At the DM, Brian Viner lists his 100 Greatest Movies ever made. Rather than come up with my own, let me go down his selection and simply list those with which I agree, and those I don’t (just follow along his article for the synopses). If I think he’s missed one, I’ll put it at the end. YMMV.
The Godfather. No argument, although I think I and II should be treated as a single movie, because they actually are.
The Wizard of Oz. Agree.
Psycho. Agree.
Jaws. Agree.
Some Like It Hot. Disagree, but only mildly. Top 200, maybe.
Casablanca. Agree.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Agree.
Lawrence Of Arabia. Agree.
The Graduate. Agree.
Citizen Kane. I have a problem with this one because I don’t like it. But as a groundbreaking movie for its time, I guess it’s worth inclusion.
Bonnie and Clyde. Agree.
Apocalypse Now. Strongly disagree. It’s a weak movie — and to prove my point, the unforgettable scene with Robert Duvall is the best part of the movie even though it’s completely irrelevant to the plot.
Singin’ In The Rain. Disagree. Another candidate for top 200, but An American In Paris would have been a better choice.
The Apartment. Agree.
Shoah. Is it important? Yes. Is it a great movie? No. Few documentaries are.
Modern Times. Agree.
Brief Encounter. Agree.
Double Indemnity. Agree.
The Banshees Of Inisherin. Disagree. I’ve tried to watch this movie on three separate occasions, and have still never managed it all the way through.
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Agree. (Although as animated Disney movies go, I prefer The Lady And The Tramp.)
The Sound Of Music. Meh. My Fair Lady was better.
Kind Hearts And Coronets. Disagree, but only mildly. Top 200, maybe.
The Silence Of The Lambs. Agree.
The Maltese Falcon. Disagree. Flimsy plot, bad acting. Double Indemnity was far better, as was Farewell My Lovely (both versions).
The French Connection. Agree.
Alien. Agree, because it transcends science fiction (which I’m not a fan of). I agree with the inclusion of
Star Wars for the same reason.
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid. Agree.
Annie Hall. Sorta-agree. I don’t think Woody Allen is a good director, although his Midnight In Paris was superb — less introspective, less gauche, much better than Annie Hall, but still not in the top 100.
Raging Bull. Agree. Easily the greatest biopic ever made.
Pulp Fiction. Agree. The only one of Tarantino’s movies I’ve ever watched more than once.
It’s A Wonderful Life. Agree.
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp. Never seen it. Maybe I should.
The General. Agree.
The Bridge On The River Kwai. Agree.
There Will Be Blood. Agree.
Taxi Driver. Agree.
The Deer Hunter. Agree.
2001: A Space Odyssey. Disagree. Boring, pretentious and long-winded.
Seven Samurai. Agree, and I also like The Magnificent Seven.
Vertigo. Disagree. It’s Hitchcock, but it’s not what I’d consider a great movie.
All About Eve. Agree.
Top Hat. Disagree. I love me some Fred ‘n Ginger as much or more than anyone else, but they’re not Great Movies.
Bicycle Thieves. Agree.
On The Waterfront. Agree.
Nashville. Agree.
Rome, Open City. Never saw it.
Duck Soup. Agree, but prefer Monkey Business.
The Searchers. Agree.
The Conversation. Agree.
Dr. Strangelove. Agree.
Boyhood. Haven’t seen it.
Schindler’s List. Agree.
The Producers. Sorta-agree, although I can’t stand Mel Brooks.
No Country For Old Men. Agree.
Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. Agree.
Tokyo Story. Never saw it.
The Elephant Man. Agree.
Deliverance. Agree.
Apollo 11. See my rap on Shoah, above.
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Agree.
Spartacus. Agree. Grudgingly.
Toy Story. Agree.
The Lives Of Others. Agree.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Disagree. Fun movie, but definitely not “great”.
West Side Story. Disagree. High-class camp.
