Combustible Celluloid - Year's Ten Best Lists
Combustible Celluloid
 

Year's Ten Best Lists

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

2023

  1. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
  2. Past Lives (Celine Song)
  3. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
  4. Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)
  5. Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman)
  6. Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)
  7. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
  8. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
  9. May December (Todd Haynes)
  10. Fremont (Babak Jalali)

Runners up: All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh), The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki), Earth Mama (Savanah Leaf), The Holdovers (Alexander Payne), The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin), John Wick: Chapter 4 (Chad Stahelski), The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green), Skinamarink (Kyle Edward Ball), The Taste of Things (Tran Ahn Hung), A Thousand and One (A.V. Rockwell)

2022

  1. Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)
  2. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
  3. Mad God (Phil Tippett)
  4. Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
  5. No Bears (Jafar Panahi)
  6. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg)
  7. Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)
  8. Women Talking (Sarah Polley)
  9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Sam Raimi)
  10. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (Richard Linklater)

Runners up: The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh), Benediction (Terence Davies), Blonde (Andrew Dominik), EO (Jerzy Skolimowski), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson), Happening (Audrey Diwan), Nope (Jordan Peele), Pearl (Ti West), Tár (Todd Field), We're All Going to the World's Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)

2021

  1. The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen)
  2. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
  3. Passing (Rebecca Hall)
  4. About Endlessness (Roy Andersson)
  5. The Amusement Park (George A. Romero)
  6. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
  7. In the Heights (Jon M. Chu)
  8. The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
  9. Spencer (Pablo Larraín)
  10. Pig (Michael Sarnoski)

Runners up: CODA (Sian Heder), Encanto (Byron Howard, Jared Bush), Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright), Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson), Saint Maud (Rose Glass), Spider-Man: No Way Home (Jon Watts), Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Questlove), tick, tick… BOOM! (Lin Manuel-Miranda), The Truffle Hunters (Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw), West Side Story (Steven Spielberg)

2020

  1. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)
  2. Vitalina Verela (Pedro Costa)
  3. On the Rocks (Sofia Coppola)
  4. The Vast of Night (Andrew Patterson)
  5. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman)
  6. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)
  7. David Byrne's American Utopia (Spike Lee)
  8. Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee)
  9. Hamilton (Thomas Kail)
  10. She Dies Tomorrow (Amy Seimetz)

Runners up: City Hall (Frederick Wiseman), Color Out of Space (Richard Stanley), Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen), Mank (David Fincher), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe), The Painted Bird (Václav Marhoul), Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell), Relic (Natalie Erika James), Soul (Pete Docter & Kemp Powers), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin), Tommaso (Abel Ferrara), The Wolf House (Joaquín Cociña & Cristóbal León)

2019

  1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
  2. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
  3. 3 Faces (Jafar Panahi)
  4. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
  5. Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo & Joe Russo)
  6. One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirô Ueda)
  7. Waves (Trey Edward Shults)
  8. 1917 (Sam Mendes)
  9. Tigers Are Not Afraid (Issa López)
  10. Little Woods (Nia DaCosta)

Runners up: Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Marielle Heller), Booksmart (Olivia Wilde), Crawl (Alexandre Aja), Dark Waters (Todd Haynes), The Dead Don't Die (Jim Jarmusch), Harriet (Kasi Lemmons), The Image Book (Jean-Luc Godard), Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi), Knives Out (Rian Johnson), The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot), The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers), The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam), Midsommar (Ari Aster), The Mustang (Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre), The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent), Uncut Gems (Benny & Josh Safdie), Us (Jordan Peele), Varda by Agnès (Agnès Varda & Didier Rouget), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Richard Linklater)

2018

  1. Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)
  2. BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee)
  3. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
  4. The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles)
  5. 24 Frames (Abbas Kiarostami)
  6. Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis)
  7. Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)
  8. You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)
  9. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
  10. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Peter Ramsey, Robert Persichetti Jr., Rodney Rothman)

Runners up: Burning (Lee Chang-dong), Destroyer (Karyn Kusama), Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham), The Great Buster (Peter Bogdanovich), Hereditary (Ari Aster), If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins), Leave No Trace (Debra Granik), Minding the Gap (Bing Liu), The Mule (Clint Eastwood), The Old Man & the Gun (David Lowery), Paddington 2 (Paul King), A Quiet Place (John Krasinski), Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)

2017

  1. Faces Places (Agnes Varda & JR)
  2. The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography (Errol Morris)
  3. Detroit (Kathryn Bigelow)
  4. Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)
  5. Last Flag Flying (Richard Linklater)
  6. The Shape of Water (Guillermo Del Toro)
  7. Get Out (Jordan Peele)
  8. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)
  9. Logan (James Mangold)
  10. The Post (Steven Spielberg)

Runners up: The Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour), California Typewriter (Doug Nichol), Colossal (Nacho Vigalondo), The Florida Project (Sean Baker), A Ghost Story (David Lowery), Good Time (Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie), Marshall (Reginald Hudlin), Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson), Song to Song (Terrence Malick), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson)

2016

  1. Cemetery of Splendor (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
  2. Paterson (Jim Jarmusch)
  3. Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)
  4. Sully (Clint Eastwood)
  5. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
  6. Everybody Wants Some!! (Richard Linklater)
  7. Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)
  8. Silence (Martin Scorsese)
  9. O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)
  10. Loving (Jeff Nichols)

Runners up: The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer), Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier), Hail, Caesar! (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen), The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook), Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie), Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight), La La Land (Damien Chazelle), Lights Out (David F. Sandberg), Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols), The Witch (Robert Eggers)

2015

  1. Inside Out (Pete Docter)
  2. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  3. Taxi (Jafar Panahi)
  4. The End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt)
  5. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg)
  6. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
  7. The Royal Road (Jenni Olson)
  8. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)
  9. Sicario (Denis Villeneuve)
  10. Creed (Ryan Coogler)

Runners up: The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino), In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman), It Follows (David Robert Mitchell), Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad), 99 Homes (Ramin Bahrani), Predestination (Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig), Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)

2014

  1. Boyhood (Richard Linklater)
  2. Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
  3. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)
  4. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski)
  5. The Lego Movie (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller)
  6. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho)
  7. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
  8. Jodorowsky's Dune (Frank Pavich)
  9. The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson)
  10. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard)

Runners up: American Sniper (Clint Eastwood), The Babadook (Jennifer Kent), Big Eyes (Tim Burton), Citizenfour (Laura Poitras), Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour), Gone Girl (David Fincher), The Homesman (Tommy Lee Jones), Life Itself (Steve James), Venus in Fur (Roman Polanski), Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)

2013

  1. Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
  2. Her (Spike Jonze)
  3. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater)
  4. To the Wonder (Terrence Malick)
  5. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami)
  6. Upstream Color (Shane Carruth)
  7. Nebraska (Alexander Payne)
  8. Drug War (Johnnie To)
  9. Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski)
  10. The World's End (Edgar Wright)

Runners up: The Conjuring (James Wan), Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach), Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen), Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel), Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon), Museum Hours (Jem Cohen), Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine), Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley), A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhang-ke), The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese), You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (Alain Resnais)

2012

  1. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow)
  2. The Turin Horse (Bela Tarr)
  3. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg)
  4. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies)
  5. Killer Joe (William Friedkin)
  6. This Is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi)
  7. The Innkeepers (Ti West)
  8. The Avengers (Joss Whedon)
  9. Bernie (Richard Linklater)
  10. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)

Runners up: The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard), The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan), Girl Walk // All Day (Jacob Krupnick), Holy Motors (Leos Carax), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (David Gelb), Lincoln (Steven Spielberg), The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne), The Secret World of Arrietty (Hiromasa Yonebayashi), Skyfall (Sam Mendes), Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley)

2011

  1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
  2. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami)
  3. Rango (Gore Verbinski)
  4. Hugo (Martin Scorsese)
  5. Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)
  6. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson)
  7. Road to Nowhere (Monte Hellman)
  8. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog)
  9. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raul Ruiz)
  10. Moneyball (Bennett Miller)

