The Mighty Rhino’s personal top 100 favourite films
Cataloguing at least 23 years of cinephilia.
My brain is addicted to making lists of things I love, and it said to me, “Hey Rhino, you should make a list of your favourite films, even though you've seen too few true masterpieces for it to be anything other than pathetic by the standards of true cinephilia!” SO THAT'S WHAT I DID.
CONTENT NOTE that several of the films on this list, and several more in the honourable mentions section, were made by, or else feature in acting roles, people who have done terrible things in their personal lives, because I do not forbid myself to engage with good art made by people who have done terrible things. I don't forbid myself to listen to musical artists like Nas, Cee-Lo, Mystikal, T.I., or Z-Ro either – nor, for that matter, James Brown or Jackie Wilson or Ray Charles or David Bowie or Led Zeppelin or John Lennon or Paul Simon or The Mamas and the Papas or Michael Jackson. I don't claim the moral high ground, any more than I do in choosing not to be a vegan; I think vegans are absolutely 100% correct about the fact that non-human animals have souls, and that the correct thing to do is not to eat them. I simply lack the intestinal fortitude to make that choice. I think this matter is slightly more morally complicated than that one, but not by much; I'm on the wrong side of an issue because I need to be, as far as I can tell, and that's the end of it. I refuse to debate the matter publicly. Privately, you can rip into me all you like, and I'll respond as far as the limits of my intellect and my patience allow.
NOW! On to the list!
1. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
The best-written and best-acted film I’ve ever seen – gripping, wrenching, entirely devastating. Peyman Moaadi’s performance in the lead is rivalled only by Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom as the single greatest dramatic screen acting performance I’ve ever seen. He deserved to win every single leading male acting award for which he was eligible in the entire international film business.
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
I love this film so much that I get together with a friend who loves it as much as I do to watch it on Zoom roughly once every six weeks. Everything about it is so richly pleasurable that I could go on about it for hours. It’s a crime that neither Ralph Fiennes’ performance in this film nor David Oyelowo’s performance in Selma were nominated for that year‘s Best Actor Oscar. I also absolutely love the performances by Mathieu Amalric, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Waris Ahluwalia, and Willem Dafoe, to name a few of the very many actors who smash their performances to pieces. (25, by my count!)
3. The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997)
No film has ever mesmerized me quite like this one. The acting achievements by Bruce Greenwood, my longtime crush Sarah Polley, and the late Ian Holm are absolutely titanic, but it’s worth noting that David Hemblen, Earl Pastko, Tom McCamus, Arsinée Khanjian, Maury Chaykin, and Gabrielle Rose match the three bigger stars step for step – each character indelibly rendered, the cumulative portrait of a community wracked by grief almost too emotionally raw and excruciating to bear or contemplate.
4. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)
Dazzling, swoon-worthy romance. I fell in love with this movie from the very first moments. The sequels are also superb.
5. In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)
Lush, sorrowful, intoxicating, tantalizing, sumptuously shot and edited, note-perfect. Tony Leung Chiu Wai for mayor.
6. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Anyone who doesn’t particularly care for classic “Golden Era” Hollywood films and remains unmoved by this staggering triumph has no taste.
7. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
I barely understand what this film is trying to do, but I will never forget how transfixed I was by it.
8. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
Lars von Trier is probably something resembling an evil person, but holy shit, what a drama! Nicole Kidman’s performance in this might be the greatest performance I’ve ever seen by a female screen actor. Patricia Clarkson, Stellan Skarsgård, and Paul Bettany do award-worthy work in this film too, and Željko Ivanek, Chloë Sevigny, Ben Gazzara, and Lauren Bacall all make powerful contributions as well. And this one builds to a moment so searing and excruciating that it’s difficult just to think about, even though it packs an emotional wallop like few other things I’ve ever seen.
9. Truly, Madly, Deeply (Anthony Minghella, 1990)
Another dazzling romance, this time with a deep undercurrent of sadness. Every performance is outstanding, and the moments of ecstasy in this one, fleeting though they may be, are so potent that I want to dance for joy just thinking about them.
10. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2014)
Wow, what a stunning drama, and what a moving character study, and what a magnificent central performance by Marion Cotillard!
11. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
A towering achievement, not least in the realm of the editing by Barry Alexander Brown and the musical score by Terence Blanchard. The cast is also perfect – a blistering Edward Norton, a rueful Philip Seymour Hoffman, a fiery Anna Paquin, a charming Rosario Dawson, a phenomenal Barry Pepper, and, perhaps especially, my main man Brian Cox, one of the living and working actors I most treasure. And I will never forgive the fact that this magisterial directorial achievement by Spike Lee got almost completely ignored. This is a near-perfect film.
12. Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)
This thing is an emotional avalanche! I will be angry at the Academy for not nominating Timothy Spall and for allowing anyone other than Brenda Blethyn to win forever.
13. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022)
My first viewing of this one was deeply disturbing and upsetting – I didn’t enjoy the experience, except for the brief interludes involving stunning music, although there’s always my chronic inability not to appreciate extraordinary performances – in this case, the stricken hangdog mien of Colin Farrell as an inveterate dope, the steely charisma of Brendan Gleeson as the man who becomes his enemy, the beady-eyed intensity of Barry Keoghan as a second dunce, and the preternatural loveliness and grace of the great Kerry Condon, alternating sweetness and exasperation. All that said, the film rose significantly in my estimation on second viewing, as I realized that the bits that had earlier troubled me (mostly canned anti-clericalism and some troublesome overkill involving a minor character who is an evil cop) are incidental, whereas its many pleasures are lasting and profound. McDonagh’s sensibility is darker and nastier than I’m used to, but this film still possesses a striking cumulative power.
14. The Man Who Wasn't There (Joel Coen, 2001)
Another film of which my understanding is imperfect, but it’s so compelling that I don’t care. Tony Shalhoub’s performance is one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.
15. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
This thing knocked me on my ass.
16. Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)
Quite simply some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching a movie. I’ve seen it about 15 times, and I could happily sit down in front of it again this instant if you asked me to. Toni Collette’s work is priceless.
17. LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
I love everything about this one, even the much-maligned ending. Shoutout to David Strathairn, ripping it to pieces in a small role. Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce also stomp this – they have lots of chemistry together. Guy Pearce should be much more successful and revered than he has yet been.
18. Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh, 1998)
This thing is ridiculously dope. It’s also packed to the gills with superb performances by people like George Clooney, Ving Rhames, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, the late great Dennis Farina, and Steve Zahn. It’s got a banger of a script by Scott Frank – as good an Elmore Leonard adaptation as you could imagine. Deeply pleasurable, right on down to the music supervision.
19. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019)
This one is imperfect, but I also think it’s authentically feminist, and a triumph of expertly modulated direction. Also, it made me weep like a baby in the arms of a good friend of mine for 20 minutes after it was over, so there’s that.
20. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 1986)
This film is a total smash, especially everything in it that involves my beloved Max von Sydow. Very rich Michael Caine performance, too.
21. Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1991)
Jack Lemmon once called this the greatest ensemble cast he ever worked with, and I fuckin’ believe him.
22. Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
Widely and justly acknowledged as a masterpiece. I want to be Ossie Davis or Giancarlo Esposito when I grow up.
23. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
The film that ignited my cinephilia. I’ll never forget how it felt to watch it for the first time and understand that my life had changed forever.
24. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
I am so very profoundly grateful that this film got made. John Malkovich himself should’ve won a boatload of awards for his magnificently funny performance.
25. Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017)
I’ve seen this one about a dozen times. Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Tracy Letts are all perfect beyond perfection in it. If not for the ending, this would be in my top ten.
26. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
I absolutely love this imperfect but madly endearing film, especially the delightful supporting performance by the great Issey Ogata. Yang’s deeply humane sensibility means a lot to me – I’m still heartbroken that he’s gone.
27. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
A very effective Douglas Sirk pastiche, but also just a very plainly moving drama with performances by Julianne Moore, Dennis Haysbert, Viola Davis, Patricia Clarkson, and Dennis Quaid that are all part of my personal “greatest acting I’ve had the good fortune to see” canon. The musical score by Elmer Bernstein and the cinematography by Edward Lachman are also extraordinary achievements, and they only make the film richer.
28. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
I will never understand the people who think this is lesser Scorsese. It’s mesmerizing, and Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone rip it to shreds.
29. I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)
One of the films I personally find funniest, with an especially memorable performance by the great and wonderful Isabelle Huppert. Bonus points for Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Altagracia Guzmán, and a hilarious Mark Wahlberg performance.
30. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
Deeply heartfelt and profoundly moving. I also have it on good authority that my late mother loved this film. I feel like I commune with her spirit when I think of it.
31. Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
Carlo Battisti delivers one of the most powerful performances the cinema will ever know.
32. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
I barely understand what’s going on in this one, but it’s magnificently compelling.
33. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
Nolan has had his ups and downs in the years since, but everyone who believes this movie is a masterpiece has always been precisely correct. Shoutout to Joe Pantoliano! Shoutout to Stephen Tobolowsky!
34. High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1963)
I was blown away by how many things this film succeeds at doing at once. It’s an engrossing police procedural, a powerful melodrama, a superb ensemble piece, and a strident and troubling sociological study. Some of the actors who render indelible performances are Kenjiro Ishiyama, Kamatari Fujiwara, Ejirō Tōno, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and the great Toshiro Mifune.
35. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
I only needed to see this one once, but it’s stunning.
36. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
I can’t stomach the exceptionally violent bits, but I can’t deny how galvanizing and electrifying this film is.
37. You Can Count On Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000)
Speaking of Laura Linney, her work here is one of the most magnificent performances it will ever be my privilege to see. Mark Ruffalo stomps it, too. This film is also beautifully written and profoundly affecting – Theo Panayides, a Greek Cypriot film critic who no longer publishes his work anywhere that is readily accessible on the internet but whom I consider one of the most brilliant minds ever to write about the cinema semiprofessionally, has written movingly and persuasively about the way Lonergan recognizes the full, three-dimensional humanity of even the tiniest supporting characters and treats them with compassion and grace. That’s my main takeaway from this one.
38. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)
Jeff Daniels acts his fucking face off in this, and Laura Linney acts hers off, too.
39. Blue Collar (Paul Schrader, 1978)
A gratifyingly complex and thorny film, featuring extraordinary performances by Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto. Mike D’Angelo has commented intelligently on how the “credible, sorrowful impasse” this film reaches reminds him of The Wire, which is exactly right.
40. The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson, 2021)
An odd little curio of a film, but one which packed a king hell emotional wallop for me on second viewing; every emotional beat paid off and rewarded me in spades, and the performances by Jeffrey Wright, Benicio Del Toro, Stephen Park, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, and Lois Smith all positively demand to be cherished. I am generally none too keen on Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, or Bill Murray, but all four of them do very fine work in this film as well. If the middle segment of the film were stronger, this one would rank even higher – I strongly disagree with the many who seem to think it’s one of Anderson’s lesser films.
41. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
What Steve Buscemi does here is probably a top five screen acting performance for me. There’s a lived-in, hangdog quality to his performance that makes it a seismic emotional powerhouse for me, a joy I’m able to relive every time I even so much as think about the existence of this film. This is also the film that turned me into a fan of Bob Balaban, whose performance is quietly moving. And I think quite well of the way the film deals with the decay of the friendship between the characters played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson. Overall, it’s a singular and rich and intelligent vision, and I find it very meaningful.
42. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
There are some peripheral plot points in this film that I don’t connect with emotionally to the same degree as I do to the lion’s share of it, but wow, Gene Hackman kills this! So does Gwyneth Paltrow! Holy fuck! I also cherish the performances by Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, and the late and justly beloved Kumar Pallana. Really, though, the meat of this one is a Gene Hackman performance so stunning that I’m still surprised and chagrined it wasn’t nominated for an Oscar.
43. The Pledge (Sean Penn, 2001)
The most important aspect of this one for me is the abundance of very powerful cameo performances by people like Helen Mirren, Mickey Rourke, Benicio Del Toro, Michael O’Keefe, and Patricia Clarkson, who achieve something very similar to what the magnificent ensemble of The Sweet Hereafter do in that they paint a compelling portrait of communal grief and suffering. Pair that with a towering Jack Nicholson performance, and you have an enduringly powerful film which deserves to be held in much higher esteem by the wider community of cinephiles than it appears to be.
44. Lantana (Ray Lawrence, 2001)
A thrilling and somber Australian chamber drama, drenched in atmosphere, with a leading performance by Anthony LaPaglia so staggeringly brilliant that he deserved for room to be made for him to be nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, even amid the unusually crowded field of that year. This is also the film that introduced me to the veteran Australian actors Daniella Farinacci and Vince Colosimo, both of whom excel in it. And Geoffrey Rush and Barbara Hershey, playing characters wracked by emotional anguish, both somehow turn benumbed somnambulance into a virtue. This is one of the films in which case there exists the widest gap between how revered I believe it should be and the number of people who have seen it, let alone seem to like it.
45. The Widow of St. Pierre (Patrice Leconte, 2001)
A subdued and artful melodrama, buttressed by a magnificent troika of performances by Juliette Binoche, the outstanding French leading man Daniel Auteuil (O how I long for him to get nominated for an Oscar someday!), and, in a rare acting role, the deliberately slovenly Serbian film director Emir Kusturiça, whose work in this is deeply affecting.
46. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
Heartfelt, realistic, complex, moving.
47. Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000)
I’ll never forget the seismic impact this searing melodrama had on me when I first saw it, especially given the titanic performance by Emilio Echevarría.
48. Songs From The Second Floor (Roy Andersson, 2000)
This mournful absurdist tone poem just… rules.
49. Adaptation. (Spike Jonze, 2002)
Roughly as good and as hilarious as everyone said it was at the time, with performances by Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, and Nicolas Cage that have stayed with me.
50. Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)
This one is a pure blast, maintaining a delightfully jocular tone without ever coming across as a trifle and making fine use of the comic talents of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, the late Carl Reiner, and the late Bernie Mac, plus a jazzy score by David Holmes that deserved major awards recognition it didn’t get.
51. State and Main (David Mamet, 2000)
Mike D’Angelo rightly compared the comedy in this one to the height of Preston Sturges’ achievements in the 1940s. One of the funniest screenplays I know of.
52. Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen, 1990)
Virtually everything about this mordant noir works for me. Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Steve Buscemi, and J.E. Freeman do outstanding work. In particular, this Turturro performance belongs in the acting hall of fame.
53. Naked (Mike Leigh, 1993)
I still haven’t gotten over the emotional shellacking of this one. It’s quite possible that I never will. David Thewlis, Lesley Sharpe, Claire Skinner, and the late and astounding Katrin Cartlidge go the fuck in. I have some minor reservations about the film’s portrayal of rape, and it’s dark enough that I don’t know that I’d be prepared to sit through it again, even though I think about the Thewlis and Cartlidge performances almost every day; that said, it’s certainly something close to a masterpiece, and it was in the top 50 proper for quite a long time before I moved it down – I may yet move it back at some point.
54. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
I have no idea why so many people don’t like this movie. I think it’s reasonably philosophically sophisticated, and I also find it incredibly compelling and entertaining. My only minor reservations, involve the treatment of the character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Afford that specific character slightly more agency, and maybe choose to be a little less stereotypical in the portrayal of some of the secondary villains, and this film would be something close to perfect, at least according to me. I go back and forth regarding whether I think this genuinely terrifying performance or his heartrending work in Brokeback Mountain (a film I love, and one which misses this list by only a few slots) represents the zenith of the late and extraordinary Heath Ledger’s career, but either way, I don’t think it can be denied that he was a magnificent actor and represented a tremendous loss. I also dearly miss the great Tiny Lister, who gets such a gorgeous and moving moment in this one.
55. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)
A truly brilliant noir.
56. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
The people who have been going on about how incredible this film is for almost 80 years now are right. It’s pretty brilliant start to finish. I especially love Edward G. Robinson’s contribution.
57. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson, 2023)
This one is so dry that it might have seemed staid in lesser hands, but it’s clever and hilarious and full of quietly affecting moments. Jeffrey Wright continues to be a productive collaborator in Andersen’s ensembles, but he’s only one of many who shine bright here. Maya Hawke also gets some lovely line readings in there. Best of all: Three adorable triplet girls who damn near steal the picture!
58. White Oleander (Peter Kosminsky, 2002)
Just a powerhouse of a melodrama, with devastatingly powerful performances by Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Robin Wright.
59. Hustle & Flow (Craig Brewer, 2005)
As a semiprofessional rapper, there are very few films I find more pleasurable to watch than this one. Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Taryn Manning, DJ Qualls, Paula Jai Parker, and Anthony Anderson are all actors I treasure, and all of them do wonderful work in this film. It’s simplistic and predictable, but it’s also fundamentally warm and loveable, and the ensemble acting performance is so terrific that every emotional moment works beautifully.
60. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1996)
I don’t remember much about what this one “means”, so to speak, but I know that I had a hell of a good time watching it, especially because of the dry wit of the great Gary Farmer.
61. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)
Perhaps a little bit too mannered for me now, but still emotionally potent, with a mournful and rueful performance by Bill Murray and a strikingly graceful one by Olivia Williams.
62. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
I’m sensitive to the criticism that Patrick Fugit’s protagonist is bland and passive, but pretty much everything else about this film works really well for me, especially the very flavourful supporting performances by Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
63. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
Definitely one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theatre – it transported me into its world straight away, and had the other two films been as good, I would never have wanted to leave. They are not, alas, but this one is still stuffed to the gills with intriguing adventure, and features performances by Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood, John Rhys-Davies, and the late Ian Holm that are about as good as I could ever imagine the acting work in a fantasy epic could be.
64. Heist (David Mamet, 2001)
One of the films I have the most fun watching, with Mamet’s trademark acerbic dialogue and iconic performances by Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, the late Ricky Jay, and, above all, Delroy Lindo, whose performance in this is so dope at every single moment that I genuinely believe he deserved a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, despite the relatively low-stakes nature of the film.
65. The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015)
A very fine, intelligent, underrated film, featuring superb ensemble acting and an uncommonly thoughtful script. Replace Donald Glover with a slightly less annoying actor, and this film would probably rank even higher. In particular, I would credit Chiwetel Ejiofor for a remarkably nuanced and emotionally potent performance in a relatively small role.
66. Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
Densely plotted, cleverly conceived, and acted the shit out of by an all-time great ensemble. Shoutout to Kelly Macdonald for being especially winsome in this one, but everyone from Helen Mirren and Michael Gambon to Emily Watson and Clive Owen to Eileen Atkins and Jeremy Northam to Bob Balaban, Maggie Smith, and the late Alan Bates gets busy.
67. Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, 2007)
I have a lot of respect for those whose opinions of George Clooney are mixed or negative, but he tends to star in films I enjoy watching, and I think he is charismatic, intelligent, and talented – a force for good in the world, for the most part. I appreciate that in this tense and compelling drama, he expends a lot of energy to make sure that Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton are able to shine alongside him. I remember that the film critic Michael Sicinski, whom I very much admire, lamented at the time that, as a lifelong Swinton fanatic, he thought this was an uncommonly poor Swinton performance, but I like it a lot, and I’m glad she won the Oscar; she is one of the treasures of the cinema, and I like the sense of flustered, pained brokenness and anguish she brings to this character. As for Mr. Wilkinson, he is one of my ten or fifteen favourite actors ever to breathe, and this magnificent performance of his is second in his filmography only to his towering masterpiece of a performance in In The Bedroom, and it’s one of the greatest performances I’ve ever been privileged to see.
68. Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2008)
John Malkovich and Brad Pitt deliver two of the funniest performances I’ve ever seen in this dagger-sharp and hilarious film.
69. The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)
I’m still nursing the emotional wounds from this one. Brooklynn Kimberly Prince, Bria Vinaite, and Willem Dafoe all deliver stunning performances – Dafoe should’ve won the Oscar!
70. Breaking The Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
Almost unspeakably wrenching, with a jaw-dropping performance by Emily Watson and stunning ones by Stellan Skarsgård and the late, eternally glorious Katrin Cartlidge.
71. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
Much of the material in this one involving John Goodman’s “thundering grotesque”, to quote Mike D’Angelo’s apt descriptor, doesn’t work for me, which explains why this film isn’t ranked much higher. Jeff Bridges’ performance is iconic and works beautifully from first moment to last.
72. Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
This madcap caper boasts fine ensemble acting and a memorably antic sensibility. Brad Pitt, Lennie James, Alan Ford, Rade Šerbedžija, Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro, and the late great Dennis Farina all get busy.
73. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
I love Mizoguchi’s stately yet wounded sensibility!
74. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
The changed critical consensus that accompanied the re-evaluation of this film has not been kind to it, but I happen to agree with the people who loved it when it first came out. Every single performance fucking slays – Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Suzy Amis, Dan Hedaya, Pete Postlethwaite, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne. I realize it has serious flaws, but you could sit me down in front of it today and I would find it mesmerizing all over again.
75. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
I was one of those who considered this a masterpiece upon release, and I still think it’s exceptional, despite the fact that I agree with the feminist critics who believe there are misogynistic elements in Charlie Kaufman‘s conception of the character played by Kate Winslet. I still love how richly imaginative and madly romantic this film is, though, and not only is Winslet amazing, but so are Jim Carrey, Jane Adams, Deirdre O’Connell, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Wilkinson. In particular, I think Ms. Dunst is so amazing in this that she deserved to win that year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar; it still mystifies me that there was virtually no campaign to that effect! As for Mr. Wilkinson, he is one of my favourite actors in the entire history of the medium, and he makes Dr. Howard Mierzwiak’s harmful compulsions believable and emotionally wrenching.
76. Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas, 1996)
I only partially understand what’s going on in this one, but it’s a delightful film. Maggie Cheung is the queen of hearts. Jean-Pierre Léaud kills it, too.
77. The Court Jester (Melvin Frank & Norman Panama, 1956)
This one is loads of fun, especially the inspired supporting performances by Mildred Natwick and Basil Rathbone.
78. Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
This one is clearly deeply flawed – “problematic” might be the word we’d use for it now – but I expect I would still find it an utter thrill to watch, and it certainly hit me like a train when I saw it in the theatre in the winter of the year 2000. Benicio Del Toro became one of the most deserving Oscar winners of my lifetime, and this is also one of the films I know of that has the most stunning ensemble cast, with memorable work by not just Del Toro but also Don Cheadle, Luis Guzmán, Dennis Quaid, Clifton Collins Jr., Steven Bauer, Jacob Vargas, Erika Christensen, and Topher Grace, among many others. I also very much admire its editing, its musical score, and its cinematography – magnificent accomplishments by Stephen Mirrione, Cliff Martinez, and Soderbergh himself, respectively.
