In September 2017 Telegraph film critic Tim Robey picked his all-time favourite films. The list contains the arresting, the artful and the sheer entertaining and although Robey makes it clear he’s naming his favourite films rather than the most important, he includes some of the most acclaimed from both American and World Cinema.
It’s hard to fault most of his picks and he’s included a number of often over looked gems from the first half of the 20th century. Sure Mary Poppins does little more for me than remind me of childhood and I can think of many Kurosawa films I prefer to Throne of Blood, but plenty of his choices would find their way into my top 100 favourite films. sjb.
- 100. The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda, 1933)
- 99. Mary Poppins
(Robert Stevenson, 1954)
- 98. The Burmese Harp
(Kon Ichikawa, 1956)
- 97. Vanya On 42nd Street
(Louis Malle, 1994)
- 96. Happy Together
(Wong Kar Wai, 1997)
- 95. Kes
(Ken Loach, 1969)
- 94. Pickup on South Street
(Sam Fuller, 1953)
- 93. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
(Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)
- 92. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
- 91. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
- 90. The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
(Ernst Lubitsch, 1927)
- 89. The Lady Eve
(Preston Sturges, 1941)
- 88. Five Easy Pieces
(Bob Rafelson, 1970)
- 87. The Piano Teacher
(Michael Haneke, 2001)
- 86. Tabu
(Miguel Gomes, 2012)
- 85. Bill Douglas Trilogy
(Bill Douglas, 1972-78)
- 84. 12 Years a Slave
(Steve McQueen, 2013)
- 83. The Roaring Twenties
(Raoul Walsh, 1939)
- 82. California Split
(Robert Altman, 1974)
- 81. Margaret
(Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
- 80. The Thin Blue Line
(Errol Morris, 1988)
- 79. Master And Commander
(Peter Weir, 2003)
- 78. Killer of Sheep
(Charles Burnett, 1978)
- 77. Blonde Venus
(Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
- 76. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
- 75. The Green Ray
(Eric Rohmer, 1986)
- 74. Garden of the Finzi Continis (Il giardino dei Finzi Contini)
(Vittorio de Sica, 1970)
- 73. Elena
(Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2011)
- 72. Carrie
(Brian De Palma, 1976)
- 71. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
(Trey Parker, 1999)
- 70. Birth
(Jonathan Glazer, 2004)
- 69. Dog Day Afternoon
(Sidney Lumet, 1975)
- 68. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
(Jacques Demy, 1964)
- 67. Goodfellas
(Martin Scorsese, 1990)
- 66. The Big Lebowski
(Joel Coen, 1998)
- 65. All About Eve
(Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
- 64. The Night of the Hunter
(Charles Laughton, 1955)
- 63. Rosemary’s Baby
(Roman Polanski, 1968)
- 62. Sans Soleil
(Chris Marker, 1983)
- 61. The General (Buster Keaton, 1927)
- 60. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
- 59. Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1936)
- 58. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
- 57. Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)
- 56. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
- 55. Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (Fritz Lang, 1922)
- 54. The Little Foxes (William Wyler, 1941)
- 53. Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)
- 52. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
- 51. The Last Laugh (FW Murnau, 1924)
(Robert Stevenson, 1954)
(Kon Ichikawa, 1956)
(Louis Malle, 1994)
(Wong Kar Wai, 1997)
(Ken Loach, 1969)
(Sam Fuller, 1953)
(Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)
(Ernst Lubitsch, 1927)
(Preston Sturges, 1941)
(Bob Rafelson, 1970)
(Michael Haneke, 2001)
(Miguel Gomes, 2012)
(Bill Douglas, 1972-78)
(Steve McQueen, 2013)
(Raoul Walsh, 1939)
(Robert Altman, 1974)
(Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
(Errol Morris, 1988)
(Peter Weir, 2003)
(Charles Burnett, 1978)
(Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
(Eric Rohmer, 1986)
(Vittorio de Sica, 1970)
(Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2011)
(Brian De Palma, 1976)
(Trey Parker, 1999)
(Jonathan Glazer, 2004)
(Sidney Lumet, 1975)
(Jacques Demy, 1964)
(Martin Scorsese, 1990)
(Joel Coen, 1998)
(Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
(Charles Laughton, 1955)
(Roman Polanski, 1968)
(Chris Marker, 1983)
- 50. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
- 49. Aguirre, Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
- 48. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)
- 47. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)
- 46. I Am Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)
- 45. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
- 44. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
- 43. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
- 42. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
- 41. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
- 40. Gaslight (Thorold Dickinson, 1940)
- 39. Synedoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
- 38. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
- 37. The Phantom of Liberty (Luis Bunuel, 1974)
- 36. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
- 35. A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)
- 34. I Vitelloni (Federico Fellini, 1953)
- 33. A Star is Born (George Cukor, 1954)
- 32. Aliens
(James Cameron, 1986)
- 31. Cleo From 5 to 7
(Agnes Varda, 1962)
- 30. Holiday
(George Cukor, 1938)
- 29. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)
- 28. Modern Times
(Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
- 27. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
- 26. La Grande Illusion
(Jean Renoir, 1937)
- 25. 42nd Street
(Lloyd Bacon, 1933)
- 24. Crash
(David Cronenberg, 1996)
- 23. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
- 22. The Fall of the House of Usher
(Jean Epstein, 1928)
- 21. Sweet Smell Of Success
(Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
- 20. Gospel According to St. Matthew
(Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)
- 19. Children of Paradise
(Marcel Carne, 1945)
- 18. Nashville
(Robert Altman, 1975)
- 17. Toy Story
(John Lasseter, 1995)
- 16. Hannah And Her Sisters
(Woody Allen, 1986)
- 15. The Conversation
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
- 14. Blue Velvet
(David Lynch, 1986)
- 13. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
- 12. Barry Lyndon
(Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
- 11. The Magnificent Ambersons
(Orson Welles, 1942)
- 10. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
(Chantal Ackerman, 1975)
- 9. Earrings of Madame De.
(Max Ophuls, 1953)
- 8. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1928)
- 7. The Ballad of Narayama
(Shohei Imamura, 1983)
- 6. Psycho
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
- 5. Mulholland Drive
(David Lynch, 2001)
- 4. Sansho the Bailiff
(Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
- 3. The Shining
(Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
- 2. Persona
(Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
- 1. The Thin Red Line
(Terrence Malick, 1998)
(James Cameron, 1986)
(Agnes Varda, 1962)
(George Cukor, 1938)
(Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
(Jean Renoir, 1937)
(Lloyd Bacon, 1933)
(David Cronenberg, 1996)
(Jean Epstein, 1928)
(Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
(Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)
(Marcel Carne, 1945)
(Robert Altman, 1975)
(John Lasseter, 1995)
(Woody Allen, 1986)
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
(David Lynch, 1986)
(Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
(Orson Welles, 1942)
(Chantal Ackerman, 1975)
(Max Ophuls, 1953)
(Shohei Imamura, 1983)
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
(David Lynch, 2001)
(Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
(Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
(Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
(Terrence Malick, 1998)
The DVD Stack I (Paperback)
Tim Robey has been reviewing films, for the Telegraph since 2000. He read classics at University College, Oxford, and was runner-up for best arts journalist in both the Guardian and Independent Student Media Awards in 1999.