Good movies

Best 250 feature movies by IMDb
IMDb top rated TV shows
Rotten Tomato top 100 films of all time
“All-Time” 100 Movies 1923-2005
AFI: 100 years… 100 films
National Film Registry
Best Asian films
BBC: 100 greatest “foreign language” films
Vietnamese movies
Movies of compiler’s preference

If you want to look for good movies to watch, the lists below can help you.

Best 250 feature movies by IMDb

IMDb (Internet Movie Database) rating is from zero to ten. The movies may be evaluated as follows:

9.0 and above: masterpiece.
8.0 – 8.9: excellent
7.6 – 7.9: very good
7.0 – 7.5: good
6.0 – 6.9: fairly good
5.0 – 5.9: in my perception, there are some fairly good movies

The list of best 250 movies follows, in ranking, name, year, and IMDb rating.

1          The Shawshank Redemption(1994) – 9.2
2          The Godfather (1972) – 9.2
3          The Godfather: Part II (1974) – 9.0
4          The Dark Knight (2008) – 9.0
5          12 Angry Men (1957) – 8.9
6          Schindler’s List (1993) – 8.9
7          The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003) – 8.9
8          Pulp Fiction (1994) – 8.9
9          The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – 8.8
10        Fight Club (1999) – 8.8
11        The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) – 8.8
12        Forrest Gump (1994) – 8.7
13        Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back(1980) – 8.7
14        Inception (2010) – 8.7
15        The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) – 8.7
16        One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – 8.7
17        Goodfellas (1990) – 8.7
18        The Matrix (1999) – 8.6
19        Seven Samurai (1954) – 8.6
20        City of God (2002) – 8.6
21        Se7en (1995) – 8.6
22        Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) – 8.6
23        The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – 8.6
24        It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – 8.6
25        Life Is Beautiful (1997) – 8.6
26        The Usual Suspects (1995) – 8.5
27        Spirited Away (2001) – 8.5
28        Saving Private Ryan (1998) – 8.5
29        Léon: The Professional (1994) – 8.5
30        The Green Mile (1999) – 8.5
31        Interstellar (2014) – 8.5
32        Psycho (1960) – 8.5
33        American History X (1998) – 8.5
34        City Lights (1931) – 8.5
35        Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) – 8.5
36        Casablanca (1942) – 8.5
37        Modern Times (1936) – 8.5
38        The Intouchables (2011) – 8.5
39        The Pianist (2002) – 8.5
40        The Departed (2006) – 8.5
41        Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – 8.5
42        Back to the Future (1985) – 8.5
43        Whiplash (2014) – 8.5
44        Rear Window (1954) – 8.5
45        Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – 8.5
46        The Lion King (1994) – 8.5
47        Gladiator (2000) – 8.5
48        The Prestige (2006) – 8.5
49        Apocalypse Now (1979) – 8.4
50        Memento (2000) – 8.4
51        Alien (1979) – 8.4
52        Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – 8.4
53        The Great Dictator (1940) – 8.4
54        Cinema Paradiso (1988) – 8.4
55        Grave of the Fireflies (1988) – 8.4
56        Sunset Boulevard (1950) – 8.4
57        The Lives of Others (2006) – 8.4
58        Dr Strangelove / How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – 8.4
59        Paths of Glory (1957) – 8.4
60        The Shining (1980) – 8.4
61        Django Unchained (2012) – 8.4
62        WALL·E (2008) – 8.4
63        Princess Mononoke (1997) – 8.4
64        Witness for the Prosecution (1957) – 8.4
65        American Beauty (1999) – 8.4
66        The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – 8.4
67        Oldboy (2003) – 8.3
68        Aliens (1986) – 8.3
69        Coco (2017) – 8.3
70        Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – 8.3
71        Das Boot (1981) – 8.3
72        Citizen Kane (1941) – 8.3
73        Braveheart (1995) – 8.3
74        Vertigo (1958) – 8.3
75        North by Northwest (1959) – 8.3
76        Reservoir Dogs (1992) – 8.3
77        Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi(1983) – 8.3
78        M (1931) – 8.3
79        Your Name. (2016) – 8.3
80        Dangal (2016) – 8.3
81        Amadeus (1984) – 8.3
82        Requiem for a Dream (2000) – 8.3
83        Cau Be Dac Biet (2007) – 8.3
84        Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – 8.3
85        Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – 8.3
86        A Clockwork Orange (1971) – 8.3
87        Amélie (2001) – 8.3
88        3 Idiots (2009) – 8.3
89        2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – 8.3
90        Double Indemnity (1944) – 8.3
91        Toy Story (1995) – 8.3
92        Taxi Driver (1976) – 8.3
93        Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – 8.3
94        Inglourious Basterds (2009) – 8.3
95        Full Metal Jacket (1987) – 8.3
96        To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – 8.3
97        Bicycle Thieves (1948) – 8.3
98        The Kid (1921) – 8.3
99        The Sting (1973) – 8.3
100      Toy Story 3 (2010) – 8.3
101      Good Will Hunting (1997) – 8.3
102      The Hunt (2012) – 8.3
103      Snatch (2000) – 8.3
104      Scarface (1983) – 8.2
105      Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) – 8.2
106      For a Few Dollars More (1965) – 8.2
107      The Apartment (1960) – 8.2
108      L.A   Confidential (1997) – 8.2
109      Metropolis (1927) – 8.2
110      A Separation (2011) – 8.2
111      Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – 8.2
112      Rashomon (1950) – 8.2
113      Up (2009) – 8.2
114      All About Eve (1950) – 8.2
115      Yojimbo (1961) – 8.2
116      Batman Begins (2005) – 8.2
117      Some Like It Hot (1959) – 8.2
118      Unforgiven (1992) – 8.2
119      Downfall (2004) – 8.2
120      The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) – 8.2
121      Die Hard (1988) – 8.2
122      Heat (1995) – 8.2
123      Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) – 8.2
124      Ikiru (1952) – 8.2
125      Raging Bull (1980) – 8.2
126      Incendies (2010) – 8.2
127      The Great Escape (1963) – 8.2
128      Children of Heaven (1997) – 8.2
129      My Father and My Son (2005) – 8.2
130      Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – 8.2
131      Chinatown (1974) – 8.2
132      The Third Man (1949) – 8.2
133      My Neighbor Totoro (1988) – 8.2
134      Ran (1985) – 8.2
135      Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) – 8.2
136      Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) – 8.2
137      The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) – 8.2
138      The Gold Rush (1925) – 8.2
139      The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – 8.2
140      A Beautiful Mind (2001) – 8.2
141      Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri(2017) – 8.2
142      Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) – 8.2
143      On the Waterfront (1954) – 8.2
144      Casino (1995) – 8.2
145      The Seventh Seal (1957) – 8.2
146      Inside Out (2015) – 8.1
147      The Elephant Man (1980) – 8.1
148      Room (2015) – 8.1
149      Mr    Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – 8.1
150      The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – 8.1
151      V for Vendetta (2005) – 8.1
152      Warrior (2011) – 8.1
153      Blade Runner (1982) – 8.1
154      Wild Strawberries (1957) – 8.1
155      The General (1926) – 8.1
156      Dial M for Murder (1954) – 8.1
157      Trainspotting (1996) – 8.1
158      No Country for Old Men (2007) – 8.1
159      There Will Be Blood (2007) – 8.1
160      The Sixth Sense (1999) – 8.1
161      Gone with the Wind (1939) – 8.1
162      The Thing (1982) – 8.1
163      Fargo (1996) – 8.1
164      Gran Torino (2008) – 8.1
165      The Deer Hunter (1978) – 8.1
166      Finding Nemo (2003) – 8.1
167      Come and See (1985) – 8.1
168      Sherlock Jr. (1924) – 8.1
169      The Big Lebowski (1998) – 8.1
170      Shutter Island (2010) – 8.1
171      Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003) – 8.1
172      Cool Hand Luke (1967) – 8.1
173      Rebecca (1940) – 8.1
174      Tokyo Story (1953) – 8.1
175      Mary Và Max (2009) – 8.1
176      Hacksaw Ridge (2016) – 8.1
177      Sunrise (1927) – 8.1
178      Gone Girl (2014) – 8.1
179      How to Train Your Dragon (2010) – 8.1
180      Wild Tales (2014) – 8.1
181      Jurassic Park (1993) – 8.1
182      Into the Wild (2007) – 8.1
183      Life of Brian (1979) – 8.1
184      The Bandit (1996) – 8.1
185      It Happened One Night (1934) – 8.1
186      In the Name of the Father (1993) – 8.1
187      Platoon (1986) – 8.1
188      The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – 8.1
189      Stand by Me (1986) – 8.1
190      The Truman Show (1998) – 8.1
191      Network (1976) – 8.1
192      Stalker (1979) – 8.1
193      Persona (1966) – 8.1
194      Hotel Rwanda (2004) – 8.1
195      Memories of Murder (2003) – 8.1
196      Ben-Hur (1959) – 8.1
197      12 Years a Slave (2013) – 8.1
198      The Wages of Fear (1953) – 8.1
199      Million Dollar Baby (2004) – 8.1
200      The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) – 8.1
201      Andrei Rublev (1966) – 8.1
202      Rush (2013) – 8.1
203      Before Sunrise (1995) – 8.1
204      Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – 8.1
205      Rang De Basanti (2006) – 8.1
206      The 400 Blows (1959) – 8.1
207      Spotlight (2015) – 8.1
208      Prisoners (2013) – 8.1
209      Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009) – 8.1
210      Amores Perros (2000) – 8.1
211      Logan (2017) – 8.1
212      The Princess Bride (1987) – 8.1
213      Catch Me If You Can (2002) – 8.0
214      Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) – 8.0
215      Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – 8.0
216      Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011) – 8.0
217      Rocky (1976) – 8.0
218      Barry Lyndon (1975) – 8.0
219      Monsters, Inc. (2001) – 8.0
220      A Star Is Born (2018) – 8.0
221      The Grapes of Wrath (1940) – 8.0
222      The Maltese Falcon (1941) – 8.0
223      Donnie Darko (2001) – 8.0
224      Dead Poets Society (1989) – 8.0
225      Diabolique (1955) – 8.0
226      The Terminator (1984) – 8.0
227      Gandhi (1982) – 8.0
228      La Haine (1995) – 8.0
229      Groundhog Day (1993) – 8.0
230      Sanjuro (1962) – 8.0
231      The Nights of Cabiria (1957) – 8.0
232      The Wizard of Oz (1939) – 8.0
233      Jaws (1975) – 8.0
234      The Help (2011) – 8.0
235      Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – 8.0
236      La La Land (2016) – 8.0
237      In the Mood for Love (2000) – 8.0
238      Paper Moon (1973) – 8.0
239      Tangerines (2013) – 8.0
240      Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) – 8.0
241      Before Sunset (2004) – 8.0
242      The Handmaiden (2016) – 8.0
243      Paris, Texas (1984) – 8.0
244      The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) – 8.0
245      Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – 8.0
246      The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) – 8.0
247      8½ (1963) – 8.0
248      Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) – 8.0
249      Castle in the Sky (1986) – 8.0
250      Beauty and the Beast (1991) – 8.0

Thus, according to IMDb rating, the listed movies are categorized as excellent.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Accessed: Nov-2018.

