Every year, newest first

1. 2026
2. 2025
   Hamnet 2025WinnerChloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel is a grief film first and a Shakespeare film a distant second, and Jessie Buckley carries it. The middle hour cries too much and too prettily; the last act, in London, earns most of what the rest asks for.Fi1m 76

   • Frankenstein 2025Fi1m 74
   • It Was Just an AccidentNot reviewed yet
   • The Secret Agent 2025Fi1m 84
   • Sentimental Value 2025Fi1m 79
   • Sinners 2025Fi1m 79
3. 2024
   The Brutalist 2024WinnerBrady Corbet’s story of an émigré architect and his American patron has a first half as sure of itself as anything we have seen in years, an Adrien Brody performance that carries it, and a second half that loses its way. Worth the evening.Fi1m 76

   • A Complete Unknown 2024Fi1m 68
   • Conclave 2024Fi1m 76
   • Dune: Part Two 2024Fi1m 84
   • Nickel Boys 2024Fi1m 85
   • September 5Not reviewed yet
4. 2023
   Oppenheimer 2023WinnerChristopher Nolan’s three-hour life of the man who built the bomb is his most disciplined film, and Cillian Murphy carries it without raising his voice. The hearings of the last hour grip less than the desert, and the sound swallows too many lines.Fi1m 84

   • Anatomy of a Fall 2023Fi1m 86
   • Killers of the Flower Moon 2023Fi1m 86
   • Maestro 2023Fi1m 72
   • Past Lives 2023Fi1m 85
   • The Zone of Interest 2023Fi1m 91
5. 2022
   The Fabelmans 2022WinnerSpielberg’s account of his own childhood is honest about his parents, generous to almost everyone and finely acted by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. It is also 151 minutes long and knows exactly how it wants to be remembered. Worth your evening, with reservations.Fi1m 76

   • Avatar: The Way of Water 2022Fi1m 68
   • Elvis 2022Fi1m 66
   • TÁR 2022Fi1m 84
   • Top Gun: MaverickNot reviewed yet
6. 2021
   The Power of the Dog 2021WinnerJane Campion’s first film since *Bright Star* is a slow, cruel western about a rancher who sets out to break his brother’s new wife, shot and cut with great care. Cumberbatch’s Phil is frightening, and once or twice you can see him deciding to be.Fi1m 84

   • Belfast 2021Fi1m 66
   • CODA 2021Fi1m 72
   • Dune 2021Fi1m 76
   • King Richard 2021Fi1m 68
7. 2020
   Nomadland 2021WinnerChloé Zhao puts Frances McDormand among real van-dwellers in the American West and mostly lets them talk, and the result is patient, plain and often moving. It is gentler on the warehouse than the people in it deserve.Fi1m 83

   • The Father 2020Fi1m 89
   • MankNot reviewed yet
   • Promising Young Woman 2020Fi1m 72
   • The Trial of the Chicago 7Not reviewed yet
8. 2019
   1917 2019WinnerSam Mendes makes a gripping war thriller, though the camera movement sometimes holds our attention more firmly than the soldiers do. George MacKay gives us someone to worry about.Fi1m 78

   • The Irishman 2019Fi1m 86
   • Joker 2019Fi1m 63
   • Marriage Story 2019Fi1m 84
   • The Two PopesNot reviewed yet
9. 2018
   Bohemian Rhapsody 2018WinnerRami Malek has the teeth, the walk and the fist, and the Live Aid finale is as good as everyone says. Around it, Anthony McCarten’s script turns one of the loudest lives in British pop into a well-behaved one.Fi1m 55

   • Black Panther 2018Fi1m 80
   • BlacKkKlansman 2018Fi1m 78
   • If Beale Street Could Talk 2018Fi1m 81
   • A Star Is Born 2018Fi1m 82
10. 2017
    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2017WinnerFrances McDormand makes Martin McDonagh’s uneven black comedy worth seeing. The dialogue is sharp and the cast persuasive, but the script sometimes hurries us towards sympathy its characters have not earned.Fi1m 74

    • Call Me by Your Name 2017Fi1m 86
    • Dunkirk 2017Fi1m 86
    • The Post 2017Fi1m 74
    • The Shape of Water 2017Fi1m 83
11. 2016
    Moonlight 2016WinnerBarry Jenkins’s *Moonlight* is a deeply moving drama about a boy learning how little of himself he can safely show. Its three-part structure sometimes hurries us past important years, but the performances make the gaps worth accepting.Fi1m 89

