Ebert's Great Movies List

Roger Ebert is my favourite movie critic. This is not because I agree with all he has to say, but because he always makes me listen (or read to be exact). For example he didn't like Die Hard, which is a movie I have seen n number of times, but that was not because he doesn't like the Action/Thriller genre (like some other high-strung critics I know; consider that he gives Speed 4 stars) but because he didn't like the movie (and he gives persuasive reasons why). This is consistent with his overall style of reviewing which considers each film in the context of its genre in addition to the bigger picture, which seems to me a very fair way of looking at things.

In summary, one is safe seeing movies he has given more than 3 stars (3.5 / 4 stars). They may not be exactly to one's liking but are almost always worth a watch. His great films list is of course something else, on evidence so far (I mark the movies I have seen in bold below) each of those movies is a must-watch.

But I will write more about Ebert and his reviewing later, for now here is Ebert's List of the Greatest movies ever made (I'll try to update the list with the names of directors soon):
follow this link to read his reviews of these movies

12 Angry Men (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3 Women (1977)
8 1/2 (1963)
A Christmas Story (1983)
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
A Sunday in the Country (1984)
A Tale of Winter (1992)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A Woman's Tale (1992)
A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
After Dark, My Sweet (1990)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Alien (1979)
All About Eve (1950)
Amadeus (1984)
Amarcord (1974)
Annie Hall (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Army of Shadows (1969)
Atlantic City (1980)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Au Revoir, les Enfants (1987)
Babel (2006)
Beat the Devil (1954)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Being There (1979)
Belle de Jour (1967)
Blowup (1966)
Bob le Flambeur (1955)
Body Heat (1981)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Breathless (1960)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Cabiria (1914)
Casablanca (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Children of Paradise (1945)
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Chinatown (1974)
Chuck Jones: Three Cartoons (1953-1957)
Citizen Kane (1941)
City Lights (1931)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Crumb (1994)
Dark City (2005)
Day for Night (1973)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Detour (1945)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Don't Look Now (1974)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Dracula (1931)
Duck Soup (1933)
E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Easy Rider (1969)
El Norte (1983)
Fanny and Alexander (1983)
Fargo (1996)
Faust (1926)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Floating Weeds (1959)
Forbidden Games (1952)
Gates of Heaven (1978)
Goldfinger (1964)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
GoodFellas (1991)
Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Grand Illusion (1937)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Great Expectations (1946)
Greed (1925)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
House of Games (1987)
Howards End (1992)
Ikiru (1952)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jaws (1975)
JFK (1991)
Jules and Jim (1961)
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
King Kong (1933)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
L'Atalante (1934)
Late Spring (1972)
Laura (1944)
L'Avventura (1960)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Le Boucher / The Butcher (2003)
Le Samourai (1967)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Leolo (1993)
M (1931)
Manhattan (1979)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mean Streets (1973)
Metropolis (1926)
Mon Oncle (1958)
Moonstruck (1987)
Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
My Dinner With Andre (1981)
My Fair Lady (1964)
My Life to Live / Vivre sa Vie (1963)
My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
Nanook of the North (1922)
Nashville (1975)
Network (1976)
Night Moves (1975)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Nosferatu (1922)
Notorious (1946)
On the Waterfront (1954)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Orpheus (1949)
Out of the Past (1947)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Pandora's Box (1928)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Patton (1970)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Persona (1966)
Pickpocket (1959)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Pinocchio (1940)
Pixote (1981)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Playtime (1967)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raise the Red Lantern (1990)
Ran (1985)
Rashomon (1950)
Rear Window (1954)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Red River (1948)
Rififi (1954)
Ripley's Game (2002)
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Safety Last (1923)
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
Santa Sangre (1989)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Say Anything (1989)
Scarface (1983)
Schindler's List (1993)
Shane (1953)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Solaris (1972)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Star Wars (1977)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Stroszek (1977)
Sunrise (1928)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Swing Time (1936)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The 400 Blows (1959)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1939)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Apartment (1960)
The Apu Trilogy (1959)
The Band Wagon (1953)
The Bank Dick (1940)
The Battle of Algiers (1967)
The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Bicycle Thief (1949)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Big Red One (1980)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Blue Kite (1993)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Conversation (1974)
The Dead (1987)
The Decalogue (1988)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
The Films of Buster Keaton (1923)
The Firemen's Ball (1968)
The General (1927)
The Godfather (1972)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Hustler (1961)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Last Laugh (1924)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
The Leopard (1963)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
The Music Room (1958)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Producers (1968)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Right Stuff (1983)
The River (Le Fleuve) (1951)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Searchers (1956)
The Seven Samurai (1954)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shining (1980)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
The Terrorist (2000)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Third Man (1949)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Up Documentaries (1985)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Three Colors Trilogy (1994)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Top Hat (1935)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Ugetsu (1953)
Umberto D (1952)
Un Chien Andalou (1928)
Unforgiven (1992)
Vertigo (1958)
Victim (1961)
Walkabout (1971)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
West Side Story (1961)
Wings of Desire (1988)
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Woodstock (1970)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Yojimbo (1961)