Below are my Top Ten Film lists from the silent era to the present. Because I haven’t seen enough silent films to make yearly top ten lists, I have lumped the entire period together. Also included is a top ten list of “early talkies,” using a somewhat arbitrary time span from 1927-1930. Beginning with 1931 I have included my top ten lists on a year-by-year basis.

In addition to the top ten lists, I have included four other categories: Runners-Up, for other top ten worthy films that barely missed the cut; Other Worthwhile Releases, for lesser but still good films; Overrated, for films whose reputations are inflated; and Guilty Pleasures, for admittedly bad and/or disreputable films I nevertheless enjoyed.

Recent additions: The Hurt Locker (2008) , Hunger (2008), You, the Living (2007), Les Bonnes Femmes (1960), The Queen of Spades (1949), Mother (2009), Body Heat (1981)

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Silent Films:

Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The General (1927)
Our Hospitality (1923)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
The Unknown (1927)
Greed (1924)
Seven Chances (1925)
Napoleon (1927)
Nosferatu (1922)

Runners-Up: The Kid (1921), Pandora’s Box (1929), Un Chien Andalou (1929), The Wind (1928)

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), Arsenal (1928), Battleship Potemkin (1925), The Birth of a Nation (1914), The Black Pirate (1926), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Chess Player (1927), College (1927), The Crowd (1928), The Docks of New York (1928), The End of St. Petersburg (1927), The Freshman (1925), Grass (1925) , Intolerance (1916), Lady Windemere’s Fan (1925), The Last Command (1928), The Lodger (1927), The Marriage Circle (1924), Menilmontant (1926), Metropolis (1927), Mother (1926), My Best Girl (1927), Nanook of the North (1922), October (1928), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Piccadilly (1929), Show People (1928), Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928), The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg (1927), The Three-Sided Mirror (1927), Variety (1925)

Overrated: The Big Parade, The Circus, Diary of a Lost Girl, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, For Heaven’s Sake, The Gold Rush, Hearts of the World, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Kid Brother, Kriemhild’s Revenge, The Love of Jeanne Ney, The Man Who Laughs, Moana, The Navigator, Orphans of the Storm, Safety Last, Seventh Heaven, Siegfried, The Strong Man, Sunrise, The Thief of Baghdad, Les Vampires, Way Down East

Guilty Pleasures: Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, Our Dancing Daughters, True Heart Susie

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Early Talkies:

Westfront 1918 (1930)
L’Age D’or (1930)
Animal Crackers (1930)
Blackmail (1929)
The Blue Angel (1930)
Applause (1929)
The Love Parade (1929)
Little Caesar (1930)
Hell’s Angels (1930)
The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), The Big House (1930), The Cocoanuts (1929), The Dawn Patrol (1930), The Devil to Pay! (1930), Murder (1930), The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)

Overrated: Anna Christie (1930), The Blood of a Poet (1930), The Broadway Melody (1929), Hallelujah (1929), The Jazz Singer (1927), Min and Bill (1930), Under the Roofs of Paris

Guilty Pleasures: None

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1931

M
Maedchen in Uniform
City Streets
Monkey Business
Platinum Blond
The Public Enemy
Kameradschaft
Waterloo Bridge
La Chienne
The Threepenny Opera

Runner-Up:

Other Worthwhile Releases: City Lights, Dishonored, Frankenstein, The Front Page, The Mad Genius, Marius, Night Nurse, Svengali

Overrated: Cimarron, A Nous La Liberte, Le Million, Tabu

Guilty Pleasures: The Champ, Dracula

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1932

Scarface
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
One Hour With You
Vampyr
Horse Feathers
Million Dollar Legs
Trouble in Paradise
Red Dust
Jewel Robbery
Red-Headed Woman

Runners-Up: Freaks, Hot Saturday, I Was Born, But…, White Zombie

Other Worthwhile Releases: American Madness, The Beast of the City, Blonde Venus, Boudu Saved From Drowning, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Love Me Tonight, The Old Dark House, Three on a Match, What Price Hollywood?

Overrated: Grand Hotel, The Most Dangerous Game, Movie Crazy, One-Way Passage

Guilty Pleasures: The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Mummy, Tarzan, the Ape Man

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1933

Duck Soup
King Kong
Blood Money
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Island of Lost Souls
Zoo in Budapest
Footlight Parade
Bombshell
The Kennel Murder Case
Queen Christina

Runners-Up: Dinner at Eight, 42nd St.

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Counselor-at-Law, The Invisible Man, Lady Killer, The Private Life of Henry V111, The Prizefighter and the Lady

Overrated: Cavalcade, Design for Living, Flying Down to Rio, Lady for a Day, Little Women, Sons of the Desert, Zero for Conduct

Guilty Pleasures: I’m No Angel, She Done Him Wrong

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1934

It’s a Gift
It Happened One Night
The Lost Patrol
The Scarlet Empress
Tarzan and His Mate
The Goddess
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Of Human Bondage
The Black Cat
L’Atalante

Runners-Up: Les Miserables

Other Worthwhile Releases: Dames, Finishing School, Little Man, What Now?, The Merry Widow, The Thin Man, Twentieth Century

Overrated: The Gay Divorcee, Man of Aran

Guilty Pleasures: Cleopatra, Crime Without Passion

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1935

Bride of Frankenstein
The Man on the Flying Trapeze
The Whole Town’s Talking
A Night at the Opera
Captain Blood
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The 39 Steps
Alice Adams
The Raven
Top Hat

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Ceiling Zero, Mutiny on the Bounty, Sylvia Scarlet, A Tale of Two Cities

