Your Top 20 Films of All-Time (As of 2024) Movie • Page 10

The Matrix holds up shockingly well

 

The Matrix is probably the best example of a high-concept blockbuster delivering the exposition about the world in an exciting way.

 

60. DAYS OF HEAVEN
DIRECTED BY: TERRENCE MALICK



59. STARSHIP TROOPERS
DIRECTED BY: PAUL VERHOEVEN



58. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
DIRECTED BY: WOODY ALLEN



57. STALKER
DIRECTED BY: ANDREI TARKOVSKY



56. PATHS OF GLORY
DIRECTED BY: STANLEY KUBRICK



55. THE SEARCHERS
DIRECTED BY: JOHN FORD



54. SECRETS AND LIES
DIRECTED BY: MIKE LEIGH



53. SATANTANGO
DIRECTED BY: BELA TARR



52. FANNY AND ALEXANDER
DIRECTED BY: INGMAR BERGMAN



51. PICKPOCKET
DIRECTED BY: ROBERT BRESSON

 

Another Year and 25th Hour are both great pulls you don't see listed a lot.

 

25th Hour is one of the handful of films that really got me into movies seriously. We rented it and I had no idea what it was and it really blew me away.

 

Great film!

 

Too painful to narrow it to 20. Also, harmful to my brain to list in order of preference, so I can only go by year.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene - 1920)
Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton - 1924)
Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir - 1937)
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder - 1944)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra - 1946)
Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur - 1947)
In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray - 1950)
Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen; Gene Kelly - 1952)
Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock - 1954)
Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman - 1957)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock - 1958)
Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks - 1959)
The Apartment (Billy Wilder - 1960)
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard - 1960)
Hara-kiri (Masaki Kobayashi - 1962)
Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut - 1962)
The Fire Within (Louis Malle - 1963)
Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman - 1963)
Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda - 1964)
An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu - 1964)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman - 1966)
Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg - 1967)
Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson - 1970)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese - 1976)
My Dinner with Andre (Louis Malle - 1981)
Local Hero (Bill Forsyth - 1983)
Metropolitan (Whit Stillman - 1990)
La Belle Noiseuse (Jacques Rivette - 1991)
Before Trilogy (Richard Linklater - 1995/2004/2013)
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick - 1999)
You Can Count on Me (Kenneth Lonergan - 2000)
Lost in Translation (Sophia Coppola - 2003)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry - 2004)
In Good Company (Paul Weitz - 2004)
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson - 2007)
The Visitor (Tom McCarthy - 2008)
Adventureland (Greg Mottola - 2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson - 2009)
Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami - 2010)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick - 2011)
Tu Dors, Nicole (Stephane Lafleur - 2014)
Paterson (Jim Jarmusch - 2016)
First Reformed (Paul Schrader - 2017)

 

Revisited Targets not long ago. The matter-of-factness of the shootings is so incredibly unnerving. As everyone says, it's a film that has unfortunately aged all too well.

Cool to see Be Kind Rewind listed. I've been meaning to watch that one ever since it came out, and still somehow haven't gotten around to it. Speaking of Gondy, rewatched The Science of Sleep within the last year and, sadly, I didn't like it nearly as much as I did when I was young. Maybe I was just in a bad mood, but Bernal's character just annoyed me the entire time. Haha.

 

Be Kind Rewind is not only fun and perfectly casted, but it's got a really charming and heartfelt quality that feels unique to Gondry when you see it. It feels like a must-see for movie lovers, just really joyful and funny and a bit of a tearjerker. I've actually never even heard of The Science of Sleep, so I will absolutely have to check it out for myself.

Also wanted to point out how interesting it is to see Eyes Wide Shut be the most common Kubrick pick I've seen in here, I adore it but I know some folks find it polarizing due to how close it may or may not have been to completion at the time of his death

 

I don't think I've seen Be Kind Rewind since I was still getting DVDs from Netflix, should watch it again. I'm certain my wife has never seen it.

 

I don't see A Special Day discussed as often as I'd like. Absolutely love that one.

Also, yeah, Bicycle Thieves is one of those I watched when I first got serious about movies, and appreciated it, but it didn't bowl me over like I thought it would. I then rewatched it a few years ago after becoming a father and my wife and I just sat in silence and tears after it was finished.

 

Yeah, I'm throwing Be Kind Rewind to the top of my list.

And, yeah, interesting about Eyes Wide Shut. I think I've watched it four times now. Each time thinking, "Is this really my favorite Kubrick?" Yes. Yes it is.

 

Be Kind Rewind takes a hard turn about halfway through imo, but it’s a good movie!

 

Popstar is my instant go-to for any time I have company and they're in the mood for a comedy. I'll always have a vivid memory of it being one of the last movies I watched before COVID really hit, and I laughed with my brother until my stomach hurt. And there aren't enough movies being made like They Came Together. More of those, please.

Tampopo. So great. My first watch of that was actually on an airplane. The sex scenes involving food had me looking over my shoulder with great discomfort. Haha.

 

I stumbled upon it by chance a few years ago, had never even heard of it, and it absolutely blew me away with how good it was. I've only seen it once, so I'd definitely fancy a rewatch, but it was an unbelievably good first watch. Particularly as I had absolutely no expectation that it'd be that good.

 

I remember seeing Popstar in theaters with my friends and… we were the only ones. We had a great time but it was such a bummer that such a good movie wasn’t enormously successful!

lol @ watching tampopo on an airplane. That’s a strong choice!

 

Curious what you mean by "a hard turn" lol

 

It just always struck me as coming out of nowhere when they decide to make the documentary. I guess thematically it makes sense, but the first half of the film feels like a studio comedy and the second half does not. I still like it a lot though!

 

I think you may have watched more older movies than I've watched movies ever

 

I'm endlessly fascinated with the silent era, especially in this crazy golden age of boutique physical media labels releasing some incredible restorations on blu-ray and sometimes even 4K. It's super nerdy, and maybe I'm just easily amused, but it feels like some weird time travel and like I'm ridiculously lucky to be able to see some of these movies almost 100 years later.

 

I just saw Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Sherlock Jr. yesterday for the first time!

 

Sherlock Jr. is one of those I can throw on and it's an instant mood changer. Such a fun movie. It's been a few years since I've last watched Steamboat Bill, but I really love that one as well. Keaton > Chaplin > Lloyd for me. But I love them all.

 

Terror-Vision just did a restoration of Dante's Inferno (1911) that I'm very interested in

 

The Cameraman is my favourite Keaton. I feel like it has everything I love about him in there, plus a knife wielding monkey.

 

That's great to hear! My first (and only) watch of Dante's Inferno was less than optimal -- a shitty YouTube rip with a terrible, droning organ score while I had a fever.

However, I do recommend anyone's first watch of Eraserhead be under the influence of a fever. That was how my wife and I both first saw it together and, yeah, it kind of enhances the experience. Haha.