Since paul already mentioned that influence is becoming a more important factor now that we've reached the early 1920s, I simply can't understand why Kino Eye is not in the Top 20. It does well in (audience) acclaim and lasting popularity, but it's also fairly easily one of the most influential films of the year. That isn't enough to grant it a place near the Top 10, but it certainly should be in the lower regions imo.

I could see it in the top 20 but I don't think it's a must either. Other opinions?

I am thinking:

1. Sherlock Jr. - Buster Keaton
2. Greed - Erich von Stroheim
3. The Last Laugh - F. W. Murnau
4. The Thief of Bagdad - Raoul Walsh
5. The Navigator - Buster Keaton & Donald Crisp
6. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried - Fritz Lang
7. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge - Fritz Lang
8. He Who Gets Slapped - Victor Sjöström
9. The Iron Horse - John Ford
10. Entr'acte - René Clair

11. Girl Shy - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
12. Michael - Carl Theodor Dreyer
13. Peter Pan - Herbert Brenon
14. Ballet mécanique - Fernand Léger
15. The Marriage Circle - Ernst Lubitsch
16. The Saga of Gösta Berling - Mauritz Stiller
17. The Hands of Orlac - Robert Wiene
18. Kino Eye - Dziga Vertov
19. Aelita - Yakov Protazanov
20. Waxworks - Paul Leni & Leo Birinski

You should see my list for 1899.

1925, the leads:

1. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei M. Eisenstein) (Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov)
2. The Gold Rush - Charles Chaplin (Charles Chaplin, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain)
3. The Big Parade (King Vidor) (John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth)
4. The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian) (Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Mary Philbin)
5. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Fred Niblo) (Ramon Novarro, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson)
6. Strike (Sergei M. Eisenstein) (Grigori Aleksandrov, Maksim Shtraukh, Mikhail Gomorov)
7. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton) (Buster Keaton, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards)
8. The Freshman (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor) (Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict, James Anderson)
9. The Lost World (Harry O. Hoyt) (Bessie Love, Lewis Stone, Wallace Beery, Lloyd Hughes)
10. The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim) (Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, Tully Marshall)

11. Grass (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack) (Documentary)
12. Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch) (Ronald Colman, May McAvoy, Bert Lytell, Irene Rich)
13. The Unholy Three (Tod Browning) (Lon Chaney, Mae Busch, Matt Moore)
14. Joyless Street (G. W. Pabst) (Greta Garbo, Asta Nielsen, Werner Krauss)
15. Variety (E. A. Dupont) (Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Lya De Putti, Warwick Ward)
16. Go West (Buster Keaton) (Buster Keaton, Kathleen Myers, Howard Truesdale, Ray Thompson)
17. Master of the House (Carl Theodor Dreyer) (Johannes Meyer, Astrid Holm)
18. Paris qui dort (René Clair) (Henri Rollan, Charles Martinelli, Louis Pré Fils)
19. The Eagle (Clarence Brown) (Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, Louise Dresser)
20. Stella Dallas (Henry King) (Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran)

Fine

Yes, Tim's compromise looks great to me.

Yeah, that looks good.

Good.

1923:

TSPDT

1. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
2. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
3. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
4. La roue - Abel Gance
5. Cœur fidèle - Jean Epstein
6. Warning Shadows - Arthur Robison
7. The Blizzard - Mauritz Stiller
8. The Pilgrim - Charles Chaplin
9. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
10. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
12. The Smiling Madame Beudet - Germaine Dulac
13. Le retour à la raison - Man Ray
14. L'auberge rouge - Jean Epstein
15. Merry-Go-Round - Rupert Julian
16. The Street - Karl Grune
17. Rhythmus 21 - Hans Richter
18. The Ancient Law - E. A. Dupont
19. Eld ombord - Victor Sjöström
20. The White Rose - D. W. Griffith
21. Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
22. The Nurtull Gang - Per Lindberg
23. Raskolnikow - Robert Wiene
24. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
25. The Isle of Lost Ships - Maurice Tourneur
26. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
27. The Treasure - G. W. Pabst
28. Mysteries of a Barbershop - Erich Engel & Bertolt Brecht
29. The White Sister - Henry King
30. Driven - Charles Brabin
31. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
32. Felix in Hollywood - Otto Messmer
33. Glumov's Diary - Sergei M. Eisenstein
34. The Chechahcos - Lewis H. Moomaw

Films101

1. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
2. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
3. La roue - Abel Gance
4. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
5. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
6. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
7. Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
8. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
9. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
10. Why Worry? - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
11. The Smiling Madame Beudet - Germaine Dulac
12. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
13. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
14. The Green Goddess - Sidney Olcott
15. The Balloonatic - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
15. The Love Nest - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline

RYM

1. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
2. La roue - Abel Gance
3. Cœur fidèle - Jean Epstein
4. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
5. Go West - Len Powers
6. Le brasier ardent - Ivan Mosjoukine
7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
8. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
9. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
10. The Pilgrim - Charles Chaplin
11. The Smiling Madame Beudet - Germaine Dulac
12. Why Worry? - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
13. The Street - Karl Grune
14. The Love Nest - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
15. Warning Shadows - Arthur Robison
16. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
17. La voix du rossignol - Ladislas Starevich
18. The Blizzard - Mauritz Stiller
19. L'auberge rouge - Jean Epstein
20. Raskolnikow - Robert Wiene
21. The Treasure - G. W. Pabst
22. The White Sister - Henry King
23. Le retour à la raison - Man Ray
24. The Balloonatic - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
25. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
26. Rhythmus 21 - Hans Richter
27. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
28. Fait-divers - Claude Autant-Lara
29. Merry-Go-Round - Rupert Julian
30. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
31. Alice's Wonderland - Walt Disney
32. Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
33. The Shock - Lambert Hillyer
34. The Extra Girl - F. Richard Jones
35. Mysteries of a Barbershop - Erich Engel & Bertolt Brecht
36. Felix in Hollywood - Otto Messmer
37. Oranges and Lemons - George Jeske
38. The Ancient Law - E. A. Dupont
39. Glumov's Diary - Sergei M. Eisenstein
40. Dogs of War! - Robert F. McGowan
41. Os Lobos - Rino Lupo
42. Kino-pravda no. 16 - Dziga Vertov
43. Kino-pravda no. 14 - Dziga Vertov
44. Kino-pravda no. 17 - Dziga Vertov
45. White Tiger - Tod Browning
46. Roughest Africa - Ralph Ceder
47. The Nurtull Gang - Per Lindberg
48. North of Hudson Bay - John Ford
49. Kino-pravda no. 15 - Dziga Vertov
50. Rue Campagne-Première - Man Ray

Box office (UMR)

1. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
2. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
3. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
4. The White Sister - Henry King
5. Adam's Rib - Cecil B. DeMille
6. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
7. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
8. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
9. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
10. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
11. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
12. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
13. Enemies of Women - Alan Crosland
14. The Spanish Dancer - Herbert Brenon
15. Hollywood - James Cruze
16. The Spoilers - Lambert Hillyer
17. Three Wise Fools - King Vidor
18. Brass - Sidney Franklin
19. The Cheat - George Fitzmaurice
20. Bluebeard's 8th Wife - Sam Wood
21. Six Days - Charles Brabin
22. The Song of Love - Chester M. Franklin & Frances Marion
23. Strangers of the Night - Fred Niblo
24. Grumpy - William C. deMille
25. Prodigal Daughters - Sam Wood
26. The Ne'er-Do-Well - Alfred E. Green
27. The Glimpses of the Moon - Allan Dwan

Box office (Wikipedia)

1. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
2. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
3. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
4. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
5. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
7. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
8. Main Street - Harry Beaumont
9. The Gold Diggers - Harry Beaumont
10. Tiger Rose - Sidney Franklin

IMDb (Number of ratings)

1. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
2. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
3. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
5. The Pilgrim - Charles Chaplin
6. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
7. The Balloonatic - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
8. The Smiling Madame Beudet - Germaine Dulac
9. The Love Nest - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
10. La roue - Abel Gance
11. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
12. Le retour à la raison - Man Ray
13. Why Worry? - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
14. Rhythmus 21 - Hans Richter
15. Cœur fidèle - Jean Epstein
16. The Extra Girl - F. Richard Jones
17. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
18. Warning Shadows - Arthur Robison
19. Felix in Hollywood - Otto Messmer
20. Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
21. Zaza - Allan Dwan
22. Glumov's Diary - Sergei M. Eisenstein
23. Alice's Wonderland - Walt Disney
24. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
25. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
26. The Shock - Lambert Hillyer
27. The White Sister - Henry King
28. Oranges and Lemons - George Jeske
29. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
30. The Street - Karl Grune
31. La voix du rossignol - Ladislas Starevich
32. Merry-Go-Round - Rupert Julian
33. Cameo Kirby - John Ford
34. Cyrano de Bergerac - Augusto Genina
35. Raskolnikow - Robert Wiene
36. The Treasure - G. W. Pabst
37. Le brasier ardent - Ivan Mosjoukine
38. The Soilers - Ralph Ceder
39. Go West - Len Powers
40. The Chechahcos - Lewis H. Moomaw
41. Dogs of War! - Robert F. McGowan
42. Roughest Africa - Ralph Ceder
43. Black Oxen - Frank Lloyd
44. Mysteries of a Barbershop - Erich Engel & Bertolt Brecht
45. It's a Gift - Hugh Fay
46. White Tiger - Tod Browning
47. The White Rose - D. W. Griffith
48. The Ancient Law - E. A. Dupont
49. The Blizzard - Mauritz Stiller
50. Always Tell Your Wife - Hugh Croise

AFI Desk Reference: notable films (in alphabetical order)

Amongst the Ruins - Kenji Mizoguchi
The Christian - Maurice Tourneur
Flaming Youth - John Francis Dillon
The Green Goddess - Sidney Olcott
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
Locksmith and Chancellor - Vladimir Gardin
North of Hudson Bay - John Ford
Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
Paris Urchin - Louis Feuillade
Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
Ruggles of Red Gap - James Cruze
Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
The Spoilers - Lambert Hillyer
The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
Where the North Begins - Chester M. Franklin
Why Worry? - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Wild Bill Hickok - Clifford Smith
A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
Woman to Woman - Graham Cutts

