francesco

  274. Day for Night, Dir: Truffaut, François

  275. Million, Le, Dir: Clair, René

  276. Lola Montès, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  277. Verdugo, El, Dir: Berlanga, Luis García

  278. My Night at Maud's, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  279. Fantasia, Dir: Sharpsteen, Ben

  280. Make Way for Tomorrow, Dir: McCarey, Leo

  281. All That Heaven Allows, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  282. Ninotchka, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  283. Network, Dir: Lumet, Sidney

  284. Strike, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  285. Midnight Cowboy, Dir: Schlesinger, John

  286. In a Lonely Place, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  287. Time to Live and the Time to Die, The, Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

  288. Fargo, Dir: Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen

  289. Aparajito, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  290. White Heat, Dir: Walsh, Raoul

  291. Kid, The, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  292. October, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  293. Rebel Without a Cause, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  294. Terminator, The, Dir: Cameron, James

  295. Deliverance, Dir: Boorman, John

  296. All Quiet on the Western Front, Dir: Milestone, Lewis

  297. Awful Truth, The, Dir: McCarey, Leo

  298. Scarlet Empress, The, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  299. Paris, Texas, Dir: Wenders, Wim

  300. To Have and Have Not, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  301. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The, Dir: Hooper, Tobe

  302. Shadows, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  303. African Queen, The, Dir: Huston, John

  304. Laura, Dir: Preminger, Otto

  305. City of Sadness, A, Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

  306. Empire Strikes Back, The, Dir: Kershner, Irvin

  307. Top Hat, Dir: Sandrich, Mark

  308. Wind, The, Dir: Sjöström, Victor

  309. 39 Steps, The, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  310. High and Low, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  311. Man of Aran, Dir: Flaherty, Robert

  312. Rebecca, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  313. Five Easy Pieces, Dir: Rafelson, Bob

  314. Asphalt Jungle, The, Dir: Huston, John

  315. El, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  316. Carrie, Dir: De Palma, Brian

  317. Navigator, The, Dir: Keaton, Buster/Donald Crisp

  318. F for Fake, Dir: Welles, Orson

  319. Aliens, Dir: Cameron, James

  320. Thief of Bagdad, The, Dir: Powell, Michael/Ludwig Berger/Tim Whelan

  321. Ben-Hur, Dir: Wyler, William

  322. Wedding March, The, Dir: von Stroheim, Erich

  323. Black God, White Devil, Dir: Rocha, Glauber

  324. Charulata, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  325. Repulsion, Dir: Polanski, Roman

  326. Spartacus, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  327. Steamboat Bill, Jr., Dir: Keaton, Buster/Charles F. Reisner

  328. Chungking Express, Dir: Wong Kar-Wai

  329. Manchurian Candidate, The, Dir: Frankenheimer, John

  330. Shadow of a Doubt, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  331. Easy Rider, Dir: Hopper, Dennis

  332. Local Hero, Dir: Forsyth, Bill

  333. Mon oncle, Dir: Tati, Jacques

  334. Canterbury Tale, A, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  335. In a Year with 13 Moons, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  336. Hustler, The, Dir: Rossen, Robert

  337. Marnie, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  338. Cameraman, The, Dir: Keaton, Buster/Edward Sedgwick

  339. Wavelength, Dir: Snow, Michael

  340. Casque d'or, Dir: Becker, Jacques

  341. Amadeus, Dir: Forman, Milos

  342. Don't Look Back, Dir: Pennebaker, D.A.

  343. Sátántangó, Dir: Tarr, Béla

  344. In the Mood for Love, Dir: Wong Kar-Wai

  345. Providence, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  346. Pinocchio, Dir: Sharpsteen, Ben & Hamilton Luske

  347. Triumph of the Will, Dir: Riefenstahl, Leni

  348. Accattone, Dir: Pasolini, Pier Paolo

  349. Tristana, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  350. Killer of Sheep, Dir: Burnett, Charles

  351. Closely Watched Trains, Dir: Menzel, Jirí

  352. Loves of a Blonde, Dir: Forman, Milos

  353. Dawn of the Dead, Dir: Romero, George A.

  354. Eyes Without a Face, Dir: Franju, Georges

  355. How Green Was My Valley, Dir: Ford, John

  356. Streetcar Named Desire, A, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  357. Come and See, Dir: Klimov, Elem

  358. Red Desert, Dir: Antonioni, Michelangelo

  359. Servant, The, Dir: Losey, Joseph

  360. Great Expectations, Dir: Lean, David

  361. Pyaasa, Dir: Dutt, Guru

  362. Listen to Britain, Dir: Jennings, Humphrey

  363. Yojimbo, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  364. Chelsea Girls, Dir: Warhol, Andy

  365. Frankenstein, Dir: Whale, James

  366. Scorpio Rising, Dir: Anger, Kenneth

  367. Forbidden Games, Dir: Clément, René

  368. Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  369. Our Hospitality, Dir: Keaton, Buster/John Blystone

  370. Limelight, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  371. Fellini Satyricon, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  372. Night and Fog, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  373. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Dir: Capra, Frank

  374. Cinema Paradiso, Dir: Tornatore, Giuseppe

  375. Plaisir, Le, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  376. Memories of Underdevelopment, Dir: Alea, Tomás Gutiérrez

  377. Full Metal Jacket, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  378. Silence of the Lambs, The, Dir: Demme, Jonathan

  379. Big Heat, The, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  380. Point Blank, Dir: Boorman, John

  381. Heat, Dir: Mann, Michael

  382. Colour of Pomegranate, The, Dir: Parajanov, Sergei

  383. Breaking the Waves, Dir: von Trier, Lars

  384. Alice in the Cities, Dir: Wenders, Wim

  385. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  386. Groundhog Day, Dir: Ramis, Harold

  387. Faust, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  388. Sacrifice, The, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  389. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Dir: Ford, John

  390. Detour, Dir: Ulmer, Edgar G.

  391. Mad Max 2, Dir: Miller, George

  392. Back to the Future, Dir: Zemeckis, Robert

  393. Vampires, Les, Dir: Feuillade, Louis

  394. My Neighbour Totoro, Dir: Miyazaki, Hayao

  395. Henry V, Dir: Olivier, Laurence

  396. Autumn Afternoon, An, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  397. Hard Day's Night, A, Dir: Lester, Richard

  398. Reservoir Dogs, Dir: Tarantino, Quentin

  399. Vitelloni, I, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  400. Cloud-Capped Star, The, Dir: Ghatak, Ritwik

  401. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dir: Edwards, Blake

  402. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dir: Hill, George Roy

  403. They Were Expendable, Dir: Ford, John

  404. Masculin Feminin, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  405. Love Me Tonight, Dir: Mamoulian, Rouben

  406. Eraserhead, Dir: Lynch, David

  407. Affair to Remember, An, Dir: McCarey, Leo

  408. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dir: Siegel, Don

  409. Terra trema, La, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  410. Raise the Red Lantern, Dir: Zhang Yimou

  411. Lola, Dir: Demy, Jacques

  412. Moment of Innocence, A, Dir: Makhmalbaf, Mohsen

  413. I Know Where I'm Going!, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  414. Some Came Running, Dir: Minnelli, Vincente

  415. King of Comedy, The, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  416. Dead, The, Dir: Huston, John

  417. Young Girls of Rochefort, The, Dir: Demy, Jacques

  418. Lady from Shanghai, The, Dir: Welles, Orson

  419. Love Streams, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  420. Terra em Transe, Dir: Rocha, Glauber

  421. My Life as a Dog, Dir: Hallström, Lasse

  422. Kes, Dir: Loach, Ken

  423. It's a Gift, Dir: McLeod, Norman Z.

  424. Muriel, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  425. Nostalghia, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  426. French Cancan, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  427. Sound of Music, The, Dir: Wise, Robert

