AudioCircle
Music and Media => The Cinema => Topic started by: Tyson on 11 Jan 2017, 07:41 pm
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As a bit of a movie buff, but not a "cinephile", I have seen a lot of movies in my life. So when the British Film Institute came out with their list of top movies a few years ago, I took a gander. Since I was 40 years old and had watched a ton of movies in my lifetime, I figured I'd had to have seen a bunch of them already. I checked out of the top 50 list I'd only seen 14. 14!!!!! Shi!t. So the past few years I've been on a mission to watch them all :lol:
After a lot of time spent at the library (checking out the movies for free), or Netflix or Amazon or iTunes or Youtube, I've finally been able to see all of the top 100 movies on the BFI list. What a ride!! I'm so happy that I decided to do it, even though some of the movies were difficult, it really has enriched my life.
Here's the top 50 list, but if anyone wants the full list (more than 200 movies) in an Excel spreadsheet format, just PM me and I'll be happy to send mine to you.
British Film Institute
1 Vertigo 1958 Hitchcock
2 Citizen Kane 1941 Wells
3 Tokyo Story 1953 Ozu
4 The Rules of the Game 1939 Renoir
5 Sunrise 1927 Murnau
6 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 Kubrick
7 The Searchers 1956 Ford
8 Man with a Movie Camera 1929 Vertov
9 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 Dreyer
10 8½ 1963 Fellini
11 Battleship Potemkin 1925 Eisenstein
12 L'Atalante 1934 Vigo
13 Breathless 1960 Godard
14 Apocalypse Now 1979 Coppola
15 Late Spring 1949 Ozu
16 Au Hasard Balthazar 1966 Bresson
17 Seven Samurai 1954 Kurosawa
18 Persona 1966 Bergman
19 The Mirror 1975 Tarkovsky
20 Singin' in the Rain 1952 Donen & Kelly
21 L'Avventura 1960 Antonioni
22 The Godfather 1972 Coppola
23 Contempt 1963 Godard
24 Rashomon 1950 Kurosawa
25 Ordet 1955 Dreyer
26 In the Mood for Love 2000 Wong, Kar Wai
27 Andrei Rublev 1966 Tarkovsky
28 Mulholland Dr. 2001 Lynch
29 Stalker 1979 Tarkovsky
30 Shoah 1985 Lanzman
31 Taxi Driver 1976 Scorsese
32 The Godfather: Part II 1974 Coppola
33 Bicycle Thieves 1948 De Sica
34 Psycho 1960 Hitchcock
35 The General 1926 Keaton
36 Satantango 1994 Tarr
37 Metropolis 1927 Lang
38 Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 1975 Akerman
39 La Dolce Vita 1960 Truffaut
40 The 400 Blows 1959 Truffaut
41 Pather Panchali 1955 Ray
42 Journey to Italy 1954 Rossellini
43 Pierrot le Fou 1965 Godard
44 Close-Up 1990 Kiarostami
45 Some Like It Hot 1959 Wilder
46 Playtime 1967 Tati
47 Gertrud 1964 Dreyer
48 Histoire(s) du cinéma: Toutes les histoires 1988 Godard
49 The Battle of Algiers 1966 Pontecorvo
50 City Lights 1931 Chaplin
American Film Institute
1 CITIZEN KANE 1941
2 THE GODFATHER 1972
3 CASABLANCA 1942
4 RAGING BULL 1980
5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952
6 GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962
8 SCHINDLER'S LIST 1993
9 VERTIGO 1958
10 THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
11 CITY LIGHTS 1931
12 THE SEARCHERS 1956
13 STAR WARS 1977
14 PSYCHO 1960
15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968
16 SUNSET BLVD. 1950
17 THE GRADUATE 1967
18 THE GENERAL 1927
19 ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
21 CHINATOWN 1974
22 SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959
23 THE GRAPES OF WRATH 1940
24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982
25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962
26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 1939
27 HIGH NOON 1952
28 ALL ABOUT EVE 1950
29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944
30 APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
31 THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
32 THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST 1975
34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
35 ANNIE HALL 1977
36 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI 1957
37 THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES 1946
38 THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948
39 DR. STRANGELOVE 1964
40 THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965
41 KING KONG 1933
42 BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969
44 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940
45 SHANE 1953
46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934
47 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951
48 REAR WINDOW 1954
49 INTOLERANCE 1916
50 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 1969
Filmsite Top 300 by Decade
This is very interesting - it breaks the top 300 films (according to them) into decades instead of the usual "Best to Worst" rankings of other lists. I found this very useful:
http://www.filmsite.org/300films.html
Here's a list of the 2 most recent decades they have:
The 1980's:
Airplane! (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (tie)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Atlantic City (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Road Warrior (1982)
Tootsie (1982)
The King of Comedy (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Brazil (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Platoon (1986)
A Room With a View (1986)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Bull Durham (1988)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Glory (1989)
Henry V (1989) (tie)
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
The 1990's:
GoodFellas (1990)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
JFK (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
The Crying Game (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Piano (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Babe (1995)
Toy Story (1995) (tie)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Fargo (1996)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Titanic (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Toy Story 2 (1999) (tie)
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Huh vertigo number one. Surprised. Not the best Hitchcock imo.