Overrated: Anna Karenina, David Copperfield, The Informer, The Little Colonel, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Roberta, Ruggles of Red Gap

Guilty Pleasures: Dante’s Inferno, Mad Love

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1936

Swing Time
Modern Times
Sabotage
Sisters of the Gion
Libeled Lady
Desire
Osaka Elegy
My Man Godfrey
Craig’s Wife
These Three

Runners-Up: The Crime of Monsieur Lange

Other Worthwhile Releases: After the Thin Man, Bullets or Ballots, Cesar, Dodsworth, Olympia, Show Boat

Overrated: A Day in the Country, Follow the Fleet, Fury, The Great Ziegfeld, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Petrified Forest

Guilty Pleasure: The Devil-Doll

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1937

Pepe Le Moko
Grand Illusion
Make Way For Tomorrow
Nothing Sacred
The Awful Truth
Stage Door
You Only Live Once
A Star is Born
Marked Women
They Won’t Forget

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Bizarre, Bizarre, The Prisoner of Zenda, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Overrated: Camille, Captains Courageous, A Day at the Races, Dead End, The Life of Emile Zola, Lost Horizon, Shall We Dance, Topper, Young and Innocent

Guilty Pleasures: None

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1938

Bringing Up Baby
Pygmalion
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Baker’s Wife
The Lady Vanishes
Blockheads
The Beachcomber
Angels With Dirty Faces
Port of Shadows
Algiers

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Jezebel, Olympia

Overrated: Alexander Nevsky, La Bete Humaine, Boy’s Town, Holiday, Three Comrades, You Can’t Take it With You

Guilty Pleasures: None

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1939

The Wizard of Oz
Destry Rides Again
Only Angels Have Wings
Stagecoach
Le Jour Se Leve
The Roaring Twenties
The Rules of the Game
The Man in the Iron Mask
Bachelor Mother
Of Mice and Men

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Beau Geste, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Young Mr. Lincoln

Overrated: Dark Victory, Drums Along the Mohawk, Gone With the Wind, Gunga Din, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, The Women, Wuthering Heights

Guilty Pleasures: Babes in Arms, The Cat and the Canary, The Man They Could Not Hang, Union Pacific

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1940

The Shop Around the Corner
His Girl Friday
Gaslight
Christmas in July
The Bank Dick
Pride and Prejudice
Rebecca
Fantasia
The Sea Hawk
The Stars Look Down

Runner-Up: The Grapes of Wrath

Other Worthwhile Releases: Dark Command, The Great McGinty, The Letter, Pinocchio, The Thief of Baghdad

Overrated: The Long Voyage Home, Mortal Storm, The Philadelphia Story

Guilty Pleasure: My Little Chickadee

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1941

Citizen Kane
The Maltese Falcon
Sullivan’s Travels
The Little Foxes
The Sea Wolf
The Lady Eve
Suspicion
High Sierra
Ball of Fire
The Face Behind the Mask

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Among the Living, The Wolf Man

Overrated: Here Comes Mr. Jordan, How Green Was My Valley, King’s Row, Meet John Doe, Sergeant York

Guilty Pleasure: Buck Privates, Hellzapoppin’

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1942

Casablanca
The Palm Beach Story
Gentleman Jim
The Magnificent Ambersons
To Be or Not To Be
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Cat People
Went the Day Well?
Holiday Inn
Larceny, Inc.

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Glass Key, I Married a Witch, This Gun for Hire, There Was a Father

Overrated: Bambi, In Which We Serve, Mrs. Miniver, Now Voyager, The Pride of the Yankees

Guilty Pleasure: Pardon My Sarong

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1943

Shadow of a Doubt
Le Corbeau
The Seventh Victim
I Walked With a Zombie
The Leopard Man
Heaven Can Wait
Sahara
The Ox-Bow Incident
Five Graves To Cairo
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Victory Through Air Power

Overrated: Bataan, Cabin in the Sky, Day of Wrath, The Human Comedy, Stormy Weather

Guilty Pleasures: Calling Dr. Death, The Mad Ghoul

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1944

Double Indemnity
The Suspect
Torment
The Woman in the Window
The Curse of the Cat People
Laura
Lifeboat
Phantom Lady
To Have and Have Not
Meet Me in St. Louis

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: A Canterbury Tale, Murder, My Sweet, On Approval

Overrated: Arsenic and Old Lace, Going My Way, Hail the Conquering Hero, Ivan the Terrible, Part 1, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Since You Went Away, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Guilty Pleasure: Cobra Woman

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1945

The Body Snatcher
Hangover Square
Objective Burma!
Leave Her to Heaven
Murder, He Says
Scarlet Street
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
Open City
Dead of Night
My Name is Julia Ross

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Dillinger, The House on 92nd St., San Antonio, A Walk in the Sun

Overrated: Brief Encounter, The Lost Weekend, Spellbound, They Were Expendable, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Guilty Pleasure: It’s in the Bag, Mildred Pierce, Road to Utopia

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1946

The Big Sleep
My Darling Clementine
Notorious
Great Expectations
Beauty and the Beast
The Spiral Staircase
Deception
The Best Years of Our Lives
It’s a Wonderful Life
Black Angel

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Blue Dahlia, Decoy, Diary of a Chambermaid, Green For Danger, A Matter of Life and Death, The Verdict

Overrated: Gilda, Ivan the Terrible, Part 2, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Razor’s Edge, The Yearling

Guilty Pleasures: The Beast With Five Fingers, Duel in the Sun, Specter of the Rose, To Each His Own