  428. American Graffiti, Dir: Lucas, George

  429. I Was Born, But…, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  430. That Obscure Object of Desire, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  431. Lady Vanishes, The, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  432. Place in the Sun, A, Dir: Stevens, George

  433. Stranger Than Paradise, Dir: Jarmusch, Jim

  434. Seven Chances, Dir: Keaton, Buster

  435. Two-Lane Blacktop, Dir: Hellman, Monte

  436. Tootsie, Dir: Pollack, Sydney

  437. Lancelot du Lac, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  438. 42nd Street, Dir: Bacon, Lloyd

  439. Dead Ringers, Dir: Cronenberg, David

  440. Age of Innocence, The, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  441. Foolish Wives, Dir: von Stroheim, Erich

  442. Fellini's Casanova, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  443. Olympia, Dir: Riefenstahl, Leni

  444. Thelma & Louise, Dir: Scott, Ridley

  445. Dead Man, Dir: Jarmusch, Jim

  446. I Am Cuba, Dir: Kalatozishvili, Mikheil

  447. Faces, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  448. Evil Dead II, Dir: Raimi, Sam

  449. India Song, Dir: Duras, Marguerite

  450. Claire's Knee, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  451. Dersu Uzala, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  452. Blow Out, Dir: De Palma, Brian

  453. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Dir: Reisz, Karel

  454. All That Jazz, Dir: Fosse, Bob

  455. Long Goodbye, The, Dir: Altman, Robert

  456. Distant Voices, Still Lives, Dir: Davies, Terence

  457. Marriage of Maria Braun, The, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  458. This is Spinal Tap, Dir: Reiner, Rob

  459. Silence, The, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  460. Lolita, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  461. Young Mr. Lincoln, Dir: Ford, John

  462. Three Colours: Blue, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  463. Three Colours: Red, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  464. Adventures of Robin Hood, The, Dir: Curtiz, Michael/William Keighley

  465. Halloween, Dir: Carpenter, John

  466. Teorema, Dir: Pasolini, Pier Paolo

  467. Devil is a Woman, The, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  468. Touch of Zen, A, Dir: Hu, King

  469. Odd Man Out, Dir: Reed, Carol

  470. On the Town, Dir: Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly

  471. Cat People, Dir: Tourneur, Jacques

  472. Dog Day Afternoon, Dir: Lumet, Sidney

  473. Que viva Mexico!, Dir: Eisenstein, Sergei

  474. Circus, The, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  475. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Dir: Meyer, Russ

  476. Doctor Zhivago, Dir: Lean, David

  477. Antonio das Mortes, Dir: Rocha, Glauber

  478. Wild Child, The, Dir: Truffaut, François

  479. Winter Light, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  480. Spring in a Small Town, Dir: Fei Mu

  481. Monty Python's Life of Brian, Dir: Jones, Terry

  482. Man Who Fell to Earth, The, Dir: Roeg, Nicolas

  483. Toy Story, Dir: Lasseter, John

  484. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The, Dir: Herzog, Werner

  485. Chant d'amour, Un, Dir: Genet, Jean

  486. L.A. Confidential, Dir: Hanson, Curtis

  487. Devils, The, Dir: Russell, Ken

  488. I Walked with a Zombie, Dir: Tourneur, Jacques

  489. Suspiria, Dir: Argento, Dario

  490. Scarface, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  491. There's Always Tomorrow, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  492. JFK, Dir: Stone, Oliver

  493. Harold and Maude, Dir: Ashby, Hal

  494. Blood of a Poet, The, Dir: Cocteau, Jean

  495. Mildred Pierce, Dir: Curtiz, Michael

  496. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  497. Ossessione, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  498. Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Dir: Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones

  499. Bigger Than Life, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  500. And Life Goes On, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  501. Where is the Friend's Home?, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  502. Dames du Bois de Boulogne, Les, Dir: Bresson, Robert

  503. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  504. Passion, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  505. Videodrome, Dir: Cronenberg, David

  506. À nous la liberté, Dir: Clair, René

  507. Scarface, Dir: De Palma, Brian

  508. Killer, The, Dir: Woo, John

  509. Rocky, Dir: Avildsen, John G.

  510. 12 Angry Men, Dir: Lumet, Sidney

  511. Hart of London, The, Dir: Chambers, Jack

  512. Voyage dans la lune, Le, Dir: Méliès, Georges

  513. Now, Voyager, Dir: Rapper, Irving

  514. Double Life of Veronique, The, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  515. Sawdust and Tinsel, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  516. Sauve qui peut (la vie), Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  517. Pépé le Moko, Dir: Duvivier, Julien

  518. Angel, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  519. Hour of the Furnaces, The, Dir: Getino, Octavio & Fernando E. Solanas

  520. Brighter Summer Day, A, Dir: Yang, Edward

  521. Party, The, Dir: Edwards, Blake

  522. Région centrale, La, Dir: Snow, Michael

  523. Alphaville, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  524. Damned, The, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  525. Reds, Dir: Beatty, Warren

  526. Picnic at Hanging Rock, Dir: Weir, Peter

  527. Rise to Power of Louis XIV, The, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  528. Funny Face, Dir: Donen, Stanley

  529. Barton Fink, Dir: Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen

  530. Splendor in the Grass, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  531. Misfits, The, Dir: Huston, John

  532. Angel at My Table, An, Dir: Campion, Jane

  533. Golden Coach, The, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  534. Through the Olive Trees, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  535. Stromboli, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  536. Tiger of Eschnapur, The, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  537. Innocents, The, Dir: Clayton, Jack

  538. Ivan's Childhood, Dir: Tarkovsky, Andrei

  539. Dirty Harry, Dir: Siegel, Don

  540. Duel in the Sun, Dir: Vidor, King

  541. Swing Time, Dir: Stevens, George

  542. Ludwig, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  543. Maîtres fous, Les, Dir: Rouch, Jean

  544. Elephant Man, The, Dir: Lynch, David

  545. Barren Lives, Dir: Dos Santos, Nelson Pereira

  546. Storm Over Asia, Dir: Pudovkin, Vsevolod

  547. Kagemusha, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  548. Daisies, Dir: Chytilová, Vera

  549. Underground, Dir: Kusturica, Emir

  550. Diner, Dir: Levinson, Barry

  551. Farewell, My Concubine, Dir: Chen Kaige

  552. Hôtel Terminus, Dir: Ophüls, Marcel

  553. Producers, The, Dir: Brooks, Mel

  554. Xala, Dir: Sembene, Ousmane

  555. Diaboliques, Les, Dir: Clouzot, Henri-Georges

  556. Tarnished Angels, The, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  557. Gun Crazy, Dir: Lewis, Joseph H.

  558. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dir: Hughes, John

  559. Bob le flambeur, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  560. Van Gogh, Dir: Pialat, Maurice

  561. Time of the Gypsies, Dir: Kusturica, Emir

  562. Die Hard, Dir: McTiernan, John

  563. Shawshank Redemption, The, Dir: Darabont, Frank

  564. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  565. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Dir: Cameron, James

  566. Woman in the Window, The, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  567. Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, Dir: Parajanov, Sergei

  568. Jour se lève, Le, Dir: Carné, Marcel

  569. Hallelujah!, Dir: Vidor, King

  570. Get Carter, Dir: Hodges, Mike

  571. Ride the High Country, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  572. Hellzapoppin', Dir: Potter, H.C.

  573. Army of Shadows, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  574. Juliet of the Spirits, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  575. Fitzcarraldo, Dir: Herzog, Werner

  576. M*A*S*H, Dir: Altman, Robert

  577. They Live by Night, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  578. Gilda, Dir: Vidor, Charles

  579. Salesman, Dir: Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin

  580. Ace in the Hole, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  581. Thing from Another World, The, Dir: Nyby, Christian/Howard Hawks

