One Hundred of the Best Movies Ever
Here is a list of movies humbly offered as the best 100 movies of all time. Every one is a stand-out in some way. You cannot go wrong watching one of these, whether for the first time or the tenth.

....Okay, so you noticed. There aren't 100 movies here, but gradually there will be!

This list started in 2003, and is growing. Wouldn't it be nice to know 100 good movies? Well keep in touch and we might finally get there, if enough good movies get made.

Why not print out this list and bring it to the DVD Rental store today, or just add them all to your favourites list with your DVDs by mail, or movies on demand service.

These are in no particular order. Perhaps they deserve re-ordering by year of debut at some point, but for now I'm rather smitten with the idea of the random order.


1. Casablanca
- great romance, with memorable performances by Bogart and Bergman. Intrigue and sacrifice, and the fleeting nature of lovers in a dangerous time

2. Ordinary People
- the challenge of ordinary life. The depths of despair in a family with a tragic loss that haunts them.

3. My life as a dog
- about the simplicity of childhood, and the tragedy that visits a simple family

4. Crimes and Misdemeanors
- a fine Woody Allen creation that examines the desperation of a man dealing with his infidelity, a brilliant man who faces the loss of his eye-sight and the brilliantly cast Alan Alda as a pompous producer.

5. Bladerunner
- the seminal movie of the science fiction film noir genre that presages the arrival of the cyberpunk genre.

6. Smoke
- a brilliant character study of an author and a shop owner, featuring some amazing dialog, awe inspiring use of silence and patient direction.

7. Being John Malcovitch
- Refreshingly different and quirky exploration of character, a surreal and unpredictable exploration.

8. Babette's Feast
- luxurious exploration of food. A meal as an allegory for life, perhaps, and the sensual experiences of flavour as perhaps a sublimation of a sexual desire.

9. Tampopo
- While we're on the topic of food - an entertaining look at Japanese culture, and the zen of noodle soup.

10. Eat Drink Man Woman
- On to another food movie, the cultures two generations of Taiwan with brilliant food scenes!

11. The Station Agent
- This was an interesting story of a woman dealing with substantial changes in her life, and the two men that help her deal with her demons.  An alternative view of the 'E Tu Mama Tambien' story arc.

12. Cinema Paradiso
- A wonderful treatment of the magic of films through the eyes of a young boy in Italy growing up in turbulent times.

13. Glengarry Glenross
- A gritty, well cast, well acted view of salesman subculture. (Rough language warning!)

14. Three Days of the Condor
- A gripping, enjoyable spy thriller. Great shots of the WTC. Interestingly, based on the novel 'Five Days of the Condor.' Always meant to read it and find out what happens on the other two days!

15. Manchurian Candidate (original version - new version is merely not bad)
- who's running the US? A conspiracy theorists dream movie

16. Dr. Strangelove (or how I learned....)
- Maybe Peter Sellers best work. Strangely, it always continues to be a pithy comment on the American situation. Originally a comment on MacNamara, but somehow, you can see it as a comment on today as well.

17. Apocalypse Now
- A movie adaptation of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" - an amazing transposition into the Viet Nam war by Coppola

18. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- Every once in a while something new comes along. A whole new view of the action adventure, with a supernatural flair and mythic, fairy-tale quality.

19. North by Northwest
- A bit formulaic, but engaging, and fresh at the same time. A brilliantly non-stagey, everyman feel to the movie makes it work. The pseudo-Frank Lloyd Wright set is fantastic.

20. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Incredibly brilliant comedy. On so many levels it shows how the comedic form can inspire brilliance as well as any other.

21. Timebandits
- Inspiring blend of mythology, medieval adventure and science fiction. Loads of fun.

22. Vertigo
- A Hitchcock classic. A psychological thriller

23. Rear Window
- Haven't seen it for a long time, but I remember being gripped, and on the edge of my seat.

24. It's a Wonderful Life
- Fun Christmas fare, about a guy who 'lives' through total despair and back again.

25. Taxi Driver
- Somehow puts you in the place of a psychotic and lets you see through his perspective as he goes to the brink of an implosion of his life.

26. Lost in America
- Such an awesome movie, that sets up to think you're headed somewhere else, and the whole thing falls apart before you're out of the garage. Albert Brooks and Julie Haggarty do a great job. The Nest Egg!

27. Life of Brian
- Another Python troop classic. So quotable in almost every scene. A new restored print was apparently released in 2004. ' Always look on the bright side of life!'

28. Brazil
- Kind of a 1984 with a different spin. Engaging, dystopian film that is as inspiring as it is tragic.

29. Eraser Head
- Only one reaction is typical here - what the HELL was that!? People leave this one holding their heads to stop them from exploding, yelling 'What is going on!'  At once revolting, engaging and bewildering.

