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The Best Films of All Time - by Michael Grost

This is the 100th anniversary of the movies. In 1895 the Lumière brothers first publicly projected a film in Paris. It was a 50 second long documentary, showing the workers leaving the brothers' factory. Today films are being downloaded as plug-ins on the Internet. Over the years filmmakers have made films about the movies themselves. To celebrate the anniversary, here are some of my favorites. Many of the entries contain other recommended films by the same director. The list starts off with Classical Hollywood films (1916 - 1972). It then moves to foreign language films, and then finally to post 1972 Hollywood films, many of which are comedies: the genre modern Hollywood does best.

Some caveats: it is very difficult to see many foreign films in the USA. Despite talk of the "Information Superhighway", such works are simply unobtainable. For example, I have been able to see very few pre-1950 Japanese films. The non-distribution of current foreign films is a scandal. For a sample of what we are missing, see Film Comment's poll of the Top 150 Foreign Films of the 1990's Unreleased in the US. I have managed to see only around a dozen of the films on this list. Readers will also want to check out critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's Top 100 American Movies.

Silent Films

The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903) Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906).

Nerone / Nero, or the Fall of Rome (Luigi Maggi, 1909)

The Cry of the Children (George Nichols, 1912)

From the Submerged (Theodore Wharton, 1912)

The Evidence of the Film (Lawrence Marston, Edwin Thanhouser, 1913)

Who Pays?: Toil and Tyranny (Harry Harvey, 1915)

Alias Jimmy Valentine (Maurice Tourneur, 1915) The Wishing Ring, A Girl's Folly, The Blue Bird; Lorna Doone

The Hypocrites (Lois Weber, 1915) Suspense

A Fool There Was (Frank Powell, 1915)

The Hazards of Helen: Chapter 26 (1915) Engaging episode of a silent serial.

Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916) Powerful look at the tragedies caused by religious fanatics through the ages. More relevant today than ever, unfortunately.

Way Down East (D.W. Griffith, 1920) America; Corner in Wheat; The Curtain Pole; The Voice of the Violin; The Sealed Room; Ramona; The House With Closed Shutters; The Fugitive; The New York Hat; A Girl and Her Trust; The Musketeers of Pig Alley; The Mothering Heart

Isn't Life Wonderful (D.W. Griffith, 1924): A young couple copes with life in post W.W.I Germany.

Hell's Hinges (William S. Hart, Charles Swickard, 1916)

Young Romance (George Melford, 1915)

Tom Sawyer (William Desmond Taylor, 1917) The Soul of Youth

The Married Virgin (Joseph Maxwell, 1918)

Daddy-Long-Legs (Marshall Neilan, 1919)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)

The Mark of Zorro (Fred Niblo, 1920) The original Zorro movie. Blood and Sand, Ben-Hur, The Temptress

Miss Lulu Bett (William de Mille, 1921)

Outside the Law (Tod Browning, 1921) London After Midnight (the stills restoration), Dracula

The Ace of Hearts (Wallace Worsley, 1921)

Camille (Ray C. Smallwood, 1921) Love story with Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino; superb avant-garde sets.

Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922) Dwan was at his commercial peak in the 1920's: the party in The Great Gatsby was modeled after one thrown by Dwan.

The Woman They Almost Lynched (Allan Dwan, 1953) The Poisoned Flume, Chances, Man to Man, Black Sheep, Suez, The Gorilla, The Inside Story, Belle Le Grande, Silver Lode, Escape to Burma, Slightly Scarlet

The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922) Love story set in China, shot in spectacular two-color Technicolor. The first feature film in color.

The Young Rajah (Phil Rosen, 1922) Step by Step

Beau Brummel (Harry Beaumont, 1923) Our Dancing Daughters

Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; The Prisoner of Zenda

Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) Blind Husbands, Foolish Wives, The Merry Widow, The Wedding March, Queen Kelly

The Rag Man (Edward F. Cline, 1925)

Labor's Reward (no director credited, 1925)

Tumbleweeds (King Baggott, 1925) Beautifully photographed Western.

Three Bad Men (John Ford, 1926) Just Pals, The Blue Eagle, Four Sons, Hangman's House, Born Reckless, Up the River, Pilgrimage, The Lost Patrol, The Prisoner of Shark Island, Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, How Green Was My Valley, They Were Expendable, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, Mogambo, The Long Gray Line, The Searchers, The Last Hurrah, Sergeant Rutledge, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Donovan's Reef, Cheyenne Autumn, Seven Women

The Great K&A Train Robbery (Lewis Seiler, 1926) Enthusiastic Tom Mix Western, in which he battles a gang of train robbers. Tom Mix had been a real cowboy, and was the best rider of all screen Western stars. Flight Angels, Molly and Me

The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)

Show People (King Vidor, 1928) deals with a slapstick comedy actress who forgets her roots after success. La Bohème; Street Scene, The Fountainhead, Lightning Strikes Twice

The Flag (Arthur Maude, 1927)

West Point (Edward Sedgwick, 1928)

Across to Singapore (William Nigh, 1928)

The Mating Call (James Cruze, 1928) The Covered Wagon

Silent Comedy

La Course des sergents de ville / The Policemen's Little Run (Ferdinand Zecca, 1906)

Princess Nicotine or The Smoke Fairy (J. Stuart Blackton, 1909) Trick comedy short, full of still entertaining special effects.

The Man in The Silk Hat (Maud Linder) Compilation of delightful scenes from the comedies of Max Linder (mainly 1910 - 1914).

Her Crowning Glory (Larry Trimble, 1911) Comedy short with John Bunny, and Flora Finch as the sympathetic woman who hopes to marry him. I strongly identified with the heroine here, and her disastrous problems made me laugh in ways I hadn't experienced before.

Algie the Miner (Alice Guy, 1912) The Making of an American Citizen, The Ocean Waif

Onésime horloger (Jean Durand, 1912)

Tillie's Punctured Romance (Mack Sennett, 1914). Early comedy feature, full of fun.

The Knockout (Charles Avery, 1914)

Pool Sharks (Edwin Middleton, 1915)

Coney Island (Roscoe Arbuckle, 1917) The Garage, The Red Mill.

Neighbors (1920). Other outstanding Buster Keaton short films: The High Sign, One Week, Hard Luck, Cops, The Haunted House, The Scarecrow, The Frozen North, The Electric House.

Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton, Jack Blystone, 1923).

Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924). Movie projectionist Buster Keaton falls asleep and dreams his way into the mystery movie he is showing. Keaton's comedies show great visual imagination. The Navigator, Go West, Seven Chances, Battling Butler, The General, College, Steamboat Bill, Jr.

The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925) Chaplin plays a prospector. The scene where a starving Chaplin, trapped in his frozen cabin, boils and eats his shoe is famous. Outstanding short films: Burlesque on Carmen, One A.M., The Pawnshop, The Rink, The Cure, Easy Street, Sunnyside, The Idle Class, Pay Day, The Pilgrim

The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940) Chaplin's anti-Hitler satire, and his first film with dialogue. The Kid, City Lights, Modern Times

Never Weaken (1921) Harold Lloyd made a large number of really good short films. Among the best: Off a Trolley, Captain's Kidd's Kids, From Hand to Mouth, His Royal Slyness, An Eastern Westerner, Number Please, Now or Never, Among Those Present

High and Dizzy (1920) Harold Lloyd's chair gets caught up by a crane on a tall building. Other Lloyd films in which he dangles from high buildings: Safety Last, Feet First (the skyscraper finale is a gem, the rest of this film is slow moving)

Girl Shy (Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, 1924) Lloyd plays a naive country boy who finds true love in the city. Has a much imitated chase finale, when he tries to get to church in time to rescue his girlfriend. Other good Lloyd features: The Freshman, For Heaven's Sake, The Kid Brother, Mad Wednesday

The Busher (Jerome Storm, 1919)

Souls for Sale (Rupert Hughes, 1923)

Family Life (Robert P. Kerr, 1924) Zany comedy short about a family, and their moves to various homes.

The Clinging Vine (Paul Sloane, 1926)

Hands Up! (Clarence Badger, 1926) Raymond Griffith is a traveling magician out West. Delightful. Also: It.

The Strong Man (Frank Capra, 1926) Harry Langdon plays a veteran who goes to work as a stage Strong Man's assistant.

Play Safe (Joseph Henabery, 1927) Monty Banks comedy, with finale in a factory and on a train. Full of stunts and thrills.

The Battle of the Century (Clyde Bruckman, 1927) Laurel and Hardy short, with a giant pie fight.

Hollywood Sound Films: Drama

Dishonored (Josef von Sternberg, 1931) Perhaps the best of Sternberg's seven films with Marlene Dietrich. This tale casts Dietrich as a glamorous Mata Hari like spy in World War I. When facing the firing squad at the end of the movie, Dietrich insists on being dressed to the nines: as she puts it, I want to die in the uniform in which I served my country. Sternberg had few equals in the ability to treat film as a visual spectacle. Other Dietrich films by Sternberg: The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress.

Thunderbolt (Josef von Sternberg, 1929) Sternberg was the pioneer of the gangster movie, and this emotional drama about a gang leader on death row shows Sternberg's ability to light a slow fire under his audience. Made in the first year of sound films, and one of the best of the early talkies, the film acts as if the world of sound had been discovered for the first time, with brilliant, unusual speech rhythms, unique pacing, and emotion charged black spirituals on the sound track. Underworld, The Last Command, The Docks of New York, An American Tragedy, The Shanghai Gesture, Macao.