79. 8 Women (François Ozon, 2002)
A riotous musical romp, full of entertaining performances from eight of the illest actors ever. Part of me is just honoured I got to spend 111 minutes in the company of three women as gorgeous, gifted, and glorious as Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier, and Emmanuelle Béart at once, but this one also features a very deft comic turn by my all-time favourite Isabelle Huppert, a memorably mournful one by Firmine Richard, a dignified one by the late Danielle Darrieux, and old-world glamour courtesy Catherine Deneuve and the very underrated Fanny Ardant. One question: Where were Nathalie Baye and (perhaps especially) Sylvie Testud?
80. Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)
Some thoughtful critics I know have called this film structurally flawed, but I found it gripping and engrossing. Brie Larson’s performance is tremendous, and I also fondly remember a clipped, brusque supporting performance by the oft-formidable Joan Allen.
81. Fiddler On The Roof (Norman Jewison, 1971)
Having been raised Jewish, and specifically Ashkenazi, this one is practically in my blood, and I find it to be a very stirring drama and a very rousing musical, with declarative, larger-than-life performances by Chaim Topol and Leonard Frey that I’ve loved since childhood.
82. The Past (Asghar Farhadi, 2013)
Involving and clever, with Farhadi’s usual dense plotting and fine ensemble acting. I happen to think the then-teenage Belgian actor Pauline Burlet is the MVP of this one. Its reputation has declined a bit in the years since its release, but I maintain that it’s engrossing and emotionally rich.
83. Faithless (Liv Ullmann, 2000)
A compelling drama about a divorce. That’s kinda it, but the acting makes it a barnburner. I’m still surprised Lena Endre didn’t become an international superstar. I also love the performances by Krister Henriksson and the late titan Erland Josephson.
84. Thithi (Raam Reddy, 2015)
This Kannada-language comedy centring on a family full of rascals in rural southwest India is hilarious, with several acerbic and/or charming characters trading barbs and dealing in petty mischief. Bits of it have a loping hangdog vibe, while other parts are antic and absurd. Pooja S.M. delivers a compelling supporting performance as a gorgeous and deadpan-clever young shepherd girl who haltingly allows herself to be courted by a scallywag, while Singrigowda and Channegowda make marvellously fiesty, playful, drink-sodden old codgers.
85. Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014)
David Oyelowo, Lorraine Toussaint, Tom Wilkinson, Henry G. Sanders, Tim Roth, Colman Domingo, Omar Dorsey, Carmen Ejogo, Wendell Pierce, Dylan Baker, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and the rest of this film’s cast bring so much gravitas to this relatively conventional drama about the greatest of all Americans that they make it sing.
86. Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2001)
Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone, Amanda Redman, and Ian MacShane all stomp this slick and artful heist film to smithereens.
87. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
Richard Linklater‘s relaxed and humane sensibility is one of my favourites, and his gift for sharp observation and compelling character development, aided by an excellent cast (notably tremendous performances by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette), makes this a very rich film.
88. All The Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
A rapturously beautiful romance. It’s a mystery to me why Zooey Deschanel has never once been nominated for an Oscar.
89. The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015)
This one has a few problematic elements, a few imperfect performances, and the usual nauseating ultraviolence, but it’s brilliantly plotted, and the majority of the ensemble absolutely smashes it, notably Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Samuel L. Jackson, and, in a particularly delicious performance, Tim Roth.
90. Match Point (Woody Allen, 2005)
I still remember how mesmerized I was by this film when I went to see it in the theatre! What suspense!
91. Talk To Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
This one was correctly lauded upon arrival. It was my first encounter with Almodóvar (the only other one of his I’ve seen is Volver), and I can’t pretend to have understood it perfectly, but it’s very charming, and Almodóvar strikes me as one of the most deserving nominees for the Best Director Oscar of my lifetime, and certainly one of the most deserving winners of a screenplay award.
92. Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)
I have a hunch that this one might not work as well for me as it did when I first saw it, but I still absolutely love the delightful animation, the magnificent musical score, and Linklater’s “affable philosopher” quality.
93. Raising Victor Vargas (Peter Sollett, 2003)
The aspects of this charming Sundance indie that deal with intergenerational conflict rub me the wrong way to a certain degree, but I can’t deny the power of the performances by Victor Rasuk, Melonie Diaz, and Altagracia Guzmán. This latter in particular gets some very moving moments, and I always hoped and wished she’d get the chance to enjoy a career as a decorated and acclaimed character actor.
94. Roger Dodger (Dylan Kidd, 2002)
The great and underrated Campbell Scott as an aging lothario trying for one last score; it may sound like a recipe for a misogynistic disaster, but this film is by turns cutting and tender, with a radiant Jennifer Beals performance and a memorable musical score by the estimable Craig Wedren.
95. Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
Samantha Morton diving deep inward as an enigmatic figure, essentially the sole character in the story, coming to terms with a fraught decision to publish her departed partner’s work as her own? Sign me the fuck up!
96. Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)
I’ve sometimes had difficulty with this one, but it’s full of artful performances, and it inaugurated my deathless affection for Steve Buscemi. I also think John Carroll Lynch deserves to be cast in more movies. Peter Stormare’s watchful, menacing presence in this film is quite something, too.
97. No Country For Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007)
I find this film ever-so-slightly bloodless and airless, but I feel guilty not including it, because it’s also essentially perfect, with performances by Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Gene Jones, and especially Kelly Macdonald that mean a lot to me.
98. A Hero (Asghar Farhadi, 2021)
Gripping and harrowing, if often also so thorny as to be unpleasant – another victory for my favourite of all those contemporary filmmakers who do not work in English. Sahar Goldoost joins the ranks of those actors in world cinema who are both dazzlingly gorgeous and extraordinarily gifted, but hers is only the finest performance in an ensemble that also includes strong work from Amir Jadidi and Mohsen Tanabandeh.
99. My Mother’s Tenant (Shin Sang-ok, 1961)
A very artful, emotionally potent, little-seen melodrama with a gripping child performance at its centre.
100. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
Still my only encounter with the utterly sui generis sensibility of this departed Persian lion, by turns confounding, beguiling, gentle, harrowing, and beautiful.
Honourable mention, listed alphabetically by film title: After Life (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 1999); Aladdin (John Musker & Ron Clements, 1992); Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001); American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013); Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012); Antz (Eric Darnell & Tim Johnson, 1998); The Aristocats (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1970); Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk, 2001); Barbershop (Tim Story, 2002); Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023); Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005); Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, 2013); Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004); Best In Show (Christopher Guest, 2000); Birth (Jonathan Glazer, 2004); Birthday Girl (Jez Butterworth, 2001); Black Cat White Cat (Emir Kusturiça, 1998); The Black Cauldron (Richard Rich & Ted Berman, 1985); Bridget Jones’ Diary (Sharon Maguire, 2001); Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005); The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2008); The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (Chuck Jones, 1979); Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000); Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002); Chicken Run (Peter Lord & Nick Park, 2000); Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004); The Dancer Upstairs (John Malkovich, 2002); The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012); Dinner Rush (Bob Giraldi, 2000); Divided We Fall (Jan Hrebejk, 2000); Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001); Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2018); The Emperor’s New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000); The End of the Affair (Neil Jordan, 1999); Everyone Says I Love You (Woody Allen, 1996); Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009); The Fighter (David O. Russell, 2010); A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton, 1988); The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959); Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1995); Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999); Glass Onion (Rian Johnson, 2022); The Good Thief (Neil Jordan, 2002); The Great Mouse Detective (Musker, Clements, Michener & Mattinson, 1986); Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck, 2006); Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi, 1962); Hate (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995); Hercules (John Musker & Ron Clements, 1997); A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005); The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973); The House of Mirth (Terence Davies, 2000); I Married A Strange Person! (Bill Plympton, 1997); Inside Man (Spike Lee, 2006); Insomnia (Erik Skjoldbjærg, 1997); Intacto (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2001); Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008); The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1967); Last Orders (Fred Schepisi, 2001); Late Marriage (Dover Kosashvili, 2001); Legally Blonde (Robert Luketic, 2001); The Life Aquatic (Wes Anderson, 2004); The Limey (Steven Soderbergh, 1999); Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012); The Lion King (Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff, 1994); The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006); Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998); Lord of War (Andrew Niccol, 2005); Lovely and Amazing (Nicole Holofcener, 2002); Macbeth (Roman Polanski, 1971); The Man Without A Past (Aki Kaurismäki, 2002); The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Wolfgang Reitherman & John Lounsbery, 1977); The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012); Master and Commander (Peter Weir, 2003); Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott, 2003); Men In Black (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1998); Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2002); Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, 2001); Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012); Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman, 1997); Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2004); No Man's Land (Danis Tanović, 2001); Ocean’s 8 (Gary Ross, 2018); Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997); The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001); Panic (Henry Bromell, 2000); Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017); The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2002); Possession (Neil LaBute, 2002); The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987); Rabbit-Proof Fence (Philip Noyce, 2002); Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985); Rain (Christine Jeffs, 2001); The Rescuers (Reitherman, Stevens & Lounsbery, 1977); The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003); Robin Hood (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1973); Rock-A-Doodle (Don Bluth, 1990); The School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003); The Score (Frank Oz, 2001); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Edgar Wright, 2010); Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2002); Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000); Shanghai Noon (Tom Dey, 2000); Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018); Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004); Six Degrees of Separation (Fred Schepisi, 1993); The Son’s Room (Nanni Moretti, 2002); Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi, 2004); Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2002); Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk, 2004); Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984); The Straight Story (David Lynch, 1999); The Sword In The Stone (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1963); The Taste of Others (Agnès Jaoui, 2000); Thirteen Days (Roger Donaldson, 2000); Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995); Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, 1999); Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010); Tully (Hilary Birmingham, 2000); Tumbleweeds (Gavin O’Connor, 1999); 20th Century Women (Mike Mills, 2016); The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1965); Underground (Emir Kusturiça, 1995); Under The Sand (François Ozon, 2000); The Upside of Anger (Mike Binder, 2005); Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2004); When Harry Met Sally... (Rob Reiner, 1989); Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2002)
Some films that were important in helping establish my cinephilia as a child and young adult, or that I might otherwise have liked when I first saw them, but that I haven’t seen in years and am no longer confident are necessarily good: Alice In Wonderland (Geronimi, Jackson & Luske, 1951); The Anniversary Party (Alan Cumming & Jennifer Jason Leigh, 2001); Baraka (Ron Fricke, 1992); Baran (Majid Majidi, 2001); Beautiful Joe (Stephen Metcalfe, 2000); Beijing Bicycle (Wang Xiaoshuai, 2001); Beverly Hills Ninja (Dennis Dugan, 1997); Beyond Silence (Caroline Link, 1996); Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000); Blue Streak (Les Mayfield, 1999); Can’t Hardly Wait (Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont, 1998); The Circle (Jafar Panahi, 2000); The Colour of Paradise (Majid Majidi, 2000); Crazy In Alabama (Antonio Banderas, 1999); The Cuckoo (Alexander Rogozhkin, 2002); The Cup (Khyentse Norbu, 1999); Dancing At The Blue Iguana (Michael Radford, 2000); Dear Frankie (Shona Auerbach, 2004); Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002); Dogma (Kevin Smith, 1999); Down In The Delta (Maya Angelou, 1998); Drop Dead Gorgeous (Michael Patrick Jann, 1999); Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998); East Is East (Damien O’Donnell, 1999); East/West (Régis Wargnier, 1999); Finding Forrester (Gus Van Sant, 2000); The Five Senses (Jeremy Podeswa, 1999); Fly Away Home (Carroll Ballard, 1996); The Goddess of 1967 (Clara Law, 2000); Good Burger (Brian Robbins, 1997); The Green Mile (Frank Darabont, 1999); The Grey Zone (Tim Blake Nelson, 