    • Hacksaw Ridge 2016Fi1m 77
    • Hell or High Water 2016Fi1m 84
    • Lion 2016Fi1m 78
    • Manchester by the Sea 2016Fi1m 89
12. 2015
    The Revenant 2015WinnerAlejandro G. Iñárritu makes a gripping survival Western, with Leonardo DiCaprio carrying its physical weight. Its 157 minutes include too much solemn reflection, but the bear attack earns every flinch.Fi1m 74

    • Carol 2015Fi1m 88
    • Mad Max: Fury Road 2015Fi1m 88
    • Room 2015Fi1m 84
    • Spotlight 2015Fi1m 85
13. 2014
    Boyhood 2014WinnerRichard Linklater’s twelve-year family drama is tender, funny and moving without pressing for tears. Its 165 minutes sometimes drift, but the changing faces of Recognising Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke give ordinary moments an unusual force.Fi1m 88

    • Foxcatcher 2014Fi1m 82
    • The Imitation Game 2014Fi1m 73
    • Selma 2014Fi1m 84
    • The Theory of Everything 2014Fi1m 72
14. 2013
    12 Years a Slave 2013WinnerSteve McQueen’s account of Solomon Northup’s enslavement is a film we would urge anyone prepared for its violence to see. Chiwetel Ejiofor makes the suffering personal, even when the music presses harder than it needs to.Fi1m 91

    • Captain Phillips 2013Fi1m 83
    • Gravity 2013Fi1m 85
    • Philomena 2013Fi1m 82
    • Rush 2013Fi1m 82
15. 2012
    Argo 2012WinnerBen Affleck’s *Argo* is a tense, funny espionage thriller with an underwritten hero. Alan Arkin and John Goodman supply the life, while the rescue plot supplies enough suspense to forgive some conspicuous contrivance.Fi1m 79

    • Django Unchained 2012Fi1m 78
    • Life of Pi 2012Fi1m 78
    • Lincoln 2012Fi1m 82
    • Zero Dark Thirty 2012Fi1m 80
16. 2011
    The Descendants 2011WinnerAlexander Payne’s family drama is funny, patient and moving, with George Clooney and Shailene Woodley doing its most persuasive work. The voice-over explains too much, and the second half loses some of the early sharpness.Fi1m 80

    • The Help 2011Fi1m 66
    • Hugo 2011Fi1m 76
    • The Ides of MarchNot reviewed yet
    • Moneyball 2011Fi1m 83
    • War Horse 2011Fi1m 62
17. 2010
    The Social Network 2010WinnerDavid Fincher makes Facebook’s beginnings into a gripping, bitterly funny drama about people who need to win. Jesse Eisenberg gives it an unsettling centre; Aaron Sorkin’s occasional showiness is a small price for dialogue this good.Fi1m 91

    • Black Swan 2010Fi1m 82
    • The Fighter 2010Fi1m 79
    • Inception 2010Fi1m 80
    • The King's Speech 2010Fi1m 82
18. 2009
    Avatar 2009WinnerCameron builds a moon with more care than anyone has built a place on screen, then fills it with a story he could have written in his sleep. The world is worth the 162 minutes; the script is not, and the two arrive in strict alternation.Fi1m 70

    • The Hurt Locker 2008Fi1m 86
    • Inglourious Basterds 2009Fi1m 77
    • PreciousNot reviewed yet
    • Up in the Air 2009Fi1m 74
19. 2008
    Slumdog Millionaire 2008WinnerDanny Boyle’s Mumbai romance is quick, warm and hard to resist, even when its coincidences become conspicuous. Dev Patel gives it a human centre, though the rush from poverty to pleasure can leave us uneasy.Fi1m 78

    • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008Fi1m 64
    • Frost/Nixon 2008Fi1m 81
    • The Reader 2008Fi1m 56
    • Revolutionary RoadNot reviewed yet
20. 2007
    Atonement 2007WinnerJoe Wright’s *Atonement* is a moving, sharply acted romance, strongest when a glance can do real harm. Its war scenes occasionally advertise the effort behind them, but the people remain worth caring about.Fi1m 83

    • American GangsterNot reviewed yet
    • Eastern Promises 2007Fi1m 79
    • The Great DebatersNot reviewed yet
    • Michael Clayton 2007Fi1m 86
    • No Country for Old Men 2007Fi1m 91
    • There Will Be Blood 2007Fi1m 88
21. 2006
    Babel 2006Winner*Babel* is affecting when it stays with people and overbearing when it insists on connecting them. Alejandro G. Iñárritu draws strong performances from a crowded cast, but the mounting misfortune makes a serious drama feel needlessly managed.Fi1m 64

