1920's...and previous

  • Intolerance (1916) $
  • Nosferatu (1922) &
  • Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
    • Lucas "Do we care that the dream sequence is beyond the suspension of disbelief? Of course not."
  • Greed (1924) $
  • Battleship Potemkin (1925) $
  • The Gold Rush (1925) &
  • Sunrise (1927)
  • Metropolis (1927)
    • Lucas "nothing short of amazing...thrilling in every sense of the word...the standard on which all science fiction should be judged."
  • The General (1927) $
  • The Last Command (1928)
  • The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) $
  • The Crowd (1928)
  • The Man With a Camera (1929)
    • Jules "Instead of being voyeuristic or removed by the taint of fiction, the audience shares in the innocent simplicity of his vision."
    • Lucas "He could be trying to tell us something, but he's already said he's playing with the art form, so how much value are we to put into the significance of a scene?"

1930's

  • L'Age d'Or (1930) &
  • City Lights (1931)
    • Lucas "Somehow, I imagine Chaplin got a great amount of joy from filling the first few minutes of his first talkie with gibberish."
    • Jules "But it his simple, undaunted sincerity in his loyalty to these two that lifts the spirit of the film above the sidewalks the Tramp strolls in his daily wanderings, never more than half a frame away from his next adventure."
  • M (1931) $
  • King Kong (1933)
    • Lucas "It's obvious that Kong is a model and that he's knocking down model buildings, but the effects are done with such a sense of artistry that we get the full effect of the real thing."
  • Baby Face (1933)
    • Lucas "They may have all the money, but she has all the power, and with power the rest comes naturally."
    • Matt "The "lesson" we are given at the end, we accept only because it seems to be the only satisfactory ending ready to hand, although it is not particularly believable."
  • L'Atalante (1934) $
  • It's A Gift (1934)
    • Jules "it's not the thoroughly engrossing piece you'd think it would have to be to get on the list."
    • Lucas "I assume the sum total of all these annoyances is supposed to equal comedy, but it turns out to just be annoying."
  • Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
    • Lucas "We're here to see Karloff's Monster lurch and grunt and beat people up, and that's what we get."
  • Swing Time (1936)
    • Lucas "For a musical, Swing Time doesn't contribute a whole lot to the American songbook."
    • Jules "Never underestimate the power of nagging your sweetheart over some missing kisses by breaking into song in the midst of winter's white delight."
  • Dodsworth (1936)
    • Lucas "a drama about adults and geared toward adults that doesn't pander to a lowest common denominator or insult the intelligence of its audience."
    • Jules "should really lie off the beaten path of American cinematic history and, in a way, it does."
  • The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
  • Camille (1936)
    • Jules "There aren't many movies made these days in which lead actresses can take such lattitude."
    • Lucas "Even for a period drama, the film has not aged all that well, but the story is a timeless one that cuts through the drivel and strikes a resounding chord"
  • Modern Times (1936) $
    • Jules "Teetering on the threshold of the ribald, his visual antics possess warmth, depicting the poor blue-collar worker as the salt of the earth."
  • La Grande illusion (1937) $
    • Lucas "isn't about war at all, but instead is about humanity's ability to connect with each other despite their numerous differences"
    • Jules "time spent with people, looking at and interacting with and appreciating, will always overrule spending time away in a charade as grand or illusory as war"
  • The Awful Truth (1937)
    • Matt "You don't get this sort of story anymore except in bad sitcoms, but even in 1937, they weren't even trying to be original."
    • Lucas "If there ever was a love/hate relationship, this would serve as the template."
    • Jules "What's so mind-boggling about a comedy like this is that you're never really sure what's going on, it doesn't really matter that you aren't, and yet surprises and delights abound where usually a loose plot would unravel, get stale, and lose you."
  • Olympia, Parts I and II (1938)
    • Jules "lean, effective use of spectator shots makes for brilliantly understated social commentary on the time and the event itself."
  • Ninotchka (1939)
    • Lucas "The film is capitalist propaganda of the most effective kind, and makes no apologies for that fact."
    • Matt "Instead, the blows that land against the Soviet Union strike me as way too light-hearted."
    • Jules "[Douglas] and Garbo complement each other enough to make the love scenes appealing and the humor still riotous. The overall effect's very nice."
  • Zangiku monogatari (1939) $
  • The Wizard of Oz (1939) &
  • Gone With The Wind (1939) &
    • Jules "It speaks to their own belittlement, the darkness that they have been kept in by men who felt ignorance would be the best way to run a household."
  • Stagecoach (1939) &

