Best 10 Films of China and Hong Kong

© William L. Sinclair
These rankings are from our compendium of all internet film polls, posted here..

Top ranked films on the net from China (7), Hong Kong (8), and Taiwan (8).

China
1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Lee, Ang; 2000] #152 - China-Taiwan-US [photo above]
2. Spring in a Small Town [Fei Mu; 1948] #674 - China
3. House of Flying Daggers [Zhang Yimou; 2004] #710 - China
4. Yellow Earth [Chen Kaige; 1984] #854 - China
5. Red Sorghum [Zhang Yimou; 1987] #918 - China
6. Flight of the Red Balloon, The [Hsiao-hsien Hou; 2007] #943 - China
7. King of the Children [Chen Kaige; 1987] #1179 - China

Hong Kong
1. In the Mood for Love [Wong Kar-Wai; 2001] #272 - Hong Kong-France [photo rt]
2. Raise the Red Lantern [Zhang Yimou; 1991] #303 - Hong Kong
3. Farewell, My Concubine [Chen Kaige; 1993] #456 - Hong Kong-China
4. Chungking Express [Wong Kar-Wai; 1994] #534 - Hong Kong
5. Killer, The [Woo, John; 1989] #709 - Hong Kong
6. Happy Together [Wong Kar-Wai; 1997] #1085 - Hong Kong
7. Days of Being Wild [Wong Kar-Wai; 1990] #1118 - Hong Kong
8. Fallen Angels [Wong Kar-Wai; 1995] #1147 - Hong Kong

Taiwan
1. Yi yi [Yang, Edward; 2000] #223 - Taiwan-Japan
2. Time to Live and the Time to Die, The [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1985] #501 - Taiwan
3. City of Sadness, A [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1989] #509 - Taiwan
4. Touch of Zen, A [Hu, King; 1969] #660 - Taiwan
5. Brighter Summer Day, A [Yang, Edward; 1991] #721 - Taiwan
6. Puppetmaster, The [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1993] #817 - Taiwan
7. Flowers of Shanghai [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1998] #898 - Taiwan
8. Vive L'Amour [Tsai Ming-Liang; 1994] #1062 - Taiwan
[Unfortunately, the films of Hou Hsaio-Hsien are hard to find; the only films on this list I've seen are Flowers of Shanghai, reviewed, and  Yi Yi, not reviewed]

These are all worth seeing, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-Wai are among my favorite all-time directors, and Ang Lee never made a bad film in the east or west. [Of the Taiwan films, I've only seen Yi Yi] Two of Kar-Wai's best films were meant as one long film: Chungking Express, followed by Fallen Angels - together they inspired Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Yimou's films got him the job of planning the ceremonies at the Beijing summer Olympics, which were mind-boggling.

Omissions:
Zhang Yimou's Hero, top-grossing film in Chinese history, exciting action and a terrific screenplay with a winding plot about assassins after the King of Q'in.

Zhang Yimou's To Live, grand prize winner at Cannes, a beautiful romantic epic about a Chinese family, covers about four decades in their lives.

Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, audience winner at Sundance, introduced Ziyi Zhang to the west; a story of a lifetime marriage from its beginnings, and the long road home at the end.

Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman, from Taiwan; a delicious film about a master chef and his unmarried daughters.

Chien Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin, a beautiful historical costume epic with a twisty plot.

Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time Redux - a re-edited version of his samurai film about a wine that makes one forget