    • BobbyNot reviewed yet
    • The Departed 2006Fi1m 84
    • Little ChildrenNot reviewed yet
    • The Queen 2006Fi1m 84
22. 2005
    Brokeback Mountain 2005WinnerWe would recommend Ang Lee’s love story to almost anyone. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal make hidden desire painfully convincing, though a few passages outstay their welcome.Fi1m 92

    • The Constant Gardener 2005Fi1m 82
    • Good Night, and Good LuckNot reviewed yet
    • A History of Violence 2005Fi1m 88
    • Match PointNot reviewed yet
23. 2004
    The Aviator 2004WinnerScorsese’s Howard Hughes film is big, fast and beautifully dressed, with a Cate Blanchett who steals every scene she is in. It explains its subject in one childhood scene and then keeps pointing at it, and at 170 minutes the last hour drags.Fi1m 74

    • CloserNot reviewed yet
    • Finding Neverland 2004Fi1m 64
    • Hotel Rwanda 2004Fi1m 76
    • KinseyNot reviewed yet
    • Million Dollar Baby 2004Fi1m 86
24. 2003
    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003WinnerPeter Jackson’s fantasy finale is thrilling and moving, with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin keeping the vast battles from taking over. It deserves the long evening, though several stretches could be shorter.Fi1m 88

    • Cold MountainNot reviewed yet
    • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003Fi1m 86
    • Mystic River 2003Fi1m 82
    • Seabiscuit 2003Fi1m 65
25. 2002
    The Hours 2002WinnerThree women, three single days and one novel running through all of them. Stephen Daldry’s adaptation is handsomely made and acted with real care, Julianne Moore especially, but David Hare’s script keeps saying the point aloud and Philip Glass’s piano never lets it breathe.Fi1m 72

    • About Schmidt 2002Fi1m 77
    • Gangs of New York 2002Fi1m 74
    • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002Fi1m 85
    • The Pianist 2002Fi1m 87
26. 2001
    A Beautiful Mind 2001WinnerRussell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly make Ron Howard’s softened biography worth watching for its domestic scenes. The film’s insistence on being reassuring leaves too little room for the difficulties it raises.Fi1m 62

    • In the Bedroom 2001Fi1m 84
    • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001Fi1m 90
    • The Man Who Wasn't There 2001Fi1m 81
    • Mulholland Drive 2001Fi1m 92
27. 2000
    Gladiator 2000WinnerRidley Scott’s *Gladiator* is stirring, bloody entertainment, held together by Russell Crowe’s conviction. The politics can be blunt and the fighting occasionally hard to follow, but there is someone worth caring about beneath the armour.Fi1m 84

    • Billy Elliot 2000Fi1m 81
    • Erin Brockovich 2000Fi1m 78
    • SunshineNot reviewed yet
    • Traffic 2000Fi1m 82
    • Wonder Boys 2000Fi1m 82
28. 1999
    American Beauty 1999WinnerSam Mendes’s suburban satire is funny and well acted, especially by Annette Bening. We recommend it for the performances, with a reservation: Alan Ball’s screenplay treats familiar complaints about middle-class life as discoveries.Fi1m 76

    • The End of the AffairNot reviewed yet
    • The HurricaneNot reviewed yet
    • The Insider 1999Fi1m 89
    • The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999Fi1m 80
29. 1998
    Saving Private Ryan 1998WinnerSteven Spielberg’s war film is frightening, exhausting and worth the ordeal, chiefly for its combat sequences and Tom Hanks’s strained authority. The writing between battles is more familiar, but the terror is difficult to shake.Fi1m 84

    • Elizabeth 1998Fi1m 82
    • Gods and Monsters 1998Fi1m 82
    • The Horse WhispererNot reviewed yet
    • The Truman Show 1998Fi1m 88
30. 1997
    Titanic 1997WinnerJames Cameron’s *Titanic* makes its romance matter as much as its spectacle. Kate Winslet supplies the conviction that the dialogue sometimes lacks, while the disaster sequences are frighteningly clear and forceful.Fi1m 84

    • AmistadNot reviewed yet
    • The BoxerNot reviewed yet
    • Good Will Hunting 1997Fi1m 82
    • L.A. Confidential 1997Fi1m 88
31. 1996
    The English Patient 1996WinnerAnthony Minghella’s wartime romance is moving, carefully made and sometimes too slow. Kristin Scott Thomas gives it the urgency it needs, though the desert occasionally holds our attention more firmly than the lovers.Fi1m 78