1940's

  • The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
    • Jules "The insults fly the friendly skies in this comedy of errors."
    • Lucas "you know that in the end the two leads will realize they are in love with each other, but you're having so much fun watching the proceedings that you really don't care."
  • Pinocchio (1940)
  • His Girl Friday (1940)
    • Lucas "This is one of the best comedies you'll ever see"
  • The Lady Eve (1941)
    • Lucas "That he doesn't realize they're con artists is odd, that he falls in love with her in the course of maybe two days is even odder."
    • Jules "if you're going to make a mountain out of a molehill, it's nice to know you can always return to the molehill when the shit hits the inglorious fan."
  • Citizen Kane (1941)
    • Lucas "It deserves every inch of its reputation."
    • Matt "[It] seems to imply something even more terrible: that even our reasons, however innocent or however evil, in the end cannot even be understood or explained."
    • Jules "The layers used by the d.p. and the sound editor to keep the depth of the film at a near-constant, however, are the real pith that earns Kane its marks again and again."
  • The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) $
  • Casablanca (1942)
    • Lucas "To know Casablanca is to love it completely. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
    • Jules "If the writers hadn't given us so much action and intrigue, [Bergman] might have walked away with the film."
  • Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
    • Lucas "...it feels as if the scenes were included to placate the author of the novel."
    • Jules "it makes for great cinema in what would without it be a comparatively blase film about the boy next door."
  • Double Indemnity (1944)
  • Ivan Groznyy I (1944) $
  • Detour (1945)
    • Lucas "Ulmer, though, knows how to turn a liability into a strength..."
    • Jules "Choices rule destinies; only the worst sort of fool allows fate to intervene upon his or her better judgement."
  • Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)
    • Lucas "...an epic tale of tragedy where it is not enough to love and be loved in return."
    • Jules "Seeing a film such as this reminds one of the reasons why French films so often get disfigured in inferior remakes."
  • Notorious (1946)
    • Lucas "Somehow he manages to make the most innocent objects the most frightening thing on the screen. Make no mistake, this is the stuff of genius."
  • It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
    • Lucas"it is a moving and profound cinematic experience where prayer coupled with karma can lead to the happy ending where God smiles on George Bailey. For a moment, you catch a hint of the divine."
  • My Darling Clementine (1946) &
  • Out of the Past (1947)
    • Lucas "...at no time does the film ever jump out and grab you the way great films do."
    • Jules "...suffice to say that this is more like film blah than film noir."
  • The Bicycle Thief (1948) $
    • Matt "The film radiates with life and, even in a world where men must steal bicycles, life is a miracle."
  • Letters from an Unknown Woman (1948) $
  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) &
  • White Heat (1949)
    • Lucas "This is James Cagney's world and the film simply exists within it."
    • Jules "An abstinence in the special effects area and an attention to detail help make this a classic that gets better with each viewing."
  • The Third Man (1949) $
  • Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
    • Lucas "A film is in trouble when it relies on irony as a means of resolution."