IMDb top rated TV shows

Planet Earth II (2016) – 9.5
Planet Earth (2006) – 9.4
Band of Brothers (2001) – 9.4
Chernobyl (2019) – 9.4
Breaking Bad (2008) – 9.4
Blue Planet II (2017) – 9.3
The Wire (2002) – 9.3
Game of Thrones (2011) – 9.3
Our Planet (2019) – 9.3
Cosmos (2014) – 9.2
Cosmos (1980) – 9.2
Rick and Morty (2013) – 9.2
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) – 9.2
The Sopranos (1999) – 9.1
The World at War (1973) – 9.1
Life (2009) – 9.1
Sherlock (2010) – 9.1
The Vietnam War (2017) – 9.1
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) – 9.0
The Beatles Anthology (1995) – 9.0
The Twilight Zone (1959) – 9.0
Human Planet (2011) – 9.0
The Blue Planet (2001) – 9.0
Firefly (2002) – 9.0
Batman: The Animated Series (1992) – 9.0
Dekalog (1989) – 9.0
True Detective (2014) – 9.0
Frozen Planet (2011) – 9.0
The Civil War (1990) – 9.0
When They See Us (2019) – 8.9
Death Note (2006) – 8.9
Fargo (2014) – 8.9
Apocalypse: The Second World War (2009) – 8.9
Cowboy Bebop (1998) – 8.9
Sahsiyet (2018) – 8.9
Africa (2013) – 8.9
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014) – 8.9
Pew News (2018) – 8.9
TVF Pitchers (2015) – 8.8
Only Fools and Horses (1981) – 8.8
Friends (1994) – 8.8
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969) – 8.8
Black Mirror (2011) – 8.8
Das Boot (1985) – 8.8
Hunter x Hunter (2011) – 8.8
Pride and Prejudice (1995) – 8.8
Seinfeld (1989) – 8.8
One Punch Man (2015) – 8.8
Gravity Falls (2012) – 8.8
The Office (2005) – 8.8
The Boys (2019) – 8.8
Over the Garden Wall (2014) – 8.8
Stranger Things (2016) – 8.8
Twin Peaks (1990) – 8.8
Narcos (2015) – 8.8
Peaky Blinders (2013) – 8.8
Arrested Development (2003) – 8.7
Freaks and Geeks (1999) – 8.7
Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) – 8.7
Nathan for You (2013) – 8.7
Fawlty Towers (1975) – 8.7
House of Cards (2013) – 8.7
Content Cop (2015) – 8.7
Westworld (2016) – 8.7
Rome (2005) – 8.7
Cobra Kai (2018) – 8.7
Black Sun (2017) – 8.7
Chappelle’s Show (2003) – 8.7
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005) – 8.7
Oz (1997) – 8.7
Attack on Titan (2013) – 8.7
Dragon Ball Z (1989) – 8.7
Steins;Gate (2011) – 8.7
The West Wing (1999) – 8.7
Dragon Ball Z (1989) – 8.7
Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2004) – 8.7
I, Claudius (1976) – 8.7
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) – 8.7
Mahabharat (1988) – 8.7
Easy Living (2015) – 8.7
Leyla and Mecnun (2011) – 8.7
Justice League Unlimited (2004) – 8.7
Kota Factory (2019) – 8.7
Satyamev Jayate (2012) – 8.7
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) – 8.7
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) – 8.7
Dark (2017) – 8.7
Six Feet Under (2001) – 8.7
The Simpsons (1989) – 8.7
Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) – 8.7
South Park (1997) – 8.7
The Thick of It (2005) – 8.6
House (2004) – 8.6
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986) – 8.6
This Is Us (2016) – 8.6
The Crown (2016) – 8.6
The Haunting of Hill House (2018) – 8.6
Battlestar Galactica (2004) – 8.6
Top Gear (2002) – 8.6
Better Call Saul (2015) – 8.6
Critical Role (2015) – 8.6
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019) – 8.6
Deadwood (2004) – 8.6
Wan pîsu (1999) – 8.6
The Shield (2002) – 8.6
Sacred Games (2018) – 8.6
Downton Abbey (2010) – 8.6
The Grand Tour (2016) – 8.6
Lonesome Dove (1989) – 8.6
Berserk (1997) – 8.6
Archer (2009) – 8.6
Blackadder II (1986) – 8.6
Fleabag (2016) – 8.6
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994) – 8.6
The X-Files (1993) – 8.6
Young Justice (2010) – 8.6
Parks and Recreation (2009) – 8.6
Bron/Broen (2011) – 8.6
Battlestar Galactica (2003) – 8.6
Dexter (2006) – 8.6
Daredevil (2015) – 8.6
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006) – 8.6
Friday Night Lights (2006) – 8.6
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) – 8.6
Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (1999) – 8.6
Making a Murderer (2015) – 8.6
Atlanta (2016) – 8.6
Through the Wormhole (2010) – 8.6
Blackadder the Third (1987) – 8.6
Gomorra (2014) – 8.6
QI (2003) – 8.6
North & South (2004) – 8.6
Mad Men (2007) – 8.6
El Chavo del Ocho (1972) – 8.6
Mindhunter (2017) – 8.6
Line of Duty (2012) – 8.6
The Bugs Bunny Show (1960) – 8.6
Long Way Round (2004) – 8.6
Unbelievable (2019) – 8.6
Yeh Meri Family (2018) – 8.6
Love, Death & Robots (2019) – 8.6
Shameless (2011) – 8.6
BoJack Horseman (2014) – 8.6
Father Ted (1995) – 8.6
Peep Show (2003) – 8.5
Doctor Who (2005) – 8.5
Skam (2015) – 8.5
Spaced (1999) – 8.5
The Eric Andre Show (2012) – 8.5
The Newsroom (2012) – 8.5
Mind Your Language (1977) – 8.5
The Untold History of the United States (2012) – 8.5
From the Earth to the Moon (1998) – 8.5
Chef’s Table (2015) – 8.5
Brass Eye (1997) – 8.5
Monster (2004) – 8.5
Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) – 8.5
Behzat Ç.: Bir Ankara Polisiyesi (2010) – 8.5
Yes Minister (1980) – 8.5
Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) – 8.5
Queer Eye (2018) – 8.5
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968) – 8.5
Justified (2010) – 8.5
Justice League (2001) – 8.5
Samurai Champloo (2004) – 8.5
Adventure Time (2010) – 8.5
The Defiant Ones (2017) – 8.5
Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989) – 8.5
Dragon Ball (1986) – 8.5
Boardwalk Empire (2010) – 8.5
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988) – 8.5
Big Little Lies (2017) – 8.5
Dragon Ball (1995) – 8.5
Flight of the Conchords (2007) – 8.5
Generation Kill (2008) – 8.5
Louie (2010) – 8.5
The Night Of (2016) – 8.5
Coupling (2000) – 8.5
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) – 8.5
The IT Crowd (2006) – 8.5
Yes, Prime Minister (1986) – 8.5
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019) – 8.5
The Punisher (2017) – 8.5
Silicon Valley (2014) – 8.5
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) – 8.5
Impractical Jokers (2011) – 8.5
Horace and Pete (2016) – 8.5
The Family Man (2019) – 8.5
Mr. Bean (1990) – 8.5
Vikings (2013) – 8.5
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) – 8.5
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998) – 8.5
John Adams (2008) – 8.5
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) – 8.5
The Office (2001) – 8.5
Hannibal (2013) – 8.5
Endeavour (2012) – 8.5
The New Batman Adventures (1997) – 8.5
Black Books (2000) – 8.5
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008) – 8.5
Sons of Anarchy (2008) – 8.5
I’m Alan Partridge (1997) – 8.5
Mr. Robot (2015) – 8.5
Umbre (2014) – 8.5
Goblin (2016) – 8.5
Luther (2010) – 8.5
Spartacus (2010) – 8.5
Your Lie in April (2014) – 8.5
Erased (2016) – 8.5
Detectorists (2014) – 8.5
Money Heist (2017) – 8.5
Feud: Bette and Joan (2017) – 8.5
Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai (1996) – 8.4
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002) – 8.4
My Hero Academia (2016) – 8.4
The Knick (2014) – 8.4
Masum (2017) – 8.4
Clannad: After Story (2008) – 8.4
The Venture Bros. (2003) – 8.4
Community (2009) – 8.4
The Handmaid’s Tale (2017) – 8.4
Naruto: Shippûden (2007) – 8.4
Mushi-Shi (2005) – 8.4
American Crime Story (2016) – 8.4
Generation War (2013) – 8.4
Kardes Payi (2014) – 8.4
This Is England ’90 (2015) – 8.4
Wentworth (2013) – 8.4
Samurai Jack (2001) – 8.4
Futurama (1999) – 8.4
X-Men: The Animated Series (1992) – 8.4
Ash vs Evil Dead (2015) – 8.4
Letterkenny (2016) – 8.4
Brideshead Revisited (1981) – 8.4
House of Cards (1990) – 8.4
Scenes from a Marriage (1973) – 8.4
The Angry Video Game Nerd (2004) – 8.4
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) – 8.4
The Prisoner (1967) – 8.4
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) – 8.4
Merlí (2015) – 8.4
Pose (2018) – 8.4
Delhi Crime (2019) – 8.4
Please Like Me (2013) – 8.4
Happy Valley (2014) – 8.4
Ezel (2009) – 8.4
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004) – 8.4
The Daily Show (1996) – 8.4
Anne of Green Gables (1985) – 8.4
Saint Seiya (1986) – 8.4

The Top Rated TV Shows list only includes TV series and TV mini series.

