World's Best Foreign Language Films

This is a subset of the non-English language films from all the other lists (my preferences, these are not from the Top Ranked on the Net survey we did - that post is listed seperately, as over 400 foreign language films made that list), with a few more worthy films added
(* = new additions)
Updated: 3.10.11

• 8 ½ (1963) Italy, bw
  
• 13 Tzameti (2006) France, bw*
  
• The 400 Blows (1959) France, bw*
  
• A Great Wall (US-China, mixed language)
  
• A Prophet (2009) France
  
• A Very Long Engagement (2004) France*
  
• A Wednesday (2008) India
  
• After the Wedding (2006) Denmark
  
• Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) Germany
  
• All About My Mother (1999) Spain*
  
• Amarcord (1974) Italy* [AA]
  
• Ashes of Time Redux (1994) China
  
• Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) France, bw
  
• Babel (2006) Mexico
  
• Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Russia, bw
  
• The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (Mexico)
  
• Band of Outsiders (1964) France, bw*
  
• The Barbarian Invasions (2003) Canada [AA]
  
• Battle of Algiers (1965) France, bw [AA]
  
• The Battleship Potemkin (1925) USSR, bw
  
• The Beautiful Country (2004) Norway*
  
• The Best of Youth (2003) Italy*
  
• Beyond Silence (1996) Germany*
  
• The Bicycle Thief (Italy, bw) [AA]
  
• Black Orpheus (France-Portugal)
  
• Blood of My Blood (2007) Mexico*
  
• Brothers (2004) Denmark*
  
• Butterfly (1999) Spain*
  
• Carmen (1983) C. Suare, Spain - not the opera, a flamenco dance film
  
• Central Station (1998) Brazil
  
• Chaos (2001) France
  
• Chocolat (2000) France
  
• The Chorus (2004) France
  
• Chungking Express/Fallen Angels (1994) Hong Kong
  
• Cinema Paradiso (1988) Italy [AA]
  
• City of God (2002) Brazil
  
• Climates (2006) Turkey*
  
• Closely Watched Trains (1966) Czechoslovakia, bw [AA]
  
• Come and See (1985) Russia
  
• The Conformist (1970) Italy
  
• The Counterfeiters (2007) Austria* [AA]
  
• The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Russia*
  
• Crazed Fruit (1956) Japan, bw*
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) China [AA]
  
• The Cuckoo (2002) Russia
  
• Das Bööt (The Boat) (1981) Germany [AA]
  
• Days of Glory (2006) Algeria*
  
• Day for Night (France) [AA]
  
• Dersu Uzala (Japan)
  
• Devils On the Doorstep (2000), China, bw*
  
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie (France)*
  
• Diva (1981) France
  
• Downfall (2004) Germany*
  
• The Earrings of Madame De.. (1953) France, bw*
  
• Earth (1998) India-Canada*
  
• Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) China
  
• El Alamein (2002) Italy*
  
• El Mariachi (1992) Mexico*
  
• El Norté (Mexico)
  
• Elevator to the Gallows (1958) France, bw
  
• The Emigrants (Sweden) [AA]
  
• The Emperor and the Assassin (1998) China*
  
• Era Notte a Roma (1960) Italy, bw*
  
• Fallen Angels (1995) China (see Chungking Express)
  
• Farewell My Concubine (1993) China
  
• Fateless (2005) Hungary-France-UK, bw *
  
• Fitzcarraldo (1982) Germany
  
• Floating Weeds (1959), Japan*
  
• Gadjo Dilo (1998) Romania*
  
• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) Italy [AA]
  
• Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) Germany*
  
• The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) Italy, bw
  
• Grand Illusion (1937) France, bw
  
• Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Japan*
  
• Hara-Kiri (1962) Japan, bw*
  
• The Harmonists (1997) Germany*
  
• Hero (Yimou, 2002) China
  
• House of Flying Daggers (2004) China
  
• I Am Cuba (1964) Cuba-Russia, bw*
  
• I Served the King of England (2006) Czech Rep.*
  
• Il Postino (1995), Italy [AA]
  
• Il Posto (1961) Italy, bw*
  
• In the Mood for Love (2001) Hong Kong
  
• The Italian (2005) Russia*
  
• Ivan's Childhood (1962) Russia, bw
  
• Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (1986) France
  
• Jodhaa Akbar (2007) India
  
• Kapó (1959) Italy, bw*
  
• Kinamind (2005) Denmark *
  
• Kolya (1996) Czech Republic [AA]
  
