An Update on the 2022 Sight and Sound Top 100 Films
I'm making my way through. Let us track my progress!
It’s been almost two years since Sight and Sound released their latest list of the 100 greatest films of all time. Every 10 years, the good people over at the British Film Institute poll all of the world’s critics to compile a list of the best films ever. While it’s an arbitrary list, I look at these BFI S&S lists as a cannon of great films to be worked through. I’ve been chopping at that cherry tree bit by bit over the last two years and I’ve now gotten almost two-thirds of the way through the list. I decided I wanted to go down memory lane and quickly check all the films I’ve watched and some of my reactions to each film. I apologize in advanced for how long this is, but goddamn I had fun writing it. Let’s get into it:
Have Seen 63/100
NOT Seen 37/100
The List
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Dir Chantal Akerman
Vertigo (1958) Dir Alfred Hitchcock
Have Seen - A masterpiece set in one of the greatest cities in the world. I love films about obsession; no one does it better than Hitchcock in Vertigo. The way he softens the lense as Jimmy Stewart falls deeper into the hole.
Citizen Kane (1941) Dir Orson Welles
Have Seen - One of the most ambitious films of the time, we wouldn’t have so many cinematic techniques we have today if Kane had not done it first. Also a tremendous rise and fall story. It’s as American as it gets.
Tokyo Story (1953) Dir Yasujirô Ozu
Have Seen - I love this movie, but I’ll never watch it again. Visit your older loved ones more often.
In the Mood for Love (2000) Dir. Wong Kar-Wai
Have Seen - Wong Kar-Wai knows how to cultivate an atmosphere around a movie. A love story that isn’t much of a love story at all, but a deeply intimate human connection that two people would rather not be in.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Dir Stanley Kubrick
Have Seen - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 2001: A Space Odyssey is the greatest film of all time. A character study of the human consciousness - where we come from and where we’re going. The world is a better place because we were blessed with the fruit of Kubrick’s genius.
Beau Travail (1999) Dir Claire Denis
Have Seen - The biggest come up for me when this list came out. I watched it a week or so after the list dropped, and it quickly shot up the list of my favorite films. The ending has stuck with me more than the ending of any other film. I watch the ending a couple of times a week on YouTube because it’s just that good.
Mulholland Drive (2001) Dir David Lynch
Have Seen - I saw this film a long time ago and am due for a rewatch. I think it’s very creative and Lynch certainly has a captivating style, but it’s a deeply confusing film for a simpleton like me and I need to watch it more and dissect what’s going on.
Man With a Movie Camera (1929) Dir Dziga Vertov
Have Seen - Some of the shots in this film are incredible, and not just by 1929 standards. They’d still be great today.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952) Dir Stanley Donen
Have Seen - A fun, feel-good family drama that continues to provide peak entertainment today as it did in 1952. Inspiration for Babylon, one of my favorite films of the deacde.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) Dir F.W. Murnau
Have Seen - The real first Best Picture winner!
The Godfather (1972) Dir Francis Ford Coppola
Have Seen - It’s a classic sure, but Apocalypse Now clears the Godfather and it’s not close in my opinion. I think it’s a great film, but a bit overrated over time. Did it need to be three hours?
The Rules of the Game (1939) Dir Jean Renoir
Have Seen - Certified banger! I love Renoir’s critique of the Aristocracy in pre-WWII France. It’s a hilarious comedy of manners and captivates audiences with intricate, yet effortless camera movements. Renoir’s opus is a dance with the cast and the audience.
Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962) Dir Agnès Varda
Have Seen - As a hypochondriac, maybe I won’t watch this film again so soon, but goddamn this film is beautiful. A story told from the vantage point of a beautiful women and how the world sees her. One of the best films to come from the French New Wave cinema.
The Searchers (1956) Dir John Ford
Have Seen - Find another film richer in color. A classic cowboys vs Indians film with some added nuance. It’s difficult to watch the film and not think about how much of a piece of shit John Wayne was; however.
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Dir Maya Deren
Have Seen - It’s 14 minutes and available on YouTube, so you have no excuse not to watch it. Meshes is an early feminist work that has more creativity in it than certain movies with over two-hour runtimes do.
