100 Favorite Films |
» My list always leans heavily toward recent viewings, as well as of course old favorites that continue to stay with me strongly. I am more interested in what I love now than what I have loved. So I am never hesitant to rank something that blew me away highly immediately. As a general rule, films in the top 50 or so (new or old) are likely to stick around; films in the bottom 50 may cycle off more quickly.
» Artificial limit: maximum three films per director. Most of my favorite directors by rights deserve four or five places, but those extra films can easily be gleaned from my top directors list. I have also attempted to construct the list with an eye to representing all decades and regions, but not to the extent of including films that are not actually as beloved as the rest. Broad swaths of film are noted barely or not at all.
» There are many other films I rate a 10/10 for undeniable brilliance but don’t place in my list. These one hundred films mean the most to me [at this moment]. This is very definitely a list of my favorites, and not the greatest (although I would argue for the merits of each).
R: Reviews | S: Screencaps
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Bringing Up Baby 1938, Howard Hawks “I can’t give you anything but love, baby.” |
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Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 1976, Chantal Akerman |
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Last Year at Marienbad 1961, Alain Resnais “They could as well be you and I. Or anyone.” |
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The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant 1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder “My daughter loves a girl. How strange. A girl! My daughter.” |
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La Notte 1961, Michelangelo Antonioni “I haven’t a thought now, but I’m expecting one.” |
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Minnie & Moskowitz 1971, John Cassavetes “I think about you so much I forget to go to the bathroom!” |
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Manhattan 1979, Woody Allen “Not everybody gets corrupted.” |
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Céline & Julie vont en bateau 1974, Jacques Rivette “What is pretty does no harm.” |
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The Awful Truth 1937, Leo McCarey “Maybe things could be the same again… Only a little different, huh?” |
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Red Desert 1964, Michelangelo Antonioni “I can’t look at the sea for long and not lose interest in what happened on land.” |
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964, Jacques Demy “Why is absence so heavy to bear?” |
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Cries and Whispers 1972, Ingmar Bergman “Come what may, this is happiness. I cannot wish for anything better.” |
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Trouble in Paradise 1932, Ernst Lubitsch “Do you remember the man who walked into the Bank of Constantinople, and walked out with the Bank of Constantinople?” |
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The Green Ray 1986, Eric Rohmer “I’m not very operational in life.” |
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966, Mike Nichols “I am the Earth Mother and you are all flops!” |
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Gertrud 1964, Carl Th Dreyer “I believe in the pleasures of the flesh and the irreparable loneliness of the soul.” |
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Queen Christina 1933, Rouben Mamoulian “I shall die a bachelor!” |
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1988, Pedro Almodovar “Ivan loves the way I mix it.” |
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Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux 1962, Jean-Luc Godard “Words should express just what one wants to say.” |
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Kings & Queen 2004, Arnaud Desplechin “Enough of all that. Don’t you ever wear strange things sometimes?” |
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L’Avventura 1960, Michelangelo Antonioni “Tell me you love me.” |
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Opening Night 1977, John Cassavetes “I’ll do just about anything to make my character more authentic.” |
OLD TOP LISTS
Whether I go through several drafts or give up having a list altogether in the meantime, I am going to try to collect my top 100 twice every year for comparison.
January 2008
July 2007
January 2007
July 2006
January 2006
July 2005
January 2005
July 2004
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There needs to be a review link for every single one of these, as well as connections and links and a whole bunch of cool stuff. If you are going to list your favorites, at least make it interactive.
Comment by Mango — 19 April 2008 @ 19 April 2008Ooo, there’s some good ideas…
Comment by Lauren — 21 April 2008 @ 21 April 2008Yes, it’s a lovely list, but I kept thinking the same thing. If I could just come to this page and have each of your reviews but a click away, it would just be wonderful.
Comment by (the) Bob Dylan — 27 April 2008 @ 27 April 2008Awesome ideas, y’all. Hope you enjoy the new look (probably expand it more bit by bit)
Comment by Lauren — 2 May 2008 @ 2 May 2008