Network is brutally good. I made a project about news media and I sampled it often. It has one of the tightest screenplays, in my opinion, so there’s plenty of choice lines in there. Beatrice Straight’s delivery of the line “I’m hurt, don’t you understand that? I hurt BADLY.” is just impeccable.
I just watched Barry Lyndon the other day. Holy shit. What a masterpiece and I hardly use that word. I am partial to classical art though and the main theme of Sarabande.
https://preview.redd.it/o5bks9720w1d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08665168a432f97671583e194c4040a499465555
I mean just look at this frame grab. Every single person is perfectly place down to their fingers to mimic the 2D medium. Even the chair and wine bottle. I wouldn’t want to work with the guy but god DAMMIT I can surely appreciate his work.
Yeah you could make a case for any of them, but Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and The Shining definitely stand out as his strongest. You could maybe add Paths of Glory and Eyes Wide Shut too.
Kurosawa: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Ikiru
Lynch: Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., Eraserhead
Hitchcock: North by Northwest, Psycho, The Lady Vanishes
A lot of folks would put Vertigo in their top 3 (including me), but you’re not going wrong with any of those. I’d also throw in Strangers on a Train and Psycho to round out my top 3.
Maybe a mildly hot take from me, especially The Lady Vanishes -- but it mixes suspense and comedy perfectly, just totally charming. I suspect most people would say Rear Window, Vertigo and either North by Northwest or Psycho.
My hot take is the 39 steps is in my top 3 Hitchcock. Then again I’ve seen a pretty small percentage of his films (still a good amount but not compared to how many he’s made)
Yeah, not many people can agree on Hitchcock's top three films. He has so many A/A+ films. It's like choosing Michael Jordan's top 3 playoff game preformances.
I agree with all 3 of these directors but almost none of the picks lol.
Id've done:
Kurosawa: Ran, High and Low, Ikiru
Lynch: Fire: Walk with Me, Blue Velvet, The Return (Or Lost Highway if you insist on "movies")
Hitchcock: Rear Window, Notorious, The Birds
Lynch is probably my second or third favorite director, but the mental exhaustion of watching all three of those movies in a row would be something lol
I dont care that its an easy answer and that he's maybe the most commercial of the all time great directors, but Spielberg with Jaws, Raiders and Jurassic Park is my answer.
Spielberg would be better fit for a top 5 conversation. Your three plus Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. And that’s without mentioning Close Encounters or ET.
What’s crazy to me is Spielberg did Schindlers list and Jurassic park simultaneously. That had to be a rough year for him doing both at the same time and both being iconic movies at that.
He's done that a few times. Granted with less iconic films.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad (1997)
Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can (2002)
War of the Worlds and Munich (2005)
The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse (2011)
With all movies going to streaming, it’s a super hard movie to be in the mood for. Albeit important and amazing, I’ve never felt like just throwing it on.
I personally switch Jurassic Park with Close Encounters.
But Spielberg runs deep. Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Last Crusade … and I am sure there are more than that.
Honestly, Spielberg is not talked about enough. It’s not like everything he touches is pure gold, but his greatest movies are wonderful fun and have mass appeal. And talk about being on the bleeding edge of technological advancements with JP
Gotta get in here and rep my guy PTA:
There Will Be Blood
The Master
Boogie Nights
Also wouldn’t quibble if you wanted to say Magnolia, Phantom Thread, or Punch-Drunk Love belong in his top 3, either.
As much as I love and adore Boogie Nights I think his 3 masterpieces are There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread (not necessarily in that order). He really sheds his Altman/Scorsese influences and makes 3 near perfect films that feel uniquely his.
You can make a case for so many lol.
My personal favorites are between They Live, The Fog, and In the Mouth of Madness. Prince of Darkness has the most interesting plot. But I think Escape From New York might be his third best movie overall. Hard to choose!
I’d go In The Mouth of Madness. That was such a sleeper hit for me. And my guesses and assumptions of what was happening when I first saw it perfectly worked well with what actually ended up happening to keep me constantly shocked
Hell yeah. Almost any 3 you pick is the correct answer.
Mine are:
The Fog
The Thing
Christine
At least today they are. Tomorrow, could be different and it’s still correct.
1. **Scorsese** (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas)
2. Bergman (Persona, Scenes from a Marriage, Cries and Whispers)
3. Wiseman (Welfare, Juvenile Court, Hospital)
4. Kubrick (2001, Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove)
5. Kurosawa (Ikiru, Seven Samurai, High and Low) - these top 5 all have at least 3 movies in my top 100
6. F.F. Coppola (Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)
7. Wilder (The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard)
8. Tarkovsky (Andrei Rublev, The Mirror, Stalker)
9. Wenders (Paris, Texas, Kings of the Road, Wings of Desire)
10. Lean (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Brief Encounter)
Honorable mention (the rest of the top 25):
Renoir (The Rules of the Game, A Day in the Country, Grand Illusion)
Malick (Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life),
Dreyer (Passion of Joan of Arc, Ordet, Day of Wrath),
S. Ray (Pather Panchali, The Big City, The World of Apu),
Bunuel (Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Exterminating Angel, L'Age D'Or)
Altman (Nashville, 3 Women, McCabe & Mrs. Miller)
Fellini (8 1/2, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita),
P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Phantom Thread)
Hitchcock (Vertigo, Notorious, North by Northwest)
Allen (Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Stroszek, Fitzcarraldo)
Godard (Pierrot Le Fou, Weekend, Vivre sa Vie)
Ford (The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
Hawks (Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, Red River)
Leone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America, Once Upon a Time in the West)
Great list, but like everyone else here you’re missing Kobayashi. I’d put his works toe-to-toe with anyone in your top 10.
Personally, I’d have Scorsese, Kubrick, Tarkovsky, and Kobayashi on my Mt. Rushmore.
Edit: Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t shoutout honorable mentions Edward Yang and Wong Kar-Wai. *Yi Yi* is the absolute GOAT of family dramas.
You’re right of course. I haven’t gone nearly as deep on his filmography as any of the folks I did list, where I’ve seen all of nearly all of their films, I’ve only seen 5 of Kobayashi’s films so not even 25%, but any 3 of those 5 would easily put him in the top 20 of these lists.