Combining all the above as just China, we get this list:
1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Lee, Ang; 2000] #152 - China-Taiwan-US
2. Yi yi [Yang, Edward; 2000] #223 - Taiwan-Japan
3. In the Mood for Love [Wong Kar-Wai; 2001] #272 - Hong Kong-France
4. Raise the Red Lantern [Zhang Yimou; 1991] #303 - Hong Kong
5. Farewell, My Concubine [Chen Kaige; 1993] #456 - Hong Kong-China
6. Time to Live and the Time to Die, The [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1985] #501 - Taiwan
7. City of Sadness, A [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1989] #509 - Taiwan
8. Chungking Express [Wong Kar-Wai; 1994] #534 - Hong Kong
9. Touch of Zen, A [Hu, King; 1969] #660 - Taiwan
10. Spring in a Small Town [Fei Mu; 1948] #674 - China
11. Killer, The [Woo, John; 1989] #709 - Hong Kong
12. House of Flying Daggers [Zhang Yimou; 2004] #710 - China
13. Brighter Summer Day, A [Yang, Edward; 1991] #721 - Taiwan
14. Puppetmaster, The [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1993] #817 - Taiwan
15. Yellow Earth [Chen Kaige; 1984] #854 - China
16. Flowers of Shanghai [Hou Hsiao-Hsien; 1998] #898 - Taiwan
17. Red Sorghum [Zhang Yimou; 1987] #918 - China
18. Flight of the Red Balloon, The [Hsiao-hsien Hou; 2007] #943 - China
19. Vive L'Amour [Tsai Ming-Liang; 1994] #1062 - Taiwan
20. Happy Together [Wong Kar-Wai; 1997] #1085 - Hong Kong
21. Days of Being Wild [Wong Kar-Wai; 1990] #1118 - Hong Kong
22. Fallen Angels [Wong Kar-Wai; 1995] #1147 - Hong Kong
23. King of the Children [Chen Kaige; 1987] #1179 - China

Ziyi Zhang, star of Hero, The Road Home,

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House

of Flying Daggers, and Memoirs of a Geisha

My favorites from all the nations above

1. Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) China
3. To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
4. Together (Chien Kaige, 2002)
5. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994) Hong Kong
6. Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai, 1995) Hong Kong
7. The Road Home (Zhang Yimou, 1999)
8. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2001) Hong Kong
9. Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 1994) Taiwan
10. Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1988) Hong Kong
11. Devils On the Doorstep (Wen Jiang, 2000), bw
12. Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)
13. King of Masks (Bian Lian, 1997) China-Hong Kong
14. Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993)
15. House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
16. The Kite Runner (Marc Forster, 2007) US-China
17. Zhou Yu's Train (Zhou Sun, 2004) China
18. Not One Less (Zhang Yimou, 1999) China
19. Yi yi (Yang, Edward; 2000) #223 - Taiwan-Japan - not reviewed
20. Red Cliff (John Woo, 2008)

Special Mention
Himalaya (Eric Valli, 1999) Nepal [Listed as France-Switz.-UK-Nepal]

Others worth seeing
The Emperor and the Assassin (1998) China
Lust, Caution (2007) China
Ashes of Time Redux (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994) China
The Promise (Chien Kaige, 2005) China
The Killer (John Woo, 1989) Hong Kong (not reviewed)

Korea [unfortunately I haven't seen many, these are the best two]
Oldboy (2003) Korea
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.. and Spring (2003) Korea

Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels (1995)

Best 10 Films of Japan

Masahiro Motoki stars in Departures

[AA] Academy Award®, Best Foreign Language Film (only 5 Japanese films have won)

1. The Seven Samurai (1957) Japan, bw (Kurosawa) No. 13 on the IMDB 250 - 4 awards
One of the best action films ever made, inspired many remakes and influenced all actions films that followed. The inferior Japanese film The Burma Harp got a foreign language film Oscar nomination over SS, and the award went to Fellini's La Strada

2. Departures (2008) Japan [AA] (Takita) 33 awards (39 noms) - Elegant, graceful, beautiful film, a 15 yr project for director Takita after he heard the idea from actor Masahiro Motoki [photo top] (This simply needs more total ratings at IMDB to be in their all-time top 250 - go vote! it's score would place it around 140th)

3. Shall We Dance? (1995) Japan  (Suo) 52 awards (out of 55 nominations), won 14 out of 15 Japanese academy awards - A beautiful ballroom dance romance (This also needs more total ratings at IMDB to be in their all-time top 250)



4. The Twilight Samurai (2002) Japan ( Yamada) 37 awards (44 noms) - An anti-action film about a retired and widowed samurai now relegated to doing inventory of a wealthy landlord's food supplies and taking care of his children (This also needs more total ratings at IMDB to be in the top 250)

5. Ugetsu (1953) Japan, bw  (Mizoguchi) 3 awards (5 noms) A haunting love story about a ceramicist trying to avoid medieval war

6. Stray Dog (1949) Japan, bw (Kurosawa) 4 awards - Early Kurosawa police procedural crime film, which caused an explosion of this genre in Japan

7. Rashomon (1954) Japan, bw [AA]  (Kurosawa)  No. 80 on the IMDB 250 7 awards (10 noms)  - The classic about a crime seen from four viewpoints