The list is ranked by a formula which includes the number of ratings each show received from users, and value of ratings received from regular users.
To be included on the list, a series or mini series must receive ratings from at least 5000 users, and a TV series must also have aired at least 5 episodes.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/chart/toptv/

Accessed: Sep-2019.

Rotten Tomato top 100 films of all time

Movies with 40 or more critic reviews vie for their place in history at Rotten Tomatoes. Eligible movies are ranked based on their Adjusted Scores.

The list of best 1000 movies follows, in ranking, name, and year.

1. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2. Citizen Kane (1941)
3.          Get Out (2017)
4.          Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
5.          The Third Man (1949)
6.          Moonlight (2016)
7.          Inside Out (2015)
8.          The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) (1920)
9.          Wonder Woman (2017)
10.        All About Eve (1950)
11.        E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
12.        Metropolis (1927)
13.        Spotlight (2015)
14.        It Happened One Night (1934)
15.        Modern Times (1936)
16.        Selma (2015)
17.        Casablanca (1942)
18.        The Godfather (1972)
19.        Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
20.        The Big Sick (2017)
21.        La Grande Illusion (1938)
22.        Laura (1944)
23.        Arrival (2016)
24.        Psycho (1960)
25.        Boyhood (2014)
26.        A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
27.        The Maltese Falcon (1941)
28.        Logan (2017)
29.        Gravity (2013)
30.        Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
31.        Nosferatu the Vampire (1922)
32.        King Kong (1933)
33.        Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
34.        12 Years a Slave (2013)
35.        Argo (2012)
36.        Repulsion (1965)
37.        The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
38.        Manchester by the Sea (2016)
39.        North by Northwest (1959)
40.        Sunset Boulevard (1950)
41.        Rear Window (1954)
42.        The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri) (1967)
43.        The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
44.        Alien (1979)
45.        Baby Driver (2017)
46.        The Philadelphia Story (1940)
47.        Toy Story 2 (1999)
48.        Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1949)
49.        Taxi Driver (1976)
50.        La La Land (2016)
51.        Touch of Evil (1958)
52.        Zootopia (2016)
53.        Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai) (1956)
54.        M (1931)
55.        Up (2009)
56.        War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
57.        All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
58.        The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
59.        Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
60.        The Jungle Book (2016)
61.        12 Angry Men (Twelve Angry Men) (1957)
62.        Hell or High Water (2016)
63.        Vertigo (1958)
64.        The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) (1959)
65.        The Babadook (2014)
66.        The Night of the Hunter (1955)
67.        Rebecca (1940)
68.        Toy Story 3 (2010)
69.        A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
70.        Brooklyn (2015)
71.        Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
72.        Army of Shadows (L’Armée des ombres) (1969)
73.        Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
74.        Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
75.        The Dark Knight (2008)
76.        Finding Nemo (2003)
77.        Frankenstein (1931)
78.        The Wrestler (2008)
79.        Rashômon (1951)
80.        Pinocchio (1940)
81.        The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
82.        Captain America: Civil War (2016)
83.        Finding Dory (2016)
84.        Jaws (1975)
85.        The Wages of Fear (1953)
86.        L.A. Confidential (1997)
87.        It Follows (2015)
88.        On the Waterfront (1954)
89.        Open City (1946)
90.        I Am Not Your Negro (2017)
91.        Tokyo Story (Tôkyô monogatari) (1953)
92.        Creed (2015)
93.        The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
94.        Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
95.        Roman Holiday (1953)
96.        The Hurt Locker (2009)
97.        High Noon (1952)
98.        The Last Picture Show (1971)
99.        The Lady Vanishes (1938)
100.      Aliens (1986)

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/

Accessed: Nov-2018.

“All-time” 100 movies 1923-2005

This is a compilation by TIME magazine featuring and celebrating 100 of “the greatest” films released between March 3, 1923 (when the first issue of TIME was published) and early 2005 (when the list was compiled). The list was compiled by critics Richard Schickel and Richard.

TIME also announced the ten best movies in each decade since the first issue of this magazine. They are: Metropolis (1927), Dodsworth (1936), Citizen Kane (1941), Ikiru (1952), Persona (1966), Chinatown (1974), Decalogue (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994) và Talk to Her (2002).

Source: http://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/all/

AFI: 100 years… 100 films

In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) invited more than 1,500 leaders from across the American film community – screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, executives, film historians and critics among them – to choose from a list of 400 nominated films compiled by AFI and select the 100 greatest American movies.

In 2007, on its 10th Anniversary, the list was updated as follows:

Twenty-three films from the original top 100 films list were removed in 2007
Four films released between 1996 and 2006 were added
Nineteen films made before 1996 were also added

Therefore, the combined list consists of 123 movies, as follows.

Citizen Kane – 1941 – Orson Welles
Casablanca – 1942 – Michael Curtiz
The Godfather – 1972 – Francis Ford Coppola
Gone with the Wind – 1939 – Victor Fleming
Lawrence of Arabia – 1962 – David Lean
The Wizard of Oz – 1939 – Victor Fleming
The Graduate – 1967 – Mike Nichols
On the Waterfront – 1954 – Elia Kazan
Schindler’s List – 1993 – Steven Spielberg
Singin’ in the Rain – 1952 – Gene Kelly
It’s a Wonderful Life – 1946 – Frank Capra
Sunset Boulevard – 1950 – Billy Wilder
The Bridge on the River Kwai – 1957 – David Lean
Some Like It Hot – 1959 – Billy Wilder
Star Wars – 1977 – George Lucas
All About Eve – 1950 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The African Queen – 1951 – John Huston
Psycho – 1960 – Alfred Hitchcock
The General – 1926 – Buster Keaton
Chinatown – 1974 – Roman Polanski
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – 1975 – Miloš Forman
The Grapes of Wrath – 1940 – John Ford
2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968 – Stanley Kubrick
The Maltese Falcon – 1941 – John Huston
Raging Bull – 1980 – Martin Scorsese
T. the Extra-Terrestrial – 1982 – Steven Spielberg
Strangelove – 1964 – Stanley Kubrick
Bonnie and Clyde – 1967 – Arthur Penn
Apocalypse Now – 1979 – Francis Ford Coppola
Smith Goes to Washington – 1939 – Frank Capra
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – 1948 – John Huston
Annie Hall – 1977 – Woody Allen
The Godfather Part II – 1974 – Francis Ford Coppola
High Noon – 1952 – Fred Zinnemann
To Kill a Mockingbird – 1962 – Robert Mulligan
It Happened One Night – 1934 – Frank Capra
Midnight Cowboy – 1969 – John Schlesinger
The Best Years of Our Lives – 1946 – William Wyler
Double Indemnity – 1944 – Billy Wilder
Doctor Zhivago – 1965 – David Lean
North by Northwest – 1959 – Alfred Hitchcock
West Side Story – 1961 – Robert Wise
Rear Window – 1954 – Alfred Hitchcock
King Kong – 1933 – Merian C. Cooper
The Birth of a Nation – 1915 – W. Griffith
A Streetcar Named Desire – 1951 – Elia Kazan
A Clockwork Orange – 1971 – Stanley Kubrick
Taxi Driver – 1976 – Martin Scorsese
Jaws – 1975 – Steven Spielberg
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – 1937 – David Hand, et al.
Intolerance – 1916 – D. W. Griffith
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 1969 – George Roy Hill
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – 2001 – Peter Jackson
The Philadelphia Story – 1940 – George Cukor
From Here to Eternity – 1953 – Fred Zinnemann
Amadeus – 1984 – Miloš Forman
All Quiet on the Western Front – 1930 – Lewis Milestone
The Sound of Music – 1965 – Robert Wise
MASH – 1970 – Robert Altman
The Third Man – 1949 – Carol Reed
Fantasia – 1940 – Walt Disney
Rebel Without a Cause – 1955 – Nicholas Ray
Nashville – 1975 – Robert Altman
Raiders of the Lost Ark – 1981 – Steven Spielberg
Vertigo – 1958 – Alfred Hitchcock
Sullivan’s Travels – 1941 – Preston Sturges
Tootsie – 1982 – Sydney Pollack
Stagecoach – 1939 – John Ford
Cabaret – 1972 – Bob Fosse
Close Encounters of the Third Kind – 1977 – Steven Spielberg
The Silence of the Lambs – 1991 – Jonathan Demme
Network – 1976 – Sidney Lumet
The Manchurian Candidate – 1962 – John Frankenheimer
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – 1966 – Mike Nichols
An American in Paris – 1951 – Vincente Minnelli
Shane – 1953 – George Stevens
The French Connection – 1971 – William Friedkin
Forrest Gump – 1994 – Robert Zemeckis
Saving Private Ryan – 1998 – Steven Spielberg
Ben-Hur – 1959 – William Wyler
The Shawshank Redemption – 1994 – Frank Darabont
Wuthering Heights – 1939 – William Wyler
The Gold Rush – 1925 – Charlie Chaplin
Dances with Wolves – 1990 – Kevin Costner
In the Heat of the Night – 1967 – Norman Jewison
City Lights – 1931 – Charlie Chaplin
American Graffiti – 1973 – George Lucas
All the President’s Men – 1976 – Alan J. Pakula
Rocky – 1976 – John G. Avildsen
The Deer Hunter – 1978 – Michael Cimino
The Wild Bunch – 1969 – Sam Peckinpah
Modern Times – 1936 – Charlie Chaplin
Spartacus – 1960 – Stanley Kubrick
Giant – 1956 – George Stevens
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans – 1927 – W. Murnau
Platoon – 1986 – Oliver Stone
Titanic – 1997 – James Cameron
Fargo – 1996 – Coen brothers
Duck Soup – 1933 – Leo McCarey
A Night at the Opera – 1935 – Sam Wood
Mutiny on the Bounty – 1935 – Frank Lloyd
Frankenstein – 1931 – James Whale
12 Angry Men – 1957 – Sidney Lumet
Easy Rider – 1969 – Dennis Hopper
Patton – 1970 – Franklin J. Schaffner
The Sixth Sense – 1999 – Night Shyamalan
The Jazz Singer – 1927 – Alan Crosland
Swing Time – 1936 – George Stevens
My Fair Lady – 1964 – George Cukor
Sophie’s Choice – 1982 – Alan J. Pakula
A Place in the Sun – 1951 – George Stevens
The Apartment – 1960 – Billy Wilder
Goodfellas – 1990 – Martin Scorsese
Pulp Fiction – 1994 – Quentin Tarantino
The Last Picture Show – 1971 – Peter Bogdanovich
The Searchers – 1956 – John Ford
Do the Right Thing – 1989 – Spike Lee
Bringing Up Baby – 1938 – Howard Hawks
Blade Runner – 1982 – Ridley Scott
Unforgiven – 1992 – Clint Eastwood
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – 1967 – Stanley Kramer
Toy Story – 1995 – John Lasseter
Yankee Doodle Dandy – 1942 – Michael Curtiz

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years…100_Movies

National Film Registry

The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board’s (NFPB) selection of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films” deserving of preservation.

12 Angry Men (1957)
13 Lakes (2004)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
4 Little Girls (1997)
42nd Street (1933)

A Bronx Morning (1931)
A Christmas Story (1983)
A Computer Animated Hand (1972)
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
A Cure for Pokeritis (1912)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
A Fool There Was (1915)
A League of Their Own (1992)
A Movie (1958)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
A Star Is Born (1954)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A Study in Reds (1932)
A Time for Burning (1966)
A Time Out of War (1954)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
A Trip Down Market Street (1906)
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Ace in the Hole (aka Big Carnival) (1951)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Airplane! (1980)
Alien (1979)
All About Eve (1950)
All My Babies (1953)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
All That Jazz (1979)
All the King’s Men (1949)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Allures (1961)
America, America (1963)
American Graffiti (1973)
An American in Paris (1951)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Annie Hall (1977)
Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman (1974)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Applause (1929)
Atlantic City (1980)

Baby Face (1933)
Back to the Future (1985)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Badlands (1973)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Bambi (1942)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Being There (1979)
Ben-Hur (1925) (1925)
Ben-Hur (1959) (1959)
Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day (1913)
Big Business (1929)
Black and Tan (1929)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Blacksmith Scene (1893)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Boulevard Nights (1979)
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Broadcast News (1987)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Bullitt (1968)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Cabaret (1972)
Carmen Jones (1954)
Casablanca (1942)
Castro Street (The Coming of Consciousness) (1966)
Cat People (1942)
Chan Is Missing (1982)
Chinatown (1974)
Chulas Fronteras (1976)
Cicero March (1966)
Cinderella (1950)
Citizen Kane (1941)
City Lights (1931)
Civilization (1916)
Clash of the Wolves (1925)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Cologne: From the Diary of Ray and Esther (1939)
Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940 (1940)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Cops (1922)
Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight (1897)
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)
Cry of Jazz (1959)
Czechoslovakia 1968 (1969)

D.O.A. (1950)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Daughter of Dawn (1920)
Daughter of Shanghai (1937)
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
David Holzman’s Diary (1968)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Dead Birds (1964)
Decasia (2002)
Deliverance (1972)
Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Detour (1945)
Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894-1895)
Die Hard (1988)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Disneyland Dream (1956)
Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1908)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dodsworth (1936)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Star Man (1964)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Down Argentine Way (1940)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Dracula (1931)
Dracula (Spanish language version) (1931)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Drums of Winter (aka Uksuum Cauyai) (1988)
Duck Amuck (1953)
Duck and Cover (1951)
Duck Soup (1933)
Dumbo (1941)

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1974)
Early Abstractions (1939-1956)
East of Eden (1955)
Easy Rider (1969)
Eaux d’artifice (1953)
Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
El Mariachi (1992)
El Norte (1983)
Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967)
Ella Cinders (1926)
Empire (1964)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Eraserhead (1977)
Eve’s Bayou (1997)

Faces (1968)
Fake Fruit Factory (1986)
Fantasia (1940)
Fargo (1996)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Fatty’s Tintype Tangle (1915)
Felicia (1965)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Film Portrait (1972)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Flash Gordon Serial (1936)
Flesh and the Devil (1927)
Flower Drum Song (1961)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Force of Evil (1948)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Fox Movietone News: Jenkins Orphanage Band (1928)
Frank Film (1973)
Frankenstein (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Free Radicals (1979)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
From Stump to Ship (1930)
From the Manger to the Cross (1912)
Fuentes Family Home Movies Collection (1920s and 1930s)
Fuji (1974)
Funny Girl (1968)
Fury (1936)

Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980)
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
George Stevens’ World War II Footage (1943-1946)
Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951)
Gertie The Dinosaur (1914)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Giant (1956)
Gigi (1958)
Gilda (1946)
Glimpse of the Garden (1957)
Going My Way (1944)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Goodfellas (1990)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Grass (1925)
Greed (1924)
Grey Gardens (1976)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Growing Up Female (1971)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
Gun Crazy aka Deadly Is the Female (1949)
Gunga Din (1939)

H2O (1929)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People (1984)
Hallelujah! (1929)
Halloween (1978)
Hands Up! (1926)
Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)
Harold and Maude (1972)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
Hearts and Minds (1974)
Hell’s Hinges (1916)
Heroes All (1920)
Hester Street (1975)
High Noon (1952)
High School (1969)
Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage (1937)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Hoosiers (1986)
Hospital (1970)
Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972)
Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2 (1980-82)
House of Usher (1960)
House of Wax (1953)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
How the West Was Won (1962)
Hud (1963)
Humoresque (1920)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
I Am Joaquin (1969)
I, an Actress (1977)
Imitation of Life (1959)
Imitation of Life (1934)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
In Cold Blood (1967)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)
In the Street (1948)
Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905)
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)
Intolerance (1916)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
It (1927)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It’s a Gift (1934)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Jam Session (1942)
Jammin’ the Blues (1944)
Jaws (1975)
Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1959)
Jeffries-Johnson World’s Championship Boxing Contest (1910)
Jezebel (1938)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Jurassic Park (1993)

Kannapolis, N.C. (1941)
Kidnapper’s Foil (1930s)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
King Kong (1933)
King of Jazz (1930)
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

L.A. Confidential (1997)
La Bamba (1987)
Lady Helen’s Escapade (1909)
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1925)
Lambchops (1929)
Lassie Come Home (1943)
Laura (1944)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Let There Be Light (1946)
Let’s All Go to the Lobby (1957)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Life of an American Fireman (1903)
Little Big Man (1970)
Little Caesar (1930)
Little Fugitive (1953)
Little Miss Marker (1934)
Little Nemo (1911)
Lives of Performers (1972)
Lonesome (1928)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Louisiana Story (1948)
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
Love Me Tonight (1932)
Luxo Jr. (1986)

M*A*S*H (1970)
Mabel’s Blunder (1914)
Magical Maestro (1952)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Malcolm X (1992)
Manhatta (1921)
Manhattan (1979)
March of Time: Inside Nazi Germany (1938)
Marian Anderson: the Lincoln Memorial Concert (1939)
Martha Graham Dance Films ()
Marty (1955)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Master Hands (1936)
Matrimony’s Speed Limit (1913)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mean Streets (1973)
Medium Cool (1969)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Melody Ranch (1940)
Memento (2000)
Memphis Belle (1944)
Men and Dust (1940)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983)
Midnight (1939)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Mighty Like a Moose (1926)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Miss Lulu Bett (1922)
Modern Times (1936)
Modesta (1956)
Mom and Dad (1944)
Monterey Pop (1968)
Moon Breath Beat (1980)
Morocco (1930)
Motion Painting No. 1 (1947)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Multiple SIDosis (1970)
Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
My Fair Lady (1964)
My Man Godfrey (1936)

Nanook of the North (1922)
Nashville (1975)
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
National Velvet (1944)
Naughty Marietta (1935)
Navajo Film Themselves (Through Navajo Eyes) (1966)
Network (1976)
Newark Athlete (1891)
Nicholas Brothers’ Home Movies (1930s-’40s)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Ninotchka (1939)
No Lies (1973)
Norma Rae (1979)
North By Northwest (1959)
Nostalgia (1971)
Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)
Nothing But a Man (1964)
Notorious (1946)
Now, Voyager (1942)

OffOn (1968)
Oklahoma! (1955)
On the Bowery (1957)
On the Town (1949)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
One Froggy Evening (1956)
One Survivor Remembers (1995)
One Week (1920)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Our Day (1938)
Our Lady of the Sphere (1969)
Out of the Past (1947)

Parable (1964)
Paris Is Burning (1990)
Pass the Gravy (1928)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Patton (1970)
Peege (1972)
Peter Pan (1924)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Pinocchio (1940)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Please Don’t Bury Me Alive! (1976)
Point Blank (1967)
Point of Order (1964)
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936)
Porgy and Bess (1959)
Porky in Wackyland (1938)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Powers of Ten (1978)
Precious Images (1986)
Preservation of the Sign Language (1913)
President McKinley Inauguration Footage (1901)
Primary (1960)
Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy (1909)
Psycho (1960)
Pull My Daisy (1959)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Punch Drunks (1934)
Pups Is Pups (1930)
Putney Swope (1969)

Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)

Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rear Window (1954)
Rebecca (1940)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Red Dust (1932)
Red River (1948)
Regeneration (1915)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1971-1972)
Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage (1937)
Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
Reverend Solomon Sir Jones films (1924-28)
Ride the High Country (1962)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Rip Van Winkle (1896)
Road to Morocco (1942)
Rocky (1976)
Roger & Me (1989)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Rose Hobart (1936)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
Rushmore (1998)