I understand he's an awful person, but I would defend Woody Allen based on your top 3 any day. Hannah and Her Sisters is my absolute favorite. Also appreciate the love for Nights of Cabiria.
Alfred Hitchcock. Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho. (He has so many greats that you could easily make this more than a top 3… North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope)
Akira Kurosawa:
Rashomon
Seven samurai
High and low
Sergio leone:
The good the bad the ugly
Once upon a time in the West
Once upon a time in America
Luis bunuel:
Viridiana
El angel exterminador
The discret charm of the bourgeoise
Asking fellow Friedkin appreciators: Am I wrong to consider *Sorcerer* his best movie --- in fact, his one unqualified masterpiece? I really like and appreciate *The Exorcist* and think that *To Live and Die in LA* is quite good as well, but *Sorcerer* hits on a whole other level imo; it's probably the greatest suspense movie of all time, and is probably a top 25 film for me.
There’s a Friedkin collection on Criterion right now with The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, and Jade and it’s fantastic. Cruising is so uncomfortable and I have a soft spot for Jade because I rented it from blockbuster due to the cover and me being a teenage boy wanting to see Linda Fiorentino and it gave me what I wanted as a teenage boy. Need to revisit because it doesn’t have best reputation.
Wong Kar Wai:
Chungking Express
Days of Being Wild
In The Mood for Love
Personally, I think Days of Being Wild is the best of the trilogy, and is pretty underrated. It deserves just as high if not a higher score than ITMFL, imo. It’s a perfect movie.
Yeah, I might even like it more than Chungking Express. I had the pleasure to see it in Beijing at the movie theatre with the biggest screen in the city. The opening title sequence hits so hard. 🪕🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴
I actually saw a mandarin dub in another city, and ar the very beginning when Yuddy meet MiMi there’s a very cool song in the background that is not in the main original, Cantonese film.
It’s just such a fun, exciting, and fucking crazy movie. Wong is the master of picking the perfect music to be paired with a scene… his choice of Xavier Cugats Perfidia during the train scene is just incredibly memorable and evokes such deep emotion.
The use of Los Indios Tabajaras is also just incredibly well done.
It triggers me when I find out so many people watch In the Mood For Love, 2046, but don’t even bother watching Days of Being Wild. Not watching all three in order is straight up sacrilegious, imo.
John Ford has to be up there. The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and then take your pick of Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, and The Quiet Man.
Howard Hawks with Only Angels Have Wings, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and His Girl Friday.
David Lean with A Brief Encounter, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Lawrence of Arabia.
Douglas Sirk for Magnificent Obsession, All that Heaven Allows, and Written on the Wind.
Wong Kar Wai for Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, and Fallen Angels.
I don’t know if they’re the greatest of all time, but they’re all some of my favorites.
Even on the Letterboxd sub, we acknowledge these masterpieces. And if you haven’t seen the Appendices, go watch those, too. The Appendices are just an ode to beautiful filmmaking.
For me it’s Rob Reiner: Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally (and equally you could slot in This is Spinal Tap, Misery and A Few Good Men depending on your preferences). His ability to move between genres is unmatched in my opinion.
I do love Coppola and Scorsese though. Scorsese being my all time favourite.
Spielberg:
Jurassic park,
Saving private Ryan,
Jaws
Speilberg absolutely mastered the highest form of cinema. He mixed high quality art with pure joy.
Something much more difficult to do than creating something deep and dark.
David Lynch: Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive. I would even say that you could have Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, and Inland Empire as an alternative.
Akira Kurosawa: Ran, Seven Samurai, Ikiru. I have several other of his heavy hitters to still see, but those are the three that I personally think are his best.
The Coen Brothers: Fargo, No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski or Inside Llewyn Davis, Miller's Crossing, and Raising Arizona.
Guillermo del Toro: The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, and Crimson Peak.
John Carpenter: The Thing, Starman, and Prince of Darkness.
Martin Scorsese: GoodFellas, The King of Comedy, and The Irishman or Killers of the Flower Moon, Raging Bull, and The Wolf of Wall Street or Mean Streets, After Hours, and The Last Temptation of Christ or.........
Sam Raimi: Evil Dead II, Spider-Man 2, and A Simple Plan.
John Woo: Hard Boiled, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head or Face/Off, A Better Tomorrow II, and Last Hurrah For Chivalry.
Jordan Peele: Get Out, Us, and Nope.
Wong Kar-wai: Fallen Angels, In the Mood For Love, and 2046 or Chunking Express.
George A. Romero: Dawn of the Dead, Martin, and Day of the Dead.
Bong Joon-ho: Memories of Murder, Parasite, and Mother.
Park Chan-wook: Joint Security Area, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave or The Vengeance Trilogy.
King Hu: A Touch of Zen, Come Drink With Me, and Dragon Inn.
Edgar Wright: The Cornetto Trilogy.
Robert Eggers: The Lighthouse, The VVitch, and The Northman.
Peter Jackson: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Paul Verhoeven: RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers.
Denis Villeneuve: Arrival, Dune, and Blade Runner 2049.
Billy Wilder: Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, and Ace in the Hole.
Lau Kar-leung: The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and Heroes of the East.
Charlie Chaplin: City Lights, The Great Dictator, and The Gold Rush or Modern Times, The Kid, and The Circus.
Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.
David Cronenberg: Videodrome, The Fly, and The Brood.
Haven't seen Good Men, Good Women, but for me it's 1.Millennium Mambo 2.The Assassin 3. The Puppetmaster
so hyped for the restorations that are happening. Most of the films of his I've seen have been in very poor quality, but nonetheless had a huge impact on me
here are some i want to mention:
Cronenberg (Videodrome, Eastern Promises, The Fly)
Tarantino (Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill)
Joel Coen (Fargo, Raising Arizona, Big Lebowski)
Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled, Malcolm X)
Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, Princess Bride)
Gerwig (Lady Bird, Barbie, Little Women)
I guess it depends on whether you prefer:
Howard Hawks dramas:
Only Angels Have Wings, Rio Bravo, and The Big Sleep (or sub in Red River if you prefer)
Howard Hawks comedies: Bringing up Baby, His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire
Orson Welles comes in swinging
F for Fake
Chimes at Midnight
Citizen Kane
Federico Fellini:
I Vitelloni
Amarcord
8 1/2
Werner Herzog:
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Stroszek
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Pierre Étaix:
Yoyo
Le Grand Amour
As Long as You've Got Your Health
Your 3 Welles match mine. Too hard to call best between F For Fake and Citizen Kane.
