My favourite movies (ranked)
This is a personal selection, so does not include some great classics that I think are outstanding but would not be part of my "desert island" choice, e.g. Citizen Kane, M, Potemkine, etc.
Listed roughly by preference (1 = preferred).
Listed roughly by preference (1 = preferred).
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50 titles
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKazuo HasegawaKyôko KagawaEitarô ShindôIshun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsOmero AntonuttiSaverio MarconiMarcella MichelangeliThe son of a shepherd embarks in the quest of emancipating himself from a tough lifestyle that his condition and his father force on him.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiClaude DauphinThree gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque France.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsImelda StauntonJim BroadbentHeather CraneyAbortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain--a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinJacqueline LaurentArlettyAfter committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseMichael PalinBorn on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaMariko OkadaA widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsLana TurnerJohn GavinSandra DeeAn aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsMania AkbariAmina MaherKamran AdlA visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsCarmela SazioGar MooreWilliam TubbsAmerican military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûShima IwashitaKeiji SadaAn aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsRuggero RaimondiJohn MacurdyEdda MoserMozart's opera in lush sets: Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, kills Donna Anna's father. He is then chased by Donna Anna's fiancé, Don Ottavio, as well as Donna Elvira, one of his former conquests. But the real threat lies elsewhere.
- DirectorTengiz AbuladzeStarsAvtandil MakharadzeZeinab BotsvadzeIa NinidzeVarlam, the despotic mayor of a small town, dies. After his funeral, his body is repeatedly unearthed and buried again. Through flashbacks and dreamlike scenes, we witness his rise, power and ambiguities.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsCharles BoyerDanielle DarrieuxVittorio De SicaWhen an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsNarutoshi HayashiRaizô IchikawaTatsuya IshiguroAfter his father is not rewarded for his military achievements, Taira Kiyomori rebels against the court and the monks who rule the country. He also falls in love with Tokiko and discovers unsettling revelations about his parentage.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
- DirectorSergei ParajanovStarsIvan MikolaychukLarisa KadochnikovaTatyana BestayevaA timeless Carpathian story - the young Ivan falls in love with the daughter of his father's killer among the Hutsul people of Ukraine.
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichJohn LodgeSam JaffeA German noblewoman enters into a loveless marriage with the dim-witted, unstable heir to the Russian throne, then plots to oust him from power.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsJames MasonAva GardnerNigel PatrickA seductive woman falls in love with a mysterious ship's captain.
- DirectorGianfranco De BosioStarsRaina KabaivanskaPlácido DomingoSherrill MilnesPuccini's opera shot in the actual locations of the action in Rome: Tosca and Cavaradossi are in love, but the tyrant Scarpia also longs for Tosca. While searching for an opponent on the run, he arrests Cavaradossi and blackmails Tosca.
- DirectorPeter WebberStarsScarlett JohanssonColin FirthTom WilkinsonA young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
- DirectorRaymond DepardonStarsSandrine BonnaireDobi KoréFadi TahaA Frenchwoman is taken hostage by an African tribe for months - can she escape ?
- CreatorDavid SimonStarsDominic WestLance ReddickSonja SohnThe Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsGregory PeckRichard BasehartLeo GennThe sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsRock HudsonLauren BacallRobert StackAlcoholic playboy Kyle Hadley marries the woman secretly loved by his poor but hard-working best friend, who in turn is pursued by Kyle's nymphomaniac sister.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyCatherine Zeta-JonesBilly Bob ThorntonMiles, a high-profile divorce lawyer, wins a case for his rich but adulterous client Rex Rexroth. But Rex's ex-wife, Marylin, who is no saint and is a gold-digger, plots to take revenge on Miles.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLaurence OlivierMichael CaineAlec CawthorneA man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsMarcello MastroianniJeanne MoreauGregory Patrick KarrA reporter stuck in a border town with an overcrowding of refugees sees a man he believes to be a long lost politician.
- StarsColin FirthJennifer EhleSusannah HarkerWhile the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
- DirectorRúnar RúnarssonStarsSigurmar AlbertssonBent Kingo AndersenSif ArnarsdóttirEveryday life in Iceland around Christmas time: 56 vignettes full of joy, sorrow and thought-provoking situations.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTeresa WrightJoseph CottenMacdonald CareyA teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
- DirectorTerry GilliamTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseEric IdleKing Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsDirk BogardeRomolo ValliMark BurnsWhile recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsMaksim MunzukYuriy SolominMikhail BychkovThe Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.
- 19641h 35mPG8.4 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsBrigitte BardotJack PalanceMichel PiccoliA French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.