Top Movies…
As my gift to humanity, I am providing this page as a handy guide to my favorite movies in my database. The four-star movies are the very best ones I have seen. The annual top ten lists will show my ten favorites for each of the given years. And the three-star movies, while below the four-star movies, are still ones that I think are worth seeing.
Click on the following link if you want to see a list of my ten favorite movies of all time in English. These are not necessarily the “best” films ever made, but the ones that closest to my own heart. And it is perhaps the only list of its kind that includes neither Citizen Kane nor Star Wars.
Click on the following link if you want to see a list of my ten favorite movies of all time that are not in English. You may be as surprised as I was that this list of top foreign films includes nothing by Bergman or Truffaut. But then this is a personal list of sentimental favorites rather than an academically rigorous ranking of artistic merit.
My top ten films in languages other than English
Here are more lists of some of my film favorites.
Ten Funniest Movies of the Past Half-decade or So
Five Christmas Classics
Five Christmas Not-quite-classics
Six Great War Movies
Six Great “War as Absurdity” Movies
Ten Essential Time Travel Movies
Four-Star Movies
These are films in my database to which I have awarded my rare four-star rating.
An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl)Mogadisyu (Escape from Mogadishu)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Sunset Boulevard
Avengers: Endgame
The Godfather
Brazil
Miracle on 34th Street
Excalibur
Le Roi de Coeur (King of Hearts)
Cabaret
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Sound of Music
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Casablanca
Les Misérables
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
La Jetée
Diva
Meet Me in St. Louis
Hugo
My Fair Lady
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Oliver!
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Babettes gæstebud (Babette’s Feast)
Big
Slumdog Millionaire
Local Hero
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
My Favorite Year
Son of Rambow
Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Popiól i diament (Ashes and Diamonds)
Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Sixty Six
The Magnificent Seven
Don’t Look Now
Chinatown
United 93
C’era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West)
The Wizard of Oz
Millions
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Elephant Man
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Third Man
La Vita e Bella (Life Is Beautiful)
Contact
Twelve Monkeys
Cry, The Beloved Country
My Annual Top Ten Lists
Click on each link for my personal list of favorite films for that year. To facilitate comparisons with other top ten lists, each list is now restricted to films actually released during the year in question.
1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Three-Star Movies
These are films in my database to which I have awarded three-star ratings. As with the four-star movies, I have listed these in reverse chronological order, so that the films I have seen most recently are at the top of the list.
Harold and MaudePride & Prejudice
That They May Face the Rising Sun
Heat
Protanopia
Maestro
Dune: Part Two
Poor Things
American Fiction
Anatomie d’une chute (Anatomy of a Fall)
The Holdovers
Saltburn
The Hurt Locker
Oppenheimer
Saint-Narcisse
The Great Escaper
Flora and Son
A Haunting in Venice
Adam & Paul
My Own Private Idaho
Past Lives
LaRoy
Snowden
She Came to Me
Ballywalter
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise
Know Your Place
Tom Jones
Discontinued
Living
Tár
Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)
The Fabelmans
Elvis
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Ghost of Richard Harris
You Are Not My Mother
La Dolce vita
North Circular
Atomic Hope
Clara Sola
Eat the Peach
Morte a Venezia (Death in Venice)
The Last Temptation of Christ
Olga
Bipolar
Licorice Pizza
Doraibu mai kâ (Drive My Car)
9. april (April 9th)
Belfast
The Power of the Dog
The French Dispatch
Dune [2021]
Sequin in a Blue Room
In the Heights
Shiva Baby
Hear My Song
Nomadland
Slash
Les garçons sauvages (The Wild Boys)
10
The Dig
Été 85 (Summer of 85)
No
Singin’ in the Rain
The Bishop’s Wife
Victor/Victoria
Reversal of Fortune
On the Rocks
The Innocents
The Assassination of Western Civilization
Dans la Maison (In the House)
Hamilton
The Apartment
The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)
After Hours
Extra Ordinary
Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things)
Emma. [2020]
Dark Lies the Island
Esto no es Berlín (This Is Not Berlin)
Gisaengchung (Parasite)
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Judy
Ingrid Goes West
Little Women
Yesterday
Paris, Texas
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
Rocketman
Master of Dark Shadows
Whisky Galore!
