I am trying out a new method for calculating the best movies of all time. See my post HERE for an explanation. Here are the top 200 movies using this new method, in chronological order. To see the same list in rank order, go HERE.
1910s
Intolerance (US, 1916) Dir: D.W. Griffith
1920s
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1920) Dir: Robert Wiene
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Germany, 1922) Dir: F.W. Murnau
Sherlock Jr. (US, 1924) Dir: Buster Keaton
Greed (US, 1924) Dir: Erich von Stroheim
The Gold Rush (US, 1925) Dir: Charles Chaplin
Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein
The General (US, 1926) Dir: Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman
Sunrise (US, 1927) Dir: F.W. Murnau
Metropolis (Germany, 1927) Dir: Fritz Lang
The Passion of Joan of Arc (France, 1928) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Un Chien Andalou (France, 1929) Dir: Luis Buñuel/Salvador Dali
Man with a Movie Camera (USSR, 1929) Dir: Dziga Vertov
1930s
All Quiet on the Western Front (US, 1930) Dir: Lewis Milestone
M (Germany, 1931) Dir: Fritz Lang
City Lights (US, 1931) Dir: Charles Chaplin
King Kong (US, 1933) Dir: Merian C. Cooper/Ernest Schoedsack
Zero de Conduite (France, 1933) Dir: Jean Vigo
L’Atalante (France, 1934) Dir: Jean Vigo
It Happened One Night (US, 1934) Dir: Frank Capra
The 39 Steps (UK, 1935) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
The Bride of Frankenstein (US, 1935) Dir: James Whale
Modern Times (US, 1936) Dir: Charles Chaplin
Grand Illusion (France, 1937) Dir: Jean Renoir
The Adventures of Robin Hood (US, 1938) Dir: Michael Curtiz
The Rules of the Game (France, 1939) Dir: Jean Renoir
The Wizard of Oz (US, 1939) Dir: Victor Fleming
Gone with the Wind (US, 1939) Dir: Victor Fleming
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (US, 1939) Dir: Frank Capra
1940s
The Grapes of Wrath (US, 1940) Dir: John Ford
Rebecca (US, 1940) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
The Philadelphia Story (US, 1940) Dir: George Cukor
Citizen Kane (US, 1941) Dir: Orson Welles
The Maltese Falcon (US, 1941) Dir: John Huston
Casablanca (US, 1942) Dir: Michael Curtiz
The Magnificent Ambersons (US, 1942) Dir: Orson Welles
Laura (US, 1944) Dir: Otto Preminger
Double Indemnity (US, 1944) Dir: Billy Wilder
Children of Paradise (France, 1945) Dir: Marcel Carné
Open City (Italy, 1946) Dir: Roberto Rossellini
It’s a Wonderful Life (US, 1946) Dir: Frank Capra
The Best Years of Our Lives (US, 1946) Dir: William Wyler
Beauty and the Beast (France, 1946) Dir: Jean Cocteau
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (US, 1948) Dir: John Huston
Bicycle Thieves (Italy, 1948) Dir: Vittorio De Sica
The Third Man (UK, 1949) Dir: Carol Reed
Late Spring (Japan, 1949) Dir: Yasijiro Ozu
Kind Hearts and Coronets (UK, 1949) Dir: Robert Hamer
1950s
All About Eve (US, 1950) Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Sunset Blvd. (US, 1950) Dir: Billy Wilder
Rashomon (Japan, 1950) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
A Streetcar Named Desire (US, 1951) Dir: Elia Kazan
Ikiru (To Live) (Japan, 1952) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
High Noon (US, 1952) Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Singin’ in the Rain (US, 1952) Dir: Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly
Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953) Dir: Yasujiro Ozu
The Earrings of Madame de… (France, 1953) Dir: Max Ophüls
Ugetsu Monogatari (Japan, 1953) Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi
Seven Samurai (Japan, 1954) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Rear Window (US, 1954) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
On the Waterfront (US, 1954) Dir: Elia Kazan
Sansho the Bailiff (Japan, 1954) Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi
Journey to Italy (Viaggo in Italia) (Italy, 1954) Dir: Roberto Rossellini
La Strada (Italy, 1954) Dir: Federico Fellini
The Night of the Hunter (US, 1955) Dir: Charles Laughton