8. Crazed Fruit (1956) Japan, bw (Kajitsu) A love triangle of two brothers and one girl

9. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Japan (Takahata) No. 124 on the IMDB 250 3 awards  - Animated, but a touching war story about children during WW2, not a kid's film

10. Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) Japan [AA] (Inagaki) The first of a classic samurai trilogy (The Oscar® was its only award)

11. Dersu Uzala (1975, Russia-Japan) [AA] (Kurosawa)  8 awards - classic about a Siberian guide surviving both in the wilderness and in civilization; Kurosawa's best color film to me, and his 2nd Oscar®

12. Yojimbo (1961, bw) (Kurosawa) No. 123 on the IMDB 250 - 4 awards (6 noms) - Another bw classic from the master, inspired by John Ford westerns, then remade in the west as A Fistful of Dollars by Italian Sergio Leone, the first of his spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood

13. Tokyo Story (1953) Japan, bw  (Ozu) 2 awards - Slow but rewarding classic from another master director; for me, Ozu is an acquired taste as his films move very slowly

More worth seeing
Throne of Blood (57) (Kurosawa) - 3 awards

Floating Weeds (59) (Ozu) - no awards
Harakiri (62) aka Seppuku (Kobiyashi) - no awards
Burmese Harp (56) (Ichikawa) - 2 awards (5 noms)
Fires on the Plain (59) (Ichikawa) - 6 awards

Some of these films are rooted in the Japanese tradition of Zen Buddhism, so they are therefore culturally different than western films; they are slower, ritualistic, and more about attitudes and spirituality of life than about action. This is especially true of Departures, Tokyo Story, and The Burmese Harp, but this cultural difference permeates many other films as well.

Other fans love all Kurosawa films, but I only like the black and white ones, I find his color epics, like Ran and Kurosawa, to be long and painful to sit through, which is interesting since Seven Samurai is nearly four hours long, but it seems shorter and is riveting. It has two distinct parts: the setup and character development first half, then the action based, lengthy battle of the second half, all filmed in a driving rainstorm.

Many of these have been remade in the west. Seven Samurai was remade as the western The Magnificent Seven, and the science fiction film  Battle Beyond the Stars. The British tv series The Avengers also parodied it as "The Superlative Seven" (an episode guest starring Donald Sutherland and Charlotte Rampling). Shall We Dance? was remade with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, stick with the original, it's much more artistic.

Rashomon has been often copied - it's the story of a crime later recounted by the victim, the criminal, an eyewitness, and an angel (or ghost) that was watching; of course, each story is different, biased by the perspective of the each witness.

The style of Stray Dog is basically like most modern tv police shows. A rookie cop has his gun stolen on a crowded bus, which is then sold on the black market then used in violent crimes as the policeman doggedly searches for it, using clue after clue to narrow down his suspects and find the weapon.

Departures and Grave of the Fireflies are totally unique, however - each deals with death in different manners. Departures is very ritualistic, graceful, and respectful, very rooted in Zen ceremonies. Grave is a fable-like animated film about two children during WW2. I doubt neither subject will be approached in western films, because they wouldn't make the millions necessary to get them filmed. It's actually very surprising (and gratifying) that Departures won the Oscar® in 2008.

The fifth Japanese film to win an Oscar® for foreign film, Gates of Hell, is not available on dvd, so I haven't seen that one yet.

Best 10 Films of Germany

In The Lives of Others, the E. German state

police tap a dissident playright's home

1. The Lives of Others (2007) [AA] No. 57 on the IMDB 250 62 awards overall (out of just 83 nominations) one of just 5 films to win an AA and BAFTA for foreign film, a thought-provoking film with much depth
2. Run Lola Run (1998) this relentless film moves from the get go and never lets up 26 awards overall
3. Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) terrific comedy, the most loving son in all of cinema 31 awards overall
4. Fitzcarraldo (1982)  one man's obsession, bring opera to the Amazon jungle 4 awards overall
5. Das Boot (The Boat) (1981) No. 63 on the IMDB 250 a harrowing journey inside a German U-boat 9 awards overall (6 Oscar nominations)
6. Nowhere in Africa (2002) [AA] a Jewish mother takes her daugher to Kenya to escape the Nazis 18 awards overall (in just 25 nominations)
7. Triumph of the Will (1935) bw, documentary chronicles the rise of the Nazis
8. Olympia (1938) bw, documentary a journal of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games 2 awards (the Mussolini Cup!)
9. Downfall (2004) No. 95 on the IMDB 250 documents the last days in Hitler's bunker, based on his secretary's memoirs 15 awards overall
10. Beyond Silence (1996) a daughter of deaf-mutes wants to be a musician like her aunt 10 awards overall
11. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) a Spanish explorer is obsessed with gold 3 awards overall
12. The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) documentary a camel rejects her newborn so its owners seek a healing musician 9 awards overall
13. Metropolis (1927) Germany, bw-silent No. 94 on the IMDB 250 Fritz Lang's visionary masterpiece is a bit dated now
14. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) Germany they said Patrick Suskind's novel couldn't be filmed, but it made a good serial killer film 12 awards overall

