Variety: 100 Greatest Movies of All Time (1 Viewer)

[Joe Wong]

Following the recent Sight & Sound poll, we now have Variety's first ever (!) list of greatest films.

The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time

Variety breaks down the best movies of all time, as determined by film critics. From Psycho to Parasite, these are the best films ever made.

variety.com

The list:

1 PSYCHO
2 THE WIZARD OF OZ
3 THE GODFATHER
4 CITIZEN KANE
5 PULP FICTION
6 SEVEN SAMURAI
7 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
8 IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
9 ALL ABOUT EVE
10 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
11 SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
12 GOODFELLAS
13 THE RULES OF THE GAME
14 DO THE RIGHT THING
15 SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS
16 CASABLANCA
17 NASHVILLE
18 PERSONA
19 THE GODFATHER PART II
20 BLUE VELVET
21 GONE WITH THE WIND
22 CHINATOWN
23 THE APARTMENT
24 TOKYO STORY
25 BRINGING UP BABY
26 THE 400 BLOWS
27 BONNIE AND CLYDE
28 CITY LIGHTS
29 DOUBLE INDEMITY
30 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
31 NETWORK
32 VERTIGO
33 8 1/2
34 STAGECOACH
35 THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
36 ON THE WATERFRONT
37 ANNIE HALL
38 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
39 SOME LIKE IT HOT
40 FARGO
41 THE WILD BUNCH
42 MOONLIGHT
43 SHOAH
44 L’AVVENTURA
45 TITANIC
46 NOTORIOUS
47 MEAN STREETS
48 THE PIANO
49 THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
50 BREATHLESS (1960)
51 APOCALYPSE NOW
52 THE GENERAL
53 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
54 THE ROAD WARRIOR
55 PATHER PANCHALI
56 ROSEMARY'S BABY
57 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
58 E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL
59 VAGABOND
60 MOULIN ROUGE!
61 THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC
62 DAZED AND CONFUSED
63 BAMBI
64 CARRIE
65 A MAN ESCAPED
66 PARIS IS BURNING
67 BICYCLE THIEVES
68 KING KONG
69 BEAU TRAVAIL
70 12 YEARS A SLAVE
71 MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING
72 BREAKING THE WAVES
73 INTOLERANCE
74 MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
75 BOOGIE NIGHTS
76 THE TREE OF LIFE
77 GOLDFINGER
78 JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES
79 WAITING FOR GUFFMAN
80 PIXOTE
81 THE DARK KNIGHT
82 PARASITE
83 KRAMER VS. KRAMER
84 PAN'S LABYRINTH
85 NATURAL BORN KILLERS
86 CLOSE-UP
87 THE SOUND OF MUSIC
88 MALCOLM X
89 BELLE DE JOUR
90 THE SHINING
91 SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
92 PINK FLAMINGOS
93 LE SAMOURAÏ
94 BRIDESMAIDS
95 TOY STORY
96 A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
97 ALIEN
98 WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
99 12 ANGRY MEN
100 THE GRADUATE

 

[RobertMG]

No offense was meant - I know I get touchy too - so my comment not about pple here it was a general comment but critics and us ordinary folk always have lists so different its comedy Thanks to your response you prove why these polls are a waste because they should then break them done to age groups - but we need to honor those who came before us lest they be forgotten -

 

[Thomas T]