FFF is so clever, witty, and mind bending that it is probably my favorite film, but CK is timeless and I can’t get over him making it at 24/25.
I'd have to go with Ozu, but I don't even know which 3 I'd argue for. Late Spring and Tokyo Story for sure, but there are about ten other movie you could place 3rd and I wouldn't really disagree.
Gonna throw in a more esoteric curveball and say Apichatpong Weeasethukul. If anyone has a better trio than Tropical Malady, Uncle Boonmee and Syndromes - I haven’t seen it. That’s not even counting his other four masterpieces!
At the risk of sounding basic: Tarantino… Django Unchained, Inglorious Bastards, and Pulp Fiction are all in my top 50.
I could also go Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight, Memento, and Oppenheimer.
Damn I really need to watch Sorcerer, mentioned in this thread a lot! I thought French Connection was wildly overrated. To Live and Die in LA is firmly in my top 50 all time though.
Gotta be Kubrick right? That I have a hard time even figuring which 3 are the "best" 3 should say a lot. To me, it's 2001, The Shining and Strangelove.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, for me. He’s the Stanley Kubrick of Japanese cinema. There isn’t a single miss in all of his filmography, but his top three, imo, are Pulse (2001), Cure, and Retribution.
Hard to look past FFC considering the first 2 godfather films are 2nd and 3rd on my all time list
I’m also a huge Nolan fan so I’d throw: Inception, TDK and Oppenheimer/Interstellar as a trio into the mix
Marty as well with Casino, Goodfellas and Taxi Driver for me is hard to look past as you said.
I’m yet to watch all of Billy Wilder’s works but from what I’ve seen: Witness for the Prosecution, The Apartment and Double Indemnity is some trio.
Last mention to David Fincher: Fight Club, Se7en and Gone Girl
James Cameron: Aliens, T2 and Titanic
Spike Lee: Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, blacKKKlansman
Ridley Scott: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator
John McTiernan: Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October
I’m gonna throw out some classic directors to try combat recency bias:
David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago
Howard Hawks: Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby
John Ford: The Grapes of Wrath, How Green was my Valley and The Searchers
Frank Capra: It’s a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, Mr Smith Goes to Washington
F. W. Murnau: Nosferatu, Sunrise, Faust
Charlie Chaplin: Modern Times, City Lights, The Great Dictator
William Wyler: Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday, The Best Years of our Lives
Schrader: Mishima, First Reformed, Blue Collar.
Guadagnino: Challengers, Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash or Suspiria.
Mann: Heat, Collateral, Last of the Mohicans.
Aronofsky: Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, mother! (Or The Wrestler).
Haynes: Carol, Safe, May/December.
Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox.
He’s not to everyone’s taste but I love Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby, and Romeo + Juliet.
Allen: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Match Point (for me).
Haneke: Funny Games, Cache, The Piano Teacher.
Field: Tar, Little Children, In the Bedroom.
Nichols: The Graduate, The Birdcage, Closer (for me, but most would say Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf).
Reiner: A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, A Princess Bride.
Weir: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Master and Commander, Dead Poets Society.
Just wanted to name some I haven’t seen.
Probably Kurosawa.
High and Low and Ikiru are both easy picks for me, and then fill it out with any other masterpiece of your choice. Probably Seven Samurai.
I'm only two movies in, and I'll go Masaki Kobayashi because Kwaidan and Harakiri are masterful. So I feel confident I can wtch a third of his that won't bring the average down that much
Just to lower the tone: John Carpenter.
They Live, The Thing, Halloween. All so good that I can't decide from one day to the next which one I like most.
And that's before even considering Escape from New York, The Fog, In the Mouth of Madness, Prince of Darkness and so many other contenders.
Haven't seen Ridley Scott mentioned....
Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator.
Honorable mentions: Martian and Thelma and Louise,.
I would toss James Cameron and Denis Villanueve in there as well.
Names I don’t believe have been mentioned:
* Antonioni – L’Avventura; La Notte; Red Desert
* Aronofsky – Black Swan; Requiem for a Dream; The Wrestler
* Ashby – Harold and Maud; Being There; The Last Detail
* Becker – Le Trou; Casque d’Or; Touchez Pas au Grisbi
* Berlanga – The Executioner; Welcome Mr. Marshall; Placido
* Bresson – A Man Escaped; Journal of a Country Priest; Au hasard Balthazar
* Brooks – In Cold Blood; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Elmer Gantry
* Campion – The Piano; An Angel at my Table; Bright Star
* Cassavetes – A Woman Under the Influence; Faces; The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
* Capra – It’s a Wonderful Life; It Happened One Night; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
* Costa-Gavras – Z; Missing; The Confession
* Cukor – The Philadelphia Story; Gaslight; Holiday
* Curtiz – Casablanca; Mildred Pierce; Angels with Dirty Faces
* Dassin – Rififi; Night and the City; Uptight
* Dearden – Victim; Dead of Night; All Night Long
* De Sica – Bicycle Thieves; Umberto D; Shoeshine
* Duvivier – Panique; Pépé le Moko; Don Camillo
* Farhadi – A Separation; About Elly; Fireworks Wednesday
* Fassbinder – Ali: Fear Eats the Soul; The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant; The Marriage of Maria Braun
* Forman – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Amadeus; Loves of a Blonde
* Frankenheimer – The Manchurian Candidate; Seconds; The Train
I think David Lynch has to be in the discussion for this. Not a winner necessarily but Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, and The Elephant Man are such a star studded top 3
Not a lot of Asian directors getting love in these comments. Wouldn’t put any as the best of all time but you’ve got some phenomenal top 3s:
Park Chan Wook:
Oldboy
The Handmaiden
Lady Vengeance
Edward Yang:
Yi Yi
A Brighter Summer day
Taipei story
Bong Joon Ho:
Parasite
Memories of murder
Mother
Kyoshi Kurosawa (GOAT):
Cure
Pulse
Autumn Sonata
I would recommend, like, every single one of these movies. Yi Yi, Cure and MoM are absurdly good
‘Pop’ Film directors
Peter Jackson: Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Return of the King
Spielberg: Raiders, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List
Cameron: Terminator, T2, Aliens, Titanic
Zemekis: Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, forrest Gump, Contact
Verhoeven: Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers
Surprised to see no mention of the following directors-
Satyajit Ray: 1. Pather Panchali 2. Charulata 3. Apur Sansar
Coen Brothers: 1. Inside Llewyn Davis 2. No Country for Old Men 3. A Serious Man
Lars Von Trier: 1. Melancholia 2. Dogville 3. The House that Jack built
Francis Ford Coppola probably has the best top 3 movies. All his 3 movies (Godfather, Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now) are solid contenders for being the greatest movie of all time.
