Category Archives: Top Ten Lists

I have now watched 49 films that were released in 1968.  A complete list can be found here.  I felt that my experiment with reducing the number of movies worked out well. There were only 12 movies that I ranked 9/10 or above.  I’m listing them all in alphabetical order since I wouldn’t want to rank them.

Black Cat (Kuroneko) – Directed by Kaneto Shindo.

Faces – Directed by John Cassavetes

Funny Girl – Directed by William Wyler

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter – Directed by Robert Ellis Miller

If … – Directed by Lindsay Anderson

The Lion in Winter – Directed by Anthony Harvey

Memories of Underdevelopment (Memorias de subdesarrollo) – Directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea

Monterey Pop – Directed by D.A. Pennebecker

Night of the Living Dead – Directed by George A. Romero

Once Upon a Time in the West  (C’era una vola al West) – Directed by Sergio Leone

Rosemary’s Baby – Directed by Roman Polanski

Shame (Skammen) – Directed by Ingmar Bergman

I slacked off dramatically on my movie watching for 2019 and have high hopes that I will regain my enthusiasm in 2020. My viewing for this year began with 1966 and ended with finishing 1967.  I logged 171 films on Letterboxd.

I saw many great films.  Since I’ve been seeking out classic movies for a long time, many of the best were re-watches.  Still there were many gems that were new to me. Films that I saw for the first time this year, rated 9/10,  and did not make this list are: Au Hasard, Balthazar (1966); A Man for All Seasons (1966); Dragon Inn (1967); Oncle Yanco (1967 – short); and Festival (1967- documentary).

Here’s 10  favorite films I saw for the first time in 2019.   They are not ranked but in alphabetical order.

The Face of Another/Tanin no kao (1966) – Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara

Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) – Directed by John Schlesinger

The Hero/Nayak (1966) – Directed by Satyajit Ray

Japan’s Longest Day/Nihon no ichiban nagai hi (1967) – Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

Roma (2018) – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

The Sword of Doom (1966) – Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

The Two of Us/Le vielle homme et l’enfant (1967) – Directed by Claude Berri

Two in the Shadow (AKA Scattered Clouds)/Midaregumo (1967)  – Directed by Mikio Naruse

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) – Directed by Mike Nichols

The Young Girls of Rochefort/Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) – Directed by Jacques Demy

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Wishing one and all peace, love, understanding and plenty of good movies in 2020!

I have now watched 87 films that were released in 1967.  A complete list can be found here.  It took six months seemingly stretching out into eternity.  In reality, 1967 was actually one of the really great years for movies and for Hollywood, which was seeing an upswing of creativity aided by the demise of the Hayes Code. I had 21 movies I rated 9/10 or higher.  They were very hard to whittle down.  It about killed me to omit:  Don’t Look Back; Dragon Inn; The Fireman’s Ball; Two in the Shadow; The Producers; Wait Until Dark; Festival; Japan’s Longest Day; Belle de Jour; Bonnie and Clyde; and Oncle Yanco.  Ranking the list was clearly impossible, so I have listed them in alphabetical order.

Cool Hand Luke – Directed by George Roy Hill

Far from the Madding Crowd – Directed by John Schlesinger

The Graduate – Directed by Mike Nichols

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Directed by David Swift

In Cold Blood – Directed by Richard Brooks

In the Heat of the Night – Directed by Norman Jewison

Samurai Rebellion – Directed by Misaki Kobayashi

Le Samourai – Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

The Two of Us/Le vieil homme y l’enfant – Directed by Claude Berri

Les demoiselles de Rochefort/The Young Girls of Rochefort – Directed by Jacques Demy

Without much ado, here are my ten favorite out of many documentaries I watched in 2018, in order by year of release.    The absolute favorite of all documentaries I watched last year was a re-watch of Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams (1982) about the making of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo.

Tokyo-Ga (1985) – Directed by Wim Wenders
Subject: Tokyo and director Yasujiro Ozu

The World of Jacques Demy (1995) – Directed by Agnes Varda
Subject: Tribute to the life and films of director Jacques Demy by his wife, director Agnes Varda

The Buena Vista Social Club (1999) – Directed by Wim Wenders
Subject: Legendary pre-Castro Cuban musicians and their revival

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) – Directed by Craig McCall
Subject: Cinematographer/director Jack Cardiff

And Everything is Going Fine (2010) – Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Subject: Actor/monologist/writer Spalding Grey

… But Film Is My Mistress (2010) – Directed by Stig Bjorkman
Subject: Influence of director Ingmar Bergman on contemporary directors

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015) – Directed by Stig Bjorkman
Subject: Intimate look at the actress’s personal life through her home movies, diary entries, letters and through interviews with her children

OJ: Made in America (2016) – Directed by Ezra Edelman
Subject: Career and trial of the football star/actor/accused murderer

Filmworker (2017) – Directed by Tony Zierra
Subject: Career of Stanley Kubrick’s assistant, Leon Vitali

Real Life was full of many things in 2018.  Fortunately, many of them were good movies  My viewing for the year began about halfway through 1963 and ended by finishing off 1965.  I logged 455 films on Letterboxd.  I took a lengthy break to watch Pre-Code films and another one focused on documentaries.  Some of the best new films I saw this year were documentaries and I am creating a separate list for those.

I saw too many great films to count.  Since I’ve been seeking out classic movies for a long time, many of the best were re-watches.  Still there were many gems that were new to me. Fiction films that I rated 9/10 and did not make the top ten are: Nothing But a Man (1964); Whoopie! (1929); Le Bonheur (1965); I Knew Her Well (1965); The Other Side of Hope (2017); The Collector (1965); and The Moment of Truth (1965).

Here’s 10  favorite films I saw for the first time in 2018.   They are not ranked but in chronological order.

Red Dust (1932) – Directed by Sam Wood

An Actor’s Revenge (1963) – Directed by Kon Ichikawa

The Servant (1963) – Directed by Joseph Losey

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) – Directed  by Jacques Demy

The Naked Prey (1965) – Directed by Cornel Wilde

YoYo (1965) – Directed by Pierre Etaix

Repulsion (1965) – Directed by Roman Polanski

Darling (1965) – Directed by John Schlesinger

The Shop on Main Street (1965) – Directed by Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos

A Short Film About Love (1988) – Directed  by Krzysztof Kieslowski

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A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to one and all!