  582. Bande à part, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  583. East of Eden, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  584. Boogie Nights, Dir: Anderson, Paul Thomas

  585. Design for Living, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  586. Land Without Bread, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  587. Man Who Would Be King, The, Dir: Huston, John

  588. Othello, Dir: Welles, Orson

  589. Man of the West, Dir: Mann, Anthony

  590. Fires Were Started, Dir: Jennings, Humphrey

  591. Outskirts, Dir: Barnet, Boris

  592. Firemen's Ball, The, Dir: Forman, Milos

  593. Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The, Dir: Sturges, Preston

  594. Right Stuff, The, Dir: Kaufman, Philip

  595. Anatahan, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  596. Killing, The, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  597. Yi yi, Dir: Yang, Edward

  598. Barefoot Contessa, The, Dir: Mankiewicz, Joseph L.

  599. If..., Dir: Anderson, Lindsay

  600. Heaven's Gate, Dir: Cimino, Michael

  601. American in Paris, An, Dir: Minnelli, Vincente

  602. Raising Arizona, Dir: Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen

  603. Mon oncle d'Amérique, Dir: Resnais, Alain

  604. Cleo from 5 to 7, Dir: Varda, Agnès

  605. Puppetmaster, The, Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

  606. Fat City, Dir: Huston, John

  607. Forrest Gump, Dir: Zemeckis, Robert

  608. Hana-Bi, Dir: Kitano, Takeshi

  609. Holiday, Dir: Cukor, George

  610. Heimat, Dir: Reitz, Edgar

  611. Taste of Cherry, A, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  612. Ronde, La, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  613. Day the Earth Stood Still, The, Dir: Wise, Robert

  614. Dead Poets Society, Dir: Weir, Peter

  615. Midnight Run, Dir: Brest, Martin

  616. Godfather Part III, The, Dir: Coppola, Francis

  617. Princess Yang Kwei Fei, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  618. Morocco, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  619. Tom, Tom the Piper's Son, Dir: Jacobs, Ken

  620. Outlaw Josey Wales, The, Dir: Eastwood, Clint

  621. Ceddo, Dir: Sembene, Ousmane

  622. Phantom of Liberty, The, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  623. Wagon Master, Dir: Ford, John

  624. All the President's Men, Dir: Pakula, Alan J.

  625. Edward Scissorhands, Dir: Burton, Tim

  626. Unfaithfully Yours, Dir: Sturges, Preston

  627. Short Cuts, Dir: Altman, Robert

  628. Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  629. Under the Roofs of Paris, Dir: Clair, René

  630. Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, The, Dir: Straub, Jean-Marie

  631. Short Film About Killing, A, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  632. Moonfleet, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  633. Kaagaz Ke Phool, Dir: Dutt, Guru

  634. Verdict, The, Dir: Lumet, Sidney

  635. All About My Mother, Dir: Almodóvar, Pedro

  636. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Dir: Meyer, Russ

  637. Boudu Saved from Drowning, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  638. Amants du Pont-Neuf, Les, Dir: Carax, Lèos

  639. Roman Holiday, Dir: Wyler, William

  640. Heiress, The, Dir: Wyler, William

  641. Tin Drum, The, Dir: Schlöndorff, Volker

  642. Yellow Earth, Dir: Chen Kaige

  643. Mother, Dir: Pudovkin, Vsevolod

  644. Usual Suspects, The, Dir: Singer, Bryan

  645. Hatari!, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  646. Hitler: A Film from Germany, Dir: Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen

  647. Zelig, Dir: Allen, Woody

  648. Walkabout, Dir: Roeg, Nicolas

  649. Fellini's Roma, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  650. Hidden Fortress, The, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  651. Arabian Nights, Dir: Pasolini, Pier Paolo

  652. Flowers of St. Francis, The, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  653. Liebelei, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  654. Mulholland Dr., Dir: Lynch, David

  655. 47 Ronin, The, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  656. You Only Live Once, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  657. Actor's Revenge, An, Dir: Ichikawa, Kon

  658. Naked, Dir: Leigh, Mike

  659. Spirited Away, Dir: Miyazaki, Hayao

  660. My Fair Lady, Dir: Cukor, George

  661. Phantom Carriage, The, Dir: Sjöström, Victor

  662. When Harry Met Sally..., Dir: Reiner, Rob

  663. Cranes Are Flying, The, Dir: Kalatozishvili, Mikheil

  664. Magnificent Seven, The, Dir: Sturges, John

  665. Indian Tomb, The, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  666. Threepenny Opera, The, Dir: Pabst, G.W.

  667. Lacombe, Lucien, Dir: Malle, Louis

  668. America, America, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  669. Safe, Dir: Haynes, Todd

  670. Pakeezah, Dir: Amrohi, Kamal

  671. Fallen Idol, The, Dir: Reed, Carol

  672. Law of Desire, Dir: Almodóvar, Pedro

  673. Round-Up, The, Dir: Jancsó, Miklós

  674. Vagabond, Dir: Varda, Agnès

  675. Trainspotting, Dir: Boyle, Danny

  676. Gandhi, Dir: Attenborough, Richard

  677. French Connection, The, Dir: Friedkin, William

  678. Sugar Cane Alley, Dir: Palcy, Euzhan

  679. Player, The, Dir: Altman, Robert

  680. Seven Women, Dir: Ford, John

  681. Flowers of Shanghai, Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

  682. Not Reconciled, Dir: Straub, Jean-Marie

  683. Limite, Dir: Peixoto, Mario

  684. Husbands, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  685. Bambi, Dir: Hand, David

  686. Straw Dogs, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  687. Witness, Dir: Weir, Peter

  688. Woman Next Door, The, Dir: Truffaut, François

  689. Gregory's Girl, Dir: Forsyth, Bill

  690. Orlando, Dir: Potter, Sally

  691. Hannah and Her Sisters, Dir: Allen, Woody

  692. Big Deal on Madonna Street, Dir: Monicelli, Mario

  693. Last Temptation of Christ, The, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  694. Shoeshine, Dir: De Sica, Vittorio

  695. Peter Ibbetson, Dir: Hathaway, Henry

  696. Informer, The, Dir: Ford, John

  697. Art of Vision, The, Dir: Brakhage, Stan

  698. Casino, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  699. Belle noiseuse, La, Dir: Rivette, Jacques

  700. Night of the Demon, Dir: Tourneur, Jacques

  701. Princess Bride, The, Dir: Reiner, Rob

  702. Red Sorghum, Dir: Zhang Yimou

  703. Red Beard, Dir: Kurosawa, Akira

  704. Smiles of a Summer Night, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  705. Kameradschaft, Dir: Pabst, G.W.

  706. Dumbo, Dir: Sharpsteen, Ben

  707. Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The, Dir: Mankiewicz, Joseph L.

