“It’s silly to choose ten, but okay!” wrote Donald Fagen, the American songwriter and musician best known as the cofounder and lead singer of Steely Dan, when presented with the task of picking his favorite titles in the Criterion Collection. The results reveal Fagen as a major fan of art-house classics, especially ones by Fellini (who takes his top two slots). And we’re not surprised he relates to a tale of musical creation like Topsy-Turvy .
Biography via Criterion.
The List
1
8½
Federico Fellini
1963
139 min
2
Juliet of the Spirits
Federico Fellini
1965
148 min
3
My Man Godfrey
UnavailableGregory La Cava
1936
95 min
4
Billy Liar
UnavailableJohn Schlesinger
1963
98 min
5
Fanny and Alexander: Theatrical Version
Ingmar Bergman
1982
188 min
6
Day of Wrath
Carl Th. Dreyer
1943
97 min
7
On the Waterfront
UnavailableElia Kazan
1954
108 min
8
The Third Man
UnavailableCarol Reed
1949
105 min
9
Topsy-Turvy
Mike Leigh
1999
160 min
10
Withnail and I
Bruce Robinson
1987
108 min