200 Indie Movies About Modern America

Whilst nearly all these films were financed by independent companies (i.e. not one of the Hollywood majors) this list is more about an independent style or spirit than anything else, with a particular focus on low-budget dramas and comedy-dramas, made post-1980 and set in contemporary America. Movie-makers have been trying to break free of the big studios and not make a ‘Hollywood product’ since the 50’s at least but the forerunners of the indie spirit I’m most interested in were quirky 70’s character studies like Brewster McCloud, Harold and Maude, Scarecrow and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. It’s the modern form of that ethos that I’ve attempted to list here: Rushmore, Greenberg, Garden State, Juno, Clerks, that kind of thing.

I’ve left out documentaries, period pieces, star-packed epics like Magnolia, particularly violent films (hence no Tarantino), wholly surreal films (hence little David Lynch or Charlie Kaufman), and out-and-out pure genre films, including comedies (the Farrelly Brothers), thrillers (The Usual Suspects), sci-fi (Moon), and horror (The Blair Witch Project). Instead I’ve concentrated on script- and character-driven movies with a low-key aesthetic. They typically have a novelistic feel to them, and concern everyday people, often suburban misfits full of ironic detachment. They might contain some gunplay but not in a pumped-up, action-film way, and the comedy in them is usually wry comedy or black comedy.

In terms of quality, not all the films here are masterpieces by any means but if I’ve seen a movie and thought it a complete waste of time -like Paranoid Park or I Heart Huckabees, for example- I’ve left it out.

 

1.    A Serious Man (Joel Coen, 2009)

2.    About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)

3.    After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985)

4.    Amateur (Hal Hartley, 1994)

5.    American Splendor (Shari Springer Berman/Robert Pulcini, 2003)

6.    Amreeka (Cherien Dabis, 2009)

7.    Art School Confidential (Terry Zwigoff, 2006)

8.    Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)

9.    Beautiful Girls (Ted Demme, 1996)

10.  Beginners (Mike Mills, 2011) 

11.  Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010) 

12.  Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)

13.  Box of Moonlight (Tom DiCillo, 1996)

14.  Boys Don’t Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999)

15.  Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (John Krasinski, 2009)

16.  Bring It On (Peyton Reed, 2000)

17.  Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch, 2005)

18.  Buffalo '66 (Vincent Gallo, 1998).

19.  Cedar Rapids (Miguel Arteta, 2011)

20.  Chan Is Missing (Wayne Wang, 1982)

21.  Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith, 1997)

22.  Choke (Clark Gregg, 2007)

23.  Chop Shop (Ramin Bahrani, 2008)

24.  Citizen Ruth (Alexander Payne, 1996)

25.  City Of Hope (John Sayles, 1991) 

26.  Claire Dolan (Lodge Kerrigan, 1998)

27.  Clean, Shaven (Lodge Kerrigan, 1994)

28.  Clerks (Kevin Smith, 1994)

29.  Coffee And Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2003)

30.  Crazy Heart (Scott Cooper, 2009) 

31.  Dazed And Confused (Richard Linklater, 1993)

32.  Delirious (Tom Dicillo, 2006)

33.  Dim Sum: A Little Bit Of Heart (Wayne Wang, 1985)

34.  Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)

35.  Double Whammy (Tom DiCillo, 2001)

36.  Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)

37.  Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, 1989)

38.  Election (Alexander Payne, 1999)

39.  Elephant (Gus Van Sant,  2003)

40.  Everything Must Go (Dan Rush, 2011) 

41.  Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)

42.  Flirt (Hal Hartley, 1995)

43.  Flirting With Disaster (David O Russell, 1996)

44.  Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008)

45.  Funny Ha Ha (Andrew Bujalski, 2004)

46.  Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009)

47.  Garden State (Zach Braff, 2004)

48.  Gas, Food Lodging (Alison Anders, 1992)

49.  George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)

50.  Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2000)

51.  Go Fish (Rose Troche, 1994)

52.  Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)

53.  Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani, 2009)

54.  Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, 2010)

55.  Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)

56.  Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck, 2006)

57.  Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998)

58.  Hard Eight (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1996)

59.  Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989)

60.  Heavy (James Mangold, 1995)

61.  Henry Fool (Hal Hartley, 1997)

62.  High Art (Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)

63.  High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)

64.  Honeydripper (John Sayles, 2007)

65.  Igby Goes Down (Burr Steers, 2002)

66.  In America (Jim Sheridan, 2003)

67.  In The Bedroom (Todd Field, 2001)

68.  In The Company Of Men (Neil Labute, 1997)

69.  In The Soup (Alexandre Rockwell, 1992)

70.  Johnny Suede (Tom DiCillo, 1991)

71.  Julien Donkey-boy (Harmony Korine, 1999)

72.  Junebug (Phil Morrison, 2005)

73.  Jungle Fever (Spike Lee, 1991)

74.  Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)

75.  Keane (Lodge Kerrigan, 2005)

76.  Kids (Larry Clark, 1995)

77.  Kissing Jessica Stein (Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, 2001)

78.  Lars and the Real Girl (Craig Gillespie, 2007)

79.  Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995)

80.  Lianna (John Sayles, 1982) 

81.  Life During Wartime (Todd Solondz, 2009)

82.  Limbo (John Sayles, 1999) 

83.  Little Children (Todd Field, 2006)

84.  Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris, 2006)

85.  Living In Oblivion (Tom Dicillo, 1995)

86.  Lovely & Amazing (Nicole Holofcener, 2001)

87.  Made (Jon Favreau, 2001)

88.  Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant, 1985)

89.  Man Push Cart (Ramin Bahrani, 2005)

90.  Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

91.  Margot At The Wedding (Noah Baumbach, 2007)

92.  Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, 2011) 

93.  Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, 2005)

94.  Mean Creek (Jacob Aaron Estes, 2004)

95.  Metropolitan (Whit Stillman, 1990)

96.  Mi Vida Loca (Alison Anders, 1993)

97.  Mississippi Masala (Mira Nair, 1992)

98.  Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003)

99.  Monster's Ball (Marc Forster, 2001)

100.My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

101.Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki, 2004)

102.Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989)

103.Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004)

104.Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008)

105.Night On Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991)

106.Nurse Betty (Neil Labute, 2000)

107.Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999)

108.Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, 2007)

109.Palindromes (Todd Solondz, 2004)

110.Palookaville (Alan Taylor, 1995)

111.Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)

112.Parting Glances (Bill Sherwood, 1986)

113.Passion Fish (John Sayles, 1992)

114.Pecker (John Waters, 1998)

115.Personal Velocity (Rebecca Miller, 2002)

116.Pieces Of April (Peter Hedges, 2003)

117.Poison (Todd Haynes, 1991)

118.Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, 2009)

119.Punch Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)

120.Putty Hill (Matthew Porterfield, 2010)

121.Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)

122.Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, 1987)

123.Raising Victor Vargas (Peter Sollett, 2003)

124.Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)

125.River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt, 1994)

126.River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986)

127.Ruby In Paradise (Victor Nunez, 1993)

128.Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)

129.Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)

130.Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh, 1989)

131.Sherrybaby (Laurie Collyer, 2006)

132.She's Gotta Have It (Spike Lee, 1986)

133.She's So Lovely (Nick Cassavetes, 1997)

134.She's The One (Edward Burns, 1996)

135.Shopgirl (Anand Tucker, 2005)

136.Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006)

137.Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2007)

138.Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)

139.Simple Men (Hal Hartley, 1992)

140.Singles (Cameron Crowe, 1992)

141.Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)

142.Slam (Marc Levin, 1998)

143.Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton, 1996)

144.Smoke (Wayne Wang/Paul Auster, 1995)

145.Spanking The Monkey (David O Russell, 1994)

146.Storytelling (Todd Solondz, 2001)

147.Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1983)

148.SubUrbia (Richard Linklater, 1996)

149.Sunshine State (John Sayles, 2002)

150.Swingers (Doug Liman, 1996)

151.Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)

152.Tape (Richard Linklater, 2001)

