This is my list. Why isn’t “High and Low,” “Some Like it Hot,” “Gone With the Wind” or a hundred other movies not on this list? Well they could be. I just picked my favourites at this moment in time. My main criteria in selecting films: Is this an excellent movie and do I love it? An excellent film translates to, excellent writing, acting, costumes, story, directing, music, etc. I tend to like strange and arty stuff that will sometimes leave you with nothing but questions. That said, I’m also drawn towards films filled with interesting characters and have a strong narrative. This is a list of 205 films I love and hope you will find some you love too.
I recognize there are short comings to my list: there are a lot of films from white men here, mostly English speaking. This is because these are the films which have dominated my viewing experience throughout my lifetime. I continue to seek out diverse voices and maybe this list will change (likely) in the future.
This list does include female directors, gay directors, black directors, and Jewish directors. Directors who are American, Mexican, Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, British, Australian, New Zealanders, German, South African, Russian, French, Italian, Pakistani, and Danish. The bottom line is, no matter the background of the people, they all have made these wonderful films.
If you watch one a week, you will be done in just under four years. One a month, just under 17 years. Time to get moving! Listed in alphabetical order
1. 12 Angry Men (1957)
2. 1900 (1976)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
4. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
5. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
6. Airplane! (1980)
7. Alien (1979)
8. Amadeus (1984)
9. Amarcord (1973)
10. Amélie (2001)
11. American Honey (2016)
12. Amores Perros (2001)
13. Anora (2024)
14. Apocalypse Now (1979)
15. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022)
16. Barfly (1987)
17. Beau is Afraid (2023)
18. Beautiful Girls (1996)
19. Bird (2024)
20. Blade Runner (1982)
21. Blonde (2022)
22. Blood Simple (1984)
23. Blue Ruin (2013)
24. Blue Velvet (1986)
25. Braveheart (1995)
26. Brazil (1985)
27. Breaking the Waves (1996)
28. Bridesmaids (2011)
29. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
30. Buffalo ’66 (1998)
31. Casablanca (1942)
32. Cast Away (2000)
33. Citizen Kane (1941)
34. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
35. Coraline (2009)
36. Cremaster 3 (2002)
37. Dances With Wolves (1990)
38. Das Boot (1981)
39. Dead Poet’s Society (1989)
40. Dead Ringers (1988)
41. Deliverance (1972)
42. District 9 (2009)
43. Do the Right Thing (1989)
44. Don’t Breathe (2016)
45. Down by Law (1986)
46. Dr. No (1962)
47. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
48. Dracula (1931)
49. Dragged Across Concrete (2018)
50. Dream Scenario (2023)
51. Drive (2011)
52. Easy Rider (1969)
53. Ed Wood (1994)
54. Eddington (2025)
55. Enter the Dragon (1973)
56. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
57. Fargo (1996)
58. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
59. Fight Club (1999)
60. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
61. Frankenstein (1931)
62. Free Solo (2018)
63. Garden State (2004)
64. Goldfinger (1964)
65. Good Time (2017)
66. Good Will Hunting (1997)
67. Goodfellas (1990)
68. Groundhog Day (1993)
69. Halloween (1978)
70. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
71. Harold and Maude (1971)
72. Heat (1995)
73. Heredity (2018)
74. Hoosiers (1986)
75. In the Bedroom (2001)
76. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
77. Inception (2010)
78. Into the Void (2019)
79. Into the Wild (2007)
80. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
81. Jaws (1975)
82. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)
83. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
84. Joyland (2022)
85. Jurassic Park (1993)
86. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
87. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
88. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
89. La Femme Nikita (1990)
90. Léolo (1992)
91. Life is Beautiful (1997)
92. Looper (2012)
93. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
94. Maelstrom (2000)
95. Mandy (2018)
96. Match Point (2005)
97. Memento (2000)
98. Men (2022)
99. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
100. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
101. Misery (1990)
102. Mob Land (2023)
103. Mud (2013)
104. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
105. No Country for Old Men (2007)
106. North by Northwest (1959)
107. On the Waterfront (1954)
108. One Battle After Another (2025)
109. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next (1975)
110. Paper Moon (1973)
111. Parasite (2019)
112. Paris, Texas (1984)
113. Paterson (2016)
114. Platoon (1986)
115. Poltergeist (1982)
116. Poor Things (2023)
117. Pretty Woman (1990)
118. Primer (2004)
119. Psycho (1960)
120. Pulp Fiction (1994)
121. Pusher (1996)
122. Pusher 2 (2004)
123. Pusher 3 (2005)
124. Raging Bull (1980)
125. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
126. Rain Man (1988)
127. Rear Window (1954)
128. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
129. Rocky (1976)
130. Run Lola Run (1998)
131. Santa Sangria (1989)
132. Schindler’s List (1993)
133. Scream (1996)
134. Seven Samurai (1954)
135. Short Cuts (1993)
136. Sideways (2004)
137. Smile (2022)
138. Solaris (1972)
139. Stalker (1979)
140. Star Wars – A New Hope (1977)
141. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
142. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
143. Talk to Me (2022)
144. Taxi Driver (1976)
145. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
146. The Accountant (2016)
147. The Apartment (1960)
148. The Big Short (2015)
149. The Breakfast Club (1985)
150. The Conjuring (2013)
151. The Creator (2023)
152. The Deer Hunter (1978)
153. The Exorcist (1973)
154. The French Connection (1971)
155. The Godfather (1972)
156. The Godfather Part II (1974)
157. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)
158. The Great Escape (1963)
159. The Holy Mountain (1973)
160. The Hustler (1961)
161. The Killer (1989)
162. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
163. The Last Detail (1973)
164. The Last Duel (2021)
165. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
166. The Matrix (1999)
167. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
168. The Player (1992)
169. The Princess Bride (1987)
170. The Raid 2 (2014)
171. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
172. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
173. The Shining (1980)
174. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
175. The Silent Partner (1978)
176. The Sixth Sense (1999)
177. The Social Network (2010)
178. The Substance (2024)
179. The Terminator (1984)
180. The Third Man (1949)
181. The Wailing (2016)
182. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
183. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
184. Thelma & Louise (1991)
185. This is 40 (2012)
186. Titanic (1997)
187. Tombstone (1993)
188. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
189. Unbreakable (2000)
190. Uncut Gems (2020)
191. Unforgiven (1992)
192. Up (2009)
193. Us (2019)
194. Vertigo (1958)
195. Weapons (2025)
196. When Harry Meet Sally (1989)
197. Whiplash (2014)
198. Wild at Heart (1990)
199. Wings of Desire (1987)
200. Withnail & I (1987)
201. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
202. Woodstock (1970)
203. You Can Count on Me (2000)
204. Zodiac (2007)
205. Zombie (1979)
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