Ordet (Denmark, 1955) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Pather Panchali (India, 1955) Dir: Satyajit Ray
The Searchers (US, 1956) Dir: John Ford
A Man Escaped (France, 1956) Dir: Robert Bresson
The Seventh Seal (Sweden, 1957) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Wild Strawberries (Sweden, 1957) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
The Bridge on the River Kwai (UK, 1957) Dir: David Lean
Sweet Smell of Success (US, 1957) Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
Touch of Evil (US, 1958) Dir: Orson Welles
Vertigo (US, 1958) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Anatomy of a Murder (US, 1959) Dir: Otto Preminger
Pickpocket (France, 1959) Dir: Robert Bresson
The 400 Blows (France, 1959) Dir: François Truffaut
Some Like It Hot (US, 1959) Dir: Billy Wilder
North by Northwest (US, 1959) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
The World of Apu (India, 1959) Dir: Satyajit Ray
1960s
L’Avventura (Italy, 1960) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
Psycho (US, 1960) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
La Dolce Vita (Italy, 1960) Dir: Federico Fellini
The Apartment (US, 1960) Dir: Billy Wilder
Breathless (France, 1960) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Viridiana (Spain/Mexico, 1961) Dir: Luis Buñuel
To Kill a Mockingbird (US, 1962) Dir: Robert Mulligan
The Exterminating Angel (Mexico, 1962) Dir: Luis Buñuel
La Jetée (France, 1962) Dir: Chris Marker
Lawrence of Arabia (UK, 1962) Dir: David Lean
Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) (France, 1962) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
The Manchurian Candidate (US, 1962) Dir: John Frankenheimer
L’Eclisse (Italy, 1962) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
8 1/2 (Italy, 1963) Dir: Federico Fellini
Contempt (France, 1963) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
The Leopard (Italy, 1963) Dir: Luchino Visconti
Gertrud (Denmark, 1964) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italy, 1964) Dir: Pier Paolo Pasolini
A Hard Day’s Night (UK, 1964) Dir: Richard Lester
Band of Outsiders (France, 1964) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (US/UK, 1964) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Repulsion (UK, 1965) Dir: Roman Polanski
Pierrot le Fou (France, 1965) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Au Hasard Balthazar (France, 1966) Dir: Robert Bresson
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italy, 1966) Dir: Sergio Leone
Blow-Up (Italy/UK, 1966) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
Persona (Sweden, 1966) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
The Battle of Algiers (Italy/Algeria, 1966) Dir: Gillo Pontecorvo
Andrei Rublev (USSR, 1966) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
Cool Hand Luke (US, 1967) Dir: Stuart Rosenberg
Playtime (France, 1967) Dir: Jacques Tati
Once Upon a Time in the West (Italy/US, 1968) Dir: Sergio Leone
2001: A Space Odyssey (US/UK, 1968) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Rosemary’s Baby (US, 1968) Dir: Roman Polanski
Kes (UK, 1969) Dir: Ken Loach
Army of Shadows (France, 1969) Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville
1970s
MASH (US, 1970) Dir: Robert Altman
The Conformist (Italy, 1970) Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci
The Last Picture Show (US, 1971) Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
A Clockwork Orange (UK/US, 1971) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (West Germany, 1972) Dir: Werner Herzog
Cries and Whispers (Sweden, 1972) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
The Godfather (US, 1972) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France, 1972) Dir: Luis Buñuel
The Spirit of the Beehive (Spain, 1973) Dir: Victor Erice
Badlands (US, 1973) Dir: Terrence Malick
Don’t Look Now (UK, 1973) Dir: Nicolas Roeg
The Mother and the Whore (France, 1973) Dir: Jean Eustache