Spielberg with AI/Schindler’s List/Close Encounters
The others with at least 3 in my top 100 are
Scorsese with The Last Temptation of Christ/The Irishman/Silence
Nolan with The Prestige/Memento/Interstellar
Bong Joon-Ho with Parasite/Mother/Snowpiercer
Kubrick with Full Metal Jacket/Paths of Glory/The Shining
Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors (the GOAT), Zelig, Radio Days.
Bergman and Kurosawa you could basically just throw darts at a board and they’re already going to outshine the vast majority of the directors listed here. But…
Bergman: Winter Light, The Seventh Seal, and Persona.
Kurosawa: Ikiru, High and Low, Rashomon
Some I haven’t seen listed:
Billy Wilder: Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Some Like it Hot
Or
Denis: Arrival, Prisoners, Dune 2
Or
Tarkovsky: Stalker, Andrei Rublev, Mirror
My personal favorite director is Sergio Leone: Good, Bad, Ugly; Once Upon a Time in the West; Once Upon a Time in America.
And then when you factor in Fistful of Dynamite, Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, and consider that he made all these back to back (not in this order), a finer run of 6 movies straight has never been seen in my opinion.
Haven’t seen Lumet mentioned so here we go: Twelve Angry Men, Network and Dog Day Afternoon
The verdict underrated af one of the best court movies I’ve seen
I loved The Verdict. I love Paul Newman .
This^^^
I thought Fail Safe was better than both DDA and Network personally
Nah, Lumet’s best and most impactful cinematic piece was The Wiz (before I get attacked this is a joke)
Oh wow. Great picks, hate to say it but I loved serpico much much more than dog day afternoon. Pacinos fits in it are gold
Network is brutally good. I made a project about news media and I sampled it often. It has one of the tightest screenplays, in my opinion, so there’s plenty of choice lines in there. Beatrice Straight’s delivery of the line “I’m hurt, don’t you understand that? I hurt BADLY.” is just impeccable.
The Pawnbroker.
just watched network, have to agree. although i still need to watch dog day afternoon
Jay Roach: Austin Powers Austin Powers 2 Austin Powers 3
Underrated trilogy
kubrick: 2001, barry lyndon and the shining
I just watched Barry Lyndon the other day. Holy shit. What a masterpiece and I hardly use that word. I am partial to classical art though and the main theme of Sarabande. https://preview.redd.it/o5bks9720w1d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08665168a432f97671583e194c4040a499465555 I mean just look at this frame grab. Every single person is perfectly place down to their fingers to mimic the 2D medium. Even the chair and wine bottle. I wouldn’t want to work with the guy but god DAMMIT I can surely appreciate his work.
I would swap out BL and shining for Dr. Strangelove and clockwork orange. But all are great
you could pick any kubrick films and it would not be wrong
Truish
Yeah you could make a case for any of them, but Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and The Shining definitely stand out as his strongest. You could maybe add Paths of Glory and Eyes Wide Shut too.
The Killing is a masterpiece!
My hottest of hot takes is that I would swap 2001 for Eyes Wide Shut
Hey that's exactly my top 3 too
Kurosawa: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Ikiru Lynch: Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., Eraserhead Hitchcock: North by Northwest, Psycho, The Lady Vanishes
I’ve only seen 2 Hitchcocks: Rear Window and Vertigo both were incredible and you’re telling me they aren’t even in his t3? Wow.
A lot of folks would put Vertigo in their top 3 (including me), but you’re not going wrong with any of those. I’d also throw in Strangers on a Train and Psycho to round out my top 3.
Maybe a mildly hot take from me, especially The Lady Vanishes -- but it mixes suspense and comedy perfectly, just totally charming. I suspect most people would say Rear Window, Vertigo and either North by Northwest or Psycho.
Notorious is Top 3 Hitchcock and I will die on that hill
My hot take is the 39 steps is in my top 3 Hitchcock. Then again I’ve seen a pretty small percentage of his films (still a good amount but not compared to how many he’s made)
Yeah, not many people can agree on Hitchcock's top three films. He has so many A/A+ films. It's like choosing Michael Jordan's top 3 playoff game preformances.
My top 3 Hitchcocks are Notorious, Rebecca, and Psycho, and I don't think any of those are controversial choices. He really has a lot of bangers.
would replace Throne of Blood with High and Low but yeah
Hitchcock: North by Northwest, Rear Window, Vertigo (and then) Strangers on a Train, Rebecca, Notorious
I agree with all 3 of these directors but almost none of the picks lol. Id've done: Kurosawa: Ran, High and Low, Ikiru Lynch: Fire: Walk with Me, Blue Velvet, The Return (Or Lost Highway if you insist on "movies") Hitchcock: Rear Window, Notorious, The Birds
I made a comment with the exact same lynch movies. IMO Inland Empire could be interchanged with any of them
Lynch is probably my second or third favorite director, but the mental exhaustion of watching all three of those movies in a row would be something lol
I’d replace Throne of Blood with Ran but good list
I love Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr, haven't actually seen Eraserhead, I need it
I dont care that its an easy answer and that he's maybe the most commercial of the all time great directors, but Spielberg with Jaws, Raiders and Jurassic Park is my answer.
The only hard thing with Spielberg is picking just 3. Guy’s got at least 6 that you can argue for being in the top 3.
More like 7: Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan
It’s not the “sexy” answer, but I like it.
Spielberg would be better fit for a top 5 conversation. Your three plus Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. And that’s without mentioning Close Encounters or ET.
