For a description of how I arrived at the list, please see part one of the series.
80. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Part of the genius of this film is that hardly anything happens during most of it. However the tone and Polanski's general gothic style brings an uneasy feeling to the viewer as they watch - you just know that something isn't right. And when it's finally revealed by film's end what the whole thing is about, it is truly horrifying. This film just goes to prove that the longer you wait, the better the payoff.
79. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
The first, and most definitely not the last, Stanley Kubrick film to appear on my list. The man was a pure genius and this is one of his films that gets better with age and repeat viewings. I wasn't too sure what I thought of the film when I first watched it, but after seeing it a number of times now my opinion is in focus - a masterpiece by a master filmmaker.
78. Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997)
This is a film you either love or hate — I am definitely in the former group. You either appreciate what Haneke is commenting on - violence in entertainment and how we all have grown to enjoy it instead of fear it - or you won't care about that and just see this as a sick little experiment for the director's enjoyment. I have heard a lot of people call it the latter, and even though I can see where they are coming from, I just don't agree with it. If you haven't seen this film before, beware, because it's a tough watch, even if you don't actually see much of the violence on-screen. And be prepared to see some filmmaking techniques I doubt you will have seen anywhere else before.
77. Once Upon A Time In The West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
In my opinion the greatest Western film ever made, although I'm saying that from a fairly inexperienced view of the genre. None has captivated me, engrossed me, astounded me more in the genre than this. Charles Bronson plays one of the coolest characters I have ever seen, Henry Fonda goes against his usual "good guy" role playing one intimidating bad guy, and Claudia Cardinale isn't exactly sore on the eyes. It takes its time, clocking in at almost three hours, and it may be a testing watch for anyone used to the gung ho type Western. But if you like cinema to allow you to just be with it for whatever time it requires then you'd be hard pressed to find a more suitable film than this.
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