  708. Sun Shines Bright, The, Dir: Ford, John

  709. Man for All Seasons, A, Dir: Zinnemann, Fred

  710. Landscape in the Mist, Dir: Angelopoulos, Theo

  711. Pursued, Dir: Walsh, Raoul

  712. Down by Law, Dir: Jarmusch, Jim

  713. Europa, Dir: von Trier, Lars

  714. Bad and the Beautiful, The, Dir: Minnelli, Vincente

  715. Europa '51, Dir: Rossellini, Roberto

  716. Histoire(s) du cinéma, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  717. Branded to Kill, Dir: Suzuki, Seijun

  718. Of a Thousand Delights, Dir: Visconti, Luchino

  719. Sweet Hereafter, The, Dir: Egoyan, Atom

  720. Port of Shadows, Dir: Carné, Marcel

  721. Trou, Le, Dir: Becker, Jacques

  722. Queen Kelly, Dir: von Stroheim, Erich

  723. Naked Spur, The, Dir: Mann, Anthony

  724. Big Parade, The, Dir: Vidor, King

  725. Yeelen, Dir: Cissé, Souleymane

  726. Murder by Contract, Dir: Lerner, Irving

  727. Assault on Precinct 13, Dir: Carpenter, John

  728. Femme est une femme, Une, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc

  729. Black Sunday, Dir: Bava, Mario

  730. While the City Sleeps, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  731. Reckless Moment, The, Dir: Ophüls, Max

  732. Bidone, Il, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  733. Matrix, The, Dir: Wachowski, Andy & Larry Wachowski

  734. Red Circle, The, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  735. Ju Dou, Dir: Zhang Yimou

  736. Three Colours: White, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  737. Pickup on South Street, Dir: Fuller, Sam

  738. Scenes from a Marriage, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  739. Fight Club, Dir: Fincher, David

  740. Lusty Men, The, Dir: Ray, Nicholas

  741. Purple Rose of Cairo, The, Dir: Allen, Woody

  742. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Dir: Almodóvar, Pedro

  743. El Dorado, Dir: Hawks, Howard

  744. New York, New York, Dir: Scorsese, Martin

  745. Midnight, Dir: Leisen, Mitchell

  746. Being There, Dir: Ashby, Hal

  747. Thin Red Line, The, Dir: Malick, Terrence

  748. Carnival in Flanders, Dir: Feyder, Jacques

  749. Atlantic City, Dir: Malle, Louis

  750. Fish Called Wanda, A, Dir: Crichton, Charles

  751. Spider's Stratagem, The, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  752. Lucky Man!, Dir: Anderson, Lindsay

  753. Out 1: Spectre, Dir: Rivette, Jacques

  754. Early Summer, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  755. Thin Blue Line, The, Dir: Morris, Errol

  756. Flaming Creatures, Dir: Smith, Jack

  757. Great Escape, The, Dir: Sturges, John

  758. Dazed and Confused, Dir: Linklater, Richard

  759. Rio Grande, Dir: Ford, John

  760. Collectionneuse, La, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  761. Crash, Dir: Cronenberg, David

  762. Bête humaine, La, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  763. Opening Night, Dir: Cassavetes, John

  764. Miller's Crossing, Dir: Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen

  765. Tenant, The, Dir: Polanski, Roman

  766. Coeur en hiver, Un, Dir: Sautet, Claude

  767. Shanghai Express, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  768. Mephisto, Dir: Szabó, István

  769. Gimme Shelter, Dir: Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin

  770. Wind Will Carry Us, The, Dir: Kiarostami, Abbas

  771. Quadrophenia, Dir: Roddam, Franc

  772. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  773. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Dir: LeRoy, Mervyn

  774. Mädchen in Uniform, Dir: Sagan, Leontine

  775. Pilgrim, The, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  776. Anatomy of a Murder, Dir: Preminger, Otto

  777. Big Lebowski, The, Dir: Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen

  778. City of God, Dir: Meirelles, Fernando

  779. Tom Jones, Dir: Richardson, Tony

  780. Cul-de-sac, Dir: Polanski, Roman

  781. Nibelungen, Die, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  782. Woman in the Dunes, Dir: Teshigahara, Hiroshi

  783. Diary of a Lost Girl, Dir: Pabst, G.W.

  784. Rushmore, Dir: Anderson, Wes

  785. End of St. Petersburg, The, Dir: Pudovkin, Vsevolod

  786. Enfants terribles, Les, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  787. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Dir: Ruttmann, Walter

  788. Johnny Got His Gun, Dir: Trumbo, Dalton

  789. Beau travail, Dir: Denis, Claire

  790. Shanghai Gesture, The, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  791. Wrong Man, The, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  792. Woman of Paris, A, Dir: Chaplin, Charles

  793. Duel, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  794. Mother India, Dir: Khan, Mehboob

  795. Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The, Dir: Richardson, Tony

  796. Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  797. Klute, Dir: Pakula, Alan J.

  798. Plácido, Dir: Berlanga, Luis García

  799. Destiny, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  800. In the Heat of the Night, Dir: Jewison, Norman

  801. Nutty Professor, The, Dir: Lewis, Jerry

  802. Scenes from Under Childhood, Dir: Brakhage, Stan

  803. Moana, Dir: Flaherty, Robert

  804. Hamlet, Dir: Olivier, Laurence

  805. Night Porter, The, Dir: Cavani, Liliana

  806. Eyes Wide Shut, Dir: Kubrick, Stanley

  807. Avanti!, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  808. Early Autumn, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  809. Léolo, Dir: Lauzon, Jean-Claude

  810. Trial, The, Dir: Welles, Orson

  811. Tales of Hoffmann, The, Dir: Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger

  812. Happiness, Dir: Medvedkin, Aleksandr

  813. Chronicle of a Summer, Dir: Rouch, Jean & Edgar Morin

  814. Fountainhead, The, Dir: Vidor, King

  815. American Gigolo, Dir: Schrader, Paul

  816. Oldboy, Dir: Park Chan-Wook

  817. Days and Nights in the Forest, Dir: Ray, Satyajit

  818. Vive L'Amour, Dir: Tsai Ming-Liang

  819. Sonatine, Dir: Kitano, Takeshi

  820. Tale of the Wind, A, Dir: Ivens, Joris

  821. Our Daily Bread, Dir: Vidor, King

  822. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dir: Lee, Ang

  823. Diary for Timothy, A, Dir: Jennings, Humphrey

  824. Lone Star, Dir: Sayles, John

  825. Happiness, Dir: Solondz, Todd

  826. Hour of the Wolf, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  827. Broadway Danny Rose, Dir: Allen, Woody

  828. Sorpasso, Il, Dir: Risi, Dino

  829. Under the Bridges, Dir: Kaütner, Helmut

  830. War and Peace, Dir: Bondarchuk, Sergei

  831. Nazarín, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  832. Veronika Voss, Dir: Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  833. Marquise of O, The, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  834. Happy Together, Dir: Wong Kar-Wai

  835. Portrait of Jennie, Dir: Dieterle, William

  836. Charade, Dir: Donen, Stanley

  837. They Died with Their Boots On, Dir: Walsh, Raoul

  838. Zorn's Lemma, Dir: Frampton, Hollis

  839. Land of Silence and Darkness, Dir: Herzog, Werner

  840. Docks of New York, The, Dir: von Sternberg, Josef

  841. Missing, Dir: Costa-Gavras, Constantin

  842. Green Ray, The, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  843. Tobacco Road, Dir: Ford, John

  844. World According to Garp, The, Dir: Hill, George Roy

  845. Two for the Road, Dir: Donen, Stanley

  846. Feu follet, Le, Dir: Malle, Louis

  847. Chienne, La, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  848. Out of Africa, Dir: Pollack, Sydney

  849. Pink Flamingos, Dir: Waters, John

  850. Utamaro and His Five Women, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  851. Ballad of Narayama, Dir: Imamura, Shohei

  852. Lost Highway, Dir: Lynch, David

  853. Boucher, Le, Dir: Chabrol, Claude

  854. Go-Between, The, Dir: Losey, Joseph

  855. Plein soleil, Dir: Clément, René

  856. Days of Being Wild, Dir: Wong Kar-Wai

  857. Femme infidèle, La, Dir: Chabrol, Claude

  858. Childhood of Maxim Gorky, The, Dir: Donskoi, Mark

  859. Touki Bouki, Dir: Mambéty, Djibril Diop

  860. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The, Dir: Jackson, Peter

  861. Man in the White Suit, The, Dir: Mackendrick, Alexander

  862. Judex, Dir: Franju, Georges

  863. Black Orpheus, Dir: Camus, Marcel

  864. Eternity and a Day, Dir: Angelopoulos, Theo

  865. Getaway, The, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  866. Rocker, Dir: Lemke, Klaus

  867. Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The, Dir: Greenaway, Peter

