For this blog’s 250th post, here are 250 films I adore, in alphabetical order by title. All-time-favorite lists are always subject to change; it’s a good bet that I’ve forgotten a title or two more worthy of inclusion than a title or two here. I couldn’t even begin to rank all of these, but know that the directors with the most entries (five each) are Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson–extra impressive for the latter, who has to date directed only eight features (and I would re-watch the three that didn’t make the list in a heartbeat.)
| Title | Director | Year |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | Kubrick, Stanley | 1968 |
| 25th Hour | Lee, Spike | 2002 |
| 3 Women | Altman, Robert | 1977 |
| 35 Shots of Rum | Denis, Claire | 2008 |
| 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days | Mungiu, Cristian | 2007 |
| 49 Up | Apted, Michael | 2005 |
| A Christmas Story | Clark, Bob | 1983 |
| A Hard Day’s Night | Lester, Richard | 1964 |
| A History of Violence | Cronenberg, David | 2005 |
| A Matter of Life and Death | Powell, Michael and Emeric Pressburger | 1946 |
| A Serious Man | Coen, Joel and Ethan | 2009 |
| A Woman Under the Influence | Cassavetes, John | 1974 |
| Ace in the Hole | Wilder, Billy | 1951 |
| Airplane! | Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker | 1980 |
| Ali: Fear Eats the Soul | Fassbinder, Rainer Werner | 1974 |
| All About Eve | Mankiewicz, Joseph L. | 1950 |
| All About My Mother | Almodovar, Pedro | 1999 |
| All That Jazz | Fosse, Bob | 1979 |
| All the President’s Men | Pakula, Alan J. | 1976 |
| Amélie | Jeunet, Jean-Pierre | 2001 |
| American Splendor | Berman, Shari Springer and Robert Pulcini | 2003 |
| Annie Hall | Allen, Woody | 1977 |
| Aquarius | Filho, Kleber Mendonca | 2016 |
| Army of Shadows | Melville, Jean-Pierre | 1969 |
| Au Hasard Balthazar | Bresson, Robert | 1966 |
| Away from Her | Polley, Sarah | 2006 |
| Back to the Future | Zemeckis, Robert | 1985 |
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Zeitlin, Benh | 2012 |
| Beau Travail | Denis, Claire | 1999 |
| Beetlejuice | Burton, Tim | 1988 |
| Before Sunset | Linklater, Richard | 2004 |
| Being John Malkovich | Jonze, Spike | 1999 |
| Best in Show | Guest, Christopher | 2000 |
| Best Worst Movie | Stephenson, Michael Paul | 2009 |
| Bigger Than Life | Ray, Nicholas | 1956 |
| Black Narcissus | Powell, Michael and Emeric Pressburger | 1947 |
| Blue Velvet | Lynch, David | 1986 |
| Bonnie and Clyde | Penn, Arthur | 1967 |
| Boogie Nights | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 1997 |
| Boyhood | Linklater, Richard | 2014 |
| Brand Upon the Brain! | Maddin, Guy | 2006 |
| Brazil | Gilliam, Terry | 1985 |
| Brief Encounter | Lean, David | 1945 |
| Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia | Sam Peckinpah | 1974 |
| Bringing Up Baby | Hawks, Howard | 1938 |
| Burning | Lee, Chang-dong | 2018 |
| C.R.A.Z.Y. | Vallee, Jean-Marc | 2005 |
| Cabaret | Fosse, Bob | 1972 |
| Caché | Haneke, Michael | 2005 |
| Call Me by Your Name | Guadagnino, Luca | 2017 |
| Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Heller, Marielle | 2018 |
| Carol | Haynes, Todd | 2015 |
