The best movies of all time
a list of subjective and personal movie recommendations

Note: these lists are in chronological order and since the list was made in 2001, include only movies made through 2000

Citizen Kane 1941 Orson Welles Orson Welles
Vertigo 1958 Alfred Hitchcock James Stewart, Kim Novak
North By Northwest  

1959 

 Alfred Hitchcock Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964 Stanley Kubrick Peter Sellers
8 1/2 1963 Federico Fellini Marcello Mastroianni
The Graduate 1967 Mike Nichols Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 Stanley Kubrick Keir Dullea

A Clockwork Orange

 1971 Stanley Kubrick Malcolm McDowell
Taxi Driver 1976 Martin Scorsese Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster
Apocalypse Now 1979 Francis Ford Coppola   Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando
Manhattan 1979 Woody Allen Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway
Diva 1981 Jean-Jacques Beineix   
Stranger than Paradise 1984 Jim Jarmusch John Lurie, Eszter Balint, Richard Edson
Amadeus 1984 Milos Forman Tom Hulce, F. Murray Abraham
Paris, Texas 1984 Wim Wenders Harry Dean Stanton
She's Gotta Have It 1986 Spike Lee  
A Room With A View 1986 James Ivory Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands
Down By Law 1986 Jim Jarmusch  
Tampopo 1986 Juzo Itami  
Full Metal Jacket 1987 Stanley Kubrick Matthew Modine
Wings of Desire 1987 Wim Wenders Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin
Raising Arizona 1987 Coen Brothers Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter
Bagdad Cafe (Out of Rosenheim) 1988 Percy Adlon Marianne Sägebrecht, CCH Pounder, Jack Palance
Tucker: The Man and his Dream 1988 Francis Ford Coppola   Jeff Bridges
Roger And Me 1989 Michael Moore Michael Moore
Wild At Heart 1990 David Lynch Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe
Night on Earth 1991 Jim Jarmusch  
Reservoir Dogs 1992 Quentin Tarantino Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen
Howard's End 1992 James Ivory Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson
The Player 1992 Robert Altman Tim Robbins
Schindler's List 1993 Steven Spielberg Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
The Age of Innocence 1993 Martin Scorsese Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
The Shawshank Redemption 1994 Frank Darabont Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
Pulp Fiction 1994 Quentin Tarantino John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel
Sense and Sensibility 1995 Ang Lee Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant
The Usual Suspects 1995 Bryan Singer Kevin Spacey
Fargo 1996 Joel Coen William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Frances McDormand
L.A. Confidential 1997 Curtis Hanson Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce
Rushmore 1998 Wes Anderson Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams
American Beauty 1999 Sam Mendes Kevin Spacey
Being John Malkovich 1999 Spike Jonze John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener

 

It's A Wonderful Life 1946 Frank Capra James Stewart
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 Gilliam, Jones Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Star Wars 1977 George Lucas  Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Breaking Away 1979 Peter Yates  
The Blues Brothers 1980 Dan Aykroyd,
John Landis 		 Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi
Ordinary People 1980 Robert Redford Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore
Das Boot (Director's Cut) 1981 Wolfgang Petersen Jürgen Prochnow
Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Steven Spielberg Harrison Ford, Karen Allen
Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982 Amy Heckerling Sean Penn
Monty Python's Meaning of Life 1983 Gilliam, Jones Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
This is Spinal Tap 1984 Rob Reiner Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer
Stop Making Sense 1984 Jonathan Demme David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison
Brazil 1985 Terry Gilliam Jonathan Pryce
The Sure Thing 1985 Rob Reiner John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga
Platoon 1986 Oliver Stone Willem Dafoe
Stand By Me 1986 Rob Reiner Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix
Top Gun 1986 Tony Scott Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards
Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986 John Hughes Matthew Broderick
A Fish Called Wanda 1988 Charles Crichton John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline
Bull Durham 1988 Ron Shelton Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
Batman 1989 Tim Burton Michael Keaton
Field of Dreams 1989 Phil Alden Robinson Kevin Costner
Sex, Lies, and Videotape 1989 Steven Soderbergh James Spader, Andie MacDowell
Mo' Better Blues 1990 Spike Lee Denzel Washington
Grand Canyon 1991 Lawrence Kasdan Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin
The Commitments 1991 Alan Parker  
Strictly Ballroom 1992 Baz Luhrmann  
The Fugitive 1993 Andrew Davis Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
The Hudsucker Proxy 1994 Joel Coen  Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman
Reality Bites 1994 Ben Stiller Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo
Beautiful Girls 1996 Ted Demme Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Mira Sorvino quote
The Ice Storm 1997 Ang Lee Kevin Kline
Men In Black 1997 Barry Sonnenfeld Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith
Chasing Amy 1997 Kevin Smith  Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams
Saving Private Ryan 1998 Steven Spielberg Tom Hanks
The Big Lebowski 1998 Joel Coen Jeff Bridges, John Goodman
Being John Malkovich Spike Jonze
Buena Vista Social Club 1999 Wim Wenders Dennis Christopher