Sabrina (1954)
Safety Last! (1923)
Salesman (1968)
Salomé (1923)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia (1990)
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906 (1906)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Scarface (1932)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Scratch and Crow (1995)
Seconds (1966)
Serene Velocity (1970)
Sergeant York (1941)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Shadows (1959)
Shaft (1971)
Shane (1953)
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
Sherman’s March (1986)
Shock Corridor (1963)
Shoes (1916)
Show Boat (1936)
Show People (1928)
Siege (1940)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Sink or Swim (1990)
Sky High (1922)
Slacker (1991)
Smoke Signals (1998)
Snow White (1933)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
So’s Your Old Man (1926)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Spartacus (1960)
St. Louis Blues (1929)
Stagecoach (1939)
Stand and Deliver (1988)
Star Wars (1977)
Stark Love (1927)
State Fair (1933)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Steamboat Willie (1928)
Stormy Weather (1943)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Study of a River (1996-1997)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
Sunrise (1927)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Superman (1978)
Suzanne, Suzanne (1982)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Swing Time (1936)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)

Tabu (1931)
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (1940)
Tarantella (1940)
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Tess of the Storm Country (1914)
Tevye (1939)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The African Queen (1951)
The Apartment (1960)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
The Atomic Café (1982)
The Augustas (1930s-1950s)
The Awful Truth (1937)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
The Band Wagon (1953)
The Bank Dick (1940)
The Bargain (1914)
The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
The Beau Brummels (1928)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Big Parade (1925)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Big Trail (1930)
The Birds (1963)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Black Pirate (1926)
The Black Stallion (1979)
The Blood of Jesus (1941)
The Blue Bird (1918)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (1975)
The Cameraman (1928)
The Cheat (1915)
The Chechahcos (1924)
The City (1939)
The Conversation (1974)
The Cool World (1963)
The Court Jester (1956)
The Crowd (1928)
The Cry of the Children (1912)
The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916-1917)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Docks of New York (1928)
The Dragon Painter (1919)
The Emperor Jones (1933)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Endless Summer (1966)
The Evidence of the Film (1913)
The Exiles (1961)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Exploits of Elaine (1914)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
The Forgotten Frontier (1931)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
The French Connection (1971)
The Freshman (1925)
The Front Page (1931)
The Gang’s All Here (1943)
The General (1927)
The Girl Without a Soul (1917)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Goonies (1985)
The Graduate (1967)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Heiress (1949)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
The Hole (1963)
The Hospital (1971)
The House I Live In (1945)
The House in the Middle (1954)
The Hunters (1957)
The Hustler (1961)
The Immigrant (1917)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Informer (1935)
The Inner World of Aphasia (1968)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Iron Horse (1924)
The Italian (1915)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
The Jungle (1967)
The Kid (1921)
The Killers (1946)
The Kiss (1896)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912)
The Last Command (1928)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
The Lead Shoes (1949)
The Learning Tree (1969)
The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra (1927)
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
The Lion King (1994)
The Living Desert (1953)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Lost World (1925)
The Lunch Date (1989)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Magnificent Seven (1961)
The Making of an American (1920)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The March (1964)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
The Matrix (1999)
The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair (1939)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Music Box (1932)
The Music Man (1962)
The Naked City (1948)
The Naked Spur (1953)
The Navigator (1924)
The Negro Soldier (1944)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
The Old Mill (1937)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Pawnbroker (1965)
The Pearl (1948)
The Perils of Pauline (1914)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Pink Panther (1963)
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)
The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917)
The Power and the Glory (1933)
The Power of the Press (1928)
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
The Producers (1968)
The Public Enemy (1931)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Red Book (1994)
The Revenge of Pancho Villa (1930-1936)
The Right Stuff (1983)
The River (1938)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Searchers (1956)
The Sex Life of the Polyp (1928)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shining (1980)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)
The Son of the Sheik (1926)
The Sound of Music (1965)
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)
The Sting (1973)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
The Story of Menstruation (1946)
The Strong Man (1926)
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)
The Tall T (1957)
The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
The Terminator (1984)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
The Three Little Pigs (1933)
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Way of Peace (1947)
The Wedding March (1928)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wind (1928)
The Wishing Ring: an Idyll of Old England (1914)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Women (1939)

Thelma & Louise (1991)
Thelonius Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988)
Theodore Case Sound Test: Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925)
There It Is (1928)
They Call It Pro Football (1966)
Think of Me First as a Person (1960-1975)
This Is Cinerama (1952)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Time and Dreams (1976)
Tin Toy (1988)
Titanic (1997)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
To Fly! (1976)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
To Sleep with Anger (1990)
Tol’able David (1921)
Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son (1969-1971)
Tootsie (1982)
Top Gun (1986)
Top Hat (1935)
Topaz (1943-1945)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Toy Story (1995)
Traffic in Souls (1913)
Trance and Dance in Bali (1936-1939)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Tulips Shall Grow (1942)
Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
Twentieth Century (1934)
Two-Color Kodachrome Test Shots No. III (1922)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1914)
Under Western Stars (1938)
Unforgiven (1992)
Unmasked (1917)

V-E Day +1 (May 9, 1945) (1945)
Verbena tragica (1939)
Vertigo (1958)

Wanda (1971)
War of the Worlds (1953)
Water and Power (1989)
West Side Story (1961)
Westinghouse Works 1904 (1904)
What’s Opera, Doc? (1957)
Where Are My Children? (1916)
White Fawn’s Devotion (1910)
White Heat (1949)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Why Man Creates (1968)
Why We Fight (1943-1945)
Wild and Woolly (1917)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
Wild River (1960)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
Wings (1927)
With the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain (1937-38)
Within Our Gates (1920)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Woodstock (1970)
Wuthering Heights (1939)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Zapruder Film (1963)

Source: Complete National Film Registry Listing – https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/

Accessed: Sep-2019.

Best Asian films

In 2015, the 20th anniversary of the Busan International Film Festival, in South Korea, marked its milestone with a poll of noted Asian filmmakers and international critics of Asian film, who were all asked for their top ten.

Japan accounted for 26 films on the list, followed by Iran (19) and Korea (15). The oldest film chosen was Ozu’s I Was Born, But… from 1932, which was ranked 48th of all time.

In the following list, because a number of films are in the same rank, there are 66 ranks only.

1,   Tokyo Story, Yasujirō Ozu, 1953, Japan
2,   Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa, 1950, Japan
3,   In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai, 2000, Hong Kong
4,   The Apu Trilogy, Satyajit Ray, 1955, India
5,   A City of Sadness, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989, Taiwan
6,   Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa, 1954, Japan
7,   A Brighter Summer Day, Edward Yang, 1991, Taiwan
8,   Spring in a Small Town, Fei Mu, 1948, China
8,   Still Life, Jia Zhangke, 2006, China
10, The Housemaid, Kim Ki-young, 1960, Korea
10, Close-Up, Abbas Kiarostami, 1990, Iran
12, Yi Yi, Edward Yang, 2000, Taiwan
12, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, Kim Ki-duk, 2003, Korea
12, Oldboy, Park Chan-wook, 2003, Korea
15, Late Spring, Yasujirō Ozu, 1949, Japan
15, Taste of Cherry, Abbas Kiarostami, 1998, Iran
15, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010, Thailand
18, Ugetsu Monogatari, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953, Japan
18, The Music Room, Satyajit Ray, 1958, India
18, The Cloud-Capped Star, Ritwik Ghatak, 1960, India
18, Where Is the Friend’s Home?, Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran
18, Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou, 1991, China
18, Seopyeonje, Im Kwon-taek, 1993, Korea
18, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee, 2000, Taiwan
18, Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan
18, Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004, Thailand
18, Mother, Bong Joon-ho, 2008, Korea
18, Poetry, Lee Chang-dong, 2010, Korea
18, A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011, Iran
30, A Touch of Zen, King Hu, 1969, Taiwan
30, Manila in the Claws of Light, Lino Brocka, 1975, Philippines
30, Mandala, Im Kwon-taek, 1981, Korea
30, A Moment of Innocence, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996, Iran
30, Happy Together, Wong Kar-wai, 1997, Hong Kong
30, The River, Tsai Ming-liang, 1997, Taiwan
30, Blissfully Yours, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2002, Thailand
37, Awara, Raj Kapoor, 1951, India
37, Floating Clouds, Mikio Naruse, 1955, Japan
37, Pyaasa, Guru Dutt, 1957, India
37, The Lonely Wife, Satyajit Ray, 1964, India
37, The Cow, Dariush Mehrjui, 1969, Iran
37, Red Sorghum, Zhang Yimou, 1987, China
37, Days of Being Wild, Wong Kar-wai, 1990, Hong Kong
37, Farewell My Concubine, Chen Kaige, 1993, China
37, Vive L’Amour, Tsai Ming-liang, 1994, Taiwan
37, The Adopted Son, Aktan Abdykalykov, 1998, Kyrgyzstan
37, Peppermint Candy, Lee Chang-dong, 1999, Korea
48, I Was Born, But…, Yasujirō Ozu, 1932, Japan
48, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1939, Japan
48, Living, Akira Kurosawa, 1952, Japan
48, Sansho the Bailiff, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954, Japan
48, The House Is Black, Forough Farrokhzad, 1963, Iran
48, The Woman in the Dunes, Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964, Japan
48, Scattered Clouds, Mikio Naruse, 1967, Japan
48, Daughter-In-Law, Khodzhakuli Narliev, 1972, Turkmenistan
48, Dersu Uzala, Akira Kurosawa, 1975, Japan
48, In the Realm of the Senses, Nagisa Oshima, 1976, Japan
48, The Time to Live and the Time to Die, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1985, Taiwan
48, Through the Olive Trees, Abbas Kiarostami, 1994, Iran
48, Children of Heaven, Majid Majidi, 1997, Iran
48, Osama, Siddiq Barmak, 2003, Afghanistan
48, Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, Wang Bing, 2003, China
48, Paradise Now, Hany Abu-Assad, 2005, Palestine
48, Mukhsin, Yasmin Ahmad, 2006, Malaysia
48, Secret Sunshine, Lee Chang-dong, 2007, Korea
66, The Goddess, Wu Yonggang, 1934, China
66, Humanity and Paper Balloons, Sadao Yamanaka, 1937, Japan
66, Street Angel, Yuan Muzhi, 1937, China
66, The Life of Oharu, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952, Japan
66, Mother India, Mehboob Khan, 1957, India
66, Floating Weeds, Yasujirō Ozu, 1958, Japan
66, Good Morning, Yasujirō Ozu, 1959, Japan
66, Paper Flowers, Guru Dutt, 1959, India
66, The Naked Island, Kaneto Shindo, 1960, Japan
66, Intentions of Murder, Shohei Imamura, 1964, Japan
66, A Man Vanishes, Shohei Imamura, 1967, Japan
66, Holiday, Lee Man-hee, 1968, Korea
66, The Cruel Sea, Khalid Al Siddiq, 1972, Kuwait
66, Insiang, Lino Brocka, 1976, Philippines
66, Vengeance Is Mine, Shohei Imamura, 1979, Japan
66, Batch ’81, Mike De Leon, 1982, Philippines
66, Taipei Story, Edward Yang, 1984, Taiwan
66, The Runner, Amir Naderi, 1985, Iran
66, My Neighbor Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki, 1988, Japan
66, Ju Dou, Zhang Yimou, 1990, China
66, Life, and Nothing More…, Abbas Kiarostami, 1992, Iran
66, The Puppetmaster, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1993, Taiwan
66, Chungking Express, Wong Kar-wai, 1994, Hong Kong
66, The Scent of Green Papaya, Tran Anh Hung, 1994, Vietnam
66, Gabbeh, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1995, Iran
66, The White Balloon, Jafar Panahi, 1995, Iran
66, The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, Hong Sang-soo, 1996, Korea
66, Hana-bi, Takeshi Kitano, 1997, Japan
66, Flowers of Shanghai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1998, Taiwan
66, Chunhyang, Im Kwon-taek, 1999, Korea
66, The Color of Paradise, Majid Majidi, 1999, Iran
66, A Poet, Garin Nugroho, 1999, Indonesia
66, Blackboards, Samira Makhmalbaf, 2000, Iran
66, The Circle, Jafar Panahi, 2000, Iran
66, The Day I Became a Woman, Marzieh Meshkini, 2000, Iran
66, Devils on the Doorstep, Jiang Wen, 2000, China
66, Platform, Jia Zhangke, 2000, China
66, Kandahar, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2001, Iran
66, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Park Chan-wook, 2002, Korea
66, The Wind Will Carry Us, Abbas Kiarostami, 2002, Iran
66, Memories of Murder, Bong Joon-ho, 2003, Korea
66, The World, Jia Zhangke, 2004, China
66, Bright Future, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2004, Japan
66, The Host, Bong Joon-ho, 2006, Korea
66, Melancholia, Lav Diaz, 2008, Philippines
66, Wadjda, Haifaa al-Mansour, 2012, Saudi Arabia
66, Ilo Ilo, Anthony Chen, 2013, Singapore
66, The Owners, Adilkhan Yerzhanov, 2014, Kazakhst