| Casablanca | Curtiz, Michael | 1942 |
| Celine and Julie Go Boating | Rivette, Jacques | 1974 |
| Cemetery of Splendour | Weerasethakul, Apichatpong | 2015 |
| Children of Men | Cuaron, Alfonso | 2006 |
| Clean | Assayas, Olivier | 2004 |
| Close-Up | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1990 |
| Clue | Lynn, Jonathan | 1985 |
| Day for Night | Truffaut, Francois | 1973 |
| Day Night Day Night | Loktev, Julia | 2006 |
| Dig! | Timoner, Ondi | 2004 |
| Do the Right Thing | Lee, Spike | 1989 |
| Dogtooth | Lanthimos, Yorgos | 2009 |
| Dogville | Von Trier, Lars | 2003 |
| Donnie Darko | Kelly, Richard | 2001 |
| Double Dare | Micheli, Amanda | 2004 |
| Double Indemnity | Wilder, Billy | 1944 |
| Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb | Kubrick, Stanley | 1964 |
| Drive | Refn, Nicholas Winding | 2011 |
| Duck Season | Eimbcke, Fernando | 2004 |
| Duck Soup | McCarey, Leo | 1933 |
| Ed Wood | Burton, Tim | 1994 |
| Election | Payne, Alexander | 1999 |
| End of the Century | Castro, Lucio | 2019 |
| Exit Through the Gift Shop | Banksy | 2010 |
| Exotica | Egoyan, Atom | 1994 |
| F for Fake | Welle, Orson | 1973 |
| Faces Places | Varda, Agnes and JR | 2017 |
| Far from Heaven | Haynes, Todd | 2002 |
| Fargo | Coen, Joel and Ethan | 1996 |
| First Cow | Reichardt, Kelly | 2019 |
| First Reformed | Schrader, Paul | 2017 |
| Flirting with Disaster | Russell, David O. | 1996 |
| Frances Ha | Baumbach, Noah | 2012 |
| Freaks | Browning, Tod | 1932 |
| Get Out | Peele, Jordan | 2017 |
| Ghost World | Zwigoff, Terry | 2001 |
| Gleaners and I, The | Varda, Agnes | 2000 |
| Good Time | Safdie, Benny and Josh | 2017 |
| GoodFellas | Scorsese, Martin | 1990 |
| Gosford Park | Altman, Robert | 2001 |
| Grey Gardens | Maysles, Albert & David, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer | 1975 |
| Grizzly Man | Herzog, Werner | 2005 |
| Groundhog Day | Ramis, Harold | 1993 |
| Hairspray | Waters, John | 1988 |
| Happiness | Solondz, Todd | 1998 |
| Harold and Maude | Ashby, Hal | 1971 |
| Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Mitchell, John Cameron | 2001 |
| High and Low | Kurosawa, Akira | 1963 |
| High Hopes | Leigh, Mike | 1988 |
| Holy Motors | Carax, Leos | 2012 |
| House | Obayashi, Nobuhiko | 1977 |
| How to Survive a Plague | France, David | 2012 |
| I Killed My Mother | Dolan, Xavier | 2009 |
| I Like Killing Flies | Mahurin, Matt | 2004 |
| I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing | Rozema, Patricia | 1987 |
| Ikiru | Kurosawa, Akira | 1952 |
| In the Loop | Iannucci, Armando | 2009 |
| In the Mood for Love | Kar-Wai, Wong | 2000 |
| Inside Llewyn Davis | Coen, Joel and Ethan | 2013 |
| Judy Berlin | Mendelsohn, Eric | 1999 |
| Knives Out | Johnson, Rian | 2019 |
| Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter | Zellner, David | 2014 |
| Laura | Preminger, Otto | 1944 |
| Let the Right One In | Alfredson, Tomas | 2008 |
| Life Is Sweet | Leigh, Mike | 1990 |
| Limey, The | Soderberg, Steven | 1999 |
| Living End, The | Araki, Gregg | 1992 |
| Local Hero | Forsyth, Bill | 1983 |
| Los Angeles Plays Itself | Andersen, Thom | 2003 |
| Lost in Translation | Coppola, Sofia | 2003 |