Runners up: Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen), The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg), Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn), Hanna (Joe Wright), The Strange Case of Angelica (Manoel de Oliveira), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi)

2010

  1. Hereafter (Clint Eastwood)
  2. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola)
  3. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)
  4. Vincere (Marco Bellocchio)
  5. White Material (Claire Denis)
  6. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
  7. True Grit (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen)
  8. The Social Network (David Fincher)
  9. Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl (Manoel de Oliveira)
  10. Boxing Gym (Frederick Wiseman)

Runners up: I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino), Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio), The Book of Eli (Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes), Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy), Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold), Machete (Robert Rodriguez), Mother (Bong Joon-ho), Survival of the Dead (George A. Romero), Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)

2009

  1. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
  2. Coraline (Henry Selick)
  3. Bright Star (Jane Campion)
  4. Red Cliff (John Woo)
  5. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
  6. You, the Living (Roy Andersson)
  7. Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi)
  8. Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley)
  9. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
  10. Adventureland (Greg Mottola)

Runners up: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog), The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda), Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Terry Gilliam), The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch), Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki), Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas), Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze), Whip It (Drew Barrymore), Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer)

2008

  1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen)
  2. Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  3. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
  4. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme)
  5. Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood)
  6. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
  7. Burn After Reading (Ethan Coen/Joel Coen)
  8. Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog)
  9. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
  10. Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke)

Runners up: A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Guillermo Del Toro) In the City of Sylvia (José Luis Guerín) Iron Man (Jon Favreau), Martyrs (Pascal Laugier), My Blueberry Nights (Wong Kar-wai), Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller), The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)

2007

  1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik)
  2. No Country for Old Men (Ethan Coen/Joel Coen)
  3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sidney Lumet)
  4. Offside (Jafar Panahi)
  5. Private Fears in Public Places (Alain Resnais)
  6. Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)
  7. The Host (Bong Joon-ho)
  8. Bug (William Friedkin)
  9. I'm Not There (Todd Haynes)
  10. 12:08 East of Bucharest (Corneliu Porumboiu)

Runners up: Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu), Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright), Into Great Silence (Philip Gröning), Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), Exiled (Johnny To), Triad Election (Johnny To), Waitress (Adrienne Shelly), The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman), Away from Her (Sarah Polley)

2006

  1. Inland Empire (David Lynch)
  2. Brick (Rian Johnson)
  3. Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  4. Art School Confidential (Terry Zwigoff)
  5. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro)
  6. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron)
  7. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell)
  8. Find Me Guilty (Sidney Lumet)
  9. Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola)
  10. The Departed (Martin Scorsese)

Runners up: The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma), The Bridesmaid (Claude Chabrol), Bubble (Steven Soderbergh), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu), Fearless (Ronny Yu), Happy Feet (George Miller), Inside Man (Spike Lee), The Intruder (Claire Denis), Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook), A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater)

2005

  1. Saraband (Ingmar Bergman)
  2. Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch)
  3. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
  4. The World (Jia Zhang-ke)
  5. 2046 (Wong Kar-wai)
  6. Land of the Dead (George A. Romero)
  7. The White Diamond (Werner Herzog)
  8. The New World (Terrence Malick)
  9. Capote (Bennett Miller)
  10. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney)

Runners up: Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki), Match Point (Woody Allen), Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki), A Talking Picture (Manoel de Oliveira), Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

2004

  1. Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
  2. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
  3. Kill Bill - Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino)
  4. Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  5. Hero (Zhang Yimou)
  6. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
  7. The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin)
  8. Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)
  9. The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
  10. Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi)

Runners up: Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright), Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch) Dogville (Lars von Trier), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuaron), Hellboy (Guillermo Del Toro), The Incredibles (Brad Bird), Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene), To Be and To Have (Nicolas Philibert), Sideways (Alexander Payne)

2003

  1. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
  2. Spider (David Cronenberg)
  3. Gerry (Gus Van Sant)
  4. Friday Night (Claire Denis)
  5. Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff)
  6. Kill Bill - Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino)
  7. Mystic River (Clint Eastwood)
  8. Unknown Pleasures (Jia Zhang-ke)
  9. In the Cut (Jane Campion)
  10. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami)

Runners up: The Company (Robert Altman), The Fog of War (Errol Morris), Big Fish (Tim Burton), Girl with a Pearl Earring (Peter Webber), In the Cut (Jane Campion), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (Joe Dante), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir), Open Range (Kevin Costner), The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet)

2002

  1. I'm Going Home (Manoel de Oliveira)
  2. Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov)
  3. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
  4. Far from Heaven (Todd Haynes)
  5. Adaptation (Spike Jonze)
  6. 25th Hour (Spike Lee)
  7. The Pianist (Roman Polanski)
  8. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
  9. What Time Is It There? (Tsai Ming-liang)
  10. Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma)

Runners up: Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (Andre Heller, Othmar Schmiderer) Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (George Clooney), Deserted Station (Alireza Raisian), Dolls (Takeshi Kitano), Funny Ha Ha (Andrew Bujalski), Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese), Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau, Alan Mak), In the Mirror of Maya Deren (Martina Kudlacek), Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay), Rabbit-Proof Fence (Philip Noyce), The Rookie (John Lee Hancock), Springtime in a Small Town (Tian Zhuangzhuang), Strange Fruit (Joel Katz), Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar)

2001

  1. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr)
  2. Memento (Christopher Nolan)
  3. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
  4. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff)
  5. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
  6. The Circle (Jafar Panahi)
  7. The Man Who Wasn't There (Joel Coen)
  8. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
  9. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
  10. Va Savoir (Jacques Rivette)

Runners up: ABC Africa (Abbas Kiarostami), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg), The Big Animal (Jerzy Stuhr), The Day I Became a Woman (Marziyeh Meshkini), Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly), Eureka (Shinji Aoyama), Gosford Park (Robert Altman), Last Orders (Fred Schepisi), The Pledge (Sean Penn), Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), 'R Xmas (Abel Ferrara), Taboo (Nagisa Oshima), Waking Life (Richard Linklater)

2000

  1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
  2. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen)
  3. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch)
  4. The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami)
  5. Beau Travail (Claire Denis)
  6. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears)
  7. Panic (Henry Bromell)
  8. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky)
  9. Wonder Boys (Curtis Hanson)
  10. Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku)

Runners up: George Washington (David Gordon Green), Mysterious Object at Noon (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), The Gleaners & I (Agnes Varda), Hamlet (Michael Almereyda), Kippur (Amos Gitai), Night Waltz: The Music of Paul Bowles (Owsley Brown), Nurse Betty (Neil LaBute), Platform (Jia Zhang-ke), Pola X (Leos Carax), Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky), Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige), Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson), Time Regained (Raoul Ruiz), The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola) The Weight of Water (Kathryn Bigelow)

1999

  1. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)
  2. Flowers of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  3. Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer)
  4. Autumn Tale (Eric Rohmer)
  5. Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese)
  6. The Straight Story (David Lynch)
  7. Election (Alexander Payne)
  8. eXistenZ (David Cronenberg)
  9. American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
  10. Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris)

Runners up: Fight Club (David Fincher), Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter), Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson), American Movie (Chris Smith), The Apple (Samira Makhmalbaf), Holy Smoke (Jane Campion), Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze), All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar), My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese), Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay), Three Kings (David O. Russell), Audition (Takashi Miike), The Iron Giant (Brad Bird)

1998

  1. Mother and Son (Alexander Sokurov)
  2. Gods and Monsters (Bill Condon)
  3. Babe: Pig in the City (George Miller)
  4. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)
  5. Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh)
  6. The Truman Show (Peter Weir)
  7. A Simple Plan (Sam Raimi)
  8. Fireworks (Hana-Bi) (Takeshi Kitano)
  9. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami)
  10. Rushmore (Wes Anderson)