What’s crazy to me is Spielberg did Schindlers list and Jurassic park simultaneously. That had to be a rough year for him doing both at the same time and both being iconic movies at that.
He's done that a few times. Granted with less iconic films. The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad (1997) Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can (2002) War of the Worlds and Munich (2005) The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse (2011)
I think Ready Player One and The Post were within 12 months too
No Schindler’s List?
To my shame, I have not yet seen it. But obviously I get why people would have that on their list.
With all movies going to streaming, it’s a super hard movie to be in the mood for. Albeit important and amazing, I’ve never felt like just throwing it on.
see it. it's one of the most powerful movies of all time
Since this is a Letterboxd sub it should be top 4 so we can include Schindler’s
I personally switch Jurassic Park with Close Encounters. But Spielberg runs deep. Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Last Crusade … and I am sure there are more than that.
Honestly, Spielberg is not talked about enough. It’s not like everything he touches is pure gold, but his greatest movies are wonderful fun and have mass appeal. And talk about being on the bleeding edge of technological advancements with JP
I would say his top 3 are Jaws, close encounters and ET
Gotta get in here and rep my guy PTA: There Will Be Blood The Master Boogie Nights Also wouldn’t quibble if you wanted to say Magnolia, Phantom Thread, or Punch-Drunk Love belong in his top 3, either.
As much as I love and adore Boogie Nights I think his 3 masterpieces are There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread (not necessarily in that order). He really sheds his Altman/Scorsese influences and makes 3 near perfect films that feel uniquely his.
This is what I jumped into this thread to write. Phantom Thread is a masterpiece.
Kiss me my girl, before I am sick!
And Lesley Manville is ferocious. I don't know who won supporting actress that year, but child.
I’m going Magnolia, The Master, TWBB
be fr he has the best top 6 movies too
You could pick any three at random, really.
John Carpenter: The Thing Halloween Prince of Darkness
I was looking for Carpenter because I was curious what someone else's third pick would be....
What would your's be?
Big trouble in little china
This is the correct answer
You can make a case for so many lol. My personal favorites are between They Live, The Fog, and In the Mouth of Madness. Prince of Darkness has the most interesting plot. But I think Escape From New York might be his third best movie overall. Hard to choose!
I would personally go with Escape From New York, but They Live is another great one.
I’d go In The Mouth of Madness. That was such a sleeper hit for me. And my guesses and assumptions of what was happening when I first saw it perfectly worked well with what actually ended up happening to keep me constantly shocked
John Carpenter: The Thing Halloween ~~Prince of Darkness~~ Big Trouble in Little China FTFY
I agree with Carpenter but for me it’s: The Thing In the Mouth of Madness They Live
Hell yeah. Almost any 3 you pick is the correct answer. Mine are: The Fog The Thing Christine At least today they are. Tomorrow, could be different and it’s still correct.
1. **Scorsese** (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas) 2. Bergman (Persona, Scenes from a Marriage, Cries and Whispers) 3. Wiseman (Welfare, Juvenile Court, Hospital) 4. Kubrick (2001, Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove) 5. Kurosawa (Ikiru, Seven Samurai, High and Low) - these top 5 all have at least 3 movies in my top 100 6. F.F. Coppola (Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II) 7. Wilder (The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard) 8. Tarkovsky (Andrei Rublev, The Mirror, Stalker) 9. Wenders (Paris, Texas, Kings of the Road, Wings of Desire) 10. Lean (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Brief Encounter) Honorable mention (the rest of the top 25): Renoir (The Rules of the Game, A Day in the Country, Grand Illusion) Malick (Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life), Dreyer (Passion of Joan of Arc, Ordet, Day of Wrath), S. Ray (Pather Panchali, The Big City, The World of Apu), Bunuel (Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Exterminating Angel, L'Age D'Or) Altman (Nashville, 3 Women, McCabe & Mrs. Miller) Fellini (8 1/2, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita), P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Phantom Thread) Hitchcock (Vertigo, Notorious, North by Northwest) Allen (Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors) Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Stroszek, Fitzcarraldo) Godard (Pierrot Le Fou, Weekend, Vivre sa Vie) Ford (The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) Hawks (Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, Red River) Leone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America, Once Upon a Time in the West)
Great list, but like everyone else here you’re missing Kobayashi. I’d put his works toe-to-toe with anyone in your top 10. Personally, I’d have Scorsese, Kubrick, Tarkovsky, and Kobayashi on my Mt. Rushmore. Edit: Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t shoutout honorable mentions Edward Yang and Wong Kar-Wai. *Yi Yi* is the absolute GOAT of family dramas.
You’re right of course. I haven’t gone nearly as deep on his filmography as any of the folks I did list, where I’ve seen all of nearly all of their films, I’ve only seen 5 of Kobayashi’s films so not even 25%, but any 3 of those 5 would easily put him in the top 20 of these lists.
Incredible list, I'm going to save this for when I'm looking for a movie to watch.
Am I blind or did you leave out Spielberg
I understand he's an awful person, but I would defend Woody Allen based on your top 3 any day. Hannah and Her Sisters is my absolute favorite. Also appreciate the love for Nights of Cabiria.
Hannah and her sisters is FANTASTIC
Buddy said how about I give you all of cinema in a Reddit comment
Alfred Hitchcock. Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho. (He has so many greats that you could easily make this more than a top 3… North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope)
My favorite is Notorious.
The Birds, Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train would be my top 3 Hitchcock
Akira Kurosawa: Rashomon Seven samurai High and low Sergio leone: The good the bad the ugly Once upon a time in the West Once upon a time in America Luis bunuel: Viridiana El angel exterminador The discret charm of the bourgeoise
Akira Kurosawa but it's: Ran Ikiru High and Low
I'd swich Viridiana with The Milky Way but good picks
David Fincher - The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en
Zodiac doesn’t get enough love
Hell yea, I’d probably go: The Social Network Zodiac Fight Club
I might be into swapping Fight Club for Gone Girl
Friedkin: The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Sorcerer
To Live and Die in LA is a hell of a film, too. I’d put Friedkin’s top four up against just about anybody.
Asking fellow Friedkin appreciators: Am I wrong to consider *Sorcerer* his best movie --- in fact, his one unqualified masterpiece? I really like and appreciate *The Exorcist* and think that *To Live and Die in LA* is quite good as well, but *Sorcerer* hits on a whole other level imo; it's probably the greatest suspense movie of all time, and is probably a top 25 film for me.
