My Top 101-250
Posted by martinteller on August 17, 2012
I’m currently finalizing my top 100… I’ve got the titles selected, right now I’m going through the arduous process of ranking (not too arduous, though, I’m not taking the exact numbers that seriously) and then working on presentation. I expect it will be up sometime next week. But first, here’s 150 movies that were either cut from my previous top 100, movies that almost made it, or movies that are just really special to me in some way. I’m not ranking them, because that would take way too much agonizing and fiddling. Maybe it’s technically a “runner-up list” but they’re all terrific. With no further ado:
The 400 Blows
42nd Street
6ixtynin9
The 7th Victim
Alien
All That Heaven Allows
Amadeus
The Americanization of Emily
Annie Hall
Aparajito
The Apartment
The Asphalt Jungle
Autumn Sonata
Band of Outsiders
Betrayed/When Strangers Marry
Beyond the Forest
Blast of Silence
Le Bonheur
Boogie Nights
The Bothersome Man
Brazil
The Browning Version (Asquith)
Carmen (Saura)
Carrie
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close-Up
The Conformist
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
The Cranes Are Flying
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Cruel Gun Story
Cry of the City
Days of Heaven
The Decalogue
Dial M for Murder
Dillinger Is Dead
Le Doulos
Dying at Grace
El
Elevator to the Gallows
The Empire Strikes Back
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Exorcist
F for Fake
The Face of Another
Faces (Cassavetes)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fargo
Force of Evil
Funeral Parade of Roses
The Furies
The Gang’s All Here
Gaslight (Cukor)
The Girl Can’t Help It
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Godfather
Goodbye Solo
Grizzly Man
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Heiress
Holiday
Un homme qui dort
Hoop Dreams
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
I Stand Alone
Inland Empire
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jalsaghar
Jana Aranya
Jazz on a Summer’s Day
Jellyfish
Kanal
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Kill Bill
The Killing (Kubrick)
The Lady Vanishes
Lady Vengeance
Lawrence of Arabia
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
The Letter Never Sent
Limite
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Love Streams
Malcolm X
A Man Escaped
The Man With A Movie Camera
The Match Factory Girl
A Matter of Life and Death
Meet Me in St. Louis
Metropolis (Lang)
Midnight Run
Murder By Contract
Mysteries of Lisbon
Naked
Napoleon (Gance)
Night and the City
Nightmare Alley
Not One Less
Notorious (Hitchcock)
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Odds Against Tomorrow
Once (Carney)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Orlando
Paths of Glory
The Phenix City Story
Psycho (Hitchcock)
Ran
Rat-Trap
Rio Bravo
Rosetta
Sansho the Bailiff
Saraband
Sawdust and Tinsel
Serenity
The Set-Up
Silent Hill
Singin’ in the Rain
The Skin I Live In
Sleeper
Spirit of the Beehive
Stalker
Storm Fear
Subarnarekha
Sudden Fear
Tale of Tales
Talk to Her
They Made Me a Fugitive
Thief
Thieves’ Highway
The Thin Red Line
The Third Man
Three Colors: Red
Through a Glass Darkly
Touki Bouki
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Un Chien Andalou
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Unforgiven
Viridiana
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
War and Peace (Bondarchuk)
Wendy and Lucy
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Who’s Camus Anyway?
Wild Strawberries
The Wind Will Carry Us
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
The World of Apu
You, the Living
Evan Staats said
It is always fun to pour over other people’s greatest films lists, and it’s especially true in your case because of the huge quantity of films you have seen. I’ve only seen 80 of these 150, but almost all of them are ones I would also list as favorites. Now I’m looking forward to your top 100 even more. I also wanted to ask whether you’re going to do a post on your thoughts on the new Sight & Sound poll (I thought you might be waiting for August 22nd when the website is going to post all of the individual top ten lists for the directors polled). I, for one, would be curious to read your reaction. Also, I got a kick out of being alluded to in your “Woolf” review.
martinteller said
I’ve been thinking about doing a post on the S&S poll, I might do it, I might not. I kind of feel like everyone’s done one now and I don’t know if I’d have much new to add to the conversation. But we’ll see.
Thanks as always for reading!
JamDenTel said
Hmm. I’ve only seen 49 of these (although I just rented ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW)…good stuff, though.
martinteller said
Thanks! I look forward to your thoughts on OAT!
Anonymous said
An excellent list, Martin…I expected no less from you:)!
Still, the fact that there are several titles there which I can’t imagine myself leaving out of my own Top 100, I’m looking forward to yours:
El
The Lady Vanishes
A Man Escaped
A Matter of Life and Death
Metropolis (Lang)
Paths of Glory
Psycho (Hitchcock)
Rio Bravo
Sansho the Bailiff
The Third Man
Un Chien Andalou
Viridiana
Besides, the following are new ones on me:
6ixtynin9
The Bothersome Man
Cruel Gun Story
Dying at Grace
Goodbye Solo
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
Jana Aranya
Jellyfish
Limite
Once (Carney)
Subarnarekha
Tale of Tales
Wendy and Lucy
Who’s Camus Anyway?
Anonymous said
Martin, “Anonymous” in this case is ex-HTFer Mario Gauci…:)!
martinteller said
Mario! Nice of you to stop by
Yes, I would have figured that the Bunuels would be very special to you. Most of the films you singled out are ones that were very close to making my list. As for the ones you haven’t seen (and I’m surprised there are ANY movies left you haven’t seen!!) I hope you check some of them out one day.
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