30. Groundhog Day.
- A little frivolous, but immensely entertaining and fun, with an ability to make you look at your everyday life, and how it might be different. Read Ken Grimwood's "Replay" for the inspiration - totally different, but super good.

31. Twelve Monkeys.
- It's one of those "who's really crazy" things. Quite entertaining and chilling.

32. Defense of the Realm
- Great engaging spy thriller that makes you feel like you're being watched constantly.

33. Amadeus
- One of the great bio-pics. Gives you an insight into one perspective on the life of Mozart and makes you hear his music a little differently.

34. Wings of Desire
- A very atmospheric, stylish fantasy about angels longing for mortality

35. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Stands up well over the years - engaging and edge-of-the-seat treatment first contact with alien visitors.

36. Roman Holiday
- Fun, light entertainment love story set in Rome. Lots of great scenes.

37. Adaptation
- Brilliant movie from Charlie Kauffman (and his brother?)

38. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
- While I'm on a Kauffman kick - this is a very entertaining take on the autobiography, with Chuck Barris as subject

39. Being There
- Just saw this again, and realized I'd missed it on the list. Simple concept but pulled off nicely by Sellers and a strong cast (e.g. Shirley McLain, Jack Warden)

40. Network
- Okay, some movies are ahead of their time, but this comment on media, manipulation of the truth and it's widespread impact is amazing. Worth seeing just for the scene where the communist terrorists are negotiating the contract with the network. Hilarious.

41. American Splendor
-The Harvey Pikar docu-drama. A great look at the curmudgeony icon, subject of his own texts illustrated by Crumb.

42. Crumb
- Reminded myself about this one when recording the above. An amazing insightful view of brilliance amid the miserableness of middle-lower class American 'nuclear' family.

43. I, Curmudgeon
-Okay, I'm on a roll with documentaries. This Alan Zweig interview-based documentary will resonate with the no-nonsense dour realist. Are you cheery and happy a lot of the time? Then move on and watch something else!   I like that this doc captures the perspective of people who seem 'curmudgeonly' to the mainstream, but are actually lucid observers of everything annoyingly smarmy, cheesy, and artificial in the world.  Kind of a modern day Doestoyevsky's 'Notes from the Underground'.  (Not for sensitive ears - strong language)

44. Sherman's March.
- A documentary ostensibly about a civil war general, but it quickly turns into a gripping personal drama about the film-maker and his relationships.

45. Close Encounters of Third Kind.
-Speilberg is pretty much a pulp generator in most situations, but he captured something here. Some of the most powerful scenes are the simplest. The old man describing how "the sun came out" or the mexicans (Romany?) sitting along the roadside in the middle of the night.

46. Touching the Void.
-Gripping documentary and re-enactment about a pair of climbers pushing themselves beyond their limits to their near disaster. A taste of your mortality that resonates on a personal level with anyone who has ever lived on the edge.

47. Broken Flowers.
-A Jim Jarmusch creation, has made me want to see some of his other stuff and take a closer look. This movie is everything that "Lost in Translation" should have been. The atmosphere captures some of the same stuff, but it doesn't have the mis-casting of Scarlet Johansen, or that always prevlant xenophobia that shows up in American movies about 'foreigners'. This is a quiet introspective movie with tightly woven themes and imagery.

48. The Player
- Don't know how I left this one so long - but Robert Altman's excellent drama about the coverup of a death (murder?) inside holywood. Lots of cameos, and a well constructed plot.

49. Little Miss Sunshine
- A small movie, without special effects, but some good character depth and something to say. Not a blow your socks off movie, but a solid well constructed story with good acting. That's saying a lot these days.

50. The Cranes Are Flying
- Rarely have I watched a movie where I had to exclaim about the photography on a regular basis. This is a black and white 1957 masterpiece of photography from behind the Iron Curtain.  It's a Russian love story about a young couple parted by WWII.  The story is very plain, with a very linear plot. But the filming is just amazing. Won the Cannes Palm d'Or in 1958.

51. Citizen Kane.
- I wasn't sure for a while if I'd include it, but yeah, it has to be here. The story didn't totally engage me on an emotional level, but the structure, framing and cinematography is stellar, memorable and iconic. That alone is worthy of this list.

52. Secrets and Lies
- saw it again recently and sealed it for me. Brenda Blethyn as the mother is phenomenal. I have some issues with a bit of the other acting, but the mom and her brother (Tim Spall) were so solid, the story so emotionally engaging, and the ability of director Mike Leigh to at once make this character engaging and repellant, and then make us feel deep empathy and examine our earlier feelings for these characters make it among the best character driven pieces on the screen.


We're just over half way to our hundred!   Something I should see? Drop me a note.