  868. Arsenic and Old Lace, Dir: Capra, Frank

  869. 3 Women, Dir: Altman, Robert

  870. Rope, Dir: Hitchcock, Alfred

  871. Festen, Dir: Vinterberg, Thomas

  872. Royal Tenenbaums, The, Dir: Anderson, Wes

  873. Caro diario, Dir: Moretti, Nanni

  874. Night Moves, Dir: Penn, Arthur

  875. By the Bluest of Seas, Dir: Barnet, Boris

  876. Year of Living Dangerously, The, Dir: Weir, Peter

  877. Harakiri, Dir: Kobayashi, Masaki

  878. From Here to Eternity, Dir: Zinnemann, Fred

  879. Dangerous Liaisons, Dir: Frears, Stephen

  880. Radio Days, Dir: Allen, Woody

  881. Gold Diggers of 1933, Dir: LeRoy, Mervyn

  882. Too Early, Too Late, Dir: Straub, Jean-Marie & Danièle Huillet

  883. Grey Gardens, Dir: Maysles, David/Albert Maysles/Ellen Hovde/Muffie Meyer

  884. Saga of Gosta Berling, The, Dir: Stiller, Mauritz

  885. Burnt by the Sun, Dir: Mikhalkov, Nikita

  886. Fallen Angels, Dir: Wong Kar-Wai

  887. Rose Hobart, Dir: Cornell, Joseph

  888. Ben-Hur, Dir: Niblo, Fred

  889. Ceremony, The, Dir: Oshima, Nagisa

  890. Amour fou, L', Dir: Rivette, Jacques

  891. Virgin Spring, The, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  892. Kwaidan, Dir: Kobayashi, Masaki

  893. Posto, Il, Dir: Olmi, Ermanno

  894. Bend of the River, Dir: Mann, Anthony

  895. Excalibur, Dir: Boorman, John

  896. Wild River, Dir: Kazan, Elia

  897. Yesterday Girl, Dir: Kluge, Alexander

  898. Starship Troopers, Dir: Verhoeven, Paul

  899. Leave Her to Heaven, Dir: Stahl, John M.

  900. Lucifer Rising, Dir: Anger, Kenneth

  901. City Girl, Dir: Murnau, F.W.

  902. Slave of Love, A, Dir: Mikhalkov, Nikita

  903. Devil in the Flesh, Dir: Autant-Lara, Claude

  904. Way Down East, Dir: Griffith, D.W.

  905. Shin heike monogatari, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  906. Night of the Shooting Stars, The, Dir: Taviani, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani

  907. Sur, El, Dir: Erice, Victor

  908. Wings of Eagles, The, Dir: Ford, John

  909. Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, The, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  910. My Apprenticeship, Dir: Donskoi, Mark

  911. Unbearable Lightness of Being, The, Dir: Kaufman, Philip

  912. And the Ship Sails On, Dir: Fellini, Federico

  913. Seventh Heaven, Dir: Borzage, Frank

  914. Magnolia, Dir: Anderson, Paul Thomas

  915. King of the Children, Dir: Chen Kaige

  916. Late Autumn, Dir: Ozu, Yasujiro

  917. Donnie Darko, Dir: Kelly, Richard

  918. Variety, Dir: Dupont, E.A.

  919. Bienvenido Mister Marshall, Dir: Berlanga, Luis García

  920. Luna, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  921. Little Foxes, The, Dir: Wyler, William

  922. Cutter's Way, Dir: Passer, Ivan

  923. Lessons of Darkness, Dir: Herzog, Werner

  924. Ryan's Daughter, Dir: Lean, David

  925. Female Trouble, Dir: Waters, John

  926. Bad Timing, Dir: Roeg, Nicolas

  927. Wild at Heart, Dir: Lynch, David

  928. Second Breath, Dir: Melville, Jean-Pierre

  929. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Dir: Lewin, Albert

  930. Song of Ceylon, Dir: Wright, Basil

  931. Pillow Book, The, Dir: Greenaway, Peter

  932. Italian Straw Hat, The, Dir: Clair, René

  933. Punch-Drunk Love, Dir: Anderson, Paul Thomas

  934. My Friend Ivan Lapshin, Dir: Gherman, Alexei

  935. Camille, Dir: Cukor, George

  936. Talk to Her, Dir: Almodóvar, Pedro

  937. Last of the Mohicans, The, Dir: Mann, Michael

  938. Arsenal, Dir: Dovzhenko, Alexander

  939. Sign of Leo, The, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  940. Spione, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  941. Samson and Delilah, Dir: DeMille, Cecil B.

  942. True Heart Susie, Dir: Griffith, D.W.

  943. Bellboy, The, Dir: Lewis, Jerry

  944. Heaven Can Wait, Dir: Lubitsch, Ernst

  945. Moonrise, Dir: Borzage, Frank

  946. Simon of the Desert, Dir: Buñuel, Luis

  947. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Dir: Donen, Stanley

  948. Tout va bien, Dir: Godard, Jean-Luc & Jean-Pierre Gorin

  949. Two English Girls, Dir: Truffaut, François

  950. Passion of Anna, The, Dir: Bergman, Ingmar

  951. Big Chill, The, Dir: Kasdan, Lawrence

  952. Scarlet Street, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  953. Lost in Translation, Dir: Coppola, Sofia

  954. Leaving Las Vegas, Dir: Figgis, Mike

  955. Maskerade, Dir: Forst, Willi

  956. Memento, Dir: Nolan, Christopher

  957. Letter to Three Wives, A, Dir: Mankiewicz, Joseph L.

  958. Far Country, The, Dir: Mann, Anthony

  959. Accident, Dir: Losey, Joseph

  960. Louisiana Story, Dir: Flaherty, Robert

  961. Z, Dir: Costa-Gavras, Constantin

  962. Lost Horizon, Dir: Capra, Frank

  963. Empire of the Sun, Dir: Spielberg, Steven

  964. Dark Eyes, Dir: Mikhalkov, Nikita

  965. Blast of Silence, Dir: Baron, Allen

  966. Central Station, Dir: Salles, Walter

  967. Short Film About Love, A, Dir: Kieslowski, Krszystof

  968. California Split, Dir: Altman, Robert

  969. Chikamatsu monogatari, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  970. Ladies' Man, The, Dir: Lewis, Jerry

  971. One, Two, Three, Dir: Wilder, Billy

  972. Man of Marble, Dir: Wajda, Andrzej

  973. Koyaanisqatsi, Dir: Reggio, Godfrey

  974. Strangers When We Meet, Dir: Quine, Richard

  975. Toute une nuit, Dir: Akerman, Chantal

  976. Bridges of Madison County, The, Dir: Eastwood, Clint

  977. Angel Face, Dir: Preminger, Otto

  978. Bells of St. Mary's, The, Dir: McCarey, Leo

  979. American Beauty, Dir: Mendes, Sam

  980. Ballad of Cable Hogue, The, Dir: Peckinpah, Sam

  981. Fort Apache, Dir: Ford, John

  982. Duellists, The, Dir: Scott, Ridley

  983. Four Friends, Dir: Penn, Arthur

  984. Straight Story, The, Dir: Lynch, David

  985. Sheltering Sky, The, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  986. White Shadows in the South Seas, Dir: Van Dyke II, W.S.

