best film:  Sunrise by Murnau. I should mention that I still haven’t been able to track down and see Abel Gance’s Napoleon- a pretty significant omission by all accounts (it is #176 of all-time on the

best film:  The General from Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman A set piece high-wire act that last for nearly the entire duration of the film At age 31, Keaton has a second unassailable masterpiece between

best film:  Battleship Potemkin from Eisenstein Pure cinematic excellence, a stylistic shock wave, a masterful collage of images—Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin stands alone as the greatest single achievement in film editing. Murnau is important—absolutely- what he did with

best film:  Sherlock Jr. from Buster Keaton though the top three films from 1924 would be the single best film of 1923 A jaw-on the floor masterpiece, and, believe it or not, one that doesn’t

best film:  Our Hospitality from Buster Keaton (his second feature). Our Hospitality isn’t Keaton’s best work but in a down year coming off of 1922—it is the best film of the year. A brilliant premise- a

best film:  Nosferatu from Murnau. Nosferatu is an essential masterpiece- a landmark in horror cinema, German expressionism, and Murnau’s wonderful body of work as an auteur. It is an unauthorized adaptation (much like Ossessione from Visconti

best film:  Destiny from Lang Fritz Lang’s Destiny takes narrative elements from Griffith’s Intolerance (three clear and distinct narrative strands- Mideast story line, Spanish, and Chinese) and mise-en-scene elements from Caligari (see décor detail) to make a brilliant early film for

best film:  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from Wiene is by far the best film from 1920. It’s the birth of German expressionism, and, largely, mise-en-scene (or at least set design) in feature film (though of

best film: Intolerance from Griffith – It’s easily the greatest example of cinema as art to date in 1916 and wouldn’t be topped throughout the rest of the decade. It is one of cinemas historically great achievements

best film: Midsommar.  Minor spoilers here so consider yourself warned. This is a tough year to select a #1 film. In years like 2011, 2016 or 2018 there is one single film standing alone on

best film: Roma- Cuaron is a proven master of cinema with a top 100 of all-time film under his belt (Children of Men in 2006) who may have topped himself (though I’m not there yet).

best film: Dunkirk is a masterstroke and landmark film in the history of film editing. Nolan not only handles the three narratives in a completely distinctive and inventive way (here it may not be Rashoman