TSPDT - The 1,000 Greatest Films


	The 1,000 Greatest Films
	As voted by 1,604 critics, filmmakers, reviewers, scholars and other likely film types.
	Current Version: December 2007

	• The 1,000 Greatest Films Home • The Top 250 Films • The Top 100 Directors • Full List by Ranking • Full List by Title • Full List by Director • Full List by Year • Full List by Country • Alternative Titles
	• Ins & Outs • The Lists • PDF Companion • Links • Other Bits

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	Note: We've scheduled the next version of TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films to be up-and-running sometime during December 2008. Fingers crossed!

	◊ ESSENTIAL Take a look at Shooting Down Pictures' video essays of many of TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films. See the video index at YouTube.

	NEW → Our graphical (more detailed) listing of the most acclaimed films of all-time has just got bigger. We've expanded it from the top 100 films to the top 250 films, and we hope you enjoy it. Our goal, eventually, is to have all 1,000 films listed in this manner.
	*◊ Based on TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films, the Cinematheque of Cuba shows the best twenty movies of all-time.*

	TSPDT dedicates this version of the 1,000 Greatest Films to Angel Gonzalez Garcia. Angel provided us with literally hundreds of lists from Europe, which in turn has had a huge impact on the makeup of the 1,000 (139 changes speaks for itself). We can't thank him enough for his enthusiasm and effort.



	A Shooting Down Pictures Introduction
	Kevin B. Lee has written a pair of terrific articles on the new 1,000 Greatest Films listing. They can be found at his website Shooting Down Pictures. They both serve perfectly as an introduction to the new list, so please take a look.
	Part 1: 100 - 40 = 99. Roll film, Sisyphus…
	Part 2: The new 1000 Greatest Films: statistics and opinions

	• Another year has passed, and another version of TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films has sprung to life. We hope you enjoy the new list and the new design, and we would love to hear any feedback you have on this ongoing project.

	• The December 2007 list of the 1,000 Greatest Films of all-time has primarily been compiled by using 1,604 individual critics' and filmmakers' best-films-of-all-time lists/ballots. That's 284 more ballots than our December 2006 update. As mentioned above, Angel Gonzalez Garcia kindly provided us with most of those ballots. He is the main reason that our 1,000 Greatest Films list is now based on over 1,600 individual lists. Also, a warm thank you to Zlatan Skobic who also made a significant contribution.

	• In summary, here is the exact breakdown of individual ballots used, or if you like, where we have begged, borrowed and stolen from... Sight & Sound 1952-2002 polls (541 ballots), Senses of Cinema's ongoing poll (155), Time Out's 1995 poll (110), Your Movie Database's (YMDB) Critics Corner (75), El Mundo's 1995 poll (72), Positif’s 1991 poll (66), The Cinematheque Top 10 Project (66), Facets’ 2003 poll (63), Cinematheque Belgique's 1952 poll (52), the 1988 publication, John Kobal Presents the Top 100 Movies (44), PBS's Independent Lens series (44), Steadycam's 1997 & 2007 polls (40), The Village Voice's 1999 poll (38), Nickel Odeon's 1994-1998 polls (34), BBC's Calling the Shots series (31), Epoca Online’s 2000 poll (28), Profil's 2004 poll (25), and 120 miscellaneous lists from a variety of other sources, some of which you can view here.

	• As per previous versions, we have also factored in (although to a much lesser degree than the aforementioned individual ballots) over 650 magazine polls, film institute polls, individual polls from 'esteemed' critics or filmmakers, specialty polls of note, and other polls of interest. These include: Halliwell's Top 100 Films (2005), Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies (2005), Jonathan Rosenbaum's 100 Favourite Films (2004), Derek Malcolm's Century of Film (2001) and Leonard Maltin's 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century (2000). Smaller lists, also incorporated, include: Jean-Luc Godard's Six Best French Films Since the Liberation (1965), Jim Jarmusch's 10 Best Films of the 1980's (1989), Terry Gilliam's 10 Best Animated Films of All-Time (2001), Roger Ebert's 20 Best Political Films of the Last Two Decades (1996) and Bertrand Tavernier's 10 Overlooked French Films (2003).



	• To view a complete listing of the 1,604 individual ballots and 656 miscellaneous polls used, please click here.

	• A total of 139 films have come and gone which makes it, from memory, the most substantial update we have ever made. In terms of the changes that have occurred, personally-speaking, it's terrific to see King Vidor's florid Western classic "Duel in the Sun" come on board, but by the same token it's sad to see Anthony Mann's equally sublime (but very different) Western "The Naked Spur" leave us. I'm sure you will be, as we are, both delighted and disappointed with many of the comings and goings. Good to see Sydney Pollack's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" debuting on the list at number 972. It's a fine film, arguably his best, and what a lovely title! On the director front, it's hard to believe that Budd Boetticher and Frank Tashlin (to name just two greats) don't have a single film to show for on the list. And what about Raúl Ruiz? To view all the ins and outs, please go here.

	• Please take a look at our 275-page PDF Companion to the 1,000 Greatest Films. This document contains every critics' pick that contributed to TSPDT's current 1,000 Greatest Films. Whilst perusing this document, please keep in mind that we use a reasonably complicated set of formulas to come up with the Top-1000, from a starting list of over 5,700 films. These formulas take into account, amongst other things, the quality/reputation of the critic, the quality/reputation of the poll, the age of the poll (e.g., the 2002 Sight and Sound poll is weighted higher than the 1992 poll), whether a film has stood the test of time (yes, as you may have suspected, we do mark recent films harder), etc, etc.

	Narrowed down from a starting list of over 5,700 films, utilizing some rather tricky formulas, we believe that this is quite possibly the most definitive guide to the most-acclaimed movies of all-time. At the very least, it is a rather spiffy place for all budding/established film buffs to commence/enhance their cinematic experiences. So what are you waiting for? Start that Checklist now!

	• Speaking of checklists, you can now simply check-off what movies you've seen on either the 1,000 Greatest Films listing, the 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films listing, or the 250 Quintessential Noir Films listing and this handy website will do the rest for you.
	1,000 Greatest Films Checklist.
	21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films Checklist.
	250 Quintessential Noir Films Checklist.

	Credits
	• Many thanks to to Bill Spiby who kindly lent us his 1952, 1962 and 1982 Sight and Sound magazines. Thanks also to Harold Wexler for providing us with the 1972 Sight and Sound lists and many others. Thanks also to Lee Price (who is curating the "Doubling the Canon" project on the IMDB Classic Film Board) for his enthusiasm and support, and indeed, to everybody else who has provided us with more lists to reference and/or contacted us (either negatively or positively) with regards to this venture. Thanks-a-plenty to Angel Gonzalez Garcia who has provided us with countless European lists. Thanks also to Zlatan Skobic for his contributions. And, finally thanks also to Kevin B. Lee and Kevyn Knox for the terrific support they have given to this project, and for their promotion of it on their own terrific websites found here and here. It must be said that Kevin B. Lee's detailed articles (sometimes with accompanying video essays) on many of the 1,000 Greatest Films can not afford to be missed.

	You Can Help
	If you have access to any additional film lists (not mentioned here) from critics and/or filmmakers, then - of course - we'd love to see them. Please send all lists to bill@theyshootpictures.com.


	• The 1,000 Greatest Films Home • The Top 250 Films • The Top 100 Directors • Full List by Ranking • Full List by Title • Full List by Director • Full List by Year • Full List by Country • Alternative Titles
	• Ins & Outs • The Lists • PDF Companion • Links • Other Bits