The Third Man. Agree.
Shakespeare In Love. Agree.
His Girl Friday. Agree.
Henry V. Agree.
The Shining. Disagree. Run-of-the-mill horror flick. Ask yourself: if it had been any actor other than Jack, would this movie make any list?
Chinatown. Agree.
Zulu. Agree.
Sunset Boulevard. Agree.
City Lights. Agree.
Gone With The Wind. Agree.
The Best Years Of Our Lives. Agree.
Ben Hur. Maybe, but better than Spartacus, anyway.
Get Out. Haven’t seen it, doubt that I will because I’ve already seen Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?
Night Of The Hunter. Agree.
Rear Window. Agree. In truth, only Hitchcock’s Psycho and Rear Window belong on this list.
Star Wars. Agree. But only the very first (third?) one.
Parasite. Agree.
All The President’s Men. Disagree. As history, it sucks. As a thriller, it’s boring.
High Noon. Agree.
The Exorcist. Disagree. Compelling, frightening, but not great. (Ditto The Omen, for the same reason.)
Kes. Disagree.
Shane. Agree.
Chariots of Fire. Agree.
It Happened One Night. Agree.
12 Angry Men. Agree.
When We Were Kings. Never saw it.
The Vanishing. Agree.
The Sting. Agree.
To Kill A Mockingbird. Agree.
This Is Spinal Tap. Disagree. Loved the movie, but “great” it ain’t.
In The Heat Of The Night. Agree.
Goldfinger. Disagree. None of the Bond movies is “great”. Fun, yes… but not great.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Agree. But none of the sequels (see: Star Wars).
Thelma And Louise. Agree.
Oliver! Disagree! despite outstanding performances from Ron Moody and Oliver Reed.
Notable omissions:
The Lady Eve. Preston Sturges, Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. Brilliant comedy.
The Postman Always Rings Twice. Inexplicable omission. The original with John Garfield or the Jack Nicholson remake would make my list.
Scenes From A Marriage. Ingmar Bergman, ’nuff said.
Rocky. No-hoper nearly makes it. An American story.
Full Metal Jacket. Another American story.
Badlands. And a third, only this one about real people, sorta.
The Lion In Winter. Quite easily one of the best historical dramas ever filmed. If not this, then
A Man For All Seasons. I’m not sure that anyone could argue against this one being on a top 20 list, let alone a top 100. Inexplicable omission.
Notorious. Possibly the best Hitchcock movie, and could replace either Psycho or Rear Window in the above list.
The Long Riders. Inexplicable omission. It and the next one could tie for “best Western ever made”, with all due respect to The Searchers.
Unforgiven. Best Clint Eastwood movie ever made. And let’s not forget
Stagecoach.
In Bruges. I’d put this on the list way ahead of The Banshees Of Inisherin. Same principal actors, even.
Pandora’s Box. Did someone forget the early German movies? I didn’t.
Fargo. The Coen Brothers at their wicked best.
The Matrix. One of the better concepts in any sci-fi / dystopia movie. As was
Blade Runner. Omitted? I’m not even a fan of the genre, but it was a brilliant movie.
A Clockwork Orange. The best Kubrick movie.
Brazil. Leaving out this movie and the previous three makes me think that Viner either doesn’t like or doesn’t understand the dystopia genre.
Being There. Are you kidding me? One of the greatest satirical movies ever, not to mention Peter Sellers being brilliant.
Rescuers Down Under. Best animated cartoon movie ever made.
Zeffirelli’s Romeo And Juliet. Beats out West Side Story, by ten lengths.
From Here To Eternity. Better than any three other war movies combined, excluding
Aces High. One of the grittiest war movies ever. And speaking of which, there’s also
All Quiet On The Western Front — the first b&w version.
Grapes of Wrath. I guess Okies don’t play well in Britishland.
Bound For Glory. Even though Guthrie was a Commie rat. It’s Hal Ashby, FFS. Also
The Last Picture Show for the same reason.