  987. Fury, Dir: Lang, Fritz

  988. Before the Revolution, Dir: Bertolucci, Bernardo

  989. Kanal, Dir: Wajda, Andrzej

  990. Chloe in the Afternoon, Dir: Rohmer, Eric

  991. People on Sunday, Dir: Siodmak, Robert & Edgar G. Ulmer

  992. You Can't Take it with You, Dir: Capra, Frank

  993. Bay of Angels, Dir: Demy, Jacques

  994. Time to Love and a Time to Die, A, Dir: Sirk, Douglas

  995. Dracula, Dir: Fisher, Terence

  996. Testament of Orpheus, Dir: Cocteau, Jean

  997. Toni, Dir: Renoir, Jean

  998. Forty Guns, Dir: Fuller, Sam

  999. My Love Has Been Burning, Dir: Mizoguchi, Kenji

  1000. Unknown, The, Dir: Browning, Tod
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Moving This Blog!

6/24/2009
This blog was an interface test for 1000 DVDs to See. We've decided to go with the ProBlogger template and converted that blog.

We're going to only post reviews there from now on, which includes movies, tv miniseries and shows, and live concerts - in short, anything available on dvd.

We will move some of these reviews, like the best 100, to our most popular site, Worlds Best Films, which is list-oriented, such as awards (US, British, Cannes, Venice, Hong Kong, Australia, Golden Globes) and genres (war, romance, comedy, westerns, etc.)

Please continue to visit those two and change any links from this site to 1000 Dvds. We may add a few more odd posts here but will discontinue posting the film reviews in two locations.

Thanks for the feedback on the templates! -- José Sinclair "El Presidenté"
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The Virgin Suicides

6/24/2009
Sofia Coppola, 1999 (7*)
I watched this film without knowing anything in advance, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Sofia Coppola's first film as director, and she co-wrote the screenplay.
This starts like most other teen infatuation films, a group of male high school friends ogles a group of five sisters, each born a year apart, each with her own charms. Kirsten Dunst will be the most recognizable actress and of course has the pivotal point in the plot. The parents are the strictly religious Kathleen Turner and her whipped-into-submission husband James Woods. For awhile, you think this will be a Peggie Sue Got Married sequel, which was directed by Francis, then it abrubtly grabs you by the throat when the youngest sister hurls herself onto a fence spike rather than face her first party.

Then you know Kathleen is not Peggy Sue, but more like Carrie's mother, and from that point on, the film is decidedly a drama about actions and consequences. In a way, it's like a modern Jane Austen family gone totally dysfunctional. The story by Jeffrey Eugenides from his novel has been filmed by Coppola in a non-preachy, low key style that leaves much to the audience, it will appear as deep or as shallow as the viewer's interpretation. Coppola co-wrote the screenplay, and father Francis Ford produced, but I think her direction here showed a lot of promise, and she won a few awards, mostly for first film or new filmmaker.
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The Assassination of Jesse James

6/21/2009
By the Coward Robert Ford
Andrew Dominik, 2007 (8*)
This is an account of the last days of Jesse James, from a novel by Ron Hansen. A bit slow, the film nevertheless has a leisurely grace and almost epic length, and with some stunning cinematography by Roger Deakins, becomes another in the line of recent elegaic westerns (The Claim, Open Range, Unforgiven).

Casey Affleck shines as the Ford brother who ultimatey shot Jesse James, and this film is really all about his life, as it continues after the incident. Brad Pitt is good as James, but Affleck is really the better actor in this, and garnered an Oscar® nomination, and several smaller awards as best supporting actor.

Director Dominik, in only his second film, evokes Terence Malick's Days of Heaven for style and pace. For me, down a star for length, 2 hrs would have been enough, and since his first film was Chopper, maybe next time he can find the middle ground with the title's length.
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Night of the Hunter

6/20/2009
Charles Laughton, 1955, bw (9*)
This is one of the creepiest, most spine-tingling films ever made, and the best from actor Robert Mitchum. Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton directed his one and only film and it's a film noir masterpiece. Mitchum plays a convict who finds out about a woman alone with her kids who may have money stashed from another criminal's robbery. When Mitchum gets out of prison, he poses as the most evil preacher in history, with 'love' and 'hate' tatooed on his hands, one letter per finger, and he tells the kids they go hand in hand. Mitchum actually seems semi-passionate about something in a film for once - money in this case.



A young Shelly Winters plays the mother, and Mitchum stops at nothing to terrorize her and the kids just to get the money, especially the kids (this is not for the squeamish!) This is full of eerie and unforgettable shots: a victim gently floating underwater in the current, an interior lit like to appear like a church (see above), and some dreamy yet nightmarish images of shadows creeping in the night. The only negative here is that Laughton didn't make any more films as director! One of the best black-and-white films made as well, nearly every shot is a work of art.

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The Reader

6/18/2009
Stephen Daldry, 2008 (9*)
This is Kate Winslett's finest performance in a stellar career, and was rewarded with her first Oscar® for best actress. She plays a woman, Hannah, whose spontaneous act of kindness to a sick teenager, Micheal, leads to his first love affair. Her favorite pastime when they are alone is to have Michael read classic literary works to her. Michael's life is changed by this women old enough to be his mother, yet she remains an enigma to him.

Later, at law school, he again crosses paths with Hannah, a defendant in an important legal case relating to the Holocaust, and certain facts are now obvious to him that only he knows. The film eventually includes Michael as an adult lawyer, played by Ralph Feinnes in a small but effective part. Kate Winslett shines throughout, making us understand this complex character, even if we cannot justify certain actions taken during wartime. The original novel by Bernhard Schlink was a favorite of mine, and director Stephen Daldry has done the novel justice, creating an intelligent and restrained of a deeply drawn female character, and her effect on the development of a young lawyer.

Unfortunately both producers Anthony Minghella and later Sydney Pollack passed away during the making of this film and never saw its completed form.


[Note: definitely an R for nude sex scenes]

For Kate Winslett's other best performances, check out: Heavenly Creatures, her first (directed by Peter Jackson), Finding Neverland (her favorite film of hers), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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The Wrestler

6/18/2009
Darren Aronofsky, 2008 (8*)
Golden Lion, Venice

This gritty film from Darren Aronofsky deservedly won Mickey Rourke many awards for actor in 2008, including the Golden Globe, but unfortunately not the Oscar. Its hard to imagine that he'll ever be better than this, and more than carries this powerful Aronofsky film about an over-the-hill wrestler now running into health problems from a career of drug abuse. Marisa Tomei also won many awards as supporting actress, but also not her second Oscar, as an aging exotic dancer in a bar, now being passed by for the younger girls. She and Randy (the Ram) strike up a believable friendship as both see some of themselves in the other.

This is another intimately personal film by Darren Aronofsky, which are usually about a character trying to make it through a tough life situation, and who are usually obsessed with one thing: drugs in Requiem for a Dream, math in Pi, brain research in The Fountain. In this case, Randy cannot see a life past the ring, it's all he's known for 20 years, and has no one in his life really but his fans. Not a pleasant story, but a realistic story on all counts, and you'll like it even if you aren't a wrestling fan, it's really about personal communication and character development. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Mickey Rourke won 14 awards for actor for this, Marisa Tomei won 7.
Awards Page at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1125849/awards
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Throne of Blood

6/17/2009
aka Spider's Web Castle
Akira Kurosawa, 1957, Japan, bw (8*)

This is actually another of the great Japanese director's early masterworks, it's not really a horror film in spite of the lurid title. Based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, Kurosawa made it entirely Japanese, building his castle on Mt. Fuji, and mixing elements of Japanese theater into the film. Kurosawa even trucked in the black volcanic soil of Fuji into the studio lot to film the castle interiors.

The story involves the castle of the title, surrounded by a maze-like forest that adds to its protection. One day while lost in this forest, two military leaders who are lifetime friends receive a prophecy from a ghost that leads them into their own web of power seeking and mistrust, as they are each to become castle lords themselves. No medieval Japanese film can avoid war, and this has some beautifully filmed battle sequences, once again using stark black-and-white cinematography to show the power of horses and soldiers in battle, much like his earlier classic The Seven Samurai.

