Last year, I compiled my top 10 year-end top 10 movie lists, quite the fun project. In 2026, I’ve put together my top dozen best of the decade summaries (I could have limited it to 10, but the forties and fifties are so loaded that I added B-teams consisting of the second 10 of that decade). To weigh the decades against each other for what are often wildly differing styles and approaches, I made a top 10, 25, 50, and 100 to help quantify.
12. The 1920s
I’m less familiar with silent cinema than the decades that followed, and of course a lot of potential treasures have been lost to history. If I’d seen more, the list might not be more than half-filled with Buster Keaton and Ernst Lubitsch movies. But I guarantee they’d still be well-represented. One reason why this decade is at the end of the trail is that only the number one picture made my lists (the only silent in the top 50).
- Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton and Charles Reisner)
- So This Is Paris (Ernst Lubitsch)
- A Woman of Paris (Charles Chaplin)
- The Cameraman (Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick)
- The Wedding March (Erich von Stroheim)
- Lady Windermere’s Fan (Ernst Lubitsch)
- The Marriage Circle (Ernst Lubitsch)
- Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau)
- Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
- Pandora’s Box (G.W. Pabst)
11. The 2010s
The pacesetter here is in my all-time top 10 (and by far my top non-fiction film ever), but it’s also the only one from this decade in the top 50. Choices 2 through 4 made the top 100. Not only are all of the directors distinct, they’re also from at least five different countries. And the films are still relatively recent in the general scheme of things; several of these, especially the excellent runner-up, could move up over time. The films here feature a halfway split between English and other languages, although there are multiple complications: Roma is a Mexico/U.S. coproduction, Midnight in Paris an American/Spanish/French effort, and both La Verite and especially Clouds of Sils Maria feature substantial English dialogue despite being set in Europe with respectively largely/partially French language.
- Faces/Places (Agnes Varda & JR)
- Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho)
- La Verite (Hirokazu Koreeda)
- Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
- Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
- Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
- Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener)
- The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
- Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas)
- Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
10. The 1950s B (the second 10)
Not necessarily the greatest decade of all time, but for my money the deepest: 22 films made my top 100 (including my favorite Fritz Lang (The Big Heat) and my favorite Luis Buñuel film made in Mexico (Subida al Cielo), both of which just missed the cut of the second ten). This list also features films from 10 different directors, although two of them are represented at least once on the decade’s first ten.
- Seven Men from Now (Budd Boetticher)
- The Earrings of Madame de… (Max Ophuls)
- Bob le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville)
- The River (Jean Renoir)
- Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder)
- Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)
- Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk)
- All About Eve (Joseph Mankiewicz)
- Cela S’Appelle Aurore (Luis Buñuel)
- Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. The 1980s
The next three decades are very similar in quality, but the eighties have one less in the top 100 than the other two. There are three in the top 50, two of which almost made the 25 along with the standard bearer. Again, 10 filmmakers, though Bill Forsyth’s Housekeeping was among the closest honorable mentions.
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodovar)
- Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver)
- Local Hero (Bill Forsyth)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
- Lost in America (Albert Brooks)
- Tampopo (Juzo Itami)
- Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
- Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh)
- Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
- True Confessions (Ulu Grosbard)
8. The 1960s
Thanks to Akira Kurosawa’s amazing triple-shot (two noirs and a samurai picture!) and the French New Wave (half the list), the sixties are fighting it out for a middle position instead of significantly lower down the ladder. As you see, I’ve only got one representative of the wildly celebrated American vanguard, but it’s a great one. With only two American films, this is my only decade dominated by foreign-language pictures (in fact, the only one with more than half). Also, this period will likely remain the greatest ever for a filmmaking married couple, with an incredible four selections from the Agnes Varda/Jacques Demy family.
- The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa)
- The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
- Le Bonheur (Agnes Varda)
- The Graduate (Mike Nichols)
- Shoot the Piano Player (Francois Truffaut)
- High and Low (Akira Kurosawa)
- The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy)
- Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda)
- Lola (Jacques Demy)
- Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa)
7. The 1930s
As dependent as the sixties were on Kurosawa and the French upstarts, the thirties are even more top-heavy: Lubitsch and Jean Renoir made half of the films selected here (along with five of the seven that qualified for my top 100). But things were looking up as the sound cinema evolved artistically (if less wild as the Code era became entrenched): everything except Morocco and the two highest Lubitsch picks was released from 1937 through ’39.
- Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)
- Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir)
- The Edge of the World (Michael Powell)
- The Merry Widow (Ernst Lubitsch)
- Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)
- Ninochtka (Ernst Lubitsch)
- Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
- Stagecoach (John Ford)
- Port of Shadows (Marcel Carne)
- Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
6. The 2000s
An excellent decade. Four in my top fifty (all between 40 and 50), but all ten plus runner-up Y Tu Mama Tambien are in the hundred. Just over half of these (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 10) announced themselves as masterpieces on first viewings; the other four were obviously very good from the start but have risen dramatically over the years.