Runners up: After Life (Hirokazu Kore-eda), The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam), The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen), Bulworth (Warren Beatty), Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai), Little Voice (Mark Herman), Dark City (Alex Proyas), Twilight (Robert Benton), Voyage to the Beginning of the World (Manoel de Oliveira), Pi (Darren Aronofsky)

1997

  1. Kundun (Martin Scorsese)
  2. Crash (David Cronenberg)
  3. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (Errol Morris)
  4. Face/Off (John Woo)
  5. Eve's Bayou (Kasi Lemmons)
  6. Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino)
  7. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Clint Eastwood)
  8. Gabbeh (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
  9. Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas)
  10. Grosse Pointe Blank (George Armitage)

Runners up: Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson), Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Peter Chan), Gattaca (Andrew Niccol), L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson), Lost Highway (David Lynch)

1996

  1. Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  2. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch)
  3. Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh)
  4. The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi)
  5. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai)
  6. A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
  7. Scream (Wes Craven)
  8. Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  9. Everyone Says I Love You (Woody Allen)
  10. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle)

Runners up: Big Night (Stanley Tucci & Campbell Scott), Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier), Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson), Looking for Richard (Al Pacino), Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh), Freeway (Matthew Bright)

1995

  1. Crumb (Terry Zwigoff)
  2. Safe (Todd Haynes)
  3. The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood)
  4. Casino (Martin Scorsese)
  5. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater)
  6. Babe (Chris Noonan)
  7. Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai)
  8. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)
  9. Clueless (Amy Heckerling)
  10. Richard III (Richard Loncraine)

Runners up: Apollo 13 (Ron Howard), La Ceremonie (Claude Chabrol), Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin), Exotica (Atom Egoyan), Friday (F. Gary Gray), Get Shorty (Barry Sonenfeld), A Great Day in Harlem (Jean Bach), Home for the Holidays (Jodie Foster), In the Mouth of Madness (John Carpenter), A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (Martin Scorsese), Seven (David Fincher), Smoke (Wayne Wang), Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow), To Die For (Gus Van Sant), Toy Story (John Lasseter), 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam), The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer), Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo), The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi)

1994

  1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
  2. Ed Wood (Tim Burton)
  3. Satantango (Bela Tarr)
  4. Through the Olive Trees (Abbas Kiarostami)
  5. Vanya on 42nd Street (Louis Malle)
  6. Speed (Jan De Bont)
  7. Joan the Maid (Jacques Rivette)
  8. Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
  9. Bullets Over Broadway (Woody Allen)
  10. Drunken Master II (Jackie Chan/Liu Chia-Liang)

Runners up: Ashes of Time (Wong Kar-wai), The Blue Kite (Tian Zhuangzhuang), Go Fish (Rose Troche), I Can't Sleep (Claire Denis), The Last Seduction (John Dahl), Leon/The Professional (Luc Besson) Quiz Show (Robert Redford), Red Rock West (John Dahl)

1993

  1. Short Cuts (Robert Altman)
  2. The Piano (Jane Campion)
  3. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg)
  4. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis)
  5. A Perfect World (Clint Eastwood)
  6. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater)
  7. The Puppetmaster (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  8. Madadayo (Akira Kurosawa)
  9. Naked (Mike Leigh)
  10. Fearless (Peter Weir)

Runners up: Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi), Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma), The Fugitive (Andrew Davis), The Heroic Trio (Johnny To), In the Line of Fire (Wolfgang Petersen), Matinee (Joe Dante), Menace II Society (Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes), The Scent of Green Papaya (Tran Anh Hung), Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano), The Snapper (Stephen Frears)

1992

  1. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)
  2. The Player (Robert Altman)
  3. Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley)
  4. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino)
  5. Life and Nothing More... (Abbas Kiarostami)
  6. Lessons of Darkness (Werner Herzog)
  7. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch)
  8. Husbands and Wives (Woody Allen)
  9. Hard-Boiled (John Woo)
  10. Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch)

Runners up: Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara), Center Stage (Stanley Kwan), Malcolm X (Spike Lee), One False Move (Carl Franklin), Porco Rosso (Hayao Miyazaki), Swordsman II (Ching Siu-tung), Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (Craig Baldwin), Visions of Light (Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy)

1991

  1. La Belle Noiseuse (Jacques Rivette)
  2. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
  3. Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg)
  4. Barton Fink (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  5. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant)
  6. Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)
  7. Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow)
  8. Les amants du Pont-Neuf (Leos Carax)
  9. Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott)
  10. Slacker (Richard Linklater)

Runners up: Armour of God II: Operation Condor (Jackie Chan), Bugsy (Barry Levinson), Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese), City of Hope (John Sayles), Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-wai), Hearts of Darkness (Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper), Life Is Sweet (Mike Leigh), Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark), Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston), The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron)

1990

  1. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami)
  2. Bullet in the Head (John Woo)
  3. The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppla)
  4. Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton)
  5. Miller's Crossing (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  6. Twin Peaks (TV Pilot) (David Lynch)
  7. White Hunter, Black Heart (Clint Eastwood)
  8. To Sleep With Anger (Charles Burnett)
  9. Darkman (Sam Raimi)
  10. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese)

Runners up: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Joe Dante), The Grifters (Stephen Frears), Henry & June (Philip Kaufman), King of New York (Abel Ferrara), Quick Change (Howard Franklin, Bill Murray), The Unbelievable Truth (Hal Hartley)

1989

  1. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
  2. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen)
  3. Kiki's Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki)
  4. The Killer (John Woo)
  5. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam)
  6. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch)
  7. Heathers (Michael Lehmann)
  8. The War of the Roses (Danny De Vito)
  9. Henry V (Kenneth Branagh)
  10. The Little Mermaid (John Musker, Ron Clements)

Runners up: Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow), The 'burbs (Joe Dante), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg), Johnny Handsome (Walter Hill), Monsieur Hire (Patrice Leconte), Roger & Me (Michael Moore), Sex, Lies & Videotape (Steven Soderbergh), Street of No Return (Samuel Fuller), Sweetie (Jane Campion)

1988

  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemekis)
  2. The Decalogue (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
  3. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg)
  4. Bird (Clint Eastwood)
  5. The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese)
  6. My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki)
  7. A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton)
  8. Au Revoir Les Enfants (Louis Malle)
  9. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman)
  10. Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata)

Runners up: Die Hard (John McTiernan), Distant Voices, Still Lives (Terence Davies), Gang of Four (Jacques Rivette), High Hopes (Mike Leigh), Medea (Lars von Trier), Midnight Run (Martin Brest), Monkey Shines (George A. Romero), The Naked Gun (David Zucker), Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet), They Live (John Carpenter), The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris), Tucker (Francis Ford Coppola), The Vanishing (George Sluizer), Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders)

1987

  1. The Dead (John Huston)
  2. Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi)
  3. Radio Days (Woody Allen)
  4. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow)
  5. Raising Arizona (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  6. Where Is the Friend's Home? (Abbas Kiarostami)
  7. A Better Tomorrow II (John Woo)
  8. Robocop (Paul Verhoeven)
  9. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick)
  10. The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner)

Runners up: Barfly (Barbet Schroeder), Boyfriends & Girlfriends (Eric Rohmer), Broadcast News (James L. Brooks), A Chinese Ghost Story (Ching Siu-tung), City on Fire (Ringo Lam), The Last Emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci), Good Morning, Vietnam (Barry Levinson), Hellraiser (Clive Barker), The Hidden (Jack Sholder), High Tide (Gillian Armstrong), Housekeeping (Bill Forsyth), House of Games (David Mamet), Innerspace (Joe Dante), Intervista (Federico Fellini), Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (Claude Berri), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (John Hughes), Project A II (Jackie Chan), Roxanne (Fred Schepisi), Swimming to Cambodia (Jonathan Demme)

