CINELATION | Film Reviews by Christopher Beaubien » The Best of the Year

The Best Films of 2009′s First Half

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:33:46 +0000

Moon (dir. Duncan Jones)
Goodbye Solo (dir. Ramin Bahrani)
(500) Days of Summer (dir. Marc Webb)
Nightwatching (dir. Peter Greenaway)
The Hurt Locker (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
Coraline (dir. Henry Selick)
Gomorrah (dir. Matteo Garrone)
Polytechnique (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
Revanche (dir. Götz Spielmann)
Up (dir. Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
Tokyo Sonata (dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Knowing (dir. Alex Proyas)
O’ Horten (dir. Bent Hamer)
Lymelife (The Absolute Version, dir. Derick Martini)
Drag Me To Hell (dir. Sam Raimi)
Watchmen (dir. Zack Snyder)

The Best Films of 2008

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:04:55 +0000

Taken as a whole, the best films released in 2008 tasted just as sweet as those in 2007 did. Looking at only the titles There Will Be Blood (dir. P.T. Anderson, 2007) and Synecdoche, New York (dir. Charlie Kaufman, 2008), I would be immensely cheered at the state of American cinema. However, there were a number of films scattered and tucked away in corners of the film distribution that saw almost 650 films released in 2008. My impression is that at least twenty to thirty films of a given year should be of great quality. Within those hundreds of films released, it is a pity that so few are wonderful. Still, who can quibble about a year where Charlie Kaufman, Christopher Nolan, Hsiao-hsien Hou, Mike Leigh, Kelly Reichardt, and some triumphant newcomers such as Lucía Puenzo and John McDonagh performed so well from either the open or the outset?

I saw a number of films that made their way to Vancouver. There are a few lingering titles that might have been included on this list if I saw them such as Steve McQueen’s Hunger, and Pere Portabella’s The Silence Before Bach. I missed those films shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival that year. My excuse was being bedridden with a cold; I missed out on so much that week. Unfortunately, Portabella refuses to release his film through circuits outside the mercy of unreliable theatrical distributions, which I am taking personally.

Making a list of the best films of the year generally affords the critic an opportunity to collect preferred films as an artist would apply to a collage. Which titles that carry particular visuals and ideas are arranged by the same intellectual deliberation crossed with the finesse of emotional intuition a painter applies a brushstroke. These recommendations could be read as a chef’s deliberate, however liberal feeling, succession of entrées like: starting with Potage à la Tortue, then Quail in Puff Pastry Shell with Foie Gras and Truffle Sauce, following by Cheese and Fresh Fruit, and finally Baba au Rhum avec les Figues — the prize to the movie I am referencing is the prize itself.

The films themselves are so different from one another — not including the given works of formulistic hacks — that measuring a film about a vampire versus a film about a hermaphrodite often appears as a defeatist’s approach. I look at this as a collection of films that made a lasting impression on me, and not as a system of rank. Just because Gus Van Sant’s Milk or Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married didn’t make the top ten does not mean I think any less of them. I love them dearly.

Without further ado, here are the movies that made me sit up a little straighter than usual this year.

1. Synecdoche, New York

No other film this year has given me so much to think about after each of my four viewings. Every time it ends, I swear that my heart skips a beat. While avidly discussing this film, I said that if I had one week to live then I would have to watch Synecdoche, New York one more time. My praise for a film rarely takes such an extremist stand, but the sentiment reflects what a profound work that would make the absolving into oblivion a little more comforting. Roger Ebert holds the incomparable Ingmar Berman film Cries and Whispers (1972) as one of his lights against the darkness: “I feel profoundly grateful to my life, which gives me so much.” My feelings for Synecdoche, New York match this very spirit.

Synecdoche, New York, a darkly comic, absurdist Rubic’s Cube puzzle of a film about human consciousness, yearnings, foils and disillusionment. Philip Seymore Hoffman played Caden Cotard, a theatre director and self-appointed analyst of the human condition. His studies are performed on productions of stage versus life, including his own verbatim. Haunted by the inescapable postulation of death, he is wrung out by an onslaught of ailments, cruel reminders of eventual decay (“I don’t feel well.”). Doomed romances and a fleeting timeline endanger Caden’s well-being and creativity.

The scope of his latest theatrical production outmatches what he is humanly capable of delivering. The set is so ridiculously large that it could only function as an artist’s idea of Heaven. In denial, Caden is trying to coach himself to good health as though his artistic search for truth will cure him. Or at least make him a little happier. Perhaps his success as an artist would have insured his longevity, a rebuke against having to die. The conclusions he faces are that dreams and desires fleshed out must soon rot away. Fifty years ago, Marcello Mastroianni could have assumed the role of Caden Cotard.

At the time I wrote my original review, I listed very provocative and unique films out of reflex and love. Having some distance to analyze my choices, I found certain similarities between Synecdoche, New York and the following: Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies, 2000 (its apocalyptism), Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves, (its terrifying interpretation of what God (re: Caden the Director) might ask one to prove their faith), Bill Forsyth’s Housekeeping, 1987 (its sweetly-haunted look into the unknown against conventional norms) and Robert Altman’s Three Women (its switching of characters’ minds). Hell, even Peter Greenaway’s near-masterpiece A Zed and Two Noughts (its obsession with twinship and decay).

In times where compelling female roles are scarcely encouraged in Hollywood, Synecdoche, New York displays an intimidating showcase of accomplished actresses: Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Hope Davis, Michelle Williams, Diane Wiest and Jennifer Jason Leigh. They all succeed at making immediate impressions of their own.

This film offers so much invention, such as the house that is always on fire, but never burns down; don’t we all afford a lifestyle that isn’t good for us? One of the many extravagantly surreal and poignant scenes married so deftly is where Caden burrows deeper and deeper into the recesses of his ever-expanding, breathing metropolis sound stage. Within the enormity of the world, we retreat into the structures made possible by our imaginations.

The achieved layers of its story structure and comprehensibility are matched by the mind-expanding creations manifested from the ambitious and rewarding directorial debut by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004). A polarized reaction from critics didn’t encourage an auspicious turnabout this film deserved from audiences and the Academy. Synecdoche, New York will certainly gain a cult following when more people discover this masterpiece on DVD.

2. In Bruges

In Bruges started a trend following David Fincher’s Zodiac in 2007 that at least one movie released in February was going to be a masterpiece. In New York, I remember not being impressed by the vulgar trailer shown before There Will Be Blood (2007), which was my favorite film of that year. After hearing good word of mouth, I took a chance and was floored by the debut of writer-director John McDonagh. What surprised me most about this gutsy film was how elegant it was thanks to poignant soundtrack by Carter Burwell and the script’s contemplative pacing.

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson played two Irish assassins briefly banished to the purgatory on Earth: Bruges, Belgium. While keeping a low profile and doing some sightseeing, the two men have a crisis of conscious after a botched job that leads them into more trouble. The two struggle with their sense of selves, and reveal surprising pathos that their occupation would not allude to. I have more affection for flawed people who try so hard to play the hand they’re dealt with.

The film steers us fearlessly into very politically incorrect comedy (“They’re filming midgets!”) and maintains its devastating drama about guilt, loyalty and ethics. McDonagh achieves the sadist placement for embracing the film’s gallows humor and still recognizing its consequential tragedies. It is one thing to cross the line of good taste, but it is more difficult to be smart about it without apology. Farrell and Gleeson are assigned tough roles and accomplish them with great wit, pain and compassion.

The real villain of the piece is Harry Waters (played with gusto by Ralph Fiennes) who appears in the last third of the film. Carrying himself like a tall, satanic figure, Harry is fascinating as he reveals deep complications about himself and a warped sense of justice. One of the film’s highlights is a virtuoso five-minute take of Ken talking on the phone with Harry. Brendon Gleeson could afford a country with the double-take he makes after telling Harry, “He said, ‘I feel like I’m in a dream’”. The scene starts out funny (“That don’t mean he’s gone. Go check outside the door.”) and gracefully changes into something much dire.

The film is populated with actors who compliment this “fairytale place” including Clémence Poésy, Jordon Prendict, Jérémie Renier (from Le Enfant, 2005 — not to be confused with Jeremy Renner), Thekla Reuten, and Ciarán Hinds. This daring, uncompromised drama is at once plausible, and fantastical. These characters are forced into making hard choices and unthinkable actions and each of their personalities are carefully considered. Besides Synecdoche, New York, In Bruges was also the only film I saw four times in theatres. If I was asked what my favorite film of 2008 was, I would first warn in advance that I wasn’t carrying a bottle.

3. The Dark Knight

Last summer, waiting for this brainy blockbuster for me brought back memories of Christmas morning. Miraculously, the quality of the latest Batman film exceeded its hype and shamed its predecessors. Some have called it The Godfather (1971) to movies based on comic-book superheroes: At the point of the film’s running time it takes for Michael Corleone to bump off the Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey at the Louis Italian-American Restaurant, The Joker’s escape from the MCU is set in motion: “You have nothing to threaten me with!” The Dark Knight was the most stimulating and thought-provoking big-budget picture Hollywood has produced since Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).

Christopher Nolan’s brilliant tour-de-force employed its graphic novel-influenced archetypes into a a dark Shakespearean tragedy. The exhilarating action scenes were motivated by characters that seemed more real and tangible than ever. It also helps that this story revolves around adults. Each member of the ensemble cast, including Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, et al. were given just enough screen time to do their roles justice. I still feel Aaron Eckhart deserves more credit for his work as District Attorney Harvey Dent, but the shadow that Heath Ledger casts here is so dark that it swallows the rest all up.

Batman is wily and almost as diabolical as The Joker: By appointing Dent as Gotham’s new protector, Batman could have finally folded his cape and cowl, and then woo Rachel back from Dent. “You know that day you once told me about when Gotham would no longer need Batman — it’s coming.” Two-Face would have appreciated the duality of that scheme. Consider the way Batman at one point says chillingly, “Beautiful, isn’t it?” as he presents a new gadget that surveys every citizen in Gotham. It is Lucious Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, who holds grave misgivings as the voice of reason against criminal acts cloaked in the well meaning vigilance of an extremist.

