My friend Emily and I put together the following work in process — a list of the best films of the last 20,000 years.
Why the last 20,000? Well, there’s still the possibility that the lost city of Atlantis will have an extensive collection of never-before-seen movie masterpieces.
Epics
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- Reds
- McCabe and Mrs. Miller
- Henry V (Olivier)
- Henry V (Branagh)
- Empire of the Sun
- The Last Emperor
- Legends of the Fall
Musical (Great Soundtracks)
- The Last Waltz
- This is It
- Amadeus
- Gigi
- Grease
- Saturday Night Fever
- Singin in the Rain
- American Graffiti
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Great Performances
- Lion in Winter
- Breaking the Waves
- The Man who would be King
- Straw Dogs
- Bridge over the River Kwai
- Kind Hearts and Coronets
- The Conversation
- Sundowners (Anything with Robert Mitchum)
- On the Waterfront
- East of Eden
- Rear Window
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Coming of Age
- Rushmore
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- The Graduate
- The Goonies
Comedy
- Dumb and Dumber
- Elf
- The Hangover
- Tropic Thunder
- Mars Attacks
- Monty Python and . . .
- M.A.S.H.
- Superbad (absurdly funny, but not appropriate for kids)
Foreign
- La Dolce Vita
- Blue | White | Red | The Decalogues
- The Blue Angel (German Version)
- Aguirre the Wrath of God
- La Strata
- Seven Samurai
- Kagemusha
- Blow Up
- Dersu Uzala
- Umberto D
- La Vi en Rose
- Amelie
Cinematography
- Barry Lyndon
- Road to Perdition
- Walkabout
- Days of Heaven
- Apocalypse Now
- A Single Man
Science Fiction
- Dark City
- Blade Runner
- Predator
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Alien
- Fantastic Voyage
Action/Adventure
- Jaws
- Vertigo
- North by Northwest
- The Stunt Man
- Superman
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
Black and White (and early classics)
- Manhattan
- Casablanca
- Citizen Kane
- The General
- City Lights
- Grand Illusion
- Battleship Potemkin
- Magnificent Ambersons
- Modern Times
- The Man Who Wasn’t There
Existential
- Seventh Seal
- Jules and Jim
- Little Big Man
- No Way Home (This one could also go into the “Musical/Great Soundtracks” category).
Great Scripts
- Chinatown
- LA Confidential
- Maltese Falcon
Documentary
- Thin Blue Line
- Gates of Heaven
- Hard Days Night
- Man on Wire
Free for All
- Enter the Dragon
- The Last Picture Show
- 8-1/2
- Brazil
- High Fidelity
- Two Days in Paris