Good list Mike. I've seen most of them. Most. I'll never 'get' Brazil. I've tried, really I have.

My five faves:

1. The Grapes of Wrath
2. Manhattan
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Sunset Boulevard
5. Hairspray

I definitely share some of the favs on your list. I stayed up waaayyy too late watching "Annie Hall" the other night. I'm going through a Woody Allen revival of sorts these days. I caught "Mighty Aphrodite" a few weeks ago and I had forgotten what a really funny, enjoyable film it is to watch.

I'll give a top list 10 a try...without repeating anything on your list...

1. Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows)
2. My Brilliant Career
3. Raging Bull
4. North by Northwest
5. Trois Couleurs: Bleu (Three Colors: Blue)
6. An American In Paris
7. The Quiet Man
8. Ran
9. Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (The Crime of Monsieur Lange)
10. Lawrence of Arabia

Luckily I had already compiled these on ymdb.com. My top five:

1. Remains of the Day
2. Rushmore
3. Bridge on the River Kwai
4. Fargo
5. Welcome to the Dollhouse

Ooh! Good list so far.

Dennis - I love "Grapes of Wrath." Certain images from that stick with me like glue. You know, I honestly don't think I've ever seen "Sunset Boulevard!"

LA - "Raging Bull" should probably be on mine. I didn't know what to drop, though. "The 400 Blows" is brilliant but I still prefer the slow burn of "L'Avventura."

Mark - "Welcome to the Dollhouse" makes me squirm because it hit too close to home. "Fargo" should probably be on my list.

just have time for five right now, so here goes:

Fanny & Alexander
A Room with a View
Amelie
The Philadelphia Story
Cinema Paradiso

There are three on your list I haven't seen, the highest of which is L'Avventura, but I haven't really gained the appreciation yet for Antonioni I should have. I'm still planning on seeing it, though.

A quick top ten:

Citizen Kane
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Best Years Of Our Lives
North By Northwest
City Lights
The Seven Samurai
A Hard Day's Night
Casablanca
The 400 Blows
His Girl Friday

In no particular order, with hopelessly inadequate capsule explanations:

The Royal Tenenbaums (especially the moment when Chaz says, "It's been a hard year, Dad," and for Royal's response)

Miller's Crossing (a love story, when all's said and done, as Gabriel Byrne's character, Tom, is exposed as truly heroic in the last reel, against all expectations)

The Big Lebowski (had to include a comedy, and this one has one of the all-time under-appreciated performances, by Jeff Bridges)

Nightmare Alley (with Tyrone Powers's own favorite performance, as a climbing carny who steals a colleague's mind-reading act and, obviously, ends up paying the price)

The "Point Break/Roadhouse/Next of Kin" Swayze trilogy (as first pointed out by the insufferable Dave Kehr, "Roadhouse" is a masterpiece of subliminal homoeroticism; "Next of Kin" is clearly the lesser of these three -- though eminently watchable due to the morbid fascination of Liam Neeson's struggle to speak with a Southern drawl, which he continued vainly trying to perfect in "Nell" -- but "Point Break" assures Swayze's and Keanu's immortality, regardless of bigger box office hits)

Crossfire (with my favorite performance by my favorite actor, Chicago's own Robert Ryan, as a homicidal anti-semite just home from WWII; also with an uncomfortably tame Robert Mitchum, among my many second-favorite actors)

Okay, so that's six. At least I mostly avoided ones you listed, or else the two Kubricks could easily have been Top 5 for me. Same w/ Barry Lyndon, Paths of Glory, and Full Metal Jacket. Other contenders: Billy Budd, The Ruling Class, The Godfathers (minus III -- c'mon, you can't deny 'em), The Conversation, and . . . that's enough.

I suck at lists like this for many reasons, including that like most (I suspect) the fact of the list draws my mind into little nuances and away from strict reality. Criteria are introduced, but I don't know what they are, and I get muddled in suddenly weighing worthiness, when in fact I rarely watch a movie I love and think to myself "Wow, that was worthy." If you know what I mean.

Except A.I., I kind of did think that then. And enjoyed it immensely when I watched it on DVD the other night, weeping copiously as it went on. Ooops, TMI.

That being said, you've posted a great list. I don't think I could ever list 8 1/2 as a favorite; if anything by Fellini penetrated, which would not be likely despite your double selections, it would probably be Roma. It's the only film, for me at least, where he at last cut the shit and just made a damn movie. And it's beautiful, and rarely seen. Though La Dolce Vita is lovely, and I wish I had seen the restored print last summer at Film Forum.

I think the first four in mine, below, are more or less permanent; certainly they've been in position for a decade and more. For the rest, what phase is the moon in? After the first four, order is more or less irrelevant.

1. To Have and Have Not
2. Manhattan
3. Blade Runner
4. Repulsion
5. The Matrix
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Casablanca
8. Himmel Uber Berlin (gorgeous, yep)
9. Nashville
10. Star Wars

And then I get to fighting with myself. How can I leave out 2001? Or Toy Story? Or Fantasia? Or Annie Hall? Or, let's get real, When Harry Met Sally, which most Americans have probably seen more than any other picture ever made? The Godfather? Goodfellas? O Lucky Man? Barbarella? Forbidden Games? Bonjour Tristesse? And so on, and so on, and so on.

Sure is fun, though.

Boy, those spammers are getting more brazen every day...