Here, the Joker’s heroes must have been Henri Poincaré and Stanley Milgram. The joy of Heath Ledger’s performance is the way he seems to take a second to think of what he’s going to say next and then make it sound more twisted. The Joker uses words like live insects being pushed into your ears. The only ones who use perfunctory cliché to communicate are the cops (ie. “Have a nice trip, see you next fall.” and “Lock and load”) The toothy criminal also dispenses some sound wisdom: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” He is a great manipulator who can lie with a straight grin when he asks, “Do I look like a guy with a plan?” The way things have been working in The Joker’s favor, he’s a mastermind who would rival Nostradamus. The only one-on-one scene he has with Harvey Two-Face is deliciously wicked. It was like eating a bloody sirloin dipped in battery acid.

The ending of The Dark Knight was genuinely moving; finally leaving me with a deeper appreciation and impression of what Batman really stands for — a truly lonely crusader. I haven’t seen these characters portrayed so justly since becoming a fervent admirer of Batman: The Animated Series in my youth (Question: Who here has spotted the Paul Dini reference in the above paragraph?). This film was like a tonic. At one point, The Joker proves what a great compliment Batman and he are together. “We’re destined to do this forever.” If only!

4. Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is a vampire movie that is as sophisticated and thoughtful a horror film as you are likely to find. This film, like so few can, redeems the horror genre. It joins the ranks of great vampire films like Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987), both the 1922 (dir. F.W. Murnau) and 1979 (dir. Werner Herzog) versions of Nosferatu, and its cunning companion Shadow of the Vampire (2000) by E. Elias Merhige. Let the Right One In is the real thing. Here, vampires burn when touched by sunlight — they do not sparkle.

New to the neighborhood, Eli encounters Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) one night and she grows protective of him. They form a fragile friendship that could also be described as deathless. They are both tortured souls. Eli (Lina Leandersson) is a young vampire who looks like a girl, but should check out the Lucïa Puenzo film listed below. Poor Oskar is cruelly tortured by school bullies and seems destined in the opinion of others to grow up dysfunctional. Eli encourages him to fight back. This tale of revenge is tackled in shades of gray — very dark grays — that makes its moralistic point-of-view more compelling than usual. In a scene where Oskar does fight back, observe how it acknowledges the gruesomeness of his action and its sobering victory.

Director Tomas Alfredson takes this material seriously. The characters are fleshed out and they respond to a variety of supernatural events as real people would. The richly adapted screenplay by John Ajvide Lindquist was based on his book. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema is an asset using carefully planned single takes where the compositions are accomplished and essential.

There is no reason to wait for American version in 2010 because the original cannot be improved upon.

5. Man on Wire

The only complaint I have about this victorious documentary was outside of the filmmaker’s control. Why (Oh why!) didn’t anyone bring a film camera up to the roof of the World Trade Center on the morning of August 7, 1974? A wonderful fool (and I mean that in the best way because I love him) named Philippe Petit had dedicated his life to art of walking on a wire. Petit is a little wicked, but not mean, because how else can I approach a mind that envisions a tightrope between the two towers before they are even built! I wished there were more generous madcaps like Petit out there. I am aware there are Jackass shows out there, yet they lack the romanticism. Petit would die for his greatest stunt. He even admits that his death was eminent that morning. Perhaps the man is not of this world; he survives on oxytocin, never mind oxygen for his Elevation intake.

While cheering on Petit and his band of rogues from France as they infiltrate the top of the heavily guarded Twin Towers, the thought of a much more innocent time is captured. These ingenious criminals’ goal is to entertain and inspire the less adventurous to dream, or at least be in awe. Throughout Philippe Petit’s death-defying exploits, I could hear the faraway voice of Peter Falk reminding me, “He doesn’t fall off the Sydney Harbour Bridge at this time…”.

Leading up to the vertigo-inducing wire walk, white-knuckle suspense can still be felt even as Petit, older and agile, fills us in on the details (“Hide and seek!”). Perhaps it works the way we cringe at the memory of a personal disaster averted just in time; for example, I always freeze when I remember how I nearly knocked over (and saved) a six-thousand dollar painting one of my teachers had on display.

Apart from the stunningly realized black-and-white recreations and captured footage married so well together by director James Marsh, Man on Wire has an intimidating score by J. Ralph and poignant tracks by Pascal Rogé. Yes, My Dinner with Andre (1981) fans, that is the 3 Gymnopédies: Gymnopédie No. 1 that accompanied Wally on his taxi ride. That’s not all. This film is packed with music from the locomotive, baroque film scores of Michael Nyman! The first time I saw Man on Wire, I swore that that could not be Fish Beach from Drowning by Numbers (1988) playing, and Reader, it was.

Included on the DVD, the 2005 animated short The Man Who Walked between the Towers depicts Petit more soundly to a fanciful figure in a fairy tale as opposed to a mortal man of flesh and blood performing acts that would petrify others. To this day, no one has ever walked across a wire above 1,368 feet from the ground.

6. Happy-Go-Lucky

What a lovely film this is. Sally Hawkings gives a winning performance as an elementary schoolteacher named Poppy, a character so unique, witty and complex. Our good luck that this is a character-driven piece. Poppy is so lively that where she goes (re: where she takes the story) is always compelling. Happy-Go-Lucky is a great comedy because it is a deeper and unafraid of acknowledging the scary complications life is ripe with. The driving lesson scenes, for example, involving Scott (Eddie Marsen), an irate instructor and a perfect foil to goodhearted Poppy, alternate between hilarity and suspense. Sally Hawkings and Eddie Marsen are brilliant together, even when the reality of such personalities will lead to later scenes that are sad, even inevitable.

The love British director Mike Leigh has for Poppy is so obvious. Just look at the scene where Poppy gets her back fixed in a chiropractor’s office. She wears only her jewelry, underwear and fishnet stockings. There is nothing lewd about it. She is so comfortable that she cracks jokes and laughs. It is a beautiful moment. I felt refreshed watching this film. Mike Leigh gives shape and exercises his cinematic aesthetics to display his performers excellently on the screen. Using his theatrical sensibilities, after all the rehearsals, he is still a filmmaker throughout the rest of the day.

7. XXY

XXY was a very frank and mature story about a teenage hermaphrodite named Alex. Inés Efron deserves praise for bringing strength and vulnerability to her androgynous character’s body and soul. Because Alex’s puberty is just about over, she has to make a choice which hormone will dominate, and adapt her body to it. Man or Woman? Imagine having the choice of deciding which gender you’ll be for the rest of your life. Then again, being teenager is hard enough as it is.

Set in Uruguay, Alex is protected by her parents on a reserved beach front where the wood is painted turquioise, black shadows and white sand are the dominate textures. Bringing new meaning to that hoary cliché, “I was never the same after that summer”, Alex forms a bond with a teenage boy named Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky) accompanied by his visiting family who don’t know about Alex’s secret. The relationship between the teens is one of the most sincere and significant that I have seen in film.

Argentine director Lucía Puenzo takes these characters through very troubled waters and manages to maintain sensitivity in scenes most audiences will consider shocking. XXY is the first feature film to break the taboo of portraying hermaphrodites. Puenzo said “I was surprised to see there are almost no stories on this subject, there’s a strange cultural silence over it.” Her screenplay was based on the short story Cinismo by Sergio Bizzio.

Kraken (Ricardo Darín), the father of Alex, is attentive, protective and loving toward his child. Usually, the father in such a story is unreasonable and prejudiced because it is a reliable source of conflict. Here, that prejudice is reserved for another father figure in the story. One of the strongest scenes shows Kraken confronting an adult man who used to be a hermaphrodite. They sit in the kitchen, and Kraken listens with great care and openness. Here is a good man who exercises tolerance with astonishing grace. It is very touching when he remembers his first thought when he first saw Alex when he/she was a baby.

I was worried by the misinformation of Amazon and other retail sites citing that the Region 1 DVD of XXY is presented in a pan-and-scan full-frame format. The careful compositions by cinematographer Natasha Braier in its original 1.85 : 1 widescreen aspect ratio deserve better than that. Film Movement, the American distributor of XXY contacted me back and confirmed,”XXY is in widescreen.” Class act.

8. Milk

A brave pioneer like Harvey Milk, the first gay politician to be elected in an American state in the late 1970s, deserves as astonishing an account as Milk. Sean Penn in the title role was so unserved in his warmth that it was a revelation for the long-proven thespian. Actors James Franco, Emile Hirsch), Allison Pill and Diego Luna were uniformly excellent. In a film rich with romance and comedy, the story of Harvey Milk was grim and alarming as he fought for gay rights when homosexuals were routinely murdered on the sidewalk, even in San Francisco. Milk’s great heart was set against those horrible injustices, which resonates just as much with today’s continuing battle with Prop 8 versus Prop 6 thirty years ago. Some progress has been made thanks to Milk, but there is still a long way to go before it gets better.

Has it really been twenty years since Gus Van Sant made Drugstore Cowboy (1989)? The exhilarating filmmaking by Van Sant here is born from a heedless energy and abandon more suited to a youthful talent. One of the best visuals I saw this year involved the close-up of a disposed whistle that reflected a murder scene. The element that brought great dread was the aforementioned assassination of Milk by his confrontational political colleague Dan White (played well by Josh Brolin). The build-up to this reminded me of a similar one in one of my favorite films Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio (1988) that was written and starred the incomparable Eric Bogosian. Some footage from the Rob Epstein documentary The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) was wisely, though seldom, used with the recreated scenes that achieved genuine emotion. Between this and Standard Operating Procedure, composer Danny Elfman has had a really good year.

