In 2000, Senses of Cinema asked me for a list of my ten favorite films. I submitted such a list, and a few years later a revised list. Now I have yet another revision. I've submitted it to Senses of Cinema, and they may post it eventually as well.

I have always hated the idea of a film as an object separate from the body of work of its maker, judged as if it were a standalone consumer product. With all great filmmakers, each film gains resonance and meaning from all the others, and it's the whole body of work, or body of the best work, which has the greatest significance. So I construct such order-of-preference lists by starting with my favorite filmmakers in order of preference (of course everyone should understand that such orderings are a bit absurd and to some extent arbitrary), and then choosing what I think are their greatest films. Here's my list as of January 24, 2012:

1. Eniaios, by Gregory J. Markopoulos
2. Genroku Chushingura (The Loyal 47 Ronin, by Kenji Mizoguchi (1942)
3. India, by Roberto Rossellini (1958)
4. Egyptian Series, by Stan Brakhage (1984)
5. Au Hasard, Balthazar, by Robert Bresson (1966)
6. El Dorado, by Howard Hawks (1966)
7. Schwechater, by Peter Kubelka (1958)
8. Seven Women, by John Ford (1966)
9. The Tarnished Angels, by Douglas Sirk (1957)
10. What Goes Up?, by Robert Breer (2003)