- 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai) 2005
- Mulholland Drive (David Lynch) 2000
- Inside Man (Spike Lee) 2006
- American Splendor (Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman) 2002
- Stranger than Fiction (Marc Forster) 2006
- Gosford Park (Robert Altman) 2001
- Sideways (Alexander Payne) 2003
- Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) 2004
- Juno (Jason Reitman) 2007
- Volver (Pedro Almodovar) 2006
5. The 1970s
Almost as colossal as its reputation, speaking as one enamored by the more adult touchstones represented here than the Spielberg/Lucas/Stallone blockbuster era. The one foreign film on the list is in my all-time top 10; seven of the ten made the 100. It could have been more, as the Mel Brooks was on the bubble. On the other hand, Night Moves eked into the lower nineties.
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel) 1972
- Annie Hall (Woody Allen) 1977
- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola) 1972
- Network (Sidney Lumet) 1976
- Shampoo (Hal Ashby) 1974
- Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese) 1976
- Night Moves (Arthur Penn) 1975
- Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks) 1974
- The Godfather, Part 2 (Francis Ford Coppola) 1974
- Breaking Away (Peter Yates) 1979
4. The 1990s
The top film is in my top 10, the runner-up in my 20, and all of them are easily in the 100, as is near-miss Jackie Brown. Not only is there no directorial duplication, my top 20 from the decade are all by different filmmakers.
- Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai) 1994
- Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese) 1990
- The Road Home (Zhang Yimou) 1999
- Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis) 1993
- Clockwatchers (Jill Sprecher) 1999
- Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh) 1998
- Red Rock West (John Dahl) 1994
- Next Stop Wonderland (Brad Anderson) 1997
- The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen) 1998
- Clueless (Amy Heckerling) 1995
3. The 1940s B (the second 10)
The forties aren’t quite as deep as the fifties, but the top shelf is much higher: seven of these runners-up are in my top 50, with the other three in the 100. Other than Howard Hawks with a remarkable three selections, there’s a nice variety featuring many of the greatest studio-era directors. All English language, though with an 8:2 US/UK split.
- The Maltese Falcon (John Huston) 1941
- A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) 1946
- His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks) 1940
- Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder) 1944
- Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock) 1943
- The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks) 1946
- The Third Man (Carol Reed) 1949
- Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges) 1944
- Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks) 1941
- White Heat (Raoul Walsh) 1949
2. The 1950s
A superb list: two in my top 10, three more in the 25, and all easily in the 50 list. This is my favorite decade for several of my all-time favorite filmmakers: Wilder, Fellini, Bergman, Rossellini. Hitchcock continued his forties greatness, building on it in some ways. Hawks didn’t, but rebounded with one of his best works at the end of the decade. Also, a truly great decade for genre pictures, with two all-time Westerns and two top-tier noirs (from two different countries, three if Fear counts).
- Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder) 1950
- Fear (Roberto Rossellini) 1954
- Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder) 1959
- Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman) 1957
- I Vitelloni (Federico Fellini) 1953
- Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks) 1959
- Touchez pas au Grisbi (Jacques Becker) 1954
- The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston) 1950
- The Searchers (John Ford) 1956
- North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock), 1959
- The 1940s
Every one of these movies is a personal favorite; the tenth one just missed my top 20. My choice Western is represented, as are several noirs American and Japanese (the pure noir Out of the Past along with melodrama hybrid Laura and the social commentary infused Kurosawa). Drunken Angel is the only film listed that’s not in English, but it’s not the only foreign film: my number one on this list and for any era is British. Also, every director on this list except the rapidly improving Kurosawa was in their prime during the forties. Some of the others—Curtiz, Tourneur, Preminger—were inconsistent depending on material and other variables. Another group—Welles, Sturges, Hawks, P&P—enjoyed a sustained period of greatness before varying circumstances caused a drop in quality/productivity. Lubitsch and Hitchcock were always good and frequently great, so for me saying that the films selected here show them at their most exalted level is no small compliment.
- I Know Where I’m Going (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger) 1945
- Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock) 1946
- The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch) 1940
- The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles) 1942
- Casablanca (Michael Curtiz) 1942
- The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges) 1941
- Drunken Angel (Akira Kurosawa) 1948
- Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur) 1947
- Red River (Howard Hawks) 1948
- Laura (Otto Preminger) 1944
The present/future?
Here’s a top five from our current twenties:
- Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Love) 2021
- The Old Oak (Ken Loach) 2023
- Perfect Days (Wim Wenders) 2023
- Past Lives (Celine Song) 2023
- The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang Soo) 2022
The one English-language film is British, and the one American film probably features at least as much Korean dialogue as English. The standard bearer is from a major comparatively young talent; the fourth, despite a sophomore setback, has the writing skill to be among the best of her generation as well. The others on the metal stand are career bests by long-time greats, all of whom have created extraordinarily interesting catalogs. I’m still going over the 2025 crop, and I’ll post something soon. My favorite one or two look like they could vie for the fourth or fifth spot; we’ll see how they age.