BBC: 100 greatest “foreign language” films

In 2018, BBC asked critics to vote for their favourite movies made primarily in a language other than English. The result is BBC’s 100 greatest foreign-language films.

The 209 critics who took part are from 43 different countries and speak a total of 41 languages – a range that sets BBC’s poll apart from any other.

The result: 100 films from 67 different directors, from 24 countries, and in 19 languages. French can claim to be the international language of acclaimed cinema: 27 of the highest-rated films were in French, followed by 12 in Mandarin, and 11 each in Italian and Japanese. At the other end of the scale, several languages were represented by just one film, such as Belarusian (Come and See), Romanian (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), and Wolof (Touki Bouki).

If there’s anything disappointing about the final list, it’s the paucity of films directed or co-directed by women. There are just four out of 100. But BBC made sure to contact as many female critics as male ones; of those who responded, 94 (45 per cent) were women.

One statistic of note was that a quarter of the films on the list were East Asian: that is, 25 of them were made in Japan (11), China (6), Taiwan (4), Hong Kong (3) or South Korea (1). And the winning film, Seven Samurai, by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, was loved by critics everywhere – everywhere, that is, except for Japan. The six Japanese critics who voted didn’t go for a single Kurosawa film between them.

100. Landscape in the Mist (Theo Angelopoulos, 1988)
99. Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
98. In the Heat of the Sun (Jiang Wen, 1994)
97. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997)
96. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)
95. Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse, 1955)
94. Where Is the Friend’s Home? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987)
93. Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)
92. Scenes from a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman, 1973)
91. Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955)
90. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
89. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
88. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1939)
87. The Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
86. La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)
85. Umberto D (Vittorio de Sica, 1952)
84. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
83. La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954)
82. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
81. Celine and Julie go Boating (Jacques Rivette, 1974)
80. The Young and the Damned (Luis Buñuel, 1950)
79. Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
78. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
77. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
76. Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001)
75. Belle de Jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967)
74. Pierrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
73. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
72. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
71. Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)
70. L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
69. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
68. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
67. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
66. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973)
65. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
64. Three Colours: Blue (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993)
63. Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)
62. Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973)
61. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
60. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
59. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
58. The Earrings of Madame de… (Max Ophüls, 1953)
57. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
56. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
55. Jules and Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
54. Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 1994)
53. Late Spring (Yasujirô Ozu, 1949)
52. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)
51. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
50. L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
49. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
48. Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
47. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
46. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945)
45. L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
44. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
43. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
42. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund, 2002)
41. To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
40. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
39. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
38. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991)
37. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
36. La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
35. The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963)
34. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
33. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
32. All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
31. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
30. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
29. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
28. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
27. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973)
26. Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988)
25. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
24. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei M Eisenstein, 1925)
23. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
22. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
21. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
20. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974)
19. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
18. A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989)
17. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
16. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
15. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
14. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
13. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
12. Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993)
11. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
10. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
9. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
8. The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)
7. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
6. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
5. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
4. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
3. Tokyo Story (Yasujirô Ozu, 1953)
2. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)
1. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

Vietnamese movies

Based on the IMDb rating given by at least 100 reviewers, the list (as of March 2018) of top movies directed or produced by the Vietnamese (in the country or overseas) is provided below. Note that since the majority of reviewers are Vietnamese, their rating could be higher in comparison with international reviewers rating English spoken or subtitled movies.

The list below is shown in rank, title, year, director, and IMDb rating.

1. Chuyến Đi Cuối Cùng của Chị Phụng (2014) Nguyễn Thị Thắm – 8.7
2. Làng Vũ Đại ngày ấy (1982) Phạm Văn Khoa – 8.6
3. Sài Gòn Tình Ca (2006) Ringo Lê – 8.6
4. Vật Đổi Sao Dời (2001) Charlie Nguyễn – 8.5
5. Lấy Chồng Người Ta (2012) Lưu Huỳnh – 8.4
6. Vĩ Tuyến 17, Ngày và Đêm (1973) Hải Ninh – 8.4
7. 14 Ngày Phép (2009) Nguyễn Trọng Khoa – 8.4
8. Trở Về (1994) Đặng Nhật Minh – 8.3
9. Ngọc Viễn Đông (2011) Ngô Cường – 8.0
10. 12 Chòm Sao: Vẽ Đường Cho Yêu Chạy (2015) Vũ Ngọc Phượng – 8.0
11. Ám Ảnh (2016) Nguyễn Bảo – 7.9
12. Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (2015) Victor Vũ – 7.8
13. Bao Giờ Cho Đến Tháng Mười (1984) Đặng Nhật Minh – 7.8
14. Cô Gái Trên Sông (1987) Đặng Nhật Minh – 7.8
15. Vào Nam Ra Bắc (2000) Phi Tiến Sơn – 7.8
16. 1735 Km (2005) Nguyễn Nghiêm Đăng Tuấn – 7.7
17. Em Là Bà Nội Của Anh (2015) Phan Gia Nhật Linh – 7.7
18. Thung Lũng Hoang Vắng (2002) Phạm Nhuệ Giang – 7.7
19. Mùi Cỏ Cháy (2012) Nguyễn Hữu Mười – 7.7
20. Áo lụa Hà Dông (2006) Lưu Huỳnh – 7.6
21. Âm Mưu Giày Gót Nhọn (2013) Trần Hàm – 7.6
22. Trái Tim Bé Bỏng (2008) Nguyễn Thanh Vân – 7.6
23. Cú và Chim Se Sẻ (2007) Lê Thanh Sơn – 7.5
24. Hà Nội Mùa Đông Năm 46 (1997) Đặng Nhật Minh – 7.5
25. Long Thành Cầm Giả Ca (2010) Đào Bá Sơn – 7.5
26. Khát Vọng Thăng Long (2010) Lưu Trọng Ninh – 7.5
27. Nắng (2016) Đồng Đăng Giao – 7.5
28. Thị Trấn Yên Tĩnh (1986) Lê Đức Tiến – 7.5
29. Xích Lô (1995) Trần Anh Hùng – 7.4
30. Mùi Đu Đủ Xanh (1993) Trần Anh Hùng – 7.4
31. Tâm Hồn Mẹ (2011) Phạm Nhuệ Giang – 7.4
32. Vượt Sóng (2006) Trần Hàm – 7.3
33. Ba mùa (1999) Tony Bùi – 7.3
34. Yêu (2015) Viet Max – 7.3
35. Bến Không Chồng (2001) Lưu Trọng Ninh – 7.3
36. Fan Cuồng (2016) Charlie Nguyễn – 7.3
37. Mùa Hè Chiều Thẳng Đứng (2000) Trần Anh Hùng – 7.2
38. Tứ quái Sài Gòn (1973) La Thoại Tân – 7.2
39. Quả tim máu (2014) Victor Vũ – 7.2
40. Cánh Đồng Bất Tận (2010) Nguyễn Phan Quang Bình – 7.2
41. Scandal: Hào Quang Trở Lại (2014) Victor Vũ – 7.2
42. Dịu Dàng (2014) Lê Văn Kiệt – 7.2
43. Truyện Cổ Tích Cho Tuổi Mười Bảy (1988) Nguyễn Xuân Sơn – 7.2
44. Chị Tư Hậu (1963) Phạm Kỳ Nam – 7.2
45. Dòng máu anh hùng (2007) Charlie Nguyen – 7.1
46. Mùa len trâu (2004) Nguyễn Minh Võ – 7.1
47. Chuyện Của Pao (2006) Ngô Quang Hải – 7.1
48. Ký Ức Điện Biên (2004) Đỗ Minh Tuấn – 7.1
49. Đó … hay Đây? (2011) Phạm Síu – 7.1
50. Bụi Đời Chợ Lớn (2013) Charlie Nguyễn – 7.0
51. Gánh Xiếc Rong (1988) Việt Linh – 7.0
52. Huyền Thoại Bất Tử (2009) Lưu Huỳnh – 7.0
53. Trúng Số (2015) Dustin Nguyễn – 7.0
54. Vua Bãi Rác (2002) Võ Hoài Nam – 7.0
55. Lạc Giới (2014) Phi Tiến Sơn – 7.0
56. Em Chưa 18 (2017) Lê Thanh Sơn – 7.0

Movies of compiler’s preference

I list the movies I prefer below. My two main criteria are entertainment quality and humane value, with secondary factors such as cinematography, the story, and music. My personal preference is also biased toward historical or fact-based movies. I do not like unconvincing stories, so I like sci-fi movies if their stories are not very absurd to me. And some movies I like not for any particular reason except long-lasting impressions

I particularly appreciate such movies with humane value, even though critics think otherwise. For instance, I find the movies Rain man and Roman holiday have high humane value while critics think they are comedies. How come they are so superficial in thinking! And more: City lights, The gold rush and The kid are often regarded as mere comedies but I find high humane value in them. Also, the war film Hart’s war is not rated high perhaps because the critics look for a good war story and they find not much war in it. But I find the court-room scenario contains high humane value.

