The Top Ten
 CINEMA GENRES (below) Directors' Best
Great Films
Good Movies
DRAMA
CITIZEN KANE (1941) Orson Welles
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) Peter Bogdonavich
HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) John Ford
THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977-Germany) Wim Wenders
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) Charles Laughton
OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS (1951-England) Carol Reed
THE LAST DETAIL (1973) Hal Ashby
MEAN STREETS (1974) Martin Scorsese
PETULIA (1968) Richard Lester
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) P.T. Anderson		 SILENT DRAMA
THE LAST LAUGH (1924-Germany) F.W. Murnau
NAPOLEON (1927-France) Abel Gance
CABIRIA (1914) Giovanni Pastrone
GREED (1925) Eric Von Stroheim
THE WHEEL (1922-France) Abel Gance
PANDORA’S BOX (1929-Germany) G.W.Pabst
MADAM DuBARRY (1919-Germany) Ernst Lubitsch
WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928) Tod Browning
MONEY (1919-France) Marcel L’Herbier
ASPHALT (1929-Germany) Joe May
HISTORICAL DRAMA
BARRY LYNDON (1975) Stanley Kubrick
TOPSY-TURVY (1998-England) Mike Leigh
BURN! (1969-Italian-French) Gillo Pontecorvo
THE RIGHT STUFF (1983) Philip Kaufman
THE DUELLISTS (1977-England) Ridley Scott
EIGHT MEN OUT (1988) John Sayles
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (2005) George Clooney
ACTION/ADVENTURE
THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954-Japan) Akira Kurosawa
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1978) John Huston
TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948) John Huston
BODYGUARD (1961-Japan) Akira Kurosawa
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962-England) David Lean
BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974) Sam Peckinpah
KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1937) Robert Stevenson
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) Lewis Gilbert
ROMANCE
SUNRISE (1927) F.W. Murnau
QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933) Rouben Mamoulian
ROBIN AND MARION (1976-England) Richard Lester
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (1967-England) John Schlesinger
RANDOM HARVEST (1940) Mervin LeRoy
THE MODERNS (1988) Alan Rudolph
 WESTERNS
THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID (1972) Philip Kaufman
STAGECOACH (1939) John Ford
RED RIVER (1948) Howard Hawks
DIRTY LITTLE BILLY (1972) Stan Dragoti
THE BIG TRAIL (1930) Raoul Walsh
RED SUN (1972) Terence Young
CRIME
THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) William Wellman
POINT BLANK (1967) John Boorman
STRAY DOG (1949-Japan) Akira Kurosawa
WHITE HEAT (1949) Raoul Walsh
STRAIGHT TIME (1978) Ulu Grosbard
THE FREINDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973) Peter Yates
CAPER/HEIST
THE KILLING (1956) Stanley Kubrick
THE ANDERSON TAPES (1972) Sidney Lumet
RIFIFI (1954-France) Jules Dassin
TOPKAPI (1964-France) Jules Dassin
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT (1974) Michael Cimino
THE GETAWAY (1972) Sam Peckinpah
FILM NOIR
DETOUR (1945) Edgar G. Ulmer
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) Orson Welles
LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948) Orson Welles
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1949) Nicholas Ray
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951) Billy Wilder
THE SET-UP (1949) Robert Wise
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) Edmund Goulding
SUSPENSE
WAGES OF FEAR (1952-France) Henri Clouzot
SECONDS (1966) John Frankenheimer
THE CONVERSATION (1974) Francis Coppola
VERTIGO (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
BLOW UP (1966-England) Michelangelo Antonioni
CUTTER AND BONE (1981) Ivan Passar
MYSTERY
THE THIRD MAN (1949-England) Carol Reed
REAR WINDOW (1954) Alfred Hitchcock
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970) Billy Wilder
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940) Boris Ingster
KISS ME DEADLY (1955) Robert Aldrich
COMEDY
DR.STRANGELOVE (1964-England) Stanley Kubrick
BEDAZZLED (1967-England) Stanley Donen
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) Billy Wilder
DUCK SOUP (1933) Leo McCarey
ANNIE HALL (1977) Woody Allen
MY UNCLE (1958) Jacques Tati
THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH (1955) Billy Wilder
WILL SUCCSESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? (1957) Frank Tashlin
AFTER HOURS (1985) Martin Scorsese
SCREWBALL COMEDY
THE PHILIDELPHIA STORY(1940) George Cuckor
BRINGING UP BABY (1938) Howard Hawks
THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) Leo MC Carey
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) Howard Hawks
BALL OF FIRE (1941) Howard Hawks
THE LADY EVE (1941) Preston Sturges
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) Frank Capra
NOTHING SACRED (1937) William A. Wellman
MY MAN GODFREY (1936) Gregory LaCava
HORROR
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) James Whale
DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) George Romero
THE EXORCIST (1971) William Friedkin
WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES (1922-Sweden)
Ben Kristiansen
THE RING (2002) Gore Verbinski
NAUTICAL
THE SEA HAWK (1940) Michael Curtiz
MASTER AND COMMANDER (2003) Peter Weir
BILLY BUDD (1962-England) Peter Ustinov
CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935) Michael Curtiz
CAPTAIN HORATIO HORNBLOWER (1951-England) Raoul Walsh
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937) Victor Fleming
DAMN THE DEFIANT! (1962-England) Lewis Gilbert
POLITICAL
BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1961-Italian) Gillo Pontecorvo
MEDIUM COOL (1969) Haskell Wexler
ODD MAN OUT (1947-England) Carol Reed
THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (1941) Sam Wood
THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) John Ford
SALT OF THE EARTH (1953) Herbert Biberman
THE CANDIDATE (1972) Michael Ritchie
FANTASY
BARON MUNCHHAUSEN (1989) Terry Gilliam
THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T (1953) Roy Rowland
FAUST (1926-Germany) F.W. Murnau
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946-France) Jean Cocteau
RETURN TO OZ (1985) Walter Murch
THE ROCKETEER (1991) Joe Johnston
MUSICALS
STORMY WEATHER (1943) Andrew Stone
WEST SIDE STORY (1961) Robert Wise
THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT (1956) Frank Tashlin
HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964-England) Richard Lester
FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933) Lloyd Bacon
COTTON CLUB (1984) Francis Ford Coppola
ON THE TOWN (1949) Gene Kelly
ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (1979) Alan Arkush
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968-England) Ken Hughes
GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933) Mervyn LeRoy
DAMES (1934) Busby Berkley
BIOGRAPHIES
AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD (1972-Germany) W. Herzog
LUST FOR LIFE (1956) Vincent Minnelli
AMERICA, AMERICA (1963-USA) Elia Kazan
COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (1980) Michael Apted
COOLEY HIGH (1975) Michael Schultz
HEAVENLY CREATURES (1996-New Zealand) Peter Jackson
 CULT
MADAM SATAN (1930) Cecil B. DeMille
EASY RIDER (1969) Dennis Hopper
REPO MAN (1984) Alex Cox
FREAKS (1932) Tod Browning
SIMON OF THE DESERT (1968-Mexico) Luis Bunuel
CABIN BOY (1994) Adam Resnik
HEAD (1968) Bob Rafelson
SCHIZOPOLIS (1997) Steven Soderberg
URBAN DRAMAS
TAXI DRIVER (1976) Martin Scorsese
MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) John Schlesinger
THE APARTMENT (1960) Billy Wilder
MEAN STREETS (1974) Martin Scorsese
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3 (1974) Joseph Sargent
WAR
SAHARA (1943) Zoltan Korda
THE BIG RED ONE (1980/2005 reconstruction) Sam Fuller
PATHS OF GLORY (1957) Stanley Kubrick
FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959-Japan) Kon Ichikawa
ACES HIGH (1977-England) Jack Gold
DOWNFALL (2004-Germany) Oliver Hirschbeigel
THE BRIDGE (1960-German) Bernhard Wicki
FULL METAL JACKET (1987-England) Stanley Kubrick
CATCH-22 (1970) Mike Nichols
CROSS OF IRON (1976) Sam Peckanpah
THE BEAST (1988) Kevin Reynolds
FOREIGN CLASSICS
BREATHLESS (1959-France) Jean-Luc Godard
THE ROAD (1954-Italy) Federico Fellini
THE BICYCLE THIEF (1947-Italy) Vittorio De Sica
SONG OF THE ROAD (1955-India) Satyajit Ray
SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960-France) Francois Truffaut		 FILMS ABOUT TELEVISION & MOVIES
NETWORK (1976) Sidney Lumet
SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) Billy Wilder
A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957) Elia Kazan
SHOW PEOPLE (1928) King Vidor
THE PLAYER (1996) Robert Altman
BEST FILMS OF THE 1990s
TOPSY-TURVY (1998-England) Mike Leigh
HEAVENLY CREATURES (1996-New Zealand) Peter Jackson
DOROTHY PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE (1997) Alan Rudolph
THE LIMEY (1999) Stephen Soderberg
THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (1995-France) Jean Jeunet
 SCI-FI
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976-England) Nicolas Roeg
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) Stanley Kubrick
FARENHEIT 451 (1967-England) Francois Truffaut
FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) Fred Wilcox
METROPOLIS (1927) Fritz lang
PLANET OF THE APES (1968) Franklin J. Schaffner
BUCKAROO BANZAI (1984) W.D. Richter
WESTWORLD (1973) Michael Crichton
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961-England) Cy Endfield
BEST FILMS OF THE 21st CENTURY
THE NEW WORLD (2005) Terrence Malick
CITY OF GOD (2002-Brazil) Fernando Meirelles
MASTER AND COMMANDER (2003) Peter Weir
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) P.T. Anderson
HERO (2002-China) Yimou Zhang
FOG OF WAR (2003) Errol Morris
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (2005) George Clooney
24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE (2002-England) Michael Winterbottom
RECENT FUN FILM FLUFF
GLADIATOR
DIE ANOTHER DAY
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN
SKY CAPTAIN
THE MUMMY
THE PHANTOM
DARK CITY
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF