Since my first post my Honourable Mentions list has now bumped up to 75. Consider this if you the Jury Prize, the films which didn’t quite make the cut but still are fully deserving of your attention. There are of course still films which are missing off this list but don’t consider it definitive, just opinion. Of course. Hard to choose but still these are among the greatest films of all time. So here are the first 25 of the honourable mentions listed alphabetically, to hard to rank them.
The twelve angry jurors
- 12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet, US)
Wonderful performances in his superbly crafted one-room-drama, which resists the opportunities to wallow in boredom or self indulgence.
- A Fish Called Wanda (1988, Charles Crichton, UK)
Outside of the Pythons, John Cleese’s writing skills are allowed to blossom in this finely written comedy with a fantastic farcical edge that knows when to restrain stupidity.
- A History of Violence (2005, David Cronenberg, Can/US)
Perhaps Cronenberg’s most commercial effort, top notch thriller with a darkly sinister edge, matched by terrific direction and great acting.
- A Serious Man (2009, Joel & Ethan Coen, US/UK/Fr)
One of the brothers’ finest achievements is a quiet, thoughtful and pitch black period comedy set amongst the Midwestern suburbs where our hero’s life is going down the pan.
- Aliens (1986, James Cameron, US/UK)
Scott’s seminal original was a gothic, slow horror. Cameron’s sequel is what he does best, balls to the wall action, and is almost the crowning point of the action genre.
- All About Eve (1950, Joseph L Mankiewicz, US)
A timeless classic that pains me to leave off the list. A superb social document of the time, cruelly dissecting the roles of women in society.
- Amadeus (1984, Milos Forman, US)
A film which makes classical music fun, a Shakespearean showdown featuring sumptuous visuals and design as well as an operatic quality that only Forman can handle.
- American History X (1998, Tony Kaye, US)
An oppressive and violent film is another important social document, highlighting very clearly that racism is the root of all evil. A nasty movie.
- Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Mex)
A dizzying and startlingly original work, three stories of love collide in the most terrifying of ways. An intelligent script and brutal direction, love is a bitch.
The coward takes aim
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik, US)
An elegiac masterpiece, Brad Pitt’s finest performance with a brace of great character actors and beautiful Roger Deakins photography, this is essential viewing.
- Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis, US)
A huge cult classic, endlessly quotable and always enjoyable. This is demonstration to the great director Zemeckis was before he made Forrest Gump.
- Ben-Hur (1959, William Wyler, US)
‘Makes Ben-Hur look epic’ You didn’t need Python to do that. A tale of great scope and dare, the kind of vast picture Hollywood used to make.
- The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez, US)
To easily mocked now, but this is a stripped down and unnerving work if only providing now the real horror on the final money shot it remains gripping.
- Bonnie & Clyde (1967, Arthur Penn, US)
Bloody, brutal, heartless. The pre cursor to the films of Coppola and Scorsese, doomed lovers on the road to nowhere, a great character study.
- Boogie Nights (1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, US)
An insight into the porn industry which shows it to be destructive and repugnant as well as fun and glamourous. Like Goodfellas only with porn stars in place of the gangsters
- Brokeback Moutain (2005, Ang Lee, US)
An endlessly tragic and ultimately gratifying tale, that is just love story but being about two gay men. A great piece of filmmaking.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill, US)
The ultimate buddy movie. Robert Redford and Paul Newman with songs by Burt Bacharach. Ah, the times are good, lovely.
- Casino Royale (2006, Martin Campbell, UK/US)
A incendiary return to form for the Bond franchise, catapulted into the 21st Century by taking leave from Batman Begins and Greengrass’ Bourne films.
- Children of Men (2006, Alfonso Cuaron, UK/Mex/Jap)
Cuaron’s bleak vision of the near future is fascinating and essential viewing. Putting upon us grandiose tracking shots and brutal violence.
Pure cinema, where love comes from
- Cinema Paradiso (1988, Guiseppe Tornatore, Ita)
A lyrical tribute to the undying power of cinema, a heart wrenching modern classic works on so many levels, a love story, rites of passage or an artistic triumph
- City of God (2002, Fernando Meirelles, Bra/Fr)
Hard, fast, stylish and brutally aware. This depiction of the amoral gangster world is challenging but thrilling viewing, intense and exciting.
- The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan, UK/US)
Most intelligent of all the superhero movies, it is blisteringly exciting as well as thought provoking and having an genuinely nihilistic edge.
- Dawn of the Dead (1978, George A Romero, US/Ita)
The seminal zombie movie, creating an entertaining piece of horror with a brain in its head. Romero’s job as lecturer as well as filmmaker is perfectly balanced.
- Die Hard (1988, John McTiernan, US)
Definitive action movie, confined environment, inspired set pieces and best of all Alan Rickman’s superb villain is nothing short of popcorn munching.
- Don’t Look Now (1973, Nicolas Roeg, UK)
A dark, unnerving and extremely strange British chiller leading to a suprise pay off which still leaves audiences reeling back in horror.
Grief, guilt, religion, red dwarf with cleaver
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