1986

  1. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
  2. Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
  3. Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox)
  4. Stand by Me (Rob Reiner)
  5. The Fly (David Cronenberg)
  6. Aliens (James Cameron)
  7. Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch)
  8. A Better Tomorrow (John Woo)
  9. Manhunter (Michael Mann)
  10. The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese)

Runners up: The Horse Thief (Tian Zhuangzhuang), Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes), From Beyond (Stuart Gordon), Ginger and Fred (Federico Fellini), Labyrinth (Jim Henson), Little Shop of Horrors (Frank Oz), Mona Lisa (Neil Jordan), Mauvais sang (Leos Carax), Peking Opera Blues (Tsui Hark), Le rayon vert (Eric Rohmer), 'Round Midnight (Bertrand Tavernier), Two Friends (Jane Campion)

1985

  1. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann)
  2. Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
  3. Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
  4. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton)
  5. Back to the Future (Robert Zemekis)
  6. To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin)
  7. Come and See (Elem Klimov)
  8. Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon)
  9. After Hours (Martin Scorsese)
  10. Prizzi's Honor (John Huston)

Runners up: The Breakfast Club (John Hughes), Day of the Dead (George A. Romero), The Falcon and the Snowman (John Schlesinger), Louie Bluie (Terry Zwigoff), Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood), Phenomena (Dario Argento), The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen), Runaway Train (Andrei Konchalovsky), The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien), Witness (Peter Weir)

1984

  1. Stranger than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch)
  2. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone)
  3. Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen)
  4. Repo Man (Alex Cox)
  5. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner)
  6. Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme)
  7. The Cotton Club (Francis Ford Coppola)
  8. The Terminator (James Cameron)
  9. Starman (John Carpenter)
  10. Amadeus (Milos Forman)

Runners up: Choose Me (Alan Rudolph), Gremlins (Joe Dante), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Steven Speilberg), Love Streams (John Cassavetes), Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders), Secret Honor (Robert Altman), The Times of Harvey Milk (Rob Epstein)

1983

  1. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman)
  2. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
  3. L'Argent (Robert Bresson)
  4. The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi)
  5. The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
  6. Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola)
  7. Local Hero (Bill Forsyth)
  8. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)
  9. Scarface (Brian De Palma)
  10. Zelig (Woody Allen)

Runners up: A Christmas Story (Bob Clark), The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg), The Osterman Weekend (Sam Peckinpah), Pauline at the Beach (Eric Rohmer), Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand), Sans Soleil (Chris Marker), Trading Places (John Landis)

1982

  1. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
  2. The Road Warrior (George Miller)
  3. One from the Heart (Francis Ford Coppola)
  4. White Dog (Samuel Fuller)
  5. The Thing (John Carpenter)
  6. Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog)
  7. Burden of Dreams (Les Blank)
  8. My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
  9. Cat People (Paul Schrader)
  10. Basket Case (Frank Henenlotter)

Runners up: Diner (Barry Levinson), The Draughtsman's Contract (Peter Greenaway), 48 HRS (Walter Hill), Identification of a Woman (Michelangelo Antonioni), Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer), Tenebre (Dario Argento)

1981

  1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
  2. Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
  3. Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
  4. Scanners (David Cronenberg)
  5. Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan)
  6. My Dinner With Andre (Louis Malle)
  7. Gregory's Girl (Bill Forsyth)
  8. The Woman Next Door (Francois Truffaut)
  9. Escape from New York (John Carpenter)
  10. Ms. 45 (Abel Ferrara)

Runners up: The Beyond (Lucio Fulci), Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan), Southern Comfort (Walter Hill), Superman II (Richard Donner, Richard Lester), Tim Bandits (Terry Gilliam)

1980

  1. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
  2. The Big Red One (Samuel Fuller)
  3. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
  4. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner)
  5. The Stunt Man (Richard Rush)
  6. The Elephant Man (David Lynch)
  7. Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma)
  8. Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa)
  9. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker)
  10. The Blues Brothers (John Landis)

Runners up: Cruising (William Friedkin), The Falls (Peter Greenaway), The Fog (John Carpenter), Gloria (John Cassavetes), Inferno (Dario Argento), The Last Metro (Francois Truffaut), The Long Riders (Walter Hill), Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme), Popeye (Robert Altman)

1979

  1. Manhattan (Woody Allen)
  2. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
  3. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky)
  4. The Warriors (Walter Hill)
  5. The Brood (David Cronenberg)
  6. Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog)
  7. Alien (Ridley Scott)
  8. Escape from Alcatraz (Don Siegel)
  9. The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
  10. Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer)

Runners up: All That Jazz (Bob Fosse), The Jerk (Carl Reiner), The Muppet Movie (James Frawley), Murder by Decree (Bob Clark), Real Life (Albert Brooks), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (Jeff Margolis), Rock 'n' Roll High School (Allan Arkush), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Robert Wise), The Wanderers (Philip Kaufman)

1978

  1. Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett)
  2. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick)
  3. Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero)
  4. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Ermanno Olmi)
  5. Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris)
  6. Halloween (John Carpenter)
  7. Martin (George A. Romero)
  8. The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese)
  9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman)
  10. Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-ping)

Runners up: Autumn Sonata (Ingmar Bergman), The Brinks Job (William Friedkin), The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Fred Schepisi), Filming Othello (Orson Welles), Fingers (James Toback), The Fury (Brian De Palma), Heroes of the East (Liu Chia-Liang), Interiors (Woody Allen), National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis), Superman (Richard Donner)

1977

  1. That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Bunuel)
  2. Star Wars (George Lucas)
  3. Eraserhead (David Lynch)
  4. 3 Women (Robert Altman)
  5. Sorcerer (William Friedkin)
  6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg)
  7. Suspiria (Dario Argento)
  8. Rabid (David Cronenberg)
  9. The Devil, Probably (Robert Bresson)
  10. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)

Runners up: The American Friend (Wim Wenders), The Duellists (Ridley Scott), The Gauntlet (Clint Eastwood), Kentucky Fried Movie (John Landis), Mikey and Nicky (Elaine May)

1976

  1. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
  2. All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula)
  3. Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock)
  4. The Tenant (Roman Polanski)
  5. Carrie (Brian De Palma)
  6. Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter)
  7. Small Change (Francois Truffaut)
  8. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes)
  9. The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood)
  10. Mikey and Nicky (Elaine May)

Runners up: Alice, Sweet Alice (Alfred Sole), Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (Ruggero Deodato), Love and Death (Woody Allen), Master of the Flying Guillotine (Jimmy Wang Yu), Network (Sidney Lumet), 1900 (Bernardo Bertolucci), Rocky (John G. Avildsen), The Shootist (Don Siegel)

1975

  1. The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni)
  2. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick)
  3. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
  4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman)
  5. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet)
  6. Fox and His Friends (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
  7. Nashville (Robert Altman)
  8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam)
  9. The Story of Adele H. (Francois Truffaut)
  10. Shivers (David Cronenberg)

Runners up: Deep Red (Dario Argento), The Eiger Sanction (Clint Eastwood), Farewell, My Lovely (Dick Richards), Grey Gardens (Albert Maysles, David Maysles), Hustle (Robert Aldrich) The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston), Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky) Night Moves (Arthur Penn), Numero Deux (Jean-Luc Godard), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir), Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (Chuck Jones)

1974

  1. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)
  2. Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
  3. Celine and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
  4. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
  5. The Phantom of Liberty (Luis Bunuel)
  6. Lancelot du Lac (Robert Bresson)
  7. Amarcord (Federico Fellini)
  8. Cockfighter (Monte Hellman)
  9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah)
  10. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)

Runners up: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese), Black Christmas (Bob Clark), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Werner Herzog), Female Trouble (John Waters), The Gambler (Karel Reisz), Parade (Jacques Tati), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Michael Cimino), The Traveler (Abbas Kiarostami)

