British Film Institute -- 100 Greatest Movies Picked by Working Directors

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a somewhat better list that the BFI 100 Greatest Movies list. Dr. Strangelove, Kes, and La cienaga are all great movies that make my list, which is of course the definitive list.

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968, Kubrick

  2. Citizen Kane, 1941, Welles

  3. The Godfather, 1972, Coppola

  4. Tokyo Story, 1953, Ozu

  5. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles, 1975, Akerman

  6. 8 1/2, 1963, Fellini

  7. Vertigo, 1958, Hitchcock

  8. Mirror, 1974, Tarkovsky

  9. Persona, 1966, Bergman

  10. Close-Up, 1990, Kiarostami

  11. In the Mood for Love, 2000, Wong

  12. Barry Lyndon, 1975, Kubrick

  13. Taxi Driver, 1976, Scorsese

  14. Stalker, 1979, Tarkovsky

  15. Breathless, 1960, Godard

  16. Seven Samurai, 1954, Kurosawa

  17. Beau travail, 1988, Denis

  18. A Woman Under the Influence, 1974, Cassavetes

  19. Apocalypse Now, 1979, Coppola

  20. Rashomon, 1950, Kurosawa

  21. Bicycle Thieves, 1948, De Sica

  22. Raging Bull, 1980, Scorsese

  23. The Battle of Algiers, 1966, Pontecorvo

  24. Pather Panchali, 1955, Ray

  25. Mulholland Drive, 2001, Lynch

  26. The Godfather Part II, 1974, Coppola

  27. Andrei Rublev, 1966, Tarkovsky

  28. GoodFellas, 1990, Scorsese

  29. Do the Right Thing, 1989, Lee

  30. Ordet, 1955, Dreyer

  31. The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1927, Dreyer

  32. Man with a Movie Camera, 1929, Vertov

  33. The 400 Blows, 1959, Truffaut

  34. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1927, Murnau

  35. La jetee, 1962, Marker

  36. La dolce vita, 1960, Fellini

  37. Au hasard Balthazar, 1966, Bresson

  38. La strada, 1943, Fellini

  39. L’avventura, 1960, Antonioni

  40. La regle du jeu, 1939, Renoir

  41. Come and See, 1985, Klimov

  42. Vagabond, 1985, Varda

  43. A Man Escaped, 1956, Bresson

  44. The Night of the Hunter, 1955, Laughton

  45. Play Time, 1967, Tati

  46. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 1963, Kubrick

  47. Don’t Look Now, 1973, Roeg

  48. One Upon a Time in the West, 1968, Leone

  49. Le mepris, 1963, Godard

  50. L’atalante, 1934, Vigo

  51. Psycho, 1960, Hitchcock

  52. Viridiana, 1961, Bunuel

  53. Eraserhead, 1976, Lynch

  54. La notte, 1961, Antonioni

  55. Fanny and Alexander, 1984, Bergman

  56. La maman et la putain, 1973, Eustache

  57. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974, Fassbinder

  58. The Piano, 1992, Campion

  59. City Lights, 1931, Chaplin

  60. Cleo from 5 to 7, 1962, Varda

  61. Singin’ in the Rain, 1951, Donen

  62. La cienaga, 2011, Martel

  63. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, Lean

  64. Jaws, 1975, Spielberg

  65. Tropical malady, 2004, Weerasethakul

  66. Satantango, 1994, Tarr

  67. Sunset Blvd., 1950, Wilder

  68. Blade Runner, 1982, Scott

  69. Some Like It Hot, 1959, Wilder

  70. Late Spring, 1949, Ozu

  71. Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943, Deren

  72. Kes, 1969, Loach

  73. A Separation, 2011, Farhadi

  74. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, 1975, Pasolini

  75. The Conversation, 1974, Coppola

  76. L’argent, 1983, Bresson

  77. Where Is the Friend’s House, 1987, Kiarostami

  78. Ikiru, 1952, Kurosawa

  79. Chinatown, 1974, Polanski

  80. The Seventh Seal, 1957, Bergman

  81. The Ascent, 1976, Shepitko

  82. Wild Strawberries, 1957, Bergman

  83. Blue Velvet, 1986, Lynch

  84. The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973, Erice

  85. A Brighter Summer Day, 1991, Yang

  86. Modern Times, 1936, Chaplin

  87. The Red Shoes, 1948, Powell & Pressburger

  88. Touki Bouki, 1973, Mambéty

  89. Sans soleil, 1982, Marker

  90. News from Home, 1976, Akerman

  91. Shoah, 1985, Lanzmann

  92. The Searchers, 1956, Ford

  93. Throne of Blood, 1957, Kurosawa

  94. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Gondry

  95. Hidden, 2004, Haneke

  96. Taste of Cherry, 1997, Kiarostami

  97. Pickpocket, 1959, Bresson

  98. The Colour of Pomegranates, 1968, Parajanov

  99. The Conformist, 1970, Bertolucci

  100. Parasite, 2019, Bong

  101. Yi Yi, 1999, Yang

  102. Moonlight, 2016, Jenkins

  103. Battleship Potemkin, 1915, Eisenstein

  104. Wanda, 1970, Loden

British Film Institute 100 Greatest Movies -- 2012 Poll

Added on by C. Maoxian.