153.The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)

154.The Brothers McMullen (Edward Burns, 1995)

155.The Daytrippers (Greg Mottola, 1998)

156.The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011) 

157.The Fighter (David O. Russell, 2010)

158.The Future (Miranda July, 2011)

159.The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, 2010)

160.The Last Days Of Disco (Whit Stillman, 1998)

161.The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson, 2004)

162.The Music of Chance (Philip Haas, 1993)

163.The Opposite Of Sex (Don Roos, 1998)

164.The Real Blonde (Tom DiCillo, 1998)

165.The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

166.The Savages (Tamara Jenkins, 2007)

167.The Shape Of Things (Neil Labute, 2003)

168.The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)

169.The Station Agent (Thomas Mccarthy, 2003)

170.The Straight Story (David Lynch, 1999)

171.The Unbelievable Truth (Hal Hartley, 1989)

172.The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999)

173.The Visitor (Thomas Mccarthy, 2008)

174.The Wackness (Jonathan Levine, 2008)

175.The Wonder Boys (Curtis Hanson, 2000)

176.The Woodsman (Nicole Kassel, 2004)

177.The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

178.Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke, 2003)

179.Thumbsucker (Mike Mills, 2005)

180.Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham, 2010)

181.To Sleep With Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990)

182.Towelhead (Alan Ball, 2007)

183.Transamerica (Duncan Tucker, 2005)

184.Trees Lounge (Steve Buscemi, 1996)

185.Trust (Hal Hartley, 1990)

186.Tully (Hilary Birmingham, 2002)

187.Tumbleweeds (Gavin O’Conner, 1999)

188.Twin Falls Idaho (Michael Polish, 1999)

189.Ulee's Gold (Victor Nunez, 1997)

190.Waitress (Adrienne Shelly, 2007)

191.Walking and Talking (Nicole Holofcener, 1996)

192.Welcome To The Dollhouse (Todd Solondz, 1995)

193.Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)

194.What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (Lasse Hallstrom, 1993)

195.Win Win (Thomas Mccarthy, 2011)

196.Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)

197.You Can Count On Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000)

198.Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)

199.Your Friends & Neighbors (Neil Labute, 1998)

200.Youth in Revolt (Miguel Arteta, 2010)

Real Names of Film Stars (5 Lists)

10

10 Famous Real Names. Some real names of movie stars have been bandied about so often that many movie fans will know them. See if you can get these 10, and if not the answers are at the end of this section.

1.         Allen Stuart Konisberg

2.         Archibald Leach

3.         Frances Gumm

4.         Frederick Austerlitz

5.         Greta Gustafsson

6.         Marion Michael Morrison

7.         Maurice Micklewhite

8.         Norma Jean Baker

9.         Ramon Estevez         

10.       Richard Jenkins

Slight Changes. Then there are those which are easy enough to guess because the real name was changed only slightly. Have a go at these, and again the answers are at the end of this section if you need them.

1.         Audrey Kathleen Ruston

2.         Carl Adolf Von Sydow

3.         Catherine Jones

4.         Claire Blume

5.         Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven Van Den Bogaerde

6.         James Scott Baumgardner               

7.         Jan Tomas Forman

8.         Nathalie Hedren

9.         Philip Andre Rourke Jr.                     

10.       Samuel Wilder

Inconvenient Real Names There’s a couple of times stars had to change their real names because they were already being used (and in both cases they were also the real names of the stars already using them.)

1.         Stewart Granger’s real name was James Stewart

2.         Michael Keaton’s real name is Michael Douglas

The Glamour Factor. Then there are the real names that were changed because they simply didn’t sound very glamourous

1.         Demi Moore - Demi Guynes

2.         Diana Dors - Diana Mary Fluck

3.         Doris Day  - Doris Kappelhof

4.         Ginger Rogers - Virginia Katherine McMath

5.         Jean Arthur  - Gladys Georgianna Greene

6.         Jennifer Jones - Phyllis Flora Isley    

7.         Lauren Bacall  - Betty Joan Perske

8.         Rock Hudson  - Roy Fitzgerald

9.         Stan Laurel  - Arthur Stanley Jefferson

10.       Veronica Lake - Constance Ockelman

The Pronunciation Issue But mostly names have been changed because they’re too long and/or too foreign-sounding and difficult to pronounce for English speakers.

