‘Variety’ Picks Top 100 Films Ever — Headed Up by ‘Psycho’

The truth hurts. (GIF via GIPHY)

Variety, a publication that brags it is as old as the movies, has cooked up a list of the Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time. They report, "[I]n making this list, we wanted to reflect the beautiful, head-spinning variety of the moviegoing experience. We don’t just mean different genres; we don’t just mean highbrow and lowbrow (and everything in between). The very spirit of cinema is that it has long been a landscape of spine-tingling eclecticism, and we wanted our list to reflect that — to honor the movies we love most, whatever categories they happen to fall into."

At #1? Somewhat surprisingly, as it is rarely in pole position on other such lists, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. (Proud nepo baby — and icon in her own right — Jamie Lee Curtis is pleased.) Biggest omission? Gotta be Sunset Boulevard. I mean, Saving Private Ryan and My Best Friend's Wedding and Bridesmaids are better?!

I find the list is so safe as to flirt with banality, in spite of some painful leave-outs and a very few edgy picks:

(100) The Graduate (1967)

(99) 12 Angry Men (1957)

(98) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

(97) Alien (1979)

(96) A Hard Day's Night (1964)

(95) Toy Story (1995)

(94) Bridesmaids (2011)

(93) Le Samouraï (1967)

(92) Pink Flamingos (1972)

(91) Scenes from a Marriage (1974)

(90) The Shining (1980)

(89) Belle de Jour (1967)

(88) Malcolm X (1992)

(87) The Sound of Music (1965)

(86) Close-Up (1990)

(85) Natural Born Killers (1994)

(84) Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

(83) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

(82) Parasite (2019)

(81) The Dark Knight (2008)

(80) Pixote (1980)

(79) Waiting for Guffman (1996)

(78) Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

(77) Goldfinger (1964)

(76) The Tree of Life (2011)

(75) Boogie Nights (1997)

(74) My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

(73) Intolerance (1916)

(72) Breaking the Waves (1996)

(71) My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

(70) 12 Years a Slave (2013)

(69) Beau Travail (1999)

(68) King Kong (1933)

(67) Bicycle Thieves (1948)

(66) Paris Is Burning (1990)

(65) A Man Escaped (1956)

(64) Carrie (1976)

(63) Bambi (1942)

(62) Dazed and Confused (1993)

(61) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

(60) Moulin Rouge! (2001)

(59) Vagabond (1985)

(58) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

(57) Brokeback Mountain (2005)

(56) Rosemary's Baby (1968)

(55) Pather Panchali (1955)

(54) The Road Warrior (1981)

(53) In the Mood for Love (2000)

(52) The General (1926)

(51) Apocalypse Now (1979)

(50) Breathless (1960)

(49) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

(48) The Piano (1993)

(47) Mean Streets (1973)

(46) Notorious (1946)

(45) Titanic (1997)

(44) L'avventura (1960)

(43) Shoah (1985)

(42) Moonlight (2016)

(41) The Wild Bunch (1969)

(40) Fargo (1996)

(39) Some Like It Hot (1959)

(38) Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

(37) Annie Hall (1977)

(36) On the Waterfront (1954)

(35) The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

(34) Stagecoach (1939)

(33) 8-1/2 (1963)

(32) Vertigo (1958)

(31) Network (1976)

(30) The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

(29) Double Indemnity (1944)

(28) City Lights (1931)

(27) Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

(26) The 400 Blows (1959)

(25) Bringing Up Baby (1938)

(24) Tokyo Story (1953)

(23) The Apartment (1960)

(22) Chinatown (1974)

(21) Gone with the Wind (1939)

(20) Blue Velvet (1986)

(19) The Godfather Part II (1974)

(18) Persona (1966)

(17) Nashville (1975)

(16) Casablanca (1942)

(15) Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

(14) Do the Right Thing (1989)

(13) The Rules of the Game (1939)

(12) Goodfellas (1990)

(11) Singing' in the Rain (1952)

(10) Saving Private Ryan (1998)

(9) All About Eve (1950)

(8) It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

(7) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

(6) Seven Samurai (1954)

(5) Pulp Fiction (1994)

(4) Citizen Kane (1941)

(3) The Godfather (1972)

(2) The Wizard of Oz (1939)

(1) Psycho (1960)

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