This is kind of an interesting list; the films I want to own are not the same thing as "the best films I've ever seen" or "the best films ever made". These are the films that, if a friend happened to remark that they have never seen one of these, I would be happy to sit down then and there and watch it with them. Many of these are films that I end up watching almost every year ("sex, lies, and videotape", "Careful, He Might Hear You", "The Black Stallion"). Some I've only seen once, but they stayed with me in such a way that I wish I had them on hand ("A Question of Attribution", "Four Days in September", "Vanya on 42nd Street"). Some very good films will never make this list because I wouldn't want to watch them on the small screen ("Lawrence of Arabia", "The Pillow Book"). The really fun thing about making this list was finding out the multiple "hits" by directors that I didn't know. I was unaware that I have a thing for Carroll Ballard and John Schlesinger.


I knew that I didn't want to own videotapes, and laserdiscs are so unwieldy. Maybe DVD will be the medium that I will succumb to, and I'll start my film collection. At some point I would like to add my own reviews, and links to other reviews. These are in the order that I thought of them, by the way; no rating system should be inferred. This is an ongoing project; there are many, many more which are deserving.


FILM TITLE

DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR (I had to look up)

Black Stallion, The

 

Ballard, Carroll

Life is Sweet

Leigh, Mike

 

Secrets and Lies

Leigh, Mike

 

sex, lies, and videotape

Soderburgh, Steven

 

Unbelievable Truth, The

Hartley, Hal

 

Trust

Hartley, Hal

 

Lone Star

Sayles, John

 

Careful, He Might Hear You

 

Schultz, Carl

Searching For Bobby Fischer

 

Zaillian, Steve

Sammie and Rosie Get Laid

Frears, Stephen

 

My Beautiful Laundrette

Frears, Stephen

 

Prick Up Your Ears

Frears, Stephen

 

City of Lost Children

 

Jeunet, Jean-Pierre/Caro, Marc

Alice

Svankmejer, Jan

 

Truly, Madly, Deeply

 

Minghella, Anthony

Close My Eyes

 

Poliakoff, Stephen

My Brilliant Career

Armstrong, Gillian

 

Never Cry Wolf

 

Ballard, Carroll

Usual Suspects, The

 

Singer, Bryan

Big Night

Tucci, Stanley/Scott, Campbell

 

Daytrippers, The

 

Mottola, Greg

Babette’s Feast

 

Axel, Gabriel

In the Land of the Deaf

 

Philibert, Nicolas

Room with a View, A

Merchant, Ismail

 

Howard’s End

Merchant, Ismail

 

Four Days in September

 

Barreto, Bruno

Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern

 

Jordan, Jeanne

Dead Again

Branagh, Kenneth

 

Eight Men Out

Sayles, John

 

Bull Durham

 

Shelton, Ron

Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle

Rudolph, Alan

 

Spanish Prisoner, The

Mamet, David

 

Glengarry Glen Ross

 

Foley, James

House of Games

Mamet, David

 

Plenty

 

Schepisi, Fred

Babe

 

Noonan, Chris

Jaws

Spielberg, Steven

 

Mad Max

Miller, George

 

Road Warrior, The

Miller, George

 

Hannah and Her Sisters

Allen, Woody

 

Manhattan

Allen, Woody

 

Annie Hall

Allen, Woody

 

Stranger Than Paradise

Jarmusch, Jim

 

Player, The

Altman, Robert

 

Strapless

 

Hare, David

Empire of the Sun

Spielberg, Steven

 

Last Emperor, The

Bertolucci, Bernardo

 

Terminator, The

Cameron, James

 

Terminator II: Judgement Day

Cameron, James

 

Alien

Scott, Ridley

 

Aliens

Cameron, James

 

Cold Comfort Farm

 

Schlesinger, John

Zed and Two Naughts, A

Greenaway, Peter

 

Belly of an Architect

Greenaway, Peter

 

Persuasion

 

Michell, Robert

Sense and Sensibility

Lee, Ang

 

Vanya on 42nd Street

Malle, Louis

 

My Dinner with Andre

Malle, Louis

 

Blood Simple

Coen, Joel

 

Last Seduction, The

Dahl, John

 

Casablanca

 

Curtiz, Michael

Hit, The

Frears, Stephen

 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Stoppard, Tom

 

We Think the World of You

 

Gregg, Colin

Englishman Abroad, An

 

Schlesinger, John

Question of Attribution, A

 

Schlesinger, John

Another Country

 

Kanievksa, Marek

Miller's Crossing

Coen, Joel

 

Big Time

 

Blum, Chris

Into The West

 

Newell, Mike

Princess Bride

Reiner, Rob

 

Decline of Western Civilization

Spheeris, Penelope

 

DoWC II: The Metal Years

Spheeris, Penelope

 

Goodfellas

Scorcese, Martin

 

My Life as a Dog

Hallstrom, Lasse

 

Year My Voice Broke, The

 

Duigan, John

Flirting

 

Duigan, John

Smoke

 

Wang, Wayne

Burnt by the Sun

 

Mikhalkov, Nikita

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

 

Rozema, Patricia

Mindwalk

 

Capra, Bernt

Erotica

Egoyan, Atom

 

Ruby in Paradise

 

Nunez, Victor

Slacker

Linklater, Richard

 

Strangers in Good Company

 

Scott, Cynthia

Silverado

Kasdan, Lawrence

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Spielberg, Steven

 

Out of Africa

 

Pollack, Sydney

Reservoir Dogs

Tarantino, Quentin

 

Hope and Glory

Boorman, John

 

Stop Making Sense

Demme, Jonathan

 

Something Wild

Demme, Jonathan

 

Next Stop, Wonderland

 

Anderson, Brad

Man Who Would Be King, The

Huston, John

 

FairyTale: A True Story

 

Sturridge, Charles

Who Am I This Time?

Demme, Jonathan

 
General, The Boorman, John  
Limey, The Soderburgh, Steven  
Do the Right Thing Lee, Spike  
She's Gotta Have It Lee, Spike  
28 Up Apted, Michael  
Six Degrees of Separation   Schepisi, Fred
Witches, The Roeg, Nicolas  

Winslow Boy, The

Mamet, David

 

League of Their Own, A

Marshall, Penny

 
Get Shorty   Sonnenfeld, Barry

 

 

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