Match Cut's Movies to See Before You Die (or Get a Girlfriend)

[B-side]

I'm surprised at how low Raging Bull is.

[Sycophant]

Glad to hear it, trans!

Kinda surprised about this:


#139. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 48
Highest ranking: 8 (Ezee E)


Didn't expect it would be on 5 of our top hundreds. Huh.


I'm surprised at how low Raging Bull is.

More like Raging Bullshit, amirite?

[Qrazy]

More like Raging Bullshit, amirite?

No.

[Watashi]

More like Raging Bullshit, amirite?

No.

[EyesWideOpen]

Glad to hear it, trans!

Kinda surprised about this:



Didn't expect it would be on 5 of our top hundreds. Huh.




More surprised by the fact that Back to the Future and Die Hard are on 5 top hundred lists.

[Winston*]

More surprised by the fact that Back to the Future and Die Hard are on 5 top hundred lists.

That's not surprising at all and you know it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Trans, amazing job you're doing. Is the "I know" from Before Sunset? If so, awesome.

[EyesWideOpen]

That's not surprising at all and you know it.

I am actually quite surprised. I thought more people viewed them as 80's nostalgia and not as actual top 100 films but I guess I was wrong.

[balmakboor]

I am actually quite surprised. I thought more people viewed them as 80's nostalgia and not as actual top 100 films but I guess I was wrong.

For me, Back to the Future is both nostalgic and top 100 worthy -- it was on my list. I've watched it dozens of times and few movies are as quotable. My wife and I both love the movie so much that she had "You are my density" inscribed in my wedding band.

Die Hard is pretty damn great too. Not one of my picks though.

[Qrazy]

For me, Back to the Future is both nostalgic and top 100 worthy -- it was on my list. I've watched it dozens of times and few movies are as quotable. My wife and I both love the movie so much that she had "You are my density" inscribed in my wedding band.

Die Hard is pretty damn great too. Not one of my picks though.

That's such a coincidence! I had Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker! inscribed on my wife's wedding band.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

The Spirit of The Beehive is on this list twice! I know its an awesome film, but...

#134 and #182

[soitgoes...]

The Spirit of The Beehive is on this list twice! I know its an awesome film, but...

#134 and #182


Announcement:

I decided to add in the three remaining lists from the older thread (Israfel the Black, Beau and ios..Sven) before continuing, because it was silly to see them sitting there when they could be added in and have an impact on the Top 100 or so.

I'm going to count down the Top 150 with these lists added. The full list on the first page has been removed (because it's out of date now), and I'll either post it right at the end, or make it available as an excel sheet for those who want to use it for recommendations.

More lists were added.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

More lists were added.

whoops :)

[transmogrifier]

http://uniondocs.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cleo.jpg


#130. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda, 1961)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 42.3
Highest ranking: 20 (Israfel the Black)


#129. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 41.2
Highest ranking: 15 (Weeping Guitar)


#128. Miller's Crossing (Joel Coen, 1990)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 39.6
Highest ranking: 14 (Weeping Guitar)


#127. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 39.4
Highest ranking: 13 (Boner)


#126. The Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 39.3
Highest ranking: 4 (soitgoes...)


#125. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 39.2
Highest ranking: 18 (Fezzik)


#124. Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 39
Highest ranking: 7 (The Plashy Bubbler)


#123. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 36.8
Highest ranking: 14 (Ezee E)


#122. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 35
Highest ranking: 20 (Spinal)


#121. The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 34.8
Highest ranking: 13 (Sycophant)


"If you want me to keep my mouth shut, it's gonna cost you some dough. I figure a thousand bucks is reasonable, so I want two."

[transmogrifier]

Trans, amazing job you're doing. Is the "I know" from Before Sunset? If so, awesome.

Yep. Bit of indulgence, but I love that ending.

[transmogrifier]

http://www.cesta.cz/photos/tandt/film%20series%202006/touch%20of%20evil%2001.jpg


#120. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 33.4
Highest ranking: 1 (Yxklyx)


#119. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 31.6
Highest ranking: 6 (Antoine)


#118. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 31
Highest ranking: 2 (Spinal)


#117. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 29.5
Highest ranking: 18 (Raiders)


#116. Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo, 1995)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 27.6
Highest ranking: 1 (Watashi)


#115. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 27.4
Highest ranking: 7 (jamaul)


#114. The Man Who Planted Trees (Frederic Back, 1987)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 23.4
Highest ranking: 1 (Russ)


#113. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 14.8
Highest ranking: 4 (Yxklyx)


#112. L'avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 14
Highest ranking: 2 (Israfel the Black)


#111. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 11.3
Highest ranking: 2 (The Plashy Bubbler)


"I believe in what I own. I love money. I hate death."