9. The Fall

In one of the most grand gestures a filmmaker can do, visionary writer-director Tarsem put all of his finances toward a film of his that big studios were too timid to touch. The men behind the big desks just couldn’t fathom marketing a movie involving the dreams of a six-year-old. The Fall deserves placement along with another one-of-a-kind titled Playtime (1967), which broke the bank of its director Jacques Tati. I tend to root for filmmakers who strive for a personal vision all their own. The ones who don’t compromise their own needs. Filmmakers like Tarsem possess a romanticism that make their work invigorating. Otherwise, it is so boring to watch a film made by people who depend solely on “audience expectations”.

Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) plays Roy Walker, a crippled movie stuntman turned suicidal because he has exhausted all of his love for an undeserving woman and has nothing left for himself. Wallowing in his hospital bed, a coy little girl with a broken arm named Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) befriends him. Roy enjoys her company and seizes his next suicide attempt by persuading her for “medicine” in exchange for telling her a story about “The Masked Bandit”. Alexandria’s imagination illuminates and embellishes a fantastical landscape as extraordinary as the one in the Guillermo del Toro masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).

The drama centers on these two personalities torn over a make-belief world and sense of self. Their outlook on life is like a feud between the creator and his listener. While exploring the depths and beauty of their human imagination, the reality is dire because Alexandria, so innocent she can’t fully comprehend, that she is trying to save Roy. Roy is truly tragic if he can dream so well and still hate himself. Drowning in depressing, Roy is willing to shatter a vulnerable, little girl to his misanthropic vision by killing her heroes.

Here is one of the most heartbreaking exchanges between the two.

“Why are you killing everyone?”
“It’s my story!”
“It’s my story too…”

Using ingenious scheduling, Tarsem filmed the illusory landscapes in over two dozen countries in South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The use of his special effects afforded me the opportunity to write about The Authenticity of Light™ in my original review. Also welcome is the use of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, II. Allegretto. The Main Title Sequence is especially memorable. Four years in the making, The Fall stands out as a bold victory in the alter of cinema for its generous artistry.

10. Wendy and Lucy

Wendy and Lucy is a story of a Girl-and-her-Dog where sentiment is guarded and hard-earned. Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, 2005) is almost unrecognizable here as runaway Wendy who is stuck in a desolate town in Oregon on her way to Alaska. Her dog Lucy is her best friend and the last remnant that connects her with some semblance of her old life. Writer and director Kelly Reichardt ruthlessly shows how an otherwise “worthy” member of society (she has a car) can be stripped to the bone of an unmarked drifter by one bad break too many. Accompanied by an award-worthy score by Will Oldham, Wendy and Lucy is a touchstone of the head-above-water American Independent Film Movement.

11. Tell No One

While skinny-dipping one night, Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) chases his wife, Margot (Marie-Josée Croze) across the dock and is knocked unconscious. He wakes up in a hospital and is informed that Margot was murdered. Eight years later, Alexandre is still coping with his loss. It hasn’t been proven, but authorities still consider him their prime suspect. Then one day, Alexandre receives an e-mail… from Margot. I’ll stop right here because you deserve to see this one cold.

Here is a movie made with the discipline of a great film noir from the 1940’s; Out of the Past (1947) comes to mind. The premise would have appealed to Alfred Hitchcock who most favoured The Innocent Man Wrongly Accused theme. The whole plot entangles together with such a lean, ferocious finesse by writer-director Guillaume Canet based on the Harlan Coben novel. Like a knife, the story twists and turns using ingenuity that borders on diabolical. Worthy of David Mamet’s best work (ex. House of Games, 1987), the many revelations are handled with the deftness of a magician.

I haven’t seen an action-thriller this smart and riveting since Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive (1993). One of the highlights of this production is an extended foot chase on a freeway. The film is peopled with class acts like Kristin Scott Thomas, André Dussollier, Marina Hands, Jean Rochefort, François Berlé and, and Olivier Marchal. Mikaela Fisher is a stand out as a henchwoman with the endurance of the Terminator. By the end, no loose ends are hanging. It is bewildering to have followed a plot that is so tight that the screenplay must have been strangled nearly to death.

Incredibly, Tell No One took almost two years to be released in North America since its premiere at the French Film Festival. I agree that what happens in this movie should be kept a secret, but that is getting ridiculous. The best review of this exceptional thriller for those who have not seen it yet consist of three words: See it now.

A Dozen Special Mentions:

1. Revolutionary Road (dir. Sam Mendes)
2. Chop Shop (dir. Ramin Bahrani)
3. The Wrestler (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
4. The Edge of Heaven (dir. Fatih Akin)
5. My Winnipeg (dir. Guy Maddin)
6. Standard Operating Procedure (dir. Errol Morris)
7. Ballast (dir. Lance Hammer)
8. Shotgun Stories (dir. Jeff Nichols)
9. Doubt (dir. John Patrick Shanley)
10. The Class (dir. Philippe Claudel)
11. Encounters at the End of the World (dir. Werner Herzog)
12. Sita Sings the Blues (dir. Nina Paley)

February 3, 2010: 2008 revised

Synecdoche, New York (dir. Charlie Kaufman)
In Bruges (dir. John McDonagh)
The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan)
Let the Right One In (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
Man on Wire (dir. James Marsh)
Revolutionary Road (dir. Sam Mendes)
Happy-Go-Lucky (dir. Mike Leigh)
XXY (dir. Lucía Puenzo)
Milk (dir. Gus Van Sant)
The Edge of Heaven (dir. Fatih Akin)
The Wrestler (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Silent Light (dir. Carlos Reygadas)
Chop Shop (dir. Ramin Bahrani)
Tell No One (dir. Guillaume Canet)
My Winnipeg (dir. Guy Maddin)
Wendy and Lucy (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Standard Operating Procedure (dir. Errol Morris)
Doubt (dir. John Patrick Shanley)
Shotgun Stories (dir. Jeff Nichols)
The Class (dir. Philippe Claudel)
The Fall (dir. Tarsem)
A Christmas Tale (dir. Arnaud Desplechin)
Ballast (dir. Lance Hammer)
Encounters at the End of the World (dir. Werner Herzog)
Wall•E (dir. Andrew Stanton)
Sita Sings the Blues (dir. Nina Paley)
Rachel Getting Married (dir. Jonathan Demme)
Iron Man (dir. Jon Favreau)
Kung-Fu Panda (dir. Mark Osborne and John Stevenson)
Che (dir. Steven Sodenbergh)
I’ve Loved You So Long (dir. Philippe Claudel)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (dir. Woody Allen)
Burn After Reading (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
The Flight of the Red Balloon (dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou)
Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle)
Definitely, Maybe (dir. Adam Brooks)
Gran Torino | Changeling (dir. Clint Eastwood)
Troubled Water (dir. Erik Poppe)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (dir. Marina Zenovich)
Momma’s Man (dir. Azazel Jacobs)
The Reader (dir. Stephen Daldry)

The Best Films of 2007

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:42:51 +0000

There Will Be Blood (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Zodiac (dir. David Fincher)
Once (dir. John Carney)
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (dir. Tim Burton)
Ratatouille (dir. Brad Bird)
Brand Upon the Brain! (dir. Guy Maddin)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (dir. Cristian Mungiu)
Black Book (dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (dir. Sidney Lumet)
Michael Clayton (dir. Tony Gilroy)
Zoo (dir. Robinson Devor)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (dir. Julian Schnabel)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (dir. Andrew Dominik)
Eastern Promises (dir. David Cronenberg)
Grindhouse (dir. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino)
with a nod to Thanksgiving (dir. Eli Roth)
Starting Out in the Evening (dir. Andrew Wagner)
No Country for Old Men (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
The Lookout (dir. Scott Frank)
Away from Her (dir. Sarah Polley)
Sicko (dir. Michael Moore)
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (dir. Scott Hicks)
Persepolis (dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud)
Lake of Fire (dir. Tony Kaye)
You, The Living (dir. Roy Andersson)
Waitress (dir. Adrienne Shelly)
The Savages (dir. Tamara Jenkins)
Charlie Wilson’s War (dir. Mike Nichols)
Paris, Je T’aime (dir. 22 Filmmakers)
Snow Angels (dir. David Gordon Green)
Frownland (dir. Ronald Bronstein)
The Mist (dir Frank Darabont)
In the Valley of Elah (dir. Paul Haggis)
Margo at the Wedding (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Juno (dir. Jason Reitman)
Bridges to Terabithia (dir. Gabor Csupo)
Gone Baby Gone (dir. Ben Affleck)
La Vie en Rose (dir. Olivier Dahan)
No End in Sight (dir. Charles Ferguson)
Terror’s Advocate (dir. Barbet Schroeder)
Into the Wild (dir. Sean Penn)
Hairspray (dir. Adam Shankman)
Romance & Cigarettes (dir. John Turturro)
Atonement (dir. Joe Wright)
The Darjeeling Limited (dir. Wes Anderson)
The Great Debaters (dir. Denzel Washington)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (dir. Seth Gordon)
Year of the Dog (dir. Mike White)
The Brave One (dir. Neil Jordon)

The Best Films of 2006

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:07:03 +0000

Little Children (dir. Todd Field)
Pan’s Labyrinth (dir. Guillermo del Toro)
Children of Men (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
United 93 (dir. Paul Greengrass)
Paprika (dir. Satoshi Kon)
Tristram Shanty: A Cock and Bull Story (dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Man Push Cart (dir. Ramin Bahrani)
The King (dir. James Marsh)
The Descent (dir. Neil Marshall)
The Proposition (dir. John Hillcoat)
The Illusionist (dir. Neil Burger)
The Lives of Others (dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
Babel (dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
The Departed (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Queen (dir. Stephen Frears)
Stranger Than Fiction (dir. Marc Forster)
Little Miss Sunshine (dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
(dir. Larry Charles)
Inland Empire (dir. David Lynch)
Flags of Our Fathers | Letters from Iwo Jima (dir. Clint Eastwood)
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (dir. Cristi Puiu)
Notes on a Scandal (dir. Richard Eyre)
Joshua (dir. George Ratliff)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (dir. Adam McKay)
Red Road (dir. Andrea Arnold)
Bubble (dir. Steven Soderbergh)
The Last King of Scotland (dir. Kevin Macdonald)
The Notorious Bettie Page (dir. Mary Harron)
Deliver Us from Evil (dir. Amy Berg)
Bug (dir. William Friedkin)
The Bridge (dir. Eric Steel)
Slither (dir. James Gunn)
Joyeux Noel (dir. Christian Carion)
Casino Royale (dir. Martin Campbell)
Blood Diamond (dir. Edward Zwick)
Edmond (dir. Stuart Gordon)
Marie Antoinette (dir. Sofia Coppola)
A Prairie Home Companion (dir. Robert Altman)
Half Nelson (dir. Ryan Fleck)
This Is England (dir. Shane Meadows)
Lassie (dir. Charles Sturridge)
Come Early Morning (dir. Joey Lauren Adams)
Old Joy (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
12 and Holding (dir. Michael Cuesta)
Monster House (dir. Gil Kenan)
The Namesake (dir. Mira Nair)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (dir. Ken Loach)
A Scanner Darkly (dir. Richard Linklater)
Brick (dir. Rian Johnson)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (dir. Tom Tykwer)
Hollywoodland (dir. Allen Coulter)
Sherrybaby (dir. Laurie Collyer)
Strangers with Candy (dir. Paul Dinello)
Idiocracy (dir. Mike Judge)
Manderlay (dir. Lars von Trier)
Water (dir. Deepa Mehta)
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (dir. Kirby Dick)

The Best Films of 2005

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:33:36 +0000

Capote (dir. Bennett Miller)
A History of Violence (dir. David Cronenberg)
The Best of Youth (dir. Marco Tullio Giordana)
Schultze Gets The Blues (dir. Michael Schorr)
Sin City (dir. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (dir. Miranda July)
Duane Hopwood (dir. Matt Mulhern)
Mysterious Skin (dir. Gregg Araki)
Nine Lives (dir. Rodrigo García)
Junebug (dir. Phil Morrison)
The Squid and the Whale (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Brokeback Mountain (dir. Ang Lee)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (dir. Tommy Lee Jones)
Oldboy (dir. Chan-wook Park)
Munich (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Firecracker (dir. Steve Balderson)
Match Point (dir. Woody Allen)
Tokyo Godfathers (dir. Satoshi Kon)
Batman Begins (dir. Christopher Nolan)
The Weather Man (dir. Gore Verbinski)
Downfall (dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel)
Millions (dir. Danny Boyle)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (dir. Judd Apatow)
Volver (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (dir. Alex Gibney)
Crash (dir. Paul Haggis)
Eve and the Fire Horse (dir. Julia Kwan)
Yes (dir. Sally Potter)
The New World (dir. Terrance Malick)
Good Night, and Good Luck (dir. George Clooney)
Cache (dir. Michael Haneke)
Lord of War (dir. Andrew Niccol)
Thumbsucker (dir. Mike Mills)
Saraband (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
Syriana (dir. Stephen Gaghan)
Three… Extremes (dir. Fruit Chan “Dumplings”, Chan-wook Park “Cut”, Takashi Miike “Box”)
Hard Candy (dir. David Slade)
L’enfant (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (dir. Nick Park)
The Matador (dir. Richard Shepard)
Grizzly Man (dir. Werner Herzog)
North Country (dr. Niki Caro)
The Upside of Anger (dir. Mike Binder)
Hustle & Flow (dir. Craig Brewer)
King Kong (dir. Peter Jackson)
Three Times (dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou)
Lassie (dir. Charles Sturridge)
Thieves of Innocence (dir. Paul Arcand)
Murderball (dir. Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro)
Walk the Line (dir. James Mangold)
Pride & Prejudice (dir. Joe Wright)
Jarhead (dir. Sam Mendes)
Prime (dir. Ben Younger)
Where the Truth Lies (dir. Atom Egoyan)
March of the Penguins (dir. Luc Jacquet)
In Her Shoes (dir. Curtis Hanson)

Honourable Selection: The “Up” Documentaries

49 Up (dir. Michael Apted, 2005)
42 Up (dir. Michael Apted, 1998)
35 Up (dir. Michael Apted, 1991)
28 Up (dir. Michael Apted, 1984)
21 Up (dir. Michael Apted, 1977)
7 Plus Seven (dir. Michael Apted, 1970)
Seven Up! (dir. Paul Almond, 1964)

The Best Films of 2004

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:45:25 +0000

Kill Bill Vol. I & II (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
The Fog of War (dir. Errol Morris)
Kinsey (dir. Bill Condon)
Spiderman 2 (dir. Sam Raimi)
Ripley’s Game (dir. Liliana Cavani)
Million Dollar Baby (dir. Clint Eastwood)
The Incredibles (dir. Brad Bird)
Baadasssss! (dir. Mario Van Peebles)
Finding Nemo (dir. Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
Vera Drake (dir. Mike Leigh)
Closer (dir. Mike Nichols)
Hotel Rwanda (dir. Terry George)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (dir. Michael Moore)
The Aviator (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Sideways (dir. Alexander Payne)
Young Adam (dir. David Mackenzie)
Before Sunset (dir. Richard Linklater)
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (dir. Niels Mueller)
Moolaadé (dir. Ousmane Sembene)
A Home at the End of the World (dir. Michael Mayer)
3-Iron (dir. Ki-duk Kim)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Michel Gondry)
King of the Corner (dir. Peter Riegert)
Undertow (dir. David Gordon Green)
House of Flying Daggers (dir. Yimou Zhang)
Maria Full of Grace (dir. Joshua Marston)
Brothers (dir. Susanne Bier)
Melinda and Melinda (dir. Woody Allen)
Primer (dir. Shane Carruth)
When Will I Be Loved (dir. James Toback)
Spartan (dir. David Mamet)
Down to the Bone (dir. Debra Granik)
The Woodsman (dir. Nicole Kassell)

The Best Films of 2003

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:33:31 +0000

The Son (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
The Barbarian Invasions (dir. Denys Arcand)
City of God (dir. Fernando Meirelles)
Whale Rider (dir. Niki Caro)
Lost in Translation (dir. Sofia Coppola)
American Splendor (dir. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini)
House of Sand and Fog (dir. Vadim Perelman)
Northfork (dir. Michael and Mark Polish)
The Man on the Train (dir. Patrice Leconte)
Matchstick Men (dir. Ridley Scott)
Monster (dir. Patty Jenkins)
The Five Obstructions (dir. Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (dir. Peter Webber)
The Triplets of Belleville (dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (dir. Ki-duk Kim)
School of Rock (dir. Richard Linklater)
Mystic River (dir. Clint Eastwood)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (dir. Peter Weir)
All the Real Girls (dir. David Gordon Green)
The Station Agent (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
The Saddest Music in the World (dir. Guy Maddin)
Touching The Void (dir. Kevin Macdonald)
Japanese Story (dir. Sue Brooks)
Thirteen (dir. Catherine Hardwicke)
The Shape of Things (dir. Neil Labute)
The Company (dir. Robert Altman)
Bad Santa (dir. Terry Zwigoff)
Dogville (dir. Lars von Trier)
Love Actually (dir. Richard Curtis)
The Cooler (dir. Wayne Kramer)
Free Radicals (dir. Barbara Albert)
The Mother (dir. Roger Michell)
The Return (dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev)
Down with Love (dir. Peyton Reed)
Elephant (dir. Gus Van Sant)
The Dreamers (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
The Matrix Reloaded (dir. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski)
Open Water (dir. Chris Kentis)
Hulk (dir. Ang Lee)
Osama (dir. Siddiq Barmak)
Elf (dir. Jon Favreau)
Swimming Pool (dir. François Ozon)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (dir. Peter Jackson)
The Last Samurai (dir. Edward Zwick)
The Corporation (dir. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott)

The Best Films of 2002

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:44:23 +0000

Adaptation. (dir. Spike Jonze)
Punch Drunk Love (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Spirited Away (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
Lovely and Amazing (dir. Nicole Holofcener)
Invincible (dir. Werner Herzog)
13 Conversations About One Thing (dir. Jill Sprecher)
The Grey Zone (dir. Tim Blake Nelson)
Songs From The Second Floor (dir. Roy Andersson)
Frailty (dir. Bill Paxton)
Talk To Her (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Last Orders (dir. Fred Schepisi)
Auto Focus (dir. Paul Schrader)
The Quiet American | Rabbit Proof Fence (dir. Phillip Noyce)
Y Tu Mamá También (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
Bowling for Columbine (dir. Michael Moore)
Tully (dir. Hilary Birmingham)
All or Nothing (dir. Mike Leigh)
25th Hour (dir. Spike Lee)
The Man from Elysian Fields (dir. George Hickenlooper)
Minority Report (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Frida (dir. Julie Taymore)
The Kid Stays in the Pictures (dir. Nanette Burstein)
Changing Lanes (dir. Roger Michell)
About Schmidt (dir. Alexander Payne)
One Hour Photo (dir. Mark Romanek)
In America (dir. Jim Sheridan)
Ivansxtc. (dir. Bernard Rose)
Dirty Pretty Things (dir. Stephen Frears)
About a Boy (dir. Chris Weitz)
Raising Victor Vargas (dir. Peter Sollett)
Solaris (dir. Steven Soderbergh)
Far From Heaven (dir. Todd Haynes)
Femme Fatale (dir. Brian DePalma)
The Kid Stays in the Pictures (dir. Nanette Burstein)
The Good Girl (dir. Miguel Arteta)
The Pianist (dir. Roman Polanski)
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (dir. Laetitia Colombani)
Irreversible (dir. Gaspar Noé)
The Hours (dir. Stephen Daldry)
Better Luck Tomorrow (dir. Justin Lin)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (dir. George Clooney)
Signs (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
24 Hour Party People (dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Insomnia (dir. Christopher Nolan)
Metropolis (dir. Rintaro)
The Cat Returns (dir. Hiroyuki Morita)
Secretary (dir. Steven Shainberg)
Eight Legged Freaks (dir. Ellory Elkayem)
Pumpkin (dir. Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder)
Secret Things (dir. Jean-Claude Brisseau)
8 Women (dir. François Ozon)
Hukkle (dir. György Pálfi)