The Wild Party (Dorothy Arzner, 1929) Nana

A Man's Castle (Frank Borzage, 1932) Borzage was one of the screen's best directors of romances. Little known fact: Borzage and Raoul Walsh were friends when they worked at Fox in the early 30's. A Farewell to Arms, Stranded, History Is Made at Night, The Shining Hour, The Mortal Storm, Stagedoor Canteen

Cleopatra (Cecil B. De Mille, 1934) Spectacle film about the famous Egyptian Queen (Claudette Colbert) and her fights with the Roman Empire. Short compared with modern epics (an hour and a half), fast paced, and filled with eye-popping visual detail. People sometimes chortle over De Mille's sugar coating of history, but the fact remains, that if more films like this were made today, Americans would not be so ignorant about history. The Golden Chance, Don't Change Your Husband, Why Change Your Wife, the silent version of The Ten Commandments, The Buccaneer, The Story of Dr. Wassell.

We Live Again (Rouben Mamoulian, 1934) Love Me Tonight, Golden Boy, The Mark of Zorro, Summer Holiday, Silk Stockings

Parnell (John M. Stahl, 1937) Imitation of Life, Keys of the Kingdom, Leave Her to Heaven

California Frontier (Elmer Clifton, 1938)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) The Lodger, Easy Virtue, Champagne, Number 17, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, Foreign Correspondent, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound, Rope, Stage Fright, I Confess, Rear Window, The Trouble With Harry, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Family Plot. TV shows: Breakdown, Arthur, The Horseplayer.

Intruder in the Dust (Clarence Brown, 1949) The Eagle, Possessed, Looking Forward, Chained, The Rains Came, Angels in the Outfield, When in Rome

Let Us Be Gay (Robert Z. Leonard, 1930) Leonard's best films seem to be gentle, upbeat combinations of sophisticated comedy and drama. His characters are remarkably refined and genteel. Many of his films seem to involve romantic duels between men and women. His characters also often struggle against injustice, often being victimized by more powerful people. Delicious Little Devil, After Office Hours, Stand by for Action, In the Good Old Summertime

The Guilty Generation (Rowland V. Lee, 1931)

A Night To Remember (Richard Wallace, 1943) The Masquerader

Bengal Brigade (Laslo Benedek, 1954) The Wild One

Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956) They Live By Night, Born to be Bad, On Dangerous Ground, Johnny Guitar

Giant (George Stevens, 1956) The Boyfriends, Annie Oakley, The More the Merrier, The Talk of the Town. See also below under Musicals.

The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann, 1953) The Bamboo Blonde, Desperate, T-Men, Railroaded, He Walked By Night, Raw Deal, Side Street, The Black Book/Reign of Terror, Winchester 73, The Man From Laramie, The Tin Star, Man of the West, Cimarron, The Heroes of Telemark, A Dandy in Aspic

Seven Men From Now (Budd Boetticher, 1956) One Mysterious Night, Behind Locked Doors, The Man From the Alamo, Horizons West, Seminole, Maverick pilot, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Westbound, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The Rifleman: Stopover

They Died With Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941) Other Walsh adventure films: The Big Trail, Along the Great Divide, Captain Horatio Hornblower, Saskatchewan, The World in His Arms, Battle Cry, The Naked and the Dead, Esther and the King

Glory Alley (Raoul Walsh, 1952) Other Walsh musicals: Going Hollywood, The Man I Love

Sailor's Luck (Raoul Walsh, 1933) Other Walsh comedies: What Price Glory, Gentleman Jim, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, Marines, Lets Go!

White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949) Other Walsh gangster films: The Regeneration, The Roaring Twenties, High Sierra

The Rough, Tough West (Ray Nazarro, 1952) Hoedown

Elephant Walk (William Dieterle, 1954) From Headquarters

The Purple Plain (Robert Parrish, 1955) Cry Danger

The Proud Ones (Robert D. Webb, 1956)

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) The Chase, Little Big Man, Dead of Winter

Take Me To Town (Douglas Sirk, 1953) A kind hearted saloon singer (Ann Sheridan) marries a preacher in this Western comedy-drama, and brings new liveliness to his family and congregation. Gracefully made, as are most of Sirk's films. A Scandal in Paris; Sleep, My Love; Has Anybody Seen My Gal; Meet Me at the Fair

All I Desire (Douglas Sirk, 1953) Sign of the Pagan, All That Heaven Allows, Tarnished Angels, A Time to Love and a Time to Die

The Conspirators (Jean Negulesco, 1944) Hedy Lamarr stars in this spy story. Most notable for the beauty of its photography (by Arthur Edeson) and production values. You might want to turn off the volume and just watch the succession of beautiful images silent.

Dark Victory (Edmund Goulding, 1939) The Great Lie, The Razor's Edge

Now, Voyager (Irving Rapper, 1942)

The Adventures of Don Juan (Vincent Sherman, 1948) The Man Who Talked Too Much, Old Acquaintance, Mr. Skeffington, Backfire

Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955)

Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz, 1935) The Unsuspected

Strange Lady in Town (Mervyn Le Roy, 1955) Little Caesar, The King and the Chorus Girl, Fools for Scandal

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (Nunnally Johnson, 1956)

The Nickel Ride (Robert Mulligan, 1974) Fear Strikes Out; The Great Impostor; To Kill a Mockingbird; Baby the Rain Must Fall; Same Time, Next Year

The Wild and the Innocent (Jack Sher, 1959) Four New Girls in Town

A Raisin in the Sun (Daniel Petrie, 1961)

Lilies of the Field (Ralph Nelson, 1963) Father Goose

Hollywood Comedy

Madame Dubarry (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920). Lubitsch got his start directing historical epics, which combined spectacle with saucy looks at the personal lives of famous men and women. Das Fidele Gefängnis / The Merry Jail; I Don't Want To Be a Man; The Oyster Princess; The Doll; the silent version of Lady Windemere's Fan; The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg; Eternal Love

The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940). The Love Parade, Monte Carlo, The Smiling Lieutenant, Trouble in Paradise, Design For Living, The Merry Widow, Angel, Ninotchka, To Be Or Not To Be

Scarface (Howard Hawks 1932) The Barbary Coast, Come and Get It

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks 1940) Twentieth Century, Ball of Fire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Man's Favorite Sport?

Hatari! (Howard Hawks 1962) Red River, Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Rio Lobo

Bed of Roses (Gregory La Cava, 1932) Symphony of Six Million, The Half Naked Truth, My Man Godfrey, Fifth Avenue Girl, Living In a Big Way

Lady Killer (Roy Del Ruth, 1933) The dynamic James Cagney plays a small time hood who winds up in Hollywood. Packs a vast amount of plot twists in a short running time. Life of the Party, The Maltese Falcon, The Little Giant, Kid Millions, Thanks a Million, On the Avenue, Broadway Melody of 1938, My Lucky Star, Broadway Rhythm, On Moonlight Bay; Stop, You're Killing Me, The Alligator People

The Mystery of Mr. X (Edgar Selwyn, 1934)

The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey, Joseph Santley, 1929)

Horse Feathers (Norman Z. MacLeod, 1932) Monkey Business, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935) Beyond the Rocks; So This Is College

A Night in Casablanca (Archie Mayo, 1946)

Lady For a Day (Frank Capra, 1933) Platinum Blonde, The Miracle Woman, American Madness, Forbidden, It Happened One Night, You Can't Take It With You

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939) Capra's political film, about an idealistic young senator (Jimmy Stewart) and his fight with a crooked political machine. Meet John Doe, It's a Wonderful Life, Pocketful of Miracles

Hide-Out (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) Nelson Eddy - Jeanette MacDonald movies: Naughty Marietta, Sweethearts and the MacDonald San Francisco.

The Traveling Saleslady (Ray Enright, 1935) Trail Street

Stand-In (Tay Garnett, 1937) Slave Ship, The Joy Of Living, Seven Sinners, The Valley of Decision; The Postman Always Rings Twice

Double Wedding (Richard Thorpe, 1937) Zany screwball fun with the team of William Powell and Myrna Loy, better known for their Thin Man detective movies. Above Suspicion; Her Highness and the Bellboy; The Great Caruso; The Prisoner of Zenda; Athena

Spring Madness (S. Sylvan Simon, 1938)

Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939) Hold That Coed, True To Life, Perils of Pauline, The Mating Game

Q Planes (Tim Whelan, 1939) Higher and Higher

The Invisible Woman (A. Edward Sutherland, 1941) International House

Princess O'Rourke (Norman Krasna, 1943)

Travels With My Aunt (George Cukor, 1972) Tarnished Lady, Our Betters, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, A Double Life, Pat and Mike, It Should Happen to You, A Star Is Born, Bhowani Junction, Let's Make Love, My Fair Lady

Golden Earrings (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) The Eagle and The Hawk, Artists and Models Abroad, Midnight, The Lady Is Willing, To Each His Own, The Mating Season

Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1942) is a comedy about a film director who wants to make a film about the Depression. Sturges was Hollywood's most gifted satirist. The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Palm Beach Story, The Great Moment, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, Mad Wednesday

Going My Way (Leo McCarey, 1944) Duck Soup, Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey, 1945)

Good Morning, Miss Dove (Henry Koster, 1955) First Love, It Started With Eve, Music for the Millions

The Law and the Lady (Edwin H. Knopf, 1951)

Lover Come Back (Delbert Mann, 1961)

Caprice (Frank Tashlin, 1967) Son of Paleface, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, It's Only Money, The Glass Bottom Boat. Tashlin also scripted The Good Humor Man.

Pollyanna (David Swift, 1960)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963) Inherit the Wind

The Brass Bottle (Harry Keller, 1964) Tammy Tell Me True

A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964) Return of the Pink Panther, Son of the Pink Panther

What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (Blake Edwards, 1966) Bring Your Smile Along, High Time, The Great Race, Darling Lili

Victor Victoria (Blake Edwards, 1982) Blind Date, Switch. The semi-autobiographical films: S.O.B., That's Life!