Spanish explorer Aguirre becomes obsessed 

with the "Lost City of Gold" in So. America 

Leni Reifenstahl later apologized for her two films that glorified Nazi Germany, but since they are such great art, she shouldn't.. she forever changed the look of documentaries and propaganda. Triumph of the Will was so successful that Hitler was awarded "Man of the Year" by Time Magazine in 1935, largely due to this film.


Others Worth Seeing..

The White Ribbon (2009) Palm d'Or at Cannes
The Harmonists (1997)
The Tunnel (2001)
Touch the Sound (2004)
Cobra Verde (1987)
Gloomy Sunday (1999)

[AA] = Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Best 10 Films of Russia

1. Man With the Movie Camera (1928) USSR, bw/silent [photo top]
2. The Cuckoo (2002) Russia
3. Mongol (2007) Russia
4. Come and See (1985) Russia

5. The Battleship Potemkin (1925, Eisenstein) USSR, bw
6. Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Russia, bw
7. War and Peace (1968) Russia
8. Andrei Rublev (1966, Tarkovsky)
9. Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
10. Alexander Nevsky (1938, Eisenstein)
11. I Am Cuba (1964) Cuba-Russia, bw
12. Ivan's Childhood (1962) Russia, bw
13. The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Russia

14. The Italian (2005) Russia [photo below]
15. Siberiade (1979) Russia

Photo from Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace, which used

over 250,000 extras and ran 7 hrs in length

It was first seen in the west on 4 nights on PBS

Dziga Vertov's Man With the Movie Camera, even though silent, still looks modern today, using superimposed images, rapid edits, moving cameras.. the theme and subtitle was "A day in the life of the USSR" - now that hasn't been copied much through the decades!

All Sergei Eisenstein films are brilliant, I just happen to like Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky the most..

I need to rewatch Ivan the Terrible, it's been decades.. that's why it's not on here..

Come and See is a terrific holocaust film; the German invasion of Byelorussia and the scorched earth policy..

The War and Peace directed by Sergei Bondarchuk was the most expensive film (100 m. estimated in 1968) of it's era, and they used 250,000 members of the Red Army free of charge.. costumes must have been a real nightmare!

Andrei Tarkovsky is really a Jekyll and Hyde.. The Mirror is another good one, along with Andrei Rublev, but the others are painful to bear.. I would skip The Sacrifice, Solaris, and Stalker, unless you're a masochist

Best 10 Films of Australia

Walkabout is one of the most

breathtaking films in history

1. Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995) 10.0, comedy, 18 awards (36 noms.) - One Oscar® (7 noms) - both my favorite childrens' film and animal film (Prod. by George Miller, see below)
2. Walkabout (Nicholas Roeg, 1971) 10.0, Nominated for Palm d'Or at Cannes - adventure
3. Baraka (Ron Frick, 1992) 9.5, documentary
4. A Town Like Alice (David Stephens, 1981, 5 hrs) 9.4, Six awards - war/romance
5. Rabbit-Proof Fence (Philip Noyce, 2002) 9.2, 21 awards - adventure/docudrama
6. The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2, George Miller, 1981) 9.1, 8 awards - science fiction
7. We of the Never Never (Igor Auzins, 1982) 9.0, western/romance

The Children of Huang Shi is a WW2 film about a
British jouralist's attempt to rescue orphans in Nanking
8. My Brilliant Career (Gillian Armstrong, 1979) 8.9, 11 awards - romance/biopic
9. Animal Kingdom (David Michôd, 2010) 8.8, 28 awards (64 noms.) - Supp. actress Oscar® nom. for Jacki Weaver - crime
10. The Children of Huang Shi (Roger Spottiswoode, 2008), 8.8, war/docudrama
11. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975) 8.6, 2 awards - mystery/docudrama

Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock

More worth seeing..