It’s a pity they gave multiple entries to single directors… ideally they could come up with a 100 Greatest Movies from 100 Different Directors list.

  1. Vertigo, 1958, Hitchcock

  2. Citizen Kane, 1941, Welles

  3. Tokyo Story, 1953, Ozu

  4. La regle du jeu, 1939, Renoir

  5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1927, Murnau

  6. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968, Kubrick

  7. The Searchers, 1956, Ford

  8. Man with a Movie Camera, 1929, Vertov

  9. The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1927, Dreyer

  10. 8 1/2, 1963, Fellini

  11. Battleship Potemkin, 1915, Eisenstein

  12. L’atalante, 1934, Vigo

  13. Breathless, 1960, Godard

  14. Apocalypse Now, 1979, Coppola

  15. Late Spring, 1949, Ozu

  16. Au hasard Balthazar, 1966, Bresson

  17. Seven Samurai, 1954, Kurosawa

  18. Persona, 1966, Bergman

  19. Mirror, 1974, Tarkovsky

  20. Singin’ in the Rain, 1951, Donen

  21. L’avventura, 1960, Antonioni

  22. Le mepris, 1963, Godard

  23. The Godfather, 1972, Coppola

  24. Ordet, 1955, Dreyer

  25. In the Mood for Love, 2000, Wong

  26. Rashomon, 1950, Kurosawa

  27. Andrei Rublev, 1966, Tarkovsky

  28. Mulholland Drive, 2001, Lynch

  29. Stalker, 1979, Tarkovsky

  30. Shoah, 1985, Lanzmann

  31. The Godfather Part II, 1974, Coppola

  32. Taxi Driver, 1976, Scorsese

  33. Bicycle Thieves, 1948, De Sica

  34. Psycho, 1960, Hitchcock

  35. The General, 1926, Keaton

  36. Metropolis, 1927, Lang

  37. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles, 1975, Akerman

  38. Satantango, 1994, Tarr

  39. The 400 Blows, 1959, Truffaut

  40. La dolce vita, 1960, Fellini

  41. Journey to Italy, 1954, Rossellini

  42. Pather Panchali, 1955, Ray

  43. Some Like It Hot, 1959, Wilder

  44. Gertrud, 1964. Dreyer

  45. Pierrot le fou, 1965, Godard

  46. Play Time, 1967, Tati

  47. Close-Up, 1990, Kiarostami

  48. The Battle of Algiers, 1966, Pontecorvo

  49. Histoire(s) du cinema, 1998, Godard

  50. City Lights, 1931, Chaplin

  51. Ugetsu monogatari, 1953, Mizoguchi

  52. La jetee, 1962, Marker

  53. North by Northwest, 1959, Hitchcock

  54. Rear Window, 1954, Hitchcock

  55. Raging Bull, 1980, Scorsese

  56. M, 1931, Lang

  57. The Leopard, 1963, Visconti

  58. Touch of Evil, 1958, Welles

  59. Sherlock Jr., 1924, Keaton

  60. Barry Lyndon, 1975, Kubrick

  61. La maman et la putain, 1973, Eustache

  62. Sansho Dayu, 1954, Mizoguchi

  63. Wild Strawberries, 1957, Bergman

  64. Modern Times, 1936, Chaplin

  65. Sunset Blvd., 1950, Wilder

  66. The Night of the Hunter, 1955, Laughton

  67. Pickpocket, 1959, Bresson

  68. Rio Bravo, 1958, Hawks

  69. Blade Runner, 1982, Scott

  70. Blue Velvet, 1986, Lynch

  71. Sans soleil, 1982, Marker

  72. A Man Escaped, 1956, Bresson

  73. The Third Man, 1949, Reed

  74. L’eclisse, 1962, Antonioni

  75. Les enfants du paradis, 1945, Carné

  76. La grande illusion, 1937, Renoir

  77. Nashville, 1975, Altman

  78. Chinatown, 1974, Polanski

  79. Beau travail, 1988, Denis

  80. Once upon a Time in the West, 1968, Leone

  81. The Magnificent Ambersons, 1942, Welles

  82. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, Lean

  83. The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973, Erice

  84. Fanny and Alexander, 1984, Bergman

  85. Casablanca, 1942, Curtiz

  86. The Colour of Pomegranates, 1968, Parajanov

  87. Greed, 1925, von Stroheim

  88. A Brighter Summer Day, 1991, Yang

  89. The Wild Bunch, 1969, Peckinpah

  90. Partie de campagne, 1936, Renoir

  91. Aguirre: Wrath of God, 1972, Herzog

  92. A Matter of Life and Death, 1946, Powell & Pressburger

  93. The Seventh Seal, 1957, Bergman

  94. Un chien andalou, 1928, Buñuel

  95. Intolerance, 1916, Griffith

  96. A One and a Two, 1999, Yang

  97. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1943, Powell & Pressburger

  98. Touki Bouki, 1973, Mambéty

  99. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974, Fassbinder

  100. Imitation of Life, 1959, Sirk

  101. Madame de…, 1953, Ophüls

Local Cultural Institutions I Support

