Top 97 Films (Part Four)

It is that time of year again, the one where I take a look over all the films I love and update my Top 97. Much like last year's list this one doesn't have a ton of new additions, but there are some notable shifts in positioning throughout that add a bit more clarity to my love of cinema. Unlike the other years though I'm going to try something new and start from the top, working my way down. If I like how that goes I'll probably just do every year. And without further delay, let the countdown begin!

1. There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007)
   
   
   
   
   

2. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, 1964)
   
   
   
   
   
3. George Washington (Green, 2000)
   
   
   
   
   
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles  (Ankerman, 1975)
   
   
   
   
   
5. I’m Not There (Haynes, 2007)
   
   
   
   
   

6. Elephant (Van Sant, 2003)
   
   
   
   
   
7. Wendy and Lucy (Reichardt, 2008)
   
   
   
   
   
8. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (Parker, 1999)
   
   
   
   
   
9. Bambi (Hand, 1942)
   
   
   
   
   
10. Superbad (Mottola, 2007)
    
    
    
    
    

11. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971)
12. Rashômon (Kurosawa, 1950)
13. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
14. Killer of Sheep (Burnett, 1977)
15. Vincent (Burton, 1982)
16. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Burton, 2007)
17. Umberto D. (de Sica, 1952)
18. Perfect Blue (Kon, 1998)
19. Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997)
20. Hercules (Clements and Musker 1997)
21. The Departed (Scorsese, 2006)
    
    
    
    
    

22. My Fair Lady (Cukor, 1964)
23. Mind Game (Yuasa, 2004)
24. Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
25. Paranoid Park (Van Sant, 2008)
26. Big Fish (Burton, 2003)
27. King of Comedy (Chow and Lee, 1999)
28. Paprika (Kon, 2007)
29. A Serious Man (Coen, 2009)
30. The Lion King (Allers and Minkoff, 1994)
31. Gerry (Van Sant, 2002)
    
    
    
    
    

32. Somewhere (Coppola, 2010)
33. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988)
34. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
35. Porco Rosso (Miyazaki, 1992)
36. Duck Soup (McCarey, 1933)
37. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)
38. Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)
39. Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro, 2006)
40. Metropolis (Lang, 1927)
41. Grave of the Fireflies (Takahata, 1988)
42. Grindhouse (Rodriguez, Roth, Tarantino, Wright, Zombie 2007)
    
    
    
    
    

43. Chop Shop (Bahrani, 2008)
44. Boogie Nights (Anderson, 1997)
45. Kicking and Screaming (Baumbach, 1995)
46. Once (Carney, 2006)
47. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Coen, 2000)
48. Requiem For A Dream (Aronofsky, 2000)
49. My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant, 1991)
50. Ratcatcher (Ramsay, 1999)
51. Oldboy (Park, 2003)
52. Shaolin Soccer (Chow, 2001)
53. Adventureland (Mottola, 2009)
54. Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001)
    
    
    
    
    

55. Days of Heaven (Malick, 1978)
56. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Weerasethakul, 2011)
57. The Tree of Life (Malick, 2011)
58. Summer Wars (Hosoda, 2010)
59. Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, 1997)
60. Orgazmo (Parker, 1997)
61. Unfaithfully Yours (Sturges, 1948)
62. Millennium Actress (Kon, 2001)
63. Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
64. Man Push Cart (Bahrani, 2005)
65. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2010)
    
    
    
    
    

66. Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007)
67. Speed Racer (Wachowski, 2007)
68. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
69. Toy Story (Lasseter, 1995)
70. Ed Wood (Burton, 1994)
71. Team America: World Police (Parker, 2004)
72. Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel, 1929)
73. Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
74. Fargo (Coen, 1996)
75. Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943)
76. Sunset Blvd. (Wilder, 1950)
77. Punch-Drunk Love (Anderson, 2004)
78. Only Angels Have Wings (Hawks, 1939)
79. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Selick, 1993)
80. Funny Games (US) (Haneke, 2008)
81. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Anderson, 2009)
82. sex, lies, and videotape (Soderbergh, 1989)
83. Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008)
84. Song of the South (Foster and Jackson, 1946)
    
    
    
    
    

85. The Host (Joon-ho, 2006)
86. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Move Film for Theaters (Maiellaro and Willis, 2007)
87. The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach, 2005)
88. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Apatow, 2005)
89. Dont Look Back (Pennebaker, 1967)
90. Election (Payne, 1999)
    
    
    
    
    
91. Santa Sangre (Jodorowski, 1989)
92. Bolt (Williams and Howard, 2008)
93. Mars Attacks! (Burton, 1996)
94. Sin City (Miller, Rodriguez, and Tarantino, 2005)
95. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
96. Raising Arizona (Coen, 1987)
    
    
    
    
    
97. Tale of Tales (Norshteyn, 1979)

And there we have it, friends. Let me know what you think of the list in the comments section. I'm always looking for recommendations of what to watch, so be sure to tell me a few great films to check out and perhaps next year they will occupy a spot on the list as well!

Rich

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

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© 2012 Richard James Thorne