100 Pantheon Films
Sunday, August 13th, 2006
Finally, a definitive list that will unequivocally determine the best 100 films of all time. Well, not really. While this feature will inevitably have overlaps with the major lists out there (AFI’s 100 Greatest American Films and Sight & Sound’s Top Ten Poll), this list will attempt to bring into light a hundred films of high quality that have either been overlooked, misunderstood, or simply ignored on first viewing. That’s not to say Citizen Kane and Vertigo shouldn’t be recognized, and on occasion I will profile and review a film that everyone agrees should be on the list, such as Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. But where other lists also place A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove, I would propose The Killing as a film of equal brilliance and not just a simple B-movie noir. Is The Fly really not worthy of recognition because everyone always picks Frankenstein and The Exorcist as the quintessential horror film? Can’t High Fidelity find a spot next to The Apartment or Some Like It Hot? Those are just some examples of what you’ll find in the upcoming weeks and months that it will take to compile the list, so check back here every so often to find a new review. I can’t specifically say how many films will be reviewed every week simply because of the time and energy involved in maintaining the rest of the site, but I’ll try my best to get a couple out every few weeks. Of course, if you don’t agree or you have a problem with the upcoming films then please feel free to vent in the comments section. I’ll gladly respond back and tell you why you’re wrong. Enjoy.
The Wrong Man (1956, alfred hitchcock)
City Lights (1931, charles chaplin)
A History of Violence (2005, david cronenberg)
Gun Crazy (1949, joseph h. lewis)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, werner herzog)
Annie Hall (1977, woody allen)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950, Roberto Rossellini)
Le Samouraï (1967, Jean-Pierre Melville)
August 14th, 2006 06:16
Hey, I dig your site and share a lot of your tastes, but I think your site is underrepresentative of parallel cinema. You should do some right-ups on some of the lesser studied European New Waves (ie - Young German Cinema or the U.K.’s Kitchen Sink Cinema) or the lergly ignored early American avant-garde (ie-Deren, Brakhage, Peterson, Jacobs, Smith).
If Une Chien Andalou (Bunuel/Dali), Meshes of the Afternoon (Deren) and Dog Star Man or Dante’s Inferno (Brakhage) don’t make your Pantheon list, I may have to stop reading you site.
August 20th, 2006 04:02
That’s the problem with making a list. It’s difficult to include everything that deserves to be included. I like lists though because they help me determine what I still need to see. I like the list so far.
July 2nd, 2008 17:03
This website is extremely biased. Is there more than one writer/critic?
July 3rd, 2008 13:19
How is it biased? Every film I review gets a fair shot. In the end though, it’s just my opinion.
July 3rd, 2008 14:27
Jordan: I write reviews here too. How is this biased btw? I suppose by your logic then rogerebert.com is biased also? Seems a little silly.