Australia, with Nicole Kidman, is both a western and a war film

Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008) 8.2, 9 awards (35 noms.) -  adventure/romance
Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thornton, 2009) 8.2, 18 awards (23 noms.) - drama

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003) 8.1, 20 awards (60 noms.) - war/history
The Man From Snowy River (George T. Miller, 1982) 8.0, 2 awards - western (not the Aussie George Miller of Mad Max and Babe fame, but another George Miller from Scotland)
A Good Year (Ridley Scott, 2006) 8.0, romance/comedy, with Oscar® winners Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard
Happy Feet (George Miller, 2007) 7.8, 13 awards (29 noms.) - animated comedy - one Oscar®

Babe is a pig who wants to be a shepherd in order

to help protect the sheep and to please his owner

Produced by George Miller of Mad Max fame

[see photo below]

George Miller with Cameron Diaz

at the 79th Oscars, where he won

for animated feature Happy Feet

Best 10 Films of Billy Wilder

Wilder juggles the three Oscars he won for The Apartment

Billy Wilder (born Samuel Wilder) was a newspaper reporter in Vienna in the 20's, then later Berlin, and began writing screenplays in 1929, which he did until Hitler came to power in 1933. With Jewish ancestry, he fled to Paris to escape the Nazis, then came to the U.S. He first started as a screenwriter, penning the famous Garbo film Ninotchka. With Double Indemnity in 1944, which he also wrote, he joined the ranks of directors with a film that many consider was the birth of film noir.

Wilder himself was nominated for 21 Oscars®, winning six, three for screenplay (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment), two for directing (Lost Weekend, The Apartment), one for producer of a best picture (The Apartment). Overall, Wilder won 48 awards out of 95 nominations.

1. Sunset Boulevard (1950, bw) 9.2 No. 31 on IMDB 250 Three Oscars®, 16 awards overall
2. Double Indemnity (1944, bw) 9.0 No. 53 on IMDB 250 7 Oscar® nominations, 0 wins
3. Stalag 17 (1953, bw) 8.6 No. 209 on IMDB 250 1 Oscar®, actor for William Holden
4. One, Two, Three (1961, bw) 8.8 (comedy) 1 Oscar® nomination, 5 others, 0 wins
5. Some Like It Hot (1959, bw) 8.4 (comedy) No. 81 on IMDB 250 1 Oscar®, 11 awards overall
6. The Apartment (1960, bw) 8.4 No. 91 on IMDB 250 Five Oscars®, 22 awards overall
7. Witness For the Prosecution (1957, bw) 8.3 No. 129 on IMDB 250 Six Oscar® nominations, no wins, 6 awards overall
8. The Seven Year Itch (1955) 8.2 (comedy) One award, Golden Globe for Tom Ewell, best actor
9. Ace in the Hole (1951, bw) 8.1 Two awards Int'l Film award for Wilder at Venice
10. The Fortune Cookie (1966, bw) 7.8 (comedy) Three awards, best supp. actor Oscar® for Walter Matthau
11. The Major and the Minor (1942, bw) 7.6 (comedy)

There is no more iconic image in all of cinema than

Marilyn letting the air blow up her dress in The Seven

Year Itch, nor a more copied one, as it's

been often repeated by others

The Lost Weekend should probably be on this list, but I find it so depressing that it's hard to recommend. But it did win the Oscar® for best picture, director (Wilder), and screenplay (Wilder and Charles Brackett), in 1946, for his first two academy awards.

Wilder's Oscar® nominations for picture (as producer):  The Apartment [AA]

Wilder's Oscar® nominations for director:  Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend [AA], A Foreign Affair, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Witness For the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment  [AA]

Wilder's Oscar® nominations for screenplay: Ninotchka, Ball of Fire, Hold Back the Dawn, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend  [AA], A Foreign Affair, Sunset Boulevard [AA], Ace in the Hole, Sabrina, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment  [AA]

Looking at that list of screeplays, he could have easily won 2-3 more Oscars - Ninotchka, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole, Some Like It Hot are all Oscar worthy to me.

Best 10 Films of Steven Spielberg

Spielberg has directed 49 films, but produced

a total of 125 projects in all, including television,

making him one of the most influential in film history.

