RECOMMENDATIONS
My rating system
★★★★★ Consensus Masterpiece OR Personal Top 100
★★★★1/2 Exceptional, Must Watch
★★★★ Solid, world-class filmmaking
★★★1/2 Definitely worth your time, but not quite in my top-tier
★★★ Good film
CREAM OF THE CROP
Arrival
★★★★★
Drama, Thriller
USA, 2016
Netflix
The Social Network
★★★★★
Drama
2010, USA
Netflix
The Master
★★★★★
Drama
2013, USA
Amazon Prime
Moonrise Kingdom
★★★★★
Comedy
2012, USA
Amazon Prime
Moneyball
★★★★1/2
Drama
2011, USA
Netflix
Whiplash
★★★★1/2
Drama
2014, USA
Amazon Prime
Roma
★★★★1/2
Drama
2018, Mexico
Netflix
AMERICAN CLASSICS
The Godfather
★★★★1/2
Drama
1972, USA
Amazon Prime
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
★★★★1/2
Drama
2004, USA
Netflix
The Truman Show
★★★★
Drama, Comedy
1998, USA
Amazon Prime
The Bourne Identity
★★★★
Thriller
2002, USA
Amazon Prime
INDIE/FESTIVAL DARLINGS
The Farewell
★★★★
Drama
2019, USA/China
Kanopy
Ms Purple
★★★★
Drama
2019, USA
Kanopy
Marriage Story
★★★★
Drama
2019, USA
Netflix
Ex Machina
★★★1/2
Drama, Thriller
2015, USA
LIGHTER WATCHES
Burn After Reading
★★★★
Comedy
2008, USA
Amazon Prime
Midnight In Paris
★★★1/2
Comedy, Drama
2011, USA/France
Amazon Prime
HOT & HEAVY
Uncut Gems
★★★★
Drama, Thriller
2019, USA
Netflix
Belly
★★★★
Drama, Thriller
1998, USA
Amazon Prime
INTERNATIONAL SENSATIONS
The Handmaiden
★★★★★
Thriller, Drama
2016, South Korea
Amazon Prime
Ash Is Purest White
★★★★1/2
Drama
2018, China
Kanopy
Shoplifters
★★★★1/2
Drama
2016, Japan
Netflix
Dogman
★★★1/2
Drama
2018, Italy
Netflix
DOCS
Amanda Knox
★★★1/2
Documentary
2016, USA
Netflix
Others: Inception / Pulp Fiction / Oceans 11 / Catch Me If You Can / Spring Breakers / The Beach Bum / La La Land
WHAT I’VE WATCHED DURING THE QUARANTINE
The best of the best. Cracked my top 100.
Really, really solid filmmaking
I had a good time with these films
Films that didn’t resonate with me…
TIFF Essential 100 Films List
I’ve been lucky to see many of the films below, but still working through the list.
All the bolded titles are the ones I have seen. I’m at 56/100, how about you?
1 THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
3 L’AVVENTURA (Michaelangelo Antonioni)
4 THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola)
5 PICKPOCKET (Robert Bresson)
6 SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa)
7 PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray)
8 CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
9 MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Dziga Vertov)
10 BICYCLE THIEVES (Vittorio De Sica)
11 ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
12 8 ½ (Federico Fellini)
13 BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei Eisenstein)
14 RASHOMON (Akira Kurosawa)
15 TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu)
16 THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut)
17 UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi)
18 BREATHLESS (Jean-Luc Godard)
19 L’ATALANTE (Jean Vigo)
20 CINEMA PARADISO (Giuseppe Tornatore)
21 LA GRANDE ILLUSION (Jean Renoir)
22 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean)
23 PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman)
24 GONE WITH THE WIND (Victor Fleming)
25 SUNRISE (F.W. Murnau)
26 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Stanley Kubrick)
27 VOYAGE IN ITALY (Roberto Rossellini)
28 AMÉLIE (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
29 CITY LIGHTS (Charlie Chaplin)
30 STAR WARS (George Lucas)
31 SHERLOCK JR. (Buster Keaton)
32 RULES OF THE GAME (Jean Renoir)
33 THE LEOPARD (Luchino Visconti)
34 LA DOLCE VITA (Federico Fellini)
35 L’ARRIVÉE D’UN TRAIN À LA CIOTAT (Frères Lumiere)
36 THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming)
37 LA JETÉE (Chris Marker)
38 VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)
39 NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais)
40 PULP FICTION (Quentin Tarantino)
41 THE SEARCHERS (John Ford)
42 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Danny Boyle)
43 THE CONFORMIST (Bernardo Bertolucci)
44 CITY OF GOD (Fernando Meirelles)
45 TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese)
46 APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola)
47 SALÓ, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
48 THE SEVENTH SEAL (Ingmar Bergman)
49 LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (Georges Méliès)
50 METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang)
51 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Gillo Pontecorvo)
52 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar Wai)
53 VIRIDIANA (Luis Buñuel)
54 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (Roberto Benigni)
55 THE SORROW AND THE PITY (Marcel Ophüls)
56 PAN’S LABYRINTH (Guillermo del Toro)
57 THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… (Max Ophüls)
58 BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott)
59 THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES (Abbas Kiarostami)
60 LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Marcel Carné)
61 BRINGING UP BABY (Howard Hawks)
62 SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen)
63 JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray)
64 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Stanley Kubrick)
65 MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
66 M (Fritz Lang)
67 SCORPIO RISING (Kenneth Anger)
68 PSYCHO (Alfred Hitchcock)
69 DUST IN THE WIND (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
70 SCHINDLER’S LIST (Steven Spielberg)
71 NASHVILLE (Robert Altman)
72 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Ang Lee)
73 WAVELENGTH (Michael Snow)
74 JULES ET JIM (François Truffaut)
75 CHRONIQUE D’UN ÉTÉ (Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch)
76 THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
77 GREED (Erich von Stroheim)
78 SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
79 JAWS (Steven Spielberg)
80 ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen)
81 THE BIRTH OF A NATION (D.W. Griffith)
82 CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar Wai)
83 LA NOIRE DE… (Ousmane Sembene)
84 RAGING BULL (Martin Scorsese)
85 THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)
86 CHINATOWN (Roman Polanski)
87 ANDREI RUBLEV (Andrei Tarkovsky)
88 WINGS OF DESIRE (Wim Wenders)
89 VIDEODROME (David Cronenberg)
90 WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Douglas Sirk)
91 THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
92 BLUE VELVET (David Lynch)
93 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Sergio Leone)
94 BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars von Trier)
95 A NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat)
96 CLEO DE 5 A 7 (Agnès Varda)
97 ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodóvar)
98 EARTH (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