| Love Streams | Cassavetes, John | 1984 |
| Magnolia | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 1999 |
| Man on Wire | Marsh, James | 2008 |
| Manhattan | Allen, Woody | 1979 |
| Marwencol | Malmberg, Jeff | 2010 |
| McCabe & Mrs. Miller | Altman, Robert | 1971 |
| Me and You and Everyone We Know | July, Miranda | 2005 |
| Melvin and Howard | Demme, Jonathan | 1980 |
| Meshes of the Afternoon | Deren, Maya, Alexander Hammid | 1943 |
| Metropolis | Lang, Fritz | 1927 |
| Minding the Gap | Liu, Bing | 2018 |
| Monty Python and the Holy Grail | Gilliam, Terry and Terry Jones | 1975 |
| Moonlight | Jenkins, Barry | 2016 |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Anderson, Wes | 2012 |
| Morvern Callar | Ramsay, Lynne | 2002 |
| Mulholland Drive | Lynch, David | 2001 |
| My Winnipeg | Maddin, Guy | 2007 |
| Mysterious Skin | Araki, Gregg | 2004 |
| Nashville | Altman, Robert | 1975 |
| Nine to Five | Higgins, Colin | 1980 |
| North by Northwest | Hitchcock, Alfred | 1959 |
| Not One Less | Yimou, Zhang | 1999 |
| On the Waterfront | Kazan, Elia | 1954 |
| Oslo, August 31st | Trier, Joachim | 2011 |
| Our Song | McKay, Jim | 2000 |
| Parasite | Joon-ho, Bong | 2019 |
| Paris Is Burning | Livingston, Jennie | 1990 |
| Paterson | Jarmusch, Jim | 2016 |
| Peeping Tom | Powell, Michael | 1960 |
| Persona | Bergman, Ingmar | 1966 |
| Phantom of the Paradise | De Palma, Brian | 1974 |
| Phantom Thread | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 2017 |
| PlayTime | Tati, Jacques | 1967 |
| Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Sciamma, Celine | 2019 |
| Pulp Fiction | Tarantino, Quentin | 1994 |
| Red Desert | Antonioni, Michelangelo | 1964 |
| Reprise | Trier, Joachim | 2006 |
| Roma | Cuaron, Alfonso | 2018 |
| Rosemary’s Baby | Polanski, Roman | 1968 |
| Rushmore | Anderson, Wes | 1998 |
| Safe | Haynes, Todd | 1995 |
| Salesman | Maysles, Albert & David, Charlotte Zerwin | 1969 |
| Scenes from a Marriage | Bergman, Ingmar | 1974 |
| Scorpio Rising | Anger, Kenneth | 1964 |
| Sherman’s March | McElwee, Ross | 1985 |
| Shoplifters | Koreeda, Hirokazu | 2018 |
| Sideways | Payne, Alexander | 2004 |
| Singin’ in the Rain | Donen, Stanley, Gene Kelly | 1952 |
| Sleeper | Allen, Woody | 1973 |
| Songs from the Second Floor | Andersson, Roy | 2000 |
| Spirited Away | Miyazaki, Hayao | 2001 |
| Stalker | Tarkovsky, Andrei | 1979 |
| Staying Vertical | Guiraudie, Alain | 2016 |
| Still Walking | Koreeda, Hirokazu | 2008 |
| Stop Making Sense | Demme, Jonathan | 1984 |
| Stories We Tell | Polley, Sarah | 2012 |
| Stranger Than Paradise | Jarmusch, Jim | 1984 |
| Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | Murnau, F.W. | 1927 |
| Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story | Haynes, Todd | 1988 |
| Suspiria | Argento, Dario | 1977 |
| Sword of Trust | Shelton, Lynn | 2019 |
| Synecdoche, New York | Kaufman, Charlie | 2008 |
| Talk to Her | Almodovar, Pedro | 2002 |
| Targets | Bogdanovich, Peter | 1968 |
| The 400 Blows | Truffaut, Francois | 1959 |
| The Act of Killing | Oppenheimer, Joshua | 2012 |
| The Apartment | Wilder, Billy | 1960 |
