Sometimes people have asked me for a copy of my list of Great Movies. It’s in chronological order, paragraphed by decade. It’s an extremely personal and highly idiosyncratic list!! It will be painfully obvious that I have left off many great movies - but I wanted to leave room for some you may have missed...
Pandora’s Box, 1929, director Georg Wilhelm Pabst; with Louise Brooks
The Blue Angel, 1930, director Josef von Sternberg; with Marlene Dietrich
Trouble in Paradise, 1932, director Ernst Lubitsch
Grand Hotel, 1932, director Edmund Goulding; with Greta Garbo
Baby Face, 1933, director Alfred E. Green; with Barbara Stanwyck
Dodsworth, 1936, director William Wyler; with Walter Huston
My Man Godfrey, 1936, director Gregory LaCava; with Carole Lombard
The Philadelphia Story, 1940, director George Cukor; with Cary Grant, Kathryn Hepburn
My Favorite Wife, 1940, director Garson Kanin; with Cary Grant, Irene Dunn
His Girl Friday, 1940, director Howard Hawks; with Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell
The Lady Eve, 1941, director Preston Sturges; with Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda
The Little Foxes, 1941, director William Wyler; with Bette Davis
Casablanca, 1942, director Michael Curtiz; with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
To Be or Not To Be, 1942, director Ernst Lubitsch; with Jack Benny, Carole Lombard
Children of Paradise, 1945, director Marcel Carné
The Lost Weekend, 1945, director Billy Wilder
Notorious, 1946, director Alfred Hitchcock; with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman
Day of Wrath (a/k/a Day of Anger), 1948, director Carl Dreyer
The Third Man, 1949, director Carol Reed; with Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton
All About Eve, 1950, director Joseph Mankiewicz; with Bette Davis
Rashoman, 1950, director Akira Kurosawa
Harvey, 1950, director Henry Koster; with James Stewart
An American in Paris, 1951, director Vincente Minelli; with Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron
A Place in the Sun, 1951, director George Stevens; with Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Taylor
Streetcar Named Desire (restored cut), 1951, director Elia Kazan; with Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh
Marty (Philo Television Playhouse version), 1953, director Delbert Mann, writer Paddy Chayefsky; with Rod Steiger, Nancy Marchand
Tokyo Story, 1953, director Yasujirô Ozu
On the Waterfront, 1954, director Elia Kazan; with Marlon Brando
Pather Panchali, 1955, director Satyajit Ray
The Ladykillers, 1955, director Alexander Mackendrick; with Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness
East of Eden, 1955, director Elia Kazan; with James Dean
The Seventh Seal, 1956, director Ingmar Bergman; with Max van Sydow
On the Bowery, 1956, director Lionel Rogosin
Nights of Cabiria, 1957, director Federico Fellini; with Giulietta Masina
A Face in the Crowd, 1957, director Elia Kazan; with Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal
Requiem for a Heavyweight (Playhouse 90 version), 1957, director Ralph Nelson; with Jack Palance
Days of Wine and Roses (Playhouse 90 version), 1958, director John Frankenheimer; with Piper Laurie, Cliff Robertson
Vertigo, 1958, director Alfred Hitchcock; with James Stewart, Kim Novack
Some Like it Hot, 1959, director Billy Wilder; with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis
The Fugitive Kind, 1959, director Sidney Lumet; with Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani
The Entertainer, 1960, director Tony Richardson; with Lawrence Olivier
The Apartment, 1960, director Billy Wilder, with Shirley MacLaine, Jack Lemmon
The Hustler, 1961, director Robert Rossen; with Paul Newman, Piper Laurie
The Misfits, 1961, director John Huston; with Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift
West Side Story, 1961, director Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins; with Natalie Wood
The Exterminating Angel, 1962, director Luis Bunuel
Jules and Jim, 1962, director Francois Truffaut; with Jeanne Moreau
Hud, 1963, director Martin Ritt; with Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal
A Shot in the Dark, 1964, director Blake Edwards; with Peter Sellers
Dr. Strangelove, 1964, director Stanley Kubrick; with Peter Sellers, George Scott
Zorba the Greek, 1964, director Michael Cacoyannis; with Alan Bates, Anthony Quinn
The Pawnbroker, 1965, director Sidney Lumet; with Rod Steiger
Seconds, 1966, director John Frankenheimer; with Rock Hudson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966, director Mike Nichols; with Richard Burton, Liz Taylor
Bonnie and Clyde, 1967, director Arthur Penn; with Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway
The Graduate, 1967, director Mike Nichols; with Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft
Salesman, 1968, directors Albert Maysles, David Maysles
Oliver!, 1968, director Carol Reed
2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968, director Stanley Kubrick
