David's top 50

[David]

Top100, Not one per director anymore. Under construction

1. 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
   
2. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
   
3. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
   
4. A woman under the influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
   
5. Le Mépris (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) AKA Contempt
   
6. Punch Drunk Love – Paul Thomas Anderson – 2002
   
7. Bad Timing – Nicolas Roeg – 1980
   
8. My Winnipeg - Guy Maddin– 2007
   
9. Mon oncle – Jacques Tati – 1958
   
10. I Fidanzati – Ermanno Olmi – 1963
    
11. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
    
12. Edvard Munch – Peter Watkins – 1974
    
13. Faces – John Cassavetes – 1968
    
14. Il deserto rosso – Michelangelo Antonioni – 1964
    
15. Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant – Rainer Werner Fassbinder – 1972
    
16. Zerkalo – Andrei Tarkovsky – 1975
    
17. Sunrise – Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau – 1927
    
18. Prima della rivoluzione – Bernardo Bertolucci – 1964
    
19. Une femme est une femme (Jean-Luc Godard, 1961) AKA A woman is a woman
    
20. Palombella rossa - Nanni Moretti– 1989
    
21. Crimes & Misdemeanors – Woody Allen – 1989
    
22. Sans soleil – Chris Marker – 1983
    
23. Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours – Andrzej Zulawski – 1989
    
24. Love me tonight (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932)
    
25. Mon oncle d'Amérique – Alain Resnais – 1980
    
26. The Gold Rush – Charles Chaplin – 1925
    
27. Nouvelle Vague (Jean-Luc Godard, 1990)
    
28. Days of Heaven – Terrence Malick – 1978
    
29. Tokyo Monogatari – Yasujiro Ozu – 1953
    
30. Il conformista (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
    
31. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life – Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam – 1983
    
32. Husbands (John Cassavetes, 1970)
    
33. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
    
34. Le fantôme de la liberté – Luis Buñuel – 1974
    
35. Les petites Fugues – Yves Yersin – 1979
    
36. Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926)
    
37. Vtackovia, siroty a blazni - Juraj Jakubisko– 1969
    
38. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
    
39. El Espíritu de la Colmena – Víctor Erice – 1973
    
40. Cléo de 5 à 7 – Agnès Varda – 1961
    
41. Im Lauf der Zeit – Wim Wenders – 1976
    
42. Les Arpenteurs – Michel Soutter – 1972
    
43. La science des rêves – Michel Gondry – 2006
    
44. Chelovek s kino-apparatom (Dziga Vertov, 1929) AKA Man with a Movie Camera
    
45. Nattvardsgästerna (Ingmar Bergman, 1962) AKA Winter light
    
46. Démanty noci (Jan Nemec, 1964) AKA Diamonds of the Night
    
47. The Saragossa Manuscript – Wojciech Has – 1965
    
48. Hiroshima mon amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
    
49. Umberto D – Vittorio De Sica – 1952
    
50. Carne trémula – Pedro Almodóvar – 1997
    
51. Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (Michael Haneke, 2000) AKA Code unknown
    
52. Un homme qui dort (Bernard Queysanne/Georges Perec, 1974) AKA The Man Who Sleeps
    
53. Der Himmel über Berlin (Wim Wenders, 1987) AKA Wings of desire
    
54. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? - Frank Tashlin - 1957
    
55. 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) AKA 2 or 3 things I know about her
    
56. Chung hing sam lam – Wong Kar Wai – 1994
    
57. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes – Werner Herzog – 1972
    
58. Accattone – Pier Paolo Pasolini – 1961
    
59. Memorias del subdesarrollo (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968) AKA Memories of Underdevelopment
    
60. La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
    
61. Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
    
62. Les parapluies de Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
    
63. L'année dernière à Marienbad aka Last year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
    
64. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
    
65. Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (Aki Kaurismäki, 1990) AKA The match factory girl
    