Three Identical Strangers
Submarine
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Roma
Beach Rats
Sorry to Bother You
Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)
A Little Romance
Four Weddings and a Funeral
They Shall Not Grow Old
Hearts Beat Loud
Thelma & Louise
The World of Henry Orient
Breath
Yellow Submarine
Metropolitan
Nothing Like a Dame (Tea with the Dames)
Avengers: Infinity War
Children of Men
Paris Pieds Nus (Lost in Paris)
Guys Reading Poems
The Drummer and the Keeper
Black Panther
Get Out
Call Me by Your Name
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird
Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
Reds
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Boys in the Trees
The Death of Stalin
Blade Runner
Baby Driver
Funny Girl
Dunkirk
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Still Alice
Monterey Pop
Chavela
The Farthest
In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America
The Big Sick
Wonder Woman
Robin and Marian
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
La La Land
Loving
Arrival
Captain Fantastic
April Flowers
A Face in the Crowd
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Martian
Departure
Secret Admirer
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Blazing Saddles
The Big Lebowski
Zelig
Stand by Me
Mistress America
Tootsie
Love & Friendship
A Date for Mad Mary
The Jungle Book
Groundhog Day
The Commitments
A Hard Day’s Night
Captain America: Civil War
Florence Foster Jenkins
Strangers on a Train
Sing Street
Hail, Caesar!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Room
Nebraska
A Life Not to Follow
Bridge of Spies
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Brooklyn
X+Y (A Brilliant Young Mind)
Spectre
Shaun of the Dead
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Wild
The Way Way Back
The Imitation Game
While We’re Young
The Irish Pub
An Náisiún (The Nation 1923)
Unexpected
45 Years
This Is Spinal Tap
McFarland, USA
Pride
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Sweet Charity
Kingsman: The Secret Service
A Thousand Clowns
What We Did on Our Holiday
Sala Samobójców (Suicide Room)
Seduced and Abandoned
Into the Woods
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Nothing Lasts Forever
The Thin Man
The Lair of the White Worm
Interstellar
Fiddler on the Roof
Love Punch
Mrs. Doubtfire
Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats)
A Long Way from Home
Begin Again
The Grand Budapest Hotel
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Philomena
Saving Mr. Banks
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Inside Llewyn Davis
Gremlins
The Stunt Man
Thor: The Dark World
Ender’s Game
Den Skaldede Frisør (Love Is All You Need)
Strictly Ballroom
The Producers [1967]
Pacific Rim
Dom s Bashenkoy (House with a Turret)
Violeta se Fue a los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven)
All Is Lost
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
Before Midnight
West Side Story
Play It Again, Sam
The Great Gatsby [2013]
Paris Brûle-t-il? (Is Paris Burning?)
The Man Who Would Be King
Star Trek Into Darkness
Iron Man 3
Jesus Christ Superstar
Lincoln
Life of Brian
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Batman
Safety Not Guaranteed
Young Frankenstein
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook
Argo
Skyfall
The Bride of Frankenstein
Frankenstein
The Dark Knight Rises
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Shadow Dancer
Good Vibrations
Jump
Earthbound
Lón sa Spéir (Men at Lunch)
Songs for Amy
Hideaways
The Amazing Spider-Man
Jaws
Dark Shadows
Avengers Assemble (Marvel Avengers Assemble)
A Night to Remember
The Hunger Games
Black Gold
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Monsieur Lazhar
Damsels in Distress
The Descendants
Blow-Up
The Artist
The Princess Bride
Willow
Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Guard
The Pink Panther
Airplane!