The Trouble With Angels (Ida Lupino, 1966)

Support Your Local Gunfighter (Burt Kennedy, 1971) The Money Trap, Hannie Caulder, The Train Robbers

RKO B Movies

Shooting Straight (George Archainbaud, 1930) Framed, The Silver Horde, The Penguin Pool Murder, The Lost Squadron, Three Who Loved, Keep Em Rolling, Last of the Pony Riders

Lovin' the Ladies (Melville Brown, 1930)

Hell's Highway (Roland Brown, 1932)

Scarlet River (Otto Brower, 1933) Interesting Western set on a movie location shooting a Western movie. Brower also codirected the science fiction serial Phantom Empire (1935), which contains one of the first depictions of television.

Emergency Call (Edward L. Cahn, 1933) Bad Guy; Destination: Murder; You Have to Run Fast

Midshipman Jack (Christy Cabanne, 1933) You Can't Beat Love

The Silver Streak (Thomas Atkins, 1934) A nice early train movie.

Grand Old Girl (John Robertson, 1935)

The Witness Chair (George Nicholls, Jr., 1936)

Wanted: Jane Turner (Edward Killy, 1936)

The Plot Thickens (Ben Holmes, 1936) There Goes My Girl, Maid's Night Out, The Saint in New York

Two in the Dark (Benjamin Stoloff, 1936) Palooka, To Beat the Band, Super Sleuth, The Mysterious Doctor

The Man Who Found Himself (Lew Landers, 1937) They Wanted to Marry, Double Danger, Sky Giant, Murder in Times Square, The Power of the Whistler, Under the Tonto Rim

Music For Madame (John Blystone, 1937) Opera film with tenor Nino Martini. Blystone was Buster Keaton's codirector on Our Hospitality.

The Mad Miss Manton (Leigh Jason, 1937)

Play Girl (Frank Woodruff, 1940) Lady Scarface

The Falcon's Brother (Stanley Logan, 1942)

The Falcon's Adventure (William Berke, 1946)

Air Hawks (Albert S. Rogell, 1935)

The Patient in Room 18 (Bobby Connolly, Crane Wilbur, 1938)

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (William Clemens, 1939) Nancy Drew, Reporter

Gallant Sons (George B. Seitz, 1940) The Vanishing American, Shadow of Doubt

The Lone Wolf Strikes (Sidney Salkow, 1940)

The Case of the Black Parrot (Noel M. Smith, 1941)

Calling Dr. Gillespie (Harold S. Bucquet, 1942)

Mystery Broadcast (George Sherman, 1943) Overland Stage Raiders; A Scream in the Dark; Crime Doctor's Courage; Comanche; Reprisal!; The Hard Man

Musicals

42nd Street (Choreographer: Busby Berkeley, 1933) Whoopee!, Golddiggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, Dames, The Gang's All Here, Small Town Girl, Jumbo

The Red Shadow (Roy Mack, 1932) This is a 20 minute version of "The Desert Song". Roy Mack was a prolific director of short musical films in the 1930's. Many are as good as the famous feature length musicals of the era. Mirrors.

Diplomaniacs (William A. Seiter, 1933) Roberta, You Were Never Lovelier

Old Man Rhythm (Edward Luwig, 1935)

Swingtime (George Stevens, 1936) The best of all Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. A Damsel in Distress, which has Fred Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allen, both of whom can really dance, much to my surprise. Has gem of dance sequence at amusement park.

That Girl From Paris (Leigh Jason, 1936)

Something To Sing About (Victor Schertzinger, 1937) He also did the excellent Grace Moore opera film, One Night of Love (1934). Redskin, The Woman Between, The Fleet's In

Carefree (Mark Sandrich, 1938) A Woman Rebels

Alexander's Ragtime Band (Henry King, 1938) Remember the Day, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939) The Wet Parade

Little Kitty Kelly (Norman Taurog, 1941) That Midnight Kiss, Rich, Young and Pretty, It Happened at the World's Fair

Springtime in the Rockies (Irving Cummings, 1942) The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, Lillian Russell, My Gal Sal

Hello, Frisco, Hello (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1943) I Wake Up Screaming, Sun Valley Serenade, The Desert Song

The Jolson Story (Alfred E. Green, 1946) Union Depot.

Something in the Wind (Irving Pichel, 1947) And Now Tomorrow

It's A Great Feeling (David Butler, 1949) Butler did many "backstage" looks at show business. Pigskin Parade, Playmates, They Got Me Covered, Shine On Harvest Moon, Tea For Two

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (Roy Rowland, 1953) Unique fantasy musical, written by Dr. Seuss. Also: Two Weeks With Love.

Call Me Madam (Walter Lang, 1953)

Bells Are Ringing (Vincente Minnelli, 1960) Cabin in the Sky, Meet Me in St. Louis, Undercurrent, The Pirate, Father's Little Dividend, An American in Paris, Lovely to Look At, The Band Wagon, The Cobweb, Tea and Sympathy, Gigi, The Reluctant Debutante, Some Came Running, Home From the Hill, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sandpiper, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Charles Walters, 1964) Good News, Easter Parade, The Glass Slipper, Billy Rose's Jumbo

Singing in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen 1952) is a musical comedy about the transition to talkies. On the Town; It's Always Fair Weather

Deep in My Heart (Stanley Donen, 1954) Funny Face, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Indiscreet, Charade

I Love Melvin (Don Weis, 1953) Just This Once; Billie, Burke's Law episodes

The Benny Goodman Story (Valentine Davies, 1955) Davies also wrote the story for Miracle on 34th Street.

Merry Andrew (Michael Kidd, 1958)

Annie Get Your Gun (Clark Jones, Jack Sydow, 1967)

The World of Kurt Weill (Marc Daniels, 1967)

The Pirates of Penzance (Wilford Leach, 1983)

Animation

Mobilier fidèle / The Automatic Moving Company (Émile Cohl, 1910) Cohl was the pioneer of the animated film.

Night on Bald Mountain (Alexander Alexeieff, Clare Parker, 1933)

Fantasia (Ben Sharpsteen, 1940)

The Dover Boys at Pimento University (Chuck Jones, 1942)

Paradise (Ishu Patel, 1984)

Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, 1991)

Pocahontas (Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg, 1995)

Shrek (Andew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, 2001)

Classical Baby (Amy Schatz, 2005)

Ratatouille (Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, 2007)

I Met the Walrus (Josh Raskin, 2007)

Madame Tutli-Putli (Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, 2007)

German Expressionism and Film Noir

Fury (Fritz Lang, 1936) The Spiders Part I: The Golden Sea; Der Müde Tod, Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler, Siegfried, Metropolis, Spione/Spies, Frau in Mond / Woman in the Moon, M, Testament of Dr. Mabuse

The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953) You and Me, Man Hunt, Ministry of Fear, Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, Secret Beyond The Door, House by the River, Rancho Notorious, The Blue Gardenia, Moonfleet, While the City Sleeps, The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

Sunrise (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1927) Schloss Vogelöd, Nosferatu, Phantom, Der Letzte Mann / The Last Laugh, Tartuffe.

Anders als die Andern §175 / Different from the Others (Paragraph 175) (Richard Oswald, 1919)

The Bat (Roland West, 1926) The Monster, The Bat Whispers

The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale 1935) The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Remember Last Night?, The Great Garrick

Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) The Magnificent Ambersons

The Lady From Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1948) Other good mysteries by Welles: Journey into Fear, The Stranger, Mr. Arkadin, Touch of Evil

The Immortal Story (Orson Welles, 1969) Perhaps the most beautiful color film ever made. See also below under Shakespeare films. It's All True, Around the World with Orson Welles.

Tear Gas Squad (Terry Morse, 1940) A Fugitive from Justice

The Get-Away (Edward Buzzell, 1941)

Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak, 1944) The Spiral Staircase, Criss Cross, The File on Thelma Jordon

Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1946) Paranoid classic about a hitchhiker who encounters every sort of terrifying problem. The Black Cat, American Matchmaker, Isle of Forgotten Sins / Monsoon, Jive Junction, Strange Illusion, Carnegie Hall, The Pirates of Capri, The Man From Planet X, St. Benny the Dip, Murder Is My Beat, Beyond the Time Barrier

The Locket (John Brahm, 1946)

Dead Reckoning (John Cromwell, 1947) Son of Fury, The Racket

Crack-Up (Irving Reis, 1946) Hitler's Children

Shadow of a Woman (Joseph Santley, 1946)

The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

Homicide (Felix Jacoves, 1949)

Niagara (Henry Hathaway, 1953) Diplomatic Courier; 23 Paces to Baker Street

The Street With No Name (William Keighley, 1948) No Time for Comedy

Panic in the Streets (Elia Kazan, 1950) Gentleman's Agreement, Wild River

Mystery Street (John Sturges, 1950) The Girl in White; Last Train from Gun Hill

No Questions Asked (Harold F. Kress, 1951)

Code Two (Fred Wilcox, 1953) Forbidden Planet

Tomorrow is Another Day (Felix Feist, 1951) The Man Behind the Gun

The Glass Wall (Maxwell Shane, 1953)

Suddenly (Lewis Allen, 1954)

The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

China Gate (Samuel Fuller 1957) I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, The Steel Helmet, Park Row, Run of The Arrow, The Crimson Kimono, Underworld USA, Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street

Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller 1963) The Naked Kiss

Bunny Lake is Missing (Otto Preminger, 1965) Laura, A Royal Scandal, Fallen Angel, Daisy Kenyon, Whirlpool, Where the Sidewalk Ends, River of No Return, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, The Man With the Golden Arm, Advise and Consent, The Cardinal, Such Good Friends