    • Breaking the Waves 1996Fi1m 82
    • The People vs. Larry FlyntNot reviewed yet
    • Secrets & Lies 1996Fi1m 88
    • Shine 1996Fi1m 82
32. 1995
    Sense and Sensibility 1995WinnerAng Lee’s Austen adaptation is funny, moving and worth an evening for Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet alone. The setting sometimes looks too comfortable for the characters’ difficulties, but the performances keep their feelings awkward and recognisable.Fi1m 85

    • Apollo 13 1995Fi1m 84
    • Braveheart 1995Fi1m 68
    • The Bridges of Madison County 1995Fi1m 84
    • Leaving Las Vegas 1995Fi1m 82
33. 1994
    Forrest Gump 1994WinnerTom Hanks gives this technically accomplished fable warmth and a welcome lack of condescension. But Robert Zemeckis lets it run too long, and its comforting account of American history leaves too much unexamined.Fi1m 66

    • Legends of the FallNot reviewed yet
    • NellNot reviewed yet
    • Pulp Fiction 1994Fi1m 82
    • Quiz Show 1994Fi1m 84
34. 1993
    Schindler's List 1993WinnerSteven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama is harrowing, humane and worth the ordeal. Its acting and restless images carry an enormous force, despite occasional stretches that press too hard for our tears.Fi1m 91

    • The Age of Innocence 1993Fi1m 86
    • In the Name of the Father 1993Fi1m 83
    • The Piano 1993Fi1m 88
    • The Remains of the Day 1993Fi1m 88
35. 1992
    Scent of a Woman 1992WinnerAl Pacino’s abrasive Frank Slade and Chris O’Donnell’s patient Charlie make this a rewarding drama about difficult company. Martin Brest lets it run too long, but the relationship remains worth the time.Fi1m 75

    • The Crying Game 1992Fi1m 82
    • A Few Good Men 1992Fi1m 79
    • Howards End 1992Fi1m 84
    • Unforgiven 1992Fi1m 92
36. 1991
    Bugsy 1991WinnerBarry Levinson’s gangster romance is entertaining, finely acted and too forgiving of its hero. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening make it worth seeing, even when the film mistakes ambition for decency.Fi1m 76

    • JFK 1991Fi1m 80
    • The Prince of Tides 1991Fi1m 65
    • The Silence of the Lambs 1991Fi1m 91
    • Thelma & Louise 1991Fi1m 85
37. 1990
    Dances with Wolves 1990WinnerKevin Costner’s patient Western earns its scale through character, landscape and a willingness to listen. Its view of Sioux life is too reassuring, but the warmth and spectacle make the long journey worthwhile.Fi1m 80

    • AvalonNot reviewed yet
    • The Godfather Part III 1990Fi1m 63
    • GoodFellas 1990Fi1m 93
    • Reversal of Fortune 1990Fi1m 75
38. 1989
    Born on the Fourth of July 1989WinnerOliver Stone’s film about Ron Kovic is loud, long and given to sermons, and for stretches it is as strong as anything he has made. Tom Cruise’s Kovic and a hospital sequence we will not forget carry it past the speeches.Fi1m 74

    • Crimes and MisdemeanorsNot reviewed yet
    • Dead Poets Society 1989Fi1m 80
    • Do the Right Thing 1989Fi1m 93
    • Glory 1989Fi1m 82
39. 1988
    Rain Man 1988WinnerBarry Levinson’s *Rain Man* is a moving road drama that sometimes repeats itself and makes Raymond’s autism too useful to Charlie. Tom Cruise does much of the difficult emotional work opposite Dustin Hoffman’s carefully controlled performance.Fi1m 76

    • The Accidental Tourist 1988Fi1m 78
    • A Cry in the DarkNot reviewed yet
    • Gorillas in the MistNot reviewed yet
    • Mississippi Burning 1988Fi1m 72
    • Running on EmptyNot reviewed yet
    • The Unbearable Lightness of BeingNot reviewed yet
40. 1987
    The Last Emperor 1987WinnerBernardo Bertolucci’s *The Last Emperor* makes imperial ceremony both fascinating and painfully lonely. It is a richly made, absorbing historical drama, though its adult protagonist can remain frustratingly remote.Fi1m 80

    • Cry FreedomNot reviewed yet
    • Empire of the Sun 1987Fi1m 81
    • Fatal Attraction 1987Fi1m 70
    • La BambaNot reviewed yet
    • NutsNot reviewed yet
41. 1986
    Platoon 1986WinnerOliver Stone’s *Platoon* makes combat frighteningly immediate, with performances that give the soldiers lives beyond their uniforms. We recommend it, despite a moral struggle between the sergeants that Stone makes too tidy.Fi1m 84