Nosferatu. Horror horror horror.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Brilliant sci-fi. As is
Starman.
The 400 Blows. François Truffaut’s debut movie. Good grief.
Fahrenheit 451. Eerily prophetic, but not as bad as the present day. Also notable as having been directed by Truffaut in English, when he could barely speak a word of it — and by the way, Viner seems to have forgotten or ignored all French directors, not one of whose works made his list. So much for being a movie critic.
So I’ve disagreed with fifteen or so of Viner’s century, and suggested three dozen or so alternatives.
Finally, my total ringer: September Affair. And not just for its theme song.
Feel free to add your own, or to disagree with any of the above.
Both are great lists. But of many I can only remember having seen them, no more; I haven’t been to the cinema for yonks. I just got out of the habit of watching films – at the cinema or on TV – after Covid. Actually, the trend was set in the 90s when my TV was stolen and I didn’t bother replacing it for a decade.
Definitely go see Col Blimp.
Two notable omissions from both lists are Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin and Lang’s Metropolis, but again I can only remember having seen them. And dare I mention Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, one of the greatest of evil films? (Ditto.) I definitely haven’t seen her other evil masterpiece, Olympia.
I was thinking both those too. Plus, the addition of Ninotchka – Garbo stole the screen, and ran the total gambit of emotions (and her acting range).
I’d add Dirty Harry, One Two Three (the clock bit is unforgettable), Its a Mad, Mad, Mad World (classic slapstic and comedic romp), The Choirboys (actually, how police act and think – being a former one…), and Blues Brothers (kinda schlocky, but a pretty good modern musical)
Giant. Great science fiction: Rock Hudson wasn’t gay, Liz Taylor wasn’t fat, and James Dean wasn’t dead.
Thank you! For Banshees! I couldn’t get through it either but I didn’t try three times. Once, turned it off, thought I was not sophisticated enough to enjoy it. Now you make me feel maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s just shite.
One I can’t believe did not make either list is The Last Samurai. Tom makes some awful movies and some really fun ones (The MI series) but they wouldn’t make the list. Last Samurai, though? I’ve seen this film more times than any other single film. In fact it’s been a few years, I’ll have to watch it again. History, plot, acting, the directing,, cinematography, it’s all fantastic.
One which would not make the list, but should be in the top 200 IMO, is the sleeper, Second Hand Lions. I’ve seen that one a bunch, too.
Fun post! Thank you!
JC
I would add
Dr Zivago
The 10 Commandments —- Maybe overexposed on TV every year
and I’d vote for The last Samurai as well
and everyone’s list always ignores my favorite Western McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Maybe great or not, but I enjoyed them. Five more for the omissions list?
The Horse’s Mouth
A River Runs Through It
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Battered Bastards Of Baseball
A Shot In The Dark
I could go on and on. I started this list with just a couple of choices and then kept adding…
To this day, we don’t have a television in the house. I’d read or listen to music instead. It was always a treat to go see a movie. Of course this computer has filled the void with evil nonsense that the lack of broadcast TV left us.
B-b-but where’s The Last Time I Saw Archie?
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I agree with your list, my only exeption would be ” the god, the bad & the ugly “.
For me almost any movie with Eastwood, Léone & Morricone for the music, let alone the 3 of them is a great movie.
Add Terrance Hill to that list.
As far as omissions go I’d have to include a couple by Fritz Lang. The silent “Metropolis” was an incredible movie for its time and would definitely have to go in the top 200. But to leave out “M” from the top 100, with the spectacular performance by the young Peter Lorre is a terrible oversight. An unbelievable performance of movie-making in the between-wars Germany, foretelling the rise of the Nazis.