The Phenix City Story (Phil Karlson, 1955) The Texas Rangers, Scandal Sheet, Kansas City Confidential, 99 River Street, They Rode West, Tight Spot, Gunman's Walk, Hell to Eternity

The Lawless (Joseph Losey, 1950) A Gun in His Hand, Time Without Pity, Boom!, A Doll's House

Crime Wave (André De Toth, 1954) Slattery's Hurricane, Springfield Rifle, Man in the Saddle, The Two-Headed Spy, Day of the Outlaw

Experiment Perilous (Jacques Tourneur, 1944) I Walked With a Zombie, Canyon Passage, Out of the Past, Berlin Express, Stars in My Crown, Appointment in Honduras, Nightfall, Night of the Demon; The Fearmakers. Short films: The Magic Alphabet, The Romance of Radium, The Grand Bounce, The Jonker Diamond

Private Hell 36 (Don Siegel, 1954) Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Madigan, The Black Windmill, Jinxed

A Kiss Before Dying (Gerd Oswald, 1956) Oswald directed many of the best episodes of The Outer Limits TV series. Fury at Showdown, 80 Steps to Jonah

Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) World for Ransom; Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte; The Longest Yard; The Frisco Kid

Homicidal (William Castle, 1961) Truly bizarre little thriller whose plot is always taking unexpected turns. When Strangers Marry / Betrayed; Mark of the Whistler; Voice of the Whistler; Crime Doctor's Warning; Conquest of Cochise; The Night Walker; Straight-Jacket

Follow Me Quietly (Richard Fleischer, 1949) This hour long B movie about the hunt for a serial killer is a triumph of direction, photography and storytelling. Much less gruesome than modern serial killer stories. Bodyguard, Armored Car Robbery, The Narrow Margin, Violent Saturday, Fantastic Voyage, Soylent Green.

Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) is a drama about a decayed silent movie queen, who lives in a Hollywood mansion with her director-turned-butler Max, played by real life great director Erich von Stroheim. Wilder's sort of thematic sequel, Fedora.

Witness For the Prosecution (Billy Wilder, 1958). The best courtroom drama ever made. Charles Laughton is fabulously articulate and dramatic as the defense attorney; all by itself, the scene where is calls witness Marlene Dietrich a liar is worth the price of admission. Other plays: Stalag 17.

Avanti! (Billy Wilder, 1972). One of the best of the comedies in which Wilder specialized later. Sabrina, One, Two, Three, The Fortune Cookie

The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955) The Spy Ring, Border Wolves, The Last Stand, Blazing Six Shooters, The Man from Tumbleweeds, The Return of Wild Bill, That Gang of Mine, Pride of the Bowery, Invisible Ghost, The Silver Bullet, Boss of Hangtown Mesa, Bombs Over Burma, The Falcon in San Francisco, My Name is Julia Ross, The Return of October, The Undercover Man, Gun Crazy, A Lady Without Passport, A Lawless Street, The Halliday Brand, Terror in a Texas Town, The Fat Man, The Rifleman: episodes, Daniel Boone: Pompey, The Big Valley: Night of the Wolf

Hollywood's Last Generation of Classical Filmmaking

The Third Voice (Hubert Cornfield, 1960) The Lure of the Swamp, The Night of the Following Day

The Pit and the Pendulum (Roger Corman, 1961) The Little Shop of Horrors, The Raven, Von Richthofen and Brown

Night Tide (Curtis Harrington, 1960) Planet of Blood, Games

How Awful About Allan (Curtis Harrington, 1970) The Cat Creature, Vegas: Kill Dan Tanna

Who Slew Auntie Roo? (Curtis Harrington, 1972) What's the Matter With Helen?, Mata Hari

Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah, 1962) The Westerner: Brown / The Courtship of Libby / The Painting; The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Junior Bonner, The Osterman Weekend

In Search of the Castaways (Robert Stevenson, 1962) The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks

The Moon-Spinners (James Neilson, 1964) The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin; Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis, 1963) The Bellboy

Cat Ballou (Elliot Silverstein, 1965)

Doctor, You've Got to be Kidding (Peter Tewksbury, 1967) The Truth about Girls

Ride the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1965) The Beast From Haunted Cave, The Shooting, Two Lane Blacktop

To Sir, With Love (James M. Clavell, 1967)

The Money Jungle (Francis D. Lyons, 1968)

Eye of the Cat (David Lowell Rich, 1969)

What's Up, Doc? (Peter Bogdanovich, 1972) Paper Moon, At Long Last Love, Illegally Yours

Daisy Miller (Peter Bogdanovich, 1974) Nickelodeon, Saint Jack, To Sir With Love II

Mask (Peter Bogdanovich, 1985) Targets

Heat (Paul Morrisey, 1972) Trash

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974) Gloria

French Films

Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915) Classic crime thriller. Judex

La Folie du Docteur Tube (Abel Gance, 1915)

La Glace à trois faces (Jean Epstein, 1927) Le Tempestaire

Le Million (René Clair, 1931) Paris qui dort, Entr'acte, Sous les toits de Paris, À Nous la liberté, I Married a Witch

L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)

La Kermesse héroique (Jacques Feyder, 1935) Crainquebille, The Kiss, Anna Christie

La Nuit fantastique (Marcel L'Herbier, 1942)

The Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945) Drôle de drame, Quai des brumes / Port of Shadows, Le Jour se lève

Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946) The Blood of a Poet, Orpheus

Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls, 1948) Touching romantic drama about a woman, and her unrequited love for a concert pianist. Shows Ophuls' emotional sensitivity, and his ability to depict feelings of love on screen. Ophuls' constantly moving camera is visually fascinating, as one delicate composition succeeds after another, and the tracking creates a thrilling visual experience. Werther; The Exile, Caught, La Ronde, Madame de..., Lola Montès.

Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1950) Un Condamné à mort s'est échappé/A Man Escaped; Pickpocket; Procès de Jeanne d'Arc / The Trial of Joan of Arc; Une Femme douce; Lancelot du lac

Paris Does Strange Things (Jean Renoir, 1956): A Polish noblewoman delights everyone in 1900 Paris. La Chienne, Boudu sauvé des eaux, Toni, Grand Illusion, The Rules of the Game, Swamp Water, The Southerner, The Woman on the Beach, The River, The Golden Coach, French Can Can, La Caporal épinglé / The Elusive Corporal

Le Trou (Jacques Becker, 1960) Ali Baba

Le Ballon rouge / The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956) Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage / White Mane

Plein Soleil/Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960)

M Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953) Family fun at a French resort. Mon Oncle, Playtime, Traffic.

Classe tous risques (Claude Sautet, 1960)

Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967) Le Cercle rouge

Providence (Alain Resnais, 1977) Nuit et brouillard, Hiroshima mon amour, L'Année dernière à Marienbad / Last Year at Marienbad, Muriel, Je t'aime, je t'aime, Stavisky, Mon oncle d'Amérique, Pas sur la bouche / Not on the Lips

Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1961) Sans toit ni loi / Vagabond; Jacquot de Nantes; Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma / The Hundred and One Nights; L'Univers de Jacques Demy / The World of Jacques Demy; Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse / The Gleaners and I; Deux ans après / Two Year Later

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg / The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964) La Baie des anges / Bay of Angels

Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964) Breathless, A Woman Is a Woman, Contempt, Pierrot le Fou, Weekend

Fahrenheit 451 (François Truffaut, 1966) La Nuit américaine / Day For Night

Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle, 1960) L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows; Le Voleur; Au revoir les enfants

Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967) Las Hurdes / Land Without Bread, Simon of the Desert, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Champagne Murders (Claude Chabrol, 1967) Ten Days Wonder, Masques

Z (Constantin Costa-Gavras, 1969) Compartiment tueurs / The Sleeping Car Murders, L'Aveu / The Confession, Missing

Le Chagrin et la pitié / The Sorrow and the Pity (Marcel Ophuls, 1971)

Tendre poulet / Dear Detective (Philippe De Broca, 1977) L'Homme de Rio / That Man from Rio

Loulou (Maurice Pialat, 1980)

Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1982) IP5: L'île aux pachydermes

Les Ripoux / My New Partner (Claude Zidi, 1985)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappenau, 1990) Le Hussard sur la toit / The Horseman on the Roof; Bon Voyage

Black Dju (Pol Cruchten, 1996)

Les Voleurs / Thieves (André Téchiné, 1996) Les Roseaux sauvages / Wild Reeds, Alice et Martin

Chacun cherche son chat / When the Cat's Away (Cédric Klapisch, 1996)

Ma Vie en rose (Alain Berliner, 1997) The Wall

Sucre amer / Bitter Sugar (Christian Lara, 1997)

Sicilia! (Jean-Marie Straub, Danièlle Huillet, 1999) Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)

Le Placard / The Closet (Francis Veber, 2000)

Samia (Philippe Faucon, 2000)

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

Le Pacte des loups / The Brotherhood of the Wolf (Christophe Gans, 2001)

L'Homme du train / The Man on the Train (Patrice Leconte, 2002) La Veuve de St. Pierre / The Widow of St. Pierre; Mon meilleur ami / My Best Friend

Les Choristes (Christophe Barratier, 2004)

Joyeux Noël (Christian Carion, 2005)

Italian Films

La Corona di Ferro / The Iron Crown (Alessandro Blasetti, 1941)

Roma città libera (Marcello Pagliero, 1946)

Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958) Comedy about some inept crooks. I Compagni / The Organizer: rich film portrait of an 1890 strike.

Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971) Le notte bianchi / White Nights; Il gattopardo / The Leopard; The Damned

The Rise of Louis XIV (Roberto Rossellini, 1966) Rossellini was the father of the neorealism movement. This film shows his logical style. I would love to see his Blaise Pascal, a biography of the man who built the first calculating machines. Paisà, Stromboli, Francesco giullare di Dio, Europe '51, India Matri Bhumi.