Feature-presetation movies of preference (* is for special preference)

* 3 idiots (2009)
12 angry men (1957)
12 years a slave (2013)
50/50 (2011)
A beautiful mind (2001)
A bug’s life (1998)
A few good men (1992)
A fistful of dollars (1964)
A good year (2006)
* A simple life = Tao Jie (2012)
* A time to love and a time to die (1958)
After the storm / Even deeper than the sea (2016)
Aladdin (1992)
Alien (1979)
Amadeus (1983)
Amistad (1997)
Anthropoid (2016)
Any which way you can (1980)
Around the world in eighty days (1956)
Atonement (2007)
Avatar (2009)

Babe (1995)
* Barfi! (2012)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Body of lies (2008)
Braveheart (1995)

Changeling (2008)
Chaplin (1992)
Chuyến đi cuối cùng của chị Phụng (2014)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
* City lights (1931)
Cleopatra (1963)
Clear and present danger (1994)
Columbiana (2011)

Dances with wolves (1990)
* Dave (1993)
Der untergang = Downfall (2004)
* Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

E.T. the extra-terrestrial (1982)
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Every which way but loose (1978)

Face off (1997)
Fiddler on the roof (1971)
* Firelight (1997)
Fist of legend = Tinh Võ anh hùng (1994)
* For a few dollars more (1965)
Forrest Gump (1994)

Gandhi (1982)
* Gran Torino (2008)

* Hachiko Monogatari (1987)
* Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone (2001)
* Hart’s war (2002)
* Heaven & earth (1993)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)

* I can speak (2017)
In the mood for love (2000)
* Indiana Jones and the last crusade (1989)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Infernal affairs = Vô gian đạo (2002)
* Ip Man = Diệp Vấn (2008)
Irma la Douce (1963)

Jaws (1975)
* Jurassic Park (1993)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Les diaboliques (1955)
* Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Lust and caution (2007)

Malena (2000)
Megan Leavey (2017)
Midnight cowboy (1969)
Mississippi burning (1988)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
My fair lady (1964)

Next (2007)
* Okuribito – Departures (2008)
Oliver! (1968)
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (1975)
Open range (2003)

Philadelphia (1993)
Pinocchio (1940)
* Pirates of the Caribbean: The curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Planet of the apes (1968)
* Prayers for Bobby (TV movie 2009)
Primal fear (1996)

* Rain man (1988)
* Roman holiday (1953)
Romancing the stone (1984)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Scent of a woman (1992)
Schindler’s list (1993)
* Sense and sensibility (1995)
Shane (1953)
Shoplifters (2018)
Spartacus (1960)
Srimanthudu = The weathy man (2015)
* Sully (2016)

* Temple Grandin (2010 TV Movie)
Terminator 2: Judgment day (1991)
The apartment (1960)
The Book of Eli (2010)
The bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The bridges of Madison County (1995)
* The bucket list (2007)
The children of Huang Shi (2008)
The day of the Jackal (1973)
The eagle has landed (1976)
* The Elephant Man (1980)
The fault in our stars (2014)
* The Godfather (1972)
Godfather 2 (1974)
* The Gods must be crazy (1980)
* The gold rush (1925)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
The greatest showman (2017)
The Green Mile (1999)
The intern (2015)
The intouchables (2011)
The kid (1921)
The killing fields (1984)
The King and I (1956)
The King’s speech (2010)
* The last emperor (1984)
The legend of 1900 = La leggenda del pianista sull oceano (1998)
* The Lion King (1994)
* The longest day (1962)
The notebook (2004)
The pianist (2002)
* The Shawshank redemption (1994)
The silence of the lambs (1991)
The sound of music (1965)
The teacher’s diary = Khidtheung withaya (2014)
The ten commandments (1956)
* The terminator (1984)
The untouchables (1987)
* Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
Titanic (1997)
* Tokyo family (2013)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
* Tôi thấy hoa vàng trên cỏ xanh (2015)
Transporter (2002)

* WALL-E (2008)
Willow (1988)
* Wonder (2017)

Youth (2015)

TV series of preference – my rating in square quotation marks [ ]

A scholar dream of woman (2015): 47 episodes. In 1927, during the Early Republic of China times, a smart young woman wants to continue expanding her knowledge. This beautiful and elegantly-made drama focuses on her struggle and story within the Xuan family and events in China during this turbulent period in history. [rating of 8.2.]

American crime story Season 1: The People v. O. J. Simpson (2016): 10 episodes. This is about the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and the subsequent court proceedings. IMDb rating of 8.4.

Arrow Season 1-3 (2012-2014). I find the first 3 seasons are enough. IMDb rating of 7.7.

Band of brothers (2001): 10 episodes. If The longest day is the classic war film to watch, then you should watch this series. This is the story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division, and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord, through V-J Day. IMDb rating of 9.5 (highest).

Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014): 5 seasons. An Atlantic City, New Jersey politician plays both sides of the law, conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era. The best-seling series in more than 160 countries. IMDb rating of 8.6.

Breaking bad Seasons 1-5 (2008-2013). A high-school chemistry teacher learns he’s dying, so he takes up a new career as a meth producer in hopes of earning enough money to take care of his family. This beautiful piece of art is incredibly well written and directed. Breaking bad is possibly the best TV drama ever made – there isn’t a wrong step, bad episode or miscast character throughout the whole series run. IMDb rating of 9.5 (highest).

Broadchurch Season 1 (2013): 8 episodes. The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart. IMDb rating of 8.3.

Dae Jang Geum (2003): 54 episodes, based on a true story in Korean history. Still considered to be one of the best classic sries of SouthKorea. IMDb rating of 8.6.

Dream of Red Chamber = Hong Lou meng = Hồng Lâu mộng (2004): 36 episodes. This series based on one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels, this series is regarded by many within China as being a near-definitive adaptation of the novel as it gained enormous popularity for its music, cast, and plot adaptation. After more than two decades, it is perhaps still the finest TV series ever produced by Mainland China. The remake fails to make similar impressions. IMDb rating of 7.0 [should be 8.0].

Empress Ki (2013): 51 episodes. A Korea-born warrior girl had to be a servant at the Mongol Yuan court but somehow overcame her low status to become an empress in another land. Excellent drama, great casting. IMDb rating of 8.6.

Empresses in the Palace = Hou Gong: Zhen Huan Zhuan = Hậu cung Chân Hoàn truyện (2012). The 10-episode version for the U.S. market is too short to leave much feeling; the 76-episode version creates more impressions. This is probaly the best TV series of Chinese harem drama, based on a popular contemporary novel which, in turn, is based loosely on a major concubine of Yongzheng Emperor. IMDb rating of 8.5.

Good doctor (2013): 20 episodes. A medical drama about a surgical resident with autistic disorder and savant syndrome. IMDb rating of 8.2.

Hot mom (2014): 38 episodes. Social and family issues like those in China and Vietnam are depicted with funs. [rating of 7.4]

Legend of eagle shooting hero = She diao ying xiong zhuan = Anh hùng xạ điêu (2003): 59 episodes. Based on the first of the condor heroes trilogy by Jin Yong. A good adaptation, the best casting among different versions. IMDb rating of 6.9 [should be 7.4].

Legend of the Yuan Empire founder = Sóng gió Nguyên Triều (2013): 46 episodes. The series spans over 70 years and romanticises the life of Kublai Khan, the fourth son of Genghis Khan, and the events leading to his founding of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China. [rating of 7.3]

Ma Yong Zhen = Mã Vĩnh Trinh (2012): 40 episodes. There have been so many movies on this legensary fighter, but this latest series is still enthralling. [rating of 7.3]

Mu Fu feng yun = Mộc phủ phong vân (2012): 40 episodes. A beautiful and moving story in a strange historical period among exotic geographical setting and charming music. [rating of 7.4]

My fair princess = Hoàn châu cách cách (1987-1988): 24 episodes. Hot among the yougth in many Asian countries. The remake is not good. [rating of 7.4]

Narcos Seasons 1-3 (2015-2017): 10 episodes in each season. This is about the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar of Colombia. IMDb rating of 8.8.

Nothing gold can stay = Năm ấy hoa nở trăng vừa tròn (2017): 74 episodes. Biography of legendary widow Zhou Ying who revitalized the business of Wu’s family, a prominent clan in Guanzhong of Shaanxi, in late Qing Dynasty. IMDb rating of 8.1.

Prime Minister Liu Luo Guo = Tể tướng Lưu Gù (1988): A classic series, there is no remake. Liu Yong is a high ranking official serving in Emperor Qianlong’s court. He is constantly trying match his wits against the very corrupted yet Emperor’s favourite official, He Shen. One good guy and one bad guy but both provide so entertaining performance. [rating of 8.0]

Prison break Season 1-3 (2005): 22, 22, 13 episodes, respectively. It suffices for you to watch the first three seasons. Seasons 4-5 run out of exciting ideas and so their schemes are unconvincing. IMDb rating of 8.1.