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1947

Quai des Orfevres
T-Men
Monsieur Verdoux
Pursued
Out of the Past
The Red House
Ramrod
Panique
Odd Man Out
Black Narcissus

Runner-Up: Nightmare Alley

Other Worthwhile Releases: Crossfire, Possessed, The Unsuspected

Overrated: Gentleman’s Agreement, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Miracle on 34th Street

Guilty Pleasures: Fear in the Night, Road to Rio

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1948

Oliver Twist
Red River
Unfaithfully Yours
Call North Side 777
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Letter From an Unknown Woman
Bicycle Thieves
The Big Clock
The Lady From Shanghai
He Walked by Night

Runner-Up:

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Fallen Idol, The Pirate, La Terra Trema, The Street With No Name

Overrated: Force of Evil, Fort Apache, Key Largo, The Red Shoes

Guilty Pleasures: None

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1949

The Third Man
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Gun Crazy
White Heat
The Set-Up
The Queen of Spades
Whiskey Galore
Border Incident
Intruder in the Dust
Reign of Terror

Runners-Up: The Heiress, Late Spring, Thieves’ Highway

Other Worthwhile Releases: Adam’s Rib, Caught, Criss Cross, A Letter to Three Wives, Madame Bovary, The Small Back Room

Overrated: Jour de Fete, On the Town, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Twelve O’clock High

Guilty Pleasures: None

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1950

Sunset Blvd.
The Asphalt Jungle
In a Lonely Place
Night and the City
Winchester ‘73
Los Olvidados
All About Eve
Panic in the Streets
Armored Car Robbery
So Long at the Fair

Runner-Up: The Breaking Point

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Furies, The Gunfighter

Overrated: Cinderella, Harvey, Orpheus, La Ronde, Rashomon, Rio Grande

Guilty Pleasure: None

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1951

Strangers on a Train
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Thing From Another World
Early Summer
His Kind of Woman
Cry Danger
He Ran All the Way
Ace in the Hole
The African Queen
The Man in the White Suit

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Release: An American in Paris

Overrated: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Diary of a Country Priest, A Place in the Sun

Guilty Pleasure: When Worlds Collide

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1952

Singin’ in the Rain
Ikiru
Sudden Fear
The Marrying Kind
The Life of Oharu
Son of Paleface
Five Fingers
The Bad and the Beautiful
Angel Face
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Big Sky, Casque d’or, Othello, High Noon, Pat and Mike

Overrated: Forbidden Games, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Quiet Man, Umberto D

Guilty Pleasure: Don’t Bother to Knock

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1953

Pickup on South Street
El
Tokyo Story
The Naked Spur
I Vitelloni
The Big Heat
The Wages of Fear
Stalag 17
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Man Between

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Bigamist, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, A Geisha, Genevieve, Julius Caesar, Shane

Overrated: The Band Wagon, From Here to Eternity, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday

Guilty Pleasure: The War of the Worlds

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1954

Rear Window
Seven Samurai
A Star is Born
Johnny Guitar
Them!
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
On the Waterfront
Crime Wave
Hobson’s Choice
Sansho the Bailiff

Runners-Up: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Dial M For Murder, It Should Happen to You, Late Chrysanthemums, Pushover

Overrated: The Caine Mutiny, Carmen Jones, Salt of the Earth, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, La Strada, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Guilty Pleasure: Godzilla

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1955

The Ladykillers
Smiles of a Summer Night
Kiss Me Deadly
The Night of the Hunter
Rififi
The Big Combo
Diabolique
The Trouble With Harry
The Man From Laramie
Shack Out on 101

Runner-Up: Night and Fog

Other Worthwhile Releases: Le Amiche, Bob Le Flambeur, Footsteps in the Fog, It’s Always Fair Weather, Pather Panchali, Phenix City Story, Tight Spot

Overrated: The Blackboard Jungle, East of Eden, The Long Gray Line, Marty, Mister Roberts, Oklahoma, Ordet, Princess Yang Kwei Fei, Rebel Without a Cause, The Seven Year Itch

Guilty Pleasure: Tarantula

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1956

The Killing
The Harder They Fall
Patterns
Bigger Than Life
There’s Always Tomorrow
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Written on the Wind
Street of Shame
A Man Escaped
Aparajito

Runners-Up:

Other Worthwhile Releases: Baby Doll, The Bad Seed, The Court Jester, A Kiss Before Dying, Lust for Life, The Seventh Seal

Overrated: Around the World in Eighty Days, The Burmese Harp, Giant, The Searchers, The Ten Commandments

Guilty Pleasures: Forbidden Planet, The Girl Can’t Help It, Hollywood or Bust

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1957

Sweet Smell of Success
Paths of Glory
12 Angry Men
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Tall T
Forty Guns
A Face in the Crowd
The Bridge on the River Kwai
3:10 to Yuma
Nightfall

Runner-Up: Funny Face

Other Worthwhile Releases: Kanal, The Smallest Show on Earth, Wild Strawberries, Your Past is Showing

Overrated: An Affair to Remember, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Lower Depths, Nights of Cabiria, Throne of Blood

Guilty Pleasures: Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, Old Yeller, 20 Million Miles to Earth

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1958

Touch of Evil
Vertigo
Terror in a Texas Town
Buchanan Rides Alone
Curse of the Demon
A Night to Remember
I Want to Live!
I Married a Monster From Outer Space
The Lineup
The Magician

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, The Hidden Fortress, Murder by Contract, The Snorkel