The Best Films of 2001

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:56:32 +0000

Wit (dir. Mike Nichols)
Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch)
Ghost World (dir. Terry Zwigoff)
Innocence (dir. Paul Cox)
Waking Life (dir. Richard Linklater)
In The Bedroom (dir. Todd Field)
Gosford Park (dir. Robert Altman)
Storytelling (dir. Todd Solondz)
The Piano Teacher (dir. Michael Haneke)
A Beautiful Mind (dir. Ron Howard)
The Royal Tenenbaums (dir. Wes Anderson)
Moulin Rouge! (dir. Baz Luhrmann)
Fat Girl (dir. Catherine Breillat)
Monster’s Ball (dir. Marc Forster)
Millenium Actress (dir. Satoshi Kon)
The Majestic (dir. Frank Darabont)
Bully (dir. Larry Clark)
Donnie Darko (dir. Richard Kelly)
Lost and Delirious (dir. Léa Pool)
Metropolis (dir. Rintaro)
How I Killed My Father (dir. Anne Fontaine)
Amelie (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (dir. Zacharias Kunuk)
Monsters Inc. (dir. Pete Docter)
Joy Ride (dir. John Dahl)
The Pledge (dir. Sean Penn)
Me Without You (dir. Sandra Goldbacher)
Spy Kids (dir. Robert Rodriguez)
Shrek (dir. Andrew Adamson)
Winged Migration (dir. Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud)

The Best Films of 2000

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:14:17 +0000

Werckmeister Harmonies (dir. Béla Tarr)
You Can Count On Me (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
American Psycho (dir. Mary Harron)
Panic (dir. Henry Bromell)
The Terrorist (dir. Santosh Sivan)
Yi Yi (dir. Edward Yang)
Almost Famous (dir. Cameron Crowe)
Shadow of the Vampire (dir. E. Elias Merhige)
Girl on the Bridge (dir. Patrice Leconte)
Traffic (dir. Steven Soderbergh)
Requiem for a Dream (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
George Washington (dir. David Gordon Green)
Quills (dir. Philip Kaufman)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (dir. Ang Lee)
Wonder Boys (dir. Curtis Hanson)
Unbreakable (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
Memento (dir. Christopher Nolan)
Dinner Rush (dir. Bob Giraldi)
Chicken Run (dir. Nick Park)
The Claim (dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Amores Perros (dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
The Cell (dir. Tarsem)
My Dog Skip (dir. Jay Russell)
Diamond Men (dir. Dan Cohen)
The Contender (dir. Rob Lurie)
Faithless (dir. Liv Ullmann)
The Emperor’s New Groove (dir. Mark Dindal)
The Dish (dir. Rob Sitch)
In the Mood for Love (dir. Kar Wai Wong)
Maelström (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
High Fidelity (dir. Stephen Frears)
Best in Show (dir. Christopher Guest)
Pollock (dir. Ed Harris)
Dancer in the Dark (dir. Lars von Trier)
Cast Away (The Island Scenes Only, dir. Robert Zemeckis)
Dr. T & the Women (dir. Robert Altman)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (dir. Joel Cohen)

The Best Films of 1999

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:23:33 +0000

Being John Malkovich (dir. Spike Jonze)
The Iron Giant (dir. Brad Bird)
Magnolia (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
After Life (dir. Hirokazu Koreeda)
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr. (dir. Errol Morris)
The War Zone (dir. Tim Roth)
Election (dir. Alexander Payne)
Boys Don’t Cry (dir. Kimberly Peirce)
Toy Story 2 (dir. John Lasseter and Ash Brannon)
Titus (dir. Julie Taymor)
American Beauty (dir. Sam Mendes)
Three Kings (dir. David O. Russell)
Eyes Wide Shut (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
All About My Mother (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Sleepy Hollow (dir. Tim Burton)
Ravenous (dir. Antonia Bird)
The Virgin Suicides (dir. Sofia Coppola)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (dir. Anthony Minghella)
Fight Club (dir. David Fincher)
Ratcatcher (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Bringing Out the Dead (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Dogma (dir. Kevin Smith)
Topsy-Turvy (dir. Mike Leigh)
Wonderland (dir. Michael Winterbottom)
The Green Mile (dir. Frank Darabont)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (dir. Trey Parker)
Rosetta (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
The Sixth Sense (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
Guinevere (dir. Audrey Wells)
The Straight Story (dir. David Lynch)
The Matrix (dir. Andy and Larry Wachowski)
eXistenZ (dir. David Cronenberg)
The Big Kahuna (dir. John Swanbeck)
October Sky (dir. Joe Johnston)
Bowfinger (dir. Frank Oz)
Romance (dir. Catherine Breillat)
Dick (dir. Andrew Fleming)

The Best Films of 1998

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:15:13 +0000

A Simple Plan (dir. Sam Raimi)
Dark City (dir. Alex Proyas)
Love and Death on Long Island (dir. Richard Kwietniowski)
The Truman Show (dir. Peter Weir)
Pleasantville (dir. Gary Ross)
Babe: Pig in the City (dir. George Miller)
Affliction (dir. Paul Schrader)
Rushmore (dir. Wes Anderson)
Antz (dir. Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson)
Happiness (dir. Todd Solondz)
Hilary and Jackie (dir. Anand Tucker)
Gods and Monsters (dir. Bill Condon)
Saving Private Ryan (dir. Steven Spielberg)
The Red Violin (dir. (dir. François Girard)
The Prince of Egypt (dir. Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner)
Pi (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Life is Beautiful (dir. Roberto Begnini)
Claire Dolan (dir. Lodge Kerrigan)
Your Friends And Neighbors (dir. Neil LaBute)
The Spanish Prisoner (dir. David Mamet)
The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel Coen)
Nil by Mouth (dir. Gary Oldman)
Bulworth (dir. Warren Beatty)
The Thin Red Line (dir. Terrance Malick)
High Art (dir. Lisa Cholodenko)
Primary Colors (dir. Mike Nichols)
Living Out Loud (dir. Richard LaGravenese)
Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon)
Run Lola Run (dir. Tom Tykwer)
Insomnia (dir. Erik Skjoldbjaerg)
Out of Sight (dir. Steven Soderbergh)

The Best Films of 1997

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:28:51 +0000

Gattaca (dir. Andrew Niccol)
Boogie Nights (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
L.A. Confidential (dir. Curtis Hanson)
In The Company of Men (dir. Neil LaBute)
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (dir. Errol Morris)
Children of Heaven (dir. Majid Majidi)
The Sweet Hereafter (dir. Atom Egoyan)
Men In Black (dir. Barry Sonnenfeld)
The Ice Storm (dir. Ang Lee)
Wag the Dog (dir. Barry Levinson)
Jackie Brown (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
Princess Mononoke (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
Maborosi (dir. Hirokazu Kore-Eda)
Eve’s Bayou (dir. Kasi Lemmons)
Sick: The Life & Death Of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (dir. Kirby Dick)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (dir. Jay Roach)
Funny Games (dir. Michael Haneke)
Contact (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
Rosewood (dir. John Singleton)
The Butcher Boy (dir. Neil Jordan)
Kissed (dir. Lynne Stopkewich)
Kundun (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Chasing Amy (dir. Kevin Smith)
Ponette (dir. Jacques Doillon)
Shiloh (dir. Dale Rosenbloom)
Good Will Hunting (dir. Gus Van Sant)
Clockwatchers (dir. Jill Sprecher)
Career Girls (dir. Mike Leigh)
Breast Men (dir. Lawrence O’Neil)
Cube (dir. Vincenzo Natali)
Taste of Cherry (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
Shall We Dance (dir. Masayuki Suo)
Titanic (dir. James Cameron)
Bliss (dir. Lance Young)
The Full Monty (dir. Peter Cattaneo)
Anastasia (dir. Don Bluth)
As Good as It Gets (dir. James L. Brooks)
Microcosmos: Le Peuple de L’herbe (dir. Claude Nuridsany)
SubUrbia (dir. Richard Linklater)
Cube (dir. Vincenzo Natali)
My Best Friend’s Wedding (dir. PJ Hogan)

The Best Films of 1996

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:31:25 +0000

Fargo (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
Shine (dir. Scott Hicks)
Breaking the Waves (dir. Lars von Trier)
The People vs. Larry Flint (dir. Miloš Forman)
Welcome to the Dollhouse (dir. Todd Solondz)
Secrets and Lies (dir. Mike Leigh)
Sydney (aka Hard Eight) (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Bound (dir. Andy and Larry Wachowski)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise)
Sling Blade (dir. Billy Bob Thornton)
Big Night (dir. Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott)
Freeway (dir. Matthew Bright)
The English Patient (dir. Anthony Minghella)
Lone Star (dir. John Sayles)
Hamlet (dir. Kenneth Branagh)
La Promesse (dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)
Matilda (dir. Danny DeVito)
The Pillow Book (dir. Peter Greenaway)
The Frighteners (dir. Peter Jackson)
Walking and Talking (dir. Nicole Holofcener)
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (dir. Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)
Looking for Richard (dir. Al Pacino)
Ridicule (dir. Patrice Leconte)
Courage Under Fire (dir. Edward Zwick)
Fear (dir. James Foley)
Bottle Rocket (dir. Wes Anderson)
Kissed (dir. Lynne Stopkewich)
The Portrait of a Lady (dir. Jane Campion)
Primal Fear (dir. Gregory Hoblit)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (dir. Mike Judge)
Blood and Wine (dir. Bob Rafelson)
Trainspotting (dir. Danny Boyle)
That Thing You Do! (dir. Tom Hanks)
Fly Away Home (dir. Carroll Ballard)
Mother (dir. Albert Brooks)

