Top Ten Films: by Year

Read more lists On File here.

Obviously this list has a long way to go, but I'm working on it as much as I can while balancing a full-time job.

*Starting in 2010 (when I actually started paying attention to film), I'll be listing films by their U.S. release date.

1920

1. The Parson's Widow (Carl Th. Dreyer)
2. The Penalty (Wallace Worsley)
3. Way Down East (D.W. Griffith)
4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene)
5. The Golem (Paul Wegener)

1921

1. The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöström)
2. The Kid (Charles Chaplin)

1923

1. A Woman of Paris (Charles Chaplin)

1922

1. Nosferatu (F. W. Murnau)

1924

1. Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton)

1925

1. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin)
2. Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux)

1928

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Th. Dreyer)
2. The Circus (Charles Chaplin)

1929

1. Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)

1931

1. M (Fritz Lang)
2. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
3. À nous la liberté (René Clair)
4. The Criminal Code (Howard Hawks)

1932

1. Freaks (Tod Browning)
2. Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian)
3. Vampyr (Carl Th. Dreyer)
4. Scarface (Howard Hawks)

1933

1. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
2. Design for Living (Ernst Lubitsch)

1934

1. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo)
2. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
4. Street Without End (Mikio Naruse)

1936

1. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin)

1937

1. Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey)
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David D. Hand)

1938

1. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)
2. Pygmalion (Leslie Howard and Anthony Asquith)

1939

1. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
2. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming)
3. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra)

1940

1. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
2. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)
3. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor)
4. Fantasia (errrr...)
5. Pinocchio (Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen)

1941

1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
2. Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen)
3. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)

1942

1. To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
3. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)

1943

1. Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)

1944

1. To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks)
2. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)

1945

1. The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder)

1946

1. A Matter of Life and Death (Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell)
2. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
3. Late Spring (Yasujirō Ozu)
4. The Stranger (Orson Welles)
5. It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)

1947

1. Monsieur Verdoux (Charles Chaplin)
2. The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles)

1948

1. Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle)
2. The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica)
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)
4. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. Drunken Angel (Akira Kurosawa)

1949

1. The Third Man (Carol Reed)
2. I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks)
3. Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa)
4. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Clyde Geronimi, James Algar, and Jack Kinney)

1950

1. Night and the City (Jules Dassin)
2. Rashōmon (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder)
4. All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
5. Cinderella (Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi)

1951

1. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder)
2. Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi)

1952

1. Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica)
2. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)
4. Limelight (Charles Chaplin)
5. Forbidden Games (René Clément)

1953

1. I Confess (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi)
3. Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
4. Roman Holiday (William Wyler)
5. Glen or Glenda (Ed Wood)
6. Peter Pan (Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi)

1954

1. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
2. La Strada (Federico Fellini)
3. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
5. A Lesson in Love (Ingmar Bergman)
6. Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (Hiroshi Inagaki)

1955

1. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich)
2. Ordet (Carl Th. Dreyer)
3. A Generation (Andrzej Wajda)
4. Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
5. Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman)
6. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (Hiroshi Inagaki)
7. The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder)

1956

1. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
2. The Killing (Stanley Kubrick)
3. Bob le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville)
4. Samurai III: Duel on Ganryu Island (Hiroshi Inagaki)
5. Giant (George Stevens)

1957

1. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)
2. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick)
4. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
5. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
6. The Lower Depths (Akira Kurosawa)
7. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)
8. 12 Angry Men (Sydney Lumet)

1958

1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa)

1959

1. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson)
2. Shadows (John Cassavetes)
3. The 400 Blows (François Truffaut)
4. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi)
5. Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus)
6. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi)
8. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder)
9. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks)
10. The Unsent Letter (Mikhail Kalatozov)

Honorable Mentions: Ben-Hur (William Wyler)

1960

1. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)
3. The Goddess (Satyajit Ray)
4. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. Tunes of Glory (Ronald Neame)
6. The League of Gentlemen (Basil Dearden)
7. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi)
8. The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
9. Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju)
10. Shoot the Piano Player (François Truffaut)

Honorable Mentions: The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa)

1961

1. Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman)
2. Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards)
4. A Woman is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. Viridiana (Luis Buñuel)
6. 101 Dalmatians (Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi)

1962

1. My Life to Live (Jean-Luc Godard)
2. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel)
3. Lolita (Stanley Kubrick)
4. Jules and Jim (François Truffaut)
5. Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey)
6. The House is Black (Forugh Farrokhzād)
7. Le Doulos (Jean-Pierre Melville)
8. Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi)
9. Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa)
10. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich)

