My top 10 movies

(in descending order of merit)


  1. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1988) IMDb
    It happened once, and so it will be forever. Insightful German masterpiece, featuring Peter Falk as himself :-)

  2. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
    I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!

  3. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993) IMDb
    97 minutes of cinematic perfection

  4. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
    Naomi Watts is my God (although, it now seems this performance was a oneoff)

  5. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
    Roman Polanski's masterpiece

  6. The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991)
    I like New York in June. (Good God, who knew I'd ever rate a Robin Williams flick?)

  7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2003)
    Meet me... in Montauk

  8. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
    if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?

  9. The Player (Robert Altman, 1992) IMDb
    The best movie ever made about Hollywood

  10. Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997)



    And the rest:

  11. The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985)
    In New Jersey anything can happen

  12. Man Bites Dog (Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992) *
    Brilliant and at times intentionally shocking black comedy made on a tiny budget by three Belgian film students IMDb

  13. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938) IMDb
    I can't give you anything but love, baby! Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, a dog, a leopard and a dinosaur bone get into all sorts of trouble

  14. Once upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1969) IMDb
    Henry Fonda turns evil!

  15. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
    ...it's only a state of mind

  16. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
    They say it's the last song. They don't know us, you see. It's only the last song if we let it be.

  17. Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987)
    Cher and Nic Cage makin' whoopee in Manhattan

  18. Magnolia (P. T. Anderson, 1999) *
    acting masterclass

  19. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)
    Unbridled pleasure- Bill Murray excels

  20. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)
    Katharine Hepburn is sublime

  21. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)

  22. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1983)
    Better to be king for a night than a schmuck for a lifetime

  23. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
    Woody at his best

  24. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
    ..still shining like the brightest star

  25. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994)
    Australia, Abba, Terence Stamp, and Guy Pearce in the absolute ratherest trousers. Music by Guy Gross (Farscape).

  26. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Robert Zemeckis, 1988)
    My only purpose in life is to make people laugh.

  27. Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994) * IMDb
    Brilliantly directed satire features pyschedelic imagery and the use of just about every type of film stock

  28. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) * IMDb
    Edward Norton. What more can I say?

  29. Moulin Rouge (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) - review
    Australian cinema at it's glorious best. The greatest thing you'll ever learn.

  30. Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson, 1994)
    Kate Winslet's heavenly debut

  31. Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992, from play)
    Go to lunch! Will you go to lunch!

  32. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995) IMDb
    Hand me the keys

  33. Cinema Paradiso (1988) (It./Fr.)
    ..Life isn't like in the movies

  34. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
    Controversial emotional rollercoaster

  35. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) IMDb
    Look away, look away...

  36. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree

  37. Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1999)
    I don't think it would be snowing now if he weren't still up there. Sometimes you can still catch me dancing in it.

  38. Grosse Point Blank (George Armitage, 1997)
    Poor title, great movie. Workers of the world, unite!

  39. The Railway Children (1970)
    Ah, Jenny, icon of my youth, fire of my loins

  40. Love and Death (Woody Allen, 1975)
    Sex without love is an empty experience - but as empty experiences go, it's one of the best

  41. It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)

  42. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
    You put your disease in me. It helps me. It makes me strong.

  43. Six Degrees of Separation (Fred Schepisi, 1993)
    Stockard Channing excels

  44. Muriel's Wedding (1994)
    I love Rachel Griffiths

  45. Arthur (1981)

  46. This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984) IMDb
    In the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is often useful

  47. Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins, 1992) IMDb
    Vote first. Ask questions later.

  48. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
    I've always been lucky when it comes to killin' folk

  49. The Matrix (Andy & Larry Wachowski, 1998)

  50. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)
    Kidnap Mr Sandy Claws? I wanna do it! Let's draw straws!

  51. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) IMDb
    An obvious choice perhaps, but it's damn good

  52. The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
    You'll simply never understand the true nature of sacrifice

  53. Se7en (David Fincher, 1996)
    Detective... Detective... DETECTIVE!

  54. Duck Soup (Leo McCary, 1933)
  55. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979) IMDb
    New York was his town, and it always would be...

  56. Grease (1978)

  57. The Hudsucker Proxy (Joel Coen, 1994)
    You know, for kids!

  58. Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972, from play)
    Life is a cabaret, old chum

  59. Mighty Aphrodite (Woody Allen, 1995)
    Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous

  60. When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989)
  61. Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
  62. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
  63. Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995)
  64. Airplane! (1980)
  65. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
  66. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman,1975)
    It was great when it all began...

  67. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
  68. Harvey (1950)
  69. Les Diaboliques (1954) (Fr.)
  70. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
  71. The Big Country (1958)
  72. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
  73. Knife In The Water (Roman Polanski, 1962)
  74. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
  75. Klute (1971)
    for an hour, I'm the best actress in the world.

  76. The Game (1997)
  77. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, 1975)
  78. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)
  79. The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980)
  80. Scarface (1983)
  81. Amadeus (1984)
  82. Leon (1993)
  83. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
  84. Little Voice (1998, from play)
  85. Oh Mr. Porter (1937)
  86. Blockheads (1938)
  87. The Big Sleep (1946)
  88. White Heat (1949)
  89. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
  90. Duel (Steven Spielberg, 1971)
  91. Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1975)
  92. Assault On Precinct 13 (John Carpenter, 1976)
  93. Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986) IMDb
    Boom-baba-boom-baba-boom-baba-boom-baba-boom

  94. Pelle the Conqueror (1987) (Den./Sw.)
  95. The Vanishing (1988) (Fr.)
  96. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam, 1989)
  97. Delicatessen (1991) (Fr.)
  98. Naked (Mike Leigh, 1993) IMDb
    You don't want to fuck me. You'll catch something cruel.

  99. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1993)
  100. Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1993)

* not for the feeble minded


also-rans:

Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)
Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, 1987)
Death to Smoochy
Blade Runner
Tremors (1990)
Fried Green Tomatoes (Jon Avnet, 1991)
Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
Brassed Off (1996)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Donnie Darko
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) 

Top 100

Cinema