A Cookbook of Cinematic Delicacies That Do Not Expire

Despite the increasing number of film rankings that are created on the basis of economic considerations, critical acclaim, or personal taste, cinema lacks the means to quantify the long-term success of films. The authors therefore propose a novel approach to the analysis of cinematic influences which is based on a film citation network that is extracted from a large data base. The resulting top list of films is more diverse in terms of the main creators, genre, actors, and technical specifications than a representative selection of personal favorite lists, voting lists, lists of individual experts, or lists deduced from expert polls.