2002); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004); Himalaya (Éric Valli, 1999); In America (Jim Sheridan, 2003); Innocence (Paul Cox, 2000); In The Bedroom (Todd Field, 2001); Intimacy (Patrice Chéreau, 2001); Judy Berlin (Eric Mendelsohn, 1999); Kandahar (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2001); The King of Masks (Wu Tianming, 1996); Kikujiro (Takeshi Kitano, 1999); K-Pax (Iain Softley, 2001); Left Luggage (Jeroen Krabbé, 1999); The Legend of 1900 (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1998); L.I.E. (Michael Cuesta, 2001); The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (Jeff Abugov, 1999); The Mighty (Peter Chelsom, 1998); Mumford (Lawrence Kasdan, 1999); My Dog Vincent (Michael McGowan, 1998); The Nephew (Eugene Brady, 1998); Nurse Betty (Neil LaBute, 2000); October Sky (Joe Johnston, 1999); 101 Dalmatians (Reitherman, Geronimi & Luske, 1961); Osama (Siddiq Barmak, 2003); Peter Pan (Geronimi, Jackson & Luske, 1953); Pleasantville (Gary Ross, 1998); Polish Wedding (Theresa Connelly, 1998); Possible Worlds (Robert Lepage, 2000); The Princess and the Warrior (Tom Tykwer, 2000); The Road Home (Zhang Yimou, 2000); The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994); Shall We Dance (Masayuki Suo, 1997); Shadow Magic (Ann Hu, 2000); Shower (Zhang Yang, 1999); She’s All That (Robert Iscove, 1999); Simon Birch (Mark Steven Johnson, 1998); Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002); Sunshine (István Szabó, 1999); The Tao of Steve (Jenniphr Goodman, 2000); That’s The Way I Like It (Glen Goei, 1998); There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble (John Hay, 2000); The Three Caballeros (Norman Ferguson, 1944); Tigerland (Joel Schumacher, 2000); Tilaï (Idrissa Ouédraogo, 1990); 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003); Uprising (Jon Avnet, 2001); Varian’s War (Lionel Chetwynd, 2001); A Walk To Remember (Adam Shankman, 2002); Water (Deepa Mehta, 2006); The Wedding Singer (Frank Coraci, 1998); With A Friend Like Harry (Dominik Moll, 2000)
Some seminal art films I saw when I was too young to appreciate them and should probably revisit: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972); Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973); The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica, 1948); Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986); A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991); Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974); Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941); A Confucian Confusion (Edward Yang, 1994); The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974); The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972); Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964); 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963); Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994); Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970); The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967); Jules and Jim (François Truffaut, 1962); Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949); Pauline At The Beach (Éric Rohmer, 1983); Pelle The Conqueror (Bille August, 1987); The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993); Pickup On South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953); Pierrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965); Princess Yang Kwei Fei (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1955); Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950); Red (Krzyzstof Kieślowski, 1994); Sansho The Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954); The Scent of Green Papaya (Tran Anh Hung, 1994); Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993); Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954); The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957); Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927); Sweet Movie (Dusan Makavejev, 1974); Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976); The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949); 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968); Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958); Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957); Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987); Woman In The Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1965)
Some notable films I’ve seen to which my reaction was mixed, but which I think it makes sense to note publicly that I’ve seen even though my opinions are conflicted: About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002); Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022); A.I. (Steven Spielberg, 2001); Ali (Michael Mann, 2001); The Amati Girls (Anne De Salvo, 2001); American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999); Angela’s Ashes (Alan Parker, 1999); Angel On The Right (Djamshed Usmonov, 2002); Anna and the King (Andy Tennant, 1999); Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, 2015); Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, 1995); Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999); The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004); Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995); Bambi (David Hand, 1942); Bamboozled (Spike Lee, 2000); Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991); Before Night Falls (Julian Schnabel, 2000); Behind The Sun (Walter Salles, 2001); The Big Bounce (George Armitage, 2004); Big Fish (Tim Burton, 2003); Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014); Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001); Black Klansman (Spike Lee, 2018); Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018); Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974); Blue Is The Warmest Colour (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013); Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen, 2013); Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010); Bliss (Sheng Zhimin, 2006); The Bone Collector (Philip Noyce, 1999); Bowling For Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002); Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015); A Bug’s Life (John Lasseter, 1998); The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan, 1997); Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017); Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015); Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt, 2016); Charlie’s Angels (McG, 2000); Charlie Wilson’s War (Mike Nichols, 2007); Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2002); Chocolat (Lasse Hallström, 2000); Chunhyang (Im Kwon-taek, 2000); Cinderella (Geronimi, Jackson & Luske, 1950); Clerks (Kevin Smith, 1995); Closer (Mike Nichols, 2004); A Cock and Bull Story (Michael Winterbottom, 2006); Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2003); Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella, 2003); Contact (Robert Zemeckis, 1997); The Contender (Rod Lurie, 2000); Cookie’s Fortune (Robert Altman, 1999); Crash (Paul Haggis, 2005); Crazy Stupid Love (Glenn Ficarra & John Requa, 2011); Dancing At Lughnasa (Pat O’Connor, 1998); Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (Michel Gondry, 2005); The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Ned Benson, 2013); Dope (Rick Famuyiwa, 2015); Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941); Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014); The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996); Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000); Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, 2022); Fantasia (various directors, 1940); The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018); 50 First Dates (Peter Segal, 2004); Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, 2003); Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998); The Fox and the Hound (Berman, Rich and Stevens, 1981); Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997); Gerry (Gus Van Sant, 2002); Get On Up (Tate Taylor, 2014); Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017); The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000); Gifted (Marc Webb, 2017); Good Night, and Good Luck. (George Clooney, 2005); Hardball (Brian Robbins, 2001); Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (Danny Leiner, 2004); Hearts In Atlantis (Scott Hicks, 2001); Her (Spike Jonze, 2013); Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002); Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi, 