When I grew up my favourite movie was Dr. Strangelove . I have since abandoned the idea of a favourite movie. Instead, I have movies that stay with me for a while, and of course there are movies I could watch seemingly endlessly without getting tired. Those tend to change fairly frequently, partly since I watch so many movies. And then there are “great” movies, which are not necessarily favourite films. Sometimes I think a movie is great but I have no desire to watch it again.
I have been writing reviews since my early 20s but probably didn’t start consistently writing reviews until my mid 20s. Most of those I wrote on zip.ca, which has unfortunately been shut down, and we’ve lost all the data, including many (though not all) of the reviews I wrote on that site. I saved some, the rest I have tried to guess at. Most of the reviews I have written in the last decade or so have also been on my blog. They are collected here by year of theatrical or streaming release. The seriousness of the review likely depends both upon my age when I wrote it and my mood at the time.
Here are my movie reviews by year of release to theatres or, in terms of recent movies, directly to streaming in some cases:
2024 2023 2022: 1. Holy Spider 2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed 3. Glass Onion 4. The Batman 5. Triangle of Sadness 6. The Banshees of Inisherin 7. R.M.N. 8. The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist [Untold ] 9. White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch 10. Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard 2021: 1. Taming the Garden 2. Bo Burham: Inside 3. Huda’s Salon 4. Dirty Tricks 5. Attica 6. Arthur Rambo 7. Set! 8. Zalava 9. Hold Your Fire 10. Dead Man’s Switch 2020: 1. Enemies of the State 2. 76 Days 3. Palm Springs 4. Made You Look 5. The Courier 6. The Trial of the Chicago 7 7. Nuevo Orden 8. The Old Guard 9. The New Corporation 10. Blithe Spirit 2019: 1. Knives Out 1. Workforce 3. Incitement 4. Parasite 5. 1917 6. Citizen K 7. Clemency 8. Booksmart 9. The Guardian of Memory 10. 63 Up 2018: 1. Free Solo 2. The Realm 3. McQueen 4. Museo 5. The Standoff at Sparrow Creek 6. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch 7. Support the Girls 8. Game Night 9. Black Panther 10. Screwball 2017: 1. The Death of Stalin 2. The Dawn Wall 3. One of Us 4. Blade Runner 2049 5. The Big Sick 6. I Tonya 7. Wind River 8. Dunkirk 9. Logan Lucky 10. Spider-Man: Homecoming 2016: 1. Sour Grapes 2. OJ: Made in America 3. Command and Control 4. ABACUS: Small Enough to Jail 5. Hell or High Water 6. Arrival 7. The Witness 8. Christine 9. The City of Tiny Lights 10. Chasing Asylum 2015: 1. The Big Short 2. Anomalisa 2. Spotlight 4. Best of Enemies 5. What Happened, Miss Simone? 6. Green Room 7. Cartel Land 8. Bridge of Spies 9. Thought Crimes 10. Bleak Street 2014: 1. Boyhood 2. 99 Homes 3. Birdman 4. Citizenfour 5. Virunga 6. En chance til 7. While We’re Young 8. The 50 Year Argument 9. Night Crawler 10. War of Lies 2013: 1. Blue Ruin 2. Gravity 2. 12 Years a Slave 2. Under the Skin 5. Bastards 6. The Wolf of Wall Street 7. Only Lovers Left Alive 8. American Hustle 9. Borgman 10. Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus 2012: 1. The Act of Killing 2. The Cabin in the Woods 3. Tabu 4. Stories We Tell 5. Amour 6. Barbara 7. Arbitrage 8. Room 237 9. Blancanieves 10. Argo 2011: 1. Martha Marcy May Marlene 1. Shame 3. A Separation 4. Fatherland 5. Margin Call 6. How to Die in Oregon 7. Into the Abyss 8. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 9. Last Call at the Oasis 10. The Descendants 2010: 1. Exit Through the Gift Shop 1. Incendies 3. Inside Job 4. Winter’s Bone 5. Inception 6. The Social Network 7. Shutter Island 8. The Arbor 9. Blue Valentine 10. The Poll Diaries 2009: 1. The White Ribbon 2. In the Loop 3. The Secret in Their Eyes 4. The Day God Walked Away 5. Moon 6. Army of Crime 7. Adrift 8. The Art of the Steal 9. Ajami 10. Tales of the Golden Age 2008: 1. Hunger 2. The Dark Knight * 3. Sauna 4. The Wrestler 5. Burn After Reading 6. Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 7. Let the Right One In 8. Standard Operating Procedure 9. The Class 10. Food, Inc. 2007: 1. Grindhouse 1. No Country for Old Men 1. Zodiac 4. Terror’s Advocate 5. My Winnipeg 6. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 7. There Will Be Blood 8. No End in Sight 9. Shotgun Stories 10. The Visitor 2006: 1. Lake of Fire 2. Little Children 3. The Lives of Others 4. Pan’s Labyrinth 5. A Scanner Darkly 6. Reprise 7. The Departed 8. Blindsight 9. Children of Men 10. The Bridge 2005: 1. Sin City 1. Syriana 3. Grizzly Man 4. Brick 4. Cache 6. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 7. Shooting Dogs 8. Paradise Now 9. The War Within 10. Jarhead 2004: 1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 1. Team America: World Police 3. Kill Bill Vol. 2 4. Mountain Patrol: Kekexili 5. Million Dollar Baby 6. Downfall 7. Incident at Loch Ness 8. Palindromes 9. The Sea Inside 10. Prime 2003: 1. Capturing Friedmans 2. Kill Bill Vol. 1 3. Mystic River 4. Best of Youth 5. American Splendor 6. Elephant 7. Time of the Wolf 8. Cowards Bend the Knee 8. The Fog of War 10. Lost in Translation 2002: 1. Punch-Drunk Love 2. City of God 3. Adaptation 4. Bloody Sunday 5. Dark Side of the Moon 5. Stevie 7. Spellbound 8. About Schmidt 9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 10. The Pianist 2001: 1. In Praise of Love 2. In the Bedroom 3. Startup.com 4. Mulholland Drive 5. The Man Who Wasn’t There 6. Atanjuat: the Fast Runner 7. Amelie 8. No Man’s Land 9. The Believer 10. Gosford Park 2000: 1. Memento 2. Code Unknown 3. Dark Days 4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 5. With a Friend Like Harry 6. Requiem for a Dream 7. Thirteen Days 8. State and Main 9. Sexy Beast 10. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 1999: 1. The Blair Witch Project 2. Being John Malkovich 2. Herod’s Law 4. American Beauty 4. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 6. Election 7. Cradle Will Rock 8. Magnolia 9. Titus 10. The Virgin Suicides 1998: 1. The Thin Red Line 2. The Big Lebowski 2. The General 2. Rushmore 2. SLC Punk! 6. Dark City 7. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 8. American History X 9. A Simple Plan 10. Following 1997: 1. Eve’s Bayou 1. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control 1. Little Dieter Needs to Fly 4. Lost Highway 5. Hands on a Hard Body 6. Fireworks 7. Grosse Pointe Blank 8. Boogie Nights 9. L.A. Confidential 10. The Game 1996: 1. Fargo 2. Paradise Lost 3. Waiting for Guffman 4. Citizen Ruth 5. Hamlet 6. Hard Core Logo 7. When We Were Kings 8. Trainspotting 9. Scream 10. From Dusk Till Dawn 1995: 1. Dead Man 2. Se7en 3. The Usual Suspects 4. The City of Lost Children 5. Kicking and Screaming 5. Safe 5. Twelve Monkeys 8. Richard III 9. Before Sunrise 10. Forgotten Silver 1994: 1. Hoop Dreams 1. Pulp Fiction 1. Three Colours: Red 4. The Shawshank Redemption 5. Ed Wood 6. Once We Were Warriors 7. Crumb 8. Satantango 9. Faust 10. Shallow Grave 1993: 1. Three Colours: Blue 2. The Age of Innocence 3. Farewell My Concubine 3. Short Cuts 5. Naked 6. Gettysburg 7. Alferd Packer [Cannibal ]: The Musical 8. In the Name of the Father 9. Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould 10. The Blue Kite 1992: 1. The Player 2. Bob Roberts 2. Unforgiven 4. Dead Alive 5. Reservoir Dogs 6. Brother’s Keeper 6. Man Bites Dog 8. Glengarry Glen Ross 9. The Crying Game 10. Leolo 1991: 1. Slacker 2. Delicatessen 3. Barton Fink 4. Naked Lunch 5. Kafka 6. Daughters of the Dust 7. Boyz N the Hood 8. My Own Private Idaho 9. Archangel 10. The Silence of the Lambs 1990: 1. Goodfellas 2. Hidden Agenda 3. After Dark, My Sweet 4. Miller’s Crossing 5. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead 6. White Hunter, Black Heart 7. Presumed Innocent 8. Wild at Heart 9. Gremlins 2 10. Total Recall 1989: 1. Crimes and Misdemeanors 1. Do the Right Thing 3. Drugstore Cowboy 3. Henry V 5. Tales from the Gimli Hospital 6. Meet the Feebles 7. Born on the Fourth of July 8. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover 9. Batman 10. Chameleon Street 1988: 1. Dead Ringers 2. Dekalog 3. Grave of the Fireflies 3. The Thin Blue Line 5. Alice 6. Die Hard 7. Scrooged 8. The Vanishing 9. Mississippi Burning 10. A Fish Called Wanda 1987: 1. Full Metal Jacket 2. Cobra Verde 3. Raising Arizona 4. Au revoir les enfants 5. The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On 6. Hope and Glory 7. The Princess Bride 8. House of Games 9. The Last Emperor 10. Angel Heart 1986: 1. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 2. Blue Velvet 2. Platoon 4. The Mosquito Coast 5. The Fly 6. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 7. Salvador 8. Hannah and Her Sisters 9. April Fool’s Day 10. Stand By Me 1985: 1. Shoah 2. Brazil 2. Ran 4. Mishima: a Life in Four Chapters 5. Witness 6. Come and See 7. Return of the Living Dead 8. Prizzi’s Honor 9. Back to the Future 10. Kiss of the Spider Woman 1984: 1. This is Spinal Tap 2. The Killing Fields 3. Once Upon a Time in America 4. Repo Man 5. Stop Making Sense 6. Blood Simple 7. Ghostbusters 8. The Company of Wolves 9. Gremlins 10. Paris, Texas 1983: 1. Man of Flowers 2. Sans Soleil 3. A Christmas Story 4. To Our Loves 4. El Norte 6. The Meaning of Life 7. The Right Stuff 8. Zelig 9. The Day After 10. Local Hero 1982: 1. Fitzcaraldo 2. Missing 3. Fanny and Alexander 4. Burden of Dreams 5. Veronika Voss 6. The Thing 7. Koayaanisqatsi 8. Austeria 9. The Dark Crystal 10. The Wrath of Kahn 1981: 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. Body Heat 3. Lola 4. My Dinner with Andre 5. An American Werewolf in London 6. Circle of Deceit 7. The Road Warrior 8. Diva 9. The Evil Dead 10. The Postman Always Rings Twice 1980: 1. Berlin Alexanderplatz 2. The Shining 3. Atlantic City 3. Raging Bull 5. The Long Good Friday 6. Airplane! 7. The Elephant Man 8. Lightning Over Water 9. Kagemusha 10. The Big Red One 1979: 1. Apocalypse Now 2. Alien 3. Life of Brian 4. Saint Jack 5. Real Life 6. The Marriage of Maria Braun 7. Manhattan 8. Nosferatu: The Vampyre 9. Mad Max 10. Being There 1978: 1. Days of Heaven 2. A Wedding 3. The Last Waltz 4. In a Year of 13 Moons 5. Gates of Heaven 6. Autumn Sonata 7. The Deer Hunter 8. Halloween 9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 10. Interiors 1977: 1. The Last Wave 2. Cross of Iron 3. Eraserhead 4. Annie Hall 5. Pumping Iron 6. 21 Up 7. Slapshot 8. The American Friend 9. The Last Remake of Beau Geste 10. Equus 1976: 1. The Battle of Chile Part 2 1. The Missouri Breaks 1. Network 4. All the President’s Men 5. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie 6. Taxi Driver 7. Face to Face 8. Murder by Death 9. The Shootist 10. Marathon Man 1975: 1. The Battle of Chile 1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1. Nashville 4. The Passenger 5. Dog Day Afternoon 6. Attila ’74 7. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest 8. Night Moves 9. Barry Lyndon 10. Jaws 1974: 1. Chinatown 2. Effi Briest 3. The Godfather Part II 4. Blazing Saddles 5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 6. The Conversation 6. The Parallax View 8. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul 9. General Idi Ami Dada 10. Thieves Like Us 1973: 1. The Exorcist 2. The Long Goodbye 2. The Sting 4. The Last of Sheila 5. Badlands 6. Mean Streets 7. The Friends of Eddie Coyle 8. O Lucky Man! 9. Charley Varrick 10. Day for Night 1972: 1. Aguirre: the Wrath of God 2. Last Tango in Paris 3. The Godfather 4. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 5. Deliverance 6. The Candidate 7. The Last House on the Left 8. Solaris 9. Cries and Whispers 10. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant 1971: 1. The French Connection 2. A Clockwork Orange 2. The Last Picture Show 4. Straw Dogs 5. Punishment Park 6. Acadia Acadia?!? 7. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 8. Land of Silence and Darkness 9. Harold and Maude 10. Dirty Harry 1970: 1. M.A.S.H. 2. The Confession 3. The Butcher 4. The Ballad of Cable Hogue 5. The Conformist 6. The Red Circle 7. Woodstock 8. Listening to You 9. Little Big Man 10. 7 Plus Seven 1969: 1. The Sorrow and the Pity 2. The Wild Bunch 2. Z 4. Army of Shadows 5. Double Suicide 6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 7. This Man Must Die 8. Easy Rider 9. Midnight Cowboy 10. Alice’s Restaurant 1968: 1. Once Upon a Time in the West 1. 2001 3. Night of the Living Dead 4. Bullit 4. Rosemary’s Baby 6. Fano and Lis 7. The Producers 8. The Party 9. Shame 10. Targets 1967: 1. The Graduate 1. Marat/Sade 3. Weekend 4. Bonnie and Clyde 5. Don’t Look Back 6. Point Blank 7. Samurai Rebellion 8. In Cold Blood 9. Cool Hand Luke 10. Drifting Upstream 1966: 1. Blowup 2. The Battle of Algiers 3. Closely Watched Trains 3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 3. Seconds 6. Andrei Rublev 7. Au hasard Balthazar 8. The Shooting 9. Le Douxieme Souffle 10. The Chase 1965: 1. Alphaville 1. The Shop on Main Street 3. War and Peace 4. The War Game 5. Bunny Lake is Missing 6. The Loved One 7. The Collector 8. For a Few Dollars More 9. Chimes at Midnight 10. Major Dundee 1964: 1. Dr. Strangelove 2. Woman in the Dunes 3. The Pawnbroker 4. Bande a Part 5. Culloden 6. A Shot in the Dark 7. Seven Days in May 8. A Fistful of Dollars 9. Masque of the Red Death 10. Fail-Safe 1963: 1. Winter Light 2. High and Low 3. Black Sabbath 4. The Pink Panther 5. For Those Who Will Follow 6. The Great Escape 7. Hud 8. The Leopard 9. America, America 10. From Russia with Love 1962: 1. Harakiri 2. The Manchurian Candidate 3. Jules et Jim 4. Lawrence of Arabia 5. Ride of the High Country 6. Cleo de 5 a 7 7. Vivre sa vie 8. Mafioso 9. The Longest Day 10. The Loneliness of the Long Distance of Runner 1961: 1. Yojimbo 2. Last Year at Marienbad 3. Chronicle of a Summer 4. Judgment at Nuremberg 5. Il Posto 6. The Human Condition III 7. Purple Noon 8. The Hustler 9. The Misfits 10. The Pit and the Pendulum 1960: 1. Psycho 2. The Bad Sleep Well 3. Breathless 4. The Iceman Cometh 5. The Entertainment 6. L’Avventura 7. Classe tous risques 8. La Dolce Vita 9. The Magnificent Seven 10. Village of the Damned 1959: 1. Hiroshima Mon Amour 2. North by Northwest 3. Anatomy of a Murder 4. Shadows 5. The 400 Blows 6. The Human Condition Parts 1 and 2 8. Eyes Without a Face 9. Floating Weeds 10. Compulsion 1958: 1. Elevator to the Gallows 1. Ashes and Diamonds 1. Touch of Evil 1. Vertigo 5. Ballad of Narayama 6. The Fly 7. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 8. Mon Oncle 9. Run Silent, Run Deep 10. The Big Deal on Madonna Street 1957: 1. Paths of Glory 1. The Seventh Seal 3. Kanal 4. A Bridge on the River Kwai 5. The Sweet Smell of Success 6. Nights of Cabiria 7. 