Overrated: The Defiant Ones, Gigi, Man of the West, Mon Oncle, The Tarnished Angels

Guilty Pleasure: King Creole, The Vikings

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1959

North by Northwest
Rio Bravo
Some Like it Hot
Eyes Without a Face
Fires on the Plains
Compulsion
Ride Lonesome
The Four Hundred Blows
A Bucket of Blood
Anatomy of a Murder

Runners-Up: Les Cousins

Other Worthwhile Releases: Day of the Outlaw, Floating Weeds, General Della Rovere, I’m All Right, Jack, Pickpocket, Tiger Bay, Warlock

Overrated: Ben-Hur, Hiroshima, Mon Amour, On the Beach

Guilty Pleasure: Pillow Talk

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1960

Psycho
Shoot the Piano Player
The Apartment
Le Trou
Les Bonnes Femmes
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Peeping Tom
Rocco and His Brothers
Breathless
Black Sunday

Runners-Up: The Little Shop of Horrors, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Village of the Damned

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Bellboy, The Bridge, Home From the Hill, L’Avventura, Never Take Candy from a Stranger, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The Virgin Spring, Wild River

Overrated: La Dolce Vita

Guilty Pleasures: Horror Hotel

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1961

The Innocents
Yojimbo
Divorce Italian Style
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Hustler
Scream of Fear
A Woman is a Woman
Blast of Silence
Underworld U.S.A.
Viridiana

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, The Last Sunset, One-Eyed Jacks, One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Overrated: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Judgment at Nuremberg, Last Year at Marienbad, A Raisin in the Sun, Splendor in the Grass, West Side Story

Guilty Pleasures: Creature from the Haunted Sea, Homicidal

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1962

The Manchurian Candidate
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Hara-kiri
Knife in the Water
Lolita
Cape Fear
The Trial
The Music Man
The Exterminating Angel
Sanjuro

Runners-Up: My Name is Ivan, Ride the High Country

Other Worthwhile Releases: An Autumn Afternoon, Billy Budd, Birdman of Alcatraz, Burn, Witch, Burn, Lawrence of Arabia, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Le Doulos, The Miracle Worker, Salvatore Giuliano, To Kill a Mockingbird, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Overrated: Days of Wine and Roses, L’Eclisse, Jules et Jim, La Notte

Guilty Pleasure: The Brainiac, Hatari!

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1963

Hud
The Great Escape
The Haunting
High and Low
Shock Corridor
The Nutty Professor
The Birds
This Sporting Life
The Whip and the Body
From Russia With Love

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Billy Liar, The Fire Within, Jason and the Argonauts, The Leather Boys, The Organizer, These Are the Damned

Overrated: Contempt, 81/2, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Leopard, Muriel, The Pink Panther, The Servant, Tom Jones

Guilty Pleasure: The Girl Hunters, Paranoiac

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1964

Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Woman in the Dunes
Onibaba
The Train
Devil Doll
A Fistful of Dollars
A Hard Day’s Night
Séance on a Wet Afternoon
The Umbrella’s Of Cherbourg
Goldfinger

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Fail Safe, The Fifth Horseman is Fear, I Am Cuba, Nothing But a Man, Pale Flower, Point of Order, Seduced and Abandoned, Seven Days in May, A Shot in the Dark, The Soft Skin, The Strangler, That Man in Rio

Overrated: The Americanization of Emily, Band of Outsiders, Dog Star Man, Gertrud, The Gospel According to Matthew, Kwaidan, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors

Guilty Pleasure: Lemonade Joe, Viva Las Vegas

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1965

Repulsion
For a Few Dollars More
The Flight of the Phoenix
Pierrot Le Fou
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Ride in the Whirlwind
The Ipcress File
Fists in the Pocket
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Knack, and How to Get It

Runners-Up: The Collector, It Happened Here, King Rat

Other Worthwhile Releases: Alphaville, The Bedford Incident, The Naked Kiss, Night Caller From Outer Space, Simon of the Desert, Tokyo Olympiad

Overrated: Cat Ballou, Darling, Doctor Zhivago, The Saragossa Manuscript, The Shop on Main Street, The Sound of Music

Guilty Pleasures: Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte, The Loved One, The Skull

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1966

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Persona
The Battle of Algiers
Young Torless
El Dorado
Cul-De Sac
The Pornographers
Red Angel
Come Drink with Me
Masculine-Feminine

Runners-Up: La Guerre Est Finie

Other Worthwhile Releases: Blowup, Closely Watched Trains, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hunger, Made in U.S.A., The Professionals, Seconds, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?

Overrated: Au Hasard Bathalzar, Fantastic Voyage, King of Hearts, A Man For All Seasons

Guilty Pleasure: Incubus

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1967

Bonnie and Clyde
The Graduate
Branded to Kill
The Shooting
Bedazzled
In Cold Blood
Point Blank
Samurai Rebellion
The Producers
Belle de Jour

Runners-Up:

Other Worthwhile Releases: Cool Hand Luke, Don’t Look Back, The Jungle Book, Mouchette, Titicut Follies, Weekend

Overrated: Barefoot in the Park, The Fireman’s Ball, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, Marat/Sade, Two for the Road

Guilty Pleasure: None

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1968

Once Upon a Time in the West
2001: A Space Odyssey
Night of the Living Dead
Rosemary’s Baby
Shame
Pretty Poison
Stolen Kisses
Mandabi
Bullitt
Vixen

Runners-Up: Salesman

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Great Silence, High School, If…, The Lion in Winter, The Night They Raided Minsky’s, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Odd Couple, Planet of the Apes, Spider Baby, Yellow Submarine

