The way in which I came up with the list was I listed all the films I absolutely love as well as the films I think deserve to be on a best of all-time list. I judged them on both my love of the film and the quality of the films, about equal each way. I judge a film as high quality because of many reasons: the technical aspects (cinematography, acting, directing, etc) and the impact they’ve had on the film world, among many others. As far as my loving a certain film goes it could include the quality reasons I’ve already mentioned but mainly just my own enjoyment of them. I then ended up with almost 200 films which I then had to break down to an even hundred. And from there it was simply, but not easily, a case of ranking them from 100 down to 1.
So without further ado here are numbers 100 down to 91 of my top-100 films of all time with their director and year of release noted.
100. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
Akira Kurosawa is indeed one of, if not the, great directors to have ever lived. Known for his grand scale while still making things feel personal and intricate, this is perhaps his most humanistic film. The genius telling of the same story from four different perspectives is truly involving and fascinating. He lets the four different versions of the same event play out equally, and leaving what the truth really is up to the viewer. He makes you feel all sorts of emotions not just within the same movie but within the same moment; how is it possible to feel happiness and sadness, for example, at the exact same time just by watching a screen? Rashomon proves how it’s indeed possible.
99. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
Both John Ford’s and John Wayne’s highest achievement, this utterly compelling tale of two men’s quest to save a young girl and the emotions that are felt along the way is as required a viewing as film is likely to get. It is both an action picture and a character study, striking and oddly equal measure of both. It will satisfy the gung-ho style Western fan and the more character-centric style Western viewers; even today it still stands up as one of America’s all-time great films.
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