2016); High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000); Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004); Hot Tub Time Machine (Steve Pink, 2010); House of Sand and Fog (Vadim Perelman, 2003); Human Nature (Michel Gondry, 2001); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1996); The Hurricane (Norman Jewison, 1999); Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010); The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004); The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 1999); Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013); Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015); Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001); Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, 2018); The Italian Job (F. Gary Gray, 2003); I’ve Loved You So Long (Philippe Claudel, 2008); King of the Hill (Steven Soderbergh, 1993); Kings and Queen (Arnaud Desplechin, 2004); Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005); A Knight’s Tale (Brian Helgeland, 2001); Kundun (Martin Scorsese, 1997); Lady and the Tramp (Geronimi, Jackson & Luske, 1955); The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003); Life Is Sweet (Mike Leigh, 1990); Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003); Love Is The Perfect Crime (Arnaud & Jean-Marie Larrieu, 2013); Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992); Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2017); Meet Joe Black (Martin Brest, 1998), Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002); Monster’s Ball (Marc Forster, 2001); Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009); Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2017); The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles, 2005); Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001); Mulan (Barry Cook & Tony Bancroft, 1998); Nebraska (Alexander Payne, 2013); Never Been Kissed (Raja Gosnell, 1999); The Next Best Thing (John Schlesinger, 2000); Nowhere In Africa (Caroline Link, 2002); O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, 2000); Oliver and Company (George Scribner, 1988); Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, 2006); Paid In Full (Charles Stone III, 2002); Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019); Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016); Pay It Forward (Mimi Leder, 2000); Pinocchio (Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske, 1940); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003); Pixote (Héctor Babenco, 1980); Pocahontas (Eric Goldberg & Mike Gabriel, 1995); Pollock (Ed Harris, 2000); Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002); Quartet (Dustin Hoffman, 2012); The Quiet American (Philip Noyce, 2002); Remember The Titans (Boaz Yakin, 2000); The Replacement Killers (Antoine Fuqua, 1998); Road To Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002); The Rookie (John Lee Hancock, 2002); Rules of Engagement (William Friedkin, 2000); Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1999); Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002); Les Saignantes (Jean-Pierre Bekolo, 2005); Shrek (Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson, 2001); Shrek 2 (Adamson, Asbury & Vernon, 2004); Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, 2015); Sin City (Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez, 2005); The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999); Sleeping Beauty (Clyde Geronimi, 1959); Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937); Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018); Spider-Man (Sam Raimi, 2002); Spider-Man: Homecoming (Jon Watts, 2017); Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015); Spy (Paul Feig, 2015); Spy Kids (Robert Rodriguez, 2001); The Statement (Norman Jewison, 2003); Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann, 1992); Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008); Table 19 (Jeffrey Blitz, 2017); 10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999); Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (Jill Sprecher, 2001); The Thirteenth Warrior (John McTiernan, 1999); To Die For (Gus Van Sant, 1995); Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016); Training Day (Antoine Fuqua, 2001); True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2010); The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998); Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000); Uncut Gems (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2019); Up (Pete Docter, 2009); The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999); Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, 2006); We’re The Millers (Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2013); Whisky (Juan Carlos Rebello & Pablo Stoll, 2004); The Whole Nine Yards (Jonathan Lynn, 2000); Winged Migration (Jacques Perrin, 2002); Woman On Top (Fina Torres, 2000); You’ve Got Mail (Nora Ephron, 1998); Zack and Miri Make A Porno (Kevin Smith, 2008); Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2001); Zootopia (Byron Howard & Rich Moore, 2016)
Some of the relatively few films I’ve seen that I would rate lower than approximately 50 out of 100 on this ruthlessly exacting but peerlessly effective ratings scale: About Time (Richard Curtis, 2013); All The Money In The World (Ridley Scott, 2017); Batman & Robin (Joel Schumacher, 1997); Baseketball (David Zucker, 1998); Battlefield Earth (John Travolta, 2000); Beowulf (Graham Baker, 1999); A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard, 2001); Billy Madison (Tamra Davis, 1995); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008); The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (Woody Allen, 2001); The Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich, 2004); Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003); Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003); Elysium (Neill Blomkamp, 2013); Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (John Hughes, 1986); Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Hironobu Sakaguchi, 2001); Flubber (Les Mayfield, 1997); Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994); Godzilla (Roland Emmerich, 1998); Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Chris Columbus, 2001); The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May, 1972); A Hole In My Heart (Lukas Moodysson, 2004); Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1990); How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (Donald Petrie, 2003); The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum, 2014); Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010); Iron Man 3 (Shane Black, 2013); Kill Bill, Volume 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003); Kill Bill, Volume 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004); Kingsman: The Secret Service (Matthew Vaughn, 2014); The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010); Kiss of the Dragon (Chris Nahon, 2001); Krippendorf’s Tribe (Todd Holland, 1998); La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016); Law Abiding Citizen (F. Gary Gray, 2009); Life As A House (Irwin Winkler, 2001); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002); Lost In Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003); Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, 1996); The Mask of Zorro (Martin Campbell, 1998); The Matrix (Lana & Lilly Wachowski, 1999); The Matrix Reloaded (Lana & Lilly Wachowski, 2003); The Matrix Revolutions (Lana & Lilly Wachowski, 2003); Meet The Parents (Jay Roach, 2000); Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004); Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, 2013); Old School (Todd Phillips, 2003); Patch Adams (Tom Shadyac, 1998); The Perfect Storm (Wolfgang Petersen, 2000); The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002); Return To Me (Bonnie Hunt, 2000); The Salesman (Asghar Farhadi, 2016); The Shape of Water (Guillermo Del Toro, 2017); Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (George Lucas, 1999); Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002); Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray, 2015); Suicide Squad (David Ayer, 2016); Tanna (Martin Butler & Bentley Dean, 2015); Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017); Troy (Wolfgang Petersen, 2004); Tsotsi (Gavin Hood, 2005); War Dogs (Todd Phillips, 2016); What Dreams May Come (Vincent Ward, 1998); Your Highness (David Gordon Green, 2011)