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And I can't wait for filmstruck to be available on roku.
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Odd that Vertigo is #1 and North by Northwest didn't make the top 50. And 2 Tarkovskys but not one Spielberg? (I've seen all but 1 of the top 50.)
Would someone someday please tell me why critics are so gaga about In the Mood for Love?
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Here are the movies I'd already seen when I first started. Oh, and I was wrong!!! I thought I'd seen 14, but I'd only seen 11:
Vertigo
Citizen Kane (hated it)
2001: A Space Odyssey
Apocalypse Now
Seven Samurai
The Godfater
In the Mood for Love
Mulhulland Dr
Taxi Driver
Godfather Pt 2
Psycho
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My advice for anyone looking to watch any of these is 2 fold - find a scrubbed up remastered blu-ray version if you can and second, watch it on as big a screen as possible. I have a 100 inch screen and an Epson projector in a dedicate basement. Some of these old films look AMAZING on a proper big screen after a recent bluray remaster.
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It's clear that Brits view cinema differently than Americans. Vertigo? Are you kidding me? I looked over the list but don't give it two thumbs up. I put a few of the early Japanese movies on the que, but some they've listed just aren't worth my time and effort. Kinda like reading James Joyce. Great if that's your thing, but not for me.
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Some hate Citizen Kane, some hate Terrence Malick. I'm in the latter camp.
I've seen 18 on the list of 50. You understand why things like Battleship Potemkin are there, but its just not great cinema.
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I think (as with any list), there will be some movies that resonate with you more than others (and some not at all). For me, I was grateful because my exposure to great foreign cinema was sorely lacking. Some of the movies that I ended up really enjoying were:
Tokyo Story - Who knew that a domestic slide of life from postwar Japan could be so compelling?
The Passion of Joan of Arc - get the Criterion DVD with the alternate music track. Normally I hate Dreyer's movies, but the change in music made this an actually compelling experience.
Breathless - The first modern French gangster movie from the French New Wave. It's amazing how light and breezy and effortlessly cool it is.
The Mirror - I'd never seen a Tarkovsky movie before. Now I love his work so much, there's danger that he'll push out Kubrick as my favorite director.
Singin' in the Rain - Made me re-evaluate my general contempt for musicals. Lighthearted and good in the best sense of the words
Shoah - Longest 'movie' on the list. It's actually more of a documentary, but if you treat it like a mini-series and watch it over several nights, it's not that hard to get through. Very powerful stuff, but it's a cumulative power. Seems a bit boring in the beginning, but had me in tears by the end.
Bicycle Thieves - Another one that, by the end, you will likely be weeping.
La Dolce Vita - proof that we modern people don't have first dibs on cynicism and wry amusement.
City Lights - Kicked off a re-evaluation of Chaplin for me. Of course, seeing it on a giant screen in pristine video (remaster) and sound helped a lot. When I was young I dismissed Chaplin as silly, unsophisticated and trite. I don't feel that way anymore.
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+1 on tarkovsky
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+1 on tarkovsky
The man is a giant.
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Tyson, you hit the nail of the head. It's not important that you agree with a particular list, but that you see it as an opportunity to find new things to ? Tokyo Story is now on my que.
But you wonder about the criteria of the British voter that includes Mulholland Dr. in the top 50... ahead of Schindler??? Yeah it was good, but Chinatown was better in the same genre. But then you look at a list like this, and you say to yourself "You know, the Searchers really is a top flick" that you've downgraded because it's John Wayne. Maybe it's time to give it another viewing.