3:10 to Yuma 8. 12 Angry Men 9. Pyasa 10. The Enemy Below 1956: 1. Bob le flambeur 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 3. The Searchers 4. Aparajito 5. The Killing 6. The Man Who Knew Too Much 7. The Man Who Never Was 8. Anastasia 9. Written on the Wind 10. Giant 1955: 1. Night and Fog 2. Night of the Hunter 3. Bad Day at Black Rock 3. Kiss Me Deadly 5. Pather Panchali 6. Les Diaboliques 7. Rebel Without a Cause 8. Rififi 9. Smiles of a Summer Night 10. Ordet 1954: 1. Seven Samurai 2. On the Waterfront 3. Sansho the Bailiff 4. La Strada 5. Rear Window 6. A Story from Chickamatsu 7. The Caine Mutiny 8. Dial M for Murder 9. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday 10. Track of the Cat 1953: 1. The Earrings of Madame de… 1. The Wages of Fear 3. Beat the Devil 4. Ugetsu 5. Tokyo Story 6. The Big Heat 7. From Here to Eternity 8. Stalag 17 9. Shane 10. The Band Wagon 1952: 1. High Noon 1. Ikiru 3. Forbidden Games 4. The Narrow Margin 5. Le plaisir 6. Clash by Night 7. Viva Zapata 8. The Bad and the Beautiful 9. Singin’ in the Rain 1951: 1. Ace in the Hole 2. A Place in the Sun 3. The Steel Helmet 4. Strangers on a Train 5. A Streetcar Named Desire 6. Scrooge 7. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man 8. Awaara 9. The Red Badge of Courage 10. The Day the Earth Stood Still 1950: 1. Rashomon 2. Sunset Blvd. 3. The Asphalt Jungle 4. DOA 5. Night and the City 6. Panic in the Streets 7. In a Lonely Place 8. La Ronde 9. Rio Grande 10. Gun Crazy 1949: 1. Kind Hearts and Coronets 1. The Third Man 3. Criss Cross 4. White Heat 5. The Heiress 6. All the King’s Men 7. Adam’s Rib 8. Sands of Iwo Jima 9. Battleground 10. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1948: 1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 2. Hamlet 3. Rope 4. The Big Clock 5. Red River 6. Bicycle Thieves 7. Force of Evil 8. Key Largo 9. Sorry, Wrong Number 10. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein 1947: 1. Out of the Past 2. Crossfire 2. The Lady from Shanghai 4. Lady in the Lake 5. Monsieur Verdoux 6. Born to Kill 7. Kiss of Death 8. Gentlemen’s Agreement 9. Brute Force 10. The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer 1946: 1. Beauty and the Beast 2. The Killers 3. The Best Years of Our Lives 4. The Blue Dahlia 5. Gilda 6. Great Expectations 7. My Darling Clementine 8. The Postman Always Rings Twice 9. It’s a Wonderful Life 10. Notorious 1945: 1. The Lost Weekend 1. Rome, Open City 3. The Children of Paradise 4. Brief Encounter 5. Detour 6. Spellbound 7. The Spiral Staircase 8. Leave Her Heaven 9. The Life and Death and Colonel Blimp 10. Mildred Pierce 1944: 1. Double Indemnity 2. Henry V 3. Murder My Sweet 4. Gaslight 5. Laura 6. Hail the Conquering Hero 7. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek 8. The Scarlet Claw 9. The Fighting Seabees 10. To Have and Have Not 1943: 1. The Raven 2. The Ox-Bow Incident 3. Shadow of a Doubt 4. Heaven Can Wait 5. Cabin in the Sky 6. I Walked with a Zombie 7. Gung-Ho 1942: 1. Casablanca 2. Native Land 3. Saboteur 4. Cat People 5. This Gun for Hire 6. The Pride of the Yankees 7. Mrs. Miniver 8. Flying Tigers 9. Yankee Doodle Dandy 1941: 1. Citizen Kane 2. The Maltese Falcon 3. Peer Gynt 4. Suspicion 5. The Lady Eve 6. Sergeant York 7. How Green Was My Valley 8. I Wake Up Screaming 9. Ball of Fire 10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide 1940: 1. Fantasia 2. His Girl Friday 3. Rebecca 4. Foreign Correspondent 5. The Grapes of Wrath 6. The Great Dictator 7. The Bank Dick 8. The Philadelphia Story 9. Pinnocchio 