1.         Alan Alda  - Alphonso Joseph d'Abruzzo

2.         Andre De Toth  - Sasvrai Farkasfalvi Tothfalusi Toth Endre Anral Mihaly

3.         Andy Garcia - Andrés Arturo García Menéndez

4.         Anne Bancroft - Anna Maria Louisa Italiano

5.         Bela Lugosi  - Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó

6.         Ben Kingsley - Krishna Bhanji

7.         Charles Aznavour - Shahnour Varenagh Aznavurjian

8.         Cher - Cherilyn Sarkisian

9.         Cyd Charisse - Tula Ellice Finklea

10.       Danny Kaye  - Daniel Kaminsky

11.       Dean Martin - Dino Paul Crocetti

12.       Dennis Price - Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose-Price

13.       Dolores Del Rio    - María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete

14.       Dorothy Lamour - Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton

15.       Eric Rohmer  - Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer

16.       Hedy Lamarr  - Hedwig Eva Marie Kiesler

17.       Helen Mirren - Ilynea Lydia Mironoff

18.       Herbert Lom  - Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich Ze Schluderpacheru

19.       Jack Palance - Volodymyr Palahniuk

20.       Jackie Chan  - Kong-Sang Chan

21.       Jean Reno - Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez

22.       Joan Crawford  - Lucille Fay Le Sueur

23.       John Ford - Sean Aloysius O’Feeney

24.       John Garfield - Jacob Julius Garfinkle

25.       Karen Black - Karen Ziegler

26.       Karl Malden  - Mladen Sekulovich

27.       Kirk Douglas - Issur Danielovitch Demsky

28.       Klaus Kinski - Nikolaus Günther Nakszynski

29.       Laurence Harvey - Laruschka Mischa Skikne

30.       Marlene Dietrich - Marie Magdelene Dietrich Von Losch

31.       Mary Astor  - Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke

32.       Mel Brooks - Melvyn Kaminsky

33.       Melvyn Douglas - Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg        

34.       Michael Curtiz - Manó Kertész Kaminer

35.       Mike Nichols - Michael Igor Peschkowsky

36.       Natalie Wood  - Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko

37.       Nicholas Ray - Raymond Nicholas Kienzle

38.       Omar Sharif  - Michael Shalhoub

39.       Paul Henreid - Paul Georg Julius Hernreid Ritter Von Wassel-Waldingau

40.       Paul Muni - Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund

41.       Peter Lorre  - László Löwenstein

42.       Rita Hayworth - Margarita Carmen Cansino

43.       Robert Taylor - Spangler Arlington Brugh

44.       Sophia Loren  - Sophia Scicoloni

45.       Stephane Audran - Colette Suzanne Dacheville

46.       Tony Curtis - Bernard Schwartz

47.       Walter Matthau  - Walter Matuschanskavasky

48.       Werner Herzog - Werner Stipetic

49.       William Wyler - Wilhelm Weiller

50.       Winona Ryder - Winona Horowitz

Answers

Famous Real Names.

1.         Allen Stuart Konisberg: Woody Allen

2.         Archibald Leach: Cary Grant

3.         Frances Gumm: Judy Garland

4.         Frederick Austerlitz: Fred Astaire

5.         Greta Gustafsson: Greta Garbo        

6.         Marion Michael Morrison: John Wayne

7.         Maurice Micklewhite: Michael Caine

8.         Norma Jean Baker: Marilyn Monroe

9.         Ramon Estevez: Martin Sheen

10.       Richard Jenkins: Richard Burton

Slight Changes

1.         Audrey Kathleen Ruston: Audrey Hepburn

2.         Carl Adolf Von Sydow: Max Von Sydow

3.         Catherine Jones: Catherine Zeta-Jones

4.         Claire Blume: Claire Bloom

5.         Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven Van Den Bogaerde:

