lan Craine
London, UK
Screen writer
Profile: twelvepoint.com
NOTES:
1) I’m doing this for fun; it will take too long to research the years. I think you’ll know the films.
2) Occasionally I’ve used English language titles but again the identity of the film should be clear. I’m not spending time hunting down the Chinese title for Red Sorghum.
3) These are FAVOURITES. “Best” I find meaningless. So if Citizen Kane or The Godfather don’t push my buttons I leave them out.
4) Film going should be fun. It’s not about sitting through every Ingmar Bergman film.
5) Some actors leave me cold- Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Joan Crawford. It’s all personal opinion.
6) Why restrict it to features? I’d like to have included two reel shorts. W.C. Fields Fatal Glass Of Beer would have been in the Top Ten as well at least one of the shorts of my personal sweetheart Marjorie Beebe, Mack Sennett’s talkie star of the early 1930s.
7) I’m commenting on the Top Ten and listing the rest.
1 L’Armee des Ombres (1969) Jean-Pierre Melville’s peerless reverie on the French Resistance with a bravura performance from Lino Ventura.
2 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) An excoriating film about honour, friendship, promises, white lies and brutality directed and starring America’s greatest contemporary actor, Tommy Lee Jones.
3 South of St Louis (1949) Another film about three men in Mexico. A obscure but brilliant Western about friendship unravelling starring Joel McCrea, a similar sort of performer to Jones.
4 Red Road (2006) Brilliant Andrea Arnold directed low budget British thriller about a female CCTV operator in Glasgow.
5 Double Indemnity (1944) The greatest noir, the greatest film from the classic era with the greatest ever performance from an actress.
6 Eve’s Bayou (1997) Samuel L. Jackson in Louisiana surrounded by a stellar cast of women and their voodoo charms.
7 Vertigo (1958) The first modern film. “Vertigo” changed the Hollywood thriller for ever.
8 Bladerunner (1982) A stunning mix of cinematography and fantastic storytelling.
9 Point Blank (1967) Hollywood’s best psycho, Lee Marvin, in his greatest role.
10 Quai Des Brumes (1938) A moody piece of magic from arguably cinema’s greatest ever actor, Jean Gabin,
11 Written On The Wind (This too is a fantastic film and Dorothy Malone also in 3) above is wonderful in it) (1956)
12 Boudu Sauve Des Eaux (1932)
13 The Apartment (1960)
14 Tokyo Story (1953)
15 The Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
16 Meet Me In St Louis (1944)
17 L’Atalante (1934)
18 Sunrise Song of Two Humans (1927)
19 Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
20 Accident (1967)
21 Chinatown (1974)
22 In The Electric Mist (2009)
23 Ride With The Devil (1999)
24 The Conversation (1974)
25 Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
26 The General (1926)
27 Aux Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
28 The Bank Dick (1940)
29 Kes (1969)
30 Mean Streets (1973)
31 The Usual Suspects (1995)
32 A Touch Of Evil (1958)
33 Viridiana (1961)
34 Lone Star (1996)
35 Lost Weekend (1945)
36 Dr Strangelove (1964)
37 LA Confidential (1997)
38 Some Like It Hot (1959)
39 La Balance (1982)
40 Battle Of Algiers (1966)
41 A History Of Violence (2005)
42 Atlantic City (1980)
43 Rome Open City (1945)
44 Ulysses’ Gaze (1995)
45 Rio Bravo (1959)
46 Night of the Hunter (1955)
47 Get Carter (1971)
48 Red Sorghum (1988)
49 The Big Combo (1955)
50 The Leopard (1963)
51 No Country For Old Men (2007)
52 Charley Varrick (1973)
53 Lacombe Lucien (1974)
54 The Fortune Cookie (1966)
55 The Woman in the Window (1944)
56 Victim (1961)
57 The River (1951)
58 A Canterbury Tale (1944)
59 The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
60 The Ipcress File (1965)
61 The Quick and the Dead (1995)
62 The Wizard of Oz (1939)
63 Apocalypse Now (1979)
64 In The Valley of Elah (2007)
65 Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
66 Bandidas (2006)
67 The Wild Bunch (1969)
68 King of Comedy (1982)
69 Day of the Jackal (1973)
70 Days of Heaven (1978)
71 Mulholland Drive (2001)
72 Our Man in Havana (1959)
73 Spider (2002)
74 Pepe Le Moko (1937)
75 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
76 Sexy Beast (2000)
77 Juno (2007)
78 Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
79 La Regle du Jeu (1939)
80 Psycho (1960)
81 Strangers on a Train (1951)
82 Carlito’s Way (1993)
83 Un Samourai (1967)
84 The Quiet American (2002)
85 Quand J’Etais Chanteur (2006)
86 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
87 Postriziny (1981)
88 Three Colours Red (1994)
89 Gone to Earth (1950)
90 Louisiana Story (1948)
91 Chimes At Midnight (1965)
92 The Lady Vanishes (1938)
93 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
94 Great Day in the Morning (1956)
95 Seven Men From Now (1956)
96 The Seventh Veil (1945)
97 Odd Man Out (1947)
98 Palm Beach Story (1942)
99 The Frightened City (1961)
100. Damage (1992)
London, UK
Screen writer
Profile: twelvepoint.com
NOTES:
1) I’m doing this for fun; it will take too long to research the years. I think you’ll know the films.