1950's

  • In a Lonely Place (1950)
    • Lucas "Regardless of how docile he seems in his all-night writing sessions, he is dangerous both to himself and the people he loves."
    • Jules "There's very little room in his world for give and take. He doesn't trust anyone. He doesn't even try."
  • Sunset Blvd. (1950) &
  • All About Eve (1950) &
  • Rashomon (1950) $
  • A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
    • Lucas "Seen through the lenses of history, this is a great, ground-breaking performance, but I imagine that in 1951 it was nothing short of a revelation."
  • Umberto D. (1952)
    • Lucas "There's nothing left for Umberto; he hasn't a chance in the world."
    • Matt "The movie is not about the plight of the poor or he elderly or the pitiable "other" or the ethical treatment of pets. The movie is about Umberto D."
    • Jules "And just as romance can't always be sacrificed to the practical, all the Kubrick and Hitchcock oohs and ahs in the world couldn't make up for a lack of such easy, beautiful filmmaking as this."
  • Singin' In the Rain (1952)
    • Lucas "we watch to see Gene Kelly hanging from that lamppost. And to our surprise, the rest of the film is a thoroughly enjoyable, expertly made musical."
  • Ikiru (1952)
    • Jules "The Kurosawa sense of humor is evident at the beginning of the movie, but the lasting quality of the film is its emotional depth."
  • Tokyo Story (1953)
    • Jules "it's a huge hunk that Ozu has bitten off, but a task that he undertakes with great care and thoroughness...Depending upon your point of view, this will either lean towards the magnetic or make you a bit sleepy."
    • Lucas "It is a moving and heartbreaking finale, and one that I expect gains resonance the older you are when you watch it. Even so, it's a powerful reminder that loved ones can go at any time."
  • Viaggio in Italia (1953) &
  • Ugetsu monogatari (1953)
    • Jules "They swim around each other as though perfectly at home, like a litter of newborn puppies, and to watch them tackle the subject matter fearlessly is a total joy."
    • Lucas "The real tragedy of Ugetsu monogatari is that these two men, despite their best intentions, destroy the lives of the women they love in the pursuit of greatness."
  • Madame de... (1953) &
  • La Strada (1954) &
    • Jules "clear, cool resonance of an eternal story caught in just the right place to give it the appearance of a beginning and an ending."
  • On the Waterfront (1954)
    • Jules "Every once in a while, it's good to know that a box-office smash is really worthwhile."
    • Lucas "Can it be possible to both love and hate the same film? Honestly, I don't yet know."
  • The Seven Samurai (1954) $
  • Sansho Dayu (1954) $
  • Rear Window (1954) &
  • Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
    • Jules "...his treatment of the subject matter has depth, great insight, and textures that range from squeaky-dry dialogue lines to the poetry of wine-drunk love-making at dawn."
    • Lucas "Essentially what Bergman does is take a normal, Victorian scenario and infuse it with his worldview, his fallacies, and his dark sense of humor."
  • The Night of the Hunter (1955) &
  • Pather Panchali (1955) $
  • Ordet (1955) &
  • The Apu Trilogy (1955, 56, 59)
  • The Searchers (1956)
    • Lucas "This is not a good man John Ford has given us as our hero, yet we are forced to admire him"
    • Jules "doesn't exist to enlighten its audience regarding the ways of an all but extinct race, but to provide a venue in which John Wayne can shine. So all political and cultural faux pas aside, for serious Wayne fans, this is a must-see."
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    • Lucas "It may not be great cinema, but as the alien invasion genre goes, it's about as good as you can expect."
    • Matt "there are dozens of better movies you should watch first. At any rate, remember: don't go to sleep or the aliens will get you."
  • Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
    • Lucas "Lancaster operates his column with the all-encompassing power of a mafia boss, moving people around like pawns with little to no consideration for their well-being."
    • Matt "It probably works because it is satisfying to see bastards fail, and because the writers pack it with relatively memorable pulp dialog."
    • Jules "the results are often nothing less than pure cinematic magic. Smooth-talking old school and rough improv."
  • Pyaasa (1957)
    • Lucas "the effect is so powerful, that I cannot imagine the scene being any more riveting if we knew what he was saying."
    • Jules "the cinematographer's use of light and dark sequences that change with the narrative sets terrific tone."
  • The Seventh Seal (1957) $
  • Wild Strawberries (1957) $
  • Vertigo (1958) $
  • Touch of Evil (1958) $
  • Some Like It Hot (1959)
    • Lucas "There's no question this is a classic, but it's also a cinematic delight for the ages. There are few films in history that I can recommend with confidence to nearly everyone. This is one of them."
  • Les Quatre cents coups (1959)
    • Lucas "Morally, Antoine Doinel and his like may be classically wrong, but they are choosing to do things by their own rules, and when you live by your own rules, it's hard to judge those actions by classical morality."
  • Rio Bravo (1959) $
  • Pickpocket (1959) &
  • North by Northwest (1959) &

