100 Top Movies of the Century
- 100. "Sherlock Jr." 99. "Swimming to Cambodia" 98. "Citizen Kane" 97. "The Great Escape" 96. "The Wild Bunch" 95. "Sex, Lies and Videotape" 94. "Once Upon A Time In The West" 93. "Hard-Boiled" 92. "The Train" 91. "Easy Rider"
"Hard-Boiled" director John Woo and star Chow Yun-Fat define the modern action movie. "The Train," a pulsating World War II thriller, is an overlooked John Frankenheimer classic. - 90. "The Man Who Would Be King" 89. "Sunset Boulevard" 88. "Reservoir Dogs" 87. "Night of the Living Dead" 86. "White Heat" 85. "The African Queen" 84. "My Dinner With Andre" 83. "North by Northwest" 82. "Waiting for Guffman" 81. "Das Boot"
George Romero's "Night of The Living Dead," is one of the first horror movies-social satires. "White Heat" is Jimmy Cagney's best gangster flick. - 80. "Stranger Than Paradise" 79. "Sullivan's Travels" 78. "Glengarry Glen Ross" 77. "Do The Right Thing" 76. "Ed Wood" 75. "The River's Edge" 74. "Some Like It Hot" 73. "Glory" 72. "Patton" 71. "A Night to Remember"
Jim Jarmusch's comic road picture "Stranger Than Paradise," is refreshingly eccentric. The darkly funny "The River's Edge," is as contemporary as Colombine. - 70. "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" 69. "Lost in America" 68. "Fitzcarraldo" 67. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" 66. "Barton Fink" 65. "The General" 64. "The Graduate" 63. "The Princess Bride" 62. "Mean Streets" 61. "Unforgiven"
"The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" is an all but forgotten revisionist Western. "Lost in America" is Albert Brooks' best yuppie nightmare movie. "The General" provides the second appearance on the list of the brilliant Buster Keaton (also, "Sherlock Jr."), who has it all over the sentimental Charlie Chaplin. "The Day The Earth Stood Still": "Klaatu barada nikto!" - 60. "The Fly" (1986) 59. "The Bank Dick" 58. "Psycho" 57. "Platoon" 56. "A Night at the Opera" 55. "Spinal Tap" 54. "Jaws" 53. "Raising Arizona" 52. "Edward Scissorhands" 51. "The Player"
"Edward Scissorhands" is the best of Tim Burton, "Platoon," the best of Oliver Stone. - 50. "Badlands" 49. "Fargo" 48. "Bull Durham" 47. "Aguirre, The Wrath of God" 46. "Pulp Fiction" 45. "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" 44. "Silence of the Lambs" 43. "Terminator II" 42. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" 41. "Paths of Glory"
"Aguirre" joins "Fitzcarraldo" as Top 100 list films from the visionary German director Werner Herzog. "Fargo" is the best of three top 100 films by Simon's Rock grads Joel and Ethan Coen (it is joined by "Barton Fink" and "Raising Arizona.") - 40. "The Shining" 39. "Network" 38. "The Manchurian Candidate" 37. "Bride of Frankenstein" 36. "A Hard Day's Night" 35. "The Producers" 34. "Manhattan" 33. "Bridge On The River Kwai" 32. "Bob Roberts" 31. "Young Frankenstein"
Mel Brooks gave us "Young Frankenstein" (an affectionate and hilarious take on "Bride of Frankenstein") and "The Producers." Tim Robbins' "Bob Roberts" is a terrific modern day political satire. - 30. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) 29. "Lawrence of Arabia" 28. "The Deer Hunter" 27. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" 26. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" 25. "The Terminator" 24. "The Right Stuff" 23. "Aliens" 22. "Brazil" 21. "Repo Man."
In "Brazil," Monty Python member Terry Gilliam crafted a Kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucratic deceit that will stand the test of time. A quirky mix of "X-Files" paranoia and down and dirty Los Angeles intrigue, played to a surf guitar background, "Repo Man" only gets better with repeated viewings. - 20. "GoodFellas" 19. Vertigo 18. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" 17. "M*A*S*H" 16. "Chinatown" 15. "Taxi Driver" 14. "Bonnie and Clyde" 13. "Duck Soup" 12. "Star Wars" 11. "Raging Bull"
That specialist in urban angst, Martin Scorsese, is represented by "Raging Bull," "Taxi Driver," and "GoodFellas," and earlier, "Mean Streets." Horror master Alfred Hitchcock is represented by "Psycho," and "North by Northwest," as well as "Vertigo." - 10. "2001, A Space Odyssey" 9. "Annie Hall" 8. "Godfather II" 7. "A Clockwork Orange" 6. "Blue Velvet" 5. "Apocalypse Now" 4. "The Wizard of Oz" 3. "The Godfather" 2. "Casablanca" 1. "Dr. Strangelove."
Three films in the top 10 from Francis Ford Coppola, the two "Godfather" films and the fever dream "Apocalypse Now." The late great Stanley Kubrick, whose "The Shining" and "Paths of Glory," showed up earlier in the list, also gave us "2001," "A Clockwork Orange," and the black comedy-war satire, "Dr. Strangelove," which is as sharp today as it was in 1964.
[this list originally appeared in The Berkshire Eagle on Sunday, January 16, 2000.]
No, we're not done yet with millennial lists. In fact, because 2000 is truly the last year of the millennium, lists are more appropriate this year than they were last. Here's one more: the top 100 movies of the century.
Movies and television are arguably the two art forms of the 20th century. Art, music, theater -- these have been with us for centuries. Movies and television came of age in this century, and what makes movies the dominant form of the two is the manner in which the form has evolved, while television lingers in a state of arrested development.
Compare the early days of television -- Milton Berle, Ernie Kovacs, "The $64,000 Question" -- to contemporary television -- Drew Carey, David Letterman, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire? -- and it is apparent that television not only hasn't gone far, it may have regressed.
But movies, from the day early this century when a French audience fled in panic as an on screen locomotive bore down on them, through the powerful silent movies, the advent of color, the growth of big budget studio flicks, the rise in opposition of low budget independent films, the cross-pollination of world cinema (Bergman begets Allen, Eastwood revives the Western in Italy), to the uncanny special effects films, from "Star Wars" to "Toy Story," movies have pushed the envelope, technologically, emotionally, intellectually. A case could be made for movies as the art form of the 20th century.
Here's one top 100 list, from the bottom up.
I see you are a Stanley Kubrick fan just as I. I'm a little suprised to see 'Blue Velvet' in the Top Ten. I am a David Lynch fan (especially of 'The Elephant Man'), but I don't think 'BV' is in the Top Ten of Greatest Movies of All Time. I would have placed it in the Top 30.
I am thrilled, however, to see someone name 'Dr Strangelove' as Greatest Film of All Time. This film is too often overlooked. I can say the same for 'A Clockwork Orange'. The film was either a great predictor of the violence of the dissaffected youth, or one of it's contributors. Either way, it's power is certainly not lost today.
Yes
Reservoir Dogs: ***1/2 (of 4)
Do The Right Thing: ****
Ed Wood: ***
Glory: ***1/2
Barton Fink: ***1/2
Unforgiven: ***
Platoon: ****
Jaws: ***
Raising Arizona: ***
Edward Scissorhands: **1/2
Fargo: ****
Silence of the Lambs: ****
Terminator 2: ***1/2
Raiders of the Lost Ark: ****
The Shining: ****
The Deer Hunter: **1/2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: ***1/2
Monty Python and The Holy Grail: ***1/2
The Terminator: ***1/2
Aliens: ****
Goodfellas: ****
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: **1/2
Taxi Driver: ****
Star Wars: ***1/2
Raging Bull: ****
A Clockwork Orange: ****
Apocalypse Now: ***
The Wizard of Oz: *
This is one of the most valuable of The Listology movie lists. Worth printing out and sticking on the wall.