• L'america (1994) Italy
  
• L'avventura (1960) Italy, bw
  
• La Cage Aux Folles (France)
  
• La Dolce Vita (1960) Italy, bw
  
• La Femme Nikita (1990) France
  
• The Lives of Others (2007) Germany [AA]
  
• Malena (2000) Italy
  
• Man With the Movie Camera (1928) USSR, bw/silent*
  
• Mephisto (1981) Hungary [AA]
  
• M. (1928) Germany, bw
  
• Metropolis (1927) Germany, bw-silent*
  
• Micmacs (2009) France*
  
• Mongol (2007) Russia
  
• The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) Brazil
  
• Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) India
  
• My Life as a Dog (Sweden)
  
• Nine Queens (2000) Argentina*
  
• No Man’s Land (2001) Bosnia*
  
• Not One Less (1999) China*
  
• Nowhere in Africa (2002) Germany [AA]
  
• Olympia (1938) Germany, bw* documentary
  
• Perfume (2006) Germany*
  
• Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) Russia*
  
• Purple Noon (1961) France*
  
• Quinceañera (2006) [U.S., in Spanish]*
  
• Rashomon (1954) Japan, bw*
  
• Red Cliff (2008) China*
  
• Return of Martin Guerre (1982) France*
  
• Ridicule (France)*
  
• Rififi (1955) France, bw*
  
• The Road Home (1999) China
  
• Rocco and his Brothers (1964) Italy, bw
  
• Run Lola Run (1998) Germany*
  
• Salaam Bombay! (1988) India
  
• Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) Japan*
  
• Seven Beauties (Italy)
  
• The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) Argentina* [AA]
  
• The Seven Samurai (1957) Japan, bw [AA]
  
• The Seventh Seal (Sweden) [AA]
  
• Shall We Dance? (1995) Japan
  
• Shoot the Piano Player (France, bw)
  
• The Shop on Main St. (1965) Czechoslavakia, bw [AA]
  
• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.. and Spring (2003) Korea
  
• The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) Germany*
  
• Swept Away (Italy)
  
• To Live (1994) China
  
• Together (2002) China*
  
• Tokyo Story (1953) Japan, bw*
  
• Touch the Sound (2004) Germany*
  
• The Triplets of Belleville (2003) France-Belgium-Can.-UK*
  
• The Tunnel (2001) Germany*
  
• Turtles Can Fly (2004) Iran-Iraq*
  
• The Two of Us (1967) France, bw*
  
• The Twilight Samurai (2002) Japan *
  
• Ugetsu (1953) Japan, bw *
  
• Umberto D (1952) Italy, bw
  
• Under the Sun (1998), Sweden*
  
• Vatel (2000) France*
  
• Veer-Zaara (2004) India*
  
• Volver (Spain)* [AA]
  
• The Wages of Fear (1953) France, bw*
  
• War and Peace (1968) Russia
  
• Warriors (Guerreros, 2007) Spain*
  
• War Photographer (2001) Switzerland*
  
• Water (2005) India-Canada*
  
• The White Ribbon (2009) Germany*
  
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) Spain* [AA]
  
• Zelary (2003) Czech Republic
  
• Zhou Yu's Train (2004) China
  

The films listed together (ie, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring; Chunking Express/Fallen Angels) are parts of the same story, intended by the director to be one long film but were split up due to length.

I think The Bicycle Thief is a great film, but it's very tough to recommend, as it's pretty depressing. Meanwhile, Under the Sun (a romance) is a true rarity: a non-depressing film from Sweden; so is My Life As a Dog (a comedy)

My Favorite 100 Movies

[Updated 1.5.11]
Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars® (* = recent addition)

The Top 20 (alpha order):
2001, All About Eve, Babe, The Best Years of Our Lives, City of God (Brazil), Cinema Paradiso (Italy), The Conformist (Italy), Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather II, Hannah and Her Sisters, Hero (China), Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (France), Lawrence of Arabia, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, My Fair Lady, Once Upon a Time in America, Parenthood, Requiem for a Dream, The Seven Samurai (Japan), The Shawshank Redemption, Wall-E


Top 100 in alphabetical order

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
   
2. The 400 Blows * (France, bw)
   
3. A Clockwork Orange
   
4. A Room With a View
   
5. A Wednesday (India) *
   
6. After the Wedding (Denmark) *
   
7. Aliens
   
8. All About Eve (bw)
   
9. Amadeus
   
10. Annie Hall
    
11. Apocalypse Now!
    
12. As Good as It Gets
    
13. Babel (Mexico)
    
14. Babe
    
15. Baraka * (Documentary)
    
16. Battle of Algiers (France-Algiers, bw)
    
17. The Best Years of Our Lives (bw)
    
18. Big Fish
    
19. Brazil
    
20. The Bridge On the River Kwai
    
21. Carmen (Spain, flamenco version)
    
22. Casablanca (bw)
    
23. Central Station * (Brazil)
    
24. Chicago
    
25. Chungking Express * (China/Hong Kong)
    
26. Cinema Paradiso (Italy)
    
27. City of God (Brazil)
    
28. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
    
29. Conformist, The (Italy)
    
30. Conversation, The
    
31. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China)
    
32. Dances With Wolves
    
33. Dangerous Liaisons
    
34. Devils on the Doorstep * (China)
    
35. Diva (France)
    
36. Doctor Strangelove (bw)
    
37. Double Indemnity (bw)
    
38. The Empire Strikes Back
    
39. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    
40. Field of Dreams
    
41. Finding Neverland
    
42. Finding Nemo
    
43. Fitzcarraldo (Germany)
    
44. Gandhi
    
45. The Godfather
    
46. The Godfather, Part II
    
47. Good Bye, Lenin! * (Germany)
    
48. Goodfellas
    
49. Goodnight Mister Tom
    
50. Graduate, The
    
51. The Gray Fox
    
52. Groundhog Day
    
53. Hannah and Her Sisters
    
54. Hero (China)
    
55. Hoop Dreams (Documentary)
    
56. Hope and Glory
    
57. House of Games
    
58. Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (France)
    
59. Kolya (Czech Republic)
    
60. L'america (Italy)
    
61. The Last Emperor
    
62. L'avventura (Italy, bw)
    
63. Lawrence of Arabia
    
64. La Femme Nikita (France)
    
65. The Last Emperor
    
66. The Last Picture Show (bw)
    
67. The Lives of Others (Germany)
    
68. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
    
69. Manhattan (bw)
    
70. The Maltese Falcon (bw)
    
71. Memento
    
72. Million Dollar Baby
    
73. Minority Report
    
74. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington *
    
75. My Brilliant Career
    
76. My Fair Lady
    
77. The Namesake *
    
78. Network
    
79. Night of the Hunter (bw)
80. Norma Rae
    
81. Nowhere in Africa (Germany)
    
82. October Sky
    
83. On the Waterfront (bw)
    
84. Once Upon a Time in America
    
85. Open Range
    
86. Out of the Past (bw)
    
87. Parenthood
    
88. The Philadelphia Story (bw)
    
89. Platoon
    
90. The Player
91. Rabbit-Proof Fence *
    
92. Raging Bull (bw)
    
93. Raising Arizona
    
94. Requiem for a Dream *
    
95. The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2)
    
96. Run Lola Run (Germany)
    
97. Salaam Bombay! * (India)
    
98. Schindler's List (bw)
    
99. The Seven Samurai (Japan, bw)
    
100. Shakespeare in Love
     
101. Shane
     
102. The Shawshank Redemption
     
103. The Silence of the Lambs
     
104. Singin' in the Rain
     
105. Sunset Boulevard (bw)
     
106. The Sweet Smell of Success (bw)
     
107. To Kill a Mockingbird (bw)
     
108. To Live (China)
109. Together (China) *
     
110. Traffic
     
111. Turtles Can Fly (Iraq-Iran-France) *
     
112. The Twilight Samurai (Japan)
     
113. Umberto D * (Italy)
     
114. V for Vendetta
     
115. Walkabout
     
116. Wall-E
     
117. Whale Rider
     
118. Winged Migration (Documentary)
     
119. When Harry Met Sally
     
120. Zelary (Czech Republic)

Ok, so I can't count - that's why I had them auto-numbered.. call this a "baker's 100", you get ten dozens. 'So many movies, so little time..' (to paraphrase Raising Arizona)

Thirty are foreign language films.. always watch the subtitled and not the 'dubbed into English' versions.. once you know the dialogue (usually once), you can watch them without subtitles and see just the film itself.. A few more titles are films in English from foreign directors, such as Once Upon a Time in America (Leone, Italy), The Last Emperor (Bertolucci, Italy), and The Namesake (Nair, India).

This list is always changing.
Newer: A Wednesday, After the Wedding, Whale Rider, Central Station, Umberto D, L'avventura, Wall-E, Good Bye Lenin, Baraka, Devils on the Doorstep, The Namesake, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Together, Turtles Can Fly

Just Removed: It's a Wonderful Life, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Citizen Kane, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ugetsu (Japan), Slumdog Millionaire, Duck Soup, Auntie Mame, Patton, Mephisto, A Christmas Story, Sybil, Gangs of New York, Back to the Future

Low on the List (next to go): The Last Picture Show, As Good As It Gets, Devils on the Doorstep, Norma Rae, Manhattan, Goodfellas

TV Miniseries (that would be in the top 100): 1. Band of Brothers (10 hrs) 2. Planet Earth (12 hrs) 3. Into the West (12 hrs) 4. Brideshead Revisited (10 hrs) 5. Lonesome Dove (6 hrs) 6. The Prisoner (13 hrs, 17 episodes)

Cannes Award Winning Films

All Seventy-Eight Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winners:

1939 Union Pacific Country : U.S. Director Cecil B. DeMille
1946 Torment Country : Sweden Director Alf Sjoberg
1946 Lost Weekend Country : U.S. Director Billy Wilder
1946 The Red Earth Country : Hungary Director Bodil Ipsen & Lau Jr. Lauritzen
1946 Lowly City Country : India Director Chetan Anand
1946 Brief Encounter Country : U.K. Director David Lean
1946 Maria Candelaria Country : Mexico Director Emilio Fernandez
1946 The Turning Point Country : U.S.S.R. Director Fridrikh Markovitch Ermler
1946 La Symphonie Pastorale Country : France Director Jean Delannoy
1946 The Last Chance Country : Switzerland Director Leopold Lintberg
1946 Men Without Wings Country : France Director M. Cap
1946 Open City Country : Italy Director Roberto Rossellini
1949 The Third Man Country : U.K. Director Carol Reed
1951 Miss Julie Country : Sweden Director Alf Sjöberg
1951 Miracle in Milan Country : Italy Director Vittorio De Sica
1952 Othello Country : U.S. Director Orson Welles
1952 Two Cents Worth of Hope Country : Italy Director Renato Castellani
1953 The Wages of Fear Country : France Director Henri-Georges Clouzot
1954 Gate of Hell Country : Japan Director Teinosuke Kinugasa
1955 Marty Country : U.S. Director Delbert Mann
1956 The Silent World Country : Italy/France Director Jacques-Yves Cousteau & Louis Malle
1957 Friendly Persuasion Country : U.S. Director William Wyler
1958 The Cranes are Flying Country : U.S.S.R. Director Mikheil Kalatozishvili
1959 Black Orpheus Country : Brazil Director Marcel Camus
1960 La Dolce Vita Country : Italy Director Federico Fellini
1961 The Long Absence Country : France/Italy Director Henri Colpi
1961 Viridiana Country : Spain Director Luis Buñuel
1962 Keeper of PromisesCountry : Brazil/Portugal Director Anselmo Duarte
1963 The Leopard Country : Italy Director Luchino Visconti
1964 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Country : France Director Jacques Demy
1965 The Knack Country : U.K. Director Richard Lester
1966 A Man and a Woman Country : France Director Claude Lelouch
1966 The Birds, the Bees, and the Italians Country : Italy/France Director Pietro Germi
1967 Blow-Up Country : U.K./Italy Director Michelangelo Antonioni
1969 If . . . . Country : U.K. Director Lindsay Anderson
1970 M*A*S*H Country : U.S. Director Robert Altman
1971 The Go-Between Country : U.K. Director Joseph Losey
1972 The Working Class Goes to Heaven Country : Italy Director Elio Petri
1972 The Mattei Affair Country : Italy Director Francesco Rosi
1973 The Mistake Country : U.K. Director Alan Bridges
1973 Scarecrow Country : U.S. Director Jerry Schatzberg
1974 The Conversation Country : U.S. Director Francis Ford Coppola
1975 Chronicle of the Years of Fire Country : Algeria Director Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
1976 Taxi Driver Country : U.S. Director Martin Scorsese
1977 Padre Padrone Country : Italy Director Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
1978 Tree of the Wooden Clogs Country : Italy/France Director Ermanno Olmi
1979 Apocalypse Now Country : U.S. Director Francis Ford Coppola
1979 The Tin Drum Country : Germany Director Volker Schlöndorff
1980 All That Jazz Country : U.S. Director Bob Fosse
1980 Kagemusha Country : Japan Director Akira Kurosawa
1981 The Man of Iron Country : Poland Director Andrzej Wajda
1982 Missing Country : U.S. Director Costa-Gavras
1982 Yol Country : Turkey Director Yilmaz Güney
1983 The Ballad of Nurayama Country : Japan Director Shohei Imamura
1984 Paris, Texas Country : France/W. Germany Director Wim Wenders
1985 When Father Was Away on Business Country : Yugoslavia Director Emir Kusturica
1986 The Mission Country : U.K. Director Roland Joffé
1987 Under the Sun of Satan Country : France Director Maurice Pialat
1988 Pelle the Conqueror Country : Denmark/Sweden Director Bille August
1989 Sex, Lies and Videotape Country : U.S. Director Steven Soderbergh
1990 Wild at Heart Country : U.S. Director David Lynch
1991 Barton Fink Country : U.S. Director Ethan & Joel Cohen
1992 The Best Intentions Country : Sweden Director Bille August
1993 Farewell My Concubine Country : China Director Chen Kaige
1993 The Piano Country : New Zealand Director Jane Campion
1994 Pulp Fiction Country : U.S. Director Quentin Tarantino
1995 Underground Country : Yugoslavia Director Emir Kusturica
1996 Secrets and Lies Country : U.K. Director Mike Leigh
1997 Taste of Cherry Country : Japan Director Abbas Kiarostami
1997 The Eel Country : Iran Director Shohei Imamura
1998 Eternity and a Day Country : Greece Director Theo Angelopoulos
1999 Rosetta Country : Belgium/France Director Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne
2000 Dancer in the Dark Country : Denmark Director Lars von Trier
2001 The Son's Room Country : Italy Director Nanni Moretti
2002 The Pianist Country : France/Germany/U.K. Director Roman Polanski
2003 Elephant Country : U.S. Director Gus Van Sant
2004 Fahrenheit 9/11Country : U.S. Director Michael Moore
2005 The Child Country : Belgium Director Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
2006 The Wind that Shakes the Barley Country : U.K. Director Ken Loach
2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days Country : Romania Director Christian Mungiu
2008 The Class Country : France Director Laurent Cantet
2009 The White Ribbon Country: Germany Director Michael Haneke