My list:

1. Safety Last!
2. Our Hospitality
3. La roue
4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
5. A Woman of Paris
6. The Ten Commandments
7. Three Ages
8. Cœur fidèle
9. The Covered Wagon
10. Why Worry?
11. Scaramouche
12. The Pilgrim
13. The Smiling Madame Beudet
14. Little Old New York
15. Warning Shadows
16. Merry-Go-Round
17. Flaming Youth
18. Rhythmus 21
19. Souls for Sale
20. The Blizzard

21. Alice's Wonderland
22. The White Sister
23. Rosita
24. Le brasier ardent
25. The Street
26. The Extra Girl
27. Raskolnikow
28. Felix in Hollywood
29. The Ancient Law
30. Cyrano de Bergerac
31. Le retour à la raison
32. The Love Nest
33. Where the North Begins
34. The Chechahcos
35. The Shock
36. La voix du rossignol
37. L'auberge rouge
38. Adam’s Rib
39. The Balloonatic
40. Hollywood
41. The Spanish Dancer
42. The Treasure
43. Zaza
44. It's a Gift
45. Bluebeard's 8th Wife
46. Eld ombord
47. Three Wise Fools
48. The Gold Diggers
49. The Green Goddess
50. Mysteries of a Barbershop
51. The Spoilers
52. Enemies of Women
53. Glumov's Diary
54. Main Street
55. Tiger Rose
56. The Song of Love
57. Prodigal Daughters
58. Brass
59. The Cheat
60. Six Days
61. Strangers of the Night
62. Grumpy
63. The Ne'er-Do-Well
64. The Glimpses of the Moon

1923
1. Safety Last! - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
2. Our Hospitality - Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone
3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Wallace Worsley
4. The Ten Commandments - Cecil B. DeMille
5. A Woman of Paris - Charles Chaplin
6. La Roue - Abel Gance
7. The Covered Wagon - James Cruze
8. The Smiling Madame Beudet - Germaine Dulac
9. Three Ages - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
10. Why Worry? - Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor

11. Cœur fidèle - Jean Epstein
12. Souls for Sale - Rupert Hughes
13. Scaramouche - Rex Ingram
14. Little Old New York - Sidney Olcott
15. The Extra Girl - F. Richard Jones
16. The Pilgrim - Charles Chaplin
17. The Balloonatic - Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline
18. Rosita - Ernst Lubitsch
19. Raskolnikow - Robert Wiene
20. The Green Goddess - Sidney Olcott

We're going further and further into uncharted territory...

1. Safety Last!
2. Our Hospitality
3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
4. La roue
5. The Ten Commandments
6. A Woman of Paris
7. The Pilgrim
8. Three Ages
9. The Smiling Madame Beudet
10. Cœur fidèle

11. Why Worry?
12. The Covered Wagon
13. Scaramouche
14. Warning Shadows
15. Little Old New York
16. Le retour à la raison
17. The Extra Girl
18. Rhythmus 21
19. Felix in Hollywood
20. Souls for Sale

HM's
Alice's Wonderland
The White Sister
The Street
Merry-Go-Round
Rosita

1924, the leads:

1. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton) (Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton)
2. Greed (Erich von Stroheim) (Gibson Gowland, ZaSu Pitts, Jean Hersholt)
3. The Last Laugh (F. W. Murnau) (Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Max Hiller)
4. The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh) (Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher, Anna May Wong)
5. The Navigator (Buster Keaton & Donald Crisp) (Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire)
6. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (Fritz Lang) (Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Hans Adalbert Schlettow)
7. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (Fritz Lang) (Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Hans Adalbert Schlettow)
8. He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Sjöström) (Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert)
9. The Iron Horse (John Ford) (George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy)
10. Entr'acte (René Clair) (Jean Börlin, Inger Frïis, Marcel Duchamp)

11. Girl Shy (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor) (Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston)
12. Michael (Carl Theodor Dreyer) (Benjamin Christensen, Walter Slezak, Max Auzinger)
13. Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon) (Betty Bronson, Ernest Torrence, Mary Brian)
14. Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger) (Alice Prin)
15. The Marriage Circle (Ernst Lubitsch) (Adolphe Menjou, Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Marie Prevost)
16. The Saga of Gösta Berling (Mauritz Stiller) (Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundequist, Greta Garbo)
17. The Hands of Orlac (Robert Wiene) (Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Kortner)
18. Kino Eye (Dziga Vertov) (Documentary)
19. Aelita (Yakov Protazanov) (Nikolai Tseretelli, Valentina Kuindzhi, Yulia Solntseva)
20. Waxworks (Paul Leni & Leo Birinski) (Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, William Dieterle)

1. Safety Last
2. Our Hospitality
3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
4. La Roue
5. A Woman of Paris
6. The Ten Commandments
7. Coeur Fidele
8. The Smiling Madame Beudet
9. Three Ages
10. The Covered Wagon
The Pilgrim
Why Worry?
Warning Shadows
Souls for Sale