MusicalLa La Land
“outdoes all of them by a mile”Essay 32, La La Land
Hamzeh Al-Afghani. Films, music and rankings.
Life is too short for a bad movie.
So I wrote about 101 good ones. Then a 102nd. Everything here is in my own words, from those essays and from the picks I keep updating.
Where I said it: my first essay, July 2022
The All-Time Five
One pick per category, until I change my mind. Where I haven't picked yet, this is what my 2022 essays say.
Best film of all time
Barry Lyndon
1975, Stanley Kubrick
“This is the most beautiful film ever shot.”
My 2022 answer
Best musician of all time
Nino Rota
and, in a tie, Ennio Morricone
“Nino Rota, my most favorite composer of all time besides Ennio Morricone.”
My 2022 answer
Best director of all time
Stanley Kubrick
I called him my favourite filmmaker three times
“my favorite motion picture by my favorite filmmaker”
My 2022 answer
Best non-English film of all time
Roma
2018, Alfonso Cuarón. The nearest I came to naming one
“my favorite (so far) film of the 21st century cinema”
My nearest answer in 2022
Best music of all time
Cinema Paradiso score
Ennio Morricone, 1988. The nearest I came to naming one
“the timeless score that never stopped echoing in my ears and vibrating in my heart”
My nearest answer in 2022
“…was my favorite film by my favorite filmmaker. I lied.”
My favourite film, revised in essay 100Dr. Strangelove Barry Lyndon
Then, in the very last essay, about a Kubrick film that was never made: “Which is why it would always be the closest to my favorite film of all time!” Essay 102, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made
Music
“They say action speaks louder than words, I say music speaks louder than both.”
Essay 44, Departures
Nino Rota
“composing the ultimate musical score of Italian cinema”Essay 98, 8½
Named in 7 essays: La Strada, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, The Godfather I & II, Nights of Cabiria, The Leopard, 8½.
Ennio Morricone
“the timeless score that never stopped echoing in my ears and vibrating in my heart”Essay 3, Cinema Paradiso
Named in 7 essays: Cinema Paradiso, La Strada, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Battle of Algiers, Inglorious Bastards, Malèna, The Hateful Eight.
Le Trio Joubran, Majaz“The music by Le Trio Joubran, particularly their mesmerizing album 'Majaz' that was used in the film, speaks for its own”
Essay 99, 5 Broken Cameras
Morricone on westerns“The score by Ennio Morricone is, arguably, the greatest ever written for a western picture”
Essay 51, Once Upon a Time in the West
What matters most“the two most important things in life, family and music.”
Essay 49, The Sound of MusicMy directors
Who I call the best, and the one reservation I put on record.
Stanley Kubrick
Favourite filmmaker“I was, honestly, never satisfied with the reported cruelty and abuse my favorite filmmaker had shown on set”
Essay 13, The ShiningAdmiration, with a reservation7in the 101
Federico Fellini
Favourite Italian filmmaker“changed the way I perceive and process storytelling as an art form forever”
Essay 80, Nights of Cabiria5in the 101
Yorgos Lanthimos
Favourite filmmaker of this century“my favorite filmmaker of this century”
Essay 38, The Lobster2in the 101
Greta Gerwig
Favourite American female filmmaker“my favorite American female filmmaker”
Essay 60, Little Women1in the 101
Paul Thomas Anderson
The heir“today's Stanley Kubrick”
Essay 97, The Master2in the 101
Also on the record
The other favourites I named along the way, in my own words.
Musical
TelevisionThe Sopranos
“my favorite, and what I believe to be the greatest, television show of all time”Essay 53, Goodfellas
ActressOlivia Colman
“my favorite actress of all time”Essay 38, The Lobster
ActorRobert De Niro
“arguably, the greatest actor of all time”Essay 72, The Godfather I & II
Indie filmBlue Jay
“my favorite indie film of all time”Essay 40, Blue Jay
A24 filmMoonlight
“my favorite feature film from my favorite independent film production company, A24”Essay 34, Moonlight
Film movementItalian neorealism
“my favorite film movement”Essay 7, Bicycle Thieves
Cinematic toolsNarration and breaking the fourth wall
“two of my most favorite, and the most compelling cinematic tools”Essay 8, The Wolf of Wall Street
Living cinematographerRoger Deakins
“the best living American cinematographer”Essay 91, 1917
One film for all humanityPK
“which film would be the best for all humans to watch together. In 2014, I knew which one.”Essay 52, PK
The boy in Cinema Paradiso
“whether I am the man and Toto is the child inside of me, or I am merely the child and he's the man I seem to look up to”
How to watch a film
- …on the biggest screen possible, with the best audio setup, and in one sitting without a single pause
Essay 91, 1917 - Grab a drink, a whole lot of tissues, and you want to look for the director's cut of the film.
Essay 3, Cinema Paradiso - I recommend that you, blindly, go into Blue Jay.
Essay 40, Blue Jay
101 Movies, and how it started
102 essays, July to November 2022.
- July 2022
“What are 101 movies that you think are great? Asked my beloved wife”
The introduction, 2022 - July 2022
“wait wait. Said my wife. And I know in my heart that when my wife says wait, she has an idea!”
The introduction, 2022 
November 2022“Just take it easy, man!”
That is the entire essay.Essay 96, The Big Lebowski- November 2022
“with only one shy of a film to equal parts of 20th and 21st century cinema”
Essay 101, Roma - November 2022
“My wife is raising the bar with her next challenge, she's proposing a 101-day sugar-free challenge. Let's see if I can manage to convince her of another 101 Movies instead.”
Essay 101, Roma 
November 2022“Oops! I thought was done with this list?!”
Essay 102, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made
103/101
“…the best film is yet to be made, it's the film I am dreaming of making myself, it's the next film.”Essay 102, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made