Ian J. MacLeod

Ian J. MacLeod is a Screenwriter and Director of short films. He is currently working on his first feature film script. At 33, he is still gaining appreciation for more films, new and old.

I prefer Black and White film to colour for its use of depth and contrast in lighting and composition, although colour can play an important role as well (see Ran or the Three Colours trilogy). The 50's is my favourite decade for film overall. I have decided to go with the films that I feel strongly about. These are my personal favourites. Many are influential, some are not. There is a lot of subtext and multiple interpretations of the deeper meaning to many of these films, but some are to be taken at face value. I would like to say this is a "greatest" list, however film is so personal and subjective that, although this is my "greatest" list, it is unlikely to be yours. That is what is great about film. Every person takes the same journey but arrives at a different destination.

  1. Ikiru (1952) .. Akira Kurosawa
  2. Dekalog (1989) .. Krzysztof Kieslowski
    Although this originally aired as a television miniseries, it was intended to be one film. I see the work as an entire body of work and feel that it deserves to be rated as a film. As one work of art.
  3. Tokyo Story (1953) .. Yasujiro Ozu
  4. Three Colours: Blue (1993) .. Krzysztof Kieslowski
  5. Wild Strawberries (1957) .. Ingmar Bergman
  6. Rashomon (1950) .. Akira Kurosawa
  7. All About Eve (1950) .. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  8. Ran (1985) .. Akira Kurosawa
  9. Paths of Glory (1957) .. Stanley Kubrick
  10. Sunset Boulevard (1950) .. Billy Wilder
  11. A Clockwork Orange (1971) .. Stanley Kubrick
  12. La Grande Illusion (1937) .. Jean Renoir
  13. Double Indemnity (1944) .. Billy Wilder
  14. Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) .. Stanley Kubrick
  15. The Killing (1956) .. Stanley Kubrick
  16. Stray Dog (1949) .. Akira Kurosawa
  17. Touch of Evil (1958) .. Orson Welles
  18. Lolita (1962) .. Stanley Kubrick
  19. Apocalypse Now (1979) .. Francis Ford Coppola
  20. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) .. Danny Boyle
  21. The Deer Hunter (1978) .. Michael Cimino
  22. Psycho (1960) .. Alfred Hitchcock
  23. Raging Bull (1980) .. Martin Scorsese
  24. The Graduate (1967) .. Mike Nichols
  25. Strangers on a Train (1951) .. Alfred Hitchcock
  26. Annie Hall (1977) .. Woody Allen
  27. Seven Samurai (1954) .. Akira Kurosawa
  28. The Godfather (1972) .. Francis Ford Coppola
  29. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) .. Sergio Leone
  30. Goodfellas (1990) .. Martin Scorsese
  31. Citizen Kane (1941) .. Orson Welles
  32. In the Bedroom (2001) .. Todd Field
  33. Hidden (2005) .. Michael Haneke
  34. The Shining (1980) .. Stanley Kubrick
  35. Chinatown (1974) .. Roman Polanski
  36. The Lady Vanishes (1938) .. Alfred Hitchcock
  37. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) .. Stanley Kubrick
  38. 8½ (1963) .. Federico Fellini
  39. Three Colours: Red (1994) .. Krzysztof Kieslowski
  40. No Man's Land (2001) .. Danis Tanovic
  41. The Godfather: Part II (1974) .. Francis Ford Coppola
  42. City of God (2002) .. Fernando Meirelles
  43. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) .. Nicholas Ray
  44. Talk to Her (2002) .. Pedro Almodóvar
  45. American Beauty (1999) .. Sam Mendes
  46. On the Waterfront (1954) .. Elia Kazan
  47. Blue Velvet (1986) .. David Lynch
  48. Stalag 17 (1953) .. Billy Wilder
  49. The Kid (1921) .. Charles Chaplin
    I have rated the more popular City Lights #51, just below The Kid, which is rated higher for the acting and entertainment value, in my opinion.
  50. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) .. John Ford

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