Overrated: Funny Girl, Memories of Underdevelopment, Petulia

Guilty Pleasures: Girl on a Motorcycle, Head

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1969

A Touch of Zen
The Wild Bunch
Take the Money and Run
La Femme Infidele
This Man Must Die
A Very Curious Girl
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Mississippi Mermaid
Midnight Cowboy
Army of Shadows

Runners-Up: The Cremator

Other Worthwhile Releases: Burn!, Easy Rider, The Magic Christian, Medium Cool

Overrated: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Fellini Satyricon, Women in Love, Z

Guilty Pleasure: Blind Beast, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

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1970

Le Boucher
Five Easy Pieces
Loving
Hi, Mom!
Where’s Poppa?
The Honeymoon Killers
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Start the Revolution Without Me
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx
Goin’ Down the Road

Runners-Up: Kes, The Spider’s Strategem

Other Worthwhile Releases: Bloody Mama, Le Cercle Rouge, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Cotton Comes to Harlem, I Never Sang for My Father, Little Big Man, M*A*S*H, Monte Walsh, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Woodstock

Overrated: El Topo, Love Story, Patton, Performance

Guilty Pleasure: Scream and Scream Again, Trash

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1971

McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Dirty Harry
Duck, You Sucker
The Last Picture Show
The French Connection
Deep End
Macbeth
Two-Lane Blacktop
Bananas
Get Carter

Runners-Up: The Andromeda Strain

Other Worthwhile Releases: Born to Win, Claire’s Knee, A Clockwork Orange, The Hellstrom Chronicle, The House That Screamed, Minnie and Moskovitz, La Salamandre, Taking Off, Wanda, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Overrated: Andrei Rublev, Fiddler on the Roof, Harold and Maude, Walkabout

Guilty Pleasures: The Projectionist, Twins of Evil, What’s the Matter with Helen?

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1972

The Godfather
Deliverance
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Play it Again, Sam
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Frenzy
Lone Wolf and Cub 2: Baby Cart at the River Styx
Prime Cut
The Candidate
The Heartbreak Kid

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Bad Company, Cabaret, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, Marjoe, The Other, Tomorrow, Wedding in White, Winter Soldier

Overrated: Fellini Roma, The King of Marvin Gardens, Solaris, Sounder

Guilty Pleasures: The Big Bird Cage, Female Convict “Scorpion” - Jailhouse 41, The Folks at Red Wolf Inn

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1973

Badlands
The Long Goodbye
Mean Streets
American Graffiti
The Wicker Man
Sleeper
Don’t Look Now
The Last Detail
The Day of the Jackal
Emperor of the North

Runners-Up: Distant Thunder

Other Worthwhile Releases: Blume in Love, Dillinger, Enter the Dragon, The Exorcist, The Harder They Come, Last Tango in Paris, My Name is Nobody, Serpico, Sisters, The Spirit of the Beehive

Overrated: Amacord, The Mother and the Whore, O Lucky Man, Paper Moon, The Way We Were

Guilty Pleasures: The Baby, The Student Teachers

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1974

Chinatown
The Godfather II
The Conversation
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Young Frankenstein
The Sugarland Express
Thieves Like Us
The Parallax View
Female Trouble

Runners-Up: Lacombe, Lucien, Phantom of the Paradise

Other Worthwhile Releases: Alice in the Cities, Andy Warhol’s Dracula, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, Deathdream, Homebodies, The Phantom of Liberty

Overrated: Blazing Saddles, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Edvard Munch

Guilty Pleasures: Caged Heat, It’s Alive, The Working Girls

---

1975

Jaws
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Love and Death
Dog Day Afternoon
Smile
Nashville
Black Christmas
The Man Who Would Be King
Fox and His Friends
Xala

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Deep Red, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven, Night Moves, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins, The Story of Adele H

Overrated: Barry Lyndon, The Mirror

Guilty Pleasures: Master of the Flying Guillotine, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shockwaves

---

1976

Taxi Driver
All the President’s Men
Rocky
Chinese Roulette
Carrie
The Devil’s Playground
Mikey and Nicky
In the Realm of the Senses
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales

Runners-Up: Cria

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Bad News Bears, Car Wash, Massacre at Central High, Obsession, The Shootist, The Tenant, Who Can Kill a Child?

Overrated: Assault on Precinct 13, Network

Guilty Pleasures: The Big Bus, Blue Sunshine, Freaky Friday, Squirm, Thundercrack!

---

1977

Annie Hall
Eraserhead
Citizens Band
The Late Show
Padre Padrone
Star Wars
The Spy Who Loved Me
That Obscure Object of Desire
Allegro Non Troppo
Between the Lines

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Alice, Sweet Alice, The Ascent, The Duellists, Killer of Sheep, The Last Wave, Man of Marble, The Stationmaster’s Wife

Overrated: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Providence

Guilty Pleasures: Andy Warhol’s Bad, Demon Seed, Kentucky Fried Movie, Saturday Night Fever

---

1978

Halloween
Straight Time
Who’ll Stop the Rain?
The Silent Partner
The Deer Hunter
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
Dawn of the Dead
Martin
Fingers
The Buddy Holly Story

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Big Fix, Big Wednesday, Blue Collar, Coma, The Driver, Grease, Violette

Overrated: Animal House, Coming Home, Days of Heaven, Midnight Express, The Tree of Wooden Clogs

Guilty Pleasure: Up in Smoke

---

1979

Manhattan
Breaking Away
Alien
Apocalypse Now
The Wanderers
Gal Young ‘Un
Life of Brian
That Sinking Feeling
Kramer vs. Kramer
Norma Rae

Runners-Up: The China Syndrome, Vengeance is Mine

Other Worthwhile Releases: Breaker Morant, El Super, J-Men Forever!, Mad Max, Murder by Decree, Real Life

Overrated: All That Jazz, Being There, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Stalker, The Tin Drum

Guilty Pleasure: Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens

---

1980

Raging Bull
The Empire Strikes Back
Melvin and Howard
The Elephant Man
Atlantic City
Sitting Ducks
The Shining
The Long Riders
Coal Miner’s Daughter
Stardust Memories

Runners-Up: Airplane!

Other Worthwhile Releases: Berlin Alexanderplatz, Ordinary People, Out of the Blue, The Plumber

Overrated: The Big Red One, Kagemusha, The Long Good Friday

Guilty Pleasure: Caddyshack, Inferno

---

1981

Modern Romance
Prince of the City
The Road Warrior
Cutter’s Way
Ms. 45
Blow Out
Thief
Blind Chance
Gregory’s Girl
Body Heat

Runners-Up:

Other Worthwhile Releases: An American Werewolf in London, The Aviator’s Wife, Das Boot, Diva, Do You Remember Dolly Bell, Eijanaika, Knightriders, Lonely Hearts, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Road Games, Soldier Girls

Overrated: Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Reds

Guilty Pleasure: Shock Treatment

---

1982

Blade Runner
Smithereens
The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time
Tootsie
Diner
Eating Raoul
Moonlighting
La Balance
Danton
Yol

Runners-Up: Fanny and Alexander

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Atomic Café, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 48 Hrs., Genocide, Lola, The Verdict

Overrated: Fitzcarraldo, Gandhi, Missing, Poltergeist, Sophie’s Choice

Guilty Pleasure: Basket Case, Rocky 3, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

---

1983

The Ballad of Narayama
The King of Comedy
A Christmas Story
Local Hero
Zelig
Reuben, Reuben
Last Night at the Alamo
Testament
Under Fire
Never Cry Wolf

Runners-Up: The Family Game, Lianna, Silkwood

Other Worthwhile Releases: L’Argent, Cujo, The Dark Crystal, The Dead Zone, Twice Upon a Time, The Wall

Overrated: The Big Chill, Koyaanisqatsi, The Makioka Sisters, The Right Stuff, Terms of Endearment

Guilty Pleasures: National Lampoon’s Vacation, Risky Business

---

1984

Once Upon a Time in America
This is Spinal Tap
Blood Simple
The Terminator
Broadway Danny Rose
Stranger Than Paradise
Love Streams
Comfort and Joy
Choose Me
The Hit

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Amadeus, Birdy, The Company of Wolves, The Element of Crime, Heartbreakers, The Karate Kid, Repo Man, A Soldier’s Story, Stop Making Sense, Streetwise

Overrated: The Killing Fields, Paris, Texas, A Passage to India

Guilty Pleasure: Angel

---

1985

Come and See
Brazil
The Purple Rose of Cairo
After Hours
Vagabond
Lost in America
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
When Father Was Away on Business
Tampopo
Dance With a Stranger

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Back to the Future, Letter to Breshnev, Mask, My Beautiful Launderette, My Life as a Dog, Ran, 28 Up, A Zed and Two Noughts

Overrated: Cocoon, The Color Purple, Out of Africa, Witness

Guilty Pleasure: Better Off Dead, Re-Animator

---

1986

Blue Velvet
Hannah and Her Sisters
Manhunter
Something Wild
The Fly
Jean de Florette
Salvador
Stand by Me
Platoon
Aliens

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Manon of the Spring, Sid and Nancy

Overrated: Children of a Lesser God, The Color of Money, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,
Sherman’s March

Guilty Pleasure: None

---

1987

Raising Arizona
Broadcast News
Full Metal Jacket
Housekeeping
House of Games
Evil Dead II
The Untouchables
Near Dark
The Stepfather
Moonstruck

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Au Revoir Les Enfants, Barfly, Boyfriends and Girlfriends, The Dead, Family Viewing, Hellraiser, Hope and Glory, Robocop, Wish You Were Here

Overrated: Fatal Attraction, The Last Emperor, Wings of Desire

Guilty Pleasure: Lethal Weapon

---

1988

The Thin Blue Line
Dangerous Liaisons
A Fish Called Wanda
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
A Short Film About Killing
Story of Women
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Midnight Run
The Vanishing
Eight Men Out

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Accidental Tourist, Big, Chocolate, Distant Voices, Still Lives, Drowning by Numbers, Mississippi Burning, My Neighbor Tortoro, Rain Man, A Short Film About Love

Overrated: Akira, Cinema Paradiso, Grave of the Fireflies, Landscape in the Mist, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Guilty Pleasure: Child’s Play, The Naked Gun

---

1989

Crimes and Misdemeanors
Do the Right Thing
Monsieur Hire
Drugstore Cowboy
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
True Love
Say Anything
Roger and Me
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
How to Get Ahead in Advertising

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Casualties of War, Chameleon Street, Dead Calm, For All Mankind, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Leningrad Cowboys Go America, Miracle Mile, My Left Foot, The Plot Against Harry, Time of the Gypsies, When Harry Met Sally

Overrated: Dead Poet’s Society, Driving Miss Daisy, Field of Dreams, Glory, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Guilty Pleasure: None