66. Regen (Magnus Franken/Joris Ivens, 1929) AKA Rain
    
67. Suna no onna – Hiroshi Teshigahara – 1964
    
68. Underground – Emir Kusturica – 1995
    
69. La Notte – Michelangelo Antonioni – 1961
    
70. O slavnosti a hostech - Jan Nemec - 1966 AKA The Party and the guests
    
71. 3 Women - Robert Altman - 1977
    
72. Spalovac mrtvol (Juraj Herz, 1969) AKA The Cremator
    
73. Tirez sur le pianiste – François Truffaut – 1960
    
74. Les vacances de monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati, 1953) AKA Mr. Hulot's Holiday
    
75. Freaks – Tod Browning – 1932
    
76. I Pugni in tasca (Marco Bellocchio, 1965)
    
    Les amants réguliers (Philippe Garrel, 2005) AKA Regular Lovers
    
    Dans la ville blanche (Alain Tanner, 1983)
    
77. I hired a contract killer – Aki Kaurismäki – 1990
    
    Vozvrashcheniye (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2003) AKA The return
    
    Vérités et mensonges (Orson Welles, 1973) AKA F for Fake
    
    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
    
78. Céline et Julie vont en bateau – Jacques Rivette – 1974
    

Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971) AKA Beware of a holy whore

The Limits of control (Jim Jarmush, 2009)

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Errol Morris, 2003)

Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952)

Il posto (Ermanno Olmi, 1961)

Week End (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

Down by law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
double vie de Véronique, La (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991) The Double Life of Veronique
Scener ur ett äktenskap (Ingmar Bergman, 1973) AKA Scenes of a marriage
In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978) AKA In a year of 13 moons
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
Mauvais Sang (Leos Carax, 1986) AKA Bad Blood
American Splendor (Shari Springer Berman/Robert Pulcini, 2003)
Sang sattawat (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006) AKA Syndromes and a century
[*] Vredens Dag – Carl Theodor Dreyer – 1943

[Lauren]

Still one of my favorite lists around. I mean, I think half of these are in my own list and I love pretty much everything else I've seen.

I CAN'T WAIT to see your #2!

[sidehacker]

Hurray for Before the Revolution!

[Morbid Incantation]

Great screen grabs --

[Passenger]

Excellent list, David. I need to see some Vigo and Olmi.

My favourite Almodóvar is also Carne Tremula.

[wkw]

Excellent list! I want more pictures please!

[Jos]

This looks like a list i could have made myself, it's great!

[Eddie Spaghetti]

[*] Pierrot le fou – Jean-Luc Godard – 1965

[Jake Aesthete]

A lot of good stuff here.

8½ – I've been meaning to rewatch this for years. Subsequent limited exposure to Fellini has made it less than a priority though, i have to say.
Pierrot le fou – Another one i should probably rewatch. I liked it a lot when i first saw it though, one of my favorite Godards to date.
L'Atalante – I should get around to seeing this eventually.
Persona – Need to see, as much as i've disliked Bergman so far. I feel like this one might change my mind on him, if any film will.
Faces – Seemed a bit unevolved than latter Cassavetes to me when i first saw it. I should watch it again one of these days though, drunk preferably.
Punch Drunk Love –
Bad Timing – Roeg was the greatest.
Mon oncle –
I Fidanzati –
Il deserto rosso –
Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant – Too talky and theatrical to be top-tier Fassbinder, for me.
Zerkalo – I think i may grow to appreciate this more some day.
Sunrise – I should probably see this at some point...
Prima della rivoluzione – Definitely need to see this one.
Palombella rossa -
Umberto D – I'll get to this eventually too...
Days of Heaven – Probably my least-favorite Malick, but still great...
Tokyo Monogatari –
The Gold Rush –
Hiroshima mon amour –
Sans soleil –
The Saragossa Manuscript –
Crimes & Misdemeanors –
Chung hing sam lam –
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life -
Les petites Fugues –
Die Büchse der Pandora –
Vredens Dag –
Suna no onna –
El Espíritu de la Colmena –
Cléo de 5 à 7 – Need to see this.
Im Lauf der Zeit – Definitely need to see this.
Les Arpenteurs –
Vtackovia, siroty a blazni -
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes –
La science des rêves –
Belle de Jour – I should probably rewatch this, it's been a while...
Morocco –
Accattone –
Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours -
Dr. Strangelove –
Underground –
I hired a contract killer – I should be seeing some earlier Kaurismaki soon though.
Tirez sur le pianiste – I'll get around to this eventually...
Freaks – I'd like this a lot more if it didn't betray itself with such a silly, conventional plot.
I Pugni in tasca –
Carne trémula –
Céline et Julie vont en bateau –
Stranger than Paradise – Didn't like this when i saw it. Maybe i'd like it more now?
3 Women –

[David]

Thanks everybody!

