a healthy mixture of desperately cathectic choices offered by a semi-professional film critic pretending to be a polished intellectual masquerading as a funloving film geek licking every finger that touches his Bachelor's degree in Film and Media Arts
or
Ben Trout's collection of Top Ten Lists 1920's-2004

---

01. The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Th. Dreyer (1927)
02. Sunrise - F.W. Murnau (1927)
03. Nosferatu - F.W. Murnau (1922)
04. Steamboat Bill, Jr. - Buster Keaton (1928)
05. Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1926)
06. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - (1920)
07. The General - Buster Keaton (1927)
08. Pandora's Box - G.W. Pabst (1929)
09. The Navigator - Buster Keaton (1924)
10. Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1922)

conspicuously absent: The Phantom of the Opera - Rupert Julian (1925), Faust - F.W. Murnau (1926), Phantom - F.W. Murnau (1922), Spies - Fritz Lang (1928), The Freshman - Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor (1925), Kid Brother, Ted Wilde (1927), Safety Last! - Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor (1923), Speedy - Ted Wilde (1928), Seven Chances - Buster Keaton (1925), Leaves From Satan's Book - Carl Th. Dreyer (1921).

1930

01. L'Age d'or - Luis Bunuel
02. The Unholy Three - Tod Browning
03. Murder! - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Animal Crackers - Victor Herman
05. Juno and the Paycock - Alfred Hitchcock

1931

01. M - Fritz Lang
02. Dracula - Tod Browning
03. Frankenstein - James Whale
04. Le Million - Rene Clair
05. It's a Gift - Norman Z. McLeod
06. City Lights - Charlie Chapin
07. The Public Enemy - William Wellman
08. Tabu: A Story of th South Seas - F.W. Murnau

1932

01. Trouble in Paradise - Ernest Lubitsch
02. Rich and Strange - Alfred Hitchcock
03. Freaks - Tod Browning
04. Boudu Saved From Drowning - Jean Renoir
05. Scarface - Howard Hawks
06. Red Dust - Victor Fleming
07. Horse Feathers - Norman Z. McLeod
08. The Mummy - Karl Freund
09. The Sign of the Cross - Cecil B. DeMille

1933

01. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - Fritz Lang
02. Zero for Conduct - Jean Vigo
03. Duck Soup - Leo McCarey
04. Design for Living - Ernst Lubitsch
05. Lady for a Day - Frank Capra
06. She Done Him Wrong - Lowell Sherman
07. The Invisible Man - James Whale
08. King Kong - Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

1934

01. L'Atalante - Jean Vigo
02. The Thin Man - W.S. Van Dyke
03. It Happened One Night - Frank Capra
04. Twentieth Century - Howard Hawks
05. The Age of Innocence - Phillip Moeller
06. The Man Who Knew Too Much - Alfred Hitchcock
07. The Merry Widow - Ernst Lubitsch
08. Treasure Island - Victor Fleming
09. The Black Cat - Edgar G. Ulmer

1935

01. The Informer - John Ford
02. The 39 Steps - Alfred Hitchcock
03. G-Men - William Keighley
04. The Raven -  Lew Landers
05. A Night of the Opera - Sam Wood
06. Kind Lady - George Seitz
07. Captain Blood - Michael Curtiz

1936

01. Fury - Fritz Lang
02. Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin
03. Sabotage - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Triumph of the Will - Leni Reifenstahl
05. Libeled Lady - Jack Conway
06. Bullets or Ballots - William Keighley
07. The Devil Doll - Tod Browning
08. The Lower Depths - Jean Renoir
09. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - Frank Capra
10. After the Thin Man - W.S. Van Dyke

bumped - Dodsworth - William Wyler, My Man Godfrey - Gregory La Cava

1937

01. Grand Illusion - Jean Renoir
02. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - David Hand
03. Nothing Sacred - William Wellman
04. The Awful Truth - Leo McCarey
05. Pépé le Moko - Julien Duvivier

1938

01. Bringing Up Baby - Howard Hawks
02. The Adventures of Robin Hood - Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
03. Port of Shadows - Marcel Carne
04. La Bête Humaine - Jean Renoir
05. The Lady Vanishes - Alfred Hitchcock
06. Holiday - George Cukor

1939

01. Gone With the Wind - Victor Fleming
02. Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir
03. Le Jour Se Leve - Marcel Carne
04. Ninotchka - Ernst Lubitsch
05. Young Mr. Lincoln - John Ford
06. Jamaica Inn - Alfred Hitchcock
07. Stagecoach - John Ford
08. At the Circus - Edward Buzzell
09. Gunga Din - George Stevens
10. Only Angels Have Wings - Howard Hawks
 

bumped - On Borrowed Time - Harold Bucquet, Another Thin Man - W.S. Van Dyke

1940

01. His Girl Friday - Howard Hawks
02. The Shop Around the Corner - Ernest Lubitsch
03. Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Foreign Correspondent - Alfred Hitchcock
05. Fantasia -James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley
           T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield and Ben Sharpsteen.
06. The Bank Dick - Edward Cline
07. Pinocchio - Ben Sharpsteen
08. The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin
09. Christmas in July - Preston Sturges
10. The Great McGinty - Preston Sturges