1. Schindler's List (1993) No. 6 on the IMDB 250, 7 Oscars®, including best picture, director 72 awards overall
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)  Two Oscars®, cinematography and sound effects 12 awards overall
3. Minority Report (2002) 2 Oscar® nominations, 16 awards overall (Acad. of SF-fantasy films gave it picture, director, screenplay, and supporting actress, Broadcast Film Critics gave it director)
4. E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial (1982) 4 Oscars®, 42 awards overall
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) No. 22 on the IMDB 250, 4 Oscars®, 22 awards overall "why does it always have to be snakes?"
6. Munich (2005) No Oscars (5 nominations, incl. picture, director), 7 awards overall
7. Saving Private Ryan (1998) No. 43 on the IMDB 250, 5 Oscars® (director, editing, cinematography, sound, sound effects) 57 awards overall
8. Catch Me If You Can (2002) 2 Oscar nominations, 11 awards overall
9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) No. 107 on the IMDB 250 (one Oscar®, sound effects) 5 awards overall  "we named the dog Indiana"
10. Empire of the Sun (1987) 6 Oscar® nominations, no wins; 11 awards overall Based on the autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard; these events happened to him as a child in Shanghai when WW2 broke out
11. Jurassic Park (1993) 3 Oscars® (Sound effects, sound, visual effects) 22 awards overall "..but when a ride breaks down at Disneyland, the pirates of the caribbean don't go out killing tourists" (that's a different film series..)
12. The Color Purple (1985) 11 Oscar® nominations, no wins (tied with Scorsese's Gangs of New York for winless total nominations) 11 awards overall

[That's 26 Oscars®, 288 awards total for just these 12 films. Add another 3 Oscars® and 12 awards for Jaws (1975),  which is #117 on the IMDB 250 - and 1 Oscar®, 5 awards for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 6 awards for Amistad, 12 more for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and the total is 30 Oscars® and 323 awards. Steven himself has won 121 awards, including two Oscars®, both for directing: Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List - plus the honorary Irving Thalberg Award. Spielberg is listed as director on 49 film titles at IMDB.]

And as producer

• Band of Brothers (tv miniseries, 2001) He and Tom Hanks spent 100m est. on this series
• Into the West (tv miniseries, 2005)
• Back to the Future (1985) (the entire trilogy)
• Poltergeist (1982, dir. Tobe Hooper)

He was also producer on 125 titles overall, including the True Grit remake, The Lovely Bones, Men in Black, and Shrek. For my money, Band of Brothers was the best project Spielberg had a hand in, and is the best miniseries and war film of all time, ten hours total.

I guess, from looking at my rankings, that I prefer the science fiction films to reality, though I placed Schindler's List at the top. These are really hard to rank, whenever I see Catch Me If You Can, I want to move it higher again, but what do I move down? I guess E.T. and Raiders are just crowd-pleasers, like Jaws, but they do seem perfect in what they attempted, while I found Jaws a little fake-looking and not as credible, also predictable (and almost laughable at times). I never knew what the heck was coming next in Raiders, and if not for some total silliness (ie, the men on the ship all cheering when Indy was climbing onto the sub, and he waves at them - nothing like a 'low profile' for spies), it could have been the perfect adventure film.

I think with Close Encounters, the version to see is the one with Spielberg's preferred ending, I think that's the Special Edition, instead of 'Director's Cut', the term Ridley Scott used for the 2nd version of Blade Runner. [The 'Director's Cut' versions of Apocalpyse Now and The Last Emperor each added nearly an hour to the running time; this just added maybe 10 minutes] Close Encounters was mind-boggling to me (and there are no "bad guys", something it shares with 2001: A Space Odyssey), and over 500 military personnel online have sworn that the story is true (but at a different location), and that the government gave it to Spielberg because they knew he could make aliens palatable to a panic-prone public.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was a George Lucas screenplay. After the financial failure of Spielberg's 1941, Lucas wanted to help is friend out with what he suspected would be a big winner, so he turned the project over to Spielberg to direct. The result was a terrific collaboration and a take on the old movie serials, which ran one reel (15 min.) each, ending with a cliched 'cliffhanger' or a chase, to be concluded next time in a new reel; these preceded the actual movie features in the early days and were quite popular at one point, the most famous being "The Perils of Pauline", who had far more than nine lives.