Dirk Bogarde  

6.         James Scott Baumgardner: James Garner

7.         Jan Tomas Forman: Milos Forman

8.         Nathalie Hedren: Tippi Hedren

9.         Philip Andre Rourke Jr. : Mickey Rourke

10.       Samuel Wilder: Billy Wilder

60 Wonderfully Schlocky Titles Of 1950’s Sci-Fi and Monster Movies

1. 1.       Attack Of The 50ft Woman (US,1958)
2. 2.       Attack Of The Crab Monsters (US,1956)
3. 3.       Attack Of The Puppet People (US,1958)
4. 4.       Beautiful Women And The Hydrogen Man (US,1958)
5. 5.       Cat Women Of The Moon (US,1953)
6. 6.       Donovan’s Brain (US,1953)
7. 7.       Fiend Without A Face (US,1957)
8. 8.       Fire Maidens From Outer Space (US,1956)
9. 9.       Godzilla, King Of The Monsters! (US,1956)
10. 10.     Have Rocket Will Travel (US,1959)
11. 11.     Help I’m Invisible (US,1952)
12. 12.     I Married A Monster From Outer Space (US,1958)
13. 13.     I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (US,1958)
14. 14.     I Was A Teenage Werewolf (US,1957)
15. 15.     Invasion Of The Saucermen (US,1957)
16. 16.     It Came From Beneath The Sea (US,1955)
17. 17.     It Came From Outer Space (US,1953)
18. 18.     It Conquered The World (US,1956)
19. 19.     Man Without A Body (US,1957)
20. 20.     Monster From The Ocean Floor (US,1954)
21. 21.     Monster On The Campus (US,1958)
22. 22.     On the Mesa of Lost Women (US,1953)
23. 23.     Plan 9 From Outer Space AKA Grave Robbers From Outer Space (US,1956)
24. 24.     Queen Of Outer Space (US,1958)
25. 25.     Revenge Of The Creature (US,1955) (Stars Clint Eastwood)
26. 26.     Revenge Of The Virgins (US,1959)
27. 27.     Robot Monster (US,1953)
28. 28.     Superman And The Mole Men (US,1951)
29. 29.     Teenagers From Outer Space (US,1959)
30. 30.     Terror From The Year 5,000 (US,1958)
31. 31.     The 30 Foot Bride Of Candy Rock (US,1959)
32. 32.     The Amazing Colossal Man (US,1957)
33. 33.     The Angry Red Planet (US,1959)
34. 34.     The Atomic Kid (US,1954)
35. 35.     The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (US,1953)
36. 36.     The Beast With A Million Eyes (US,1956)
37. 37.     The Blob (US,1958) (Stars Steve McQueen)
38. 38.     The Brain Eaters (US,1958)
39. 39.     The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (US,1959)
40. 40.     The Cosmic Man Appears In Tokyo (US,1956)
41. 41.     The Creature From The Black Lagoon (US,1954)
42. 42.     The Creature With The Atom Brain (US,1955)
43. 43.     The Day The Sky Exploded (US,1958)
44. 44.     The Day The World Ended (US,1956)
45. 45.     The Giant Gila Monster (US,1959)
46. 46.     The Hideous Sun Demon (US,1959)
47. 47.     The Incredible Preying Mantis (US,1957)
48. 48.     The Incredible Shrinking Man (US,1957)
49. 49.     The Indestructible Man (US,1956)
50. 50.     The Invisible Boy (US,1957)
51. 51.     The Magnetic Monster (US,1953)
52. 52.     The Man From Planet X (US,1951)
53. 53.     The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls (US,1959)
54. 54.     The Man Who Turned To Stone (US,1957)
55. 55.     The Mole People (US,1956)
56. 56.     The Night The World Exploded (US,1957)
57. 57.     The Twonky (US,1953)
58. 58.     The Viking Woman And The Sea Serpent (US,1957)
59. 59.     Them! (US,1954)
60. 60.     Untamed Women (US,52)

30 Famous Foreign Directors : What to Watch, What to Avoid

Kieslowski, Godard, Renoir, etc: not bad, but could do better! 

