When Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he probably didn’t realize that he’d written a potential tagline for every paranoia-driven movie to follow that speech. The fears of paranoid characters are constructed, either by themselves or others around them, but our best filmmakers allow us to see the world from these fragile perspectives. Let’s immerse ourselves in the unsettling terror of the mind.

1. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)

2. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)

3. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)

4. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander MacKendrick)

5. Funny Face (Stanley Donen)

6. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet)

7. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa)

8. Aparajito (Satyajit Ray)

9. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)

10. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)

Updated: December 29, 2011

See Also: Top 10 Movies of 1953, Top 10 Movies of 1962, Top 10 Movies of 1972, Top 10 Movies of 1984, Top 10 Movies of 1986, Top 10 Movies of 1989, Top 10 Movies of 1992, Top 10 Movies of 1999, Top 10 Movies of 2002, Top 10 Movies of 2003, Top 10 Movies of 2004, Top 10 Movies of 2005, Top 10 Movies of 2007, Top 10 Movies of 2008, Top 10 Movies of 2009, Top 10 Movies of 2010, Top 10 Movies of 2011

1. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)

2. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)

3. Fight Club (David Fincher)

4. Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter)

5. The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola)

6. Office Space (Mike Judge)

7. Election (Alexander Payne)

8. Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese)

9. Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton)

10. The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers)

Updated: December 29, 2011

See Also: Top 10 Albums of 1999, Top 10 Movies of 1953, Top 10 Movies of 1957, Top 10 Movies of 1962, Top 10 Movies of 1972, Top 10 Movies of 1984, Top 10 Movies of 1986, Top 10 Movies of 1989, Top 10 Movies of 1992, Top 10 Movies of 2002, Top 10 Movies of 2003, Top 10 Movies of 2004, Top 10 Movies of 2005, Top 10 Movies of 2007, Top 10 Movies of 2008, Top 10 Movies of 2009, Top 10 Movies of 2010, Top 10 Movies of 2011

People often ask me, “Todd, where the hell do you come up with these lists?”  Well, the genesis of this particular list can be traced back to a conversation with some friends. Someone stated that all of the movies available for instant streaming on Netflix were crap, but I countered and suggested this wasn’t the case.  I then said I would make a list of great movies the lovely people at Netflix have made readily available. Now I present my 50 favorite English-language sound movies currently available for streaming. I know that certain directors are disproportionately represented, namely Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick. That’s due to a combination of two factors: they are two of my absolute favorite filmmakers, and a surprising amount of their work is available at the click of a button. Expect a list of foreign language films sometime in the future.

1. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
2. The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
3. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
4. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
5. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
6. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 1986)
8. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
10. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
11. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
12. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
13. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
14. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
15. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
16. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
17. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
18. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
19. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
20. All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
21. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
22. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
23. The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
24. Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)
25. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1976)
26. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
27. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
28. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
29. The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985)
30. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
31. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1943)
32. Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, 2009)
33. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
34. The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese, 1988)
35. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
36. Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
37. Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994)
38. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992)
39. Shadows (John Cassavetes, 1959)
40. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
41. The Man Who Wasn’t There (Joel Coen, 2001)
42. Barton Fink (Joel Coen, 1991)
43. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
44. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
45. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
46. Gentleman Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
47. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
48. Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)
49. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
50. Jackie Brown (Quentin Trantino, 1997)