1941

01. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles
02. The Maltese Falcon - John Huston
03. The Lady Eve - Preston Sturges
04. How Green Was My Valley - John Ford
05. Sullivan's Travels - Preston Sturges
06. The Little Foxes - William Wyler
07. Ball of Fire - Howard Hawks
08. Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Alfred Hitchcock
09. Meet John Doe - Frank Capra
10. Never Give a Sucker An Even Break - Eddie Cline

Bumped: Shadow of the Thin Man - W.S. Van Dyke, Penny Serenade - George Stevens, The Man Who Came to Dinner - William Keighley

1942

01. To Be or Not To Be - Ernest Lubitsch
02. Casablanca - Michael Curtiz
03. The Magnificent Ambersons - Orson Welles
04. Bambi - David Hand
05. Larceny, Inc. - Lloyd Bacon
06. The Palm Beach Story - Preston Sturges
07. Saboteur - Alfred Hitchcock
08. This Gun For Hire - Frank Tuttle
09. Cat People - Jacques Tourneur
10. Journey into Fear - Norman Foster

Bumped:  Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman - Roy William Neill, The Glass Key - Stuart Heisler, Ossessione - Luchino Visconti

1943

01. Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock
02. Day of Wrath - Carl Th. Dreyer
03. I Walked with a Zombie - Jacques Tourneur
04. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
05. The Ox-Bow Incident - William Wellman
06. Air Force - Howard Hawks
07. Five Graves to Cairo - Billy Wilder
08. Sanshiro Sugata - Akira Kurosawa
09. Flesh and Fantasy - Julien Duvivier
10. The Leopard Man - Jacques Tourneur

Bumped:  This Land is Mine - Jean Renoir

1944

01. Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder
02. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek - Preston Sturges
03. Arsenic & Old Lace - Frank Capra
04. Gaslight - George Cukor
05. The Princess and the Pirate - David Butler
06. Lifeboat - Alfred Hitchcock
07. It Happened Tomorrow - Rene Clair
08. Hail the Conquering Hero - Preston Sturges
09. Jane Eyre - Robert Stevenson
10. Laura - Otto Preminger

bumped - Ivan the Terrible, Part 1 - Sergei Eisenstein; Ministry of Fear - Fritz Lang; Days of Glory - Jacques Tourneur; To Have & Havve Not - Howard Hawks, The Woman in the Window - Fritz Lang.

1945

01. Children of Paradise - Marcel Carne
02. I Know Where I'm Going! - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
03. The Lost Weekend - Billy Wilder
04. Spellbound - Alfred Hitchcock
05. Murder, My Sweet - Edward Dmytryk
06. Mildred Pierce - Michael Curtiz
07. Christmas in Connecticut - Peter Godfrey

1946

01. It's a Wonderful Life - Frank Capra
02. The Big Sleep - Howard Hawks
03. Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Brief Encounter - David Lean
05. The Stranger - Orson Welles
06. A Matter of Life and Death - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
07. Great Expectations - David Lean
08. The Postman Always Rings Twice - Tay Garnett
09. The Killers - Robert Siodmak
10. The Blue Dhalia - George Marshall
 

bumped: Beauty and the Beast - Jean Cocteau, Green for Danger - Sidney Gilliat, Ivan the Terrible, Part 2 - Sergei Eisenstein

1947

01. Black Narcissus - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
02. Daisy Kenyon - Otto Preminger
03. Out of the Past - Jacques Tourneur
04. The Woman on the Beach - Jean Renoir
05. Lady in the Lake - Robert Montgomery
06. Dark Passage - Delmer Daves
07. Brute Force - Jules Dassin
08. The Beast with Five Fingers - Robert Florey
09. Born to Kill - Robert Wise
10. The Paradine Case - Alfred Hitchcock

1948

01. Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston
02. The Bicycle Thief - Vittorio De Sica
03. The Fallen Idol - Carol Reed
04. The Lady From Shanghai - Orson Welles
05. Rope - Alfred Hitchcock
06. Unfaithfully Yours - Preston Sturges
07. The Red Shoes - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
08. Oliver Twist - David Lean
09. Macbeth - Orson Welles
10. The Naked City - Jules Dassin

bumped - Key Largo - John Huston, Sorry, Wrong Number - Anatole Litvak, Berlin Express - Jacques Tourneur, Night Has a Thousand Eyes - John Farrow, The Big Clock - John Farrow, Kiss of Death - Henry Hathaway, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - H.C. Potter

1949

01. The Third Man - Carol Reed
02. The Small Back Room - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
03. Late Spring - Yasujiro Ozu
04. Thieves' Highway - Jules Dassin
05. White Heat - Raoul Walsh
06. The Set-Up - Robert Wise
07. Criss Cross - Robert Siodmak
08. They Live By Night - Nicholas Ray
09. Cross-fire - Edward Dmytryk
10. Under Capricorn - Alfred Hitchcock

