Apu's Essential Films (March 18th, 2014)

Created by Apu.
Favorited 12 times, disliked 0 times, added to 4 watchlists.
I added this list after I had watched my 5000th feature film, House of Games (1987)
The idea behind it was that if I only had the opportunity to pick 10% of all the feature films I've seen in my life (i.e. 500 films) and put them all together into a personal canon, this would be the end result.
Broadly speaking, these are the 500 films I'd want to have with me on a desert island.
The criterion I've used for the inclusion of films are, for a lack of a better world, personal. For example, I haven't factored in any sense of historical importance a film might or might not have. These 500 films are not necessarily the best films I've seen (although it should be very close to it) but the films that fascinate me the most, the films I find most aesthetically pleasing, films that are important to me nostalgically, and films I basically could re-watch at any given time. In my opinion, all films included in this list possess a certain re-watch-value that films not included might lack.
Omissions, of course, are inevitable. I've made an effort to be exhaustive, and if, for instance, none or only a few films from a certain director/wave/movement/period/genre made it into this list, it's because I don't value it as much as others.
Omissions also apply to many of the films I've seen that, for some reason or another, didn't make it, as well as all (acclaimed) films I haven't yet caught up with. However, it may also be that if a certain film is absent, it's absent because I don't value it as much as those I've included.
Riefenstahl's Olympia (1938) is divided into two parts, hence why there are 501 entries instead of 500.
See also my Essential Short Film list.
Pssst, want to check out the Apu's Essential Films (March 18th, 2014) list in our new look?
Filter
-
1 new
12 Angry Men
1957, in 28 top lists Check -
2 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 42 top lists Check -
3 new
5 Fingers
1952, in 2 top lists Check -
4 new
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
1971, in 3 top lists Check -
5 new
Adam's Rib
1949, in 7 top lists Check -
6 new
The African Queen
1951, in 11 top lists Check -
7 new
Alias Nick Beal
1949 — a.k.a. The Contact Man, in 2 top lists Check -
8 new
Alien
1979, in 27 top lists Check -
9 new
Aliens
1986, in 20 top lists Check -
10 new
All About Eve
1950, in 24 top lists Check -
11 new
All the President's Men
1976, in 20 top lists Check -
12 new
Todo sobre mi madre
1999 — a.k.a. All About My Mother, in 17 top lists Check -
13 new
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 14 top lists Check -
14 new
American Beauty
1999, in 22 top lists Check -
15 new
And Then There Were None
1945, in 2 top lists Check -
16 new
Le deuxième souffle
1966 — a.k.a. Second Breath, in 6 top lists Check -
17 new
Angels with Dirty Faces
1938, in 6 top lists Check -
18 new
Angst
1983, in 3 top lists Check -
19 new
Les rendez-vous d'Anna
1978 — a.k.a. The Meetings of Anna, in 4 top lists Check -
20 new
Annie Hall
1977, in 31 top lists Check -
21 new
Aparajito
1956 — a.k.a. The Unvanquished, in 13 top lists Check -
22 new
The Apartment
1960, in 26 top lists Check -
23 new
Apocalypse Now
1979, in 36 top lists Check -
24 new
Apur Sansar
1959 — a.k.a. The World of Apu, in 19 top lists Check -
25 new
Astenicheskiy sindrom
1989 — a.k.a. The Asthenic Syndrome, in 4 top lists Check -
26 new
Atlantic City, USA
1980 — a.k.a. Atlantic City, in 13 top lists Check -
27 new
The Awful Truth
1937, in 13 top lists Check -
28 new
Bad Boy Bubby
1993, in 4 top lists Check -
29 new
Bad Day at Black Rock
1955, in 8 top lists Check -
30 new
Badlands
1973, in 22 top lists Check -
31 new
Narayama bushikô
1983 — a.k.a. Ballad of Narayama, in 7 top lists Check -
32 new
Bande à part
1964 — a.k.a. Band of Outsiders, in 12 top lists Check -
33 new
Banketten
1948, in 1 top list Check -
34 new
Barry Lyndon
1975, in 22 top lists Check -
35 new
Tretya meshchanskaya
1927 — a.k.a. Bed and Sofa, in 6 top lists Check -
36 new
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946, in 25 top lists Check -
37 new
Beware, My Lovely
1952, in 1 top list Check -
38 new
The Big Clock
1948, in 4 top lists Check -
39 new
The Big Red One
1980, in 9 top lists Check -
40 new
The Big Sleep
1946, in 21 top lists Check -
41 new
El espíritu de la colmena
1973 — a.k.a. The Spirit of the Beehive, in 20 top lists Check -
42 new
The Birds
1963, in 18 top lists Check -
43 new
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932, in 3 top lists Check -
44 new
Blithe Spirit
1945, in 2 top lists Check -
45 new
Blood Simple
1984, in 8 top lists Check -
46 new
The Blues Brothers
1980, in 9 top lists Check -
47 new
Body and Soul
1947, in 5 top lists Check -
48 new
The Body Snatcher
1945, in 2 top lists Check -
49 new
Bonjour tristesse
1958, in 3 top lists Check -
50 new
Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie
1972 — a.k.a. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, in 20 top lists Check