The Best Films of 1995

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:47:29 +0000

To Die For (dir. Gus Van Sant)
Crumb (dir. Terry Zwigoff)
Dead Man Walking (dir. Tim Robbins)
Se7en (dir. David Fincher)
Dolores Claiborne (dir. Taylor Hackford)
Leaving Las Vegas (dir. Mike Figgis)
Casino (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Nixon (dir. Oliver Stone)
Exotica (dir. Atom Egoyan)
Strange Days (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
Muriel’s Wedding (dir. P.J. Hogan)
Richard III (dir. Richard Loncraine)
Babe (dir. Chris Noonan)
Toy Story (dir. John Lasseter)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (dir. Stephen Herek)
Carrington (dir. Christopher Hampton)
Before Sunrise (dir. Richard Linklater)
Kicking and Screaming (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Kids (dir. Larry Clark)
Die Hard with a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan)
Safe (dir. Todd Haynes)
Margaret’s Museum (dir. Mort Ransen)
Rob Roy (dir. Michael Caton-Jones)
Twelve Monkeys (dir. Terry Gilliam)
A Walk in the Clouds (dir. Alfonso Arau)
The American President (dir. Rob Reiner)
A Little Princess (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
Heat (dir. Michael Mann)
The Secret of Roan Inish (dir. John Sayles)
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (dir. Nick Broomfield)
Clueless (dir. Amy Heckerling)
Apollo 13 (dir. Ron Howard)
Dead Presidents (dir. Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes)
La Haine (dir. Mathieu Kassovitz)

The Best Films of 1994

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:16:50 +0000

Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
The Shawskank Redemption (dir. Frank Darabont)
Speed (dir. Jan de Bont)
The Last Seduction (dir. John Dahl)
The Hudsucker Proxy (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
Ed Wood (dir. Tim Burton)
Heavenly Creatures (dir. Peter Jackson)
Household Saints (dir. Nancy Savoca)
32 Short Films About Glenn Gould (dir. François Girard)
Hoop Dreams (dir. Steve James)
The Lion King (dir. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff)
Natural Born Killers (dir. Oliver Stone)
Forrest Gump (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
Vanya on 42nd Street (dir. Louis Malle)
Quiz Show (dir. Robert Redford)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (dir. Neil Jordon)
Clerks (dir. Kevin Smith)
Nobody’s Fool (dir. Robert Benton)
Fun (dir. Rafal Zielinski)
Red Rock West (dir. John Dahl)
The Mask (dir. Chuck Russell)
Nobody’s Fool (dir. Robert Benton)
Serial Mom (dir. John Waters)
Fresh (dir. Boaz Yakin)
The Jungle Book (dir. Stephen Sommers)
Little Women (dir. Gillian Armstrong)
When a Man Loves a Woman (dir. Luis Mandoki)
The Paper (dir. Ron Howard)
Black Beauty (dir. Caroline Thompson)
Wolf (dir. Mike Nichols)
Dumb and Dumber (dir. Peter and Bobby Farrelly)
The New Age (dir. Michael Tolklin)
The Shadow (dir. Russell Mulcahy)
Shallow Grave (dir. Danny Boyle)
The Madness of King George (dir. Nicholas Hytner)

Honourable Selection: “Three Colors”

Red (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
White (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
Blue (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993)

The Best Films of 1993

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:00:35 +0000

Schindler’s List (dir. Steven Speilberg)
The Joy Luck Club (dir. Wayne Wang)
The Fugitive (dir. Andrew Davis)
Shadowlands (dir. Richard Attenborough)
Matinee (dir. Joe Dante)
Naked (dir. Mike Leigh)
Short Cuts (dir. Robert Altman)
Menace II Society (dir. Albert and Allen Hughes)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (dir. Henry Selick)
Baraka (dir. Ron Fricke)
The Age of Innocence (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Piano (dir. Jane Campion)
Groundhog Day (dir. Harold Ramis)
Kalifornia (dir. Dominic Sena)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (dir. Eric Radomski and Bruce W. Timm)
Searching For Bobby Fischer (dir. Steven Zaillian)
The Wrong Trousers (dir. Nick Park)
Army of Darkness (dir. Sam Raimi)
The Remains of the Day (dir. James Ivory)
Addams Family Values (dir. Barry Sonnenfeld)
The Baby of Mâcon (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Dazed and Confused (dir. Richard Linklater)
The Blue Kite (dir. Zhuangzhuang Tian)
Heaven & Earth (dir. Oliver Stone)
Clean, Shaven (dir. Lodge Kerrigan)
In the Line of Fire (dir. Wolfgang Petersen)
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (dir. Lasse Hallström)
Dave (dir. Ivan Reitman)
This Boy’s Life (dir. Michael Caton-Jones)
A Perfect World (dir. Clint Eastwood)
True Romance (dir. Tony Scott)

The Best Films of 1992

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:21:46 +0000

The Player (dir. Robert Altman)
Glenngarry Glen Ross (dir. James Foley)
The Crying Game (dir. Neil Jordan)
Orlando (dir. Sally Potter)
The Hairdresser’s Husband (dir. Patrice Leconte)
Raise The Red Lantern (dir. Yimou Zhang)
Damage (dir. Louis Malle)
Like Water for Chocolate (dir. Alfonso Arau)
One False Move (dir. Carl Franklin)
Unforgiven (dir. Clint Eastwood)
Flirting (dir. John Duigan)
Malcolm X (dir. Spike Lee)
Léolo (dir. Jean-Claude Lauzon)
Bad Lieutenant (dir. Abel Ferrara)
Candyman (dir. Bernard Rose)
Howard’s End (dir. James Ivory)
A League of Their Own (dir. Penny Marshall)
Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter) (dir. Claude Sautet)
Aladdin (dir. Ron Clements and John Musker)
Scent of a Woman (dir. Martin Brest)
Wayne’s World (dir. Penelope Spheeris)
Reservoir Dogs (dir. Quentin Tarantino)

The Best Films of 1991

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:37:32 +0000

Beauty and the Beast (dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise)
The Silence of the Lambs (dir. Jonathan Demme)
My Father’s Glory | My Mother’s Castle (dir. Yves Robert)
La Belle Noiseuse (dir. Jacques Rivette)
Barton Fink (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
JFK (dir. Oliver Stone)
The Rapture (dir. Michael Tolkin)
Grand Canyon (dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
The Double Life of Veronique (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski)
The Man In The Moon (dir. Robert Mulligan)
Homicide (dir. David Mamet)
A Woman’s Tale (dir. Paul Cox)
Dogfight (dir. Nancy Savoca)
Terminator 2: Judgment day (dir. James Cameron)
Dead Again (dir. Kenneth Branagh)
Prospero’s Books (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Naked Lunch (dir. David Cronenberg)
A Brief History of Time (dir. Errol Morris)
Slacker (dir. Richard Linklater)
Life Is Sweet (dir. Mike Leigh)
Delicatessen (Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
The Commitments (dir. Alan Parker)

The Best Films of 1990

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:53:33 +0000

Monsieur Hire (dir. Patrice Leconte)
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Goodfellas (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (dir. Uli Edel)
Darkman (dir. Sam Raimi)
The Grifters (dir. Stephen Frears)
Reversal of Fortune (dir. Barbet Schroeder)
Edward Scissorhands (dir. Tim Burton)
Santa Sangre (dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Days of Being Wild (dir. Kar Wai Wong)
Sweetie (dir. Jane Campion)
Vincent and Theo (dir. Robert Altman)
After Dark, My Sweet (dir. James Foley)
Metropolitan (dir. Whit Stillman)
Pump Up the Volume (dir. Allan Moyle)
An Angel at My Table (dir. Jane Champion)
Miller’s Crossing (dir. Joel Cohen)
Jacob’s Ladder (dir. Adrian Lyne)
Europa Europa (dir. Lars von Trier)
The Reflecting Skin (dir. Philip Ridley)
La Femme Nikita (dir. Luc Besson)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (dir. Joe Dante)
Henry & June (dir. Philip Kaufman)
Joe Versus the Volcano (dir. John Patrick Shanley)
Cyrano de Bergerac (dir. Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
Arachnophobia (dir. Frank Marshall)
Tremors (dir. Ron Underwood)

Honourable Selection: “The Decalogue”

Decalogue X (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue IX (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue VIII (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue VII (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue VI (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue V (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue IV (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue III (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue II (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Decalogue I (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1989)
“A Short Film About Love” (80 min. version of Decalogue VI, 1988)
“A Short Film About Killing” (80 min. version of Decalogue V, 1988)

The Best Films of 1989

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:13:16 +0000

Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee)
The Seventh Continent (dir. Michael Haneke)
Born on the Fourth of July (dir. Oliver Stone)
The War of the Roses (dir. Danny DeVito)
Say Anything! (dir. Cameron Crowe)
Drugstore Cowboy (dir. Gus Van Sant)
Roger and Me (dir. Michael Moore)
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (dir. Jim Sheridan)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (dir. Woody Allen)
Batman (dir. Tim Burton)
Driving Miss Daisy (dir. Bruce Beresford)
Sex, Lies and Videotape (dir. Steven Soderbergh)
The Little Mermaid (dir. Ron Clements and John Musker)
When Harry Met Sally… (dir. Rob Reiner)
Field of Dreams (dir. Phil Alden Robinson)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
The Abyss (dir. James Cameron)