On a personal note I love “The Maltese Falcon”, which in my estimation is one of the best-ever adaptations of a movie from a book. They left in all the critical dialogue, dropped a few of Hammett’s pointless red herrings, and it flows onto the screen like it’s always been there. The characterizations by the actors is flawless with a single exception: Mary Astor was badly miscast. As for the rest, once you’ve seen the movie you cannot read the book without envisioning those portrayals. Spade, Guttman, the gunsel, all perfectly cast. And Peter Lorre steals every scene he’s in. I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with you on that one.
Missing 2 of my favorite movies ever, Local Hero and Nightmare Before Christmas. Also would have included either/or The Great Escape and Stalag 17.
I liked Local Hero AND its happy ending American version, Doc Hollywood… Can’t believe Barry Lyndon didn’t make the list, or did I miss it?
No Kung Fu Hustle?
Your list is dead to me.
Thank you for An American in Paris! My whole family thinks Singing in the Rain is better. They are mistaken.
City Lights should be higher on the list, and Modern Times could drop off to make room for a better movie. Nothing with Paulette Goddard needs to be on the list.
My Man Godfrey.
The Philadelphia Story.
My own quirky choices:
Saving Grace(1986) , with Tom Conti and Fernando Rey. Not an action film, but a character piece.
Sullivan’s Travels
The Day The Earth Stood Still. NOT the Keanu Reeves version.
I have a list of films I rewatch.
We’re No Angels (Bogart, Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett)
The Shop Around The Corner
Christmas In Connecticut. First time I realized Barbara Stanwyck was once a youthful hottie. I grew up with her as a dour matriarch on The Big Valley.
Midnight in Paris? Not bad, it would never have occurred to me to call it one of the Greats. That’s partly because of the god-awful miscasting of Owen Wilson as a writer. La Wik says Wilson actually shared writing credits for a few movies, so the man is what he is, but the slightly sub-three-figure IQ persona he projects onscreen made him totally unbelievable as a writer.
I have a real hard time with lists of the “top 100 _______ of all time, whether they’re films, actors, songs, musicians, etc, ad nauseum… Those lists are so subjective. As the Romans warned “de gustibus non disputandum est”.
I could probably come up with my own top 100 movies, but it would probably be the top 10 in 10 different genres or sub-genres, because I could never compare Raiders of the Lost Ark with Casablanca, Blade Runner, Duck Soup, etc. And Alien would end up on my lists of Sci-Fi and Horror movies. Sci-Fi would have a sub-genre of “the last-person-on-Earth/End-of-the-world movies and Horror would have a sub-genre of Vampire movies. And my list of dramas would be pre-1970’s. I don’t go to see dramas any more, I want to escape reality when I go to the movies or watch them at home. And who’s got An Unmarried Woman, Kramer vs. Kramer, the China Syndrome or Fatal Attraction in their DVD/Blu-Ray collection? Nobody I know.
Any list like that that does not include “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” is rubbish.
* QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER (1990)… pitting highly-ethical Tom Selleck against the perfect villain Alan Rickman!
* TOMBSTONE (1993)… with Val Kilmer as the ‘Doc Holliday’ character (cheated out of the Academy Award for best actor).
* INSIDE MAN (2006)… Clive Owen, Denzel Washington.
* PLATOON (1986)… with Willem Dafoe and the great Tom Beringer.
* BLADE RUNNER (1982)… theatrical version with Ford’s narration.
* THE GAME (1997)… the unstoppable Debra Unger and that Douglas kid.
* GOODFELLAS… Paul Sorvino and the impeccable Ray Liotta.
* GONE BABY GONE (2007)… Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan.
* THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE EIGHTH DIMENSION (1984)… Clancy Brown, Peter Weller, Vincent Schiavelli.
* BOTTLE SHOCK (2008)… Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, Dennis Farina.
… and…
* PAYBACK (1999)… Mel Gibson, Kris Kristofferson, the great Debra Unger, the great Maria Bello, the fantastic duo of Bill Duke and Jack Conley, Gregg Henry as the perfect snibbling traitor.