| The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans | Herzog, Werner | 2009 |
| The Best Years of Our Lives | Wyler, William | 1946 |
| The Birds | Hitchcock, Alfred | 1963 |
| The Case of the Grinning Cat | Marker, Chris | 2004 |
| The Decalogue | Kieslowski, Krzysztof | 1989 |
| The Duke of Burgundy | Strickland, Peter | 2014 |
| The Garden | Jarman, Derek | 1990 |
| The Godfather | Coppola, Francis Ford | 1972 |
| The Graduate | Nichols, Mike | 1967 |
| The Happiness of the Katakuris | Miike, Takashi | 2001 |
| The Host | Joon-ho, Bong | 2006 |
| The Hurt Locker | Bigelow, Kathryn | 2008 |
| The Innocents | Clayton, Jack | 1961 |
| The King of Comedy | Scorsese, Martin | 1982 |
| The Last Days of Disco | Stillman, Whit | 1998 |
| The Last of England | Jarman, Derek | 1987 |
| The Last Picture Show | Bogdanovich, Peter | 1971 |
| The Long Day Closes | Davies, Terence | 1992 |
| The Long Goodbye | Altman, Robert | 1973 |
| The Manchurian Candidate | Frankenheimer, John | 1962 |
| The Master | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 2012 |
| The Night of the Hunter | Laughton, Charles | 1955 |
| The Passion of Joan of Arc | Dreyer, Carl | 1928 |
| The Piano | Campion, Jane | 1993 |
| The Red Shoes | Powell, Michael and Emeric Pressburger | 1948 |
| The Return | Zvyagintsev, Andrey | 2003 |
| The Royal Tenenbaums | Anderson, Wes | 2001 |
| The Shining | Kubrick, Stanley | 1980 |
| The Shop Around the Corner | Lubitsch, Ernst | 1940 |
| The Squid and the Whale | Baumbach, Noah | 2005 |
| The Sweet Hereafter | Egoyan, Atom | 1997 |
| The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Sargent, Joseph | 1974 |
| The Thin Man | Van Dyke, W.S. | 1934 |
| The Triplets of Belleville | Chomet, Sylvain | 2003 |
| The Umbrellas of Cherbourg | Demy, Jacques | 1964 |
| The Visitor | McCarthy, Tom | 2007 |
| The Wind Will Carry Us | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1999 |
| The Wizard of Oz | Fleming, Victor | 1939 |
| There Will Be Blood | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 2007 |
| Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould | Girard, Francois | 1993 |
| This Is Spinal Tap | Reiner, Rob | 1984 |
| To Be or Not to Be | Lubitsch, Ernst | 1942 |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Mulligan, Robert | 1962 |
| To Live | Yimou, Zhang | 1994 |
| Tokyo Story | Ozu, Yasujiro | 1953 |
| Tootsie | Pollack, Sydney | 1982 |
| Trainspotting | Boyle, Danny | 1996 |
| Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives | Weerasethakul, Apichatpong | 2010 |
| Under the Skin | Glazer, Jonathan | 2013 |
| Vertigo | Hitchcock, Alfred | 1958 |
| Volver | Almodovar, Pedro | 2006 |
| Waiting for Guffman | Guest, Christopher | 1996 |
| Waking Life | Linklater, Richard | 2001 |
| What Time Is It There? | Ming-Liang, Tsai | 2001 |
| Where Is My Friend’s House? | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1987 |
| Wild Reeds | Techine, Andre | 1994 |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Almodovar, Pedro | 1988 |
| Written on the Wind | Sirk, Douglas | 1956 |
| Y Tu Mamá También | Cuaron, Alfonso | 2001 |
| Yi Yi | Yang, Edward | 2000 |
| Young Frankenstein | Brooks, Mel | 1974 |
Haunted Jukebox 