1950

01. Night and the City - Jules Dassin
02. Kind Hearts and Coronets - Robert Hamer
03. Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder
04. Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa
05. Cinderella - Wildred Jackson
06. In a Lonely Place - Nicholas Ray
07. Where the Sidewalk Ends - Otto Preminger
08. Orpheus - Jean Cocteau
09. Last Holiday - Paul Cass
10. Les Enfants Terrible - Jean-Pierre Melville

bumped - The Men - Fred Zinneman, Utopia - Leo Joannon, La Ronde - Max Ophuuls, Stage Fright - Alfred Hitchcock, The Asphalt Jungle - John Huston

1951

01. Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
02. Alice in Wonderland - Clyde Geronomi
03. Ace in the Hole - Billy Wilder
04. The Lavender Hill Mob - Charles Crichton
05. Strangers on a Train - Alfred Hitchcock
06. The Steel Helmet - Samuel Fuller
07. Early Summer - Yasujiro Ozu
08. Detective Story - William Wyler
09. The African Queen - John Huston
10. The River - Jean Renoir

bumped - Forbidden Games - Rene Clement, Royal Wedding - Stanley Donen, A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan

1952

01. Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa
02. The Tragedy of Othello: Moor of Venice - Orson Welles
03. The Bad and the Beautiful - Vincente Minelli
04. Angel Face - Otto Preminger
05. Kansas City Confidential - Phil Karlson
06. The Golden Coach - Jean Renoir
07. Le Plasir - Max Ophuls
08. Casque D'or - Jacques Becker
09. Beware, My Lovely - Harry Horner
10. High Noon - Fred Zinneman

1953

01. Peter Pan - Hamilton Luske
02. Tokyo Story - Yasujiro Ozu
03. Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi
04. Hobson's Choice - David Lean
05. Julius Caeser - Joseph L. Mankiewicz
06. Stalag 17 - Billy Wilder
07. M. Hulot's Holiday - Jacques Tati
08. The Big Heat - Fritz Lang
09. Pickup on South Street - Samuel Fuller
10. House of Wax - Andre de Toth

bumped - Second Chance - Rudolph Mate, I Confess - Alfred Hitchcock

1954

01. Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock
02. Touchez Pas au Grisbi - Jacques Becker
03. Dial 'M' For Murder - Alfred Hitchcock
04. The Earrings of Madame De... - Max Ophuls
05. The Seven Samurai - Akira Kurosawa
06. Johnny Guitar - Nicholas Ray
07. On the Waterfront - Elia Kazan
08. The Creature From the Black Lagoon - Jack Arnold
09. The Wild One - Laslo Benedek
10. Indiscretion of An American Wife - Vittorio De Sica

1955

01. Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton
02. Ordet - Carl Th. Dreyer
03. All That Heaven Allows - Douglas Sirk
04. Rififi - Jules Dassin
05. Night and Fog - Alain Resnais
06. The Seven Year Itch - Billy Wilder
07. Rebel Without a Cause - Nicholas Ray
08. Bob le Flambeur - Jean-Pierre Melville
09. To Catch a Thief - Alfred Hitchcock
10. Pather Panchali - Satiyajit Ray

bumped - The Ladykillers - Alexander Mackendrick, Diabolique - Henri-Georges Clouzot, Smiles of a Summer Night - Ingmar Bergman,
    The French Cancan - Jean Renoir, Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles [either the Confidential Report version or Criterion's Comprehensive version; I feel the same about both.], East of Eden - Elia Kazan.

1956

01. Throne of Blood - Akira Kurosawa
02. A Man Escaped - Robert Bresson
03. The Killing - Stanley Kubrick
04. Richard III - Laurence Olivier
05. The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman
06. Written on the Wind - Douglas Sirk
07. The Searchers - John Ford
08. The Court Jester - Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
09. Giant - George Stevens
10. The Man Who Knew Too Much - Alfred Hitchcock

bumped - While the City Sleeps - Fritz Lang, Nights of Cabiria - Federico Fellini

1957

01. Paths of Glory - Stanley Kubrick
02. Sweet Smell of Success - Alexander MacKendrick
03. The Tall T - Budd Boetticher
04. An Affair to Remember - Leo McCarey
05. Wild Strawberries - Ingmar Bergman
06. The Bridge on the River Kwai - David Lean
07. Elena and Her Man - Jean Renoir
08. Il Grido - Michelangelo Antonioni
09. Ill Met By Moonlight - Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
10. The Lower Depths - Akira Kurosawa

1958

01. Mon Oncle - Jacques Tati
02. The Hidden Fortress - Akira Kurosawa
03. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles
05. The Fly - Vincent Price
06. Elevator to the Gallows - Louis Malle
07. Le Beau Serge - Claude Chabrol
08. The Long, Hot Summer - Martin Ritt

1959

01. Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard
02. The Four-Hundred Blows - Francois Truffaut
03. North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Some Like it Hot - Billy Wilder
05. Sleeping Beauty - Clyde Geronomi
06. Our Man in Havana - Carol Reed
07. Ben-Hur - William Wyler
08. Floating Weeds - Yasujiro Ozu
09. Anatomy of a Murder - Otto Preminger
10. Eyes Without a Face - Georges Franju

bumped - The Mouse That Roared - Jack Arnold, Pickpocket - Robert Bresson, Rio Bravo - Howard Hawks, Good Morning - Yasujiro Ozu