* PRIME GIG (2000)… Vince Vaughn, Ed Harris, Julia Ormond, Rory Cochrane.
* RORY O’SHEA WAS HERE (2004)… James McAvoy eating scenery and having a great time!
.
And any list would be incomplete without…
* THIEF (1981)… James Caan, Jim Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina, and the lovely vulnerable Tuesday Weld.
QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER-Definitely seen several times and still enjoy
Payback-forgot that one for the list
Close Encounters of the Third Kind-I have been thinking about that one of late.
I agree with your list, mostly.
I regularly rewatch “The Four Feathers” (1939) with John Clements, Ralph Richardson, and June Duprez. All perfectly old school British, stiff upper lip, do your duty, throughout. The old actor, C. Aubrey Smith, steals every scene he is in. “Confound it man. I can never tell that story again!”
I am surprised that this “film critic’s” list included “Goldfinger”. Of all the Bond films, the only one I will rewatch is “From Russia with Love.” The second in the series, Bond is decidedly less gadget-reliant than the later ones, and the story benefits from that. If a gadget-heavy Bond movie is desired, why not Moonraker? Not that I’ve seen that one even a second time.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Burl Ives (forget the rest of the cast) was absolutely unbelievably super as Big Daddy – IMHO
Does it have to be an American film?
If not, Cinema Paradiso (Criterion release) is very good, for a series Brideshead Revisited is incredible.
Buckaroo Bonzai! lol. Another sleeper. Not top list material imo but hilarious. John Lithgow was great. Must rewatch that one.
The Mission. Superb cast, incomparable music, and and the slow but inexorable unfolding of a historical tragedy. Absolutely heart-breaking.
I am not a film buff and my opinion counts for little. I haven’t seen roughly half of the titles on the lists. Since my ahem Incident I battle with ADD and there could be some great modern movies I never saw because I can’t concentrate for that long. I greatly enjoyed The American with George Clooney, Blazing Saddles and Never Talk to Strangers. I like a movie where I can fall a little in love with the leading lady! However I would insist on the inclusion of The Road. Maybe Charade as well for the incredible chemistry between Grant and Hepburn.
RE: The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp.
I am 82 and saw Blimp before 1950 because we didn’t have a TV before that year and I remember viewing the film before we had a TV. The flick had a profound effect on the young, naïve, immature me because scenes from it have appeared briefly to me throughout my life. Col. Blimp always undeservingly seemed to get the wrong end of the deal and Deborah Kerr played a succession of female characters, never aging & with different names, interacting with Col. Blimp who gets continually older as he “dances” with each successive Deborah Kerr character. Never saw such a filimic device since, pity. Watch the movie to discover why Col. Blimp wears a mustachio.
Dan Kurt
I hope that with _Psycho_ and several of the others, you mean the original, not the remakes. Hollywood hardly ever does a remake well.
I would include more from the Coen Brothers than just _Fargo_. _O Brother Where Art Thou_ would be great even if all it had was the sound track, but it also has great characters in a plot that works on many levels. Now, my personal favorite is not so deep: _Raising Arizona_. Starting with how the narrating character Nic Cage absolutely nailed the flat arid Arizona accent, it’s the funniest movie I’ve ever watched.
Which reminds me: _Blazing Saddles_ and _Mash_ definitely should be on the list. (That’s Mash, the movie that was somehow deliberately and grossly politically incorrect even before political correctness was invented, not Mash the TV show that was politically correct except for a little sexual harassment.)
I would prefer “A Fistfull Of Dollars” to “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”; a tighter film altogether.
Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” belongs on the list.
I loathe “The Graduate”.
I would prefer “The Trouble With Harry” to “Vertigo”
While I enjoy almost all the Bond films, I agree that none of the are Great. Although I have a soft spot for the 1960’s “Casino Royale” ; an absolute mess of a film with any number of great scenes.
Conagher