1973

  1. F for Fake (Orson Welles)
  2. The Exorcist (William Friedkin)
  3. The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman)
  4. Badlands (Terrence Malick)
  5. Sisters (Brian De Palma)
  6. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese)
  7. High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood)
  8. Day for Night (Francois Truffaut)
  9. Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse)
  10. Charley Varrick (Don Siegel)

Runners up: Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg), O Lucky Man! (Lindsay Anderson), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah), Sleeper (Woody Allen), The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice), The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy)

1972

  1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
  2. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Bunuel)
  3. Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock)
  4. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
  5. Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman)
  6. The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May)
  7. Last Tango in Paris (Bernardo Bertolucci)
  8. Un Flic (Jean-Pierre Melville)
  9. Images (Robert Altman)
  10. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky)

Runners up: Junior Bonner (Sam Peckinpah), Fat City (John Huston), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), The Ruling Class (Peter Medak), Bad Company (Robert Benton), Chloe in the Afternoon (Eric Rohmer)

1971

  1. Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman)
  2. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick)
  3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman)
  4. The French Connection (William Friedkin)
  5. Whity (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
  6. Macbeth (Roman Polanski)
  7. Claire's Knee (Eric Rohmer)
  8. Duel (Steven Spielberg)
  9. Dirty Harry (Don Siegel)
  10. Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah)

Runners up: Bananas (Woody Allen), The Beguiled (Don Siegel), Beware of a Holy Whore (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), Duck, You Sucker (Sergio Leone), The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda), The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich), The Little Theater of Jean Renoir (Jean Renoir), The Merchant of Four Seasons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), A New Leaf (Elaine May), Play Misty for Me (Clint Eastwood), Twitch of the Death Nerve (Mario Bava)

1970

  1. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci)
  2. Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville)
  3. The Wild Child (Francois Truffaut)
  4. Hi, Mom! (Brian De Palma)
  5. Pioneers in Ingolstadt (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
  6. Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin)
  7. Two Mules for Sister Sara (Don Siegel)
  8. Companeros (Sergio Corbucci)
  9. Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Mario Bava)
  10. Le Boucher (Claude Chabrol)

Runners up: The Clowns (Federico Fellini), Rio Lobo (Howard Hawks), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer), Tristana (Luis Bunuel), El Topo (Alexandro Jodorowsky), The Lickerish Quartet (Radley Metzger), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Billy Wilder), Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

1969

  1. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone)
  2. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
  3. Burn! (Gillo Pontecorvo)
  4. A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
  5. Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville)
  6. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Dario Argento)
  7. Topaz (Alfred Hitchcock)
  8. Blind Beast (Yasuzo Masumura)
  9. Take the Money and Run (Woody Allen)
  10. Kes (Ken Loach)

Runners up: Double Suicide (Masahiro Shinoda), The Milky Way (Luis Bunuel)

1968

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
  2. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero)
  3. The Immortal Story (Orson Welles)
  4. Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman)
  5. The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci)
  6. Signs of Life (Werner Herzog)
  7. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski)
  8. Targets (Peter Bogdanovich)
  9. Danger: Diabolik (Mario Bava)
  10. Coogan's Bluff (Don Siegel)

Runners up: The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci), The Producers (Mel Brooks), Petulia (Richard Lester), The Bride Wore Black (Francois Truffaut), Stolen Kisses (Francois Truffaut), If... (Lindsay Anderson), Fando & Lis (Alejandro Jodorowsky)

1967

  1. Playtime (Jacques Tati)
  2. Belle de Jour (Luis Bunuel)
  3. El Dorado (Howard Hawks)
  4. Point Blank (John Boorman)
  5. Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville)
  6. Two for the Road (Stanley Donen)
  7. Mouchette (Robert Bresson)
  8. The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy)
  9. Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard)
  10. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn)

Runners up: A Countess from Hong Kong (Charles Chaplin), Bedazzled (Stanley Donen), Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg), The Firemen's Ball (Milos Forman), The Sorcerers (Michael Reeves)

1966

  1. Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles)
  2. Persona (Ingmar Bergman)
  3. Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
  4. The Shooting (Monte Hellman)
  5. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (Sergio Leone)
  6. 7 Women (John Ford)
  7. Kill, Baby... Kill! (Mario Bava)
  8. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo)
  9. Closely Watched Trains (Jiri Menzel)
  10. Django (Sergio Corbucci)

Runners up: Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky), Black Girl (Ousmane Sembene), Blow-Up (Michelangelo Antonioni), Daisies (Vera Chytilova), Made in U.S.A. (Jean-Luc Godard), Masculin-Feminin (Jean-Luc Godard), Torn Curtain (Alfred Hitchcock)

1965

  1. Simon of the Desert (Luis Bunuel)
  2. Pierrot le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard)
  3. Repulsion (Roman Polanski)
  4. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone)
  5. Ride in the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman)
  6. Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (Russ Meyer)
  7. Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard)
  8. Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah)
  9. Red Beard (Akira Kurosawa)
  10. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava)

Runners up: Shadows of Forgotten Anscestors (Sergei Parajanov), Fists in the Pocket (Marco Bellocchio), The Collector (William Wyler), The Flight of the Phoenix (Robert Aldrich)

1964

  1. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  2. Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard)
  3. Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava)
  4. A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester)
  5. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick)
  6. Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni)
  7. Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock)
  8. Spider Baby (Jack Hill)
  9. A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone)
  10. Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton)

Runners up: I Am Cuba (Mijail Kalatozov), The Killers (Don Siegel), Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi), Man's Favorite Sport? (Howard Hawks), The Masque of the Red Death (Roger Corman), The Tomb of Ligeia (Roger Corman), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)

1963

  1. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard)
  2. The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock)
  3. Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller)
  4. High and Low (Akira Kurosawa)
  5. The Leopard (Luchino Visconti)
  6. 8 ½ (Federico Fellini)
  7. Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman)
  8. Charade (Stanley Donen)
  9. The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis)
  10. Donovan's Reef (John Ford)

Runners up: Black Sabbath (Mario Bava), From Russia with Love (Terence Young), The Haunting (Robert Wise), The House Is Black (Forugh Farrokhzad), The Servant (Joseph Losey), The Silence (Ingmar Bergman), The Whip and the Body (Mario Bava), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Vittorio De Sica)

1962

  1. L'eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni)
  2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford)
  3. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Bunuel)
  4. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
  5. The Trial (Orson Welles)
  6. Hatari! (Howard Hawks)
  7. The Trial of Joan of Arc (Robert Bresson)
  8. An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu)
  9. Lolita (Stanley Kubrick)
  10. Vivra sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard)

Runners up: Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey), Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda), Dr. No (Terence Young), Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi), The Intruder (Roger Cormam), La Jetée (Chris Marker), Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski), The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer), Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah), Two Weeks in Another Town (Vincente Minnelli)

1961

  1. Viridiana (Luis Bunuel)
  2. The End of Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
  3. Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais)
  4. A Woman Is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard)
  5. The Hustler (Robert Rossen)
  6. Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa)
  7. One, Two, Three (Billy Wilder)
  8. The Ladies Man (Jerry Lewis)
  9. Hercules in the Haunted World (Mario Bava)
  10. Underworld, U.S.A. (Samuel Fuller)

Runners up: Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards), The Exiles (Kent MacKenzie), The Innocents (Jack Clayton), Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut), La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni), One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando), The Steamroller and the Violin (Andrei Tarkovsky)

1960

  1. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
  2. L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni)
  3. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)
  4. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)
  5. Black Sunday (Mario Bava)
  6. The Bellboy (Jerry Lewis)
  7. Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher)
  8. Peeping Tom (Michael Powell)
  9. The Lady with the Dog (Iosif Heifits)
  10. Shoot the Piano Player (Francois Truffaut)