And then there are movies like "Open Range". K. Costner sank his own cash into the budget to get the details right. Even the window panes were pulled from 19th century houses for any shot that panned a window. If you saw a nail, it was a forged square nail. It's one of those movies where the more you look, the more you see. Does that make it great? Is it better than movie #78? Beats the hell out of me. My wife now groans when it drop it in the blue ray.
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I don'see "The best years of our lives" on the list.
If anybody has not seen the picture I suggest you watch it.
Might be the best AMERICAN movie ever made!!
Cheers
Charlie
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I have seen 9 of the first 50.
Not many on that list I will likely pursue seeing though.
I don't always want a classic experience, sometimes movies are just a 90 minute escape.
Big Lebowski on on that list? :lol:
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Mark,
Agreed, in fact I watch a ton of escapist movies. But escapist isn't 'all' I want to watch. When I want to watch something a little more challenging, the list is a great resource because otherwise I'm just picking stuff at random.
S Clark,
The BFI is the British Film Institute, but they survey ALL critics in all countries. The list is actually put together from that international poll. For American centric movies, I find the American Film Institute "100 years 100 movies" list to be very good:
1 CITIZEN KANE 1941
2 THE GODFATHER 1972
3 CASABLANCA 1942
4 RAGING BULL 1980
5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952
6 GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962
8 SCHINDLER'S LIST 1993
9 VERTIGO 1958
10 THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
11 CITY LIGHTS 1931
12 THE SEARCHERS 1956
13 STAR WARS 1977
14 PSYCHO 1960
15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968
16 SUNSET BLVD. 1950
17 THE GRADUATE 1967
18 THE GENERAL 1927
19 ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
21 CHINATOWN 1974
22 SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959
23 THE GRAPES OF WRATH 1940
24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982
25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962
26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 1939
27 HIGH NOON 1952
28 ALL ABOUT EVE 1950
29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944
30 APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
31 THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
32 THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST 1975
34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
35 ANNIE HALL 1977
36 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI 1957
37 THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES 1946
38 THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948
39 DR. STRANGELOVE 1964
40 THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965
41 KING KONG 1933
42 BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969
44 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940
45 SHANE 1953
46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934
47 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951
48 REAR WINDOW 1954
49 INTOLERANCE 1916
50 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING 2001
Again, I don't agree with everything on there, but when I get an inkling to watch something with a bit of historical importance, it's a good reference.
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Here is a link for the BFI top 100: http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/critics
I've seen 31 of the top 50 & 58 of the top 100. Many more to go .... :thumb:
Impressive that (3) Tarkovsky movies are listed in the top 50! I have only seen Stalker (quite memorable), so I will need to check out the other two.
Edit: Seen all of the AFI top 50 except for "Intolerance". I will need to put it at the top of the list for sure.
It's nice revisiting these lists. Thanks Tyson ! 8)
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Here is a link for the BFI top 100: http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/critics
I've seen 31 of the top 50 & 58 of the top 100. Many more to go .... :thumb:
Impressive that (3) Tarkovsky movies are listed in the top 50! I have only seen Stalker (quite memorable), so I will need to check out the other two.
Edit: Seen all of the AFI top 50 except for "Intolerance". I will need to put it at the top of the list for sure.
It's nice revisiting these lists. Thanks Tyson ! 8)
Welcome! And if anyone wants the AFI list in excel format, I have that too :)
There's a few I haven't seen on the AFI list but I started out having already seen like 40 out of the top 50 back when I started. So I had a pretty good exposure to American great movies, which is why it was so surprising that I'd seen so few on the BFI list.
Re: Intolerance - here's a fun fact - Buster Keaton made a movie call the 3 Ages, and it's basically a spoof of Intolerance. I didn't know that going in when I watched the Keaton movie, but about halfway through I thought "Hey, this seems an awful lot like Intolerance!". I learned later that it was pretty common practice for people like Keaton and others to "make fun" of these big blockbuster films. Awesome.
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I don'see "The best years of our lives" on the list.
If anybody has not seen the picture I suggest you watch it.
Might be the best AMERICAN movie ever made!!
Cheers
Charlie
+1
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+1
It is on the American Film Institute's list - it's #37. Also, I've modded my first post so it contains the AFI list as well as the BFI list.
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Thanks to all for the lists.
I had seen about 45 of the BFI Top 50 and about 90+ of the Top 100. A few had slipped my radar, so I'm glad to pick those up.
So many movies, so little time......