All About Eve (1950) (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
All About My Mother (1999) Pedro Almodovar
All That Heaven Allows (1955) Douglas Sirk
Asphalt Jungle (1950) John Huston
L'Avventura (1960) Michelangelo Antonioni
Battle Of Algiers (1966) Gillo Pontecorvo
Battleship Potemkin (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
Bay Of Angels (1963) Jacques Demy
Black Narcissus (1947) Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) Paul Mazursky
Bonnie And Clyde (1967) Arthur Penn
Call Me By Your Name (2017) Luca Guadagnino
Children Are Watching Us (1943) Vittorio De Sica
Carrie (1976) Brian De Palma
Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Welles
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg
The Conformist (1970) Bernardo Bertolucci
Contempt (1963) Jean Luc Godard
Day Of Wrath (1943) Carl Theodor Dreyer
Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) Luis Bunuel
Do The Right Thing (1989) Spike Lee
Dogville (2003) Lars von Trier
La Dolce Vita (1960) Federico Fellini
Double Indemnity (1944) Billy Wilder
E.T. (1982) Steven Spielberg
Earrings Of Madame de (1953) Max Ophuls
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Fires On The Plain (1959) Kon Ichikawa
Garden Of The Finzi Continis (1970) Vittorio De Sica
The Godfather (1972) Francis Ford Coppola
Great Beauty (2013) Paolo Sorrentino
High And Low (1963) Akira Kurosawa
Imitation Of Life (1959) Douglas Sirk
In The Mood For Love (2000) Wong Kar Wai
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) Don Siegel
Johnny Guitar (1954) Nicholas Ray
Jules And Jim (1962) Francois Truffaut
The Killing (1956) Stanley Kubrick
La La Land (2016) Damien Chazelle
Last Picture Show (1971) Peter Bogdanovich
Last Tango In Paris (1972) Bernardo Bertolucci
Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948) Max Ophuls
Lolita (1962) Stanley Kubrick
M (1931) Fritz Lang
Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Orson Welles
Magnolia (1999) Paul Thomas Anderson
Maltese Falcon (1941) John Huston
Manchurian Candidate (1962) John Frankenheimer
Marnie (1964) Alfred Hitchcock
Metropolis (1927) Fritz Lang
Napoleon (1927) Abel Gance
Nashville (1975) Robert Altman
Night Of The Hunter (1955) Charles Laughton
Nights Of Cabiria (1957) Federico Fellini
Nutty Professor (1963) Jerry Lewis
On The Waterfront (1954) Elia Kazan
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) Sergio Leone
Onibaba (1964) Kaneto Shindo
Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) Carl Theodor Dreyer
Persona (1966) Ingmar Bergman
Proud And The Beautiful (1953) Yves Allegret
Providence (1977) Alain Resnais
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985) Woody Allen
Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967) John Huston
Rocco And His Brothers (1960) Luchino Visconti
Rosemary's Baby (1968) Roman Polanski
Rules Of The Game (1939) Jean Renoir
The Searchers (1956) John Ford
Seven Samurai (1954) Akira Kurosawa
Seventh Seal (1957) Ingmar Bergman
Shoeshine (1946) Vittorio De Sica
Shoot The Piano Player (1960) Francois Truffaut
Singin' In The Rain (1952) Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
Skin I Live In (2011) Pedro Almodovar
Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955) Ingmar Bergman
Some Came Running (1958) Vincente Minnelli
Spartacus (1960) Stanley Kubrick
Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Elia Kazan
Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927) F.W. Murnau
Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento
Sweet Smell Of Success (1957) Alexander Mackendrick
Taxi Driver (1976) Martin Scorsese
They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969) Sydney Pollack
Tokyo Story (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
Touch Of Evil (1958) Orson Welles
Tree Of Life (2011) Terrence Malick
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick
Umberto D (1952) Vittorio De Sica
Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964) Jacques Demy
Vertigo (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
Violent Summer (1961) Valerio Zurlini
Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Jean Luc Godard
Weekend (1967) Jean Luc Godard
West Side Story (1961) Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Wild Strawberries (1957) Ingmar Bergman
Written On The Wind (1956) Douglas Sirk
Young Girls Of Rochefort (1967) Jacques Demy
Z (1969) Costa Gavras

http://www.thecinemascopecat.blogspot.com

 

[RobertMG]