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Music Man
Arthur
Thor
Changeling
Source Code
Dean Spanley
True Grit [2010]
Hjem til Jul (Home for Christmas)
Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Black Swan
Tangled
The King’s Speech
White Christmas
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Let Me In
Burke and Hare
Bye Bye Birdie
The Social Network
Made in Dagenham
Beetle Juice
The Field
Toy Story 3
Inception
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes)
The Runway
The Red Shoes
Io sono l’amore (I Am Love)
Un prophète (A Prophet)
Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
Na Cloigne
Kaméleon (Chameleon)
Being Julia
To Have and Have Not
The Blind Side
Iron Man 2
Cemetery Junction
The Ghost (The Ghost Writer)
Kick-Ass
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)
El baile de la Victoria (The Dancer and the Thief)
Ajami
Yi ngoi (Accident)
Invictus
Sherlock Holmes
Avatar
Up in the Air
Pocketful of Miracles
Ghost Town
Up
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Moon
Fish Tank
The Dead
The General [1926]
La battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers)
Letetet s Rossinant (Fly By Roscinante)
Hunger
L’ennemi public n°1 (Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1)
Atonement
Baraboo
Imagining Argentina
August Rush
Coraline
Star Trek
The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio)
Manhattan
The Wrestler
Inkheart
Travels with My Aunt
Notes on a Scandal
Roman Holiday
Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, the Bad and the Weird)
Good Bye Solo
The Brothers Warner
A Place in the Sun
The Dark Knight
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future
Nadzieja (Hope)
Vox Humana (notes for a small opera)
Kisses
Man on Wire
A Film with Me in It
Hancock
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Time Bandits
In Bruges
Charlie Wilson’s War
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Boy A
4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
In the Shadow of the Moon
Indigènes (Days of Glory)
No Country for Old Men
Knocked Up
The Bourne Ultimatum
Puffball
Cré na Cille
Hîrtia va fi albastrã (The Paper Will Be Blue)
On Broadway
Nóz w wodzie (Knife in the Water)
Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0)
Meet the Robinsons
Bridge to Terabithia
Land of Plenty
Casino Royale
The Last King of Scotland
The Pursuit of Happyness
Moonstruck
Flushed Away
Twelve and Holding
A Good Year
Special
The Departed
The History Boys
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Before Sunset
Fried Green Tomatoes (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe)
Villa Paranoia
La Gran final (The Great Match)
I Vitelloni
Le Notte di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria)
The Da Vinci Code
The Party
Capote
Inside Man
Kelly’s Heroes
Lady and the Tramp
Mémoires affectives
Tapas
Match Point
Breakfast on Pluto
Nanny McPhee
All About Eve
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
American Graffiti
The Family Stone
Corpse Bride
March of the Penguins
De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped)
Elizabethtown
Tickets
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Team America: World Police
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Aladdin
Short Order
Mean Streets
City of Ghosts
Mysterious Skin
Paradise Now
Innocence
War of the Worlds
Batman Begins
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Shi mian mai fu (House of Flying Daggers)
Oklahoma!
Sideways
Million Dollar Baby
The Big Red One
Maria Full of Grace
Kaosu (Chaos)
Ying Xiong (Hero)
Shrek 2
Spider-Man 2
Charade
Shattered Glass
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
50 First Dates
The Passion of the Christ
The Last Picture Show
The Fog of War
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Big Fish
Lost in Translation
Peter Pan [2003]
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Into the West
The Matrix Revolutions
Finding Nemo
Love Actually
Cowboys and Angels
Touching the Void
Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions)
Capturing the Friedmans
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Matchstick Men
Calendar Girls
Tears of the Sun
Buffalo Soldiers
Peter Pan [1953]
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Don Juan DeMarco
Hulk
El Hijo de la novia (Son of the Bride)
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Goldfish Memory
The Soul of a Man
Good bye, Lenin!
Julie Walking Home
Veronica Guerin
Lilja 4-ever
Washington Square
Mary Poppins
Anger Management
The Matrix Reloaded
The Pianist
Evelyn
The Hours
Im Toten Winkel: Hitlers Sekretärin (Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary)
Catch Me If You Can
Cidade de Deus (City of God)
Chicago
The Quiet Man
About Schmidt
Solaris
Chariots of Fire
28 Days Later
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Spider
Tadpole
The African Queen
Signs
Men in Black II
Spider-Man
Minority Report
About a Boy
In the Bedroom
Lantana
Gosford Park
Black Hawk Down
A Beautiful Mind
The Royal Tenenbaums
Ocean’s Eleven
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
The Others
Planet of the Apes
Dancing at the Blue Iguana
Shrek
On the Edge
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
Startup.com
Korei (Seance)
Iedereen beroemd! (Everybody’s Famous!)
Lost and Delirious
Lift
Kyua (Cure)
O
Enemy at the Gates
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Traffic
Memento
The Tailor of Panama
About Adam
Wo hu zang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Billy Elliot
Snatch
Chicken Run
The Perfect Storm
What’s Cookin’
Mission: Impossible 2
Return to Me
Where the Money Is
Wonder Boys
Hanging Up
Rear Window
The Cider House Rules
Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie (The Saragossa Manuscript)
The Hurricane
Reindeer Games
Luke
Angela’s Ashes
Galaxy Quest
42 Up
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Liberty Heights
Tin Men
Diner
Boys Don’t Cry
The Straight Story
American Beauty
Three Kings
The Sixth Sense
Summer of Sam
Tea with Mussolini
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run)
An Ideal Husband
Limbo
Last Night
The Interview
Dead Letter Office
Getting to Know You
Election
October Sky
Go
God Said, “Ha!”
