[Scroll to the bottom for the complete list]
I must say that I am in absolute shock. This is an extraordinary list. Even more impressive is that, unlike AFI's Top 100, this list includes foreign releases as well. And from Yahoo!? Really? They're not supposed to recommend "M" or "The Third Man." But rightly so, they do. Omissions were very, very difficult to think of (which is a sign of a great list). Most of the foreign ones I have not seen (sadly), but the ones listed (like "The 400 Blows" and "Wild Strawberries") I am very familiar with as being recognized so highly. I also commend its bold inclusion of movies like "Enter the Dragon" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High." These are genre defining movies which should be welcomed just as any great director should be welcomed.
Every decade is represented rather well too. The past couple decades are not, and, if I may say so, should not be represented heavily. It commonly takes decades to discover whether a film can stand the test of time. The fewer, the better, I say. But sometimes you just have to include them (like "Lord of the Rings").
The only titles I take issue with are "The Usual Suspects," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "When Harry Met Sally...," and maybe "Titanic." Admittedly, these are great movies I would not only recommend to anybody but also wouldn't mind owning (if I don't already).
My favorite part of this list is how every omitted movie I try to think of is either on the list (yay "Groundhog Day"!) or has that director's seminal film present. For instance, "North By Northwest" didn't make the list, but Hitchcock's "Psycho," "Rear Window" and "Vertigo" all made it. Its exclusion deemphasizes Hitchcock, so that exclusion I understand. All the greats are represented well: Kubrick, Kurosawa, Truffaut, Fellini, Pinter and Bergman (most with multiple entries). Amazingly, those that I just mentioned happen to be considered by many the best directors of their respective countries: America, Japan, France, Italy, India and Sweden. China and Korea are also represented with their greatest filmmakers, Ang Lee and Wong Kar-Wai.
The only titles I truly think are omitted are "Forrest Gump," "The Princess Bride" and either of David Fincher's movies "Fight Club" or "Se7en." "Lost In Translation" is debatable, but the inclusion of Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood For Love" (the direct inspiration) is an inspired decision, because it not only draws allusion to Sofia Coppola's film but also puts Wong Kar-Wai on the list (which he most deservedly so belongs). I would also like to see Wes Anderson represented, but as I think about his films, I couldn't recommend them to anybody the way I could with everything else here. But if he were to be represented, either "Rushmore" or "The Royal Tenenbaums" would be on there. I would also like to have seen the Coen brothers on the list. But, as the problem with Wes Anderson, they may be a bit too quirky. If they were represented, I would say "Blood Simple," "Fargo," "The Big Lebowski" or "No Country For Old Men" should be listed.
I don't know how, but Yahoo! came up with a very inspired list; one that could easily rival AFI's Top 100. Dare I even say... better? Are there any movies you think were omitted? Here's the full list:
12 Angry Men (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The 400 Blows (1959)
8 ½ (1963)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The African Queen (1952)
Alien (1979)
All About Eve (1950)
Annie Hall (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Battle of Algiers (1967)
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blow Up (1966)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Breathless (1960)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Casablanca (1942)
Chinatown (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Die Hard (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Duck Soup (1933)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
The French Connection (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Goldfinger (1964)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Graduate (1967)
Grand Illusion (1938)
Groundhog Day (1993)
In the Mood For Love (2001)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jaws (1975)
King Kong (1933)
The Lady Eve (1941)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Lord of the Rings (2001,2002,2003)
M (1931)
M*A*S*H (1970)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Matrix (1999)
Modern Times (1936)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
Network (1976)
Nosferatu (1922)
On the Waterfront (1954)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Paths of Glory (1958)
Princess Mononoke (1999)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
Rashomon (1951)
Rear Window (1954)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Rocky (1976)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Searchers (1956)
Seven Samurai (1954)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Star Wars (1977)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Third Man (1949)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Titanic (1997)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Toy Story (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Vertigo (1958)
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Wings of Desire (1988)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The World of Apu (1959)
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