Monday, October 31, 2022

Directors’ Favorite Movies

Directors’ Lists:

Favorite Movies

These are lists of favorite films by some of the film industry’s most-acclaimed directors.
Woody Allen

Allen submitted this unranked list to the 2012 Sight and Sound poll:

  • Amarcord (1972)
  • The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette) (1947)
  • Citizen Kane (1941)
  • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie) (1972)
  • 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
  • The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups) (1959)
  • Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937)
  • Paths of Glory (1957)
  • Rashômon (1950)
  • The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957)

Source: OpenCulture.com (8/2/2013). “Woody Allen Lists the Greatest Films of All Time…


Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola submitted this unranked list to the 2012 Sight and Sound poll:

Source: Flavorwire.com (7/31/2013). “10 Great Filmmakers’ Top 10 Favorite Movies: Francis Ford Coppola


Guillermo del Toro

Del Toro submitted this unranked list to the Sight and Sound poll:

  • Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bette) (1946)
  • 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
  • Frankenstein (1931)
  • Freaks (1932)
  • Goodfellas (1990)
  • Greed (1925)
  • The Young and the Damned (Los Olvidados) (1950)
  • Modern Times (1936)
  • Nosferatu, a Symphony of Terror (aka “Nosferatu, the Vampire”) (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1922)
  • Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Source: Flavorwire.com (7/31/2013). “10 Great Filmmakers’ Top 10 Favorite Movies: Guillermo del Toro


Lena Dunham

Dunham selected 14 titles for a 2008 Criterion poll:

  • Fish Tank (2009)
  • Days of Heaven (1978)
  • Broadcast News (1987)
  • Weekend (2011)
  • La Pointe Coure (1955)
  • Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)
  • Le Bonheur (1965)
  • Vagabond (1985)
  • The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)
  • Fear Eats the Soul (Angst Essen Seele Auf) (1974)
  • Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
  • Straw Dogs (1971)
  • Dead Ringers (1988)
  • Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
  • The War Room (1993)

Source: Criterion.com (6/25/2013). “Lena Dunham’s Top 10


Rian Johnson

Johnson put this list together for Criterion:

  1. 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
  2. Brazil (1985)
  3. F for Fake (1973)
  4. Amarcord (1972)
  5. Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) (1982)
  6. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot’s) (1953)
  7. Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
  8. The Third Man (1949)
  9. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
  10. Down by Law (1986)

Source: Criterion.com (11/20/2008). “Rian Johnson’s Top 10


Stanley Kubrick

In 1963, Kubrick submitted this top 10 list to Cinema magazine:

  1. I Vitelloni (1953)
  2. Wild Strawberries (1957)
  3. Citizen Kane (1941)
  4. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  5. City Lights (1931)
  6. Henry V (1944)
  7. La Notte (1961)
  8. The Bank Dick (1940)
  9. Roxie Hart (1942)
  10. Hell’s Angels (1930)

Source: OpenCulture.com (7/30/2013). “Stanley Kubrick’s List of Top 10 Films…


Christopher Nolan

  1. The Hit (1984)
  2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
  3. The Thin Red Line (1998)
  4. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
  5. Bad Timing (1980)
  6. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
  7. For All Mankind (1989)
  8. Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
  9. The Complete Mr. Arkadin (1955)
  10. Greed (1924)

Source: Criterion.com (1/29/2013). “Christopher Nolan’s Top 10


Paul Schrader

Director, screenwriter, and film critic Paul Schrader submitted this unranked list to the 2012 Sight and Sound poll:

  • Citizen Kane (1941)
  • The Conformist (Il Conformista) (1970)
  • In the Mood for Love (Dut Yeung Nin Wa) (2000)
  • The Lady Eve (1941)
  • Orpheus (Orphée) (1950)
  • Pickpocket (1959)
  • The Rules of the Game (La Règle du Jeu) (1939)
  • Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari) (1953)
  • Vertigo (1958)
  • The Wild Bunch (1969)

Source: The PendragonSociety.com (7/7/2019). “Paul Schrader’s Top Ten Favourite Films


Martin Scorsese

Scorsese put this unranked list of his 12 favorite movies together for the 2012 Sight and Sound poll:

  • Ashes and Diamonds (Popiól I Diament) (1958)
  • Citizen Kane (1941)
  • 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  • The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) (1963)
  • Paisan (1946)
  • The Red Shoes (1948)
  • The River (1951)
  • Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
  • The Searchers (1956)
  • Ugetsu (aka “Ugetsu Mongatari” or “Tales of a Pale Moon After the Rain”) (1953)
  • Vertigo (1958)

Source: OpenCulture.com (7/31/2013). “Martin Scorsese Reveals His 12 Favorite Movies


Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg created this list of his 20 favorite movies, as published in Far Out magazine:

Source: Far Out Magazine (10/31/2022). “Steven Spielberg named his 20 favourite movies of all time” by Lee Thomas-Mason


Quentin Taratino

These are the 12 films Tarantino selected for the 2012 Sight and Sound poll:

Source: Flavorwire.com (7/31/2013). “10 Great Filmmakers’ Top 10 Favorite Movies: Quentin Tarantino


Orson Welles

Director and actor Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) selected these as his top 10 favorite movies. There is no indication when this list was created.

  1. City Lights (1931)
  2. Greed (1924)
  3. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
  4. Nanook of the North (1922)
  5. Shoe Shine (1946)
  6. Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) (1925)
  7. The Baker’s Wife (La Femme du Boulanger) (1938)
  8. Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937)
  9. Stagecoach (1939)
  10. Our Daily Bread (1934)

Source: The PendragonSociety.com (8/3/2018). “Orson Welles’s Favourite Films


Edgar Wright

  • An American Werewolf in London (1981)
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  • Carrie (1976)
  • Dames (1934)
  • Don’t Look Now (1973)
  • Duck Soup (1933)
  • Psycho (1960)
  • Raising Arizona (1987)
  • Taxi Driver (1976)
  • The Wild Bunch (1969)

Source: Flavorwire.com (7/31/2013). “10 Great Filmmakers’ Top 10 Favorite Movies: Edgar Wright


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Originally posted 7/27/2019; last updated 6/9/2023.