1960

01. Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock
02. Le Trou - Jacques Becker
03. Spartacus - Stanley Kubrick
04. Peeping Tom - Michael Powell
05. The Apartment - Billy Wilder
06. Shoot the Piano Player - Francois Truffaut
07. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs - Mikio Naruse
08. L'Avventura - Michelangelo Antonioni
09. La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini
10. One-Eyed Jacks - Marlon Brando

bumped: Murder, Inc. - Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg; The Steamroller and the Violin - Andrei Tarkovsky (short), Shadows - John Cassavetes, Classe Tous Risques - Claude Sautet

1961

01. Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais
02. Jules and Jim - Francois Truffaut
03. Yojimbo - Akira Kurosawa
04. The Hustler - Robert Rossen
05. La Notte - Michelangelo Antonioni
06. 101 Dalmations - Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman

1962

01. Lawrence of Arabia - David Lean
02. Lolita - Stanley Kubrick
03. The Manchurian Candidate - John Frankenheimer
04. A Woman is a Woman - Jean-Luc Godard
05. My Name is Ivan (Ivan's Childhood) - Andrei Tarkovsky
06. Le Doulos - Jean-Pierre Melville
07. L'Eclisse - Michaelangelo Antonioni
08. Knife in the Water - Roman Polanski
09. Birdman of Alcatraz - John Frankenheimer
10. The Seven Capital Sins - Domme, Ionesco, Douy, Molinaro, De broca, Demy,
                    Godard, Vadim, Chabrol

bumped: Cape Fear - J. Lee Thompson, Dr. No - Terence Young, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - John Ford, Carnival of Souls - Harold Harvey, The Trial - Orson Welles

1963

01. Charade - Stanley Donen
02. The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock
03. 8 1/2 - Federico Fellini
04. Dr. Strangelove (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) - Stanley Kubrick
05. The Great Escape - John Sturges
06. Contempt - Jean-Luc Godard
07. La Jetee - Chris Marker
08. Six Moral Tales: The Girl at the Monceau Bakery/Suzanne's Career - Eric Rohmer
09. Hud - Martin Ritt
10. My Life to Live - Jean-Luc Godard

bumped: Seven Days in May - John Frankenheimer

1964

01. Fail-Safe - Sidney Lumet
02. Band of Outsiders - Jean-Luc Godard
03. The Train - John Frankenheimer
04. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Jacques Demy
05. I Am Cuba - Mikheil Kalatozishvili
06. A Hard Day's Night - Richard Lester
07. Woman in the Dunes - Hiroshi Teshigahara
08. Red Desert - Michelangelo Antonioni
09. The Soft Skin - Francois Truffaut
10. Fistful of Dollars - Sergio Leone

bumped - Lady in a Cage - Walter Grauman, Gertrud - Carl Th. Dreyer

1965

01. Kwaidan - Masaka Kobayashi
02. The Knack...And How To Get It - Richard Lester
03. Repulsion - Roman Polanski
04. Red Beard - Akira Kurosawa
05. The Pawnbroker - Sidney Lumet
06. Alphaville - Jean-Luc Godard
07. For a Few Dollars More - Sergio Leone
08. Bunny Lake is Missing - Otto Preminger
09. Loves of a Blonde - Milos Forman
10. Help! - Richard Lester

bumped - Pierrot Le Fou - Jean-Luc Godard, Thunderball - Terence Young, The Sound of Music -- Robert Wise

1966

01. Blowup - Michelangelo Antonioni
02. Andrei Roublev - Andrei Tarkovsky
03. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone
04. Masculin Feminine - Jean-Luc Godard
05. Seconds - John Frankenheimer
06. Torn Curtain - Alfred Hitchcock
07. The Fortune Cookie - Billy Wilder
08. The Battle of Algiers - Gillo Potecorvo
09. Chimes at Midnight (Falstaff) - Orson Welles
10. A Man for All Seasons - Fred Zinneman

bumped - Persona - Ingmar Bergman, Au Hazard Balthazar - Robert Bresson, Alfie - Lewis Gilbert, The Endless Summer - Bruce Brown, Le Deuxième Souffle - Jean-Pierre Melville

1967

01. The Graduate - Mike Nichols
02. Le Samourai - Jean-Pierre Melville
03. La Collectionneuse - Eric Rohmer
04. The Jungle Book - Wolfgang Reitherman
05. Don't Look Back - D.A. Pennebacker
06. Bonnie & Clyde - Arthur Penn
07. Playtime - Jacques Tati
08. Belle de Jour - Luis Bunuel
09. The Fireman's Ball - Milos Forman
10. Cool Hand Luke - Stuart Rosenberg

bumped - El Dorado - Howard Hawks; The Young Girls of Rochefort - Jacques Demy, The Producers - Mel Brooks, The Fearless Vampire Killers - Roman Polanski, Beach Red - Cornel Wilde.

