Introducing my personal “Sight and Sound” greatest films challenge

Posted on by Peter

Last year, the British Film Institute released its decennial list of The Greatest Films of All Time, as decided by a survey of over 1,600 critics and scholars. This year, as something of a New Years Resolution, I’m going to try to watch all 100 of these movies, and write a little bit about each one. Not for any real reason; it just seems like a productive exercise.

The only rules: I’ll shoot for a couple of movies a week, more or less in order (depending on my own schedule and ability to find each film). That’s all!

Find the BFI’s full list and links to my reviews below. Thanks.

The Greatest Films of All Time

(As compiled by the British Film Institute and reviewed by me)

  1. (Tied for 95th) Get Out (2017)
  2. (Tied for 95th) The General (1926)
  3. (Tied for 95th) Black Girl (1966)
  4. (Tied for 95th) Tropical Malady (2004)
  5. (Tied for 95th) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
  6. (Tied for 95th) A Man Escaped (1956)
  7. (Tied for 90th) The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)
  8. (Tied for 90th) The Leopard (1963)
  9. (Tied for 90th) Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
  10. (Tied for 90th) Yi Yi (2000)
  11. (Tied for 90th) Parasite (2019)
  12. (Tied for 88th) Chungking Express (1994)
  13. (Tied for 88th) The Shining (1980)
  14. (Tied for 84th) Histoire(s) du Cinéma (1988)
  15. (Tied for 84th) Pierrot le Fou (1965)
  16. (Tied for 84th) The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
  17. (Tied for 84th) Blue Velvet (1986)
  18. (Tied for 78th) Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
  19. (Tied for 78th) A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
  20. (Tied for 78th) Modern Times (1936)
  21. (Tied for 78th) A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
  22. (Tied for 78th) Sátántangó (1994)
  23. (Tied for 78th) Sunset Boulevard (1950)
  24. (Tied for 75th) Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
  25. (Tied for 75th) Imitation of Life (1959)
  26. (Tied for 75th) Spirited Away (2001)
  27. (Tied for 72nd) My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
  28. (Tied for 72nd) Journey to Italy (1954)
  29. (Tied for 72nd) L’Avventura (1960)
  30. (Tied for 67th) Metropolis (1927)
  31. (Tied for 67th) The Gleaners and I (2000)
  32. (Tied for 67th) The Red Shoes (1948)
  33. (Tied for 67th) La Jetée (1962)
  34. (Tied for 67th) Andrei Rublev (1966)
  35. Touki Bouki (1973)
  36. (Tied for 63rd) Casablanca (1942)
  37. (Tied for 63rd) The Third Man (1949)
  38. (Tied for 63rd) Goodfellas (1990)
  39. (Tied for 60th) Daughters of the Dust (1991)
  40. (Tied for 60th) Moonlight (2016)
  41. (Tied for 60th) La Dolce Vita (1960)
  42. Sans Soleil (1983)
  43. (Tied for 54th) Sherlock Jr. (1924)
  44. (Tied for 54th) The Apartment (1960)
  45. (Tied for 54th) Battleship Potemkin (1925)
  46. (Tied for 54th) Blade Runner (1982)
  47. (Tied for 54th) Contempt (1963)
  48. (Tied for 52nd) News From Home (1977)
  49. (Tied for 52nd) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
  50. (Tied for 50th) The Piano (1993)
  51. (Tied for 50th) The 400 Blows (1959)
  52. (Tied for 48th) Wanda (1970)
  53. (Tied for 48th) Ordet (1955)
  54. (Tied for 45th) North by Northwest (1959)
  55. (Tied for 45th) The Battle of Algiers (1966)
  56. (Tied for 45th) Barry Lyndon (1975)
  57. (Tied for 43rd) Killer of Sheep (1978)
  58. (Tied for 43rd) Stalker (1979)
  59. (Tied for 41st) Rashomon (1950)
  60. (Tied for 41st) Bicycle Thieves (1948)
  61. (Tied for 38th) Rear Window (1954)
  62. (Tied for 38th) Some Like It Hot (1959)
  63. (Tied for 38th) Breathless (1960)
  64. (Tied for 36th) M (1931)
  65. (Tied for 36th) City Lights (1931)
  66. Panther Panchali (1955)
  67. L’Atalante (1934)
  68. (Tied for 31st) Psycho (1960)
  69. (Tied for 31st) Mirror (1975)
  70. (Tied for 31st) 8 1/2 (1963)
  71. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
  72. Taxi Driver (1976)
  73. Daisies (1966)
  74. Shoah (1985)
  75. (Tied for 25th) The Night of the Hunter (1955)
  76. (Tied for 25th) Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
  77. Do the Right Thing (1989)
  78. Playtime (1967)
  79. (Tied for 21st) Late Spring (1949)
  80. (Tied for 21st) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
  81. Seven Samurai (1954)
  82. Apocalypse Now (1979)
  83. Persona (1966)
  84. Close-Up (1990)
  85. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
  86. The Searchers (1956)
  87. Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962)
  88. The Rules of the Game (1939)
  89. The Godfather (1972)
  90. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
  91. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
  92. Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
  93. Mulholland Drive (2001)
  94. Beau Travail (1999)
  95. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  96. In the Mood for Love (2000)
  97. Tokyo Story (1953)
  98. Citizen Kane (1941)
  99. Vertigo (1958)
  100. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)