---

1990

GoodFellas
Miller’s Crossing
An Angel at My Table
Metropolitan
Edward Scissorhands
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Miami Blues
Reversal of Fortune
Jacob’s Ladder
The Match Factory Girl

Runners-Up: The Nasty Girl

Other Worthwhile Releases: Avalon, Darkman, La Femme Nikita, Misery, Mountains of the Moon

Overrated: Dances With Wolves, Henry & June, Pretty Woman

Guilty Pleasure: Die Hard 2, Wild at Heart

---

1991

Raise the Red Lantern
Barton Fink
Close-Up
Slacker
Life is Sweet
Rambling Rose
JFK
The Silence of the Lambs
Beauty and the Beast
Thelma and Louise

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Boyz n the Hood, Proof, Truly, Madly, Deeply

Overrated: The Double Life of Veronique, La Belle noiseuse

Guilty Pleasure: The Comfort of Strangers

---

1992

Reservoir Dogs
The Player
Husbands and Wives
Brother’s Keeper
Lorenzo’s Oil
Bitter Moon
Dead Alive
One False Move
Bob Roberts
Glengarry Glen Ross

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Crying Game, El Mariachi, Laws of Gravity, Leolo, Midnight Clear

Overrated:

Guilty Pleasure: Basic Instinct

---

1993

Groundhog Day
Red Rock West
Dazed and Confused
Schindler’s List
This Boy’s Life
The Snapper
King of the Hill
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Short Cuts
Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Cronos, In the Name of the Father, My Neighbor Totoro, A Perfect World

Overrated: The Age of Innocence, Blue, The Joy Luck Club, Jurassic Park, The Remains of the Day

Guilty Pleasure: The Bride With White Hair

---

1994

Pulp Fiction
Ed Wood
Fresh
Heavenly Creatures
Hoop Dreams
Once Were Warriors
Little Odessa
White
Leon - The Professional
Quiz Show

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Cobb, Crumb, Death and the Maiden, Priest, Lamerica, The Shawshank Redemption

Overrated: Ashes of Time, Forrest Gump, Red

Guilty Pleasure: Drunken Master 2

---

1995

Heat
Rob Roy
Toy Story
Before Sunrise
La Ceremonie
Living in Oblivion
Seven
The Usual Suspects
Angels and Insects
Cyclo

Runners-Up: Dead Man Walking, The White Balloon

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Battle Over Citizen Kane, Leaving Las Vegas, Sense and Sensibility, Strange Days, 301/302, To Die For

Overrated: Antonia’s Line, Apollo 13, Braveheart, The City of Lost Children, Get Shorty, Safe

Guilty Pleasure: None

---

1996

Bottle Rocket
Fargo
Microcosmos
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Citizen Ruth
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Flirting With Disaster
Secrets and Lies
La Promesse
Brassed Off

Runners-Up: The Funeral, Un Air de Famille

Other Worthwhile Releases: Hard Core Logo, Looking for Richard, Swingers, Tin Cup

Overrated: Breaking the Waves, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, The People Vs. Larry Flint

Guilty Pleasures: The Cable Guy, Kingpin, Scream

---

1997

Jackie Brown
Boogie Nights
In the Company of Men
The Sweet Hereafter
Deconstructing Harry
Funny Games
The Ice Storm
L.A. Confidential
Donnie Brasco
The Full Monty

Runners-Up: None

Other Worthwhile Releases: Career Girls, Chasing Amy, The Hanging Garden, Henry Fool, Princess Mononoke, She’s So Lovely, Ulee’s Gold

Overrated: As Good as it Gets, Face/Off, The Game, Life is Beautiful, Titanic

Guilty Pleasure: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Bean, Mimic

---

1998

Happiness
Rushmore
The Opposite of Sex
The Last Days of Disco
The Big Lebowski
Buffalo ‘66
Gods and Monsters
The Celebration
Out of Sight
A Simple Plan

Runners-Up: Affliction, Slums of Beverly Hills

Other Worthwhile Releases: The Dreamlife of Angels, The General, Praise, Return to Paradise, Saving Private Ryan, Slam, Waking Ned Devine, Your Friends and Neighbors

Overrated: Bulworth, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Pleasantville, Primary Colors, The Thin Red Line

Guilty Pleasure: Blade, Wild Things, There’s Something About Mary

---

1999

Election
Being John Malcovich
Magnolia
Sweet and Lowdown
The Iron Giant
Eyes Wide Shut
The Straight Story
The Blair Witch Project
Topsy-Turvy
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Runners-Up: Boys Don’t Cry, Toy Story 2

Other Worthwhile Releases: American Beauty, American Movie, Audition, East is East, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Limbo, Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr., My Neighbors the Yamadas

Overrated: Fight Club, The Green Mile, The Sixth Sense

Guilty Pleasure: Arlington Road, For Love of the Game

---

2000

Memento
You Can Count on Me
Requiem for a Dream
Chicken Run
Amores Perros
In the Mood for Love
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Claim
The Circle
High Fidelity
Dark Days

Runners-Up: Dark Days

Other Worthwhile Releases: Billy Elliot, Chopper, Chuck and Buck, Croupier, The Emperor’s New Groove, Human Resources, My Dog Skip, Panic, Thirteen Days, Two Family House, Waking the Dead

Overrated: Almost Famous, Castaway, The Contender, Dancer in the Dark, Gladiator, Snatch, Traffic, Yi-Yi

Guilty Pleasure: Space Cowboys

---

2001

Mulholland Dr.
Spirited Away
Ghost World
Devils on the Doorstep
The Piano Teacher
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Bully
No Man’s Land
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Little Otik