Faces, 1968, director John Cassavetes; with Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel
Midnight Cowboy, 1969, director John Schlesinger; with Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voigt
I Never Sang for My Father, 1970, director Gilbert Cates; with Gene Hackman, Melvyn Douglas
Little Big Man, 1970, director Arthur Penn; with Dustin Hoffman
Five Easy Pieces, 1970, director Bob Rafelson; with Jack Nicholson, Karen Black
Minnie and Moskowitz, 1971, director John Cassavetes; with Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel
The Last Picture Show, 1971, director Peter Bogdanovich; with Jeff Bridges
McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 1971, director Robert Altman; with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie
Carnal Knowledge, 1971, director Mike Nichols; with Jack Nicholson
Klute, 1971, director Alan J. Pakula; with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland
Wanda, 1971, director Barbara Loden; with Barbara Loden
Macbeth, 1971, director Roman Polanski
Cabaret, 1972, director Bob Fosse; with Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey
The Godfather, 1972, director Francis Ford Coppola; with Marlon Brando, Al Pacino
Fat City, 1972, director John Huston; with Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Susan Tyrell
Cries and Whispers, 1972, director Ingmar Bergman; with Liv Ullman
Last Tango in Paris, 1973, director Bernardo Bertolucci; with Marlon Brando
The Iceman Cometh, 1973, director John Frankenheimer; with Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin
Solaris, 1973, director Andrei Tarkovsky
The Gambler, 1974, director Karel Reisz; with James Caan
Godfather II, 1974, director Francis Ford Coppola; with Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro
A Woman under the Influence, 1974, director John Cassavetes; with Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk
Chinatown, 1974, director Roman Polanski; with Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Amarcord, 1974, director Federico Fellini
Young Frankenstein, 1974, director Mel Brooks; with Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn
Nashville, 1975, director Robert Altman
Three Days of the Condor, 1975, director Sydney Pollack; with Robert Redford
Dog Day Afternoon, 1975, director Sidney Lumet; with Al Pacino
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975, director Milos Forman; with Jack Nicholson
The Day of the Locust, 1975, director John Schlesinger; with Donald Sutherland
Shampoo, 1975, director Hal Ashby; with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie
Taxi Driver, 1976, director Martin Scorsese; with Robert DeNiro
All the President's Men, 1976, director Alan J. Pakula; with Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman
The Bad News Bears, 1976, director Michael Ritchie; with Walter Matthau
Slapshot, 1977, director George Roy Hill; with Paul Newman
Annie Hall, 1977, director Woody Allen, with Diane Keaton
Saturday Night Fever, 1977, director John Badham, with John Travolta
The Deer Hunter, 1978, director Michael Cimino; with Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep
A Dream of Passion, 1978, director Jules Dassin; with Ellen Burstyn, Melina Mercouri
Autumn Sonata, 1978, director Ingmar Bergman; with Liv Ullman, Ingrid Bergman
Alien, 1979, director Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver
Being There, 1979, director Hal Ashby; with Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine
Ordinary People, 1980, director Robert Redford, with Mary Tyler Moore
The Elephant Man, 1980, director David Lynch; with John Hurt
Resurrection, 1980, director Daniel Petrie; with Ellen Burstyn
Playing for Time (TV), 1980, director Daniel Mann; with Vanessa Redgrave
Excalibur, 1981, director John Boorman; with Helen Mirren
Modern Romance, 1981, director Albert Brooks; with Albert Brooks
Body Heat, 1981, director Lawrence Kasdan; with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner
My Dinner with Andre, 1981, director Louis Malle; with Wallace Shawn
Tootsie, 1982, director Sidney Pollack; with Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange
Sophie’s Choice, 1982, director Alan Pakula; with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline
The Year of Living Dangerously, 1982, director Peter Weir; with Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver
Tender Mercies, 1983, director Bruce Beresford; with Robert Duvall
Ran, 1985, director Akira Kurosawa
The Singing Detective (TV), 1986, director Jon Amiel, writer Dennis Potter; with Michael Gambon
Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986, director Woody Allen; with Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986, director John Hughes; with Matthew Broderick
The Dead, 1987, director John Huston; with Angelica Huston
Broadcast News, 1987, director James Brooks; with Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks
Raising Arizona, 1987, director Joel and Ethan Coen; with Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter
Wings of Desire, 1987, director Wim Wenders
Distant Voices, Still Lives, 1988, director Terence Davies
The Decalogue, 1988, director Krzysztof Kieślowski
Say Anything, 1989, director Cameron Crowe; with John Cusack
Crimes and Misdemeanors, 1989, director Woody Allen
sex, lies and videotape, 1989, director Steven Soderbergh
Map of the Human Heart, 1992, director Vincent Ward; with Jeanne Moreau, John Cusack
The Player, 1992, director Robert Altman; with Tim Robbins
In the Soup, 1992, director Alexandre Rockwell; with Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener
Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992, director James Foley; with Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin
Simple Men, 1992, director Hal Hartley
Careful, 1992, director Guy Maddin
Farewell My Concubine, 1993, director Chen Kaige; with Gong Li
Groundhog Day, 1993, director Harold Ramis; with Bill Murray
Six Degrees of Separation, 1993, director Fred Schepisi; with Stockard Channing, Will Smith
Schindler’s List, 1993, director Steven Spielberg; with Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes
Household Saints, 1993, director Nancy Savoca; with Tracey Ullman
Blue Sky, 1994, director Tony Richardson; with Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones
Dead Man Walking, 1995, director Tim Robbins; with Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon
Leaving Las Vegas, 1995, Mike Figgis; with Nicholas Cage, Elizabeth Shue
Living in Oblivion, 1995, Tom DiCillo; with Steve Buscemi
Heavy, 1995, James Mangold; with Liv Tyler
Richard III, 1995, Richard Loncraine; with Ian McKellan
Nixon, 1995, director Oliver Stone; with Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen
Romeo + Juliet, 1996, director Baz Luhrman; with Claire Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio
Secrets and Lies, 1996, director Mike Leigh; with Brenda Blethyn
Breaking the Waves, 1996, director Lars Von Trier; with Emily Watson
Fargo, 1996, directors Joel and Ethan Cohen; with Frances McDormand
Big Night; 1996, directors Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci; with Tucci, Tony Shalhoub
Affliction, 1997, director Paul Schrader; with Nick Nolte, James Coburn
The Sweet Hereafter, 1997, director Atom Egoyan; with Ian Holm
The Ice Storm, 1997, director Ang Lee; with Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver
Jackie Brown, 1997, director Quentin Tarrantino; with Pam Grier, Robert Forster
Buffalo 66, 1998, director Vincent Gallo; with Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci
The Celebration (Festen), 1998, director Thomas Vinterberg, writer Mogens Rukov
The Thin Red Line, 1998, director Terrence Malick
The Big Lebowski, 1998, directors Joel and Ethan Coen
Return to Paradise, 1998, director Joseph Ruben; with Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix
The Straight Story, 1999, director David Lynch; with Richard Farnsworth
Magnolia, 1999, director Paul Thomas Anderson
Being John Malkovich, 1999, director Spike Jonze, writer Charlie Kaufman; with John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener
The Dreamlife of Angels, 1999, director Erick Zonca
Judy Berlin, 1999, director Eric Mendelsohn; with Madeline Kahn, Edie Falco
Three Seasons, 1999, director Tony Bui
Galaxy Quest, 1999, director Dean Parisot
East-West, 2000, director Régis Wargnier; with Sandrine Bonnaire
George Washington, 2000, director David Gordon Green
Timecode (2000), 2000, director Mike Figgis
You Can Count on Me, 2000, director Kenneth Lonergan; with Mark Ruffalo, Laura Linney
American Beauty, 2000, director Sam Mendes; with Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening
Boys Don’t Cry, 2000, director Kimberly Pierce; with Hilary Swank
House of Mirth, 2000, director Terence Davies; with Gillian Anderson
Dancer in the Dark, 2000, director Lars Von Trier; with Bjork
Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her, 2000, director Rodrigo Garcia; with Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Cameron Diaz
Chopper, 2000, director Andrew Dominik; with Eric Bana
Eyes Wide Shut, 2000, director Stanley Kubrick; with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman
Ghost World, 2001, Terry Zwigoff
Amores Perros, 2001, director Alejandro González Iñárritu; with Gael Garcia Bernal
Lantana, 2001, director Ray Lawrence; with Anthony LaPaglia, Barbara Hershey
Waking Life, 2001, director Richard Linklater
Mulholland Drive, 2001, director David Lynch; with Naomi Watts
Donnie Darko, 2001, director Richard Kelly; with Jake Gyllenhaal
An American Rhapsody, 2001, director Eva Gardos; with Scarlett Johansson
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, 2002, director Jill Sprecher
Secretary, 2002, director Steven Shainberg; with Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader
Far From Heaven, 2002, director Todd Haynes; with Julianne Moore
Thirteen, 2003, director Catherine Hardwicke; with Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood
The Station Agent, 2003, director Thomas McCarthy; with Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson
Bad Santa, 2003, director Terry Zwigoff; with Billy Bob Thornton
American Splendor, 2003, directors Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini; with Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis
Angels in America, 2003, director Mike Nichols, writer Tony Kushner
Monster, 2003, director Patty Jenkins; with Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci
Hotel Rwanda, 2004, director Terry George; with Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, director Michel Gondry, writer Charlie Kaufman; with Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
Vera Drake, 2004, director Mike Leigh, with Imelda Staunton
The Constant Gardener, 2005, director Fernando Meirelles; with Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz
The Weather Man, 2005, director Gore Verbinski; with Nicolas Cage
The Prestige, 2006, director Christopher Nolan; with Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman
Little Children, 2006, director Todd Field; with Kate Winslet
Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006, director Guillermo Del Toro
The Good Shepard, 2006, director Robert De Niro; with Matt Damon
The Lives of Others, 2006, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007, director Andrew Dominik; with Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell
Persepolis, 2007, director Marjane Satrapi
Let the Right One In, 2008, director Tomas Alfredson
Synecdoche, New York, 2008, director Charlie Kaufman; with Philip Seymour Hoffman
Revolutionary Road, 2008, director Sam Mendes; with Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio
In Bruges, 2008, director Martin McDonagh; with Brendon Gleeson, Colin Farrell
Wall-E, 2008, director Andrew Stanton
Frozen River, 2008, director Courtney Hunt; with Melissa Leo
The Hurt Locker, 2009, director Kathryn Bigelow; with Jeremy Renner
Precious, 2009, director Lee Daniels; with Mo’Nique, Gabourey Sidibe
Winter's Bone, 2010, director Debra Granik; with Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
Never Let Me Go, 2010, director Mark Romanek; with Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley
Biutiful, 2010, director Alejandro González Iñárritu; with Javier Bardem
Catfish, 2010, directors Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
True Grit, 2010, directors Joel and Ethan Coen; with Jeff Bridges
Melancholia, 2011, director Lars von Trier, with Kirsten Dunst
Midnight in Paris, 2011, director Woody Allen; with Owen Wilson
A Separation, 2011, director Asghar Farhadi
Lincoln, 2012, director Steven Spielberg; with Daniel Day Lewis
Amour, 2012, director Michael Haneke; with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva
Stories We Tell, 2013, director Sarah Polley
Frances Ha, 2013, director Noah Baumbach; with Greta Gerwig
The Act of Killing, 2013, director Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous co-director
12 Years a Slave, 2013, director Steve McQueen; with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender
Ida, 2013, director Paweł Pawlikowski
Child's Pose, 2014, director Calin Peter Netzer; with Luminita Gheorghiu
Birdman, 2014, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu; with Michael Keaton
Mad Max Fury Road, 2015, director George Miller; with Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy
The Lobster, 2015, director Yorgos Lanthimos; with Rachel Weisz, Colin Farrell
Mustang, 2015, director Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Moonlight, 2016, director Barry Jenkins; with Mahershala Ali, Trevante Rhodes, Jharrel Jerome
Paterson, 2016, director Jim Jarmusch; with Adam Driver
Get Out, 2017, director Jordan Peele; with Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel
Phantom Thread, 2017, director Paul Thomas Anderson, with Daniel Day Lewis
Cold War, 2018, director Paweł Pawlikowski
Shoplifters, 2018, director Hirokazu Kore-eda
Capernaum, 2018, director Nadine Labaki
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, 2018, director Marielle Heller; with Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant
The Rider, 2018, director Chloé Zhao
First Reformed, 2018, director Paul Schrader, with Ethan Hawke, Cedric the Entertainer
The Kindergarten Teacher, 2018, director Sara Colangelo; with Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Last Black Man in San Francisco, 2019, filmmakers Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails
Parasite, 2019, director Bong Joon-ho
Jojo Rabbit, 2019, director Taika Waititi
Diane, 2019 director Kent Jones; with Mary Kay Place
Transit, 2019, director Christian Petzold
When They See Us (HBO), 2019, director Ava Duvernay
The Forty-Year-Old Version, 2020, director Radha Blank
Time, 2020, director Garrett Bradley
The Father, director Florian Zeller, with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman
The White Tiger, 2021, director Ramin Bahrani
The Dig, 2021, director Simon Stone