Lauren: You know I can't wait to hear your reaction on Pierrot! You will see it in cinema, right? I've seen it once in cinema, and it's quite an experience, as (especially) all color CinemaScope Godards are.

Juan: Thanks for pointing out the screen grabs, it took me a hell of a long time to find them! It's actually the only reason why I didn't post my list here before, I didn't want to add the usual pictures everybody knows (though I had to with some films...). As I don't own all my favorite films on dvd, I finally gathered everything on the internet.

Jake: Thanks for your review! You should definitely see L'Atalante, Persona (that's a must), Prima della rivoluzione (I'm pretty sure you'll like that one), Im Lauf der Zeit (and that one), some Kaurismäkis (the eclipse box is a very good place to start imo) and I Pugni in tasca.

[kenji]

well of course inevitably there are a few i'm not too keen on and a few i've not seen, but lots of greats- Zerkalo, Sunrise, Celine + Julie, L'Atalante, Tokyo Story, Hiroshima mon Amour, Spirit of the Beehive, Pierrot le Fou, 8 1/2, Persona, Kings of the Road, and The Gold Rush is my favourite Chaplin. So

[Z]

Finally a list with high quality/correct ratio screenshots!

I ordered the DVD of The Red Desert (I hope it was worth waiting because the DVD is supposed to be very good).

Once I finish watching it I'll tell you my impressions.

Cheers David!

[Z]

I CAN'T WAIT to see your #2!

You haven't seen Pierrot already? Not good.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Whoa, you're back...

[David]

Finally a list with high quality/correct ratio screenshots!

I ordered the DVD of The Red Desert (I hope it was worth waiting because the DVD is supposed to be very good).

Once I finish watching it I'll tell you my impressions.

Cheers David!

Z!

So nice to hear from you! How's life, any news concerning your studies in Europe?
I'm looking forward to your Red Desert-review!

[Z]

Mon oncle –

Never watched Tati Jakey? Well, you must! Mon Oncle is actually a good start. If it could only prepare you for one of the best movies ever -- PLAYTIME (1967).

[Jake Aesthete]

Yeah i really should watch Playtime. Maybe i should just get it over with and put it at the top of my Netflix queue...

[Skritek]

Yeah i really should watch Playtime. Maybe i should just get it over with and put it at the top of my Netflix queue...

I was severly disappointed by it....or rather Playtime just isn't my thing at all.

[Jake Aesthete]

Yeah i have hesitations myself, despite repeated recommendations and praise. I'm not sure that long, deep-focus static shots of really deadpan slapstick humor is exactly my thing either. I know it's a horrible judgment to go by, but repeated viewings of clips on Youtube have left me unimpressed. Again, this is another film i think might really be a "have to see it in a theater" type of thing.

[Skritek]

I even love deadpan humor (like Kitano), but this was really nothing for me. Maybe I'd like his other films more than Playtime.

[Jake Aesthete]

Kitano isn't that deadpan, he's pretty silly a lot of the time actually. I think more of Tsai Ming-liang when i think of deadpan. The clips of Playtime i've seen sort of remind me of that, except i have no idea what i'm supposed to be looking at half the time. It actually kind of reminds me more of Syndromes and a Century than anything else, It seems like the sort of thing that could be really, really cool if i watched it properly, but i don't know... it could also just be watching static shots of people in big rooms for two hours...

[David]

Added My Winnipeg at #15

[Z]

I must start watching some Guy Maddin stuff.

[David]

I must start watching some Guy Maddin stuff.

I'm quite late with answering but yeah, you really really should. You can start with My Winnipeg right away, you have to see that one!

Btw, I updated my list and added pics for the whole top50!

[roujin]

Great list. Unusual fave Almodovar. Don't see many people who prefer Live Flesh. Whatever. It's a great film as are most of these