Honorable Mentions: To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan)

1963

1. High and Low (Akira Kurosawa)
2. The Silence (Ingmar Bergman)
3. Charade (Stanley Donen)
4. Suzanne's Career (Éric Rohmer)
5. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini)
6. Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman)

1964

1. Gertrud (Carl Th. Dreyer)
2. Onibaba (Kaneto Shindō)
3. Dr. Stranglelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick)
4. Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Robert Aldrich)
5. Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni)
6. A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone)
7. Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard)
8. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)

1965

1. Brick and Mirror (Ebrahim Golestan)
2. Repulsion (Roman Polański)
3. Simon of the Desert (Luis Buñuel)
4. Red Beard (Akira Kurosawa)
5. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone)

1966

1. Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni)
2. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky)
3. Persona (Ingmar Bergman)
4. Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
5. The Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto)
6. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone)
7. Six Figures Getting Sick (Six Times) (David Lynch)
8. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols)

1967

1. Markéta Lazarová (František Vláčil)
2. Playtime (Jacques Tati)
3. Week-end (Jean-Luc Godard)
4. Le samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville)
5. Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki)
6. The Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich)
7. Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel)
8. The Graduate (Mike Nichols)
9. Who's That Knocking at My Door (Martin Scorsese)
10. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer)

Honoroable Mentions: In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison), Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn)

1968

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
2. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polański)
3. The Alphabet (David Lynch)
4. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone)

1969

1. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
2. The Cow (Dariush Mehrjui)
3. Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville)
4. The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle)
5. Medium Cool (Haskell Wexler)
6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill)

1970

1. Trash (Paul Morrissey)
2. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci)

1971

1. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg)
2. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman)
3. The Cat o' Nine Tails (Dario Argento)
4. Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman)
5. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick)
6. A Short Night of Glass Dolls (Aldo Lado)
7. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart)
8. Dirty Harry (Don Siegel)

1972

1. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel)
2. Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman)
3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
4. The Woman Who Powders Herself (Patrick Bokanowski)
5. Aguierre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
6. Deliverance (John Boorman)

1973

1. Sisters (Brian De Palma)
2. F for Fake (Orson Welles)
3. Badlands (Terrence Malick)
4. Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich)
5. Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg)
6. The Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice)
7. The Exorcist (William Friedkin)
8. Amarcord (Federico Fellini)
9. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese)

1974

1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
2. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
3. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
4. Black Christmas (Bob Clark)
5. Chinatown (Roman Polański)
6. The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)
7. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes)
8. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese)

1975

1. Nashville (Robert Altman)
2. Deep Red (Dario Argento)
3. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky)
4. Hedgehog in the Fog (Yuri Norstein)
5. Dog Day Afternoon (Sydney Lumet)
6. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
7. Tommy (Ken Russell)
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Miloš Forman)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones)

1976

1. Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter)
2. The Tenant (Roman Polański)
3. Carrie (Brian De Palma)
4. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
5. Network (Sydney Lumet)
6. Rocky (John G. Avildsen)

1977

1. Eraserhead (David Lynch)
2. Suspiria (Dario Argento)
3. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
4. House (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
5. Martin (George A. Romero)
6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg)
7. Star Wars (George Lucas)

1978

1. In a Year With 13 Moons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
2. Halloween (John Carpenter)
3. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick)
4. Midnight Express (Alan Parker)
5. Animal House (John Landis)

1979

1. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
2. The Warriors (Walter Hill)
3. Stalker (Andrey Tarkovsky)
4. Life of Brian (Terry Jones)
5. Alien (Ridley Scott)

1980

1. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
2. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
3. The Elepnant Man (David Lynch)
4. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner)
5. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker)
6. Talking Heads (Krzysztof Kieślowski)

1981

1. Possession (Andrzej Żuławski)
2. Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
3. The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi)
4. Escape from New York (John Carpenter)
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
6. Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen)

1982

1. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
2. The Atomic Cafe (Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, and Pierce Rafferty)
3. Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel)
4. Dimensions of Dialogue (Jan Švankmajer)
5. Burden of Dreams (Les Blank)
6. Vincent (Tim Burton)
7. The Thing (John Carpenter)

1983

1. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker)
2. À nos amours (Maurice Pialat)
3. L'Argent (Robert Bresson)
4. A Christmas Story (Bob Clark)
5. Barefoot Gen (Mori Masaki)
6. The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan)

