I made a Best 100 Films list when I was 30 and I intended to share with subscribers an updated list at age 40. As is often the case these days, I missed that deadline by a couple of months. But here we are a decade later.
By directorial demographics, my list at 30 was exceptionally white and male. This can be chalked up to my own ignorance and prejudices, but also the film canon taught at university, the programming of repertory screenings, Criterion releases, etc. etc. While my new 100 isn’t super-diverse either, it hopefully reveals some of my emphasis on finding films by non-white-dudes to watch and review since I began to do this “professionally.”
My new list still skews toward French films through history and American films of the 1970s. What can I say? These are the best films. But instead of including every gem from the Assayas, Denis, Malick, and Wong Kar Wai filmographies, I tried to reduce repetition and encourage more adventure (when possible…I'm not not putting Vertigo on the list because it’s on everyone else’s list). When directors are repeated, I’ve tried to select projects that have different subject matter and feel.
The WTT Best 100 skews more recent than I would have imagined, with 45% of films release in 1990 or later. Given the enormous barriers presented to women and filmmakers of color throughout history, it makes sense that, in order to incorporate works by non-white-dudes, you need to include newer releases.
The canon has a long way to go. And I hope by the time I’m 50 the list will look much different again. Anyway, you probably just want to read it and disagree with the choices. Let me know what I’ve unconscionably omitted. As a last word: when I had to make a close call on what to add or subtract, I tried to pick the film that was a bit more fun to (re-)watch.
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