Munich is better than given credit for; and it was a carefully researched project and a fair assessment of what likely happened in secret after the Munich Olympics. I liked the entire cast and it was like a realistic James Bond film.

Minority Report, from a story by author Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner), is a very underrated SF film. It has the added elements of crime and mystery, and also a good bit of action.

Other films worth seeing that he directed include Amistad (1997), A.I Artificial Intelligence (2001) (to complete Stanley Kubrick's last project, left unfinished at his death), and the War of the Worlds (2005) remake.

I probably should like The Color Purple more - it's very well done with terrific acting, but the story is pretty tough to bear, and it's one that I'll never rewatch. You can't say that about most of these, I've seen my top 9 at least twice each already, and Raiders, Minority, and Close Encounters about 5 times each, and Munich may catch up (3 times already in 5 years).

Even Spielberg's first wife, Amy Irving, produced the touching and artistic romance Crossing Delancey (1988), using money from their divorce settlement. If this was a Spielberg film, I'd have it about 8th on the list above, it's very good.

Best 10 Films of Martin Scorsese

When Scorsese finally won a best director Oscar®,

 for The Departed, he said "I think I want a recount",

making fun of the 2000 Presidential election,

and the fact that he had never won an Oscar®

Ranked by my order of preference, click for my review

1. Raging Bull (1980) best actor Oscar® for Robert De Niro, No. 75 on the IMDB top 250, 21 awards overall [This is my favorite boxing film, and one of the greatest performances in cinema history. Thelma Schoonmacher's editing also won an Oscar®]
2. The Departed (2006) best picture Oscar® (four total), No. 58 on the IMDB 250, 53 awards overall [Oscars® for picture, director, editing, screenplay]
3. Goodfellas (1990) supporting actor Oscar® for Joe Pesci, No. 15 on the IMDB 250, 35 awards overall
4. Gangs of New York (2002) no Oscars® (10 nominations, a record for non-winners), 33 awards overall, including 17 for Daniel Day-Lewis
5. Taxi Driver (1976) No. 41 on the IMDB top 250, winner Palm d'Or at Cannes, 19 awards overall
6. The King of Comedy (1982)  3 awards overall (no Oscar® nods)
7. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) best actress Oscar® for Ellen Burstyn, BAFTA for best film, 5 awards overall
8. Mean Streets (1973) 3 awards (two for De Niro's supporting performance, no Oscar® nods)
9. The Age of Innocence (1993) one Oscar® ( for costumes, 11 nominations), 11 awards overall
10. The Aviator (2004) 5 Oscars®, incl supporting actress for Cate Blanchett, 50 awards overall [Oscars® for supp. actress, art direction, editing, cinematography, costume design]
11. Shutter Island (2008) No. 249 on the IMDB 250, 3 awards overall (no Oscar® nods)

[That's 236 awards total for just these films, including 14 Oscars®: 5 for Aviator, 4 for Departed, 2 for Raging Bull, 3 others 1 each.. Scorsese has won 85 awards himself, most for directing (41 were for individual feature films) but some are for screenplays - his only Oscar® is for directing The Departed]

Ok, so we gave Marty 11 films, all of his are worth seeing, especially these..

The last ones I eliminated were: The Last Waltz, (two awards) primarily because it was a documentary, and really just a music concert.. the other was the overlong musical New York, New York ..(one award, for De Niro's performance).. it just wasn't as involving as his typical films.. also The Last Temptation of Christ  -the casting was just too bizarre, Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Paul, the list goes on.. it did win one award, at Venice - ironically, it's only Oscar® nomination was for Scorsese's directing

Thelma Schoonmaker has edited every Scorsese

film from Raging Bull on, and has won 3 Oscars®,

for Raging Bull, The Departed, and The Aviator.

She is one of the best editors ever

Martin almost went into the priesthood in 1956, but thankfully decided to get a film degree from NYU instead. A dedicated New Yorker (who never wanted any part of L.A.), many believe this is why he was shunned at the Oscars® for so many years. Backing up that argument, another die-hard New Yorker was the recently deceased Sydney Lumet, who never won an Oscar® after directing these classics: Network, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Equus, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Pawnbroker, Murder on the Orient Express. [He'll be the subject of a later Best 10 Films post..]

An interesting early film of Marty's is Boxcar Bertha.. starring Barbara Hershey, apparently it's based on a true story. "America in the 30's was a free country" - that's because nobody had any money left anyway.