His new favorite actor of the time, Toshiro Mifune, is featured in this one as well, though this film is not quite as artistic as Seven Samurai, it adheres to the Shakespearean story, so it's a bit more melodramatic and staged looking in comparison, though that's an honest cinematic interpretation of the play. With some haunting and huge-scale images, it's still a great example of the early Kurosawa style, and a worthy entry into the pantheon of Shakespeare transformed to film.
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Sleeping Dogs Lie

6/16/2009
Aka Stay
Bobcat Goldthwait, 2006 (7*)

Sometimes we do something we immediately regret, like Melinda Page Hamilton in this film, while alone at college with her dog. Later the question comes up, how honest and revealing do we need to be with those we love? This is such an outrageous premise, with some appropriately funny dialogue that when the final credits roll and you see written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, then it all makes perfect sense.

A Sundance grand jury prize award nominee (for drama), this film works first as a comedy, then as a romance-drama, mostly due to the engaging and believable performance of Hamilton, and Geoff Piersen as her father. A surprisingly original comedy in the days of the normal Hollywood tedium when dealing with romance, and also poignant in the right places. It was also a San Sebastian Film Festival nominee, and Hamilton was nominated for a Gotham award for breakthrough performance.

Original title was Stay, for all the festivals, now it’s Sleeping Dogs Lie on cable and dvd, but there are other films with that title. Stay, the link at Imdb
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The Kingdom

6/16/2009
Peter Berg, 2007 (7*)
This is a surprisingly good and timely action-adventure from actor-turned-director Peter Berg as it involves anti-US terrorism in the middle east. There are several gripping action sequences that will stand out from standard car chase fare. The film begins with a horrifying terrorist attack on a U.S. residents kids softball game in Saudi Arabia. After all the carnage, an FBI investigator stationed there is among the dead. The FBI in Washington wants to send its own team in to investigate, but it’s against US policy, inflaming an already tense situation.

Well, of course the team gets there or we’d have no story. Jamie Foxx is the leader, Chris Cooper the bomb expert (there's two Oscar® winners), Jennifer Garner the eye candy, a friend of the dead agent, and Jason Bateman the comic actor here misappropriately used for a serious and violent role. Richard Jenkins is his usual pro self in a small role as their FBI superior, Jeremy Piven is miscast as the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia – I kept expecting an agent style rant about growing balls from Ari on Entourage.

There’s an exciting freeway sequence, and an urban shootout that are both terrific, riveting and involving. They also had access to shoot in the royal palace of Dubai (or was it U.A.E.?), so all locations look very authentic. Of course the plot is a predictable, down a star for that, but the Arab acting of Ashraf Barhom, best in the film [Supporting Actor nomination maybe!], more than makes up for the John Wayne style of the Americans. Berg best to me is still Friday Night Lights.
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Valkyrie

6/14/2009
Bryan Singer, 2008 (9*)
Even if you know this story from high school history or reading William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (excellent if you like WW2 history), director Bryan Singer and screenplay authors Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander have made an excellent suspense film with a tightly woven story of an attempt to assassinate Hitler just after the D-Day invasion, July of 1944. You find yourself actually wondering what the outcome will be, as if perhaps plunged into an alternate history story.

The film begins with chief plotter Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) in North Africa, receiving battle injuries that would relegate him to a bureaucratic role for the remainder of the war. Along with many other Germans who could see Hitler destroying both Germany and all of Europe, they felt they owed it to humanity to forge a truce with the Allies immediately. These included men within the German army and the government, who began to covertly plot together, and it was no small conspiracy. Von Stauffenberg is brought into the group by superiors. The cast is excellent overall, especially Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht; other recognizable talents include Kenneth Branagh and Tom Wilkinson. Cruise is good enough, though a German actor may have been a better choice, he's just a little too American, better suited for Born on the Fourth of July, still his best role to date, receiving a best actor nomination.

Overall, an excellent suspense film, well-made, very authentic looking with just enough mix of plot development and action, while remaining pretty accurate to history. Singer is better at this type of film, like his The Usual Suspects, than the action films he's recently tackled; he's in his element again here.
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The Fountain

6/11/2009
Darren Aronofsky, 2006 (8*)
This is such a unique personal vision that it's really hard to describe, in a line: yet another mind-bending film from the talented vision of young director Darren Aronofsky. This, just his third feature film, followed Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), and preceded The Wrestler (2008). Aronofsky's films are intensely involved in each subject, usually involving a personal obsession, and The Fountain is no different. This ambitious story takes place in three distinctly different time periods: a 16th century knight’s quest for immortality for his queen, a modern day doctor searching for a cure for brain tumors (or cancer?) to save his wife, and a futuristic space traveler taking the Tree of Life to a dying star, in a mythical quest that is rarely seen in any genre.

Hugh Jackman plays the man on a mission is in each story, while the lady he lives for is Rachel Weisz. As his present-time wife, Izzi writes the story called The Fountain, which relates the story of the renaissance knight searching for a legendary tree of Mayan mythology, the tree of life that gives immortality to one who drinks its sap. These two stars make the film believable with their acting, but it’s Aronofky’s unrelenting vision that makes the movie both a science fiction-fantasy and a spiritual journey, perhaps the best such combination since 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968.

This unique and artistic film won’t be for all tastes, as no Aronofsky film to date has been, as he never compromises his personal vision for commerciality. I think this will make him one of the few current young directors that will rise above the crowd over time.
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In the Valley of Elah

6/09/2009
Paul Haggis, 2007 (8*)
This surprising mystery is a terrific small film that got absolutely no PR at all. It quietly slipped past most people apparently. Tommy Lee Jones turns in perhaps his finest performance, garnering a well-deserved Oscar nomination for best actor as a dad hunting for his AWOL son who's returned from Iraq and immediately disappeared. Charlize Theron is also excellent, in little makeup, brown hair pulled back in a bun, as a no nonsense police detective - also one of her best performances. Susan Sarandon doesn't have a lot to do in this, as the mother of the missing, Tommy Lee's wife, but still, an excellent cast of three Oscar winners!

This is a story that slowly unfolds yet remains engrossing. It's also a real mystery, the kind you don't often see anymore, as we normally know who the killer is, and when there's no mystery it becomes a crime/suspense story, such as The Silence of the Lambs. This one is not only very well made, but is based on a true story as well.

Note: in the same year, Jones was also up for best supporting actor in the best picture winner, No Country for Old Men
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The Memory Loss Tapes

6/03/2009
Shari Cookson and Nick Doob, 2009, HBO (10*)

The Memory Loss Tapes
is the first part of four films in the HBO series The Alzheimer’s Project, and it’s an extremely powerful documentary that touches on the most basic human emotions, those that flow naturally from love, caring, and mortality. The film was brilliantly constructed by producer-directors Shari Cookson and Nick Doob to slowly reveal the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s in seven different patients, and just as importantly, to show the families of each having to cope with different aspects of the disease.

The first patient, Bessie, has only mild symptoms, so we get to see her as a lively, outgoing, and funny person. She knows what’s coming eventually but is still enjoying every day to its fullest. Another patient, Fannie, is losing her ability to drive her car, and with it her independence. Joe keeps a blog of his decline and can feel his mind slipping away. Yolanda thinks her reflection is a new best friend. Woody can’t remember his wife but can still remember song lyrics and sing with his old group.
Josephine’s daughter has had to fence in her property to keep her mom from wandering away. The patients shown exemplify the progression of the disease by revealing their everyday reality.

The most gripping part of this film deals with someone in the final stages of life, and the devastating effect it has on his family. In a heart wrenching revelation, the man’s wife admits feeling selfish for wanting to keep her husband with her as long as she can, despite the fact that he has "no life."

I don’t think I’ve ever seen mortality treated so realistically or with as much impact in any film. For parents, I would warn you to either pre-screen this for your children, especially those under ten, or counsel them before viewing. It’s something we’ll all face, but it may be distressing for young viewers to actually see in reality.