10. The Shop Around the Corner 1939: 1. Stagecoach 2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 3. Wuthering Heights 4. Destry Rides Again 5. Drums Along the Mohawk 6. The Wizard of Oz 7. Gunga Din 8. Jesse James 9. Gone with the Wind 10. Dark Victory 1938: 1. Olympia 2. The Lady Vanishes 3. The Childhood of Maxim Gorky 4. The Dawn Patrol 5. Angels with Dirty Faces 6. The Adventures of Robin Hood 7. Bringing Up Baby 8. Pygmalion 1937: 1. Grand Illusion 2. Un Carnet de bal 3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 4. The Awful Truth 5. Stage Door 6. Stella Dallas 7. Black Legion 8. Make Way for Tomorrow 9. Lost Horizon 1936: 1. Modern Times 2. Mayerling 3. Dodsworth 4. Satan Met a Lady 5. Juggernaut 6. Camille 7. Reefer Madness 1935: 1. Triumph of the Will 2. The Bride of Frankenstein 3. The 39 Steps 4. A Night at Opera 5. Mutiny on the Bounty 6. The Gold Diggers of 1935 7. Sylvia Scarlett 8. Alice Adams 1934: 1. The Black Cat 2. L’Atlante 3. The Thin Man 4. It Happened One Night 5. The House of Mystery 1933: 1. Duck Soup 2. The Invisible Man 2. King Kong 4. Baby Face 5. Queen Christina 1932: 1. Vampyr 2. Freaks 3. I Am a Fugitive From the Chain Gang 4. Scarface 5. The Blue Light 6. The Mummy 7. Number Seventeen 8. Grant Hotel 9. Red-Headed Woman 1931: 1. M 2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 3. The Public Enemy 4. Frankenstein 5. City Lights 6. A Nous a la Liberte 7. Dracula 8. The Maltese Falcon 9. Waterloo Bridge 10. Little Caesar 1930: 1. All Quiet on the Western Front 2. L’age d’or 3. The Blue Angel 4. Animals Crackers 1929: 1. Man with a Camera 2. Arsenal 3. The Box of Pandora 4. Blackmail 1928: 1. The Last Command 2. The Passion of Joan of Arc 3. The Circus 4. The Fall of the House of Usher 5. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 6. The Man Who Laughs 7. Sadie Thompson 1927: 1. Metropolis 2. Sunrise 3. It 4. The Jazz Singer 1926: 1. The General 2. Faust 1925: 1. The Battleship Potemkin 2. The Gold Rush 3. The Phantom of the Opera 4. Beggar on Horseback 1924: 1. The Last Laugh 2. The Navigator 3. Die Niebelungen: Siegfried Plus shorts! 1923: 1. “Le retour a la raison” 2. “The Love Nest” 1922: 1. Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages 2. Nanook of the North 1921: 1. The Kid Shorts: 1. “The Boat” 2. “The High Sign” 3. “The Soul of Cypress” 1920: 1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1919: 1. When Clouds Roll By 2. Broken Blossoms 1918: 1. “Triple Trouble” 1917 1916: 1. “The Rink” 2. “The Floorwalker” 3. “The Pawnshop” 4. “One A.M.” 5. “Police” 1915: 1. The Birth of a Nation Shorts: 1. “In the Park” 2. “Shanghaied” 3. “A Night Out” 4. “The Tramp” 5. “A Woman” 6. “Work” 1914: 1. Cabiria Shorts: 1. “Cruel, Cruel Love” 2. “Kid Auto Races at Venice” 3. “A Film Johnnie” 1913: 1. “Suspense” 2. “The Voyage of the Bourrichon Family” 1912: 1. “Conquest of the Pole” 2. “Knight of the Snow” 3. “Cinderella” 1911: 1. “Baron Munchausen’s Dream” 1910: 1. “The House with Closed Shutters” 2. “Whimsical Illusions” 1909: 1. “The Diabolic Tenant” 1908: 1. “The Dream of an Opium Fiend” 2. “Long Distance Wireless Photography” 3. “The Genii of Fire” 4. “Grandmother’s Story” 5. “The Woes of Roller Skates” 6. “The New Lord of the Village” 7. “Not Guilty” 8. “In the Barber Shop” 9. “The Thieving Hand” 10. “The Prophets of Thebes” 1907: 1. “Tunneling the English Channel” 2. “Good Glue Sticks” 3. “The Prophetess of Thebes” 4. “The Skipping Cheese” 5. “The Knight of Black Art” 6. “Rogues’ Tricks” 7. “The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon” 8. “Sightseeing Through Whiskey” 9. “In the Bogie Man’s Cave” 10. “Justinian’s Human Torches” 1906: 1. “Dream