1968

01. 2001 : A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick
02. Stolen Kisses - Francois Truffaut
03. Night of the Living Dead - George A. Romero
04. Planet of the Apes - Franklin J. Schaffner
05. Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone
06. Salesman - The Maysles Bros.
07. Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski
08. Memories of Underdevelopment - Tomas Gutierrez Alea
09. Faces - John Cassavetes
10. The Hour of the Furnaces - Fernando Solanas

bumped -  I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! - Hy Averback, Teorema - Pier Paollo Pasolini

1969

01. Army of Shadows - Jean-Pierre Melville
02. Z - Constantin Costa-Gavras
03. The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah
04. Yellow Submarine - George Duning, Dick Emery
05. Take the Money and Run - Woody Allen
06. My Night at Maud's - Eric Rohmer
07. Midnight Cowboy - John Schlesinger
08. Easy Rider - Dennis Hopper
09. Medium Cool - Haskell Wexler
10. A Gentle Woman - Robert Bresson

bumped - The Love Bug - Robert Stevenson, On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Peter Hunt

1970

01. THX 1138 - George Lucas
02. Woodstock - Mike Wadleigh
03. Le Cercle Rouge - Jean-Pierre Melville
04. Bed and Board - Francois Truffaut
05. The Conformist - Bernardo Bertolucci
06. Gimme Shelter - The Mayles Bros.
07. M*A*S*H - Robert Altman
08. Performance - Donald Cammell, Nicholas Roeg
09. Catch-22 - Mike Nichols
10. The Wild Child - Francois Truffaut

1971

01. A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick
02. McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman
03. The Last Picture Show - Peter Bogdanovich
04. The French Connection - William Friedkin
05. Walkabout - Nicholas Roeg
06. Trafic - Jacques Tati
07. The Merchant of Four Seasons - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
08. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Mel Stuart
09. Murmur of the Heart - Louis Malle
10. Claire's Knee - Eric Rohmer

bumped - Bananas - Woody Allen, Two English Girls - Francois Truffaut, Nicholas and Alexandra - Franklin J. Schaffner, Diamonds Are Forever - Guy Hamilton, Macbeth - Roman Polanski

1972

01. Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog
02. The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola
03. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - Luis Bunuel
04. Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask) - Woody Allen
05. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
06. Chloe in the Afternoon - Eric Rohmer
07. Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman
08. Straw Dogs - Sam Peckinpah
09. Frenzy - Alfred Hitchcock
10. Un Flic - Jean-Pierre Melville

bumped - Duel - Steven Spielberg, Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky, Pulp - Mike Hoodges

1973

01. The Long Goodbye - Robert Altman
02. The Exorcist - William Friedkin
03. Day For Night - Francois Truffaut
04. Badlands - Terence Malick
05. Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese
06. Sisters - Brian De Palma
07. American Graffiti - George Lucas
08. Sleeper - Woody Allen
09. Don't Look Now - Nicholas Roeg
10. The Friends of Eddie Coyle - Peter Yates

bumped - The Sting - George Roy Hill, Serpico - Sidney Lumet, Soylent Green - Riichard Fleischer, Papillon - Franklin J. Schaffner, The Spirit oof the Beehive - Victor Erice

1974

01. The Parallax View - Alan J. Pakula
02. Chinatown - Roman Polanski
03. Celine and Julie Go Boating - Jacques Rivette
04. The Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky
05. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
06. The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola
07. The Godfather, Part II - Francis Ford Coppola
08. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
09. Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks
10. Young Frankenstein - Mel Brooks

bumped: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah, Black Belt Jones - Robert Clouse, Hearts and Minds - Peter Davis,
    California Split - Robert Altman, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait - Barbet Schroeder

1975

01. Jaws - Steven Spielberg
02. Barry Lyndon - Stanley Kubrick
03. Dog Day Afternoon - Sidney Lumet
04. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Peter Weir
05. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Forman
06. The Enigma of Kasper Hauser - Werner Herzog
07. Grey Gardens - The Mayles Bros.
08. The Passenger - Michelangelo Antonioni
09. Love and Death - Woody Allen
10. Three Days of the Condor - Sydney Pollack

bumped - 'F' is For Fake - Orson Welles, The Great Texas Dynamite Chase - Michael Pressman

1976

01. Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese
02. All the President's Men - Alan J. Pakula
03. Family Plot - Alfred Hitchcock
04. Small Change - Francois Truffaut
05. Network - Sidney Lumet
06. Obsession - Brian DePalma
07. Heart of Glass - Werner Herzog
08. Carrie - Brian DePalma
09. Marathon Man - John Schlesinger
10. Assault on Precinct 13 - John Carpenter

bumped - Allegro Non Troppo - Bruno Bozzetto, The Outlaw Josey Wales - Clint Eastwood, Inserts - John Byrum

1977

01. Star Wars - George Lucas
02. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Steven Spielberg
03. 3 Women - Robert Altman
04. Annie Hall - Woody Allen
05. Killer of Sheep - Charles Burnett
06. Stroszek - Werner Herzog
07. The Last Wave - Peter Weir
08. That Obscure Object of Desire - Luis Bunuel
09. The Spy Who Loved Me - Lewis Gilbert
10. The American Friend - Wim Wenders

bumped - Saturday Night Fever - John Badham, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo - Vincent McEveety, The Goodbye Girl - Herbert Ross, Suspiria - Dario Argento

1978

01. Days of Heaven - Terence Malick
02. The Last Waltz - Martin Scorsese
03. Eraserhead - David Lynch
04. Halloween - John Carpenter
05. Dawn of the Dead - George Romero
06. Gates of Heaven - Errol Morris
07. The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino
08. Superman - Richard Donner
09. The Hobbit - Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
10. National Lampoon's Animal House - John Landis

bumped - Autumn Sonata - Ingmar Bergman, Midnight Express - Alan Parker, Corvette Summer - Matthew Robinson, Koko: A Talking Gorilla - Barbet Schroeder.