    • Children of a Lesser God 1986Fi1m 66
    • The Mission 1986Fi1m 64
    • Mona Lisa 1986Fi1m 83
    • A Room with a View 1986Fi1m 84
    • Stand by Me 1986Fi1m 88
42. 1985
    Out of Africa 1985WinnerMeryl Streep gives *Out of Africa* the emotional urgency its romance too often lacks. Sydney Pollack’s film is handsome and carefully made, but Robert Redford’s reserve and the unhurried pacing leave too much of its 161 minutes feeling remote.Fi1m 54

    • The Color Purple 1985Fi1m 64
    • Kiss of the Spider Woman 1985Fi1m 84
    • Runaway TrainNot reviewed yet
    • Witness 1985Fi1m 84
43. 1984
    Amadeus 1984WinnerMiloš Forman’s film about Mozart and Salieri is funny, cruel and deeply involving, with F. Murray Abraham making envy painfully understandable. Mozart’s childishness occasionally wears thin, but the music and the rivalry hold us for the full 160 minutes.Fi1m 91

    • The Cotton ClubNot reviewed yet
    • The Killing Fields 1984Fi1m 82
    • Places in the Heart 1984Fi1m 80
    • A Soldier's Story 1984Fi1m 76
44. 1983
    Terms of Endearment 1983WinnerShirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson make James L. Brooks’s family drama funny and moving without making its people easy to like. We recommend it warmly, despite the uneven pace of its thirty-year story.Fi1m 81

    • Reuben, ReubenNot reviewed yet
    • The Right Stuff 1983Fi1m 86
    • SilkwoodNot reviewed yet
    • Tender Mercies 1983Fi1m 86
45. 1982
    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982WinnerSpielberg makes a boy’s friendship with a homesick alien funny, tender and worth taking seriously. The music sometimes tells us more than we need, but the children and the creature make its sentiment feel deserved.Fi1m 91

    • Missing 1982Fi1m 80
    • An Officer and a GentlemanNot reviewed yet
    • Sophie's ChoiceNot reviewed yet
    • The Verdict 1982Fi1m 84
46. 1981
    On Golden Pond 1981WinnerHenry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, sharing a screen for the first time, play a long marriage so well that we forgave the film nearly everything. Nearly. Ernest Thompson’s script smooths every edge it finds, and the boy is a device.Fi1m 72

    • The French Lieutenant's WomanNot reviewed yet
    • Prince of the CityNot reviewed yet
    • RagtimeNot reviewed yet
    • Reds 1981Fi1m 77
47. 1980
    Ordinary People 1980WinnerRobert Redford’s moving family drama gives Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton the attention they deserve. The screenplay explains more than it needs to, but Moore makes its troubled mother impossible to dismiss.Fi1m 81

    • The Elephant Man 1980Fi1m 84
    • The Ninth ConfigurationNot reviewed yet
    • Raging Bull 1980Fi1m 91
    • The Stunt ManNot reviewed yet
48. 1979
    Kramer vs. Kramer 1979WinnerRobert Benton’s divorce drama earns its tears through Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry’s closely observed father-son relationship. Meryl Streep makes the uneven sympathy harder to excuse, but the performances carry a persuasive, moving film.Fi1m 82

    • Apocalypse Now 1979Fi1m 92
    • The China SyndromeNot reviewed yet
    • Manhattan 1979Fi1m 78
    • Norma Rae 1979Fi1m 82
49. 1978
    Midnight Express 1978WinnerAlan Parker’s prison drama is built with real skill and it grips, often against our will. But Oliver Stone’s script paints every Turk in the same dark shade and asks for a sympathy for its hero that it never quite earns.Fi1m 61

    • Coming Home 1978Fi1m 76
    • Days of Heaven 1978Fi1m 85
    • The Deer Hunter 1978Fi1m 84
    • An Unmarried Woman 1978Fi1m 82
50. 1977
    The Turning Point 1977WinnerHerbert Ross’s ballet drama gives Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine two proper parts and Mikhail Baryshnikov the dancing, then keeps stopping to explain what it means. Worth an evening for the women and the leaps, less so for the speeches.Fi1m 70

    • Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977Fi1m 85
    • I Never Promised You a Rose GardenNot reviewed yet
    • Julia 1977Fi1m 60
    • Star Wars 1977Fi1m 88
51. 1976
    Rocky 1976Winner*Rocky* is a touching boxing drama, carried by Sylvester Stallone’s awkward charm and John G. Avildsen’s patient direction. The supporting characters deserve more room, but the film earns its big emotional appeals.Fi1m 85