The Best Films of 1988

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:20:56 +0000

Talk Radio (dir. Oliver Stone)
Grave of the Fireflies (dir. Isao Takahata)
The Vanishing (dir. George Sluizer)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
The Thin Blue Line (dir. Errol Morris)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (dir. Philip Kaufman)
Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan)
Dead Ringers (dir. David Cronenberg)
High Hopes (dir. Mike Leigh)
The Last Temptation of Christ (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Beetlejuice (dir. Tim Burton)
Paperhouse (dir. Bernard Rose)
Drowning by Numbers (dir. Peter Greenaway)
My Neighbor Totoro (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
A Cry in the Dark (dir. Fred Schepisi)
Bull Durham (dir. Ron Shelton)
The Accidental Tourist (dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
Working Girl (dir. Mike Nichols)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (dir. David Zucker)
Big (dir. Penny Marshall)
Akira (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo)
A Fish Called Wanda (dir. Charles Crichton)
Mississippi Burning (dir. Alan Parker)
The Accused (dir. Jonathan Kaplan)
Heathers (dir. Michael Lehmann)
Midnight Run (dir. Martin Brest)

The Best Films of 1987

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:37:55 +0000

Housekeeping (dir. Bill Forsyth)
Babette’s Feast (dir. Gabriel Axel)
House of Games (dir. David Mamet)
Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh (dir. Paul Cox)
Wings of Desire (dir. Wim Wenders)
Raising Arizona (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
The Untouchables (dir. Brian De Palma)
The Princess Bride (dir. Rob Reiner)
Broadcast News (dir. James L. Brooks)
The Last Emperor (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
Wall Street (dir. Oliver Stone)
The Belly of an Architect (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Au Revoir Les Enfants (dir. Louis Malle)
Moonstruck (dir. Norman Jewison)
Full Metal Jacket (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (dir. John Hughes)
The Witches of Eastwick (dir. George Miller)
Near Dark (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
Innerspace (dir. Joe Dante)
Withnail and I (dir. Bruce Robinson)
Robocop (dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Hope and Glory (dir. John Boorman)
Evil Dead II (dir. Sam Raimi)
Lethal Weapon (dir. Richard Donner)

The Best Films of 1986

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (dir. John McNaughton)
The Fly (dir. David Cronenberg)
Hannah and Her Sisters (dir. Woody Allen)
Sid and Nancy (dir. Alex Cox)
‘Round Midnight (dir. Bertrand Tavernier)
Aliens (dir. James Cameron)
True Stories (dir. David Byrne)
The Big Easy (dir. Jim McBride)
Vagabond (dir. Agnès Varda)
Blue Velvet (dir. David Lynch)
Platoon (dir. Oliver Stone)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
Hoosiers (dir. David Anspaugh)
River’s Edge (dir. Tim Hunter)
The Great Mouse Detective (dir. Ron Clements and Burny Mattinson)
Little Shop of Horrors (dir. Frank Oz)
Stand by Me (dir. Rob Reiner)
Peggy Sue Gets Married (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
The Decline of the American Empire (dir. Denys Arcand)
Mona Lisa (dir. Neil Jordon)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (dir. John Hughes)
Ruthless People (dir. Jim Abrahams)

The Best Films of 1985

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:35:55 +0000

Mishima (dir. Paul Schrader)
A Zed and Two Noughts (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Come and See (dir. Elem Klimov)
Ran (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
The Color Purple (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Witness (dir. Peter Weir)
Prizzi’s Honor (dir. John Huston)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (dir. Woody Allen)
Back To The Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
After Hours (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Streetwise (dir. Martin Bell)
Re-Animator (dir. Stuart Gordon)
Mask (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
My Life as a Dog (dir. Lasse Hallström)

The Best Films of 1984

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:52:10 +0000

Amadeus (dir. Miloš Forman)
Stranger Than Paradise (dir. Jim Jarmusch)
Paris, Texas (dir. Wim Wenders)
Gremlins (dir. Joe Dante)
The Terminator (dir. James Cameron)
Blood Simple (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
Secret Honor (dir. Robert Altman)
Ghostbusters (dir. Ivan Reitman)
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (dir. Tim Burton)
This Is Spinal Tap (dir. Rob Reiner)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (dir. Michael Radford)
Stop Making Sense (dir. Jonathan Demme)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)

The Best Films of 1983

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:12:00 +0000

Koyaanisqatsi (dir. Godfrey Reggio)
El Norte (dir. Gregory Nava)
Testament (dir. Lynne Littman)
Star 80 (dir. Bob Fosse)
The Right Stuff (dir. Philip Kaufman)
Fanny and Alexander (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
A Christmas Story (dir. Bob Clark)
Scarface (dir. Brian Depalma)
Local Hero (dir. Bill Forsyth)
Entre Nous (dir. Diane Kurys)
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (dir. Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam)
Videodrome (dir. David Cronenberg)

The Best Films of 1982

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:06:00 +0000

Diva (dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix)
The Verdict (dir. Sidney Lumet)
E.T. (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Fitzcarraldo | Burden of Dreams (dir. Werner Herzog)
Tootsie (dir. Sydney Pollack)
The Secret of NIMH (dir. Don Bluth)
Sophie’s Choice (dir. Alan J. Pakula)
Diner (dir. Barry Levinson)
The Draughtsman’s Contract (dir. Peter Greenaway)
An Officer and A Gentleman (dir. Taylor Hackford)
Creepshow (dir. George A. Romero)
The Thing (dir. John Carpenter)
Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott)
Pink Floyd: The Wall (dir. Alan Parker)

The Best Films of 1981

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:38:56 +0000

Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir. Steven Spielberg)
My Dinner With Andre (dir. Louis Malle)
Mephisto (dir. István Szabó)
Body Heat (dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
Pixote (dir. Hector Babenco)
Quest for Fire (dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud)
Gregory’s Girl (dir. Bill Forsyth)
Pennies from Heaven (dir. Herbert Ross)
The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Raimi)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (dir. Karel Reisz)
Superman II (dir. Richard Lester)
Time Bandits (dir. Terry Gilliam)
Vernon, Florida (dir. Errol Morris)

The Best Films of 1980

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:40:00 +0000

Raging Bull (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Elephant Man (dir. David Lynch)
The Empire Strikes Back (dir. Irvin Kershner)
Mon oncle d’Amerique (dir. Alain Resnais)
The Long Good Friday (dir. John Mackenzie)
The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
The Blues Brothers (dir. John Landis)
The Big Red One (dir. Samuel Fuller)
Ordinary People (dir. Robert Redford)
Atlantic City (dir. Louis Malle)
Airplane (dir. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker)
The Falls (dir. Peter Greenaway)
Altered States (dir. Ken Russell)
Forbidden Zone (dir. Richard Elfman)
11. Forbidden Zone (dir. Richard Elfman)

The Best Films of 1979

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:06:31 +0000

Alien (dir. Ridley Scott)
Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
Kramer vs. Kramer (dir. Robert Benton)
Manhattan (dir. Woody Allen)
Being There (dir. Hal Ashby)
Nosferatu (dir. Werner Herzog)
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (dir. Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam)
Vengeance Is Mine (dir. Shohei Imamura)
The Great Santini (dir. Lewis John Carlino)
The Jerk (dir. Carl Reiner)
Woyzeck (dir. Werner Herzog)

The Best Films of 1978

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:13:39 +0000

Days of Heaven (dir. Terrance Malick)
Gates of Heaven (dir. Errol Morris)
Halloween (dir. John Carpenter)
Dawn of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero)
Stroszek (dir. Werner Herzog)
Interiors (dir. Woody Allen)
An Unmarried Woman (dir. Paul Mazursky)
Superman (dir. Richard Donner)
The Deer Hunter (dir. Michael Cimino)
National Lampoon’s Animal House (dir. Ivan Reitman)
Grease (dir. Randal Kleiser)

The Best Films of 1977

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:54:42 +0000

Annie Hall (dir. Woody Allen)
3 Women (dir. Robert Altman)
Hausu (dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi)
Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch)
Star Wars (dir. George Lucas)
That Obscure Object of Desire (dir. Luis Buñuel)
Saturday Night Fever (dir. John Badham)
Harlan County, U.S.A. (dir. Barbara Kopple)
Suspiria (dir. Dario Argento)
In the Realm of the Senses (dir. Nagisa Ôshima)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg)
New York, New York (dir. Martin Scorsese)

The Best Films of 1976

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:02:48 +0000

Taxi Driver (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Carrie (dir. Brian De Palma)
Network (dir. Sidney Lumet)
Rocky (dir. Sylvester Stallone)
All the President’s Men (dir. Alan J. Pakula)
The Omen (dir. Richard Donner)
Swept Away…by an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August (dir. Lina Wertmuller)
Obsession (dir. Brian De Palma)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (dir. Nicolas Gessner)

The Best Films of 1975

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:10:37 +0000

Nashville (dir. Robert Altman)
Barry Lyndon (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Dog Day Afternoon (dir. Sidney Lumet)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (dir. Miloš Forman)
Jaws (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (dir. Peter Weir)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (dir. Chantal Akerman)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (dir. Jim Sharman)
The Stepford Wives (dir. Bryan Forbes)

Notable Omission:

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini)

Why? I didn’t think it went far enough. One of these days, I will elaborate more on it.