Tran Ngoc Lien tieu-long-nu — **Siu Lung Nui (Idy Chan Yuk Lin)**

Return of the condor hero = Sun diu hap lui = Thần điêu đại hiệp (1983): 51 episodes. An adaptation of the second in the famous trilogy, it is widely considered one of the finest martial arts series. Apart from martial arts, this is the best love story by Jin Yong (Louis Cha) that is shown well by the artists. Jin Yong stated that this adaptation satisfied him the most, and I agree with him. I think no-one in the previous and subsequent vesions is equal to Idy Chan Yuk Lin in the role of Siu Lung Nui. IMDb rating of 8.1.

Royal Tramp = Lu ding ji = Lộc đỉnh ký (2008): an adaptation of the novel Lu ding ji (The deer and the cauldron) by Jin Yong, his favorite. This version is more balanced than the previous and subsequent ones. IMDb rating of 6.4 [should be 7.4].

Scarlet heart = Bộ bộ kinh tâm (2011): 40 episodes. A kind of Back to the Future, but with more sentimental due to in-fighting of the princes. [rating of 7.2]

Sea Mother = Thích thanh hải nương (2016): 34 episodes. It is about love, sure, but also about superstition and witchcraft, legends, jealousy, and dark schemes. [rating of 7.4]

The new Shang Hai bund = Tân Bến Thượng Hải (2007): a remake of the classic in 1980 with Chow Yun Fat, and intriguing series the same thanks to excellent casting. Francis Yip also sings the classic theme song in Mandarin. [rating of 7.3.]

State of Divinity = The smiling, proud wanderer = Tiếu ngạo giang hồ (1996): The series has an odd name in English, but it is a faithfull adaptation of the book Xiao ao jiang hu by Jin Yong. No-one in other versions equal Jackie Lui as Ling-wu Chung and He Meitian as Yee-lam. [rating of 7.8.]

Story of Yanxi Palace = Diên Hy cung lược (2018): 70 episodes. Another movie on jealousy and dark schemes among the king’s concubines but the story is fascinating and causes laugher even though it is not a comedy. The costumes and settings are truthful to the Qianlong Emperor period. IMDb rating of 7.9.

Suits (2011) 12 episodes for Season 1. On the run from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a brilliant college dropout, finds himself a job working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City’s best lawyers. The series is worth watching if you do not look for action or tearful sentiments. IMDb rating of 8.9.

The day of days = Bản lĩnh đại thiên kim (2014): 20 episodes. Quite entertaining, not much of violence, suitable for the family during New Year festive season. [rating of 7.4.]

The great revival a.k.a. Wo xin chang dan = Phục quốc phụ tình (2007): 41 episodes. An adaptation of one period in Dōngzhōu Lièguó Zhì (Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms – Đông chu lục quốc) by Feng Menglong. It is a revival between Goujian, the king of Yue, and Fuchai, the king of Wu, with the story of “sleeping on sticks and tasting gall”, referring to Goujian’s endurance for vengeance. [rating of 8.0.]

The last night of Madam Chin = Kim Đại Ban (2010): 36 episodes. Fan Bing Bing as producer and main actress in this adaptation of a novel of the same name. Set in Shanghai in the 1930s-1940s, the drama follows the story of a dance hostess, Chin Zhao Li, and the 3 important men in her life. [rating of 7.6.]

The legend of Lu Zhen a.k.a. Lu Zhen chuan qi = Lục Trinh truyền kỳ (2013): Based loosely on a true story. To escape her cruel stepmother, Lu Zhen enters the palace as an attendant. She was quickly promoted through the ranks and finally became prime minister. [rating of 7.2.]

The legend of Yang Guifei = Dương Quý Phi bí sử (2010): 49 episodes. The legend, also the music and dances of the the Tang Dynasty. [rating of 7.3.]

The new heaven sword and the dragon sabre a.k.a. Yi tian tu long ji = Cô gái Đồ Long (1986): This is the third chapter of Jin Yong’s famous trilogy. This version is old, cinematography is so-so, special effects are rudimentary, but the plots and acting become classic that the remakes cannot compare. [rating of 7.4.]

The Romance of Three Kingdoms a.k.a. San guo yan yi = Tam Quốc diễn nghĩa (1995): 84 episodes. The adaptation follows closely the novel of the same name. However, epic fighting scenes involving tens of thousand troups look like exercise of a few hundred. IMDb rating of 8.6.

The secret history of Wu Zetian = Võ Tắc Thiên bí sử (2012): 54 episodes. The series is based on the life of Wu Zetian, the only woman in Chinese history to assume the title of Empress Regnant. Three well-known actresses Yin Tao, Liu Xiaoqing and Siqin Gaowa play Wu Zetian in the young, middle age and old age periods, respectively. Considering faithfulness to historical facts, costume and setting, this version is considered to be the best. [rating of 7.5.]

The suspicious housekeeper (2013). 20 episodes. This Korean series is an adaptation of the Japanese drama Kaseifu no Mita. It is about a housekeeper who is hired to work for a family which has just lost its mother, leaving just the father and 4 children. But, she’s strange. She is unsociable housekeeper who is perfect in what she does around the house but doesn’t smile or show her feelings. [rating of 7.4.]

Wang Zhaojun = Vương Chiêu Quân (2005): 30 episodes. This series depicts the life of Wang Qiang (Wang Chiang), more commonly known by her stylistic name Wang Zhaojun (Wang Chao-chun) in the Western Han Dynasty. She was recruited to the harem of Emperor Yuan of Han, but was entirely ignored. She ended up to be the minor wife of Huhanye Chanyu of Xiongnu Tribe. When Huhanye died, by tradition she became the wife of the next Chanyu, born by her husband’s first wife. Thus she helped build the 60-year peace between the Hand Dynasty and the Xiongnu Tribe. [rating of 7.8.]

Winter sonata (2002): 20 episodes. Jun-Sang moves to a small town in the country and meets Yoo-Jin in the local high school. They fall in love, but Jun-Sang faces a terrible tragedy and gets killed in a car accident. Ten years later, Yoo-Jin meets a guy who looks just like her Jun-Sang. Used to be hot in East Asia including Japan. IMDb rating of 8.1.

You who came from the star (2013): 22 episodes. Do Min-Joon, an alien that came to our planet 400 years ago, will be able to return to his planet in 3 months, but when he meets famous actress Chun Song-Yi, all the centuries he spent distancing himself from humans come to an end. IMDb rating of 8.0.

Miseseu Cab = Mrs. Cop (2015): 18 episodes. There are crimes and therefore there are actions, but more than that: a movie that is both sentimental and entertaining. A crime drama about female detective squad chief, who also raises her daughter. The joys and sorrows of being a working mom in Korea are explored through the life of passionate middle-aged female cop. The series deserves an IMDb rating of 8.0.

Sui Tang Yan Yi a.k.a. Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties = Tùy Đường diễn nghĩa (2013): 62 episodes. The drama begins in Sui dynasty and ends with Li Yuan’s ascension to the throne and the establishment of the Tang dynasty. The show centers around the heroes who rose during this time and their stories. Good performance. IMDb rating of 7.4.

The cage of love [Zhua Zhu Cai Hong De Nan Ren] (2015), 35 episodes, Chinese drama series directed by Wu Jin Yuan. Jiang Yu (Hawick Lau) is a ruthless businessman during the Republican era who is out to seek revenge against his sworn enemy. But his plan gets complicated when he meets his enemy’s daughter, Wu Cai Hong (Zheng Shuang). Jiang Yu falls in love with the kind and beautiful Cai Hong despite himself. But Jiang Yu becomes the primary suspect for the death of Cai Hong’s father. As they both try to uncover the truth behind the death of Cai Hong’s father, they will learn what fate has in store for them.

The story is witty, enthralling and sentimental, with full of love, jealousy, greed, prejudice, hatred and vengeance. Luckily for non-Chinese movie lovers, there are English subtitles.

Chernobyl (2019): 6 parts, IMDb rating: 9.4; number of user reviewers give 10/10 stars. According to reviews by Russian watchers, the miniseries shows authenticity: the seting details, the way the Soviet regime hierarchy functioned, the denial and secrecy surrounding the disaster, and also, the feeling of anxiety, horror, disgust and sadness all.

On the other hand, Wikipedia quotes sources pointing out some problems in historical accuracy: the miniseries seems to go “overboard with its characters, depicting Soviet officials and plant management as too evil and conniving…”; “it doesn’t come close to reflecting reality … A lot of the facts presented are just not true”; Chernobyl’s “propensity toward Hollywood inflation – to show us things that didn’t happen” and for taking “fictional license over the line into contrivance and melodrama.” Regrettably, two inaccuracies stand out. First, the dramatic helicopter crash shown did happen, but occurred weeks later than shown and was caused by a collision with a crane, not by flying too close to the reactor core. Second, Ulana Khomyuk, a nuclear physicist with important roles, is a fictional composite character (a character based on more than one individual in the story).

Designated Survivor (2016). 21 parts for Season 1. This is an American political thriller drama television series. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Thomas Kirkman, an American politician named as the designated survivor for the State of the Union address, who suddenly ascends from the position of U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to President of the United States after an explosion kills everyone ahead of him in the presidential line of succession. Kirkman deals with his inexperience as head of state while looking to uncover the truth behind the attack. IMDb rating of 8.1.

Alias Grace (2017). 6 parts. Based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood of the same name and inspired by true events, Alias Grace tells the story of Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon), a young, poor Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who – along with stable hand James McDermott (Kerr Logan) – finds herself accused and convicted of the infamous 1843 double murder of her employer Thomas Kinnear (Paul Gross), and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin). IMDb rating of 7.8.

Note: I am not particular fond of the series Spartacus (2010-2013), and I’m surprised to see so many hot sex scenes with naked bodies. Do not think this series is suitable for the family to watch together! The same is for Game of Thrones (2011-2019). Even though the IMDb rating is 9.4, it suffices to watch the first two seasons when your kids are not around.

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This post is still open, to be updated when there is new information.

Compiled by: Diệp Minh Tâm – Updated on: Sep-2019

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