Chinatown (US, 1974) Dir: Roman Polanski
A Woman Under the Influence (US, 1974) Dir: John Cassavetes
The Godfather: Part II (US, 1974) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (West Germany, 1974) Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Amarcord (Italy, 1974) Dir: Federico Fellini
Jaws (US, 1975) Dir: Steven Spielberg
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (US, 1975) Dir: Milos Forman
Barry Lyndon (US/UK, 1975) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
The Mirror (USSR, 1975) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
Nashville (US, 1975) Dir: Robert Altman
Taxi Driver (US, 1976) Dir: Martin Scorcese
Eraserhead (US, 1977) Dir: David Lynch
Annie Hall (US, 1977) Dir: Woody Allen
Stalker (USSR, 1979) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
Apocalypse Now (US, 1979) Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
1980s
Raging Bull (US, 1980) Dir: Martin Scorcese
L’Argent (France, 1983) Dir: Robert Bresson
Fanny and Alexander (Sweden, 1984) Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Stop Making Sense (US, 1984) Dir: Jonathan Demme
Ran (Japan, 1985) Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Shoah (France, 1985) Dir: Claude Lanzmann
Brazil (UK/US, 1985) Dir: Terry Gilliam
Hannah and Her Sisters (US, 1986) Dir: Woody Allen
Blue Velvet (US, 1986) Dir: David Lynch
Close-Up (Iran, 1989) Dir: Abbas Kiarostami
Do the Right Thing (US, 1989) Dir: Spike Lee
1990s
Goodfellas (US, 1990) Dir: Martin Scorcese
A Brighter Summer Day (Taiwan, 1991) Dir: Edward Yang
Schindler’s List (US, 1993) Dir: Steven Spielberg
Pulp Fiction (US, 1994) Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Hoop Dreams (US, 1994) Dir: Steve James
Toy Story (US, 1995) Dir: John Lasseter
Secrets & Lies (UK, 1996) Dir: Mike Leigh
Lone Star (US, 1996) Dir: John Sayles
The Sweet Hereafter (Canada, 1997) Dir: Atom Egoyan
L.A. Confidential (US, 1997) Dir: Curtis Hanson
Boogie Nights (US, 1997) Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
Beau Travail (France, 1998) Dir: Claire Denis
Being John Malkovich (US, 1999) Dir: Spike Jonze
All About My Mother (Spain, 1999) Dir: Pedro Almodóvar
Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Taiwan, 1999) Dir: Edward Yang
2000s
In The Mood For Love (Hong Kong/China, 2000) Dir: Wong Kar-Wai
Spirited Away (Japan, 2001) Dir: Hayao Miyazaki
Mulholland Dr. (US, 2001) Dir: David Lynch
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (US/NZ, 2001) Dir: Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (US/NZ, 2002) Dir: Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (US/NZ, 2003) Dir: Peter Jackson
American Splendor (US, 2003) Dir: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
Capturing the Friedmans (US, 2003) Dir: Andrew Jarecki
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (US, 2004) Dir: Michel Gondry
Grizzly Man (US, 2005) Dir: Werner Herzog
The Lives of Others (Germany, 2006) Dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Once (Ireland, 2006) Dir: John Carney
Juno (US, 2007) Dir: Jason Reitman
No Country for Old Men (US, 2007) Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania, 2007) Dir: Cristian Mungiu
Man on Wire (UK/US, 2008) Dir. James Marsh
The Hurt Locker (US, 2009) Dir: Kathryn Bigelow
2010s
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Canada/US/France/Germany/UK, 2010) Dir: Werner Herzog
Toy Story 3 (US, 2010) Dir: Lee Unkrich
The Artist (France. 2011) Dir: Michel Hazanavicius
Moonrise Kingdom (US, 2012) Dir: Wes Anderson
The Act of Killing (Denmark, 2012) Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer
12 Years A Slave (US/UK, 2013) Dir: Steve McQueen
Boyhood (US, 2014) Dir: Richard Linklater
Anomalisa (US, 2015) Dir: Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
Brooklyn (UK/Canada/Ireland, 2015) Dir: John Crowley
Spotlight (US, 2015) Dir: Tom McCarthy
Selma (US, 2015) Dir: Ava DuVernay
Hell or High Water (US, 2016) Dir: David Mackenzie
La La Land (US, 2016) Dir: Damien Chazelle