-dB
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Mark,
Agreed, in fact I watch a ton of escapist movies. But escapist isn't 'all' I want to watch. When I want to watch something a little more challenging, the list is a great resource because otherwise I'm just picking stuff at random.
I hear you Tyson. I have seen 23 of the other 100. My roommate in university was a film major, so we watched a lot of Felini and other "higher art" movies over the years. I have him to thank for my interest in films at all.
There are a few on that list I would like to see - 7 Samurai as an example.
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I have seen almost fifty of the 100! Lots left. Never seen any renoir and not much Italian cinema.
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Threads like this inform us about great art about which we might not have been aware. As with our jazz, classical, rock, etc. circles the expertise given freely here at AC is one of its most valuable assets.
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I have seen almost fifty of the 100! Lots left. Never seen any renoir and not much Italian cinema.
Everyone talks about Renoir's humanism, and I get that, but for me the cool thing about him was how he saw every part of the human condition - the good and bad, the noble and the ridiculous, the rich and the poor. His movies are really great little tapestries of humanity. And he starred in his own movies. He's the overweight guy in Rules of the Game.
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Wow! Like three films out of 50 that are newer than thirty years old? :lol: Sounds like the same crew of fudds that picks the Oscars.
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There are a few on that list I would like to see - 7 Samurai as an example.
You've never seen Seven Samurai??!! Whaatt?? My friend you have a treat in store for you. Easily at the top of my list. Magnificent Seven was the later American version but can't hold a candle to the Kurosawa.
Have fun!
Lester
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You've never seen Seven Samurai??!! Whaatt?? My friend you have a treat in store for you. Easily at the top of my list. Magnificent Seven was the later American version but can't hold a candle to the Kurosawa.
Have fun!
Lester
After Seven Samurai, check out Yojimbo, another Kurosawa samurai move, which also was copied and made into a Western, Fistful of Dollars w/Clint Eastwood.
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The Seven Samurai still holds up after all these years, I recently re-watched it along with the 1960 American version to prepare for the 2016 version.
When I find a director I like then I explore their previous films: 2001's The Devil's Backbone directed by Guillermo del Toro is, in some ways, better than anything he has directed since.
2013's Snowpiercer directed by South Korean Bong Joon-ho led me to his other films: The Host (comedy horror), Mother, Memories of Murder, and Haemoo directed by Sung Bo Shim.
I have seen all 49 films on the AFI list and only 14 on the BFI.
Wayne
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Wow! Like three films out of 50 that are newer than thirty years old? :lol: Sounds like the same crew of fudds that picks the Oscars.
Sounds like rock music. Most of the best stuff showed up in the early years......
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Sounds like rock music. Most of the best stuff showed up in the early years......
I'm not sure if you're being facetious to expressing a sincere opinion. If it's the latter I respectfully couldn't disagree more. There are lots of great classic films and albums out there from years past but some of the very finest stuff ever made is being created right now, today, in both fields of endeavor. :thumb:
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Personally, I like the fact that the list is focused more on great movies from the past. I already know about (and watch) great movies from the last 20 years. The BFI and AFI lists are useful when I think "hey, I'd like to watch a Chaplin movie....which one should I see first? Oh, looks like City Lights is a good one to start with".
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As others have said, you may not agree but its a great way to find new movies.
My question (same for music), does "great" mean using a modern society (2017) as the background or against the background when it was made.
TV/music example: elvis presely shows were banned from tv stations because of the way he moved his hips. That level of sexuality was serious in the 1950s, but laughable in 2017.
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Personally, I like the fact that the list is focused more on great movies from the past. I already know about (and watch) great movies from the last 20 years. The BFI and AFI lists are useful when I think "hey, I'd like to watch a Chaplin movie....which one should I see first? Oh, looks like City Lights is a good one to start with".
Not what you would associate with Charlie Chaplin, but perhaps his greatest film was "The Great Dictator". Pure genius on the eve of WWII.... :bowdown:
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I'm not sure if you're being facetious to expressing a sincere opinion.
A little bit of both. :thumb:
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Wow! Like three films out of 50 that are newer than thirty years old? :lol: Sounds like the same crew of fudds that picks the Oscars.
Sounds like we agree, partially. I'm sorry but even though many of those movies are good, let's get real, better than everything else?
I'm not sure I'd put any of The Godfathers on it.
These wouldn't make my list; Mulholland Dr., Apocalypse Now, Metropolis, Schindler's List, Blue Velvet, Platoon, and to name some. I'm sure many I haven't seen would make my "uh, nope" list.