The Best Films of 1974

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:13:28 +0000

The Conversation (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
Scenes from a Marriage (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
The Godfather Part II (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski)
Young Frankenstein (dir. Mel Brooks)
My Uncle Antoine (dir. Claude Jutra)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
A Woman Under the Influence (dir. John Cassavetes)
Day for Night (dir. François Truffaut)
Amarcord (dir. Federico Fellini)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper)

The Best Films of 1973

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:41:36 +0000

Cries and Whispers (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
The Wicker Man (dir. Robin Hardy)
Badlands (dir. Terrance Malick)
The Long Goodbye (dir. Robert Altman)
Paper Moon (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
Mean Streets (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Day of the Jackal (dir. Fred Zinnemann)
Sisters (dir. Brian De Palma)
The Exorcist (dir. William Friedkin)
American Graffiti (dir. George Lucas)
Don’t Look Now (dir. Nicolas Roeg)

The Best Films of 1972

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:11:31 +0000

The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (dir. Luis Buñuel)
Aguirre: Wrath of God (dir. Werner Herzog)
Last Tango in Paris (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
Chloe in the Afternoon (dir. Éric Rohmer)
The Other (dir. Robert Mulligan)
Boxcar Bertha (dir. Martin Scorsese)

The Best Films of 1971

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:42:09 +0000

A Clockwork Orange (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (dir. Robert Altman)
Walkabout (dir. Nicolas Roeg)
Straw Dogs (dir. Sam Peckinpah)
The Beguiled (dir. Don Siegel)
The Last Picture Show (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
Murmur of the Heart (dir. Louis Malle)
Duel (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (dir. Melvin Van Peebles)
The French Connection (dir. William Friedkin)
Bleak Moments (dir. Mike Leigh)
W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (dir. Dusan Makavejev)

The Best Films of 1970

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:30:53 +0000

Patton (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner)
Five Easy Pieces (dir. Bob Rafelson)
M*A*S*H (dir. Robert Altman)
Le Cercle Rouge (dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Le Boucher (dir. Claude Chabrol)
Claire’s Knee (dir. Éric Rohmer)
Wanda (dir. Barbara Loden)
Woodstock (dir. Michael Wadleigh)
The Wild Child (dir. François Truffaut)

The Best Films of 1969

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:27:02 +0000

Army of Shadows (dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Medium Cool (dir. Haskell Wexler)
Last Summer (dir. Frank Perry)
Midnight Cowboy (dir. John Schlesinger)
My Night at Maud’s (dir. Éric Rohmer)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (dir. Russ Meyers)
El Topo (dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Easy Rider (dir. Dennis Hopper)
The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah)

The Best Films of 1968

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:50:58 +0000

2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Rosemary’s Baby (dir. Roman Polanski)
Romeo and Juliet (dir. Franco Zeffirelli)
Night of the Living Dead (dir. George A. Romero)
The Producers (dir. Mel Brooks)
Faces (dir. John Cassavetes)

The Best Films of 1967

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:16 +0000

Bonnie and Clyde (dir. Arthur Penn)
Le Samourai (dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
In Cold Blood (dir. Richard Brooks)
Cool Hand Luke (dir. Stuart Rosenberg)
Playtime (dir. Jacques Tati)
Belle de Jour (dir. Luis Buñuel)
The Battle of Algiers (dir. Gillo Pontecorvo)
Who’s That Knocking at My Door (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Graduate (dir. Mike Nichols)
The Jungle Book (dir. Wolfgang Reitherman)
To Sir, with Love (dir. James Clavell)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (dir. Stanley Kramer)

The Best Films of 1966

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:43:22 +0000

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (dir. Sergio Leone)
Au Hasard Balthazar (dir. Robert Bresson)
Persona (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
Blowup (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (dir. Mike Nichols)
Seconds (dir. John Frankenheimer)
Made in U.S.A (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

The Best Films of 1965

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:06:12 +0000

Juliet of the Spirits (dir. Federico Fellini)
The Sound of Music (dir. Robert Wise)
A Patch of Blue (dir. Guy Green)
Repulsion (dir. Roman Polanski)
Doctor Zhivago (dir. David Lean)
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (dir. Russ Meyer)
Pierrot le Fou (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

The Best Films of 1964

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:30:15 +0000

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(dir. Stanley Kubrick)
My Fair Lady (dir. George Cukor)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (dir. Jacques Demy)
Woman in the Dunes (dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara)
A Hard Day’s Night (dir. Richard Lester)
Fail-Safe (dir. Sidney Lumet)
Mary Poppins (dir. Robert Stevenson)
Kwaidan (dir. Masaki Kobayashi)
Marnie (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

The Best Films of 1963

Christopher Beaubien — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:29:18 +0000

8 ½ (dir. Federico Fellini)
My Life to Live (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
High and Low (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
The Silence (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
The Great Escape (dir. John Sturges)
The Leopard (dir. Luchino Visconti)
The Birds (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
The Sword in the Stone (dir. Wolfgang Reitherman)
Jason and the Argonauts (dir. Don Chaffey)

The Best Films of 1962

Christopher Beaubien — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:19:52 +0000

Lawrence of Arabia {dir. David Lean)
The Manchurian Candidate (dir. John Frankenheimer)
Jules and Jim (dir. François Truffaut)
To Kill a Mockingbird (dir. Robert Mulligan)
Cape Fear (dir. J. Lee Thompson)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (dir. Robert Aldrich)
Lolita (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
The Trial of Joan of Arc (dir. Robert Bresson)
The Miracle Worker (dir. Arthur Penn)
Carnival of Souls (dir. Herk Harvey)

The Best Films of 1961

Christopher Beaubien — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:54:28 +0000

Last Year at Marienbad (dir. Alain Resnais)
La Dolce Vita (dir. Federico Fellini)
Yojimbo (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
Through a Glass Darkly (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
The Hustler (dir. Robert Rossen)
Viridiana (dir. Luis Buñuel)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (dir. Clyde Geronimi and Hamilton Luske)
West Side Story (dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins)
The Exiles (dir. Kent MacKenzie)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (dir. Blake Edwards)

Honourable Selection: “The Human Condition”

Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer (dir. Masaki Kobayashi, 1961)
Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (dir. Masaki Kobayashi, 1959)
Human Condition I: No Greater Love (dir. Masaki Kobayashi, 1959)

The Best Films of 1960

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:41:40 +0000

Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder)
Peeping Tom (dir. Michael Powell)
Breathless (dir. Jean-Luc Goddard)
Eyes Without A Face (dir. Georges Franju)
L’avventura (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
The Virgin Spring (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
Spartacus (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (dir. Mikio Naruse)
Swiss Family Robinson (dir. Ken Annakin)

The Best Films of 1959

Christopher Beaubien — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:18:02 +0000

The 400 Blows (dir. François Truffaut)
North by Northwest (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Some Like It Hot (dir. Billy Wilder)
Floating Weeds (dir. Yasujiro Ozu)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (dir. Alain Resnais)
Wild Strawberries (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
Fires on the Plain (dir. Kon Ichikawa)
Rio Bravo (dir. Howard Hawks)
Anatomy of a Murder (dir. Otto Preminger)
House on Haunted Hill (dir. William Castle)
Sleeping Beauty (dir. Clyde Geronimi)
Imitation of Life (dir. Douglas Sirk)
Gidget (dir. Paul Wendkos)

Honourable Selection: “The Apu Trilogy”

Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1959)
Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1956)
Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1955)

The Best Films of 1958

Christopher Beaubien — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:48:12 +0000

Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Mon Oncle (dir. Jacques Tati)
Touch of Evil (dir. Orson Welles)
The Big Country (dir. William Wyler)
The Long, Hot Summer (dir. Martin Ritt)

The Best Films of 1957

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:49:25 +0000

12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet)
Paths of Glory (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
The Seventh Seal (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
What’s Opera, Doc? (dir. Chuck Jones)
Sweet Smell of Success (dir. Alexander Mackendrick)
Witness for the Prosecution (dir. Billy Wilder)

The Best Films of 1956

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:09:34 +0000

The Searchers (dir. John Ford)
The Bad Seed (dir. Mervyn LeRoy)
The Red Balloon (dir. Albert Lamorisse)
Giant (dir. George Stevens)
Written on the Wind (dir. Douglas Sirk)

The Best Films of 1955

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:29:03 +0000

Ordet (dir. Carl Dreyer)
Marty (dir. Delbert Mann)
Bob le Flambeur (dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Lady and the Tramp (dir. Clyde Geronimi)
Rififi (dir. Jules Dassin)
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (dir. Jacques Tati)
Rebel Without a Cause (dir. Nicholas Ray)

The Best Films of 1954

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:29:49 +0000

Seven Samurai (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (dir. Jacques Becker)
La Strada (dir. Federico Fellini)
On the Waterfront (dir. Elia Kazan)
Hobson’s Choice (dir. David Lean)
Twenty-Four Eyes (dir. Keisuke Kinoshita)
A Star Is Born (dir. George Cukor)
Dial M for Murder (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

The Best Films of 1953

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:58:06 +0000

The Earrings of Madame de… (dir. Max Ophuls)
Tokyo Story (dir. Yasujiro Ozu)
The Big Heat (dir. Fritz Lang)
Ugetsu (dir. Kenji Mizoguchi)
The Band Wagon (dir. Vincente Minnelli)
I Vitelloni (dir. Federico Fellini)
Roman Holiday (dir. William Wyler)
Beat the Devil (dir. John Hiuston)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (dir. Howard Hawks)
Peter Pan (dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske)
Little Fugitive (dir. Ray Ashley)
Calamity Jane (dir. David Butler)

The Best Films of 1952

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:19:55 +0000

Singin’ in the Rain (dir. Stanley Donen)
Ikiru (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
Forbidden Games (dir. Edward Holzman)
Umberto D. (dir. Vittorio De Sica)
The Importance of Being Earnest (dir. Anthony Asquith)

The Best Films of 1951

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 04:44:06 +0000

Ace in the Hole (dir. Billy Wilder)
A Streetcar Named Desire (dir. Elia Kazan)
Strangers on a Train (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (dir. Robert Wise)
The African Queen (dir. John Huston)
A Place in the Sun (dir. George Stevens)
An American in Paris (dir. Vincente Minnelli)

The UP Series (1964 – Still in Progess)

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:24:52 +0000

The Best Films of 1950

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 01:00:51 +0000

Sunset Boulevard (dir. Billy Wilder)
All About Eve (dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Rashomon (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
In a Lonely Place (dir. (dir. Nicholas Ray)
Cinderella (dir. Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson)
The Asphalt Jungle (dir. John Huston)

The Best Films of 1949

Christopher Beaubien — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:14:41 +0000

The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed)
The Heiress (dir. William Wyler)
A Letter to Three Wives (dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

Notable Omission:

Adam’s Rib (dir. George Cukor)

The Best Films of 1948

Christopher Beaubien — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:29:30 +0000

The Red Shoes (dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittorio De Sica)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (dir. John Huston)
The Lady from Shanghai (dir. Orson Welles)
Joan of Arc (dir. Victor Fleming)