99 OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook)
100 PLAYTIME (Jacques Tati)
“It all began with a list. The Essential 100, announced last year, was an attempt to find new meaning in the ever-present practice of list-making around film. By combining one list forged by our TIFF experts and the results of a wide survey, we sought a canon that reflected the ethos of our organization and its key component parts, especially TIFF Cinematheque and the Toronto International Film Festival®, which are respectively celebrating their 20th and 35th anniversaries this year. It’s a bit kooky – with Jean Renoir and George Lucas cuddling up with 1928’s La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc a top a list that also includes several films made in the last five years – but it’s an honest reflection of the dynamic push-pull between audience and programmer that makes what we dohere so interesting.”
BBC 100 Best Films of the 21st Century
100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016) 100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) 100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010) 99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000) 98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002) 97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009) 96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) 95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) 94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) 93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) 92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) 91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009) 90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) 89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008) 88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) 87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) 86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) 85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) 84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) 83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001) 82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) 81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) 80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003) 79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) 78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) 77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) 76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003) 75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) 74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012) 73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) 72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013) 71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012) 70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012) 69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) 68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) 67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) 66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003) 65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) 64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) 63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011) 62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) 61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) 60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006) 59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) 58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004) 57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) 56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000) 55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013) 54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011) 53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) 52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) 51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) 50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015) 49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014) 48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) 47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) 46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) 45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013) 44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) 43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011) 42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) 41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) 40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) 39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) 38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) 37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) 36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) 35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) 34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015) 33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) 32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) 31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) 30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003) 29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) 28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) 27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) 26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002) 25. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) 24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012) 23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005) 22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) 21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) 20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) 19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) 18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009) 17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) 16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) 15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007) 14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012) 13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) 12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) 11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013) 10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) 9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011) 8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000) 7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) 6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) 5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) 4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) 3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) 2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000) 1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
On my watchlist / Various
Little Joe (Jessica Hausner, 2019, UK)