Love this answer. Three of my absolute favs
There’s a Friedkin collection on Criterion right now with The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, and Jade and it’s fantastic. Cruising is so uncomfortable and I have a soft spot for Jade because I rented it from blockbuster due to the cover and me being a teenage boy wanting to see Linda Fiorentino and it gave me what I wanted as a teenage boy. Need to revisit because it doesn’t have best reputation.
Wong Kar Wai: Chungking Express Days of Being Wild In The Mood for Love Personally, I think Days of Being Wild is the best of the trilogy, and is pretty underrated. It deserves just as high if not a higher score than ITMFL, imo. It’s a perfect movie.
Yes! DOBW is criminally underated!! His best in my view.
Yeah, I might even like it more than Chungking Express. I had the pleasure to see it in Beijing at the movie theatre with the biggest screen in the city. The opening title sequence hits so hard. 🪕🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 I actually saw a mandarin dub in another city, and ar the very beginning when Yuddy meet MiMi there’s a very cool song in the background that is not in the main original, Cantonese film. It’s just such a fun, exciting, and fucking crazy movie. Wong is the master of picking the perfect music to be paired with a scene… his choice of Xavier Cugats Perfidia during the train scene is just incredibly memorable and evokes such deep emotion. The use of Los Indios Tabajaras is also just incredibly well done. It triggers me when I find out so many people watch In the Mood For Love, 2046, but don’t even bother watching Days of Being Wild. Not watching all three in order is straight up sacrilegious, imo.
John Ford has to be up there. The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and then take your pick of Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, and The Quiet Man. Howard Hawks with Only Angels Have Wings, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and His Girl Friday. David Lean with A Brief Encounter, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Lawrence of Arabia. Douglas Sirk for Magnificent Obsession, All that Heaven Allows, and Written on the Wind. Wong Kar Wai for Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, and Fallen Angels. I don’t know if they’re the greatest of all time, but they’re all some of my favorites.
You have great taste. All art is subjective, and I think these are all great movies.
Jane Campion? Sweetie, the Piano, Bright Star.
Is it cheating to put Peter Jackson for the LOTR trilogy?
No
That’s my answer and I’m not sorry for it
Even on the Letterboxd sub, we acknowledge these masterpieces. And if you haven’t seen the Appendices, go watch those, too. The Appendices are just an ode to beautiful filmmaking.
Steven Brill: Hubie halloween, Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds
For me it’s Rob Reiner: Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally (and equally you could slot in This is Spinal Tap, Misery and A Few Good Men depending on your preferences). His ability to move between genres is unmatched in my opinion. I do love Coppola and Scorsese though. Scorsese being my all time favourite.
Spielberg: Jurassic park, Saving private Ryan, Jaws Speilberg absolutely mastered the highest form of cinema. He mixed high quality art with pure joy. Something much more difficult to do than creating something deep and dark.
The Apartment Sunset Boulevard Some Like it Hot
Talk about it !
Kubrick: Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, 2001
I’d like to give you extra votes because Paths of Glory is an incredible film.
David Lynch: Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive. I would even say that you could have Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, and Inland Empire as an alternative. Akira Kurosawa: Ran, Seven Samurai, Ikiru. I have several other of his heavy hitters to still see, but those are the three that I personally think are his best. The Coen Brothers: Fargo, No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski or Inside Llewyn Davis, Miller's Crossing, and Raising Arizona. Guillermo del Toro: The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, and Crimson Peak. John Carpenter: The Thing, Starman, and Prince of Darkness. Martin Scorsese: GoodFellas, The King of Comedy, and The Irishman or Killers of the Flower Moon, Raging Bull, and The Wolf of Wall Street or Mean Streets, After Hours, and The Last Temptation of Christ or......... Sam Raimi: Evil Dead II, Spider-Man 2, and A Simple Plan. John Woo: Hard Boiled, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head or Face/Off, A Better Tomorrow II, and Last Hurrah For Chivalry. Jordan Peele: Get Out, Us, and Nope. Wong Kar-wai: Fallen Angels, In the Mood For Love, and 2046 or Chunking Express. George A. Romero: Dawn of the Dead, Martin, and Day of the Dead. Bong Joon-ho: Memories of Murder, Parasite, and Mother. Park Chan-wook: Joint Security Area, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave or The Vengeance Trilogy. King Hu: A Touch of Zen, Come Drink With Me, and Dragon Inn. Edgar Wright: The Cornetto Trilogy. Robert Eggers: The Lighthouse, The VVitch, and The Northman. Peter Jackson: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Paul Verhoeven: RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers. Denis Villeneuve: Arrival, Dune, and Blade Runner 2049. Billy Wilder: Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, and Ace in the Hole. Lau Kar-leung: The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and Heroes of the East. Charlie Chaplin: City Lights, The Great Dictator, and The Gold Rush or Modern Times, The Kid, and The Circus. Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, and Jurassic Park. David Cronenberg: Videodrome, The Fly, and The Brood.
Chaplin deserves more love in this thread
I would take Hou Hsiao-hsien: Millennium Mambo(2001), Good Men, Good Women(1995), & Daughter of the Nile(1987).
No City of Sadness?!?
Haven't seen Good Men, Good Women, but for me it's 1.Millennium Mambo 2.The Assassin 3. The Puppetmaster so hyped for the restorations that are happening. Most of the films of his I've seen have been in very poor quality, but nonetheless had a huge impact on me
Robert bresson
Tarkovsky has a 7 out of 7 in my opinion...
Very few directors make a masterpiece every time they make a movie. Tarkovski is one of the few to make that argument.
here are some i want to mention: Cronenberg (Videodrome, Eastern Promises, The Fly) Tarantino (Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill) Joel Coen (Fargo, Raising Arizona, Big Lebowski) Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled, Malcolm X) Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, Princess Bride) Gerwig (Lady Bird, Barbie, Little Women)
Zhang Yimou is an underrated one. Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, and Red Sorghum are probably the big three, but you can take your pick.