Chile, la memoria obstinada (Chile, Obstinate Memory)
La Batalla de Chile: Lucha de un pueblo sin armas (The Battle of Chile: Struggle of an Unarmed People)
Hilary and Jackie
Gods and Monsters
Cookie’s Fortune
The Thin Red Line
Shakespeare in Love
La Classe de Neige (The Class Trip)
Out of Sight
American History X
Dancing at Lughnasa
Saving Private Ryan
Moon Over Broadway
Zugvogel (Trains and Roses)
This Is My Father
The Nephew
2 by 4
Central do Brasil (Central Station)
John Huston—War Stories
Titanic Town
The General [1998]
The Butcher Boy
La Promesse
Four Days in September
Enskilda samtal (Private Confessions)
Film d’Amore e d’Anarchia (Love and Anarchy)
Oscar and Lucinda
Mrs. Dalloway
Titanic
Good Will Hunting
FairyTale: A True Story
Seven Years in Tibet
The Wings of the Dove
Gattaca
The Ice Storm
Love and Death on Long Island
L’Appartement
The Sweet Hereafter
Vertigo
Chasing Amy
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Face/Off
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Ordet (The Word)
Tieta do Agreste (Tieta)
Tierra (Earth)
The Disappearance of Finbar
Tainoi Mattam Linlingfat (Forbidden City Cop)
Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence)
Mouhim Wong (Dr. Wai in “The Scripture with No Words”)
Irma Vep
Lepa Sela Lepo Gore (Pretty Village, Pretty Flame)
The Full Monty
Libertarias
Moebius
Bob’s Weekend
Brassed Off
Captain Conan
Guantanamera
Forgotten Silver
Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer’s End
Shall We Dansu? (Shall We Dance?)
The Return of the Jedi
Un Heros Tres Discret (A Self Made Hero)
Eye of God
Secrets & Lies
The Empire Strikes Back
Hamlet [1996]
Star Wars
Evita
Lolita [1962]
Jerry Maguire
The English Patient
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Michael Collins
Some Mother’s Son
Bound
2 days in the Valley
That Thing You Do!
Tin Cup
A bout de souffle (Breathless)
Independence Day
Flirting with Disaster
The Rock
Emma [1996]
The Whole Wide World
Lone Star
Lamerica
The Leopard Son
The Boy from Mercury
A Leap of Faith
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
L’Anno Prossimo… Vado a Letto alle Dieci (Next Year… We’ll Go to Bed by Ten)
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
I Shot Andy Warhol
Jenipapo (The Interview)
Etz Hadomin Tafus (Under the Domim Tree)
Nervous Energy
Small Faces
Jonas y la Bellena Rosada (Jonah and the Pink Whale)
Dead Man
Gonin
Drunks
Plein Soleil (Purple Noon)
Angel Baby
Paris Was a Woman
The Celluloid Closet
Trainspotting
Sense and Sensibility
Dead Man Walking
Richard III
Braveheart
Toy Story
Les Miserables
Get Shorty
Cold Comfort Farm
The Usual Suspects
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love
Mute Witness
Liberation
Bandit Queen
Denise Calls Up
Words Upon the Window Pane
Rebel Without a Cause
Tokyo Cowboy
To Die For
Louis 19 le roi des ondes (Louis 19 King of the Airwaves)
Swimming with Sharks
Il Postino (The Postman)
Hoyere enn himmelen (Beyond the Sky)
Das Versprechen (The Promise)
Smoke
Utomlyonnye solntsem (Burnt by the Sun)
The Year of My Japanese Cousin
Mitt liv som hund (My Life as a Dog)
Jean de Florette
Tampopo
Welcome in Vienna
Santa Fe
A Nagy generacio (The Great Generation)
An uns glaubt Gott nicht mehr (God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore)
Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier)
Amazing Grace and Chuck
Bottom of the Barrel
Just for the sake of comparison, you can click on the following link for a list of the ten movies in my database that I’m the most embarrassed about having seen.