    • All the President's Men 1976Fi1m 90
    • Bound for Glory 1976Fi1m 71
    • Network 1976Fi1m 86
    • Voyage of the DamnedNot reviewed yet
52. 1975
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975WinnerJack Nicholson and Give Fletcher make Miloš Forman’s drama funny, frightening and worth an evening. Its account of mental illness is too simple, but the performances keep the men on the ward from becoming merely a cause.Fi1m 86

    • Barry Lyndon 1975Fi1m 85
    • Dog Day Afternoon 1975Fi1m 90
    • Jaws 1975Fi1m 93
    • Nashville 1975Fi1m 89
53. 1974
    Chinatown 1974WinnerRoman Polanski’s detective story is funny, unsettling and finely acted, with Jack Nicholson making confidence dangerously persuasive. The crowded plotting occasionally demands patience, but we would recommend it even to people who usually avoid detective films.Fi1m 93

    • The Conversation 1974Fi1m 92
    • EarthquakeNot reviewed yet
    • The Godfather Part II 1974Fi1m 92
    • A Woman Under the InfluenceNot reviewed yet
54. 1973
    The Exorcist 1973WinnerWilliam Friedkin’s horror film is frightening because Ellen Burstyn makes a mother’s helplessness so hard to bear. Some shocks are overworked, but we recommend it strongly for the acting and the sustained unease.Fi1m 89

    • Cinderella LibertyNot reviewed yet
    • The Day of the Jackal 1973Fi1m 84
    • Last Tango in ParisNot reviewed yet
    • Save the TigerNot reviewed yet
    • SerpicoNot reviewed yet
55. 1972
    The Godfather 1972WinnerFrancis Ford Coppola’s Mafia family drama earns its length through patient storytelling and performances that make criminal authority disturbingly attractive. The crowded family politics can take some sorting out, but we would recommend it without hesitation.Fi1m 93

    • Deliverance 1972Fi1m 85
    • FrenzyNot reviewed yet
    • The Poseidon AdventureNot reviewed yet
    • Sleuth 1972Fi1m 82
56. 1971
    The French Connection 1971WinnerWilliam Friedkin turns street surveillance into a gripping thriller, with Gene Hackman making Doyle’s obsession frighteningly plausible. We recommend it, with reservations about how readily the excitement lets his brutality pass.Fi1m 85

    • A Clockwork Orange 1971Fi1m 78
    • The Last Picture Show 1971Fi1m 89
    • Mary, Queen of ScotsNot reviewed yet
    • Summer of ‘42Not reviewed yet
57. 1970
    Love Story 1970WinnerArthur Hiller’s tearjerker still knows which strings it is pulling, and Ali MacGraw’s sharp tongue, John Marley’s decency and Francis Lai’s piano get it a long way. But Erich Segal’s lovers are outlines, and a film this calculated ought to have more inside it.Fi1m 57

    • Airport 1970Fi1m 56
    • Five Easy Pieces 1970Fi1m 88
    • I Never Sang for My FatherNot reviewed yet
    • Patton 1970Fi1m 82
58. 1969
    Anne of the Thousand Days 1969WinnerGeneviève Bujold gives Anne Boleyn a temper and a brain, and every scene she is in has a pulse. The rest is handsome, well-spoken and slow, a pageant that moves at the pace of a procession. Worth an evening for her.Fi1m 60

    • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969Fi1m 84
    • Midnight Cowboy 1969Fi1m 85
    • The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieNot reviewed yet
    • They Shoot Horses, Don't They?Not reviewed yet
59. 1968
    The Lion in Winter 1968WinnerAnthony Harvey’s film of James Goldman’s play is a family quarrel in a cold castle, and O’Toole and Hepburn talk it into something close to blood sport. The plotting circles in the last hour; the two of them never do.Fi1m 81

    • CHAЯLYNot reviewed yet
    • The FixerNot reviewed yet
    • The Heart Is a Lonely HunterNot reviewed yet
    • The Shoes of the FishermanNot reviewed yet
60. 1967
    In the Heat of the Night 1967WinnerNorman Jewison’s Mississippi murder story holds up better than most films of its year, because Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are playing people rather than positions. The mystery is thin and the solution is tidied away too quickly, but the two men are not.Fi1m 85