In no particular order, and I'll try to list flicks that haven't been mentioned yet:

Ran -- Kurosawa's take on King Lear, and probably the single best filmed adaptation of Shakespeare ever. Not to mention spectacular battle sequences that were only bested by Private Ryan.

Das Boot -- the extended, six-hour edition. We don't get to see too many war films from the other side; this is one of the best war films ever.

Patton -- If I'm gonna mention war films, I gotta add Patton. A very interesting examination of what war is, not to mention the titutlar performance by George C. Scott. A film that takes a similarly complex view of war is, surprisingly, The Americanization of Emily.

The Right Stuff -- a movie about men and big shiny toys that, somewhat unexpectedly, is really built around the performances of the women.

Local Hero -- perhaps the perfect comedy?

>Local Hero -- perhaps the perfect comedy?

Oh, that's a good one, Paul. I want to amend my list!

I'm also feeling xenophobic due to the lack of non-U.S. flicks in my top five, in comparison to all you worldly souls.

I don't have a best of list. there are simply movies that I love because they mean something to me on a personal level and evoke a time in my life that was special...

Here's a few that I can think of off the top of my head that no one has mentioned...

The Big Lebowski
Party Girl (I do love me some Parker!)
Heathers - the best teenager movie ever!
Living in Oblivion
Schindler's List
Like Water for Chocolate
Indochine
Run Lola Run
Roman Holiday
Breakfast at Tiffany's

I know some of these aren't The Great Movies of the World, but they are special and wonderful for different reasons.

I'm not a lister... Depending on the mood I'm in, I could love a film one day and hate it the next... So it's hard for me to pick. I enjoy most of the films on most of your lists... though I haven't seen several of the foreign films you've mentioned.

Some of my universal, doesn't-matter-what-mood-I'm-in Favorites don't include much in the way of indies or foreigns:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
Babe
Hairpspray (I have a soft spot for Crybaby, too)
Cat Ballou
Silence of the Lambs
Bull Durham
Heathers
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Young Frankenstein

Mostly comedies, I know (and yes, I find Silence of the Lambs to be a very funny movie.) I have to be in the right mood for some of my other faves. What can I say... sometimes I'm just too grumpy to deal with angst, symbolism, subtext, and subtitles. But when I'm in the right mood, Bring 'em on!!!

By the way, the aforementioned film prof? Wouldn't happen to be Ken Jurkevich, would it? I loved that guy!

And then there's the movies that I just love for no particular reason, certainly not because they good.

Johnny Guitar
The Bad Seed
The Tingler
all of The Planet of the Apes movies (except that Marky Mark crap)
Ed Wood movies
classic 1930s horror movies
any Laurel and Hardy

I'll stop there because this list is possibly longer than my real favorites list.

Incidentally, I've always thought of L'Avventura as one of Antonioni's BEST-known pictures. Not as well known as Blow-Up or The Passenger, of course, but a splendidly important film.

And Monica Vitti was one of the sexiest women who ever lived; I can gaze at her and her bedroom hair for hours, days, lifetimes.

Why don't you start posting serious movie reviews on randomness?

KBO - It WAS Dr. Jurkevic. He was a groovy old nerd, don't you think?

P. Frank - I've always been of the opinion that no one wants to read my pretentious prattling regarding, say, the canonical works of French New Wave.

My "guilty pleasure" films include -

"This is Spinal Tap"
"Reality Bites"
"Heathers"
all of the Monty Python works
pretty much any of the '80s output of John Hughes

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Trek II
4. Empire Strikes Back
5. Empire Strikes Back

You know what I love most about Mr. Matt Springer? He's not kidding at all. I think he secretly covets Ewoks, though....

Mike, I say post away. I'll read 'em.

Spinal Tap and Python are guilty pleasures? Man, I'm screwed.

Here's my list of 30:

30. American Beauty (1999)
29. Taxi Driver (1976)
28. Say Anything... (1989)
27. Wonder Boys (2000)
26. Memento (2000)
25. Pi (1998)
24. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
23. Lost in Translation (2003)
22. Caddyshack (1980)
21. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (2002)
20. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
19. Office Space (1998)
18. Se7en (1995)
17. Rope (1948)
16. The Graduate (1967)
15. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001)
14. Animal House (1978)
13. Hoop Dreams (1991)
12. Toy Story (1995)
11. The Matrix (1999)
10. The Big Lebowski (1998)
9. Fight Club (1997)
8. North by Northwest (1959)
7. Slap Shot (1995)
6. This Is Spinal Tap (1982)
5. Dr. Strangelove (Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb) (1964)
4. Waiting For Guffman (1996)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
2. Rushmore (1999)
1. Citizen Kane (1941)

hey! i was kidding...a little. a very little.

i need to find some way to communicate my geekiness while still allowing for the possibility that I also watch normal films, including frequent indie artsy crap.

sadly, that will probably never happen on the internet, so i'll go back to coveting ewoks.

(and mike, can't wait to see your film reviews! fun idea.)

Coming up with five is hard. Too many to list, but here goes (in no particular order):

1. Citzen Kane
2. Godfather
3. When Harry met Sally
4. Star Wars movies
5. Star trek Movies
6. Casablanca
7. Malteese Falcon
8. Somewhere in Time
9. Roadhouse (yes the one with Patrick Swayze)(do not ask)
10. lethal Weapon movies
Okay I will stop at 10. There is a lot more. You see movies to me are about the magic and majesty. I took my son to Polar Express at the Imax. This is his second big movie to see in Imax. Just to watch his face as the movie started was well worth the price of the ticket.