www.criticalplayground.blogspot.com
It all started with The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, seeing Star Wars, Grease and Superman at the age of 8 were enjoyable diversions for a child, but something clicked when I saw Empire. The great popcorn movies had captured my 10 year-old imagination and I returned to that same film at least eight more times. Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Blues Brothers and the like became staples of my early teens. Then I started reading Ebert. The 1985 edition of his home video companion opened my eyes to film as something more than just entertainment (although I hope never to lose the childlike wonder of those early entertainments.) At 16, my tastes were expanded by two very different films: Tommy and Taxi Driver. In college, I discovered Coppola, Hitchcock, Allen, Altman and Kubrick. I was quickly becoming an addict. It was Pulp Fiction that sealed the deal. With that film, my eyes were opened as to just how varied film influences can be. Low-brow can stand beside high-brow. An entire world of non-English language cinema was now open (Thank you Kurosawa!) I’m still on that journey and still learning thanks to sites like this one.
TOP 100
1) Nashville – 1975 (Robert Altman)
2) Taxi Driver – 1976 (Martin Scorsese)
3) 2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968 (Stanley Kubrick)
4) Citizen Kane – 1941 (Orson Welles)
5) Psycho – 1960 (Alfred Hitchcock)
6) Raiders of the Lost Ark – 1981 (Steven Spielberg)
7) The Empire Strikes Back – 1980 (Irvin Kershner)
8) Pulp Fiction – 1994 (Quentin Tarantino)
9) Star Wars – 1977 (George Lucas)
10) Apocalypse Now – 1979 (Francis Ford Coppola)
11) The Godfather – 1972 (Francis Ford Coppola)
12) The Third Man – 1949 (Carol Reed)
13) Jaws – 1975 (Steven Spielberg)
14) Dr. Strangelove… – 1964 (Stanley Kubrick)
15) Vertigo – 1958 (Alfred Hitchcock)
16) A Hard Day’s Night – 1964 (Richard Lester)
17) Young Frankenstein – 1974 (Mel Brooks)
18) The Shining – 1980 (Stanley Kubrick)
19) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1968 (Sergio Leone)
20) Blazing Saddles – 1974 (Mel Brooks)
21) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004 (Michel Gondry)
22) This is Spinal Tap – 1984 (Rob Reiner)
23) Seven Samurai – 1954 (Akira Kurosawa)
24) Shoah – 1985 (Claude Lanzmann)
25) Touch of Evil – 1958 (Orson Welles)
26) Fight Club – 1999 (David Fincher)
27) National Lampoon’s Animal House – 1978 (John Landis)
28) Goodfellas – 1990 (Martin Scorsese)
29) Se7en – 1995 (David Fincher)
30) Annie Hall – 1977 (Woody Allen)
31) Raging Bull – 1980 (Martin Scorsese)
32) The Producers – 1968 (Mel Brooks)
33) A Fish called Wanda – 1988 (Charles Crichton)
34) The Exorcist – 1973 (William Friedkin)
35) Eyes Wide Shut – 1999 (Stanley Kubrick)
36) City Lights – 1931 (Charlie Chaplin)
37) E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial – 1982 (Steven Spielberg)
38) Fanny and Alexander – 1982 (Ingmar Bergman)
39) Blade Runner – 1982 (Ridley Scott)
40) Synecdoche New York – 2008 (Charlie Kaufman)
41) Stroszek – 1977 (Werner Herzog)
42) Network – 1976 (Sidney Lumet)
43) Throne of Blood – 1957 (Akira Kurosawa)
44) Superman – 1978 (Richard Donner)
45) King Kong – 1933 (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
46) Notorious – 1946 (Alfred Hitchcock)
47) Lawrence of Arabia – 1962 (David Lean)
48) The Player – 1992 (Robert Altman)
49) Ran – 1985 (Akira Kurosawa)
50) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – 1962 (John Ford)
51) Do the Right Thing – 1989 (Spike Lee)
52) The Godfather Part 2 – 1974 (Francis Ford Coppola)
53) Aguirre: The Wrath of God – 1972 (Werner Herzog)
54) Unforgiven – 1992 (Clint Eastwood)
55) Monty Python and the Holy Grail – 1975 (Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam)
56) Silence of the Lambs – 1991(Jonathan Demme)
57) Crimes and Misdemeanors – 1989 (Woody Allen)
58) The Wizard of Oz – 1939 (Victor Fleming)
59) Ed Wood – 1994 (Tim Burton)
60) M*A*S*H – 1970 (Robert Altman)
61) Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind – 1977 (Steven Spielberg)
62) The Conversation – 1974 (Francis Ford Coppola)
63) Reservoir Dogs – 1992 (Quentin Tarantino)
64) Halloween – 1978 (John Carpenter)
65) A Clockwork Orange – 1971 (Stanley Kubrick)
66) Pinocchio – 1940 (Disney Studios)
67) Schindler’s List – 1993 (Steven Spielberg)
68) Woodstock – 1970 (Michael Wadleigh)
69) Samurai Rebellion – 1967 (Masaki Kobayashi)
70) Memento – 2000 (Christopher Nolan)
71) Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 (Sergio Leone)
72) Black Narcissus – 1947 (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
73) Playtime – 1967 (Jacques Tati)
74) The Muppet Movie – 1979 (James Frawley)
75) The Right Stuff – 1983 (Phillip Kaufman)
76) Fiddler on the Roof – 1971 (Norman Jewison)
77) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – 1939 (Frank Capra)
78) The Searchers – 1956 (John Ford)
79) The Sweet Smell of Success – 1957 (Alexander Mackendrick)
80) McCabe & Mrs. Miller – 1971 (Robert Altman)
81) West Side Story – 1961 (Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins)
82) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut – 1999 (Trey Parker)
83) The Maltese Falcon – 1941 (John Huston)
84) Rififi – 1955 (Jules Dassin)
85) Casablanca – 1942 (Michael Curtiz)
86) Adaptation – 2002 (Spike Jonze)
87) Wings of Desire – 1987 (Wim Wenders)
88) The Blues Brothers – 1980 (John Landis)
89) Sleuth – 1972 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
90) The Night of the Hunter – 1955 (Charles Laughton)
91) All the President’s Men – 1976 (Alan J. Pakula)
92) Kill Bill Vol. 1 – 2003 (Quentin Tarantino)
93) Fantasia – 1940 (Disney Studios)
94) Fitzcarraldo – 1982 (Werner Herzog)
95) Saturday Night Fever – 1977 (John Badham)
96) The Truman Show – 1998 (Peter Weir)
97) Manhattan – 1979 (Woody Allen)
98) Stop Making Sense – 1984 (Jonathan Demme)
99) The Gold Rush – 1925 (Charlie Chaplin)
100) Tokyo Story – 1953 (Yasujiro Ozu)