 

This is another one of my occasional non-factual posts: it’s just my opinions. This is a list of 30 foreign-language directors who are often acclaimed but to me what’s most striking about them is how uneven their work is. They hold the middle ground of cinema as far as I’m concerned, not as good as directors like Kurosawa and Bergman and Bunuel, who are nearly always good, but not as bad as directors like Von Trier and Antonioni and Miike, who are nearly always bad. These 30 directors are occasionally brilliant, but just as often their movies are over-rated, and sometimes a real chore to sit through.

1.   Agnes Varda : WATCH The Beaches of Agnes

2.   Alejandro Amenabar : WATCH Open Your Eyes, The Others

3.   Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu : WATCH Amores Perros, 21 Grams AVOID Babel, Biutuful

4.   Arnaud Desplechin : WATCH Ma Vie Sexuelle AVOID A Christmas Tale

5.   Bernardo Bertolucci : WATCH The Conformist, 1900, The Last Emperor AVOID Last Tango in Paris, Stealing Beauty, The Dreamers

6.   Emir Kusturica : WATCH Time of the Gypsies, Underground AVOID Arizona Dream

7.   Federico Fellini : WATCH La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, Amarcord AVOID La Dolce Vita, Juliet of the Spirits

8.   Francois Truffaut : WATCH The Soft Skin, Stolen Kisses, Wild Child, Day for Night, The Last Metro AVOID Jules et Jim, The Story of Adele H., The Woman Next Door

9.   Hirokazu Koreeda : WATCH Afterlife AVOID Nobody Knows

10. Jean Renoir : WATCH The Crime of Monsieur Lange, La Bete Humaine, Rules of the Game AVOID Boudu Saved From Drowning, The Southerner, The River

11. Jean-Luc Godard : WATCH Vivre Sa Vie, Weekend, Tout Va Bien AVOID Pierrot Le Fou, One Plus One, Notre Musique

12. Jean-Pierre Jeunet : WATCH Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, Mic-Macs

13. Joon-ho Bong : WATCH Memories of Murder

14. Kim Ki-Duk : WATCH Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, 3-Iron

15. Krzysztof Kieslowski : WATCH Three Colours Trilogy AVOID Dekalog (10 Short Films)

16. Louis Malle : WATCH My Dinner with Andre, Atlantic City AVOID Murmur of the Heart

17. Luchino Visconti : WATCH Ossessione, Rocco and His Brothers AVOID La Terra Trama, he Leopard

18. Lukas Moodyson : WATCH Show Me Love, Lilya 4-Ever, Together AVOID A Hole in My Heart

19. Marcel Carne : WATCH Le Jour Se Leve, Les Visiteurs Du Soir, Quai Des Brumes AVOID Les Enfants Du Paradis

20. Pedro Almodovar : WATCH Matador, Live Flesh (Many others are quite good, but they are all so indistinguishable I find it hard to say which are the best)

21. Rainer Werner Fassbinder : WATCH Ali: Fear Eats the Soul... and (if you can appreciate its perverse humour) Beware of A Holy Whore AVOID The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, The Third Generation

22. Roberto Rossellini : WATCH Rome: Open City

23. Satyajit Ray : WATCH Pather Panchali, The Middleman

24. Sergei Eisenstein : WATCH Potemkin

25. Takeshi Kitano : WATCH Sonatine, Dolls, Zatoichi

26. Vittorio De Sica : WATCH Bicycle Thieves, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis AVOID Umberto D

27. Werner Herzog : WATCH Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, Encounters at the End of the World AVOID Every Man for Himself and God Against All, Nosferatu, Cobra Verde

28. Wim Wenders : WATCH Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire AVOID Kings of the Road

29. Wong Kar Wai : WATCH Chungking Express, 2046 AVOID Happy Together

30. Zhang Yimou : WATCH Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers