Time Out in London has compiled a list of the 100 Best British films. So that’s, what, like 1/3 of all British films then? Boom! Zing! I kid, I kid, cause I love. Actually, to the contrary, I was astonished at how many films on the list I was wildly unfamiliar with. I don’t want to cheat Time Out of their page views, so I will not reprint the list here, though I’ll give you a taste. Here’s the bottom ten:

100. In This World (2002)
99. The Railway Children (1970)
98. School for Scoundrels (1960)
97. 28 Days Later… (2002)
96. Theatre of Blood (1973)
95. London to Brighton (2006)
94. 24 Hour Party People (2002)
93. Zulu (1964)
92. Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
91. Land and Freedom (1995)

And #1? Hold onto your butts… Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 Donald Sutherland/Julie Christie psychological thriller, Don’t Look Now. Bold.

The rankings are actually pretty out there and interesting – certainly not what you’d expect. For example, I probably would have bet money that The Bridge on the River Kwai would be either in the top ten or at least near it. Nope. #86. Whereas The Wicker Man is #28, just a few slots above Lawrence of Arabia. Even Witchfinger General significantly beats Kwai. Of course, Wicker Man and Witchfinder are both fantastic films, but one certainly doesn’t expect the Christopher Lee pagan classic to be in throwing distance of Lawrence of Arabia. Or for Lawrence of Arabia to not even be in the top 20.

Lest you think the people at Time Out are just trying to be wacky, I should note that the list was chosen by a panel of 150 individuals made up of filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Sam Mendes, actors, journalists and critics, producers, writers, various industry players, and the staff of Time Out, who each had to select ten films. And frankly, I think more interesting than the 100 films themselves is looking through what various people selected as their ten films. For instance:

Wes Anderson:

  • 1. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Powell and Pressburger, 1943)
  • 2. Oliver Twist (Lean, 1948)
  • 3. Sabotage (Hitchcock, 1936)
  • 4. The Fallen Idol (Reed, 1948)
  • 5. The Hit (Frears, 1984)
  • 6. The Queen of Spades (Dickinson, 1949)
  • 7. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971)
  • 8. Walkabout (Roeg, 1971)
  • 9. They Made Me a Fugitive (Calvalcanti, 1947)
  • 10. Melody (Hussein, 1971)

Alfonso Cuarón:

  • 1. The Big Swallow (Williamson, 1901)
  • 2. The 39 Steps (Hitchcock, 1935)
  • 3. Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960)
  • 4. If… (Anderson, 1968)
  • 5. Kes (Loach, 1969)
  • 6. Don’t Look Now (Roeg, 1973)
  • 7. Tommy (Russell, 1975)
  • 8. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Jones, 1979)
  • 9. Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996)
  • 10. Red Road (Arnold, 2006)
Olivia Williams:
  • 1. Kes (Loach, 1969)
  • 2. The Man Who Would Be King (Huston, 1975)
  • 3. Queen of Hearts (Amiel, 1989)
  • 4. Dance with a Stranger (Newell, 1985)
  • 5. Four Weddings and a Funeral (Newell, 1994)
  • 6. Don’t Look Now (Roeg, 1973)
  • 7. Carry On Camping (Thomas, 1969)
  • 8. The Arbor (Barnard, 2010)
  • 9. Black Narcissus (Powell and Pressburger, 1947)
  • 10. The Day of the Jackal (Zinneman, 1973)
Jesse Armstrong:
  • 1. Withnail and I (Robinson, 1987)
  • 2. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Jones, 1979)
  • 3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Gilliam and Jones, 1975)
  • 4. The Third Man (Reed, 1949)
  • 5. Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996)
  • 6. 24 Hour Party People (Winterbottom, 2002)
  • 7. Bridge on the River Kwai (Lean, 1957)
  • 8. Gregory’s Girl (Forsyth, 1981)
  • 9. Brazil (Gilliam, 1985)
  • 10. Naked (Leigh, 1993)