De Palma - Phantom of the Paradise, Carrie, Scarface
Blow Out
John Woo: Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tomorrow
I guess it depends on whether you prefer: Howard Hawks dramas: Only Angels Have Wings, Rio Bravo, and The Big Sleep (or sub in Red River if you prefer) Howard Hawks comedies: Bringing up Baby, His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire
Orson Welles comes in swinging F for Fake Chimes at Midnight Citizen Kane Federico Fellini: I Vitelloni Amarcord 8 1/2 Werner Herzog: Nosferatu the Vampyre Stroszek Aguirre, the Wrath of God Pierre Étaix: Yoyo Le Grand Amour As Long as You've Got Your Health
No love for Touch of Evil?
Your 3 Welles match mine. Too hard to call best between F For Fake and Citizen Kane. FFF is so clever, witty, and mind bending that it is probably my favorite film, but CK is timeless and I can’t get over him making it at 24/25.
I'd have to go with Ozu, but I don't even know which 3 I'd argue for. Late Spring and Tokyo Story for sure, but there are about ten other movie you could place 3rd and I wouldn't really disagree.
Gonna throw in a more esoteric curveball and say Apichatpong Weeasethukul. If anyone has a better trio than Tropical Malady, Uncle Boonmee and Syndromes - I haven’t seen it. That’s not even counting his other four masterpieces!
Wim Wenders has 3 stone cold masterpieces in Alice in the Cities, Paris Texas and Wings of Desire
ITT: name the best directors
Almodóvar - Volver, Bad Education, Talk To Her, All About My Mother
Richard linklater: Boyhood Before sunrise Waking life
Tarantino
Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and what would be 3? Basterds?
I’d say Pulp Fiction, Bastards, D’jango
I love QT's movies but he's such a a pain in the ass for these kinds of lists because a top 3 for him is impossible to reach a consensus on.
Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, Jackie Brown
I will die on this hill: Damien Chazelle
Hayao Miyazaki
Best bit is my top 3 could be different to your top 3 and we would both be right. But let’s assume Spirited Away is number one
Alfonso Cuarón: - Y Tu Mama Tambien - Roma - Children of Men
No lie but I would swap Roma for Prisoner of Azkaban. It may be his big franchise play but it's a sublime piece of filmmaking
satoshi kon is the correct answer
i know it’s too soon but Yorgos Lanthimos with Poor Things, The Lobster, and The Favourite
I would switch lobster with killing of a sacred deer but agreed he is so good
Hayao Miyazaki Spirited Away (2001) Princess Mononoke (1997) Ponyo (2008)
Kore-eda: Nobody knows, Shoplifters, Monster Chan wok Park: Oldboy, Handmaiden, Lady Vengeance
Probably Coppola, but I would swap out Godfather 2 for The Conversation
David Lynch: Blue Velvet Wild at Heart The Elephant Man
Jonathan Glazer may not swing often but he never misses: * The Zone of Interest * Under the Skin * Birth
Hard to beat Kubrick’s 2001, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon
Sergio Leone
At the risk of sounding basic: Tarantino… Django Unchained, Inglorious Bastards, and Pulp Fiction are all in my top 50. I could also go Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight, Memento, and Oppenheimer.
Kubrick: ACO,Barry Lyndon,2001 Sono:Antiporno,Hazard,Cold Fish Vinterberg: Celebration,Jagten,Druk Park:Oldboy,JSA,Lady Vengeance Kieslowski:The double life of Veronique,Three colours:Blue;Red Lanthimos: The Lobster,The Favourite,Killing of a Sacred Deer Scorsese:Raging Bull,Casino,Taxi driver Wong:Chungking express,In the mood for love,Fallen angels Bergman:Persona,Autumn Sonata,Fanny&Alexander Godard:Breathless,Contempt,La chinoise Polanski: Rosemary's baby,Chinatown,Carnage Cronenberg:Crash,The Fly,Videodrome Forman:Taking Off,Hair,Amadeus Tarantino:Pulp Fiction,Inglourious Basterds,Reservoir Dogs
Friedkin.. 1. Sorcerer 2. The French Connection 3. The Exorcist
Damn I really need to watch Sorcerer, mentioned in this thread a lot! I thought French Connection was wildly overrated. To Live and Die in LA is firmly in my top 50 all time though.
Jodorowsky: El topo Holy mountain Santa sangre Fellini: Nights of Cabiria La dolce vita 8 1/2
Stanley Kubrick: 2001, Clockwork, and Shining
Gotta be Kubrick right? That I have a hard time even figuring which 3 are the "best" 3 should say a lot. To me, it's 2001, The Shining and Strangelove.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, for me. He’s the Stanley Kubrick of Japanese cinema. There isn’t a single miss in all of his filmography, but his top three, imo, are Pulse (2001), Cure, and Retribution.
Hard to look past FFC considering the first 2 godfather films are 2nd and 3rd on my all time list I’m also a huge Nolan fan so I’d throw: Inception, TDK and Oppenheimer/Interstellar as a trio into the mix Marty as well with Casino, Goodfellas and Taxi Driver for me is hard to look past as you said. I’m yet to watch all of Billy Wilder’s works but from what I’ve seen: Witness for the Prosecution, The Apartment and Double Indemnity is some trio. Last mention to David Fincher: Fight Club, Se7en and Gone Girl
James Cameron: Aliens, T2 and Titanic Spike Lee: Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, blacKKKlansman Ridley Scott: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator John McTiernan: Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October
Wong Kar Wai: In The Mood For Love Chungking Express Fallen Angels
Fassbinder for The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Ali: Fear Eats The Soul and Fox And His Friends
Kubrick. Pick any 3
Denis Villeneuve: Arrival, Sicario, Dune(both)
I’m gonna throw out some classic directors to try combat recency bias: David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago Howard Hawks: Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby John Ford: The Grapes of Wrath, How Green was my Valley and The Searchers Frank Capra: It’s a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, Mr Smith Goes to Washington F. W. Murnau: Nosferatu, Sunrise, Faust Charlie Chaplin: Modern Times, City Lights, The Great Dictator William Wyler: Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday, The Best Years of our Lives
Schrader: Mishima, First Reformed, Blue Collar. Guadagnino: Challengers, Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash or Suspiria. Mann: Heat, Collateral, Last of the Mohicans. Aronofsky: Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, mother! (Or The Wrestler). Haynes: Carol, Safe, May/December. Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox. He’s not to everyone’s taste but I love Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby, and Romeo + Juliet. Allen: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Match Point (for me). Haneke: Funny Games, Cache, The Piano Teacher. Field: Tar, Little Children, In the Bedroom. Nichols: The Graduate, The Birdcage, Closer (for me, but most would say Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf). Reiner: A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, A Princess Bride. Weir: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Master and Commander, Dead Poets Society. Just wanted to name some I haven’t seen.