The saddest part of this illness to me is that it robs its victims of their memories at a stage in life when these are likely their most cherished possession. As a child, we would visit my great-grandmother in her nursing home, but she never remembered who we were, and she lived to be ninety-nine. I would have loved to have heard her stories that began around 1870, and just imagine the century she was able to witness.

Hopefully this film will instill a desire in many to become healers or medical researchers, and bring an understanding of the heavy cost of all terminal illnesses on the families and friends of the patients. We should all be aware now that new biotech research is necessary to cure this and similarly debilitating illnesses, and that money wasted on destructive goals is being diverted from these more humane purposes.

Many elderly patients don’t have any remaining family, as I found out when my mom was in a nursing home with Parkinson’s. Many eat alone and never have visitors, something we should never allow to happen. Visit as many of these people as you can, their smiles will be the best reward you’ll ever receive.

The Memory Loss Tapes should receive a handful of well-deserved Emmy nominations, and some awards. It's technically superb, emotionally powerful, and for me is one of the best TV documentaries ever made.

Producer-director Shari Cookson at IMDB
Producer-director Nick Doob at IMDB

[Though not yet on DVD, I'm reviewing this here in the hope that people will watch it on HBO or from their website: Click here for the HBO Link, and all episodes can be streamed from here as well.]

The Alzheimer's Organization is at http://www.alz.org/

Patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s can visit Icara Study to see if they might be eligible to enroll. [Thanks to Tracy for this]
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Close-Up

6/02/2009
aka Nema-ye Nazdik
Abbas Kiarostami, 1990, Iran (7*)
This is a small, sub low-budget pseudo-documentary that has much of the story re-enacted by the original participants. It involves the true story of an unemployed Iranian family man, Ali Sabzian, who impersonates a director he idolizes, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (director of "The Cyclist", the film he admires). Meeting another fan on a bus, he gains entrance to a middle-class family's home, eventually asking for money. Becoming suspicious, the family patriarch arranges to have him arrested when he returns to their house.

We join the story there, following a journalist, then later the director of this film, Abbas Hiarostami, as they interview the accused, then Iranian court officials, who decide to let them film the trial. (or was it re-enacted?) Iran, opening up its primitive legal system to journalists with cameras - what's wrong with this story?

It would be a touching story otherwise, but I can't separate myself from the locale and the Iranian regime. This is not an earth-moving case either, mere hero worship and impersonation, perhaps for financial game, as the man has a family to feed. Just about anyone would perpetrate a minor scam if it could feed their kids at the expense of those apparently well-off, and who would blame him. You feel for the criminal in this (his real crime is just poverty), who appears remorseful, as they all do when caught. I don't buy his self-proclaimed innocence in court myself, but then I'm from the nation with the most laws, most prisoners, most lawyers, most time spent in court in the world!

I wasn't as moved as most critics: the film quality is very poor, the sound perfectly awful, the worst I've ever heard. At times it vibrates into unrecognition, in one scene with director Makhmalbaf, it cuts on and off from his remote microphone, some dialogue being lost entirely. (see El Mariachi for a great example of low-budget excellence, so it can be done, and all in single takes)

I'm convinced this movie was Iranian propaganda. They let Kiarostami film in court because this case meant nothing - were any journalists allowed in Roxanne Saberi's so-called trial? I don't buy the veracity of this film, so it loses it's power without the viewer buying the premise. It's an interesting window into a closed regime, even if a cloudy, poorly made one, so in that regard it's worth seeing, just don't expect any decent production values, but the positive is some openly displayed emotions in a raw and human docudrama.
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In Bruges

5/29/2009
Martin McDonagh, 2008 (9*)
This is a thoroughly enjoyable and creative black crime 'dramedy' (more drama than humor), about two affable hit men hiding out in Bruges, Belgium, the best preserved medieval city in Europe. Rookie director Martin McDonagh got the idea for this film while visiting the city once, and the two characters represent his own split feelings about the town: beautiful and historic on one hand, then boring when that becomes the everyday routine. In two terrific performances, Brendan Gleeson is the older, wiser hit man who enjoys touring the historic town, while Colin Farrell, new to the profession, is bored, anxious, and needs more excitement, more booze, more anything.

The pair quickly discover a film being shot in the streets and befriend both a dwarf actor, who's a funny character, and a crew member, the sensual Clemence Poesy, who offers Farrell just the escape he needs. The film begins slowly but escalates into violence, especially after boss Ralph Fiennes shows up, it's a dark comedy until then. In Bruges is really a film noir with some humor, and lots of swearing. The supporting cast from the hotel owner (Thekla Reuten) to a rude Canadian (Zeljko Ivanek, Emmy-winner for Damages) are all excellent.

The film has some artistic and even surreal moments, magically filmed. When you consider all the elements involved: a town as co-star, a dwarf in a surrealist film, drug-dealing con-artists, a hit on a priest, a kid-loving mobster - this turns out to be quite a unique script from McDonagh. Farrell won the Golden Globe for actor in a comedy (I think his most versatile performance to date, tho' Home at the End of the World was probably more difficult), and Gleeson (brilliant!) was nominated, as their onscreen chemistry was hilarious. Gleeson's performance is actually the more polished and professional, he's done this often. McDonagh's Oscar-nominated screenplay won several international awards, including the BAFTA®, for which the movie was nominated for Best British film.

Be sure to watch all the bonus shorts on the dvd, especially one with all the F-word outtakes from the whole movie, there's certainly over a hundred!
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Ugetsu

5/28/2009
Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953, Japan, bw (9*)
This is one of the greatest Japanese cinema classics, in spite of some exaggerated acting. Moody, atmospheric, bewitching, with music to match, you'll be mesmerized by the beautiful visuals and the camera of director Kenji Mizoguchi which seems to always be in motion. The story is about some village peasants in war-torn 16th century Japan. A farmer who also is a potter (Machiko Kyo) for extra income must flee an army with his wares to sell them in a nearby city, accompanied by another couple from the village. This begins an excursion into ambition, desire, and delusion with unforeseen consequences.

The story's plot has some unexpected twists, so it is hard to describe without spoilers; suffice to say that this is perhaps the best Japanese film after Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. Many consider Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff his masterpiece, but I much prefer this one. It reminds me of the German expressionists, like Murnau and Lang, with perhaps less surrealism and a more modern camera technique, which appears to be often on a moving crane. Fans of classic cinema should love this one, which is a masterwork of modern fables. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
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Man on Wire

5/24/2009
James Marsh, 2008 (7*)
Best Documentary (AA)

[Note: it's hard to be a spoiler here, it's on the dvd cover and the film description.. plus it's well documented history by this point]

This was an amazing event in 1974, and James Marsh has done an admirable job in assembling the story from the present day to re-create a documentary looking backwards. He's used the technique of interspersing interviews with the participants with documentary footage, similar to the style Warren Beatty perfected in Reds, and taken to its extreme by Ken Burns, best used in his Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball series for PBS. All that said, this may have had more impact if released either in 1975, or in 2002.

Philippe Petit is a French tightrope walker who liked to dazzle crowds and thumb his nose at authority by doing things like walking between the two towers of Notre Dame. He has to prepare these events at night when no one can see, then perform in the daylight to the delight of people below, then go to his expected arrest and public scolding. When he saw the plans of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, he became obsessed with walking between them when they were near completion.

Marsh carefully re-constructs the story leading up to the final event and tries to add as much drama as possible, but such an event is hardly earth-shattering in light of the events of 9/11, which oddly are never mentioned here. This is more in the realm of Cirque de Soleil, which is dazzling and athletic entertainment, this performance carrying a bit more risk of death than usual but as Philippe begins the film being interviewed from the present day, we already know the outcome from the beginning. However, this is a well-crafted film by Marsh and won the Oscar® for best documentary of 2008.
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