1960's

  • The Apartment (1960) &
  • Psycho (1960)
    • Jules "Every frame in Hitchcock's timeless thinkpiece tautly shoulders the next, building suspense and bining the story together in the most logical succession of scenes."
    • Lucas "a top-notch thriller the likes of which most films can only dream of duplicating, even if they duplicate everything else."
  • La Dolce vita (1960) $
  • Breathless (1960) $
  • L'Avventura (1960) $
  • Yojimbo (1961)
    • Jules "...deep down he's a role model as well as the protector of an abandoned people he loves."
    • Lucas "one of those rare films that combines seemingly disparate cinematic elements in ways few would have imagined with results that make it seem as if they've always belonged together. To watch Yojimbo is to watch one master honoring another."
  • L'Année dernière à Marienbad (1961) &
  • Viridiana (1961) &
  • The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
    • Lucas "Frankenheimer's masterpiece...revealing the plot much as you'd play a game of solitaire--one card at a time--and it's only when you get to the hardest cards to reach that the whole thing comes together. That is, if you can avoid the Queen of Diamonds."
  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
    • Jules "The poignant and tragic tale of a man trying to live as a god"
    • Lucas "Clearly there's something wrong with him psychologically, but the film never makes an effort to discover what that is. It is content to present us with a Lawrence that is simply flawed for no discernible reason."
  • Jules et Jim (1962) $
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) $
  • 8 1/2 (1963)
    • Jules "the picture...is worth far more than a thousand words. It defines and redefines filmmaking, unabashed by real-life problems, and starkly honest at its depths"
  • Le Mepris (1963) $
  • Charade (1963)
    • Lucas "a taut, engrossing thriller that is expertly made and knows exactly how much information to reveal at every point along the way."
  • Il Gattapardo (1963) &
  • A Hard Day's Night (1964)
    • Lucas "I cannot imagine someone with any amount of appreciation for the Beatles or their music who would not thoroughly enjoy this film."
  • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
    • Lucas "In their able hands, the gruesome becomes absurd and the horrific becomes somewhat campy and sweet. It is, hands down, one of the greatest things ever put on film."
  • Gertrud (1964) &
  • Bande à part (1964)
    • Lucas "if you look closely, you can just make out Quentin Tarantino's next ground-breaking movie."
    • Jules"What Godard has put down for posterity often looks good, but fails to deliver in any tangible way."
  • Pierrot le fou (1965) $
  • Persona (1966)
    • Jules "Bergman...invites us to wonder, but at no time are we allowed to feel sorry for any of the characters involved."
    • Lucas "Everything seems likely, even the extremely unlikely, and by keeping us guessing, Bergman keeps us watching, time and time again."
  • Un homme et une femme (1966) *
    • Lucas "at the same time bittersweet and beautiful."
  • The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
    • Lucas "Leone may not be a great film craftsman and Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo may be cooler than it is good, but that's essential to what makes it great. Were it not so raw, it would not feel so alive and would have faded quickly into obscurity."
  • Closely Watched Trains (1966)
    • Jules"A bold and kind treatment of the enduring reality of the human spirit."
    • Lucas "Every frame is infused with a virginal eroticism that mirrors the preoccupation of his hero."
  • Balthazar (1966) $
  • Mouchette (1967)
  • Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  • Playtime (1967) &
  • Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967) $
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
    • Lucas "it occasionally has the feel of a great director coasting along, killing time until he can make the film he really wants to. In short, he's too proud to make a bad film, but his heart just isn't in it. So, what could have been amazing is merely very, very good."
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) $
  • Andrey Rublyov (1969) $
    • Lucas "Much of it boils down to the struggle to create something, to use that God-given talent to the best of your ability."
  • The Wild Bunch (1969) &
  • Midnight Cowboy (1969) *
    • Lucas "What began as a friendship of convenience has developed into a lasting love between two men who would be completely lost without each other."

