Sight & Sound released the results of their newest critics’ poll–as good an excuse as any for me to list my own ten favorite movies. It sure is tough to narrow it down to just ten. (If I could have a top eleven, VERTIGO would surely be on it!) Listed in alphabetical order, these are the movies that have meant the most to me over the years and still do.

BELLE DE JOUR (1967, dir. Luis Buñuel)
DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978, dir. George A. Romero)
DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (1970, dir. Frank Perry)
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946, dir. Frank Capra)
LAURA (1944, dir. Otto Preminger)
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962, dir. David Lean)
LOST HIGHWAY (1997, dir. David Lynch)
REAR WINDOW (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
3 WOMEN (1977, dir. Robert Altman)
TRUE STORIES (1986, dir. David Byrne)