All About Eve (1950) (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
All About My Mother (1999) Pedro Almodovar
All That Heaven Allows (1955) Douglas Sirk
Asphalt Jungle (1950) John Huston
L'Avventura (1960) Michelangelo Antonioni
Battle Of Algiers (1966) Gillo Pontecorvo
Battleship Potemkin (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
Bay Of Angels (1963) Jacques Demy
Black Narcissus (1947) Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) Paul Mazursky
Bonnie And Clyde (1967) Arthur Penn
Call Me By Your Name (2017) Luca Guadagnino
Children Are Watching Us (1943) Vittorio De Sica
Carrie (1976) Brian De Palma
Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Welles
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg
The Conformist (1970) Bernardo Bertolucci
Contempt (1963) Jean Luc Godard
Day Of Wrath (1943) Carl Theodor Dreyer
Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) Luis Bunuel
Do The Right Thing (1989) Spike Lee
Dogville (2003) Lars von Trier
La Dolce Vita (1960) Federico Fellini
Double Indemnity (1944) Billy Wilder
E.T. (1982) Steven Spielberg
Earrings Of Madame de (1953) Max Ophuls
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Fires On The Plain (1959) Kon Ichikawa
Garden Of The Finzi Continis (1970) Vittorio De Sica
The Godfather (1972) Francis Ford Coppola
Great Beauty (2013) Paolo Sorrentino
High And Low (1963) Akira Kurosawa
Imitation Of Life (1959) Douglas Sirk
In The Mood For Love (2000) Wong Kar Wai
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) Don Siegel
Johnny Guitar (1954) Nicholas Ray
Jules And Jim (1962) Francois Truffaut
The Killing (1956) Stanley Kubrick
La La Land (2016) Damien Chazelle
Last Picture Show (1971) Peter Bogdanovich
Last Tango In Paris (1972) Bernardo Bertolucci
Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948) Max Ophuls
Lolita (1962) Stanley Kubrick
M (1931) Fritz Lang
Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Orson Welles
Magnolia (1999) Paul Thomas Anderson
Maltese Falcon (1941) John Huston
Manchurian Candidate (1962) John Frankenheimer
Marnie (1964) Alfred Hitchcock
Metropolis (1927) Fritz Lang
Napoleon (1927) Abel Gance
Nashville (1975) Robert Altman
Night Of The Hunter (1955) Charles Laughton
Nights Of Cabiria (1957) Federico Fellini
Nutty Professor (1963) Jerry Lewis
On The Waterfront (1954) Elia Kazan
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) Sergio Leone
Onibaba (1964) Kaneto Shindo
Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) Carl Theodor Dreyer
Persona (1966) Ingmar Bergman
Proud And The Beautiful (1953) Yves Allegret
Providence (1977) Alain Resnais
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985) Woody Allen
Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967) John Huston
Rocco And His Brothers (1960) Luchino Visconti
Rosemary's Baby (1968) Roman Polanski
Rules Of The Game (1939) Jean Renoir
The Searchers (1956) John Ford
Seven Samurai (1954) Akira Kurosawa
Seventh Seal (1957) Ingmar Bergman
Shoeshine (1946) Vittorio De Sica
Shoot The Piano Player (1960) Francois Truffaut
Singin' In The Rain (1952) Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
Skin I Live In (2011) Pedro Almodovar
Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955) Ingmar Bergman
Some Came Running (1958) Vincente Minnelli
Spartacus (1960) Stanley Kubrick
Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Elia Kazan
Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927) F.W. Murnau
Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento
Sweet Smell Of Success (1957) Alexander Mackendrick
Taxi Driver (1976) Martin Scorsese
They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969) Sydney Pollack
Tokyo Story (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
Touch Of Evil (1958) Orson Welles
Tree Of Life (2011) Terrence Malick
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick
Umberto D (1952) Vittorio De Sica
Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964) Jacques Demy
Vertigo (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
Violent Summer (1961) Valerio Zurlini
Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Jean Luc Godard
Weekend (1967) Jean Luc Godard
West Side Story (1961) Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Wild Strawberries (1957) Ingmar Bergman
Written On The Wind (1956) Douglas Sirk
Young Girls Of Rochefort (1967) Jacques Demy
Z (1969) Costa Gavras

http://www.thecinemascopecat.blogspot.com

So many greats!

 

[jayembee]

I bet us regular folk could do better than them

No, we couldn't. We'd just come up with a different list that would have just as many disagreements.

 

[RobertMG]

No, we couldn't. We'd just come up with a different list that would have just as many disagreements.

You are so right --- remember I think Kane started as number 1 way back in the 50's No I know why I am happy I tried but will never do it again because I bet no two pple would agree

 

[JohnRice]

Just my humble, ignorant suggestion. Maybe contemplate someone else’s list… just for a moment. Set the ego aside for a minute or two.

 

[Joe Wong]

Yep. It’s all subjective.

Goodfellas is more likely to show up on one of these lists than Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but I think both are brilliant in their own way.

 

[Edwin-S]

Picking 100 greatest films is impossible in something as subjective as film. My top films include Paths of Glory, All Quiet on The Western Front, Akira, Night on The Galactic Railroad and Graveyard of The Fireflies just to name a few and not one of them is on any of thse lists.

 

[WillG]

Kind of an odd list. Despite the quality of Psycho I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as number one on these kinds of lists. Pulp Fiction could easily be on this list but seems a bit high at number 5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dazed and Confused being on this list is pushing it. Alien should be higher. And Jaws not being on the list is baffling

 

[Carl David]

Not sure how this list has ranked each movie in relation to each person's choice.

