Favorite Movies

Still from 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968

I have been maintaining a list of my favorite movies since my childhood in the 1980s. It is a list of movies that I love and that are close to my heart and my brain. This is the latest 2023 edition.

View this list on Letterboxd.

M (1931)
M
1931
D: Fritz Lang
C: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Gründgens
Shanghai Express (1932)
Shanghai Express
1932
D: Josef von Sternberg
C: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kane
1941
D: Orson Welles
C: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore
Double Indemnity (1944)
Double Indemnity
1944
D: Billy Wilder
C: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Detour (1945)
Detour
1945
D: Edgar G. Ulmer
C: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald
Out of the Past (1947)
Out of the Past
1947
D: Jacques Tourneur
C: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Ace in the Hole
1951
D: Billy Wilder
C: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Porter Hall
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Pickup on South Street
1953
D: Samuel Fuller
C: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter
Seven Samurai (1954)
Seven Samurai
1954
D: Akira Kurosawa
C: Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Toshirō Mifune
Diabolique (1955)
Diabolique
1955
D: Henri-Georges Clouzot
C: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly
1955
D: Robert Aldrich
C: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart
The Killing (1956)
The Killing
1956
D: Stanley Kubrick
C: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr.
12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Angry Men
1957
D: Sidney Lumet
C: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden
Paths of Glory (1957)
Paths of Glory
1957
D: Stanley Kubrick
C: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
Rio Bravo (1959)
Rio Bravo
1959
D: Howard Hawks
C: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
The Apartment (1960)
The Apartment
1960
D: Billy Wilder
C: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
Psycho (1960)
Psycho
1960
D: Alfred Hitchcock
C: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Yojimbo (1961)
Yojimbo
1961
D: Akira Kurosawa
C: Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Jules and Jim (1962)
Jules and Jim
1962
D: François Truffaut
C: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre
High and Low (1963)
High and Low
1963
D: Akira Kurosawa
C: Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyōko Kagawa
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
For a Few Dollars More
1965
D: Sergio Leone
C: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonté
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1966
D: Sergio Leone
C: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968
D: Stanley Kubrick
C: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968
D: Sergio Leone
C: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wild Bunch
1969
D: Sam Peckinpah
C: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
The Graduate (1967)
The Graduate
1967
D: Mike Nichols
C: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Midnight Cowboy
1969
D: John Schlesinger
C: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles
Vanishing Point (1971)
Vanishing Point
1971
D: Richard C. Sarafian
C: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger
The French Connection (1971)
The French Connection
1971
D: William Friedkin
C: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather
1972
D: Francis Ford Coppola
C: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Fat City (1972)
Fat City
1972
D: John Huston
C: Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Susan Tyrrell
Hickey & Boggs (1972)
Hickey & Boggs
1972
D: Robert Culp
C: Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, Rosalind Cash
Paper Moon (1973)
Paper Moon
1973
D: Peter Bogdanovich
C: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
The Conversation (1974)
The Conversation
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
C: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Cindy Williams
Chinatown (1974)
Chinatown
1974
D: Roman Polanski
C: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Mr. Majestyk
1974
D: Richard Fleischer
C: Charles Bronson, Al Lettieri, Linda Cristal
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Godfather: Part II
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
C: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Jaws (1975)
Jaws
1975
D: Steven Spielberg
C: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon
1975
D: Sidney Lumet
C: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning
Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver
1976
D: Martin Scorsese
C: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd
All the President's Men (1976)
All the President's Men
1976
D: Alan J. Pakula
C: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Mikey and Nicky
1976
D: Elaine May
C: Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty
Sorcerer (1977)
Sorcerer
1977
D: William Friedkin
C: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal
Days of Heaven (1978)
Days of Heaven
1978
D: Terrence Malick
C: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Apocalypse Now
1979
D: Francis Ford Coppola
C: Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando
Stalker (1979)
Stalker
1979
D: Andrei Tarkovsky
C: Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
The Shining (1980)
The Shining
1980
D: Stanley Kubrick
C: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Thief (1981)
Thief
1981
D: Michael Mann
C: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky
Possession (1981)
Possession
1981
D: Andrzej Żuławski
C: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981
D: Steven Spielberg
C: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner
1982
D: Ridley Scott
C: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
The Thing (1982)
The Thing
1982
D: John Carpenter
C: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter
White Dog (1982)
White Dog
1982
D: Samuel Fuller
C: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives
Scarface (1983)
Scarface
1983
D: Brian De Palma
C: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985
D: Paul Schrader
C: Ken Ogata, Gô Rijû, Masato Aizawa
Come and See (1985)
Come and See
1985
D: Elem Klimov
C: Aleksei Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
To Live and Die in L.A.
1985
D: William Friedkin
C: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow
Manhunter (1986)
Manhunter
1986
D: Michael Mann
C: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Dennis Farina
Predator (1987)
Predator
1987
D: John McTiernan
C: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo
Ödipussi (1988)
Ödipussi
1988
D: Vicco von Bülow
C: Vicco von Bülow, Evelyn Hamann, Katharina Brauren
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard
1988
D: John McTiernan
C: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988
D: David Zucker
C: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989
D: Steven Spielberg
C: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
1989
D: Jeremiah S. Chechik
C: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
The Hunt for Red October
1990
D: John McTiernan
C: Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Scott Glenn
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Miller's Crossing
1990
D: Joel Coen
C: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Jon Polito
Pappa ante Portas (1991)
Pappa ante Portas
1991
D: Vicco von Bülow
C: Vicco von Bülow, Evelyn Hamann, Ortrud Beginnen
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991
D: James Cameron
C: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Heat (1995)
Heat
1995
D: Michael Mann
C: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer
Fargo (1996)
Fargo
1996
D: Joel Coen
C: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
L.A. Confidential (1997)
L.A. Confidential
1997
D: Curtis Hanson
C: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Big Lebowski
1998
D: Joel Coen
C: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi
Out of Sight (1998)
Out of Sight
1998
D: Steven Soderbergh
C: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The Thin Red Line
1998
D: Terrence Malick
C: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel
Memento (2000)
Memento
2000
D: Christopher Nolan
C: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Mulholland Drive
2001
D: David Lynch
C: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux
Lost in Translation (2003)
Lost in Translation
2003
D: Sofia Coppola
C: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi
No Country for Old Men (2007)
No Country for Old Men
2007
D: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
C: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood
2007
D: Paul Thomas Anderson
C: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight
2008
D: Christopher Nolan
C: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Inglourious Basterds
2009
D: Quentin Tarantino
C: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
2009
D: Werner Herzog
C: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer
Drive (2011)
Drive
2011
D: Nicolas Winding Refn
C: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
Dredd (2012)
Dredd
2012
D: Pete Travis
C: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road
2015
D: George Miller
C: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

"Why don't we just wait here for a little while... see what happens..." ‐ MacReady, The Thing 1982

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