Close-Up (1990) Dir Abbas Kiarostami
Persona (1966) Dir Ingmar Bergman
Apocalypse Now (1979) Dir Francis Ford Coppola
Have Seen - Coppola’s best film! The film is about the darkness that resides in our souls and how we should do all that we can to keep it from reaching the surface. The dread we feel as we float deeper down that river.
Seven Samurai (1954) Dir Akira Kurosawa
Have Seen - I’m due for a rewatch. It’s been almost a decade since I last watched it, but I do remember the incredible action sequences. Almost all action films have been inspired by Seven Samurai
(Tied for 21st) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Dir Carl Theodor Dreyer
Have Seen - This is a sad movie. At times it’s hard to watch. The acting is otherworldly. Will stick with you for a long time.
(Tied for 21st) Late Spring (1949) Dir Yasujirô Ozu
Have Seen - I haven’t cried that hard since I saw Ozu’s Tokyo Story! I’ve never given a movie 5 stars on Letterboxd so quickly. Themes of family and aging hit hard within this one.
Playtime (1967) Dir Jacques Tati
Do the Right Thing (1989) Dir Spike Lee
Have Seen - 31-year-old Spike Lee wrote and directed the best film on race relations of all time. It’s just as relevant now as it was then…and it’s just plain cool as hell.
(Tied for 25th) Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) Dir Robert Bresson
(Tied for 25th) The Night of the Hunter (1955) Dir Charles Laughton
Shoah (1985) Dir Claude Lanzmann
Daisies (1966) Dir Vera Chytilová
Have Seen - Incredibly creative and inspiring. It’s messy, quirky and beautiful at the same time. The food fight scene at the end is one of my favorite in all of cinema.
Taxi Driver (1976) Dir Martin Scorsese
Have Seen - There’s so much to love in this film - the hypotonic soundtrack, the shots of NYC from Travis Bickle’s perspective, the universal themes of loneliness and feeling misunderstood. It’s been hijacked by the wrong crowd as of late, but don’t let them ruin the fact that this is a top 3 Scorsese film!
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Dir Céline Sciamma
(Tied for 31st) 8 1/2 (1963) Dir Federico Fellini
Have Seen - I didn’t like it the first time I saw it, but eventually came to love it after multiple viewings. Of the the best films about the pitfalls of creativity.
(Tied for 31st) Mirror (1975) Dir Andrei Tarkovsky
Have Seen - I saw this film on Saturday and am still processing it. Part of me thinks it’s a masterpiece. Part of me didn’t like it. It felt a lot longer than the 100-minute screen time would suggest. I don’t know where I stand on this one yet.
(Tied for 31st) Psycho (1960) Dir Alfred Hitchcock
Have Seen - One of cinema’s most famous films because of that one scene. Let me tell you, if you haven’t watched it, the whole movie is that good.
L’Atalante (1934) Dir Jean Vigo
Panther Panchali (1955) Dir Satyajit Ray
(Tied for 36th) City Lights (1931) Dir Charles Chaplin
Have Seen - Due for a rewatch. I saw this in high school and remember liking it, but it’s been a long time.
(Tied for 36th) M (1931) Dir Fritz Lang
Have Seen - M is very advanced for its period. What started as a classic cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer turned into a very intelligent social commentary on our ideas around justice.
(Tied for 38th) Breathless (1960) Dir Jean-Luc Godard
Have Seen - A candidate for the coolest film ever made. Jean-Luc Godard took the rulebook for making movies, set it on fire, and created something entirely original in his tale of crime and passion.
(Tied for 38th) Some Like It Hot (1959) Dir Billy Wilder
(Tied for 38th) Rear Window (1954) Dir Alfred Hitchcock
Have Seen - If I ever sit around and find myself looking into someone else’s window, I think about Rear Window.
(Tied for 41st) Bicycle Thieves (1948) Dir Vittorio De Sica
Have Seen - An Italian Neorealist film about growing up poor in post-war Italy. An unbelievable film with lots of staying power. I was SO MAD at the end, but don’t let that stop you.
(Tied for 41st) Rashomon (1950) Dir Akira Kurosawa
Have Seen - A movie about the nature of memory. I liked it, my girlfriend didn’t..I think..at least that’s how I remember it.
(Tied for 43rd) Stalker (1979) Dir Andrei Tarkovsky
(Tied for 43rd) Killer of Sheep (1978) Dir Charles Burnett
(Tied for 45th) Barry Lyndon (1975) Dir Stanley Kubrick
Have Seen - You’ll never see another film where every single shot looks like a 18th-century painting. This is a slow-moving film about an immoral man lying and cheating himself to the top. It’s a goddamn classic!