Runners up: The Apartment (Billy Wilder), Les Bonnes Femmes (Claude Chabrol), Late Autumn (Yasujiro Ozu), Peeping Tom (Michael Powell), Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti), Sergeant Rutledge (John Ford), Le Trou (Jacques Becker), The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse)

1959

  1. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks)
  2. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson)
  3. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
  4. Good Morning (Yasujiro Ozu)
  5. Ride Lonesome (Budd Boetticher)
  6. The Tiger of Eschnapur/The Indian Tomb (Fritz Lang)
  7. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut)
  8. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder)
  9. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk)
  10. The Crimson Kimono (Samuel Fuller)

Runners up: Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger), A Bucket of Blood (Roger Corman), Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu), The Hound of the Baskervilles (Terence Fisher), Jazz on a Summer's Day (Aram Avakian, Bert Stern), Nazarin (Luis Bunuel), Plan 9 from Outer Space (Edward D. Wood, Jr.), Shadows (John Cassavetes), The Tingler (William Castle), Westbound (Budd Boetticher), The World of Apu (Satyajit Ray)

1958

  1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
  2. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
  3. Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati)
  4. The Lineup (Don Siegel)
  5. Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda)
  6. Man of the West (Anthony Mann)
  7. The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa)
  8. The Last Hurrah (John Ford)
  9. Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli)
  10. Giants and Toys (Yasuzo Masumura)

Runners up: Murder by Contract (Irving Lerner), Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu), Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle), Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher), Buchanan Rides Alone (Budd Boetticher)

1957

  1. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
  2. The Tarnished Angels (Douglas Sirk)
  3. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
  4. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick)
  5. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)
  6. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa)
  7. Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur)
  8. A King in New York (Charles Chaplin)
  9. Forty Guns (Samuel Fuller)
  10. The Tall T (Budd Boetticher)

Runners up: An Affair to Remember (Leo McCarey), Decision at Sundown (Budd Boetticher), Funny Face (Stanley Donen), The Halliday Brand (Joseph H. Lewis), Jet Pilot (Josef von Sternberg), Nightfall (Jacques Tourneur), Tokyo Twilight (Yasujiro Ozu), 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet), What's Opera, Doc? (Chuck Jones), The Wide Blue Road (Gillo Pontecorvo), Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin), Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder)

1956

  1. The Searchers (John Ford)
  2. Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray)
  3. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
  4. The Killing (Stanley Kubrick)
  5. Seven Men from Now (Budd Boetticher)
  6. Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk)
  7. While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang)
  8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel)
  9. The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock)
  10. The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin)

Runners up: Aparajito (Satyajit Ray), Bob le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville), Early Spring (Yasujiro Ozu), Giant (George Stevens), The Mystery of Picasso (Henri-Georges Clouzot), The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse), Slightly Scarlet (Allan Dwan), The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille)

1955

  1. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
  2. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  3. Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray)
  4. The Trouble with Harry (Alfred Hitchcock)
  5. The Man from Laramie (Anthony Mann)
  6. Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles)
  7. All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk)
  8. Land of the Pharaohs (Howard Hawks)
  9. The Naked Dawn (Edgar G. Ulmer)
  10. Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges)

Runners up: Il Bidone (Federico Fellini), Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot), East of Eden (Elia Kazan), Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich), The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick), Lola Montes (Max Ophuls), Moonfleet (Fritz Lang), Night and Fog (Alain Resnais), One Froggy Evening (Chuck Jones), Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray), The Phenix City Story (Phil Karlson), Rififi (Jules Dassin), Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman), Wichita (Jacques Tourneur)

1954

  1. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)
  2. The Far Country (Anthony Mann)
  3. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
  4. Voyage to Italy (Roberto Rossellini)
  5. Senso (Luchino Visconti)
  6. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
  7. La Strada (Federico Fellini)
  8. Beat the Devil (John Huston)
  9. Crime Wave (Andre de Toth)
  10. Vera Cruz (Robert Aldrich)

Runners up: The Barefoot Contessa (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Godzilla (Ishiro Honda), Human Desire (Fritz Lang), It Should Happen to You (George Cukor), Private Hell 36 (Don Siegel), Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi), A Story from Chikamatsu (Kenji Mizoguchi), Touchez Pas au Grisbi (Jacques Becker)

1953

  1. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
  2. The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann)
  3. Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller)
  4. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks)
  5. The Earrings of Madame de... (Max Ophuls)
  6. The Big Heat (Fritz Lang)
  7. Mr. Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati)
  8. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi)
  9. The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli)
  10. Roman Holiday (William Wyler)

Runners up: Anatahan (Josef von Sternberg), The Blue Gardenia (Fritz Lang), Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones), House of Wax (Andre de Toth), Little Fugitive (Ray Ashley, Morris Engel), Mogambo (John Ford), Niagara (Henry Hathaway), 99 River Street (Phil Karlson), The Sun Shines Bright (John Ford), The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot)

1952

  1. Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)
  2. Park Row (Samuel Fuller)
  3. Othello (Orson Welles)
  4. The Quiet Man (John Ford)
  5. Limelight (Charles Chaplin)
  6. Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang)
  7. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
  8. Le Plaisir (Max Ophuls)
  9. Bend of the River (Anthony Mann)
  10. Monkey Business (Howard Hawks)

Runners up: The Big Sky (Howard Hawks), The Bad and the Beautiful (Vincente Minnelli), Casque d'or (Jacques Becker), Clash by Night (Fritz Lang), Feed the Kitty (Chuck Jones), Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952), The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir), The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi), Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica), The White Sheik (Federico Fellini)

1951

  1. Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
  2. The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller)
  3. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
  4. An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli)
  5. Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
  6. The River (Jean Renoir)
  7. The Thing from Another World (Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks)
  8. The Tales of Hoffmann (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
  9. On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray)
  10. The Lavender Hill Mob (Charles Crichton)

Runners up: Captain Horatio Hornblower (Raoul Walsh), A Christmas Carol (Brian Desmond-Hurst), Man in the Saddle (Andre de Toth), The Man in the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick), Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (Albert Lewin), The Prowler (Joseph Losey)

1950

  1. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
  2. Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann)
  3. Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis)
  4. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa)
  5. Los Olvidados (Luis Bunuel)
  6. La Ronde (Max Ophuls)
  7. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
  8. Wagon Master (John Ford)
  9. Story of a Love Affair (Michelangelo Antonioni)
  10. All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

Runners up: The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston), Un Chant d'amour (Jean Genet), Devil's Doorway (Anthony Mann), D.O.A. (Rudolph Maté), The Furies (Anthony Mann), The Gunfighter (Henry King), House by the River (Fritz Lang), Rabbit of Seville (Chuck Jones), Rio Grande (John Ford), Variety Lights (Federico Fellini, Alberto Lattuada)

1949

  1. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu)
  2. White Heat (Raoul Walsh)
  3. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (John Ford)
  4. Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer)
  5. The Third Man (Carol Reed)
  6. Caught (Max Ophuls)
  7. Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa)
  8. Jour de Fete (Jacques Tati)
  9. I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller)
  10. I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks)

Runners up: Border Incident (Anthony Mann), The Reckless Moment (Max Ophuls), The Set-Up (Robert Wise), Thieves' Highway (Jules Dassin), Under Capricorn (Alfred Hitchcock)

1948

  1. The Red Shoes (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
  2. The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles)
  3. Red River (Howard Hawks)
  4. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock)
  5. Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
  6. He Walked by Night (Alfred Werker, Anthony Mann)
  7. Moonrise (Frank Borzage)
  8. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica)
  9. Macbeth (Orson Welles)
  10. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)

Runners up: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Charles Barton) Force of Evil (Abraham Polonsky), Fort Apache (John Ford), Germany Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini), Hamlet (Laurence Olivier), Louisiana Story (Robert J. Flaherty), Oliver Twist (David Lean), Raw Deal (Anthony Mann), La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti), They Live by Night (Nicholas Ray)