1979

01. Alien - Ridley Scott
02. Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford Coppola
03. Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky
04. The Marriage of Maria Braun - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
05. Manhattan - Woody Allen
06. Monty Python's Life of Brian - Terry Jones
07. Nosferatu - Werner Herzog
08. Mad Max - George Miller
09. Love on the Run - Francois Truffaut
10. Moonraker - Lewis Gilbert

bumped - ...And Justice For All - Norman Jewison, The Driller Killer - Abel Ferrara

1980

01. The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kirshner
02. The Shining - Stanley Kubrick
03. Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese
04. Airplane! - David Zucker, Jim Abrahams
05. Dressed to Kill - Brian DePalma
06. Kagemusha - Akira Kurosawa
07. Ordinary People - Robert Redford
08. Being There - Hal Ashby
09. The Return of the King - Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
10. Superman 2 - Richard Lester

bumped: Alligator - Lewis Teague, Herbie Goes Bananas - Vincent McEveety, The Stunt Man - Richard Rush, Brubaker - Stuart Rosenberg

1981

01. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Steven Spielberg
02. The Great Muppet Caper - Frank Oz
03. My Dinner With Andre - Louis Malle
04. Das Boot - Wolfgang Petersen
05. Gallipoli - Peter Weir
06. The Road Warrior - George Miller
07. Lola - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
08. Chariots of Fire - Hugh Hudson
09. The Aviator's Wife - Eric Rohmer
10. Vernon, Florida - Errol Morris

bumped: History of the World - Part I - Mel Brooks, Body Heat - Lawrence Kasdan, Modern Romance - Albert Brooks

1982

01. E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial - Steven Spielberg
02. Veronika Voss - Rainer Werner Fassbinder
03. Fitzcarraldo - Werner Herzog
04. The Wall - Alan Parker
05. The Draughtsman's Contract - Peter Greenaway
06. Diner - Barry Levinson
07. Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Amy Heckerling
08. Le Beau Mariage - Eric Rohmer
09. Tootsie - Sydney Pollack
10. Burden of Dreams - Les Blank

bumped - Who Am I This Time? - Jonathan Demme, Yellowbeard - Mel Damski, Conan the Barbarian - John Milius, John Carpenter's The Thing - John Carpenter, First Blood - Ted Kotcheff

1983

01. Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance - Godfrey Reggio
02. Return of the Jedi - Richard Marquand
03. A Christmas Story - Bob Clark
04. National Lampoon's Vacation - Harold Ramis
05. The King of Comedy - Martin Scorsese
06. Stand By Me - Rob Reiner
07. Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky
08. The Outsiders - Francis Ford Coppola
09. Zelig - Woody Allen
10. L'argent - Robert Bresson

bumped:  Pauline at the Beach - Eric Rohmer, The Big Chill - Lawrence Kasdan, A Nos Amours - Maurice Pialat, Life is a Bed of Roses - Alain Resnais

1984

01. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Steven Spielberg
02. Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman
03. Amadeus - Milos Forman
04. Blood Simple - Joel and Ethan Coen
05. Stranger Than Paradise - Jim Jarmusch
06. Sixteen Candles - John Hughes
07. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki
08. The Times of Harvey Milk - Robert Epstein
09. This is Spinal Tap - Rob Reiner
10. Once Upon a Time in America - Sergio Leone

bumped - Broadway Danny Rose - Woody Allen, The Hit - Stephen Frears

1985

01. The Breakfast Club - John Hughes
02. Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis
03. A Room With a View - James Ivory
04. Brazil - Terry Gilliam
05. Witness - Peter Weir
06. A Zed and Two Noughts - Peter Greenaway
07. Come and See - Elim Klimov
08. After Hours - Martin Scorsese
09. The Color Purple - Steven Spielberg
10. Better Off Dead - Savage Steve Holland

bumped - Prizzi's Honor - John Huston, To Live and Die in L.A. - William Friedkin, At Close Range - James Foley

1986

01. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John Hughes
02. The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky
03. Ran - Akira Kurosawa
04. Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders
05. Blue Velvet - David Lynch
06. Castle in the Sky - Hayao Miyazaki
07. Platoon - Oliver Stone
08. Hannah and Her Sisters - Woody Allen
09. Vagabond - Agnes Varda
10. True Stories - David Byrne

1987

01. Where is the Friend's Home? - Abbas Kiarostami
02. River's Edge - Tim Hunter
03. House of Games - David Mamet
04. Raising Arizona - Joel and Ethan Coen
05. Full Metal Jacket - Stanley Kubrick
06. Red Sorghum - Zhang Yimou
07. Withnail and I - Bruce Robinson
08. Roxanne - Fred Schepisi
09. Broadcast News - James L. Brooks
10. Tin Men - Barry Levinson