(Tied for 45th) The Battle of Algiers (1966) Dir Gillo Pontecorvo
(Tied for 45th) North by Northwest (1959) Dir Alfred Hitchcock
Have Seen - I agree with all of the critics who call this the first Bond film. Cary Grant is stylish as hell in Hitchcock’s heart-pounding film about espionage and mistaken identity.
(Tied for 48th) Ordet (1955) Dir Carl Theodor Dreyer
(Tied for 48th) Wanda (1970) Dir Barbara Loden
Have Seen - I loved this American indie film. Barbara Loden only wrote and directed one film about a woman on the run from her crummy life. She links up with a small-time criminal and that’s all she wrote. A solid movie about the American underbelly.
(Tied for 50th) The 400 Blows (1959) Dir François Truffaut
(Tied for 50th) The Piano (1993) Dir Jane Campion
(Tied for 52nd) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) Dir Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Have Seen - I’m a Fassbinder fanatic. I read a biography about him earlier this year, which made my admiration for him grow larger. The film is about an older woman falling in love with a younger Moroccan immigrant and the way the community responds. A telling tale about the immigrant experience and loneliness.
(Tied for 52nd) News From Home (1977) Dir Chantal Akerman
Have Seen - Chantal Akerman is an incredible experimental filmmaker, and News from Home is my favorite from her. A simple concept - reading letters that her mother sent her over the years over long takes of shots of New York City. Such a great film about family, distance, being a face in the crowd, and much more.
(Tied for 54th) Contempt (1963) Dir Jean-Luc Godard
(Tied for 54th) Blade Runner (1982) Dir Ridley Scott
Have Seen - I was blown away by how good this film was the first time I saw it. I expected to see a Hollywood blockbuster, not expecting a film grand in vision, flawlessly artistic full of suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.
(Tied for 54th) Battleship Potemkin (1925) Dir Sergei Eisenstein
Have Seen - Three words: the Odessa Steps.
(Tied for 54th) The Apartment (1960) Dir Billy Wilder
Have Seen - I am due for a rewatch, but goddamn Billy Wilder knows how to make a movie.
(Tied for 54th) Sherlock Jr. (1924) Dir Buster Keaton
Sans Soleil (1983) Dir Chris Marker
(Tied for 60th) La Dolce Vita (1960) Dir Federico Fellini
Have Seen - My favorite film ever. Check out my deep dive here.
(Tied for 60th) Moonlight (2016) Dir Barry Jenkins
Have Seen - One of my favorite films ever. Deserving all of its flowers. Barry Jenkins is the poet laureate of the poor and meek. Mahershala Ali gives one of the best acting performances of the century. One my top ten best films ever.
(Tied for 60th) Daughters of the Dust (1991) Dir Julie Dash
(Tied for 63rd) Goodfellas (1990) Dir Martin Scorsese
Have Seen - I mean, what can be said that hasn’t already been said? All the good things you hear are true.
(Tied for 63rd) The Third Man (1949) Dir Carol Reed
Have Seen - Incredible Cinematography for 1949. A damn cool film,.
(Tied for 63rd) Casablanca (1942) Dir Michael Curtiz
Have Seen - One of those films you can’t find anything you’d change about it. A rare perfect film with insane rewatch value. By the end of the movie, I always feel proud of the characters.
Touki Bouki (1973) Dir Djibril Diop Mambéty
Have Seen - Djibril Diop Mambéty didn’t have any formal film training when he created Touki Bouki. His $100K-budget debut film followed two shorts that he had previously directed, yet the film looks like it is straight out of the Godard school of French New Wave. This is a 5-star movie.
(Tied for 67th) Andrei Rublev (1966) Dir Andrei Tarkovsky
(Tied for 67th) La Jetée (1962) Dir Chris Marker
Have Seen - It’s a cool concept, though I didn’t quite love it. I appreciate its vision, though.
(Tied for 67th) The Red Shoes (1948) Dir Michael Powell
(Tied for 67th) The Gleaners and I (2000) Dir Agnès Varda
Have Seen - A great documentary by a legendary filmmaker at the intersection of society and technology. Also, a very interesting piece of art about a part of the world I didn’t know anything about.