1947

  1. Monsieur Verdoux (Charles Chaplin)
  2. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur)
  3. Black Narcissus (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
  4. T-Men (Anthony Mann)
  5. The Fugitive (John Ford)
  6. Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton)
  7. Secret Beyond the Door (Fritz Lang)
  8. Dark Passage (Delmer Daves)
  9. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
  10. Pursued (Raoul Walsh)

Runners up: The Cat Concerto (Joseph Barbera, William Hanna), The Devil Thumbs a Ride (Felix Feist), A Double Life (George Cukor), King-Size Canary (Tex Avery), Nightmare Alley (Edmund Goulding), Quai des Orfèvres (Henri-Georges Clouzot), Railroaded! (Anthony Mann)

1946

  1. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
  2. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
  3. My Darling Clementine (John Ford)
  4. It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
  5. Great Expectations (David Lean)
  6. A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
  7. The Killers (Robert Siodmak)
  8. Gilda (Charles Vidor)
  9. Paisan (Roberto Rossellini)
  10. The Stranger (Orson Welles)

Runners up: La Belle et la Bete (Jean Cocteau), The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler), Northwest Hounded Police (Tex Avery), Bedlam (Mark Robson),

1945

  1. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer)
  2. Brief Encounter (David Lean)
  3. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne)
  4. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
  5. I Know Where I'm Going (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
  6. Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti/Basil Dearden/Charles Crichton/Robert Hamer)
  7. The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise)
  8. The Clock (Vincente Minnelli)
  9. Les Dames du Bois de Boulongne (Robert Bresson)
  10. The Southerner (Jean Renoir)

Runners up: Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson), Falbalas (Jacques Becker), Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock), They Were Expendable (John Ford)

1944

  1. Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
  2. To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks)
  3. The Curse of the Cat People (Robert Wise)
  4. Bluebeard (Edgar G. Ulmer)
  5. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges)
  6. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
  7. When Strangers Marry (William Castle)
  8. Laura (Otto Preminger)
  9. Lifeboat (Alfred Hitchcock)
  10. The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang)

Runners up: Dark Waters (Andre de Toth), Gaslight (George Cukor), Mademoiselle Fifi (Robert Wise), The Three Caballeros (Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi), Screwball Squirrel (Tex Avery)

1943

  1. I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur)
  2. Day of Wrath (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  3. The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur)
  4. The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson)
  5. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren)
  6. Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)
  7. Ossessione (Luchino Visconti)
  8. Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch)
  9. Journey Into Fear (Norman Foster)
  10. Air Force (Howard Hawks)

Runners up: The Ox-Bow Incident (Robert Stevenson), Jane Eyre (William A. Seiter), Sahara (Zoltan Korda), A Lady Takes a Chance (William A. Seiter), Son of Dracula (Robert Siodmak), Who Killed Who? (Tex Avery)

1942

  1. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
  2. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur)
  3. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
  4. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges)
  5. To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
  6. Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock)
  7. Woman of the Year (George Stevens)
  8. The Major and the Minor (Billy Wilder)
  9. Bambi (David Hand)
  10. You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter)

Runners up: There Was a Father (Yasujiro Ozu), Saludos Amigos (Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney)

1941

  1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
  2. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)
  3. Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks)
  4. Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen)
  5. How Green Was My Valley (John Ford)
  6. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
  7. Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges)
  8. High Sierra (Raoul Walsh)
  9. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Alfred Hitchcock)
  10. Man Hunt (Fritz Lang)

Runners up: The Shanghai Gesture (Josef von Sternberg), The Wolf Man (George Waggner), The Devil and Daniel Webster (William Dieterle), Superman (Dave Fliescher)

1940

  1. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)
  2. The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford)
  3. Fantasia (Ben Sharpsteen)
  4. Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock)
  5. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch)
  6. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
  7. The Bank Dick (Edward F. Cline)
  8. Christmas in July (Preston Sturges)
  9. They Drive by Night (Raoul Walsh)
  10. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor)

Runners up: Broadway Melody of 1940 (Norman Taurog), Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock), The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges), The Invisible Man Returns (Joe May), The Long Voyage Home (John Ford), Pinocchio (Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen), The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang), The Sea Hawk (Michael Curtiz), The Thief of Bagdad (Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan)

1939

  1. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
  2. Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford)
  3. Stagecoach (John Ford)
  4. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (Kenji Mizoguchi)
  5. Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch)
  6. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
  7. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming)
  8. Miracles for Sale (Tod Browning)
  9. Gunga Din (George Stevens)
  10. Gulliver's Travels (Dave Fleischer)

Runners up: Another Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke), Dark Victory (Edmund Goulding), Destry Rides Again (George Marshall), Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming), The Hound of the Bakservilles (Sidney Lanfield), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra), Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee), The Women (George Cukor)

1938

  1. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)
  2. Holiday (George Cukor)
  3. The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
  4. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz)
  5. You Can't Take It with You (Frank Capra)
  6. La Bete Humaine (Jean Renoir)
  7. Pygmalion (Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard)
  8. Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Eisenstein)
  9. Three Comrades (Frank Borzage)
  10. Room Service (William A. Seiter)

Runners up: n/a

1937

  1. La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir)
  2. Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey)
  3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell, David Hand)
  4. You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang)
  5. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
  6. The Hurricane (John Ford)
  7. A Day at the Races (Sam Wood)
  8. Young and Innocent (Alfred Hitchcock)
  9. Stage Door (Gregory La Cava)
  10. A Damsel in Distress (George Stevens)

Runners up: Nothing Sacred (William Wellman), Heidi (Allan Dwan), Way Out West (James W. Horne), Marked Woman (Lloyd Bacon)

1936

  1. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin)
  2. A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir)
  3. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Jean Renoir)
  4. Swing Time (George Stevens)
  5. Desire (Frank Borzage)
  6. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava)
  7. Camille (George Cukor)
  8. After the Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke)
  9. Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock)
  10. The Devil Doll (Tod Browning)

Runners up: Ceiling Zero (Howard Hawks), The Milky Way (Leo McCarey), The Only Son (Yasujiro Ozu), Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell), Secret Agent (Alfred Hitchcock), Show Boat (James Whale), Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich), Fury (Fritz Lang), Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (Dave Fleischer)

1935

  1. Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale)
  2. The Devil Is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg)
  3. Top Hat (Mark Sandrich)
  4. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood)
  5. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
  6. Anna Karenina (Clarence Brown)
  7. Mark of the Vampire (Tod Browning)
  8. The Informer (John Ford)
  9. Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz)
  10. Mad Love (Karl Freund)

Runners up: Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks), The Good Fairy (William Wyler), The Raven (Louis Friedlander), Sylvia Scarlett (George Cukor), Legong: Dance of the Virgins (Henri de la Falaise)

1934

  1. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo)
  2. The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer)
  3. The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke)
  4. Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks)
  5. A Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
  6. The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg)
  7. Judge Priest (John Ford)
  8. It's a Gift (Norman Z. McLeod)
  9. Tarzan and His Mate (Cedric Gibbons)
  10. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)

Runners up: The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock), The Lost Patrol (John Ford), The Goddess (Yonggang Wu)

1933

  1. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
  2. King Kong (Merian C. Cooper/Ernest B. Schoedsack)
  3. Zero for Conduct (Jean Vigo)
  4. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
  5. Baby Face (Alfred E. Green)
  6. The Invisible Man (James Whale)
  7. Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian)
  8. 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon)
  9. Footlight Parade (Lloyd Bacon)
  10. Ecstasy (Gustav Machaty)

Runners up: Little Women (George Cukor), Dinner at Eight (George Cukor), Counsellor at Law (William Wyler), Hallelujah I'm a Bum (Lewis Milestone), Design for Living (Ernst Lubitsch), Lady for a Day (Frank Capra), Gabriel over the White House (Gregory La Cava)