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Arnot Art Museum

  • Basic $75

  • Friend $125

  • Curator's Circle $300

  • Director's Circle $600

  • Matthias H. Arnot Society Patron Levels:  ($1,000 - $5,000)

Corning Museum of Glass

  • General $65

  • Friend $90

  • Donor $140

  • Supporting $275

  • Patron $500

  • Benefactor $1,000

  • Ennion $1,500

Everson Museum of Art

  • Individual: $60………….1 Adult

  • Dual: $100 ………………2 Adults

  • Family: $120 ……………Household

  • Fellow: $240 …………….Household

  • Everson Circle: $1,000

  • Everson Circle Gold: $2,500

  • Director’s Circle: $5,000

  • Founder’s Circle: $10,000

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

  • Patron ($125 / annually)

Munson-Williams-Proctor-Arts-Institute

  • Individual $50

  • Household $85

  • Contributor $125

  • Patron $250

  • President’s Circle $500

  • Heritage $1,000

  • Munson $2,500

  • Williams $5,000

  • Proctor $10,000

Picker Art Gallery (please include Picker Art Gallery in the Comments box)

  • Choose an amount

Roberson Museum

  • Individual $40

  • Dual $65

  • Family $100

  • Supporting $125

Wellin Museum

  • Choose an amount

Broad Concerns about Confidence in Our Securities Markets and Market Integrity

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Jeffrey Starr of Charles Schwab wrote a good comment letter to the SEC which you should read in its entirety. I’ve excerpted some key parts below:

“Large reverse splits tend to be clear indicators of potential fraud, yet Nasdaq has not been vigilant in policing this type of behavior … Many of these microcap securities are nexuses for major fraud – pump and dump schemes often orchestrated by company insiders. Many of the microcap securities in question are for shell companies from the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands orchestrated by fraudsters often, but not always, located in China.”

“Exchanges such as Nasdaq are not properly policing existing listing standards and have overly lenient rules that allow fraudulent firms to stay listed for much too long, allowing the fraud to snowball.”

I’ve been saying this for years, but I guess I should have contacted the SEC directly instead of tweeting into the void.

Mary Bronstein's Closet Picks in the Criterion Closet

Added on by C. Maoxian.

I’ve added the nine movies that Mary Bronstein picked in her Criterion Closet appearance:

  • Dance, Girl, Dance

  • Merrily We Go to Hell

  • Frownland

  • Daddy Longlegs

  • Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968-1978

  • Inland Empire

  • This Is Spinal Tap

  • Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales

  • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Mary Bronstein made two original picks: Merrily We Go to Hell, and Daddy Longlegs. She is apparently the wife of Ronald Bronstein. He made one of the grimmest movies of all time, Frownland, which I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy.

Identifying whether a pick is original or not is one reason why my Master List of Closet Picks in the Criterion Closet is so valuable.

My Monthly Expenses for January 2026

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Here are my expenses for January 2026. I may update it as I find more things I haven’t recorded.

Apparel

  • shoes and socks: $527.87

Charity

  • $850

Education

  • housing: $1,177.49

  • tuition: $12,700

Energy

  • gasoline: $182.26

  • propane: $1,028.86

Food

  • coffee beans: $239.30

  • eating out: $108.92

  • groceries: $2,175.10

Gifts

  • birthday: $97.49

  • to me from me: $36.79

Healthcare

  • dentist: $234

  • optometrist: $643

  • psychologist: $280

Household

  • $219.12

Insurance

  • auto: $1,152.19

Services

  • car and house cleaning: $365.00

  • DMV: $94.50

  • haircuts: $84.30

  • movie recommendations: $1.99

  • music service (Spotify): $19.99

  • printer ink subscription (HP): $8.63

Taxes

  • $11,499.43

Trading-related

  • book, consulting, data, software: $3,076.48

Utilities

  • cellphone: $74.29

  • electricity: $281.29

  • internet: $110

Worst Adverse Excursions in January 2026

Added on by C. Maoxian.