And on the top100, Aguirre the wrath of god????????? SERIOUSLY? It's significant in film, but not a good movie.
When I find a director I like then I explore their previous films: 2001's The Devil's Backbone directed by Guillermo del Toro is, in some ways, better than anything he has directed since.
2013's Snowpiercer directed by South Korean Bong Joon-ho led me to his other films:
The Devil's Backbone was great, but everything else he does? eh? I guess Edge of Tomorrow was ok.
But Snowpiercer ranks in the top 10 worst films for me. I'm still amazed I finished it.
Movies I'd put on my top 50/100 for certain:
Interstellar
Batman The Dark Knight
Burnt by The Sun (Russian)
Trains, Plains, and Automobiles
My Neighbor Totoro
Moon
Run Silent, Run Deep
Tampopo (edited)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Queen of Trees
Under the Skin
Movie's I like/A film nerd should like: (a few might make it to top 100, not sure)
Another Earth
Bad Boy Bubby
Barton Fink
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Crazy Stupid Love
Der Samurai
Dogville; Antichrist; Nymphomaniac
Easy A
Flashpoint ('07 Donnie Yen)
Drive
Enemy
Fantastic Planet
From Russian with Love; On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Good, The Bad, The Weird
Pom Poko
Gummo; Ken Park
I'm a Cyborg but That's Ok
NightCrawler
JCVD
Predestination
Primer
Once Upon A Time in The West
The American Astronaut
The King's Speech
The Skin I Live In
The 13th Warrior
The Holy Mountain
The Other Guys
There Will Be Blood
The Troll Hunter
Thirst (Korean)
Yokai Daiseno
Who knows how many I've missed... And I left a good number out that wouldn't be new to anyone. Lately I haven't been as up to date on movies for the past couple of years. But also I really don't like a lot of stuff that's been coming out.
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I'm not sure if you're being facetious to expressing a sincere opinion. If it's the latter I respectfully couldn't disagree more. There are lots of great classic films and albums out there from years past but some of the very finest stuff ever made is being created right now, today, in both fields of endeavor. :thumb:
Rob, wouldn't mind seeing your Top 10 list of the best of today's film and music.
Which reminds me, as for previous years, was there a Best of 2016 music list posted by AC members this year?
Cheers,
Lester
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I must admit that I haven't seen many of these "classics". But unlike classic novels of the last century, often times the older movies are a bit too plodding as they haven't seemingly refined the storytelling up to modern standards of audience's attention span. I've watched Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia, but I don't think I'd ever want to watch them again, despite being "good".
There are still a number of films on my list that I haven't watched all the way through as I fell asleep or got too bored. Most of these I own:
Apocalypse Now (I've read Heart of Darkness from which it borrows heavily)
2001 Space Odyssey (fell asleep twice watching)
The Shining (watched it probably 3 times and always only get halfway through)
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Folsom,
Nice list man! Cleary you have good taste :) At least based on the ones that I've seen. There's quite a few I haven't, so more cool stuff to check out. Thanks!
Josh,
I agree, older movies are shot at a different rhythm. I find that if I go in and watch them with a more laid back and consciously patient mindset, it helps a lot. Actually, that reminds me of a very cool little 4 minute piece on neorealism vs Hollywood. A lot of it comes down to rhythm, which is determined by where/when the cuts happen:
https://vimeo.com/68514760
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Deleted for duplication.
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I've seen about half of the BFI top 50 list and a higher percentage of the top 100, but there are some films on it that are puzzling. And where is "La Strada"???
I think the American top 50 list is more consistent and I've seen all but one or two on that. But although great I think "Citizen Kane" is overrated. "2001" even more so.
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I'd rather watch something like Solaris ('72) than 2001. Visually 2001 is great but it is a contender for the most boring movie.
Where's Blade Runner? I'd rate it higher than many films listed thus far.
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Where's Blade Runner?
Where's Bambi?
Why? Because of the ground breaking animation of Tyrus Wong who just died at 106.
Look for a documentary about Tyrus's amazing life on PBS.
(http://www.lisasee.com/images/wong2.jpg)
(http://waltdisney.org/sites/default/files/twong-6-350x297.jpg)
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There's a clear lack of consideration for animation/anime on the lists.
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There was a day when James Whale's "The Bride of Frankenstein" made all the lists of top ten movies of all time, at least American movies. Seems like it's been forgotten. The ending is jaw-dropping to this day, and is full of priceless scenes. "You belong dead."
