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

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

Created by Apu.

Favorited 13 times, disliked 0 times, added to 3 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.

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  1. 2 new

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    1968, in 45 top lists Check
  2. 7 new

    Alias Nick Beal

    1949 — a.k.a. The Contact Man, in 2 top lists Check
  3. 13 new

    Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution

    1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 13 top lists Check
  4. 15 new

    And Then There Were None

    1945, in 2 top lists Check
  5. 40 new

    The Big Sleep

    1946, in 22 top lists Check
  6. 61 new

    Cat People

    1942, in 15 top lists Check
  7. 64 new

    La cérémonie

    1995 — a.k.a. La Cérémonie, in 7 top lists Check
  8. 65 new

    Charade

    1963, in 5 top lists Check
  9. 69 new

    Citizen Kane

    1941, in 39 top lists Check
  10. 75 new

    The Conversation

    1974, in 23 top lists Check
  11. 93 new

    Der amerikanische Freund

    1977 — a.k.a. The American Friend, in 8 top lists Check
  12. 96 new

    Trois couleurs: Rouge

    1994 — a.k.a. Three Colors: Red, in 20 top lists Check
  13. 118 new

    Duelle (une quarantaine)

    1976 — a.k.a. Duelle, in 2 top lists Check
  14. 132 new

    The Fallen Idol

    1948, in 10 top lists Check
  15. 157 new

    The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

    1947, in 8 top lists Check
  16. 163 new

    Green for Danger

    1946, in 4 top lists Check
  17. 173 new

    Tengoku to jigoku

    1963 — a.k.a. High and Low, in 16 top lists Check
  18. 174 new

    Histoire de Marie et Julien

    2003 — a.k.a. The Story of Marie and Julien, in 1 top list Check
  19. 184 new

    In a Lonely Place

    1950, in 19 top lists Check
  20. 202 new

    L.A. Confidential

    1997, in 27 top lists Check
  21. 211 new

    Le pont du Nord

    1981 — a.k.a. Le Pont du Nord, in 4 top lists Check
  22. 213 new

    Le samouraï

    1967 — a.k.a. Le Samouraï, in 20 top lists Check
  23. 215 new

    Les diaboliques

    1955 — a.k.a. Diabolique, in 21 top lists Check
  24. 221 new

    The Long Good Friday

    1980, in 12 top lists Check
  25. 250 new

    Jodaeiye Nader az Simin

    2011 — a.k.a. A Separation, in 15 top lists Check
  26. 277 new

    Il profumo della signora in nero

    1974 — a.k.a. The Perfume of the Lady in Black, in 2 top lists Check
  27. 285 new

    Psycho

    1960, in 39 top lists Check
  28. 291 new

    Rear Window

    1954, in 31 top lists Check
  29. 292 new

    Rebecca

    1940, in 23 top lists Check
  30. 297 new

    Ride the Pink Horse

    1947, in 4 top lists Check
  31. 309 new

    Se7en

    1995, in 29 top lists Check
  32. 320 new

    Solyaris

    1972 — a.k.a. Solaris, in 27 top lists Check
  33. 324 new

    Strategia del ragno

    1970 — a.k.a. The Spider's Stratagem, in 8 top lists Check
  34. 325 new

    Spoorloos

    1988 — a.k.a. The Vanishing, in 15 top lists Check
  35. 327 new

    The Stepford Wives

    1975, in 2 top lists Check
  36. 336 new

    Suspiria

    1977, in 17 top lists Check
  37. 344 new

    The Third Man

    1949, in 37 top lists Check
  38. 367 new

    Vertigo

    1958, in 42 top lists Check
  39. 378 new

    Witness for the Prosecution

    1957, in 12 top lists Check
  40. 390 new

    L'avventura

    1960 — a.k.a. L'Avventura, in 24 top lists Check
  41. 396 new

    M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder

    1931 — a.k.a. M, in 35 top lists Check
  42. 411 new

    Le fils

    2002 — a.k.a. The Son, in 5 top lists Check
  43. 423 new

    Tenebre

    1982 — a.k.a. Tenebrae, in 4 top lists Check
  44. 454 new

    House of Games

    1987, in 7 top lists Check
  45. 464 new

    Chinatown

    1974, in 31 top lists Check
  46. 483 new

    The Man Who Knew Too Much

    1934, in 2 top lists Check
  47. 487 new

    The 39 Steps

    1935, in 16 top lists Check
  48. 497 new

    Kiss Me Deadly

    1955, in 20 top lists Check
  49. 500 new

    Mulholland Dr.

    2001 — a.k.a. Mulholland Drive, in 26 top lists Check
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Last updated on Mar 13, 2014;