January started out very sweetly with a full week of large gains, but then everything changed starting on Monday, January 12. I once again grew too cocky and arrogant and even pulled my stop in EVTV as it ran up. This is the cardinal sin, and the market gods will punish you mightily if you EVER do this.

I believed that I had such a great “read” on the price action in EVTV that I could get away with pulling my stop, but of course it went much higher and I ended up puking out the full (and oversized) position after hours at the top tick, losing significantly more money than I had planned.

This began a sort of spiral as I took outsized losses in ROLR, SPHL and VERO that same week. Needless to say, I lost money day trading this month, and I got lucky to more or less miss the terrible Chinese-driven squeezes at the end of the month in TCGL, ELPW, and PHOE. Pulling one’s stop in any of those would have led to ruin.

Take your time and #shtudy last month’s example outlier moves below. Click to enlarge any of the charts. And don’t forget to look at the outlier moves in October 2025 (23), November 2025 (5), and December 2025 (6).

January 12: EVTV (USA)

January 14: ROLR (USA, scAMEX-listed),

January 15: SPHL (Singapore), CJMB

January 16: VERO (Canada)

January 21: PAVM (USA)

January 22: SXTP (USA)

January 29: TCGL (Singapore)

January 30: ELPW (China), PHOE (Hong Kong)

Movies Watched in January 2026

Added on by C. Maoxian.

One of my goals for 2026 is to watch 60 movies every month. I fell short in January with only 57 movies watched. Here they are, listed alphabetically:

  1. 49th Parallel, 1941

  2. Adam's Rib, 1949

  3. Army of Shadows, 1969

  4. Au hasard Balthazar, 1966

  5. Ballad of a Soldier, 1959

  6. Band of Outsiders, 1964

  7. Bicycle Thieves, 1948

  8. Big Deal on Madonna Street , 1958

  9. Blow-Up, 1966

  10. Boudu Saved from Drowning, 1932

  11. Breathless, 1960

  12. City Lights, 1931

  13. Cléo from 5 to 7, 1962

  14. Cool Hand Luke, 1967

  15. Crazed Fruit, 1956

  16. Cria Cuervos…, 1976

  17. Death is a Caress, 1949

  18. Death of a Cyclist, 1955

  19. Deep Cover, 1992

  20. Destroyer, 2018

  21. Double Suicide, 1969

  22. Following, 1999

  23. Framed, 1947

  24. Frankenstein, 1931

  25. Guilty Bystander, 1950

  26. Hidden in the Fog, 1953

  27. Le Million, 1931

  28. Les dames du Bois de Boulogne, 1945

  29. Louie Bluie, 1985

  30. Loves of a Blonde, 1965

  31. Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944

  32. Midnight Cowboy, 1969

  33. Mouchette, 1967

  34. My Left Foot, 1989

  35. Night of the Living Dead, 1968

  36. Overlord, 1975

  37. Persona, 1966

  38. Ran, 1985

  39. Sword of the Beast, 1965

  40. The Bank Dick , 1940

  41. The Big Sleep, 1946

  42. The Exorcist, 1973

  43. The Flowers of St. Francis, 1952

  44. The Graduate, 1967

  45. The Lady Vanishes, 1938

  46. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962

  47. The Man with the Golden Arm , 1955

  48. The Naked Spur, 1953

  49. The Only Son, 1936

  50. The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928

  51. The Taste of Others, 2000

  52. Tokyo Drifter, 1966

  53. Two Minutes Late, 1952

  54. Vampyr, 1932

  55. Vernon, Florida, 1981

  56. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962

  57. Young Frankenstein, 1974

And here’s the list in chronological order by release year:

  1. The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928

  2. City Lights, 1931

  3. Frankenstein, 1931

  4. Le Million, 1931

  5. Boudu Saved from Drowning, 1932

  6. Vampyr, 1932

  7. The Only Son, 1936

  8. The Lady Vanishes, 1938

  9. The Bank Dick , 1940

  10. 49th Parallel, 1941

  11. Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944

  12. Les dames du Bois de Boulogne, 1945

  13. The Big Sleep, 1946

  14. Framed, 1947

  15. Bicycle Thieves, 1948

  16. Adam's Rib, 1949

  17. Death is a Caress, 1949

  18. Guilty Bystander, 1950

  19. The Flowers of St. Francis, 1952

  20. Two Minutes Late, 1952

  21. Hidden in the Fog, 1953

  22. The Naked Spur, 1953

  23. Death of a Cyclist, 1955

  24. The Man with the Golden Arm , 1955

  25. Crazed Fruit, 1956

  26. Big Deal on Madonna Street , 1958

  27. Ballad of a Soldier, 1959

  28. Breathless, 1960

  29. Cléo from 5 to 7, 1962

  30. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962

  31. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962

  32. Band of Outsiders, 1964

  33. Loves of a Blonde, 1965

  34. Sword of the Beast, 1965

  35. Au hasard Balthazar, 1966

  36. Blow-Up, 1966

  37. Persona, 1966

  38. Tokyo Drifter, 1966

  39. Cool Hand Luke, 1967

  40. Mouchette, 1967

  41. The Graduate, 1967

  42. Night of the Living Dead, 1968

  43. Army of Shadows, 1969

  44. Double Suicide, 1969

  45. Midnight Cowboy, 1969

  46. The Exorcist, 1973

  47. Young Frankenstein, 1974

  48. Overlord, 1975

  49. Cria Cuervos…, 1976

  50. Vernon, Florida, 1981

  51. Louie Bluie, 1985

  52. Ran, 1985

  53. My Left Foot, 1989

  54. Deep Cover, 1992

  55. Following, 1999

  56. The Taste of Others, 2000

  57. Destroyer, 2018

The movies that I consider must-see among these are listed below; there are several more that are borderline must-see (e.g., The Passion of Joan of Arc, Midnight Cowboy, My Left Foot, etc.), but I’m still on the fence about upgrading them:

  1. Au hasard Balthazar, 1966

  2. Breathless, 1960

  3. City Lights, 1931

  4. Frankenstein, 1931

  5. The Graduate, 1967

  6. Young Frankenstein, 1974

Charlotte Emma Aitchison's Closet Picks in the Criterion Closet

Added on by C. Maoxian.

I’ve added the four movies that Charlotte Emma Aitchison picked in her Criterion Closet appearance:

  • Celine and Julie Go Boating

  • The Shrouds

  • La Notte

  • Autumn Sonata

Charlotte Emma Aitchison made one original pick: The Shrouds. I have no idea who Charlotte Emma Aitchison is, but she’s apparently a musical artist.

Identifying whether a pick is original or not is one reason why my Master List of Closet Picks in the Criterion Closet is so valuable.

Maoxian's One a Day Playlist for January 2026

Added on by C. Maoxian.

You’ll recall that I recently posted a One a Day Playlist for 2025. The trouble with that list was that it was 365 songs long (duh) and clocked in at 21 hours and 10 minutes.

So in 2026 I’m going to post the One a Day Playlist every month, and here’s January’s, which is 31 songs long (duh) and clocks in at a more digestible 2 hours and 4 minutes.

The songs are sorted chronologically, latest to earliest. If you don’t like a song, skip to the next!

Music discovery is something that interests me. My musical taste is both eclectic and superlative, and I hope you find the monthly playlist useful.

  • Kali Uchis, All I Can Say

  • Star Feminine Band, Bowo Fun Obiri

  • JID, Glory

  • Trond Kallevag, Pretty Polly

  • Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek, Gunes

  • Emiliana Torrini, Miss Flower

  • Pearl & the Oysters, Side Quest

  • Kate Bollinger, J'aime les filles

  • Molly Tuttle, Helpless

  • Her's, Cool With You

  • Joy Kills Sorrow, Such Great Heights

  • Andrea Triana, Far Closer

  • Nouvelle Vague, Road to Nowhere

  • Blur, Clover Over Dover

  • Violent Femmes, Gone Daddy Gone

  • Stevie Ray Vaughan, Little Wing

  • David Bowie, Wild Is the Wind

  • Steely Dan,  Doctor Wu

  • Jerry Goldsmith, Love Theme from Chinatown

  • Barry White, Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up

  • Quincy Jones, Sandford & Son Theme

  • Bill Withers, Lean on Me

  • Cat Stevens, Morning Has Broken

  • Nolan Porter, If I Could Only Be Sure

  • Albert King, Finger on the Trigger

  • The Feminine Complex, Hold Me

  • Janis Joplin, Little Girl Blue

  • Jose Feliciano, California Dreamin'

  • Jimi Hendrix, Hey Joe

  • John Mayall, Hideaway

  • Dion, Runaround Sue