2) Occasionally I’ve used English language titles but again the identity of the film should be clear. I’m not spending time hunting down the Chinese title for Red Sorghum.
3) These are FAVOURITES. “Best” I find meaningless. So if Citizen Kane or The Godfather don’t push my buttons I leave them out.
4) Film going should be fun. It’s not about sitting through every Ingmar Bergman film.
5) Some actors leave me cold- Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Joan Crawford. It’s all personal opinion.
6) Why restrict it to features? I’d like to have included two reel shorts. W.C. Fields Fatal Glass Of Beer would have been in the Top Ten as well at least one of the shorts of my personal sweetheart Marjorie Beebe, Mack Sennett’s talkie star of the early 1930s.
7) I’m commenting on the Top Ten and listing the rest.
1 L’Armee des Ombres (1969) Jean-Pierre Melville’s peerless reverie on the French Resistance with a bravura performance from Lino Ventura.
2 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) An excoriating film about honour, friendship, promises, white lies and brutality directed and starring America’s greatest contemporary actor, Tommy Lee Jones.
3 South of St Louis (1949) Another film about three men in Mexico. A obscure but brilliant Western about friendship unravelling starring Joel McCrea, a similar sort of performer to Jones.
4 Red Road (2006) Brilliant Andrea Arnold directed low budget British thriller about a female CCTV operator in Glasgow.
5 Double Indemnity (1944) The greatest noir, the greatest film from the classic era with the greatest ever performance from an actress.
6 Eve’s Bayou (1997) Samuel L. Jackson in Louisiana surrounded by a stellar cast of women and their voodoo charms.
7 Vertigo (1958) The first modern film. “Vertigo” changed the Hollywood thriller for ever.
8 Bladerunner (1982) A stunning mix of cinematography and fantastic storytelling.
9 Point Blank (1967) Hollywood’s best psycho, Lee Marvin, in his greatest role.
10 Quai Des Brumes (1938) A moody piece of magic from arguably cinema’s greatest ever actor, Jean Gabin,
11 Written On The Wind (This too is a fantastic film and Dorothy Malone also in 3) above is wonderful in it) (1956)
12 Boudu Sauve Des Eaux (1932)
13 The Apartment (1960)
14 Tokyo Story (1953)
15 The Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
16 Meet Me In St Louis (1944)
17 L’Atalante (1934)
18 Sunrise Song of Two Humans (1927)
19 Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
20 Accident (1967)
21 Chinatown (1974)
22 In The Electric Mist (2009)
23 Ride With The Devil (1999)
24 The Conversation (1974)
25 Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
26 The General (1926)
27 Aux Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
28 The Bank Dick (1940)
29 Kes (1969)
30 Mean Streets (1973)
31 The Usual Suspects (1995)
32 A Touch Of Evil (1958)
33 Viridiana (1961)
34 Lone Star (1996)
35 Lost Weekend (1945)
36 Dr Strangelove (1964)
37 LA Confidential (1997)
38 Some Like It Hot (1959)
39 La Balance (1982)
40 Battle Of Algiers (1966)
41 A History Of Violence (2005)
42 Atlantic City (1980)
43 Rome Open City (1945)
44 Ulysses’ Gaze (1995)
45 Rio Bravo (1959)
46 Night of the Hunter (1955)
47 Get Carter (1971)
48 Red Sorghum (1988)
49 The Big Combo (1955)
50 The Leopard (1963)
51 No Country For Old Men (2007)
52 Charley Varrick (1973)
53 Lacombe Lucien (1974)
54 The Fortune Cookie (1966)
55 The Woman in the Window (1944)
56 Victim (1961)
57 The River (1951)
58 A Canterbury Tale (1944)
59 The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
60 The Ipcress File (1965)
61 The Quick and the Dead (1995)
62 The Wizard of Oz (1939)
63 Apocalypse Now (1979)
64 In The Valley of Elah (2007)
65 Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
66 Bandidas (2006)
67 The Wild Bunch (1969)
68 King of Comedy (1982)
69 Day of the Jackal (1973)
70 Days of Heaven (1978)
71 Mulholland Drive (2001)
72 Our Man in Havana (1959)
73 Spider (2002)
74 Pepe Le Moko (1937)
75 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
76 Sexy Beast (2000)
77 Juno (2007)
78 Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
79 La Regle du Jeu (1939)
80 Psycho (1960)
81 Strangers on a Train (1951)
82 Carlito’s Way (1993)
83 Un Samourai (1967)
84 The Quiet American (2002)
85 Quand J’Etais Chanteur (2006)
86 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
87 Postriziny (1981)
88 Three Colours Red (1994)
89 Gone to Earth (1950)
90 Louisiana Story (1948)
91 Chimes At Midnight (1965)
92 The Lady Vanishes (1938)
93 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
94 Great Day in the Morning (1956)
95 Seven Men From Now (1956)
96 The Seventh Veil (1945)
97 Odd Man Out (1947)
98 Palm Beach Story (1942)
99 The Frightened City (1961)
100. Damage (1992)