1970's

  • Patton (1970) @
  • Il Conformista (1970) &
  • A Touch of Zen (1971)
  • A Clockwork Orange (1971) &
    • Lucas "an acquired taste. It is a bold, daring piece of cinema that aims to provoke a reaction in the belief that it is better to be found spectacularly bad than dull."
  • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
    • Lucas "I hesitate to use the phrase "Kafka-esque", but we're certainly in that territory."
  • Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972)
  • The Godfather (1972)
    • Lucas " He cannot deny that this is part of who he is, it's too deeply ingrained to ignore, and from that moment on he is fully involved."
  • Day for Night (1973)
  • Chinatown (1974)
    • Lucas "a place where perception is not always reality, where to get too involved can be dangerous, where it’s probably best to let sleeping dogs lie."
  • The Godfather: Part II (1974)
    • Lucas "This is a series that resonates from beginning to end because it is masterfully directed, shot, edited, designed, and written, but more importantly because it contains some of the most memorable performances in the history of cinema."
  • Barry Lyndon (1975)
  • Thiassos, O (1975) $
  • Zerkalo (1975) $
  • Nashville (1975) &
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) *
  • Taxi Driver (1976)
    • Lucas "a monument to the potential of American cinema"
  • Star Wars (1977)
  • Annie Hall (1977) *
  • Apocalypse Now (1979) &

1980's

  • Raging Bull (1980)
  • Mon oncle d'Amerique (1980)
  • Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
  • E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    • Jules "They suddenly care more about each other. They need each other. At the very least they recognize that they need each other and they let the rest just slide away."
    • Lucas "E.T. cannot stay on Earth and Elliott cannot leave his family behind, and so ends one of the great friendships in all of cinema."
  • Blade Runner (1982)
  • Fanny and Alexander (1982) $
  • The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
    • Lucas "Every shot, every subtle joke, every note feels perfectly placed. The film has no grand ambitions, yet it is made so simply and perfectly that it achieves them anyway."
  • Brazil (1985)
  • Shoah (1985) $
  • The Singing Detective (1986)
  • The Fly (1986)
  • Blue Velvet (1986) &
  • Wings of Desire (1987)
  • Nayakan (1987)
  • The Decalogue (1989)
  • Do The Right Thing (1989) @

1990's

  • Miller's Crossing (1990)
  • Goodfellas (1990)
  • Unforgiven (1992)
  • Leolo (1992)
  • Schindler's List (1993)
  • Farewell My Concubine (1993)
  • Pulp Fiction (1994)
  • Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)
    • Lucas "Chan turns in one of his best performances, especially when fighting drunk."
  • Chungking Express (1994)
  • Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
  • Toy Story (1995) @
  • Secrets & Lies (1995) @
  • L.A. Confidential (1997) @
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998) @
  • The Truman Show (1998) @
  • Topsy-Turvy (1999) @
  • Being John Malcovich (1999) @

2000's

  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) @
  • Yi Yi (2000) @
  • Beau Travail (2000) @
  • Almost Famous (2000) @
  • Kandahar (2001)
    • Jules "Crudely made artificial legs drop by parachute into the Afghani Desert like unholy refugees from a war fought by mannequins."
  • Werkmeister Harmonies (2001) @
  • Atanarjuat (2001) @
  • Gosford Park (2001) @
  • Waking Life (2001) #
    • Jules "By leaving characterization to the elements of argument and reason, the work becomes audience experience, allowing a rare peek into the writing process without muddying the cerebral quality of this fine work."
  • The Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
  • Bloody Sunday (2002) @
  • Talk to Her (2002)
    • Jules "He portrays his characters with warmth, brandishing his wit through sharp dialogue and a tender but firm application of an astonishing visual vocabulary."
  • Spirited Away (2002) @
  • City of God (2002)
    • Jules "a rare glimpse at a world that most Westerners know nothing about and can't relate to one iota."
  • Finding Nemo (2003)
  • Capturing the Friedmans (2003) @
  • The Triplets of Belleville (2003) @
    • Jules "a world in which nearly anything is possible and even hard realities like poverty are presented firmly but with humor and love."
  • La Meglio gioventù (2003) #
    • Lucas "Characters come and go and the dynamics of relationships change over time, and by the end of the film you're so invested in these characters and their lives, that you wish the film would go on forever."
  • American Splendor (2003) @
  • Sideways (2004) @
  • Before Sunset (2004) @
  • The Incredibles (2004) @
  • Moolaadé (2004) @

The 100 Films Archive

$ Sight & Sound 2002 critics poll
* Oscar Winner (Best Picture, Director, or Foreign Language Film)
@ Metacritic.com top scorer
& They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? top 100
# Added by us