of a Rarebit Fiend” 2. “The Merry Frolics of Satan” 3. “A Mix-Up at the Gallery” 4. “The Hilarious Posters” 5. “A Roadside Inn” 6. “A Desperate Crime” 7. “The Witch” 8. “The Impossible Convicts” 9. “The Tramp and the Mattress Makers” 10. “Soap Bubbles” 1905: 1. “An Adventurous Automobile Trip” 1. “The Palace of Arabian Nights” 3. “Rip’s Dream” 4. “The Scheming Gambler’s Paradise” 5. “Coney Island at Night” 6. “A Crazy Composer” 7. “The Black Imp” 8. “New York Subway” 9. “The Lilliputian Minuet” 10. “Panorama, from the Times Building, New York” 1904: 1. “An Impossible Voyage” 2. “The Mermaid” 3. “The Terrible Turkish Executioner” 4. “A Moonlight Serenade” 5. “The Firefall” 6. “A Miracle Under the Inquisition” 7. “The Untamable Whiskers” 8. “The Imperceptible Transmutations” 9. “Tit for Tat” 10. “The Clock Maker’s Dream” 1903: 1. “Kingdom of Fairies” 2. “The Melomaniac” 3. “The Infernal Cauldron” 4. “The Monster” 5. “The Ballet Master’s Dream” 6. “Jack Jaggs and Dum Dum” 7. “The Enchanted Well” 8. “The Damnation of Faust” 9. “The Magic Lantern” 10. “Jupiter’s Thunderballs” 1902: 1. “A Trip to the Moon” 2. “Gulliver’s Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants” 3. “The Human Fly” 4. “The Impossible Balancing Feat” 5. “Down the Hudson” 6. “Jack and the Beanstalk” 7. “The Shadow Girl” 8. “The Treasures of Satan” 9. “The Colonel’s Shower Bath” 10. “The Dancing Midget” 1901: 1. “Bluebeard” 2. “The Man wit a Rubber Head” 3. “The Brahmin and the Butterfly” 4. “Extraordinary Illusions” 5. “Captain Nissen Going Through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls” 6. “Excelsior!” 7. “Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre” 8. “The Magician’s Cavern” 9. “The Dwarf and the Giant” 10. “What is Home Without the Boarder?” 1900: 1. “Joan of Arc” 2. “Davey Jones’ Locker” 3. “The Cook’s Revenge” 4. “Sherlock Holmes Baffled” 5. “Scene from the Elevator Ascending the Eiffel Tower” 6. “Fat and Lean Wrestling Match” 7. “The Rajah’s Dream” 8. “The Magic Book” 9. “The One-Man Band” 10. “Addition and Subtraction” 1899: 1. “The Pillar of Fire” 2. “Cinderella” 3. “The Devil in a Convent” 4. “The Conjurer” 5. “The Mysterious Portrait” 6. “After the Ball” 7. [Series of 1-minute films on the Dreyfus Affair] 8. “The Mysterious Knight” 1898: 1. “The Astronomer’s Dream” 2. “Divers at Work on the Wreck of the “Maine”” 3. “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” 4. “The Magician” 5. “The Four Troublesome Heads” 6. “The Famous Box Trick” 7. “Adventures of William Tell” 8. “Panorama from Top of a Moving Train” 1897: 1. “The Bewitched Inn” 2. “The Vanishing Lady” 3. “Between Calais and Dover” 4. “The Surrender of Tournavos” 5. “Card Party” 1896: 1. “The Haunted Castle” 2. “A Nightmare” 3. “A Terrible Night” 1895: 1. “Annabelle Serpentine Dance”
Movies I’ve seen by year of release
Here is a guide to my rating system:
Transcendentally awful – one of the worst movies ever made
Awful – mostly incompetent but not one of the worst movies ever
Bad – incompetent in many ways but with the odd redeeming aspect
Below Average – worse than the average movie of its type, but not terrible
Average – capably made but with nothing special about it (but I also use this for films that are interesting messes)
Above Average – better than the average movie of its genre
Good – worth your time but not one of the best movies of the year
Very Good – definitely worth your time and likely among the best movies of a given year
Great: Near-Perfect or Near-Transcendent – good and important, among the best of the year and the second tier of important movies of a given decade
Perfect and/or Transcendent – one of the great movies of a given decade