Pending Whim - Spaceballs - Mel Brooks

bumped - September - Woody Allen, Family Viewing - Atom Egoyan, Cobra Verde - Werner Herzog

1988

01. The Last Temptation of Christ - Martin Scorsese
02. The Thin Blue Line - Errol Morris
03. My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki
04. The 'Burbs - Joe Dante
05. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - Robert Zemeckis
06. Drowning By Numbers - Peter Greenaway
07. Grave of the Fireflies - Isao Takahata
08. Hairspray - John Waters
09. Things Change - David Mamet
10. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Philip Kaufman

acknowledged: The Decalogue - Kryzstof Kieslowski (not a film, but a 10 part series by one of the greatest filmmakers ever)

bumped - Colors - Dennis Hopper, Bull Durham - Ron Shelton, Damnation - Bela Tarr, Powaqqatsi : Life in Transformation - Godfrey Reggio

1989

01. Henry V - Kenneth Branagh
02. Do the Right Thing - Spike Lee
03. Dead Poets Society - Peter Weir
04. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - Peter Greenaway
05. Crimes and Misdemeanors - Woody Allen
06. Kiki's Delivery Service - Hayao Miyazaki
07. Driving Miss Daisy - Bruce Beresford
08. Say Anything - Cameron Crowe
09. My Left Foot - Jim Sheridan
10. Drugstore Cowboy - Gus Van Sant, Jr.

bumped: Heathers - Michael Lehmann, The Seventh Continent - Michael Haneke (forget top ten lists, HIGHLY fucking reccomended), Roger & Me - Michael Moore

1990

01. Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese
02. Dick Tracy - Warren Beatty
03. After Dark, My Sweet - James Foley
04. Edward Scissorhands - Tim Burton
05. Miller's Crossing - Joel and Ethan Coen
06. Monsieur Hire - Patrice Leconte
07. Ju Dou - Zhang Yimou
08. Shipwrecked - Nils Gaup
09. The Grifters - Stephen Frears
10. Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer - John McNaughton

bumped - The Road to God Knows Where - Uli M. Schüppel

1991

01. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse - George Hickenlooper
02. Slacker - Richard Linklater
03. JFK -  Oliver Stone
04. Surviving Desire - Hal Hartley
05. The Killer - John Woo
06. Homicide - David Mamet
07. Barton Fink - Joel Coen
08. The Double Life of Veronique - Krzysztof Kieslowski
09. Trust - Hal Hartley
10. Wild at Heart -David Lynch

bumped: Prospero's Books - Peter Greenaway, Until the End of the World - Wim Wenders, My Own Private Idaho -Gus Van Sant, Jr., and how could I forget Point Break - Kathryn Bigelow - a film of enormous importance.

1992

01. The Last of the Mohicans - Michael Mann
02. Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino
03. Glengarry Glen Ross - James Foley
04. 1492: Conquest of Paradise - Ridley Scott
05. The Crying Game - Neil Jordan
06. Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood
07. Bob Roberts - Tim Robbins
08. Bad Lieutenant - Abel Ferrara
09. Man Bites Dog - Remy Belvaux
10. Hoffa - Danny DeVito

1993

01. Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg
02. Dazed and Confused - Richard Linklater
03. Short Cuts - Robert Altman
04. In the Name of the Father - Jim Sheridan
05. The Fugitive - Andrew Davis
06. The Piano - Jane Campion
07. The Sandlot - David Mickey Evans
08. Fearless - Peter Weir
09. The Remains of the Day - James Ivory
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas - Henry Selick

1994

01. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino
02. Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski
03. To Live - Zhang Yimou
04. Speed - Jan De Bont
05. Maborosi - Hirokazu Kore-eda
06. Ed Wood - Tim Burton
07. Quiz Show - Robert Redford
08. The Shawshank Redemption - Frank Darabont
09. Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone
10. Four Weddings and a Funeral - Mike Newell

1995

01. Before Sunrise - Richard Linklater
02. Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis
03. Toy Story - John Lassetter
04. Smoke - Wayne Wang
05. Kicking and Screaming - Noah Baumbach
06. Se7en - David Fincher
07. Exotica - Atom Egoyan
08. Shanghai Triad - Zhang Yimou
09. The American President - Rob Reiner
10. A Little Princess - Alfonso Cuaron

1996

01. The English Patient - Anthony Minghella
02. Breaking the Waves - Lars Von Trier
03. Fargo - Joel Coen
04. The Crucible - Nicholas Hytner
05. Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh
06. Trainspotting - Danny Boyle
07. One Fine Day - Michael Hoffman
08. Dadetown - Russ Hexter
09. Welcome to the Dollhouse - Todd Solondz
10. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills - Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

bumped - Michael Collins - Neil Jordan

1997

01. The Sweet Hereafter - Atom Egoyan
02. Jackie Brown - Quentin Tarantino
03. The Ice Storm - Ang Lee
04. L.A. Confidential - Curtis Hanson
05. Boogie Nights - Paul Thomas Anderson
06. In the Company of Men - Neil LaBute
07. The Game - David Fincher
08. Wag the Dog - Barry Levinson
09. Good Will Hunting - Gus Van Sant, Jr.
10. Hard Eight - Paul Thomas Anderson