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There was a day when James Whale's "The Bride of Frankenstein" made all the lists of top ten movies of all time, at least American movies. Seems like it's been forgotten. The ending is jaw-dropping to this day, and is full of priceless scenes. "You belong dead."
A good one. As is Blade Runner as mentioned above.
Also some neglected comedies:
My Man Godfrey (probably the best comedy ever)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Hobson's Choice
King of Hearts
And yes, I agree with those that said Vertigo is not Hitchcock's best.
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Thanks for posting all the lists. This reminds me again that I have many good movies too watch.
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Thanks for posting all the lists. This reminds me again that I have many good movies too watch.
Maybe someday you'll have time :lol:
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Rob, wouldn't mind seeing your Top 10 list of the best of today's film and music.
That would be a fun topic! I'll have to put on my thinking cap. :thumb:
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Arsenic and old lace. Still like it.
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Just throwing a few favorites out there - unmentioned. (I haven't looked at any of your top 100 lists.)
I'm a big Terry Gilliam fan - not one of the "best" but my favorite by far is Brazil.
Alien and the Unbearable Lightness of Being are two more favorites.
I've never understood Casablanca as one of the best - the dialog was too quick and quick-witted and not natural. As soon as one person finished saying something the other person comes in with their lines.
Not a huge fan of the older films - having said that, there's Stalag 17.
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If you haven't seen the films by Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, The Great Beauty, Youth, The Young Pope) then you should. Easily one of the best directors working today. You might want to skip his Sean Penn film though.
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-5-best-movies-by-paolo-sorrentino-you-should-watch/
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Added something cool to the first post, so people can see it as a reference:
Filmsite Top 300 by Decade
This is very interesting - it breaks the top 300 films (according to them) into decades instead of the usual "Best to Worst" rankings of other lists. I found this very useful:
http://www.filmsite.org/300films.html
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Nice idea for breaking it up, not a very impressive list. And it's missing a couple decades.
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Nice idea for breaking it up, not a very impressive list. And it's missing a couple decades.
You're a bit of a curmudgeon, aren't you? :lol:
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Thanks for the postings Tyson, interesting to see what 'the pros' think rank as Best. Still haven't noted Wages of Fear ('53, Yves Montand) listed, which is personal favorite. Even the remake, Sorcerer ('77, Roy Scheider) was pretty good, with the added benefit of Tangerine Dream, Charlie Parker, & Keith Jarrett on the sound track. 8)
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You're a bit of a curmudgeon, aren't you? :lol:
On the contrary! I've just seen too many movies.
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Added something cool to the first post, so people can see it as a reference:
Filmsite Top 300 by Decade
This is very interesting - it breaks the top 300 films (according to them) into decades instead of the usual "Best to Worst" rankings of other lists. I found this very useful:
http://www.filmsite.org/300films.html
I'll be a curmudgeon too. That list seems to have an aversion to anything that requires subtitles.
And no Kwaidan for the 60s? Wha?
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I'll be a curmudgeon too. That list seems to have an aversion to anything that requires subtitles.
And no Kwaidan for the 60s? Wha?
Haha, true dat! On the other hand, people might say the BFI list has an aversion to films that DON'T require subtitles, :P That's why I edited my first post and put all 3 lists in the first post. I think each list on it's own is unbalanced, but the 3 together are very good.
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Haha, true dat! On the other hand, people might say the BFI list has an aversion to films that DON'T require subtitles, :P That's why I edited my first post and put all 3 lists in the first post. I think each list on it's own is unbalanced, but the 3 together are very good.
True. Good stuff. Thanks tyson...
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For anyone keeping up, I've now seen all of the top 100 on the BFI list, and in fact have seen 167 of the top 250. I signed up for Filmstruck, which has a ton of classics and art house movies, so I should be able to get another 30 or so watched in the next few months.
AFI 100 years 100 movies - I've now seen 77 out of the 100.
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Now seen 203 of the top 250 on the British Film Institute list.
American Film Institute - I'm now up to 86 seen of the top 100.
Man, getting rid of cable sure accelerated my movie watching rate.
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Wait ... Grand Hotel isn’t on the list? Whaaat? Whaaaaaat? Half of my top ten would be Japanese but Grand Hotel would definitely be there.
Wages of Fear? Ruling Class?
My wife would insist on Powell, Red Shoes and Stairway to Heaven. Definitely.