    • Bonnie and Clyde 1967Fi1m 88
    • Far from the Madding CrowdNot reviewed yet
    • Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967Fi1m 70
    • In Cold BloodNot reviewed yet
61. 1966
    A Man for All Seasons 1966WinnerFred Zinnemann’s film of Robert Bolt’s play about Thomas More and the oath he would not swear is handsome, stately and a little too sure that its hero is right. Paul Scofield keeps it honest with a performance so quiet you lean forward.Fi1m 81

    • Born FreeNot reviewed yet
    • The ProfessionalsNot reviewed yet
    • The Sand Pebbles 1966Fi1m 66
    • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966Fi1m 86
62. 1965
    Doctor Zhivago 1965WinnerDavid Lean’s Russian epic is as handsome as anything he made, and it is long, and its hero mostly watches. Julie Christie and Rod Steiger give it the pulse the script does not, and Freddie Young’s camera does the rest.Fi1m 70

    • The CollectorNot reviewed yet
    • The Flight of the PhoenixNot reviewed yet
    • A Patch of BlueNot reviewed yet
    • Ship of Fools 1965Fi1m 62
63. 1964
    Becket 1964WinnerPeter O’Toole’s Henry II, loud, clever and desperate for a friend, is the reason to watch Peter Glenville’s handsome, talky version of Anouilh’s play. Richard Burton’s Becket is a cooler thing, and the second half feels it.Fi1m 79

    • The Chalk GardenNot reviewed yet
    • Dear HeartNot reviewed yet
    • The Night of the IguanaNot reviewed yet
    • Zorba the Greek 1964Fi1m 67
64. 1963
    The CardinalWinnerNot reviewed yet

    • America America 1963Fi1m 84
    • Captain Newman, M.D.Not reviewed yet
    • The CaretakersNot reviewed yet
    • Cleopatra 1963Fi1m 63
    • The Great Escape 1963Fi1m 82
    • HudNot reviewed yet
    • Lilies of the Field 1963Fi1m 70
65. 1962
    Lawrence of Arabia 1962WinnerDavid Lean’s desert adventure earns its length through Peter O’Toole’s unsettling performance and an extraordinary command of scale. A few speeches explain too much, but we recommend surrendering an evening to its patience and nerve.Fi1m 90

    • The Chapman ReportNot reviewed yet
    • Days of Wine and RosesNot reviewed yet
    • Freud: The Secret PassionNot reviewed yet
    • Hemingway's Adventures of a Young ManNot reviewed yet
    • LisaNot reviewed yet
    • The Longest Day 1962Fi1m 68
    • The Miracle WorkerNot reviewed yet
    • Mutiny on the Bounty 1962Fi1m 56
    • To Kill a Mockingbird 1962Fi1m 84
66. 1961
    The Guns of Navarone 1961WinnerJ. Lee Thompson’s raid on the German guns is a big, well-made adventure with a storm and a cliff climb that still grip, and a Carl Foreman script that keeps stopping to argue about war. Stay for the climbing.Fi1m 74

    • El CidNot reviewed yet
    • Fanny 1961Fi1m 70
    • Judgment at Nuremberg 1961Fi1m 82
    • Splendor in the GrassNot reviewed yet
67. 1960
    SpartacusWinnerNot reviewed yet

    • Elmer Gantry 1960Fi1m 78
    • Inherit the WindNot reviewed yet
    • Sons and Lovers 1960Fi1m 64
    • Sunrise at CampobelloNot reviewed yet
68. 1959
    Ben-Hur 1959WinnerWilliam Wyler’s *Ben-Hur* earns its long evening through the chariot race and the tension between Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd. The solemn instruction needs more patience than the action ever does.Fi1m 76

    • Anatomy of a Murder 1959Fi1m 87
    • The Diary of Anne Frank 1959Fi1m 58
    • The Nun's Story 1959Fi1m 84
    • On the BeachNot reviewed yet
69. 1958
    The Defiant Ones 1958WinnerStanley Kramer’s chase film chains a white convict to a black one and runs them through the swamps of the South. The message is spelled out more than once, but the running is fierce and Curtis and Poitier make the chain feel real.Fi1m 74

    • Cat on a Hot Tin RoofNot reviewed yet
    • Home Before DarkNot reviewed yet
    • I Want to Live!Not reviewed yet
    • Separate Tables 1958Fi1m 74
70. 1957
    The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957WinnerDavid Lean’s war drama earns its long running time through Alec Guinness’s quietly alarming Colonel Nicholson and patient, well-built suspense. The detours are less compelling, but the central performance is reason enough to give it an evening.Fi1m 88