 

 

Metropolis

1927 Fritz Lang  
Duck Soup 1933 Leo McCarey  Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo Marx
Les Miserables 1935 Richard Boleslawski Charles Laughton, Fredric March
The Wizard of Oz 1939 Victor Fleming Judy Garland
The Philadelphia Story 1940 George Cukor Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart
Casablanca 1942 Michael Curtiz Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
Rashomon 1950 Akira Kurosawa  
All about Eve 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz  Anne Baxter, Bette Davis

Singin' in the Rain

 1952 Stanley Donen, 
Gene Kelly 		 Gene Kelly
The Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) 1954 Akira Kurosawa  
Rear Window 1954 Alfred Hitchcock  James Stewart, Grace Kelly
La Strada 1954 Federico Fellini Anthony Quinn

Night and Fog (Nuit et brouillard) (documentary)

 1955 Alain Resnais  
High Society 1956 Charles Walters Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! 1956 Ishirô Honda, 
Terry O. Morse 		 Raymond Burr
The Thin Blue Line ( documentary) 1958 A.W. Acland  
Some Like it Hot 1959 Billy Wilder Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
Psycho 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Anthony Perkins
Splendor in the Grass 1961 Elia Kazan Natalie Wood
Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961 Blake Edwards Audrey Hepburn

West Side Story

1961 Jerome Robbins 
Robert Wise		 Natalie Wood
Lawrence of Arabia 1962 David Lean Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Lolita 1962 Stanley Kubrick James Mason
The Great Escape 1963 John Sturges Steve McQueen, James Garner
Tom Jones 1963 Tony Richardson Albert Finney
The Birds 1963 Alfred Hitchcock Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Godzilla vs. Mothra (Mosura tai Gojira) 1964 Ishirô Honda   
Play It Again, Sam 1972 Woody Allen  
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) 1972 Werner Herzog Klaus Kinski
The Godfather 1972 Francis Ford Coppola Marlon Brando
Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo tango a Parigi) 1972 Bernardo Bertolucci Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider
Pink Flamingos 1972 John Waters Divine
Mean Streets 1973 Martin Scorsese Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel
Grey Gardens 1975 Ellen Hovde,
Albert Maysles		  
Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Sidney Lumet Al Pacino
Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975 Peter Weir  
Shampoo 1975 Hal Ashby Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn
The Elephant Man 1980 David Lynch John Hurt
Gallipoli 1981 Peter Weir  
Blood Simple 1984 Joel Coen John Getz, Frances McDormand
Betty Blue (37°2 le matin) 1986 Jean-Jacques Beineix Béatrice Dalle
Au revoir les enfants 1987 Louis Malle  
Lethal Weapon 1987 Richard Donner Mel Gibson, Danny Glover
Die Hard 1988 John McTiernan Bruce Willis
Eight Men Out 1988 John Sayles John Cusack
The Fabulous Baker Boys 1989 Steven Kloves Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges
Henry And June 1990 Philip Kaufman Fred Ward, Uma Thurman
Goodfellas 1990 Martin Scorsese Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
Romper Stomper 1992 Geoffrey Wright Russell Crowe
Natural Born Killers 1994 Oliver Stone Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones
Nobody's Fool 1994 Robert Benton Paul Newman
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 1994 Stephan Elliott  
Speed 1994 Jan de Bont Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock
Welcome to the dollhouse 1995 Todd Solondz  
Lone Star 1996 John Sayles  
The English Patient 1996 Anthony Minghella Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche
Ma vie en rose 1997 Alain Berliner  
Shakespeare in Love 1998 John Madden  
Dangerous Liaisons 1988 Stephen Frears Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer
Happiness 1998 Todd Solondz  
Magnolia 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson  Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore
The Straight Story 1999 David Lynch Richard Farnsworth
Nurse Betty 2000 Neil LaBute  Morgan Freeman, Renée Zellweger
Traffic 2000 Steven Soderbergh  
Gladiator 2000 Ridley Scott Russell Crowe

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu zang long)

 2000 Ang Lee Michelle Yeoh

See also: the list of the 250 highest-rated films on IMDB at http://us.imdb.com/top_250_films