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My advice for anyone looking to watch any of these is 2 fold - find a scrubbed up remastered blu-ray version if you can and second, watch it on as big a screen as possible. I have a 100 inch screen and an Epson projector in a dedicate basement. Some of these old films look AMAZING on a proper big screen after a recent bluray remaster.
+5 on this! For sure, I recommend this to people all the time and they think I'm either crazy or a total snob. Not true. One can put together a decent projector setup for around $2k including a screen. Even cheaper probably and still get a great picture. Movies were framed to be viewed large on a BIG screen. Do yourself a favor and enjoy it the way the director/cinematographer intended!
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Now seen 203 of the top 250 on the British Film Institute list.
American Film Institute - I'm now up to 86 seen of the top 100.
Man, getting rid of cable sure accelerated my movie watching rate.
Cool! :thumb: Yeah, cable can be a true mind sucker. So any gems appearing? First-time mind-blowers? What do you think of their lists, i.e., do you agree with either more? Enquiring minds want to know. :D
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Wait ... Grand Hotel isn’t on the list? Whaaat? Whaaaaaat? Half of my top ten would be Japanese but Grand Hotel would definitely be there.
Wages of Fear? Ruling Class?
My wife would insist on Powell, Red Shoes and Stairway to Heaven. Definitely.
Yep, they are on the full list of top 250 films - these are the ones from Powell & Pressburger: Stairway to Heaven, Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and I Know Where I'm Going.
Wages of Fear is and the Ruling Class - those both would deserve to be on there, IMO. I'd never heard of Grand Hotel though - just checked out the IMDB page, looks very good! Putting it on my "to watch" list.
Just watched "All About Eve" last night, holy cow what a ride. "Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy night" indeed!
+5 on this! For sure, I recommend this to people all the time and they think I'm either crazy or a total snob. Not true. One can put together a decent projector setup for around $2k including a screen. Even cheaper probably and still get a great picture. Movies were framed to be viewed large on a BIG screen. Do yourself a favor and enjoy it the way the director/cinematographer intended!
People love getting a big screen to watch sports, what's so snobby about getting a big screen to watch movies?
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btw Tyson, have you seen Visions of Light?
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I must admit that I haven't seen many of these "classics". But unlike classic novels of the last century, often times the older movies are a bit too plodding as they haven't seemingly refined the storytelling up to modern standards of audience's attention span. I've watched Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia, but I don't think I'd ever want to watch them again, despite being "good".
There are still a number of films on my list that I haven't watched all the way through as I fell asleep or got too bored. Most of these I own:
Apocalypse Now (I've read Heart of Darkness from which it borrows heavily)
2001 Space Odyssey (fell asleep twice watching)
The Shining (watched it probably 3 times and always only get halfway through)
Mmmm, based on the examples you provided I'm gonna say that it has nothing to do with older movies needing 'refining' in storytelling. It's just you. Which is fine. I have friends that fall asleep during anything, even action movies. But to frame it as it's because today's movies are an improvement in storytelling... that doesn't make any sense. Especially as the average running time for today's movies have gotten longer and longer over the past two decades.
Casablanca is boring? I can't even...
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Hmmm...like all lists...it's personal preference...just the way it should be. :wink:
Being older than rocks, I have seen 47 of the list's 50 American flicks listed. I like to think about my favorite movies as ground breakers of the business. Some on the lists are, and some are kinda average in that regard. With creativity in mind, I'd add a couple to the list...(though I could add a bunch :icon_lol:)
War of the Worlds-1953...one of the first Paramount Technicolor movies. Innovation and creativity abounded in this adaptation of the great radio broadcast by H.G. Wells. It won an Academy Award for best visual effects. It has been installed in the U.S. Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry. It was described as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was VERY influential in the making of future sci-fi flicks.
The Longest Day-1962...Nominated for 5 Oscars, winning two. This film, in my mind, launched the epic war genre in motion pictures. The cast was long and staggering, *look 'em up... The movie included an inspiring group of military technical directors from both the Allied and German sides of the battle of Normandy. And of course Darryl F. Zanuck directed it. The battle scenes were immense and intense...artillery, aerial flights, parachuting, marine assault...massive. Even the soldiers representing various countries were actors from those countries. The movie also had a big part in D-Day anniversary celebrations. This movie is a must for any movie buff.
* Casting included....
John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curt Jürgens, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka and Arletty. In addition, several cast members – including Fonda, Genn, More, Steiger and Todd – saw action as servicemen during the war, with Todd actually being among the first British officers to land in Normandy in Operation Overlord and he in fact participated in the assault on Pegasus Bridge.