The Clowns (Federico Fellini, 1971) is an exuberant documentary about circus clowns. It shows to the max the spectacular, surrealistic style that is known as Felliniesque. Variety Lights, The White Shiek, La Strada, Il Bidone, 8 1/2, Toby Dammit, Satyricon, Ginger and Fred, Intervista.

L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) is a haunting drama about a disappearance. Cronaca di un amore / Story of a Love Affair, Il Grido, La Notte, The Eclipse, The Red Desert. Antonioni's English language dramas Blow-Up, Zabriskie Point, The Passenger. Beyond the Clouds.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1966)

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Ermanno Olmi, 1978) is a miniseries about poor farmers in 19th Century Lombardy. It is the best film of the 1970's. Il posto, I findanzati.

Divorce - Italian Style (Pietro Germi, 1961)

La decima vittima / The Tenth Victim (Elio Petri, 1965)

The Spider's Stratagem (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970) is a mystery; its dazzling color photography of the Italian countryside is like taking a trip to Italy. Beseiged.

The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1967) is the best Spaghetti Western. A Fistful of Dollars.

Allegro Non Troppo (Bruno Bozzetto, 1976) is an inventively bizarre animated film comedy set to classical music.

La Nuit de Varennes (Ettore Scola, 1982)

Good Morning, Babylon (Taviani Brothers, 1987). Two Italian brothers emigrate to America, where they design the sets for D.W. Griffith's silent movie masterpiece, Intolerance (1916). The Night of the Shooting Stars.

Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988) is the story of a poor little boy and his love for the movies. It is very touching and emotionally involving. The Star Maker, Malena.

The Station (Sergio Rubini, 1990)

Mediterraneo (Gabriel Salvatores, 1991) is a warm hearted comedy about some Italian soldiers who go native. Some modern Italian films have been big successes in America.

Lamerica (Gianni Amelio, 1994) Grim but well made look at poverty in post-Communist Albania. The Keys of the House.

Life Is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1998) Johnny Stecchino

La Finestra di fronte / Facing Windows (Ferzan Ozpetek, 2003)

Japanese Films

The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952) The greatest of Japanese filmmakers. Sisters of the Gion, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, The 47 Ronin, Ugetsu, A Geisha / Gion Festival Music, Sansho the Baliff, Chikamatsu Monogatari, Empress Yang Kei Fei, Street of Shame

Twenty-Four Eyes (Keisuke Kinoshita, 1954): Follows 12 Japanese students and their teacher from first grade to adulthood. Starts out in the 1930's, and moves on to the World War II era. Probably the best "inside" picture of traditional Japanese life on film; recommended for people who want to learn more about that country. Although there are no war scenes in the movie, the film delivers a devasting indictment of Japanese militarism of the era, and war in general.

Golden Demon (Koji Shima, 1953) This is not a horror movie; the golden demon of the title is money, excessive love of which almost destroys a young couple's happiness.

Late Chrysanthemums (Mikio Naruse, 1954) While Mikio Naruse made 87 films between 1930 and 1967, his work seems hardly to have made any impression in the Western World. This is to be lamented, for he was clearly a magnificent filmmaker. His subject matter is remote from the tastes of contemporary audiences. Naruse grew up in poverty, and his characters are poor and often aging women struggling to get by in Japan. His stories are completely lacking in violence, action or glamour. What they do have is a marvellous storytelling ability. His visual style alternates between beautifully composed looks at Tokyo streets, to interior scenes where his characters have dramatic encounters with family, loved ones and friends.

Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa, 1981) Sanshiro Sugata, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Stray Dog, Scandal, The Idiot, Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, High and Low, Dreams, Rhapsody in August

An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu, 1962) I Was Born, But..., There Was a Father, Record of a Tenement Gentleman, Late Spring, Early Summer, Tokyo Story, Equinox Flower

Godzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1954)

Pale Flower (Shinoda Masahiro, 1964) Double Suicide

Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki, 1966) Delirious gangster film, with great compositions, color design.

The Makioka Sisters (Kon Ichikawa, 1983)

A Taxing Woman (Juzo Itami, 1987) A female Japanese tax agent fights a "duel" with a crooked businessman. Both the heroine and the villain have remarkable quantities of energy, ingenuity and enthusiasm for their work. Thoroughly satirical look at modern Japanese life, with an enormous amount of inside information about business, government, and crime. The Funeral.

Heaven and Earth (Haruki Kadokawa, 1990) Spectacular drama of medieval battles, choreographed to make ingenious color patterns on the screen.

Only Yesterday (Isao Takahata, 1991)

The Mystery of Rampo (Kazuyoshi Okuyama, 1994) Avant-garde fantasy in the tradition of Cocteau and Resnais' Providence. Beautifully shot.

Village of Dreams (Yoichi Higashi, 1995) Look at two eight year old boys and their childhood in a small village.

Dr. Akagi (Shohei Imamura, 1998) The Eel; Warm Water Under a Red Bridge; September 11: The Snake

Rajio no jikan / Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (Koki Mitani, 1997)

Chinese Films

Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991) One of six films Zhang made with actress Gong Li, in each of which she plays a gutsy woman who takes on the patriarchy that has always run China. The Story of Qiu Ju.

The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee, 1993) Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain.

Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994) Days of Being Wild, Fallen Angels, In the Mood for Love, 2046, My Blueberry Nights. Avant-garde director in the tradition of France's New Wave of the 1960's. Creative camera work.

East Palace, West Palace (Zhang Yuan, 1996)

The Hole / Last Dance (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997)

Suzhou River (Lou Ye, 2000) Beautifully photographed, New Wave influenced mystery story. Rich cityscapes of Shanghai's river district recall Godard's Le Petit soldat and Varda's Cléo de 5 à 7; the complex storytelling Resnais.

Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, 2000)

Millenium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2001) The Puppetmaster; Café Lumière

Zhou Yu's Train (Sun Zhou, 2002)

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai Sijie, 2002)

Eastern Europe

Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) Glumov's Diary; Romance Sentimentale; Qué viva Mexico!; Alexander Nevsky; Ivan the Terrible

By the Law (Lev Kuleshov, 1926)

Bed and Sofa (Abram Room, 1927)

The Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1928)

Salt For Svanetia (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1929)

Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966)

The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Paradjanov, 1969) Beautiful avant-garde look at Armenian culture. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors; Hagop Hovnatanian (1965); Ashik Kerib (1988).

Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1976) In 1950's Poland, a stone worker is cited as a model worker. Man of Iron (1980 sequel) His steel worker son takes part in Solidarity. Shot live during the events it depicts. Ashes and Diamonds. Wajda's work reflects Italian Neorealism.

WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Dusan Makavejev, 1971) Satirical documentary on the relationship between sex and politics. The funniest anti-Communist film ever made. Man is Not a Bird, Montenegro, The Coca Cola Kid

Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968) Two Men and a Wardrobe, Tess, Frantic, The Pianist

Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983) Solaris

Torrents of Spring (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1989)

Europa Europa (Agnieska Holland, 1990)

Kolya (Jan Sverák, 1995) Dark Blue World

Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, 2000) Damnation

Kurpe / The Shoe (Laila Pakalnina, 1998)

The Big Animal (Jerzy Stuhr, 2000)

Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov, 2002) Father and Son

The Cuckoo (Alexander Rogozhkin, 2002)

Koktebel / Roads to Koktebel (Boris Khlebnikov, Alexei Popogrebsky, 2003)

Gori vatra / Fuse (Pjer Zalica, 2003)

Kontroll (Nimród Antal, 2003)

The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003) Warning: this is a mystery movie without a solution. Well directed.

Scandinavia

The Outlaw and His Wife (Victor Sjöström, 1917) The Wind

Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920) Sir Arne's Treasure

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) The Parson's Widow, Michael, The Master of the House, Vampyr, They Caught the Ferry, Day of Wrath, Gertrud

Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987)

House of Angels (Colin Nutley, 1992)

Elling (Petter Næss, 2001)

Nye scener fra Amerika / New Scenes From America (Jørgen Leth, 2002)

Der er en yndig mand / This Charming Man (Martin Strange-Hansen, 2002)

Reconstruction (Christoffer Boe, 2003)

Casanova (Lasse Hallström, 2005)

Other Foreign Language Films

Charulata (Satyajit Ray, 1964): gentle portrait of an Indian woman. Aparajito (1956), Jalsaghar/The Music Room (1957), The Big City (1963), The Chessplayers (1977), Joi Baba Felunath (1978).

Quilombo (Carlos Diegues, 1984) Escaped slaves build their own nation in 16th Century Brazil. A triumph of visual style.

Man Facing Southeast (Eliseo Subiela, 1986): an unearthly stranger shows up in Buenos Aires, claiming to be from another planet.

Miss Mary (Maria Luisa Bemberg, 1987)

Rosalie Goes Shopping (Percy Adlon, 1990) Sugarbaby, Salmonberries, Koenig's Sphere

Ay, Carmela! (Carlos Saura, 1990) Flamenco, Tango, Goya

Law of Desire (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987) Dark Habits, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, High Heels, Volver

Maybe, Maybe Not (Sonke Wortmann, 1994)

The Scent of Green Papaya (Tran Anh Hung, 1993) The Vertical Ray of the Sun

A Summer at La Goulette (Férid Boughedir, 1995)

The Chambermaid on the Titanic (Bigas Luna, 1997) Brilliant piece of storytelling, with many unexpected developments.

Character (Mike van Diem, 1997)

Destiny (Youssef Chahine, 1997) Alexandria...Why?

