best film:  Heat from Michael Mann. Heat is both the summation of Michael Mann’s previous efforts, and an artist at his clear peak. After his biggest financial success in 1992’s The Last of the Mohicans, he

best film:  Pulp Fiction from Quentin Tarantino  A three-pronged masterpiece— magnificent writing (on par with or superior to what cinema has yet produced),  tour de force direction behind the camera (the dance contest sequence, the

best film:  Naked from Mike Leigh.  There is very little separating Mike Leigh’s masterpiece from Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence or Kieslowski’s Three Colours: Blue. All three films could conceivably land in the top 10

best film:  Malcolm X from Spike Lee Spike Lee’s Malcolm X is rarity- a biopic that is filled with cinematic ambition. Denzel’s singular achievement is the definition of tour de force—a top five performance of

best film:  The Double Life of Veronique from Krzysztof Kieślowski Kieslowski’s The Double Life of Véronique is so enigmatic and lyrical—it almost makes his previous films seem like prose and this is his first attempt at poetry

best film:  Goodfellas from Martin Scorsese Goodfellas is narrative and stylistic cinematic bliss. I could watch it once a week. It has everything from some of the more memorable characters of the back-half of the

best film:  The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover from Peter Greenaway A giant “M” Masterpiece and prime candidate for the singular poster child of late 20th century film art expressionism and the

best film:  A Short Film About Killing from Krzysztof Kieslowski A severe 84 minutes shot through a hazy green/yellow filter with heavy shadows. It is some of the best 84 minutes of cinema in the

best film:  The Belly of An Architect by Peter Greenaway   Greenaway’s go-to DP and most important collaborator is Sacha Vierny — Vierny worked with Resnais on Hiroshima Mon Amour and Last Year at Marienbad Shot on

best film:  Blue Velvet from David Lynch It would take an artist like David Lynch and film like Blue Velvet to knock of Tarkovsky’s swan song and Woody’s best film of the 1980s as the

best film:  Brazil from Terry Gilliam Brazil is Terry Gilliam’s magnum opus, one of the truly great films of the 1980s, and at the same time one of the very best films of the sci-fi, comedy

best film:  Once Upon a Time in America from Sergio Leone. This is both Leone’s final film (what a magnificent swan song) and first film in thirteen years (1971’s Duck, You Sucker!). It is hauntingly