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: 5.13.11
8 ½ (1963) Italy, bw
13 Tzameti (2006) France, bw*
The 400 Blows (1959) France, bw*
A
[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
World's best nature films (updated 3/14/10) *=new
Baraka (Ron Fricke, 1992, doc.)*
Flight of the Navigator
Fly Away Home
March of the Penguins (doc.)
Never Cry Wolf (1983)
Planet Earth (2007; mini-series, doc.)
Touching the Void
Walkabout (1971)
White Fang
Winged Migration (2001, doc.)
Dir: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, 2001, France (10*) Perhaps the best feature length
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
[Internet Movie Database 250 - Alphabetical List]
Voted by Site Regulars, rankings/voted removed (updated 1/25/09)
I used the English film title for foreign films like The Seven Samurai, City of God, Cinema Paradiso,The Bicycle Thief, unless the film was released with its foreign title like La Dolce Vita, Rashomon, or anime films.
You can see the IMDB 250 list ranked by ratings averages at
A Coal Miner's Daughter
A Hard Days Night
All that Jazz
An American in Paris
Amadeus
Black Orpheus (France/Portugal)
Bride and Prejudice (India)
Carmen (Spain, flamenco version)
Chicago
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
The King and I
The Music Man
My Fair Lady
Singing in the Rain
Strictly Ballroom
West Side Story
Concert Films
The Cranberries: Live Dead Can Dance: Toward the
Double Indemnity (1944) was Billy Wilder's first serious film, and is given credit for the birth of film noir, literally "night film", which describes a visual style and mood of a type of dramatic film, usually crime, that's much more gritty and realistic than most films prior to this era.
Film noir was mostly shot at night or in dark interiors; there's lots of use of shadows, dimly lit edges,
Billy Wilder was born in Austria-Hungary, in what is now Malopolski, Poland. As a newswriter, he emigrated from Austria to Berlin writing for their biggest tabloid. By the time Hitler came to power in 1933, he had written some screenplays for the Berlin film industry, starting in 1929. With Jewish ancestry, Wilder had to flee the Nazis, first to Paris (directing Mauvaise Graine there in 1934,
Hero (2002) is a Chinese epic from director Zhang Yimou. Actor Jet Li said the screenplay (by Li Feng, Zhang Yimou, and Wang Bin) was the best he had ever read and left him in tears. They often call this Jet Li's Hero to distinguish it from an earlier U.S. film (also worth watching but nothing great) starring Andy Garcia and Dustin Hoffman. Along with Li, the film also stars the most popular
Films in gold won Best Picture
12 Angry Men (bw)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (bw)
All About Eve (bw)
Amadeus
The Apartment
Broadcast News
Citizen Kane (bw)
Dominick and Eugene (drama)
Elmer Gantry (drama, bw)
Empire Falls (mini-series)
Fearless (Peter Weir's)
Good Will Hunting
Housekeeping
Hud (bw)
The Hustler (bw)
The Last Picture Show (bw)
Little Foxes (bw)
The Magnificent Ambersons (bw)
Midnight
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
Aliens American Werewolf in London
The Changeling
Jurassic Park
King Kong (bw)
The Lady in White
Nightmare on Elm St.
Poltergeist
The Ring
The Sixth Sense
Also: Thought not traditional horror, Requiem for a Dream from the brilliant David Aronofsky (only his 2nd film, Pi was the other) is the scariest film of the decade, and fans of hiding in the closet or even some gore won't be disappointed (
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