1984

1. Gremlins (Joe Dante)
2. Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen)
3. There Will Come Soft Rains (Nazim Tulyakhodzhayev)
4. The Terminator (James Cameron)
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Hayao Miyazaki)
6. Body Double (Brian De Palma)
7. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders)
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven)
9. Dune (David Lynch)
10. Amadeus (Miloš Forman)

1985

1. Come and See (Elem Klimov)
2. After Hours (Martin Scorsese)
3. Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
4. Commando (Mark L. Lester)
5. Vagabond (Agnès Varda)
6. Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant)
7. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes)
8. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis)
9. The Goonies (Richard Donner)
10. Phenomena (Dario Argento)

1986

1. The Hitcher (Robert Harmon)
2. Lupita: Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki)
3. Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
4. The Fly (David Cronenberg)
5. Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch)
6. Stand by Me (Rob Reiner)
7. Ferris Beuller's Day Off (John Hughes)
8. Platoon (Oliver Stone)

1987

1. Opera (Dario Argento)
2. The Cyclist (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
3. The Dante Quartet (Stan Brakhage)
4. RoboCop (Paul Verhoeven)
5. The Gate (Tibor Takács)
6. Predator (John McTieran)
7. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes)
8. Where is My Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami)
9. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow)
10. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders)

Honorable Mentions: Au revoir les enfants (Louis Malle), Raising Arizona (Joel and Ethan Coen), Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel), Wall Street (Oliver Stone), The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (John Hughes), Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick), Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi)

1988

1. Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata)
2. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg)
3. My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki)
4. Die Hard (John McTiernan)
5. A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton)
6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis)
7. They Live (John Carpenter)
8. The Vanishing (George Sluizer)
9. Rain Man (Barry Levinson)

1989

1. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
2. Kiki's Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki)
3. Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow)
4. Kitchen Sink (Alison MacLean)
5. Sweetie (Jane Campion)
6. My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan)

1990

1. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami)
2. Metropolitan (Whit Stillman)
3. The Killer (John Woo)
4. Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven)
5. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)
6. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Joe Dante)
7. Miller's Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen)
8. Wild at Heart (David Lynch)
9. Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton)
10. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (Akira Kurosawa)

Honorable Mentions: Foutaises (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

1991

1. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant)
2. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
3. Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow)
4. Barton Fink (Joel and Ethan Coen)
5. The Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron)
6. Only Yesterday (Isao Takahata)
7. Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathon Demme)
9. Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton)

1992

1. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch)
2. The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies)
3. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrera)
4. Hard Boiled (John Woo)
5. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (Aleksandr Petrov)
6. Porco Rosso (Hayao Miyazaki)
7. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)
8. Bram Stroker's Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola)
9. Dead Alive (Peter Jackson)

1993

1. Short Cuts (Robert Altman)
2. Midori (Hiroshi Harada)
3. Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma)
4. Groundhog's Day (Harold Ramis)
5. Three Colors: Blue (Krzysztof Kieślowski)
6. Naked (Mike Leigh)
7. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater)
8. Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg)
9. The Sandlot (David M. Evans)
10. The Wrong Trousers (Nick Park)

1994

1. Hoop Dreams (Steve James)
2. Through the Olive Trees (Abbas Kiarostami)
3. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai)
4. Sátántangó (Béla Tarr)
5. Crumb (Terry Zwigoff)
6. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
7. Clerks (Kevin Smith)
8. Speed (Jan de Bont)
9. Barcelona (Whit Stillman)
10. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabount)

Honorable Mention: The Hudsucker Proxy (Joel and Ethan Coen), Leon: The Professional (Luc Besson)

1995

1. Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven)
2. Clueless (Amy Heckerling)
3. La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz)
4. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater)
5. Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo)
6. Safe (Todd Haynes)
7. Toy Story (John Lasseter)
8. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch)
9. Se7en (David Fincher)
10. Day of the Beast (Álex de la Iglesia)

1996

1. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier)
2. A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
3. Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas)
4. The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller)
5. Fargo (Joel and Ethan Coen)
6. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle)
7. Crash (David Cronenberg)
8. Hard Eight (Paul Thomas Anderson)
9. Beavis and Butthead Do America (Mike Judge)
10. Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma)

Honorable Mentions: Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe), Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale)

1997

1. Mother and Son (Aleksandr Sokurov)
2. Face/Off (John Woo)
3. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
5. The Mirror (Jafar Panahi)
6. Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki)
7. Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven)
8. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami)
9. Lost Highway (David Lynch)
10. Gummo (Harmony Korine)

Honorable Mentions: The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Jay Roach), The Devil's Advocate (Taylor Hackford), Contact (Robert Zemeckis), Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith), Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant), L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson), As Good as It Gets (James L. Brooks), Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni)

1998

1. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)
2. Belly (Hype Williams)
3. Rushmore (Wes Anderson)
4. Run Lola Run (Tom Twyker)
5. The Last Days of Disco (Whit Stillman)
6. Blade (Stephen Norrington)
7. The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen)
8. Buffalo '66 (Vincent Gallo)
9. Following (Christopher Nolan)
10. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie)

Honorable Mentions: Bulworth (Warren Beatty), A Bug's Life (John Lasseter), American History X (Tony Kaye), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam), Pi (Darren Aronofsky), The Truman Show (Peter Weir), The Wedding Singer (Frank Coraci), Mulan (Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft)

1999

1. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2. Beau Travail (Claire Denis)
3. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)
4. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)
5. The Straight Story (David Lynch)
6. The Iron Giant (Brad Bird)
7. Fight Club (David Fincher)
8. Election (Alexander Payne)
9. Existenz (David Cronenberg)
10. Office Space (Mike Judge)

Honorable Mentions: Drop Dead Gorgeous (Michael Patrick Jann), Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton)

2000

1. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
2. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr)
3. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
4. Mission to Mars (Brian De Palma)
5. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears)
6. Memento (Christopher Nolan)
7. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel and Ethan Coen)
8. Traffic (Steven Soderbergh)
9. The Emperor's New Groove (Mark Dindal)

2001

1. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
2. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
3. Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
4. Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat)
5. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
6. Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón)
7. Monsters Inc. (Pete Docter)
8. Gosford Park (Robert Altman)
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (Peter Jackson)
10. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly)

Honorable Mentions: Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Doors, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg), Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet), Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Chris Columbus)

2002

1. The Son (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
2. Talk to Her (Pedo Almodóvar)
3. Blade II (Guillermo del Toro)
4. Bus 174 (José Padilha)
5. Suicide Club (Sion Sono)
6. Minority Report (Steven Spielberg)
7. Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson)
9. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle)
10. In America (Jim Sheridan)

Honorable Mentions: Adaptation (Spike Jonze), Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson), Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore), Lilo & Stitch (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois), City of God (Fernando Meirelles), Hero (Zhang Yimou), 25th Hour (Spike Lee), Igby Goes Down (Burr Steers), The Weather Underground (Sam Green), About a Boy (Paul and Chris Weitz)

2003

1. The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo)
2. Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)
3. Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
4. The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet)
5. Lost in Translation (Sophia Coppola)
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson)
7. Big Fish (Tim Burton)
8. Hulk (Ang Lee)
9. Mystic River (Clint Eastwood)
10. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton)

Honorable Mentions: 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu), American Splendor (Robert Placini), Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott), Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Stuck on You (Peter and Bobby Farrelly), Oldboy (Park Chan-wook)

2004

1. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
3. Sideways (Alexander Payne)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
5. The Incredibles (Brad Bird)
6. Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow)
7. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright)
8. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
9. Closer (Mike Nichols)
10. Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino)
11. Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)

Honorable Mentions: Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel), Collateral (Michael Mann), Team America: World Police (Trey Parker), A Moment to Remember (John H. Lee), Anchorman (Adam McKay), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón), Friday Night Lights (Peter Berg), Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Danny Leiner), I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell), The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)

2005

1. The New World (Terrence Malick)
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)
3. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
4. Match Point (Woody Allen)
5. A History of Violence (David Croenberg)
6. The Roost (Ti West)
7. War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg)
8. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July)
9. Munich (Steven Spielberg)
10. Red Eye (Wes Craven)

Honorable Mentions: Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee), Dave Chapelle's Block Party (Michel Gondry),
Sin City (Robert Rodríguez and Frank Miller), Fever Pitch (Peter and Bobby Farrelly), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow), Murderball (Dana Adam Shapiro), Jarhead (Sam Mendes), King Kong (Peter Jackson)

2006

1. Inland Empire (David Lynch)
2. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. Paprika (Satoshi Kon)
4. Offside (Jafar Panahi)
5. Paris je t'aime (errrrrr...)
6. The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry)
7. Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola)
8. Bug (William Friedkin)
9. Volver (Pedro Almodóvar)
10. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón)

Honorable Mentions: Borat (Larry Charles), Once (John Carney), Red Road (Andrea Arnold), Away From Her (Sarah Polley), Everything Will Be OK (Don Hertzfeldt), A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater), Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro), Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Forster), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Mamoru Hosoda), Casino Royale (Martin Campbell), Crank (Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor)

2007

1. Superbad (Greg Mottola)
2. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen)
3. Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
4. Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-dong)
5. Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud)
6. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
7. Funny Games (Michael Haneke)
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik)
9. Eastern Promises (David Croenberg)
10. 2 Days in Paris (Julie Delpy)

Honorable Mentions: Be Kind, Rewind (Michel Gondry), The Band's Visit (Eran Kolirin), Boat (David Lynch), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel), Zodiac (David Fincher), Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright), Juno (Jason Reitman), Knocked Up (Judd Apatow), The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman)

2008

1. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathon Demme)
2. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)
3. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
4. Bronson (Nicolas Winding Refn)
5. Martyrs (Pascal Laugier)
6. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)
7. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
8. Wall-E (Andrew Stanton)
9. The Class (Laurent Cantet)
10. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)

Honorable Mention: I've Loved You So Long (Philippe Claudel), The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan), Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki), A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Nicholas Stoller), A Matter of Loaf and Death (Nick Park), Doubt (John Patrick Shanley), Sugar (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck), Food Inc. (Robert Kenner), Milk (Gus Van Sant)

2009

1. Up (Pete Docter)
2. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
3. The House of the Devil (Ti West)
4. Valhalla Rising (Nicolas Winding Refn)
5. Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze)
6. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold)
7. Adventureland (Greg Mottola)
8. Moon (Duncan Jones)
9. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)
10. Observe and Report (Jody Hill)

Honorable Mentions: Crank 2: High Voltage (Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor), A Single Man (Tom Ford), A Prophet (Jacques Audiard), I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino), Coraline (Henry Selick), Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson), The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke), Funny People (Judd Apatow), Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman), District 9 (Neill Blomkamp)

2010

1. The Illusionist (Sylvain Chomet)
2. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright)
4. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy)
5. Runaway (Kanye West)
6. Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)
7. The Social Network (David Fincher)
8. Restrepo (Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington)
9. Inside Job (Charles Ferguson)
10. Tangled (Nathan Greno and Byron Howard)

Honorable Mentions: Greenberg (Noah Baumbach), Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance), The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko), I'm Still Here (Casey Affleck), Inception (Christopher Nolan), Death at a Funeral (Neil LaBute), How to Train Your Dragon (Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders), Buried (Rodrigo Cortés), The Fighter (David O. Russell), Please Give (Nicole Holocener), Animal Kingdom (David Michôd)

2011

1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
2. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami)
3. Nostalgia for the Light (Patricio Guzmán)
4. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
5. Attack the Block (Joe Cornish)
6. The Interrupters (Steve James)
7. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raúl Ruiz)
8. Poetry (Lee Chang-Dong)
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
10. Beginners (Mike Mills)

Honorable Mentions: Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn), Young Adult (Jason Reitman), Tuesday, After Christmas (Radu Muntean), Bridesmaids (Paul Feig), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson), Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki), Final Destination 5 (Steven Quale), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (David Yates), The Descendants (Alexander Payne), Another Earth (Mike Cahill)

2012

1. Tabu (Miguel Gomes)
2. The Comedy (Rick Alverson)
3. The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo)
4. The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry)
5. Las Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli)
6. Vamps (Amy Heckerling)
7. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier)
8. Girl Walk // All Day (Jacob Krupnick)
9. 5 Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi)
10. The Kid With a Bike (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

Honorable Mentions: This Is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb), The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr), Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman), The Expendables 2 (Simon West), (The Innkeepers (Ti West), Beyond the Black Rainbow (Panos Cosmatos), The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson), Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino), Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson), The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies)

2013

1. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)
2. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley)
3. Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan)
4. Caesar Must Die (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
5. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater)
6. The Last Stand (Kim Jee-woon)
7. Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland)
8. Leviathan (Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor)
9. The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie)
10. 11 Flowers (Wang Xiaoshuai)

Honorable Mentions: The Rambler (Calvin Lee Reader), Upstream Color (Shane Caruth), To the Wonder (Terrence Malick),