Lola Rennt / Run, Lola, Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) Paris, je t'aime

Aimée & Jaguar (Max Färberböck, 1998)

Phörpa / The Cup (Khyentse Norbu, 1999)

Solas (Benito Zambrano, 1999) Emotionally involving story of a poor woman in Seville, Spain and her problems.

The House Is Black (Forugh Farrokhzad, 1962)

A Time for Drunken Horses (Bahman Ghobadi, 2000) Marooned in Iraq

Offside (Jafar Panahi, 2006)

Gabbeh (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996) Marriage of the Blessed; Once Upon a Time, Cinema; Images of the Khajar Dynasty; A Moment of Innocence; Kandahar

The Apple (Samira Makhmalbaf, 1998) At Five in the Afternoon

The Day I Became a Woman (Marziyeh Meshkini, 2000)

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001) Fine Indian musical, with an idealistic script, good characters and acting, and delightful musical numbers.

Nirgendwo in Afrika / Nowhere in Africa (Caroline Link, 2001)

Porto da Minha Infância / Oporto of My Childhood (Manoel de Oliveira, 2001)

Invincible (Werner Herzog, 2001)

Matir Moina / The Clay Bird (Tareque Masud, 2002)

Osama (Siddiq Barmak, 2003)

Rosenstrasse (Margarethe von Trotta, 2003)

Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)

Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)

The Red Toy (Dani Rosenberg, 2004)

Walk on Water (Eytan Fox, 2004)

Männer wie wir / Guys and Balls (Sherry Hormann, 2004)

Sophie Scholl: The Last Days (Marc Rothemund, 2005)

Krrish (Rajesh Roshan, 2006)

Caramel (Nadine Labaki, 2007)

The British Isles and Commonwealth

The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, 1948) Contraband, Black Narcissus

The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952)

The One That Got Away (Roy Ward Baker, 1957)

Hotel Paradiso (Peter Glenville, 1966) Summer and Smoke, The Comedians

Scream of Fear (Seth Holt, 1961)

Murder Ahoy (George Pollock, 1964) Murder, She Said

The Wrong Box (Bryan Forbes, 1966) The Stepford Wives

The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (Joe McGrath, 1968)

Savage Messiah (Ken Russell, 1972) Song of Summer, Women in Love, The Boyfriend, Mahler, Lisztomania, Clouds of Glory

Gumshoe (Stephen Frears, 1972) Dangerous Liaisons, Hero

The Nine Tailors (Raymond Menmuir, 1974)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975) Four girls mysteriously disappear in the Australian Outback, a disappearance that is never explained by the film. Extraordinarily atmospheric film that hints at supernatural explanations (e.g., the girls have gone away to be the brides of pagan deities).

The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir, 1982) Film about the start of the terrible events in Indonesia in 1965. Extraordinary performances, especially by Linda Hunt as photographer Billy Kwan. One of the best films ever made about the problems of the poor and world hunger. Although nothing supernatural happens in the tale, film has remarkable supernatural atmosphere.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicholas Roeg, 1976)

Breaking Away (Peter Yates, 1979) The Hot Rock, Suspect, The House on Carroll Street, The Year of the Comet

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Tony Wharmby, John Davies, 1980)

Flickers (Cyril Coke, 1980) British TV miniseries about the early days of the British film industry, and the attempt of two outsiders, a poor Cockney (Bob Hoskins) and a middle class businesswoman (Frances De La Tour) to run their own production company. Characterizations so rich they seem four dimensional, and brilliant acting by the entire troupe, especially the two leads. Comic, upbeat, and definitely not about the sort of upper class twits that show up on too much British TV. Will Violet ever stop talking? Script by Roy Clarke.

Flash Gordon (Michael Hodges, 1980) Croupier

Heartaches (Don Shebib, 1981)

Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, 1981) Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Condorman (Charles Jarrott, 1981) The Boy in Blue

Separate Tables (John Schlesinger, 1982) Cold Comfort Farm

The Draughtsman's Contract (Peter Greenaway, 1982)

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jack Clayton, 1983) The Great Gatsby

The Lords of Discipline (Franc Roddam, 1983)

Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)

The Shooting Party (Alan Bridges, 1984)

Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986)

Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story (Michael Lindsay-Hogg, 1986)

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (Patricia Rozema, 1987) Mansfield Park

Ground Zero (Michael Pattinson, Bruce Miles, 1987)

Earth Girls Are Easy (Julien Temple, 1989) Temple has made many classic music videos.

Hear My Song (Peter Chelsom, 1991) An Irish promoter tries to lure a singer to his club. A gentle film about the power of music. Shall We Dance

The Krays (Peter Medak 1991) The Changeling; Zorro, The Gay Blade; The Seven Dancing Princesses

The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)

Thunderheart (Michael Apted, 1992) Enigma, Amazing Grace

Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann, 1992) La Bohème, Moulin Rouge

Orlando (Sally Potter, 1993)

M. Butterfly (David Cronenberg, 1993)

Princess Caraboo (Michael Austin, 1994)

A Man of No Importance (Suri Krishnamma, 1994)

Desperate Remedies (Stuart Main, Peter Wells, 1994) The Mighty Civic

The Shadow (Russell Mulcahy, 1994) Mulcahy is an important music video director.

The Madness of King George (Nicholas Hytner, 1994) The Object of My Affection

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994)

The Sum of Us (Kevin Dowling, Geoff Burton, 1995)

Persuasion (Roger Michell, 1995)

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Who Came Down A Mountain (Christopher Monger, 1995)

Hackers (Iain Softley, 1995)

The Awakening (George Bloomfield, 1995)

The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (Francis Megahy, 1996) Livin' the Life / Real Life

Wilde (Brian Gilbert, 1997) Vice Versa

The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo, 1997)

Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, 1998)

Relative Values (Eric Styles, 2000)

Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000)

The Heart of the World (Guy Maddin, 2000) The Dead Father; Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary; Cowards Bend the Knee; My Dad Is 100 Years Old

The Parole Officer (John Duigan, 2001)

Unconditional Love (P. J. Hogan, 2002)

A Touch of Pink (Ian Iqbal Rashid, 2003)

Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (John L'Écuyer, 2004)

Bride and Prejudice (Gurinder Chadha, 2004) Bend It Like Beckham; Paris, je t'aime

Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004)

Shakespeare Films

Macbeth (Orson Welles, 1947) Welles' version of the Shakespeare tragedy. His Othello is visually outstanding, but it suffers from poor sound recording. Chimes at Midnight.

Julius Caesar (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1953) All About Eve

Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968) Hamlet (1990). Tea with Mussolini

The Taming of the Shrew (Richard Monette, 1989)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Kenneth Branagh, 1993) Henry V, As You Like It

Othello (Oliver Parker, 1995)

Opera Films

Katerina Izmailova (Mikhail Shapiro, 1966)

L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Peter Hall, 1984)

Julius Caesar (John Michael Phillips, 1984)

The Mikado (Norman Campbell, Brian MacDonald, 1984)

Agrippina (Thomas Olofsson, 1985)

Science Fiction

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951) Born to Kill, The Set-Up

Them! (Gordon Douglas, 1954) The Falcon in Hollywood, Dick Tracy vs. Cueball, Yellowstone Kelly

This Island Earth (Joseph M. Newman, 1955) Respect the Law, 711 Ocean Drive, Red Skies of Montana, Dangerous Crossing, The Lawbreakers

The Mole People (Virgil Vogel, 1956)

The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold, 1957) 3D versions of: It Came From Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature. High School Confidential!, Bachelor in Paradise

The 27th Day (William Asher, 1957)

The Power (Byron Haskin, 1967) Too Late for Tears; The Naked Jungle

Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Barry Lyndon. Documentary shorts: Day of the Fight, Flying Padre.

The Savage Bees (Bruce Geller, 1976)

Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) American Graffiti; Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) Someone To Watch Over Me

Metalstorm (Charles Band, 1982) Trancers

Tron (Steve Lisberger, 1982)

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension (W.D. Richter, 1984) Late For Dinner

Pee Wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton, 1985) Edward Scissorhands

Arena (Peter Manoogian, 1988)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Joe Johnston 1989) The Rocketeer

Peacemaker (Kevin S. Tenney, 1990)

Harley Davidson and the Motorcycle Man (Simon Wincer, 1991) The Girl Who Spelled Freedom

Universal Soldier (Roland Emmerich, 1992) Moon 44, Stargate

The Santa Clause (John Pasquin, 1994) Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous

Wing Commander (Chris Roberts, 1998)

Murdercycle (Tom Callaway, 1999)

Primer (Shane Carruth, 2004)

Homecoming (Joe Dante, 2005)

Fantastic Four (Tim Story, 2005)

Superman Returns (Bryan Singer, 2006)

Comedy

A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)

1776 (Peter H. Hunt, 1971) Bus Stop

The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978)

The Prizefighter (Michael Preece, 1979)

Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme, 1980) Citizen's Band, Who Am I This Time?, Swing Shift, Something Wild, Swimming to Cambodia, Philadelphia

Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (Clive Donner, 1981)

Say Yes (Larry Yust, 1982)

My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin, 1982) Comedy, which like the Dick Van Dyke Show, takes us backstage at the old Sid Caesar - Imogene Coca Your Show of Shows. Among the best of Benjamin's movies are two films whose young protagonists discover themselves, almost by accident, to be living under false pretenses and phony identities: Little Nikita, Mrs. Winterbourne.

Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel, 1982) Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills

Waltz Across Texas (Ernest Day, 1982)

Zelig (Woody Allen, 1983) Everybody Says I Love You

D.C. Cab (Joel Schumacher, 1983) The Client, Batman Forever, A Time To Kill

Johnny Dangerously (Amy Heckerling, 1984) Clueless

American Dreamer (Rick Rosenthal, 1984)

Odd Jobs (Mark Story, 1984)

Back To School (Alan Metter, 1986) Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

Police Academy II (Jerry Paris, 1986) The Feminist and the Fuzz

Off Beat (Michael Dinner, 1986) Curse of the Corn People

Jumpin' Jack Flash (Penny Marshall, 1986) A League of Their Own

Outrageous Fortune (Arthur Hiller, 1987) Teachers, Taking Care of Business

The Secret of My Success (Herbert Ross, 1987) Footloose

Heartbreak Hotel (Chris Columbus, 1988) Mrs. Doubtfire

Twins (Ivan Reitman, 1988) Dave, Junior, My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Big Business (Jim Abrahams, 1988) Jane Austen's Mafia!

The Naked Gun (David Zucker, 1988) The Naked Gun 2 1/2

Disorganized Crime (Jim Kouf, 1989)

Major League (David S. Ward, 1989) Major League II. Ward wrote the script for The Sting.

Ask Me Again (Deborah Reinesch, 1989)

Sibling Rivalry (Carl Reiner, 1990) Reiner wrote many of the classic episodes of the original Dick Van Dyke Show. The Jerk; Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Honeymoon Academy (Eugene Quintano, 1990) National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I. Quintano also scripted Making the Grade.

Jury Duty (Michael Schultz, 1990) The Spirit

Don't Tell Her It's Me (Malcolm Mowbray, 1990)

Ghost (Jerry Zucker, 1990) Top Secret! (with Jim Abrahams and David Zucker)

Flashback (Franco Amurri, 1990)

True Identity (Charles Lane, 1991)

Jersey Girl (David Burton Morris, 1992) Hometown Boy Makes Good

Sister Act (Emile Ardolino, 1992)

Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1992) Caddyshack

Brain Donors (Dennis Dugan, 1992) Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Karroll's Christmas, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Honeymoon in Vegas (Andrew Bergman, 1992)

The Beverly Hillbillies (Penelope Spheeris, 1993) Wayne's World

Love Bites (Malcolm Marmorstein, 1993)

Guarding Tess (Hugh Wilson, 1994) Blast From the Past, Dudley Do-Right

The Flintstones (Brian Levant, 1994) Jingle All the Way

Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (Tom Shadyac, 1994)

The Mask (Charles Russell, 1994) Eraser

Dumb and Dumber (Peter Farrelly, 1994) Stuck On You

Tommy Boy (Peter Segal, 1995)

While You Were Sleeping (Jon Turteltaub, 1995)

Emma (Douglas McGrath, 1996)

That Thing You Do! (Tom Hanks, 1996)

Trial and Error (Jonathan Lynn, 1997) My Cousin Vinnie

Picture Perfect (Glenn Gordon Caron, 1997)

George of the Jungle (Sam Weisman, 1997)

In & Out (Frank Oz, 1997)

Home Fries (Dean Parisot, 1997)

The Wedding Singer (Frank Coraci, 1998) The Waterboy

Ever After (Andy Tennant, 1998)

Pleasantville (Gary Ross, 1998)

Forces of Nature (Bronwen Hughes, 1999)

Happy, Texas (Mark Illsley, 1999)

Hit and Runway (Christopher Livingston, 1999)

Three to Tango (Damon Santostefano, 1999)

Man of the Century (Adam Abraham, 1999)

Miss Congeniality (Donald Petrie, 2000) Richie Rich; The Associate

Shanghai Noon (Tom Dey, 2000)

All Over the Guy (Julie Davis, 2001)

Rock Star (Steven Herek, 2001)

Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2001)

Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, 2003)

Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003)

A Boyfriend for Christmas (Kevin Connor, 2004) Santa Jr.

Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! (Robert Luketic, 2004)

Ella Enchanted (Tommy O'Haver, 2004)

I (Heart) Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)

Guess Who (Kevin Rodney Sullivan, 2005)

Adam & Steve (Craig Chester, 2005)

Recruiting (James Noel Hoban, Bobby Roger Poirer, 2005)

Available Men (David Dean Bottrell, 2006)

Firehouse Dog (Todd Holland, 2007)

Thrillers and Action

Serpico (Sidney Lumet, 1973) Prince of the City, Power, Guilty as Sin, Night Falls on Manhattan

The Gangster Chronicles (Richard C. Sarafian, 1981)

Nighthawks (Bruce Malmuth, 1981) Hard To Kill

Romancing the Stone (Robert Zemeckis, 1982) Contact

Dreamscape (Joseph Ruben, 1984) True Believer, The Stepfather, Return to Paradise, The Forgotten

Cloak and Dagger (Richard Franklin, 1984)

Streets of Fire (Walter Hill, 1984) 48HRS, Southern Comfort

Dangerously Close (Albert Pyun, 1986) Radioactive Dreams

Choke Canyon (Chuck Bail, 1986)

Out of Bounds (Richard Tuggle, 1986)

Blue City (Michelle Manning, 1986)

American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (Sam Firstenberg, 1987) Avenging Force

The Rosary Murders (Fred Walton, 1987)

The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987) Get To Know Your Rabbit

Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) The Hunt For Red October, The 13th Warrior

Fourth Story (Ivan Passer, 1990)

Born to Ride (Graham Baker, 1991)

Empire City (Mark Rosner, 1991)

The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992) L.A. Takedown

Molly and Gina (Paul Leder, 1993)

Body Shot (Dmitri Logothetis, 1993)

Posse (Mario Van Peebles, 1993) Gang in Blue

The Pelican Brief (Alan J. Pakula, 1993)

A Clear and Present Danger (Philip Noyce, 1994)

Speed (Jan DeBont, 1994)

Chameleon (Michael Pavone, 1995)

The Net (Irwin Winkler, 1995) De-Lovely

Fair Game (Andrew Sipes, 1995)

Bullet to Beijing (George Mihalka, 1995)

Tornado! (Noel Nosseck, 1996)

Air Force One (Wolfgang Petersen, 1997)

The Peacemaker (Mimi Leder, 1997)

Red Corner (Jon Avnet, 1997) Fried Green Tomatoes

Psycho (Gus Van Sant, 1998)

The Skulls (Rob Cohen, 2000) The Rat Pack, The Fast and the Furious

Spy Kids (Robert Rodriguez, 2001)

The Elite (Terry Cunningham, 2001)

Daredevil (Mark Steven Johnson, 2003)

Torque (Joseph Kahn, 2004)

Assault on Precinct 13 (Jean-François Richet, 2005)

Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005)

The Legend of Zorro (Martin Campbell, 2005)

The Illusionist (Neal Burger, 2006)

Drama

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (Fiedler Cook, 1979)

Three Women (Robert Altman, 1977) MASH, Nashville, Gosford Park, Tanner on Tanner

The Moderns (Alan Rudolph, 1988)

Oxford Blues (Robert Boris, 1984)

A Room With a View (James Ivory, 1985) Heat and Dust, Maurice, Jefferson in Paris, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, The Golden Bowl, The White Countess

Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988) The Dead

Dances With Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990)

Ishi: The Last of His Tribe (Robert Ellis Miller, 1978) Her Life as a Man

Don't Cry, Its Only Thunder (Peter Werner, 1982) No Man's Land

Tex (Tim Hunter, 1982)

Eddie and the Cruisers (Martin Davidson, 1983) Long Gone

Places in the Heart (Robert Benton, 1984)

Parting Glances (Bill Sherwood, 1986)

Slamdance (Wayne Wang, 1987) Chan is Missing, Smoke, Blue in the Face, Maid in Manhattan, Because of Winn-Dixie

Stand and Deliver (Ramon Menendez, 1987)

The Accidental Tourist (Lawrence Kasdan 1988) Silverado

Dream Breakers (Stuart Millar, 1989) When the Legends Die

Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986) Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors

Gaby (Luis Mandoki, 1987) Born Yesterday

Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) Sneakers

Longtime Companion (Norman René, 1990) Prelude to a Kiss

Metropolitan (Whit Stillman, 1990)

Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton, 1991)

Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991) The Rosa Parks Story

Zebrahead (Anthony Drazan, 1992)

Swing Kids (Thomas Carter, 1993)

Foreign Student (Eva Sereny, 1994)

A Walk in the Clouds (Alfonso Arau, 1995)

Living in Oblivion (Tom Di Cillo, 1995). Everything possible goes wrong on the set of an ultra-cheap, low budget art film in this dark comedy.

Ghosts of Mississippi (Rob Reiner, 1996) A Few Good Men, The American President, Alex and Emma

Amistad (Steven Spielberg, 1997) Catch Me If You Can

Dangerous Beauty (Marshall Herskovitz, 1997)

Kundun (Martin Scorsese, 1997)

Cousin Bette (Des McAnuff, 1997)

Great Expectations (Alfonso Cuarón, 1998)

Gods and Monsters (Bill Condon, 1998) Kinsey, Dreamgirls

New Rose Hotel (Abel Ferrara, 1998)

The Winslow Boy (David Mamet, 1999)

Boys Don't Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999) Mystery Train, Night On Earth, Coffee and Cigarettes; Broken Flowers

Before Night Falls (Julian Schnabel, 2000)

The Color of Friendship (Kevin Hooks, 2000)

Songcatcher (Maggie Greenwald, 2000)

Unbowed (Nanci Rossov, 2000)

Joe and Max (Steve James, 2002)

Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)

All the Ships at Sea (Dan Sallitt, 2004)

Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)

Teen Films

Corvette Summer (Matthew Robbins, 1978) The Legend of Billie Jean

Porky's (Bob Clark, 1981) Porky's II

Grease II (Patricia Birch, 1982)

Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 1983) Real Genius, pilot for Sledge Hammer

Tuff Turf (Fritz Kiersch, 1985) Into The Sun

The Heavenly Kid (Cary Medoway, 1985)

Rappin (Joel Silberg, 1985) Breakin, Lambada

Just One of The Guys (Lisa Gottlieb, 1985)

Vision Quest (Harold Becker, 1985) Malice

Modern Girls (Jerry Kramer, 1986)

Pretty in Pink (Howard Deutch, 1986)

Back to the Beach (Lyndall Hobbs, 1987)

La Bamba (Luis Valdez, 1987)

Mannequin (Michael Gotlieb, 1987)

Student Exchange (Mollie Miller, 1987)

Campus Man (Ron Casden, 1987)

Hairspray (John Waters, 1988) Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Crybaby, Pecker, Cecil B. Demented

The "In" Crowd (Mark Rosenthal, 1988)

Johnny Be Good (Bud Smith, 1988)

Shag (Zelda Barron, 1988)

Sing (Richard Baskin, 1989) The finale of this film is good; what leads up to it is poor.

California Casanova (Nathaniel Christian, 1989)

Catch Me If You Can (Stephen Sommers, 1990)

If Looks Could Kill (William Dear, 1991)

Mystery Date (Jonathan Wacks, 1991)

Encino Man (Les Mayfield, 1992) A China Odyssey

She's All That (Robert Iscove, 1999)

Never Been Kissed (Raja Gosnell, 1999)

The Prince and the Surfer (Gregory Gieras, Arye Gross, 1999)

Camp (Todd Graff, 2003)

Chasing Liberty (Andy Cadiff, 2004)

Take the Lead (Liz Friedlander, 2006)

High School Musical (Kenny Ortega, 2006)

Hairspray (Adam Shankman, 2007)

Experimental Films

Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, 1921) Vormittagsspuk / Ghosts Before Breakfast

Le Retour à la raison (Man Ray, 1923) Emak-Bakia, L'Étoile de mer, Les Mystères du Château du Dé

Ballet méchanique (Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy, 1924) Murphy made some good Hollywood films: The Night Is Young.

Symphonie Diagonale (Viking Eggeling, 1924)

The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (Robert Florey, Slavko Vorkapich, 1927)

The Love of Zero (Robert Florey, William Cameron Menzies, 1928)

The Fall of the House of Usher (Melville Webber, James Sibley Watson, 1928) Lot in Sodom

Light Rhythms (Francis Bruguière, Oswell Blakeston, 1930)

Autumn Fire (Herman G. Weinberg, 1931)

A Colour Box (Len Lye, 1935) Rainbow Dance, Trade Tattoo, Colour Flight, Swinging the Lambeth Walk

Composition 1 (Themis) (Dwinell Grant, 1940) Contrathemis

An American March (Oskar Fischinger, 1941) Circles, Komposition in Blau / Composition in Blue, Allegretto / Radio Dynamics, Motion Painting No. 1

1941 (Francis Lee, 1941)

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943) At Land, A Study in Choreography for Camera

In the Street (Helen Levitt, Helen Loeb, James Agee, 1944)

Visual Variations on Noguchi (Marie Menken, 1945) Glimpse of the Garden

The Potted Psalm (Sidney Peterson, James Broughton, 1946)

House of Cards (Joseph Vogel, 1947)

Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947) Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Eaux d'Artifice, Scorpio Rising, Kustom Kar Kommandos

Christmas, USA (Gregory Markopoulos, 1949)

The Wonder Ring (Stan Brakhage, 1955) Desistfilm, Cat's Cradle, Window Water Baby Moving, Dog Star Man, Eye Myth, Deus Ex, The Wold Shadow, Night Music, The Dante Quartet, Rage Net, Glaze of Cathexis, Untitled (For Marilyn), Stellar, Study in Color and Black and White, Commingled Containers, The Dark Tower, Water for Maya, Lovesong

Recreation I (Robert Breer, 1957) A Man and His Dog Out for Air, Blazes

The Flower Thief (Ron Rice, 1960)

George Dumpson's Place (Ed Emshwiller, 1961 - 1963)

Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, 1963) Scotch Tape

Peyote Queen (Storm De Hirsch, 1965)

Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, 1965) The Secret of Wendel Samson; The Craven Sluck

Catalog (John Whitney, 1961) Arabesque

Lapis (James Whitney, 1963-1966) Yantra

Samadhi (Jordan Belson, 1967) Allures, Light, Fountain of Dreams, Epilogue. Belson also made special effects for The Right Stuff.

OffOn (Scott Bartlett, 1968)

S:tream:S S:ection S:ection:S S:ectioned (Paul J. Sharits, 1968 - 1970)

Our Lady of the Sphere (Larry Jordan, 1969)

Bleu Shut (Robert Nelson, 1970) Oh Dem Watermelons, The Awful Backlash

Quick Billy (Bruce Baillie, 1971) Castro Street, All My Life

Midweekend (Caroline Avery, 1985)

Battery Film (Franklin Backus, Richard Protovin, 1985)

Turner (M. M. Serra, 1987)

Scenes From the Life of Andy Warhol (Jonas Mekas, 1990)

Intestinal Fortitude (Colin Barton, 1991)

Lost Book Found (Jem Cohen, 1996)

Raw Images from the Optic Cross (Karl Nussbaum, 1998)

In the Mirror of Maya Deren (Martina Kudlacek, 2002)

Der Klang des Meeres (Wolfgang Lehmann, Telemach Wiesinger, 2004)

Zwerk (Bart Vegter, 2004)

Dance Films

Spanish Fiesta (Jean Negulesco, 1942): dance short with the Ballets Russes.

Romeo and Juliet (Paul Czinner, 1966) Prokofiev ballet, danced by Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev.

Goddess Dancers of Cambodia (Faubion Bowers, 1970): unforgettably beautiful documentary about the traditional dance troupe.

The Magic of Dance (Patricia Foy, 1982) BBC documentary series, hosted by Dame Margot Fonteyn, that explores the many forms of European classical dance.

Art & Architecture

Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (G.W. Bitzer, 1905) Dazzlingly photographed short film, showing a ride on the newly completed subway. A highly unusual optical experience, often more like a film abstraction than a representational movie. Westinghouse Works (1904) contains an overhead travelling shot through the world's largest factory. Bitzer's documentaries are among the most important early films. Impossible Convicts (1905).

Manhatta (Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler, 1921)

1925 Studio Tour (Unknown director, 1925) A look at the MGM Studio

Hollywood the Unusual (William Taylor, circa 1927) The zany, exotic architecture of Los Angeles.

The Tribal Eye (David Attenborough, 1976) Life on Earth

Antonio Gaudi (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1985) Documentary about the Barcelona architect.

Dale Chihuly: Glass Master (Vicki Dunakin, 1987)

Jasper Johns: Ideas in Paint (Rick Tejada-Flores, 1989)

Unzipped (Douglas Keeve, 1995)

Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper (Hiro Narita, 1997)

American Visions (John Bush, Julia Cave, James Kent, Christopher Spencer, David Wilcock, 1997)

Frank Lloyd Wright (Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, 1998)

The Impressionists (Bruce Alfred, 2001) Biographical film about the French Impressionist painters.

Herb Alpert: Music for Your Eyes (Tom Neff, 2002) A look at musician Herb Alpert's abstract paintings and sculptures.

Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Andersen, 2003) In depth look at how Los Angeles and its architecture is portrayed in movies.

Frazetta: Painting with Fire (Lance Laspina, 2003) Portrait of the artist Frank Frazetta.

The Saffron Gates (Philip Schopper, 2005)

The Rape of Europa (Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, Nichole Newnham, 2006)

Documentaries

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, 1888) Roundhay Garden Scene

Lumière Brothers' First Films (Louis Lumière, 1895 - 1897) Compilation of 85 of the Brothers' best short films, each 50 seconds long.

Demolishing and Building Up of the Star Theater (Frederick S. Armitage, 1901)

Electric Edwardians (Sagar Mitchell, James Kenyon, 1901-1906) Compilation of short films from the North of England.

The Police Force of New York City (no director credited, 1910)

Regen / Rain (Joris Ivens, Mannus Franken, 1929)

H2O (Ralph Steiner, 1929)

An Aimless Walk (Alexander Hammid, 1930)

Hong Kong: "The Hub of the Orient" (James A. FitzPatrick, 1937) Glimpses of Argentina, Historic Maryland, West Point on the Hudson, Colorful North Carolina, Merida and Campeche, Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City, Life on the Thames, In the Valley of the Rhine. FitzPatrick did many short travelogues, often in brilliant color.

A Time for Burning (William C. Jersey, 1967)

The Long Search (Ronald Eyre, 1978)

Say Amen, Somebody (George T. Nierenberg, 1982)

Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1983) Anima Mundi

The Times of Harvey Milk (Robert Epstein, 1984)

Before Stonewall (Robert Rosenberg, John Scagliotti, Greta Schiller, 1984)

Eyes on the Prize (Henry Hampton, 1987)

Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)

Baraka (Ron Fricke, 1992)

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (Steven M. Martin, 1993)

Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (Kevin Brownlow, David Gill, 1996)

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (Aviva Kempner, 2000)

Out in Nature: Homosexual Behavior in the Animal Kingdom (Stéphane Alexandresco, Bertrand Loyer, Jessica Menendez, 2001)

Être et avoir / To Be and To Have (Nicholas Philibert, 2002)

Daddy and Papa (Johnny Symons, 2002)

Hard Corps (David Malver, 2002) A look at drum corps.

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (Rebecca Cerese, Daniel Blake Smith, 2003)

Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004) Roger & Me

Uncovered: The War on Iraq (Robert Greenwald, 2004) Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers

Paper Clips (Elliot Berlin, Joe Fab, 2004)

Mardi Gras: Made in China (David Redmon, 2005)

Who Killed the Electric Car? (Chris Paine, 2006)

An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006)

No End in Sight (Charles Ferguson, 2007)