1998

01. The Thin Red Line - Terence Malick
02. The Truman Show - Peter Weir
03. Buffalo ‘66 - Vincent Gallo
04. Rushmore - Wes Anderson
05. The Big Lebowski - Joel Coen
06. Hands on a Hardbody - S.R. Bindler
07. Shakespeare in Love - John Madden
08. Funny Games - Michael Haneke
09. Saving Private Ryan - Steven Spielberg
10. Life is Beautiful - Roberto Benigni

bumped - Nil By Mouth - Gary Oldman

1999

01. Eyes Wide Shut - Stanley Kubrick
02. Magnolia - Paul Thomas Anderson
03. The Insider - Michael Mann
04. Topsy-Turvy - Mike Leigh
05. The Straight Story - David Lynch
06. The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
07. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace - George Lucas
08. Toy Story 2 - John Lasseter
09. Limbo - John Sayles
10. The Limey - Steven Soderbergh

bumped - American Beauty - Sam Mendes

2000

01. The Virgin Suicides - Sofia Coppola
02. You Can Count on Me - Kenneth Lonergan
03. High Fidelity - Stephen Frears
04. Almost Famous - Cameron Crowe
05. Wonder Boys - Curtis Hanson
06. George Washington - David Gordon Green
07. Songs From the Second Floor - Roy Andersson
08. An Affair of Love - Frederic Fonteyne
09. State and Main - David Mamet
10. The Ninth Gate - Roman Polanski

bumped - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Ang Lee

2001

01. Memento - Christopher Nolan
02. Amelie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
03. Waking Life - Richard Linklater
04. Ali - Michael Mann
05. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition - Peter Jackson
06. Heist - David Mamet
07. The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel Coen
08. Wet Hot American Summer - David Wain
09. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
10. In the Bedroom - Todd Field

bumped - Mulholland Drive - David Lynch

2002

01. Punch-Drunk Love - Paul Thomas Anderson
02. 25th Hour - Spike Lee
03. Adaptation. - Spike Jonze
04. Russian Ark - Alexander Sukoruv
05. 24 Hour Party People - Michael Winterbottom
06. Gangs of New York - Martin Scorsese
07. Bloody Sunday - Paul Greengrass
08. Signs - M. Night Shyamalan
09. The Pianist - Roman Polanski
10. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Peter Jackson

bumped - Late Marriage - Dover Kosashvili

2003

01. Elephant - Gus Van Sant
02. Irreversible - Gaspar Noe
03. Capturing the Friedmans - Andrew Jarecki
04. Kill Bill, Vol. 1 - Quentin Tarantino
05. The Good Thief - Neil Jordan
06. Gerry - Gus Van Sant
07. An Injury to One - Travis Wilkerson
08. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Peter Weir
09. The Triplets of Belleville - Sylvain Chomet
10. Friday Night - Claire Denis

bumped - Bus 174 - Jose Padhila

2004

01. Before Sunset - Richard Linklater
02. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring - Kim Ki-Duk
03. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry
04. Spartan - David Mamet
05. Primer - Shane Carruth
06. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Wes Anderson
07. The Incredibles - Brad Bird
08. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino
09. I Heart Huckabees - David O. Russell
10. The Village - M. Night Shyamalan

bumped - Tarnation - Jonathan Caouette

2005

01. The Squid and the Whale - Noah Baumbach
02. The New World - Terrence Malick
03. Caché - Michael Haneke
04. Frank Miller's Sin City - Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
05. Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog
06. Tropical Malady - Apachitpong Weersethakul
07. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - George Lucas
08. 2046 - Wong Kar-wai
09. Match Point - Woody Allen
10. Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee

bumped - Last Days - Gus Van Sant

2006

01. The Prestige - Christopher Nolan
02. Old Joy - Kelly Reichardt
03. United 93 - Paul Greengrass
04. The Science of Sleep - Michel Gondry
05. Brick - Rian Johnson
06. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story - Michael Winterbottom
07. Marie Antoinette - Sofia Coppola
08. Children of Men - Alfonso Cuarón
09. The Departed - Martin Scorsese
10. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts - Spike Lee

bumped - Bubble - Steven Soderbergh

2007

01. Death Proof - Quentin Tarantino
02. No Country For Old Men - Joel and Ethan Coen
03. The Assassination of Jesse James (By The Coward Robert Ford) - Andrew Dominik
04. There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
05. You the Living - Roy Andersson
06. Zodiac - David Fincher
07. Once - John Carney
08. Rescue Dawn - Werner Herzog
09. I'm Not There - Todd Haynes
10. Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck

bumped - Eastern Promises - David Cronenberg

2008

01. Silent Light - Carlos Reygadas
02. Rachel Getting Married - Jonathan Demme
03. Funny Games - Michael Haneke
04. A Christmas Tale - Arnaud Desplechin
05. Flight of the Red Balloon - Hou Hsiao-hsien
06. Synechdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman
07. WALL•E - Andrew Stanton
08. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days - Cristian Mungiu
09. Paranoid Park - Gus Van Sant
10. Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh

bumped - The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan