Favorite Movies

Introduction

I have been maintaining a list of my favorite movies since my childhood in the 1980s. It's a list of movies that I love and that are close to my heart and my brain. Sadly, I have failed to record the changes over the decades and to keep the early papers. All those memories are lost in time, like tears in rain1. This is the latest 2025 edition.

Definition

It's certainly not a list of the best movies, but there are overlaps, and it's clearly subjective in nature. Even the best movies may lack that certain something that favorites have, a certain warmth of heart or sense of home, a quality that touches emotionally, evokes memories, and simply keeps my love of cinema alive. It's a case of I know it when I see it2.

Featured

Shanghai Express (1932)
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Directed by George Miller

Favorites

Poster - M
M (1931)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Poster - Shanghai Express
Shanghai Express (1932)
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Poster - Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane (1941)
Directed by Orson Welles
Poster - Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Poster - Detour
Detour (1945)
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Poster - Out of the Past
Out of the Past (1947)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Poster - Ace in the Hole
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Poster - Pickup on South Street
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Poster - Seven Samurai
Seven Samurai (1954)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Poster - Diabolique
Diabolique (1955)
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Poster - Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Directed by Robert Aldrich
Poster - The Killing
The Killing (1956)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Poster - 12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men (1957)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Poster - Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory (1957)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Poster - Rio Bravo
Rio Bravo (1959)
Directed by Howard Hawks
Poster - The Apartment
The Apartment (1960)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Poster - Psycho
Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Poster - Yojimbo
Yojimbo (1961)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Poster - Jules and Jim
Jules and Jim (1962)
Directed by François Truffaut
Poster - High and Low
High and Low (1963)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Poster - For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Poster - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Poster - The Graduate
The Graduate (1967)
Directed by Mike Nichols
Poster - 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Poster - Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Poster - The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Poster - Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Directed by John Schlesinger
Poster - Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point (1971)
Directed by Richard C. Sarafian
Poster - The French Connection
The French Connection (1971)
Directed by William Friedkin
Poster - The Godfather
The Godfather (1972)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Poster - Fat City
Fat City (1972)
Directed by John Huston
Poster - Hickey & Boggs
Hickey & Boggs (1972)
Directed by Robert Culp
Poster - Paper Moon
Paper Moon (1973)
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Poster - The Conversation
The Conversation (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Poster - Chinatown
Chinatown (1974)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Poster - The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Poster - Jaws
Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Poster - Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Poster - Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver (1976)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Poster - All the President's Men
All the President's Men (1976)
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
Poster - Mikey and Nicky
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Directed by Elaine May
Poster - Sorcerer
Sorcerer (1977)
Directed by William Friedkin
Poster - Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven (1978)
Directed by Terrence Malick
Poster - Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Poster - Stalker
Stalker (1979)
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Poster - The Shining
The Shining (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Poster - Thief
Thief (1981)
Directed by Michael Mann
Poster - Possession
Possession (1981)
Directed by Andrzej Żuławski
Poster - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Poster - Blade Runner
Blade Runner (1982)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Poster - The Thing
The Thing (1982)
Directed by John Carpenter
Poster - Scarface
Scarface (1983)
Directed by Brian De Palma
Poster - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Directed by Paul Schrader
Poster - Come and See
Come and See (1985)
Directed by Elem Klimov
Poster - To Live and Die in L.A.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Directed by William Friedkin
Poster - Manhunter
Manhunter (1986)
Directed by Michael Mann
Poster - Predator
Predator (1986)
Directed by John McTiernan
Poster - Die Hard
Die Hard (1988)
Directed by John McTiernan
Poster - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Poster - The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Directed by John McTiernan
Poster - Miller's Crossing
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Poster - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Directed by James Cameron
Poster - Heat
Heat (1995)
Directed by Michael Mann
Poster - Fargo
Fargo (1996)
Directed by Joel Coen
Poster - L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Poster - Out of Sight
Out of Sight (1998)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Poster - The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Directed by Terrence Malick
Poster - Memento
Memento (2000)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Poster - Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive (2000)
Directed by David Lynch
Poster - Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation (2003)
Directed by Sofia Coppola
Poster - No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Directed by Joel Coen
Poster - There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Poster - The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (2008)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Poster - Inglourious Basterds
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Poster - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Directed by Werner Herzog
Poster - Drive
Drive (2011)
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Poster - Dredd
Dredd (2012)
Directed by Pete Travis
Poster - Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Directed by George Miller
Poster - Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Poster - Decision to Leave
Decision to Leave (2022)
Directed by Park Chan-wook

Once upon a time

At one time or another in my life, among my favorites movies were The General (1926) • Metropolis (1927) • Scarface (1932) • His Girl Friday (1940) • The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) • Casablanca (1942) • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) • Bicycle Thieves (1948) • The Third Man (1949) • All About Eve (1950) • The Night of the Hunter (1955) • Touch of Evil (1958) • Vertigo (1958) • North by Northwest (1959) • A Woman Is a Woman (1961) • (1963) • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) • Bonnie and Clyde (1967) • They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) • MASH (1970) • Catch-22 (1970) • Duel (1971) • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) • Mr. Majestyk (1974) • Flatfoot in Hong Kong (1975) • Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) • Star Wars (1977) • Smokey and the Bandid (1977) • Flatfoot in Africa (1978) • Escape from Alcatraz (1979) • The Empire Strikes Back (1980) • Raging Bull (1980) • The Cannonball Run (1981) • Das Boot (1981) • White Dog (1982) • Return of the Jedi (1983) • Blood Simple (1984) • The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) • Runaway Train (1985) • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) • Full Metal Jacket (1987) • Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) • A Fish Called Wanda (1988) • Twins (1988) • The 'Burbs (1989) • National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) • Tremors (1990) • Total Recall (1990) • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) • Pappa ante portas (1991) • Barton Fink (1991) • Army of Darkness (1992) • Groundhog Day (1993) • Kalifornia (1993) • Pulp Fiction (1994) • Léon: The Professional (1994) • The Usual Suspects (1995) • Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) • Princess Mononoke (1997) • The Big Lebowski (1998) • Run Lola Run (1998) • Go (1999) • Fight Club (1999) • Magnolia (1999) • Requiem for a Dream (2000) • Traffic (2000) • Donnie Darko (2001) • Heist (2001) • 28 Days Later (2002) • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) • Garden State (2004) • Shaun of the Dead (2004) • Pan's Labyrinth (2006) • The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) • Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) • (500) Days of Summer (2009) • Moon (2009) • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013), and many more of my childhood that I cannot remember :'-(