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btw Tyson, have you seen Visions of Light?
No - it looks cool though. Is it anything like The Story of Film that's on Amazon? That's a great mini-series, btw.
Cool! :thumb: Yeah, cable can be a true mind sucker. So any gems appearing? First-time mind-blowers? What do you think of their lists, i.e., do you agree with either more? Enquiring minds want to know. :D
I think the biggest thing for me is just how broad the exposure is. You don't see a ton of films by any one director, but you do see the "best" film (or 2) of a lot of different directors. Which (for me) does 2 things - give you a broad appreciation for the history of film, especially internationally.
The 2nd thing is it lets you figure out if a particular director is worth spending more time on. Again, this is totally personal. For me, I really liked certain directors like Antonioni, Ozu, Demy, Tarkovsky, and I really DISLIKED other directors like Truffaut and Kurosawa. So in the future, I can avoid Truffaut movies and focus more on other directors that I actually like. People might be like "what, how can you dislike Kurosawa?" Because I don't. And I can avoid spending more time on him because I know from experience that I just don't like his movies. But before watching all these films, I might have been shamed into trying to get myself to like Kurosawa because so many people rave about him.
For movies that really resonated with me:
The Double Life of Veronique - if you have a poetic/spiritual side at all, this is a great little movie.
Stalker - just edges out The Mirror as my favorite Tarkovsky. He's sort of the flip side of Kubrick.
The Great Dictator - mocking Hitler on the eve of WW2, yeah Chaplin has some serious cajones.
In the Mood for Love - Kar Wai Wong captures that thick texture of expectant love/lust better than anyone.
Bicycle Thieves - if you have even a tiny slice of humanity, you will weep at this movie.
Touch of Evil - Welles plays a villain and he's great at it! Even better here than in The 3rd Man.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - you go in expecting it to be a light, farcical movie and it develops unexpected depth and humanity.
His Girl Friday - the best of Howard Hawk's screwball comedies, a lot of fun and almost like a dance
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - a light, whimsical, french musical!! Who knew the french could smile? haha
And there's tons of others that I don't have time/space to list here. Overall I'd say watching doing my best to watch ALL the movies on the list has been hugely rewarding because I had NO IDEA that these particularly movies/directors would resonate with me. And I also know that it is subjective, and others will love things that I didn't.
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The Great Dictator - mocking Hitler on the eve of WW2, yeah Chaplin has some serious cajones.
+1! Brilliant filmmaking!!! He nailed it all the way through, and he clearly saw what was happening/about to happen. The final scene should make you :bawl:
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pretty good stuff in here but i am partial to the following.
spencer Tracy the old man and the sea
Humphrey bogart anything he played in
Gregory peck anything he played in including moby dick
john garfield the postman always rings twice, the best movie in any decade
Marlon Brando viva Zapata
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Oh, one other thing I should mention - I've been working on a pet project here on AC. If you search here in the Cinema circle for the word "Haiku", you can see some fun little posts I've made about movies I've come across from these lists, which have made a big impression on me.
I hope you guys find them as fun to read as I did to create them.
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I just found this thread. Great work, Tyson et al.
Tyson: you said you didn't like musicals. My favorite is Carousel. If you can watch the ballet sequence based on Richard Rodgers' Carousel Waltz or Billy Bigelow's (Gordon McRae) "Soliloquy" without a lump in your throat, I'll be darned surprised.
Everyone: I give a hearty 4 thumbs-up to Cyrano de Bergerac with Jose Ferrer and Mala Powers. (Steve Martin's "Roxanne," based on Cyrano, ain't bad either.) And for pure fun: "Princess Bride" and "Young Frankenstein."
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I just watched Midnight Cowboy, which was the last movie on the AFI 100 Years 100 Movies that I had not seen. I've now seen all the movies on this list:
http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx
Woot!
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I saw at least 40 on that list, some of them going back 40 or more years. There are some I wasn’t 100% certain if I had seen or not, so I left those unchecked - my memory is a little foggy. Of those films I know I saw, some them wouldn't make my top 100.
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It's taken me several years, but I have now seen all 250 movies on the BFI Greatest Movies of All Time list. Woot!
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BFI is far and away my favorite company for Blu-ray, though Optimum is releasing some great stuff in September. I just hope their mastering is as good as BFI because I was never a big fan of their DVD releases.
I'd love to see TEOREMA in high-definition!