1932

  1. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)
  2. The Old Dark House (James Whale)
  3. I Was Born, But... (Yasujiro Ozu)
  4. Scarface (Howard Hawks)
  5. Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  6. Freaks (Tod Browning)
  7. Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg)
  8. The Mummy (Karl Freund)
  9. Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding)
  10. Tarzan the Ape Man (W.S. Van Dyke)

Runners up: Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton), The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack), The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, Charles Vidor), Red Dust (Victor Fleming), White Zombie (Victor Halperin), Liebelei (Max Ophuls), Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian), The Music Box (James Parrott)

1931

  1. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
  2. M (Fritz Lang)
  3. Tabu (F.W. Murnau/Robert J. Flaherty)
  4. La Chienne (Jean Renoir)
  5. The Criminal Code (Howard Hawks)
  6. Dracula (Tod Browning)
  7. The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch)
  8. Frankenstein (James Whale)
  9. Waterloo Bridge (James Whale)
  10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian)

Runners up: Rich and Strange (Alfred Hitchcock), Night Nurse (William Wellman), The Public Enemy (William Wellman), À Nous la Liberté (René Clair), Taris (Jean Vigo), Tokyo Chorus (Yasujiro Ozu), Platinum Blonde (Frank Capra)

1930

  1. L'Age d'Or (Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dali)
  2. Earth (Alexander Dovzhenko)
  3. Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)
  4. People on Sunday (Edgar G. Ulmer, Robert Siodmak, etc.)
  5. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
  6. City Girl (F.W. Murnau)
  7. The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg)
  8. Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
  9. Anna Christie (Clarence Brown)
  10. The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard)

Runners up: Under the Roofs of Paris (Rene Clair), The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh), The Golf Specialist (Monte Brice)

1929

  1. Pandora's Box (G.W. Pabst)
  2. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
  3. Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dali)
  4. Diary of a Lost Girl (G.W. Pabst)
  5. Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang)
  6. Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock)
  7. The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan)
  8. In Old Arizona (Raoul Walsh)
  9. Piccadilly (E.A. Dupont)
  10. Queen Kelly (Erich von Stroheim)

Runners up: Captain Fracasse (Alberto Cavalcanti, Henry Wulschleger), Erotikon (Gustav Machatay), Hallelujah! (King Vidor), Asphalt (Joe May), The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch), The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney),

  • A Throw of Dice (Franz Osten), Hell's Bells (Walt Disney)

    1928

    1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
    2. Steamboat Bill Jr. (Charles F. Reisner, Buster Keaton)
    3. Spies (Fritz Lang)
    4. The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg)
    5. The Circus (Charles Chaplin)
    6. The Cameraman (Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton)
    7. Street Angel (Frank Borzage)
    8. The Man Who Laughs (Paul Leni)
    9. The Crowd (King Vidor)
    10. The Chaser (Harry Langdon)

    Runners up: Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo), The Italian Straw Hat (Rene Clair), Show People (King Vidor), The Patsy (King Vidor), Lonesome (Paul Fejos), The Garden of Eden (Lewis Milestone), Laugh, Clown, Laugh (Herbert Brenon)

    1927

    1. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau)
    2. The General (Buster Keaton)
    3. Napoleon (Abel Gance)
    4. The Unknown (Tod Browning)
    5. The Student Prince at Old Heidelberg (Ernst Lubitsch)
    6. Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
    7. Seventh Heaven (Frank Borzage)
    8. Three's a Crowd (Harry Langdon)
    9. The Cat and the Canary (Paul Leni)
    10. The Kid Brother (Ted Wilde, J.A. Howe, Harold Lloyd)

    Runners up: Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown), Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Walter Ruttmann), It (Clarence Badger), The Ring (Alfred Hitchcock), College (Buster Keaton), Long Pants (Frank Capra)

    1926

    1. Faust (F.W. Murnau)
    2. So This Is Paris (Ernst Lubitsch)
    3. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Lotte Reiniger)
    4. The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice)
    5. The Temptress (Fred Niblo)
    6. Bardelys the Magnificent (King Vidor)
    7. Sparrows (William Beaudine)
    8. The Strong Man (Frank Capra)
    9. Miss Mend (Boris Barnet, Fyodor Otsep)
    10. The Black Pirate (Albert Parker)

    Runners up: Battling Butler (Buster Keaton), Mantrap (Victor Fleming)

    1925

    1. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin)
    2. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
    3. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein)
    4. The Freshman (Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, Harold Lloyd)
    5. Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch)
    6. The Unholy Three (Tod Browning)
    7. Tartuffe (F.W. Murnau)
    8. Go West (Buster Keaton)
    9. Sally of the Sawdust (D.W. Griffith)
    10. The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian)

    Runners up: Strike (Sergei Eisenstein), Clash of the Wolves (Noel Mason Smith), Grass (Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack), The Eagle (Clarence Brown), Don Q Son of Zorro (Donald Crisp), Tumbleweeds (King Baggott)

    1924

    1. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton)
    2. Greed (Erich von Stroheim)
    3. The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh)
    4. Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang)
    5. The Navigator (Buster Keaton)
    6. The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau)
    7. Girl Shy (Harold Lloyd)
    8. Michael (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
    9. The Marriage Circle (Ernst Lubitsch)
    10. Waxworks (Paul Leni)

    Runners up: He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Victor Sjöström), Entr'acte (Rene Clair), Finances of the Grand Duke (F.W. Murnau)

    1923

    1. A Woman of Paris (Charles Chaplin)
    2. Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
    3. Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton)
    4. The Pilgrim (Charles Chaplin)
    5. La Roue (Abel Gance)
    6. The Three Ages (Buster Keaton)
    7. Merry-Go-Round (Rupert Julian, Erich von Stroheim)
    8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Wallace Worsley)
    9. Felix in Hollywood (Otto Messmer)
    10. Alice's Wonderland (Walt Disney)

    Runners up: n/a

    1922

    1. Foolish Wives (Erich von Stroheim)
    2. Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau)
    3. Robin Hood (Allan Dwan)
    4. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (Fritz Lang)
    5. Nanook of the North (Robert J. Flaherty)
    6. Grandma's Boy (Harold Lloyd)
    7. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen)
    8. Phantom (F.W. Murnau)
    9. Oliver Twist (Frank Lloyd)
    10. Othello (Dmitri Buchowetzki)

    Runners up: Monte Cristo (Emmett J. Flynn), Beyond the Rocks (Sam Wood), Blood and Sand (Fred Niblo), The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin)

    1920-21

    1. The Kid (Charles Chaplin)
    2. Way Down East (D.W. Griffith)
    3. The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch)
    4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene)
    5. The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöström)
    6. Orphans of the Storm (D.W. Griffith)
    7. The Mark of Zorro (Fred Niblo)
    8. The Penalty (Wallace Worsley)
    9. The Sheik (George Melford)
    10. The Parson's Widow (Carl Theodor Dreyer)

    Runners up: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John S. Robertson), Suds (Jack Dillon), The Golem (Carl Boese, Paul Wegener), The Three Musketeers (Fred Niblo), The Haunted Castle (F.W. Murnau), The Blot (Lois Weber)

    1895-1919

    1. Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915)
    2. Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916)
    3. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith, 1919)
    4. Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916)
    5. The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903)
    6. Fantomas (Louis Feuillade, 1913)
    7. J'Accuse (Abel Gance, 1916)
    8. Regeneration (Raoul Walsh, 1915)
    9. Spiders (Fritz Lang, 1919)
    10. A Trip to the Moon (Georges Melies, 1902)

    Runners up: Gertie the Dinosaur (Winsor McCay), The Cameraman's Revenge (Wladyslaw Starewicz), The Immigrant (Charles Chaplin), One A.M. (Charles Chaplin), Shoulder Arms (Charles Chaplin), Kid Auto Races at Venice (Henry Lehrman), The Dragon Painter (William Worthington), Blind Husbands (Erich von Stroheim), The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch)

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