The top 150 films of all time

At the end of 2015, I set myself a task for the year ahead (note: not a New Year’s resolution; just a regular task!). In an effort to improve my writing - and to write at least once every day, as per Todd VanDerWerff’s excellent advice to aspiring writers - I’m going to count down what I consider to be the best 150 films of all time via 150 capsules each of 150 words. Originality is currently not my strong suit, it would seem; at least when I steal, I do so from the best.

The usual proviso to lists like these applies here: the ranking of art is silly, arbitrary and, most importantly, fun. This list will be reflective of my personal film taste and reflect all the biases, cinematic neuroses and blind-spots I’ve yet to correct as at 31 December 2015. I’ll defend it as objectively true to the ends of the earth, but, at the end of the day, it’s only a subjective bit of fun. There will be many films considered ‘classics’ that won’t appear, just as there will be a collection of what I consider to be hidden gems that I’ll hopefully shine a spotlight on. My tastes will probably not overlap with 100% with yours, but that’s OK: if everyone liked and disliked the same things, the world would be a much more boring place. You’ve been warned!

From Monday 4 January until Wednesday 1 June (coincidentally the day before my birthday!) every day at around 3pm UK time (c.10am EST), I’ll post a new entry as an article here on Medium. I’ll also provide Twitter updates daily with the #Top150Films hashtag, if you want to follow along, as well as a handy list on Letterboxd, because that’s how people self-promote nowadays! Please feel free to get in touch through any of those channels with guesses, thoughtful critiques, or if you want to engage in an amiable dialogue about this endeavour. (Please feel free not to get in touch if you are an internet troll or angrily want to know why [INSERT YOUR FAVOURITE FILM HERE] on this list.)

This page will also act as a gateway to all the articles posted thus far so, without further ado:

150: A City of Sadness (1989) — Dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
149: Fat Girl (2001) — Dir. Catherine Breillat
148: Kes (1969) — Dir. Ken Loach
147: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) — Dir. Jim Jarmusch
146: Stardust Memories (1980) — Dir. Woody Allen
145: Hoop Dreams (1994) — Dir. Steve James
144: Red Desert (1964) — Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
143: Dodsworth (1936) — Dir. William Wyler
142: Do the Right Thing (1989) — Dir. Spike Lee
141: Clueless (1995) — Dir. Amy Herckerling
140: Mouchette (1967) — Dir. Robert Bresson
139: The Tribe (2014) — Dir. Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
138: F for Fake (1975) — Dir. Orson Welles
137: The Celebration (1998) — Dir. Thomas Vinterberg
136: Velvet Goldmine (1998) — Dir. Todd Haynes
135: Notorious (1946) — Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
134: The King of Comedy (1982) — Dir. Martin Scorsese
133: The Docks of New York (1928) — Dir. Josef von Sternberg
132: Jackie Brown (1997) — Dir. Quentin Tarantino
131: Apocalypse Now (1979) — Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
130: Knife in the Water (1962) — Dir. Roman Polanski
129: The Philadelphia Story (1940) — Dir. George Cukor
128: Beau Travail (1999) — Dir. Claire Denis
127: Barry Lyndon (1975) — Dir. Stanley Kubrick
126: Pathfinder (1987) — Dir. Nils Gaup
125: October (1928) — Dir Sergei Eisenstein
124: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) — Dir. Luis Buñuel
123: Pennies from Heaven (1981) — Dir. Herbert Ross
122: Metropolis (1927) — Dir. Fritz Lang
121: The Aviator’s Wife (1981) — Dir. Eric Rohmer
120: Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) — Dir. Dorothy Arzner
119: Nothing But a Man (1964) — Dir. Michael Roemer
118: The Old Mill (1937) — Dir. Wilfred Jackson
117: I Vitelloni (1953) — Dir. Federico Fellini
116: Tokyo Story (1953) — Dir. Yasujirō Ozu
115: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) — Dir. Agnès Varda
114: Topsy-Turvy (1999) — Dir. Mike Leigh
113: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) — Dir. Hayao Miyazaki
112: Daisy Kenyon (1947) — Dir. Otto Preminger
111: All About My Mother (1999) — Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
110: The Big City (1963) — Dir. Satyajit Ray
109: Le Cercle Rouge (1970) — Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
108: The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912) — Dir. Wladyslaw Starewicz
107: The Thin Red Line (1998) — Dir. Terrence Malick
106: Dead Ringers (1988) — Dir. David Cronenberg
105: Rio Bravo (1959) — Dir. Howard Hawks
104: Mulholland Drive (2001) — Dir. David Lynch
103: Z (1969) — Dir. Costa-Gavras
102: The Burmese Harp (1956) — Dir. Kon Ichikawa
101: The Red Shoes (1948) — Dirs. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
100: Howards End (1992) — Dir. James Ivory
99: Aliens (1986) — Dir. James Cameron
98: Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962) — Dir. Sidney Lumet
97: Seven Chances (1925) — Dir. Buster Keaton
96: Rome, Open City (1945) — Dir. Roberto Rossellini
95: Los Olvidados (1950) — Dir. Luis Buñuel
94: Oasis (2002) — Dir. Lee Chang-dong
93: New York, New York (1977) — Dir. Martin Scorsese
92: Andrei Rublev (1966) — Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
91: Brazil (1985) — Dir. Terry Gilliam
90: Blazing Saddles (1974) — Dir. Mel Brooks
89: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) — Dir. Elio Petri
88: Shadow of a Doubt (1943) — Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
87: House (1977) — Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
86: Sweet Smell of Success (1957) — Dir. Alexander Mackendrick
85: Shoah (1985) — Dir. Claude Lanzmann
84: Sorcerer (1977) — Dir. William Friedkin
83: A Woman Under the Influence (1974) — Dir. John Cassavetes
82: Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) — Dir. Terence Davies
81: Love Me Tonight (1932) — Dir. Rouben Mamoulian
80: Only Angels Have Wings (1939) — Dir. Howard Hawks
79: In a Lonely Place (1950) — Dir. Nicholas Ray
78: It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) — Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
77: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) — Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
76: A Day in the Country (1936) — Dir. Jean Renoir
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