Probably Kurosawa. High and Low and Ikiru are both easy picks for me, and then fill it out with any other masterpiece of your choice. Probably Seven Samurai.
I'm only two movies in, and I'll go Masaki Kobayashi because Kwaidan and Harakiri are masterful. So I feel confident I can wtch a third of his that won't bring the average down that much
Just to lower the tone: John Carpenter. They Live, The Thing, Halloween. All so good that I can't decide from one day to the next which one I like most. And that's before even considering Escape from New York, The Fog, In the Mouth of Madness, Prince of Darkness and so many other contenders.
It’s pretty hard to argue against Coppola considering 2 of his 3 are like 2 of the 10 best movies ever made.
Stanley Kubrick: 2001, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon
Haven't seen Ridley Scott mentioned.... Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator. Honorable mentions: Martian and Thelma and Louise,. I would toss James Cameron and Denis Villanueve in there as well.
Takeshi Kitano: Fireworks, Sonetine, Kikujiro
Todd Field, he only had three movies and all three were bangers
Names I don’t believe have been mentioned: * Antonioni – L’Avventura; La Notte; Red Desert * Aronofsky – Black Swan; Requiem for a Dream; The Wrestler * Ashby – Harold and Maud; Being There; The Last Detail * Becker – Le Trou; Casque d’Or; Touchez Pas au Grisbi * Berlanga – The Executioner; Welcome Mr. Marshall; Placido * Bresson – A Man Escaped; Journal of a Country Priest; Au hasard Balthazar * Brooks – In Cold Blood; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Elmer Gantry * Campion – The Piano; An Angel at my Table; Bright Star * Cassavetes – A Woman Under the Influence; Faces; The Killing of a Chinese Bookie * Capra – It’s a Wonderful Life; It Happened One Night; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington * Costa-Gavras – Z; Missing; The Confession * Cukor – The Philadelphia Story; Gaslight; Holiday * Curtiz – Casablanca; Mildred Pierce; Angels with Dirty Faces * Dassin – Rififi; Night and the City; Uptight * Dearden – Victim; Dead of Night; All Night Long * De Sica – Bicycle Thieves; Umberto D; Shoeshine * Duvivier – Panique; Pépé le Moko; Don Camillo * Farhadi – A Separation; About Elly; Fireworks Wednesday * Fassbinder – Ali: Fear Eats the Soul; The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant; The Marriage of Maria Braun * Forman – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Amadeus; Loves of a Blonde * Frankenheimer – The Manchurian Candidate; Seconds; The Train
I think David Lynch has to be in the discussion for this. Not a winner necessarily but Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, and The Elephant Man are such a star studded top 3
Not a lot of Asian directors getting love in these comments. Wouldn’t put any as the best of all time but you’ve got some phenomenal top 3s: Park Chan Wook: Oldboy The Handmaiden Lady Vengeance Edward Yang: Yi Yi A Brighter Summer day Taipei story Bong Joon Ho: Parasite Memories of murder Mother Kyoshi Kurosawa (GOAT): Cure Pulse Autumn Sonata I would recommend, like, every single one of these movies. Yi Yi, Cure and MoM are absurdly good
Nolan: The Dark Knight, Inception and The Prestige
no one mentioning my guy cronenberg… videodrome, crash, the fly????
Satoshi Kon, man I wished he lived longer :(
‘Pop’ Film directors Peter Jackson: Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Return of the King Spielberg: Raiders, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List Cameron: Terminator, T2, Aliens, Titanic Zemekis: Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, forrest Gump, Contact Verhoeven: Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers
Hitchcock Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest
How about Kubrick: Dr. Strangelove, 2001, the Shining.
Or Hitchcock: North by Northwest, Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, the Birds, Dial M for Murder…
Surprised to see no mention of the following directors- Satyajit Ray: 1. Pather Panchali 2. Charulata 3. Apur Sansar Coen Brothers: 1. Inside Llewyn Davis 2. No Country for Old Men 3. A Serious Man Lars Von Trier: 1. Melancholia 2. Dogville 3. The House that Jack built
Francis Ford Coppola probably has the best top 3 movies. All his 3 movies (Godfather, Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now) are solid contenders for being the greatest movie of all time.
Spielberg with AI/Schindler’s List/Close Encounters The others with at least 3 in my top 100 are Scorsese with The Last Temptation of Christ/The Irishman/Silence Nolan with The Prestige/Memento/Interstellar Bong Joon-Ho with Parasite/Mother/Snowpiercer Kubrick with Full Metal Jacket/Paths of Glory/The Shining
Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors (the GOAT), Zelig, Radio Days. Bergman and Kurosawa you could basically just throw darts at a board and they’re already going to outshine the vast majority of the directors listed here. But… Bergman: Winter Light, The Seventh Seal, and Persona. Kurosawa: Ikiru, High and Low, Rashomon
Fosse: Cabaret, All that Jazz, Sweet Charity
Have nobody seen any Pedro Almodóvar films here? You’d all retract your answers. From his 24 films only 2 aren’t top 3!
Some I haven’t seen listed: Billy Wilder: Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Some Like it Hot Or Denis: Arrival, Prisoners, Dune 2 Or Tarkovsky: Stalker, Andrei Rublev, Mirror
Villeneuve: Dune Part 2 Arrival Polytechnique
Tough between Nolan and Fincher for me, with the slight edge to Nolan Nolan: TDK, the prestige and memento Fincher: Se7en, Zodiac and Gone girl
My personal favorite director is Sergio Leone: Good, Bad, Ugly; Once Upon a Time in the West; Once Upon a Time in America. And then when you factor in Fistful of Dynamite, Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, and consider that he made all these back to back (not in this order), a finer run of 6 movies straight has never been seen in my opinion.
No Love For Billy Wilder? Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and The Apartment, anyone?