Runners-Up: Donnie Darko, Gosford Park, Late Marriage, Nowhere in Africa, Sexy Beast, Winged Migration

Other Worthwhile Releases: Ginger Snaps, The Man Who Wasn’t There, The Pledge, Session 9

Overrated: Amelie, A Beautiful Mind, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Werckmeister Harmonies

Guilty Pleasure: Bridget Jones’ Diary, The Fast and the Furious, A Knight’s Tale

---

2002

The Magdalene Sisters
The Son
Bus 174
Dirty Pretty Things
About Schmidt
Punch Drunk Love
The Quiet American
25th Hour
Lilya-4-Ever
Far from Heaven

Runners-Up: The Man Without a Past

Other Worthwhile Releases: All or Nothing, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Millennium Actress, One-Hour Photo, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist, Secretary, 28 Days Later

Overrated: Chicago, The Hours, Irreversible

Guilty Pleasure: The Transporter

---

2003

Capturing the Friedmans
Touching the Void
Intermission
Kill Bill Vol. 1
A Tale of Two Sisters
School of Rock
Memories of Murder
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
American Splendor
21 Grams

Runners-Up: Raja

Other Worthwhile Releases: Blind Shaft, Dogville, Elephant, Good Bye, Lenin, Marooned in Iraq, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Spellbound

Overrated: The Best of Youth, In America, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation

Guilty Pleasures: Bad Santa, A Mighty Wind, Old School

---

2004

Before Sunset
Sideways
Open Water
Shaun of the Dead
The Incredibles
Maria Full of Grace
Vera Drake
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Red Lights
Kung Fu Hustle

Runners-Up: Darwin’s Nightmare

Other Worthwhile Releases: Downfall, Goodbye, Dragon Inn, I Heart Huckabees

Overrated: The Aviator, Garden State, Hotel Rwanda, Moolaade, Ray

Guilty Pleasure: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

---

2005

Grizzly Man
Cache
A History of Violence
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Election
Match Point
The Matador
Lemming
Lunacy

Runners-Up: L’Enfant, Nine Lives, Syriana

Other Worthwhile Releases: Batman Begins, Capote, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Munich, Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, The Squid and the Whale, Walk the Line

Overrated: Cinderella Man, The Constant Gardener, Crash, Hustle and Flow, March of the Penguins, The New World, Sin City, V for Vendetta

Guilty Pleasure: Fever Pitch, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

---

2006

The Lives of Others
Exiled
United 93
Borat
Babel
Offside
Woman on the Beach
The Departed
The Boss of it All
Volver

Runners-Up: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

Other Worthwhile Releases: Black Book, Casino Royale, Half Nelson, The Host, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, The Painted Veil, Pan’s Labyrinth, A Prairie Home Companion, The Prestige, A Scanner Darkly, SherryBaby, Sleeping Dogs Lie, Still Life, Tell No One, This is England

Overrated: Blood Diamond, Dreamgirls, Flags of Our Father, 300

Guilty Pleasure: Air Guitar Nation, Beerfest, Crank, Slither

---

2007

No Country for Old Men
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Ratatouille
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
There Will Be Blood
Once
Zodiac
Planet Terror
You, the Living

Runners-Up: Days and Clouds, The Edge of Heaven, La Vie En Rose

Other Worthwhile Releases: Away From Her, Cassandra’s Dream, Death Proof, The Edge of Heaven, Grindhouse, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Joshua, Knocked Up, The Man from Earth, Michael Clayton, My Kid Could Paint That, Taxi to the Dark Side, Up the Yangtze, Waitress

Overrated: Atonement, Juno, In the Valley of Elah, Persepolis

Guilty Pleasure:

---

2008

The Wrestler
Let the Right One In
Cloverfield
WALL•E
Hunger
The Hurt Locker
The Bank Job
Bigger Stronger Faster*
Vicky Christina Barcelona
My Winnipeg

Runners-Up: The Dark Knight, Gamorra, In Bruges, JCVD, Julia, Momma’s Man, Summer Hours, Synecdoche, New York

Other Worthwhile Releases: Appaloosa, Boy A, CJ7, The Class, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son From His Father, Encounters at the End of the World, The Fall, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Frost/Nixon, Frownland, Funny Games, Iron Man, Pineapple Express, Rachel Getting Married, Redbelt, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Sita Sings the Blues, Stuck, Two Lovers, Wendy and Lucy

Overrated: Chop Shop, A Christmas Tale, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Flight of the Red Balloon, Gran Torino, I’ve Loved You So Long, Man on Wire, Paranoid Park, The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire, The Visitor, Waltz with Bashir

Guilty Pleasures: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Marley and Me, The Ruins

---

2009

Inglourious Basterds
Mother
Up
A Serious Man
In the Loop
Coraline
The Informant!
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Police, Adjective
Humpday

Runners-Up: An Education, Food, Inc., Moon, Tulpan

Other Worthwhile Releases: Anvil! The Story of Anvil, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, Black Dynamite, Bright Star, Broken Embraces, Brüno, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, District 9, Funny People, The Hangover, The House of the Devil, Mary and Max, Me and Orson Welles, The Merry Gentleman, Paranormal Activity, Passing Strange, Second Skin, Star Trek, Tyson, Watchmen, The White Ribbon, World’s Greatest Dad

Overrated: Avatar, The Blind Side, Drag Me to Hell, (500) Days of Summer, Invictus, Julie & Julia, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Princess and the Frog, Sin Nombre, Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are

Guilty Pleasure: It’s Complicated