    • 12 Angry Men 1957Fi1m 91
    • SayonaraNot reviewed yet
    • Wild Is the WindNot reviewed yet
    • Witness for the Prosecution 1957Fi1m 87
71. 1956
    Around the World in 80 Days 1956WinnerMike Todd’s three-hour Jules Verne is handsome, amiable and generous with its cameos, and David Niven is exactly the man for Fogg. It is also a travelogue with a wager attached, and somewhere over the Pacific it stops being a film and becomes a slideshow.Fi1m 63

    • Giant 1956Fi1m 74
    • Lust for LifeNot reviewed yet
    • The RainmakerNot reviewed yet
    • War and PeaceNot reviewed yet
72. 1955
    East of EdenWinnerNot reviewed yet
73. 1954
    On the Waterfront 1954WinnerMarlon Brando makes Elia Kazan’s waterfront drama painfully human, and we recommend it for the performances alone. The moral lecturing is harder to accept, particularly when the acting has already made the point.Fi1m 89
74. 1953
    The Robe 1953WinnerThe first film in CinemaScope fills its enormous frame with Rome and Jerusalem, then asks the cast to stand in it and talk. Burton finds a real crack-up and Newman’s choir does the rest; too much of the remainder is a sermon in sandals.Fi1m 48
75. 1952
    The Greatest Show on Earth 1952WinnerCecil B. DeMille films a real circus with real care, and the tent-raising, the parade and the trapeze acts are worth anyone’s evening. Then the people start talking. The romance is stiff, the narration is pompous, and 152 minutes is a long afternoon.Fi1m 56

    • Come Back, Little ShebaNot reviewed yet
    • The Happy TimeNot reviewed yet
    • High Noon 1952Fi1m 88
    • The ThiefNot reviewed yet
76. 1951
    A Place in the Sun 1951WinnerGeorge Stevens’s version of Dreiser’s *An American Tragedy* is slow, handsome and harder than it looks. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor are filmed as if the camera were in love with them, and the film asks us to be too, at Shelley Winters’s expense.Fi1m 81

    • Bright VictoryNot reviewed yet
    • Detective StoryNot reviewed yet
    • Quo Vadis 1951Fi1m 65
    • A Streetcar Named Desire 1951Fi1m 88
77. 1950
    Sunset Boulevard 1950WinnerBilly Wilder’s Hollywood drama is funny, frightening and merciless about the need to be remembered. Watch Swanson makes its faded star painfully human, though the screenplay sometimes enjoys humiliating her more than it should.Fi1m 93

    • All About Eve 1950Fi1m 90
    • Born Yesterday 1950Fi1m 76
    • Cyrano de BergeracNot reviewed yet
    • HarveyNot reviewed yet
78. 1949
    All the King's Men 1949WinnerRobert Rossen’s version of the Robert Penn Warren novel gives Broderick Crawford a part he fills to the edges and gives its first hour to the making of a demagogue. The second hour has years to cover in too few minutes, and it shows.Fi1m 74

    • Come to the StableNot reviewed yet
79. 1948
    Johnny Belinda 1948WinnerA melodrama about a deaf young woman on a Nova Scotia farm, kept honest by Jane Wyman, who plays the part without a word and never begs for pity. The village is drawn more broadly, and Max Steiner’s score begs on her behalf.Fi1m 78

    • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948Fi1m 88
80. 1947
    Gentleman's Agreement 1947WinnerElia Kazan’s drama about a journalist who passes as Jewish was brave in 1947 and is well acted, above all by John Garfield and Celeste Holm. It is also a lecture, and the woman it asks us to love is the problem it describes.Fi1m 64
81. 1946
    The Best Years of Our Lives 1946WinnerWilliam Wyler’s drama about three servicemen coming home to one small town is long, patient and as good as anything Hollywood made about the war it had just fought. The wife written as a villain is its one cheap note.Fi1m 90
82. 1945
    The Lost Weekend 1945WinnerBilly Wilder’s account of four days in the life of a New York drunk is still frightening, still honest and, in Ray Milland’s hands, still hard to look away from. The last few minutes ring false, and the film seems to know it.Fi1m 82
83. 1944
    Going My Way 1944WinnerLeo McCarey’s parish comedy is gentle, unhurried and about twenty minutes too long. Bing Crosby coasts agreeably, but the film belongs to Barry Fitzgerald, whose stubborn, mended-cassock Father Fitzgibbon is the best reason to give it an evening.Fi1m 74
84. 1943
    The Song of Bernadette 1943WinnerHenry King’s film of Franz Werfel’s novel is sincere, handsomely lit and a good hour too long. Jennifer Jones plays the visionary as a plain, puzzled girl with no cunning at all, and that is the main reason it survives its own solemnity.Fi1m 63