Double Winners:
Alf Sjoberg: 1946, 1951
Francis Ford Coppola: 1974, 1979
Shohei Imamura: 1983, 1997
Emir Kusturica: 1985, 1995
Billie August: 1988, 1992
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne: 1999, 2005

World's Best Romance Films

The world's best romance films, those without comedy
Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars®
(* = new additions)

• A Room With a View (also in Romantic Comedy)
  
• A Town Like Alice (mini-series)
  
• A Very Long Engagement [photo rt]
  
• The Age of Innocence
  
• An Education * [photo top]
  
• Atonement
  
• Bad Timing, a Sexual Obsession
  
• Brideshead Revisited (mini-series)
  
• Casablanca
  
• Children of a Lesser God
  
• The Crying Game
  
• Dangerous Liaisons
  
• Days of Heaven
  
• Doctor Zhivago
  
• Five Easy Pieces
  
• Hannah and Her Sisters (also Romantic Comedy)
  
• Heat and Dust
  
• House of Games
  
• Il Postino
  
• It's a Wonderful Life
  
• My Brilliant Career
  
• The Namesake *
  
• Now, Voyager *
  
• Out of Africa
  
• Sense and Sensibility
  
• Sex, Lies and Videotape
  
• Shall We Dance? (Japan)
  
• Slumdog Millionaire
  
• Tess
  
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being
  
• Under the Sun * (Sweden)
  
• Wings of the Dove
  
• Women in Love
  
• Zelary * (Czech Republic) [photo rt]
  

I had to include the incomparable Brideshead Revisited here, even though it was a PBS / Masterpiece Theater for television, and about 8 hrs long (it also made Jeremy Irons a star). Laurence Olivier, who won an Emmy, was in both that and Love Among the Ruins. The Australian film Walkabout was the first DVD I ever ordered. Also Australian, A Town Like Alice was also a PBS mini-series, but only 4 hours.

Worlds Best Romantic Comedy Films

I decided to make this a genre since many romances were serious but just as many good ones are comedies, and because some comedies have no romance at all, plus it's a long list of really great films
(updated: 3/12/10; * = new additions)

• A Room With a View
  
• Adam's Rib (bw)
  
• Alice
  
• Annie Hall (4 Oscars/5 noms.)
  
• As Good As It Gets (2 Oscars/7 noms.)
  
• Beautiful Girls
  
• Big
  
• Blast From the Past
  
• Breaking Away
  
• Cinema Paradiso
  
• Clueless *
  
• Defending Your Life
  
• Enemies, A Love Story
  
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  
• Goodbye, Lenin! (Germany)*
  
• The Graduate
  
• Groundhog Day
  
• Hannah and Her Sisters (3 Oscars/7 noms.)
  
• Heaven Can Wait
  
• L.A. Story
  
• Lost in Translation
  
• Love Among the Ruins
  
• Manhattan
  
• Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment
  
• Much Ado About Nothing
  
• The Philadelphia Story (bw)
  
• Shakespeare in Love (7 Oscars and 13 nominations, surprisingly, director John Madden did not win, losing to Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan)
  
• Sideways
  
• Tootsie
  
• There's Something About Mary
  
• Wall-E *
  
• When Harry Met Sally
  

Runners-Up: 50 First Dates, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Bridget Jones' Diary, Emma, Finding Nemo, The Gay Divorcee (bw), A Life Less Ordinary, The Paper Chase.

Many of these were nominated for Best Picture, which seldom goes to a comedy so the odds were stacked against them: A Room With a View, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Breaking Away, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Graduate, Hannah and Her Sisters, Lost in Translation, Sideways, Tootsie.

Cinema Paradiso won over a dozen international awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Love Among the Ruins won several Emmys, and starred Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier as two people who meet again in court decades after having a brief affair.

Much Ado About Nothing, by Kenneth Branagh, is my favorite Shakespearean play put on film; the cast works even with Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves in it! Branagh believes you don't need a British accent for Shakespearean acting - what a striking concept.

Woody Allen in his prime excelled at this type of film: Alice, Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan, The Purple Rose of Cairo. Since that era and his self-absorbed Bergman-esque period, my favorite of his was the recent Match Point, a crime-romance with Scarlet Johanssen.

Venice Film Festival - Best Films

Golden Lion (Best Film) Winners at the Venice Film Festival (1946-2008)*:

1946 Best Film The Southerner Country: U.S. Director: Jean Renoir
1947 Best Film Siréna Country: Czechoslovakia
1948 Best Film Hamlet Country: U.K. Director: Laurence Olivier
1949 Best Film Manon Country: France Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
1950 Best Film Let Justice Be Done Country: France Director: André Cayatte
1951 Best Film Rashômon Country: Japan Director: Akira Kurosawa
1952 Best Film Forbidden Games Country: France Director: René Clément
1954 Best Film Romeo and Juliet Country: Italy/U.K. Director: Renato Castellani
1955 Best Film Ordet Country: Denmark Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
1957 Best Film Aparajito Country: India Director: Satyajit Ray
1958 Best Film Rikisha-Man Country: Japan Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
1959 Best Film The Great War Country: Italy Director: Mario Monicelli
1959 Best Film General della Rovere Country: Italy Director: Roberto Rossellini
1960 Best Film The Crossing of the Rhine Country: Italy Director: André Cayatte
1961 Best Film Last Year at Marienbad Country: France Director: Alain Resnais
1962 Best Film My Name Is Ivan Country: U.S.S.R. Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
1962 Best Film Family Diary Country: France/Italy Director: Valerio Zurlini
1963 Best Film Hands Over the City Country: Italy/France Director: Francesco
Rosi
1964 Best Film The Red Desert Country: Italy Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
1965 Best Film Sandra of a Thousand Delights Country: Italy Director: Luchino
Visconti
1966 Best Film The Battle of Algiers Country: Algeria Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
1967 Best Film Belle de Jour Country: France Director: Luis Buñuel
1968 Best Film Artist in the Circus Dome: Clueless Country: West Germany Director:
Alexander Kluge
1980 Best Film Atlantic City Country: U.S. Director: Louis Malle
1980 Best Film Gloria Country: U.S. Director: John Cassavetes
1981 Best Film Marianne and Juliane Country: West Germany Director: Margarethe
von Trotta
1982 Best Film The State of Things Country: West Germany Director: Wim
Wenders
1983 Best Film First Name: Carmen Country: France Director: Jean-Luc Godard
1984 Best Film A Year of the Quiet Sun Country: Poland Director: Krzysztof
Zanussi
1985 Best Film Vagabond Country: France Director: Agnès Varda
1986 Best Film The Green Ray (Summer) Country: France Director: Eric Rohmer
1987 Best Film Au Revoir les Enfants Country: France Director: Louis Malle
1988 Best Film Legend of the Holy Drinker Country: Italy Director: Ermanno Olmi
1989 Best Film City of Sadness Country: Taiwan Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou
1990 Best Film Rosencrantz Guildenstern Are Dead Country: U.K. Director: Tom
Stoppard
1991 Best Film Close to Eden Country: France/U.S.S.R. Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
1992 Best Film The Story of Qiu Ju Country: China Director: Zhang Yimou
1993 Best Film Short Cuts Country: U.S. Director: Robert Altman
1993 Best Film Three Colors: Blue Country: France Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
1994 Best Film Before the Rain Country: Macedonia Director: Milcho Manchevski
1994 Best Film Vive L'Amour Country: Taiwan Director: Ming-liang Tsai
1995 Best Film Cyclo Country: Vietnam Director: Tran Anh Hung
1996 Best Film Michael Collins Country: U.K. Director: Neil Jordan
1997 Best Film Fireworks Country: Japan Director: Takeshi Kitano
1998 Best Film The Way We Laughed Country: Italy Director: Gianni Amelio
1999 Best Film Not One Less Country: China Director: Yimou Zhang
2000 Best Film The Circle Country: Iran Director: Jafar Panahi
2001 Best Film Monsoon Wedding Country: India Director: Mira Nair
2002 Best Film The Magdalene Sisters Country: U.K. Director: Peter Mullan
2003 Best Film The Return Country: Russia Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
2004 Best Film Vera Drake Country: U.K. Director: Mike Leigh
2005 Best Film Brokeback Mountain Country: U.S. Director: Ang Lee
2006 Best Film Still Life Country China Director: Jia Zhangke
2007 Best Film Lust, Passion Country Taiwan Director: Ang Lee
2008 Best Film The Wrestler Country U.S. Director: Darren Anorofsky

*I think I started with 1946 because they were using the festival and its "Mussolini Award" for propaganda, so I responded to that with my own censorship and began with the post-Mussolini reign.

World's Best Crime Films

The worlds best crime and mystery films
Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars®

• Atlantic City
  
• Chinatown
  
• Chungking Express (China)
  
• City of God (Brazil)
  
• The Conversation
  
• The Departed
  
• Diva (France)
  
• Double Indemnity (bw)
  
• Gangs of New York
  
• The Godfather
  
• The Godfather, Pt. II
  
• Goodfellas
  
• The Grifters
  
• Heavenly Creatures
  
• House of Games
  
• La Femme Nikita (France)
  
• The Lives of Others (Germany)
  
• The Maltese Falcon (bw)
  
• Memento
  
• Night of the Hunter (bw)
  
• Once Upon a Time in America (long version)
  
• Out of the Past (bw)
  
• The Player
  
• Pulp Fiction
  
• Run, Lola, Run (Germany)
  
• The Silence of the Lambs
  
• Sleuth
  
• Sunset Boulevard (bw)
  
• Taxi Driver
  
• Traffic
  
• The Usual Suspects
  
• Witness
  

Runners-Up: American History X, Body Heat, Fargo, Gorky Park, Klute, The Last Seduction, Little Caesar, Mystic River, The Spanish Prisoner, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Topkapi, The Yakuza

Let's see, four entries from Scorsese and three from Coppola, also Sergio Leone - wonder why Italians make great crime movies? Night of the Hunter is the only film directed by actor Charles Laughton, with Robert Mitchum as a villainous preacher so bad that he had both "Love" and "Hate" tattooed on his fingers. The Conversation and The Lives of Others both cover the subject of electronic eavesdropping, and Lives won both a US and a British Academy Award for Foreign Language film.

Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity is given credit for inventing film noir in 1944, and was the first of Wilder's b&w masterpieces, which include Lost Weekend, The Apartment, Some Like it Hot, The Fortune Cookie, One Two Three.

World's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

The worlds best fantasy and science fiction films

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• A Clockwork Orange
  
• Aliens
  
• Back to the Future
  
• Big Fish
  
• Blade Runner
  
• Brazil
  
• Cocoon
  
• Contact
  
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  
• Dune (SF-channel mini-series)
  
• E.T.
  
• The Empire Strikes Back
  
• Field of Dreams
  
• Frequency
  
• Gattica
  
• Gormenghast (SF-channel mini-series)
  
• The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood (TV)
  
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  
• The Matrix
  
• Minority Report
  
• Poltergeist
  
• Pleasantville
  
• The Prestige
  
• The Prisoner (mini-series)
  
• The Sixth Sense
  
• Time Bandits
  
• The Time Machine (remake)
  
• The 12 Monkeys
  
• WALL-E (animated)
  

Runners-Up: 2010, A Boy and His Dog, The Abyss, Outland, Silent Running, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, The Wrath of Khan, Vanilla Sky, 2046 (Japan), Gulliver's Travels (mini-series)

The Prisoner was actor Patrick McGoohan's tv sequel to his first show, Secret Agent Man, and still has a large cult following due to its originality and statements about brainwashing, freedom, individuality, non-conformity, and government repression. It was planned as a 16-part complete series with an ending, first time ever on television, and British of course.

A Clockwork Orange was good, and the first and maybe only film rated X for violence (tame by today's standards), but the book was phenomenol, one of the best ever, Burgess wrote it to exorcise demons from a real life home invasion by a gang. The entire book was in Alex's vernacular, and later editions had a necessary glossary of the invented slang. "Hey, Billy Boy, come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles that is, ya eunuch jelly thou."

Big Fish is my favorite Tim Burton film, a beautiful fantasy of tall tales. Where to you put Poltergeist, is it horror or science fiction? Same with Aliens.

World's Best Sports Films

Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars®

• Breaking Away
  
• Bull Durham
  
• Chariots of Fire
  
• Field of Dreams
  
• Friday Night Lights
  
• Glory Road
  
• Golden Boy
  
• The Great White Hope
  
• Hoop Dreams (doc.)
  
• Hoosiers
  
• Million Dollar Baby
  
• The Natural
  
• Phar Lap
  
• Pride of the Yankees
  
• Raging Bull
  
• Requiem for a Heavyweight
  
• Seabiscuit (remake)
  

I guess I stretched a bit to make a sports list, as Bull Durham and Breaking Away belong in comedy, and Field of Dreams in fantasy & science fiction.

Five boxing films and no Rocky... well, there are much better boxing films above. Raging Bull should have been Scorsese's first directing Oscar, and Goodfellas or Gangs of New York should have been his second, then his Oscar for The Departed could have gone to Alejandro Inarritu for Babel, which was filmed on three continents and in four languages.

Friday Night Lights is probably the first great football film.

Additions and Under Consideration

New additions:

• A Boy Ten Feet Tall (childrens)
  
• A Coal Miner's Daughter (musical/concert)
  
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (bw, drama)
  
• The Apartment (bw)
  
• Baby Boom (comedy)
  
• Bad Timing, a Sexual Obsession (romance)
  
• Black Orpheus (musical/concert)
  
• Bride and Prejudice (India, musical)
  
• Broadcast News (drama)
  
• Broken Trail (western, mini-series)
  
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (western)
  
• Dead Can Dance: Toward the Within (musical/concert)
  
• Dead Man Walking (drama)
  
• Dominick and Eugene (drama)
  
• Double Indemnity (bw, crime-7 Oscar noms)
  
• Elmer Gantry (bw, drama)
  
• The Emigrants (foreign lang, Sweden)
  
• Empire Falls (drama, mini-series)
  
• Fellini's Amarcord (foreign lang, Italy)
  
• Five Easy Pieces (romance)
  
• Frequency (Fantasy & SF)
  
• The Grand Illusion (bw, foreign lang, France)
  
• Gung Ho! (comedy)
  
• Hud (bw, drama)
  
• The Hustler (bw, drama)
  
• The Last Picture Show (bw, drama)
  
• Led Zeppelin (2 dvd, concert)
  
• Little Foxes (bw, drama)
  
• The Magnificent Ambersons (bw, drama)
  
• McCabe and Mrs. Miller (western)
  
• My Dog Skip (childrens)
  
• My Life as a Dog (foreign lang, Sweden)
  
• Peggy Sue Got Married (romantic comedy)
  
• Peter Gabriel: Secret World Live (musical/concert)
  
• The Player (crime & mystery)
  
• The Producers (comedy, orig. vrsn)
  
• Pulp Fiction (crime)
  
• The Seventh Seal (foreign lang, Sweden)
  
• Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (childrens)
  
• Stars Fell on Henrietta
  
• The Sweet Hereafter (drama)
  
• The Thin Man (series, comedy)
  
• The Truth About Cats and Dogs (romantic comedy)
  
• The Wings of the Dove (romance)
  

We have a number of films under consideration, both suggestions from the blog (thanks to Beth G, master fan of BW movies) and a personal list I need to rewatch:

• The 39 Steps (bw)
  
• D.O.A. (bw, original)
  
• Dolores Claiborne
  
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie (France)
  
• Jules and Jim (bw, France)
  
• The Lady Vanishes (bw)
  
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Narnia 1)
  
• Magic Town (bw)
  
• Orlando
  
• Panic in the Streets (bw)
  
• Proof
  
• Runaway Jury
  
• Separate Tables (bw)
  
• Shadow of a Doubt (bw)
  
• Shoot the Piano Player (France, bw)
  
• Walk the Line