(Tied for 67th) Metropolis (1927) Dir Fritz Lang
Have Seen - Need a rewatch, I barely remember it because I read it in high school.
(Tied for 72nd) L’Avventura (1960) Dir Michelangelo Antonioni
(Tied for 72nd) Journey to Italy (1954) Dir Roberto Rossellini
Have Seen - A movie about a failing marriage set on the backdrop of Southern Italy. I’m not totally sold on the ending.
(Tied for 72nd) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Dir Hayao Miyazaki
Have Seen - This movie is pleasent-ville. No real plot, no stakes. Just vibes.
(Tied for 75th) Spirited Away (2001) Dir Hayao Miyazaki
Have Seen - The best animated film I’ve seen. There’s so much creativity packed into every square inch of the screen. I don’t know how people could even think this shit up. Made me wish I was a kid again.
(Tied for 75th) Imitation of Life (1959) Dir Douglas Sirk
(Tied for 75th) Sansho the Bailiff (1954) Dir Kenji Mizoguchi
(Tied for 78th) Sunset Boulevard (1950) Dir Billy Wilder
Have Seen - We’ve all heard the phrase “I’m ready for my close-up,” the famous line from Sunset Boulevard, but most of us don’t know what leads up to that. It’s better than you think it could me, trust me.
(Tied for 78th) Sátántangó (1994) Dir Béla Tarr
(Tied for 78th) A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Dir Edward Yang
(Tied for 78th) Modern Times (1936) Dir Charles Chaplin
Have Seen - Rewatch. I barely remember it.
(Tied for 78th) A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Dir Michael Powell
(Tied for 78th) Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) Dir Jacques Rivette
(Tied for 84th) Blue Velvet (1986) Dir David Lynch
Have Seen - My favorite Lynch. He gets Dennis Hopper to do some weird shit in this movie. Blue Velvet is erotic, disturbing, suspenseful and surreal. There’s nothing like it.
(Tied for 84th) The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) Dir Víctor Erice
Have Seen - LOVED!! There is something intangible about this film. It reminds me of the unexplainable things I saw as a kid and how normal life events can feel so mystical in the eyes of the young.
(Tied for 84th) Pierrot le Fou (1965) Dir Jean-Luc Godard
(Tied for 84th) Histoire(s) du Cinéma (1988) Dir Jean-Luc Godard
(Tied for 88th) The Shining (1980) Dir Stanley Kubrick
Have Seen - I don’t think it’s that scary after seeing it a handful of times, but if you only watch this movie once it’ll scare the shit out of you. I can’t picture a horror movie better.
(Tied for 88th) Chungking Express (1994) Dir Wong Kar-Wai
Have Seen - Probably the coolest movie I’ve ever seen. If I were a director and I could make one movie: it would be this one. California Dreamin’ was in my top 10 most listened-to songs of last year because of my favorite Wong Kar-Wai film.
(Tied for 90th) Parasite (2019) Dir Bong Joon Ho
Have Seen - Words cannot describe how good this is. It won Best Picture in 2019 and there has not been a better winner since.
(Tied for 90th) Yi Yi (2000) Dir Edward Yang
(Tied for 90th) Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) Dir Kenji Mizoguchi
Have Seen - I need to rewatch this film because I didn’t like it the first time I watched it. I thought it was weird and freaky.
(Tied for 90th) The Leopard (1963) Dir Luchino Visconti
(Tied for 90th) The Earrings of Madame de… (1953) Dir Max Ophüls
(Tied for 95th) A Man Escaped (1956) Dir Robert Bresson
Have Seen - So they give away the ending in the title. So what? You’re gonna want to see how this man escapes.
(Tied for 95th) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Dir Sergio Leone
(Tied for 95th) Tropical Malady (2004) Dir Apichatpong Weerasethakul
(Tied for 95th) Black Girl (1966) Dir Ousmane Sembene
Have Seen - Tragic and haunting, Ousmane Sembene’s Black Girl is a great piece of work about immigration, racism, and class.
(Tied for 95th) The General (1926) Dir Buster Keaton
Have Seen - He did all those stunts himself?!
(Tied for 95th) Get Out (2017) Dir Jordan Peele
Have Seen - Jordan Peele swung for the fences on his rookie effort and hit a grand slam. One of the most creative interpretations of race relations seen on the screen.
Peace and Love