How many people voted? Did each person have 1 choice to submit for their favourite movie?

These lists that magazines and such do might help give a picture of the public's general taste but they are far from scientific.

What countries were the votes taken from? What were the age range? What ethnic origin of each voter etc. Just variety magazine subscribers?

That said I do find the lists interesting whenever they are published. Also, who was counting the votes? If taken by computer (email etc) did people exploit any loopholes and vote more than once?

I have a picture in my mind of Matthew Broderick in Election throwing a couple of submitted votes in the bin to ensure flick does not win. What if the vote counters were movie lovers and threw Avatar in the trash?

I am surprised there are not more modern movies in the list. Overall it's a good eclectic mix with many excellent movies getting chosen. Everyone will complain about what is not on the list. That is inevitable.

I must also defend Bridesmaids. It's one of the most funniest movies I have ever seen so glad to see that one make the list.

 

[RobertMG]

Not sure how this list has ranked each movie in relation to each person's choice.

How many people voted? Did each person have 1 choice to submit for their favourite movie?

These lists that magazines and such do might help give a picture of the public's general taste but they are far from scientific.

What countries were the votes taken from? What were the age range? What ethnic origin of each voter etc. Just variety magazine subscribers?

That said I do find the lists interesting whenever they are published. Also, who was counting the votes? If taken by computer (email etc) did people exploit any loopholes and vote more than once?

I have a picture in my mind of Matthew Broderick in Election throwing a couple of submitted votes in the bin to ensure flick does not win. What if the vote counters were movie lovers and threw Avatar in the trash?

I am surprised there are not more modern movies in the list. Overall it's a good eclectic mix with many excellent movies getting chosen. Everyone will complain about what is not on the list. That is inevitable.

I must also defend Bridesmaids. It's one of the most funniest movies I have ever seen so glad to see that one make the list.

 

[RobertMG]

Look at Robert Osbornes faves

• A Place in the Sun (1951)
• All About Eve (1950)
• The Third Man (1949)
• Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
• Rebecca (1940)
• Random Harvest (1942)
• Red River (1948)
• Stagecoach (1939)
• The Razor's Edge (1946)
• This is Spinal Tap (1984)

 

[JohnRice]

These lists that magazines and such do might help give a picture of the public's general taste but they are far from scientific.

How, exactly, is it possible to provide a "Scientific" answer to a question that is inherently subjective?

"Best" in relation to anything creative can not possibly be defined in a scientific manner.

 

[Tino]

Graveyard of The Fireflies

That’s GRAVE Of The Fireflies that would be in your top 10.

…mine too.

 

[bujaki]

All these lists are an exercise in fertility.

 

[RobertMG]

How, exactly, is it possible to provide a "Scientific" answer to a question that is inherently subjective?

"Best" in relation to anything creative can not possibly be defined in a scientific manner.

All these lists are an exercise in fertility.

I have not seen Lifeboat on any list

 

[Carl David]

How, exactly, is it possible to provide a "Scientific" answer to a question that is inherently subjective?

"Best" in relation to anything creative can not possibly be defined in a scientific manner.

I was thinking from a perspective of how different cultures and age demographics like different types of movies.

A good survey could determine particular tastes of different types of people.

You can see how different cultures interpret movies by looking at movie posters from around the world.

Polish and Czech original film posters in particular are very interesting and totally different to American and English posters of the same movie.

However, magazine surveys are not going to reflect these different views and tastes due to how they are conducted.

But you are obviously correct in stating that this is a subjective thing and nothing will be black and white despite how it may or may not be completed.

 

[JohnRice]

All these lists are an exercise in fertility.

Certainly where arguments are involved.

 

[bujaki]

I was thinking from a perspective of how different cultures and age demographics like different types of movies.

A good survey could determine particular tastes of different types of people.

You can see how different cultures interpret movies by looking at movie posters from around the world.

Polish and Czech original film posters in particular are very interesting and totally different to American and English posters of the same movie.

However, magazine surveys are not going to reflect these different views and tastes due to how they are conducted.

But you are obviously correct in stating that this is a subjective thing and nothing will be black and white despite how it may or may not be completed.

Art is subjective, but the graphics in Polish and Czech original film posters strike me as the most, well, striking and innovative.

 

[Edwin-S]

That’s GRAVE Of The Fireflies that would be in your top 10.

…mine too.

Well that's embarrassing to misremember the title. Still a top film in my book; although it is also one that is hard to visit often because it is so depressing.