[transmogrifier]

http://85.214.56.41/movieman/Images/Film/00006149_DeadMan_002-1.jpg


#110. Night of the Living Dead (Geroge A. Romero, 1968)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 69.7
Highest ranking: 29 (Dead & Messed Up)


#109. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 66.2
Highest ranking: 16 (EyesWideOpen)


#108. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 65.8
Highest ranking: 19 (Daniel Davis)


#107. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 64.5
Highest ranking: 29 (dreamdead)


#106. The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 1999)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 63
Highest ranking: 32 (Watashi)


#105. Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 61.6
Highest ranking: 34 (Dead & Messed Up)


#104. JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 59.3
Highest ranking: 15 (Ezee E)


#103. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 56.4
Highest ranking: 28 (Raiders)


#102. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 54.8
Highest ranking: 17 (Sycophant)


#101. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 54.2
Highest ranking: 15 (The Plashy Bubbler)


"At the high point of our intimacy, we were just 0.01cm from each other. I knew nothing about her. Six hours later, she fell in love with another man."

[transmogrifier]

100.

http://www.eujacksonville.com/pages/01-17-08/there%20will%20be%20blood.jpg

"We're not going to give them oil prices. We'll give them quail prices."


There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 54.2
Highest ranking: 17 (Fasozupow)


"Though I don't know if I can express it in an articulate manner, I don't agree with the assertions that this film feels traditional. It has a unique rhythm that I don't think I've experienced before and a lead character who oftentimes is really kind of weird. I'm thinking specifically of the moment where he puts the napkin over his face to talk to the other table of men. It's also got 20 minutes at the beginning of the film without dialogue and an ideological battle between two forces, neither of which is particularly likable. It draws from history and realism, but often plays out like old school melodrama. The only way I can see using the word 'traditional' is if 'traditional' is a code word for 'the camera doesn't move as much". - Spinal

[transmogrifier]

99.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8534/bluevelvet3ox9.jpg

"I'm seeing something that was always hidden. I'm in the middle of a mystery and it's all secret."

Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 52.8
Highest ranking: 22 (Kurious Jorge)


"Blue Velvet was everything I could have hoped it would be. Nightmarish, harrowing, funny, with that Lynch cornball touch that's just so special. Loved it." - Sycophant

[transmogrifier]

98.

http://thisdistractedglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/Pathsofglory2.jpg

"There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die."

Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 52
Highest ranking: 32 (Kurosawa Fan)


"I rewatched Paths of Glory last night. Wow! A lot better than I remembered and I liked it a lot before. Interesting how much it resembles Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut. I'd only previously noticed the obvious resemblances to Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket." - fasozupow

[transmogrifier]

97.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2057/2159564029_58df40607c_o.jpg

"I've lost all my money on these films. They are not commercial. But I'm glad to lose it this way. To have for a souvenir of my life pictures like Umberto D. and The Bicycle Thief." - De Sica

Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 49.8
Highest ranking: 21 (Russ)

"Nice pick with Flick (Umberto D). Even as a kid, I can't think of an animal I was more emotionally attached to then that one. And that final scene..." - Ezee E (re: Top 5 Animals in Film)

[transmogrifier]

96.

http://www.berksmoviemadness.com/Last%20Temptation001.jpg

"If I was a woodcutter, I'd cut. If I was a fire, I'd burn. But I'm a heart and I love. That's the only thing I can do."


The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese, 1988)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 47.2
Highest ranking: 8 (Watashi)

"Your dismissal of The Last Temptation of Christ has me questioning not only your taste, but also your quality as a human being." - soitgoes... (rep for whoever guesses the target of so's ire)

"Hey, did you know that Last Temptation of Christ was a parable... to the life of a Christian?!" - number8

[Qrazy]

"Your dismissal of The Last Temptation of Christ has me questioning not only your taste, but also your quality as a human being." - soitgoes... (rep for whoever guesses the target of so's ire)


Was it me? God I hate that piece of crap.

[transmogrifier]

Was it me? God I hate that piece of crap.

Yep.

[Qrazy]

Yep.

Did you rep me yet?

edit: Nevermind.

Well maybe I'll rewatch it after I finish the rest of Scorsese's filmography... just have Kundun, Boxcar Bertha and Who's that Knocking at My Door left for features and then the docus.

[transmogrifier]

95.

http://i17.tinypic.com/2uyoz7l.jpg

"You're going to see our brains on the sidewalk, they're going to spill our guts out. Now are you going to show that on television? Have all your housewives look at that?"


Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 46.7
Highest ranking: 18 (Russ)


"A zesty, unpredictable, pulsating narrative executed with superb craft and righteous acting. One of most exciting of all films." - Svensos

"Love the energy and life that this film contains, as well as the transgressive quality that Lumet generates with the characters." -dreamdead

[B-side]

I liked Scorsese's attempt at making Jesus easier to relate to, but Last Temptation of Christ suffered from some somewhat poor acting on all fronts and some awkward melodrama and grandstanding.

[soitgoes...]

Was it me? God I hate that piece of crap.
Because Jesus would want me to, I now forgive you.

[soitgoes...]

Well maybe I'll rewatch it after I finish the rest of Scorsese's filmography... just have Kundun, Boxcar Bertha and Who's that Knocking at My Door left for features and then the docus.
If you didn't like Last Temptation, I'm interested in what you'll think of Boxcar Bertha. Now that's a piece of crap.

[Ezee E]

I still stand behind my statement about Flick in Umberto D.

[Spinal]

No complaints with the top 100 thus far. Awesome films all.

[Sycophant]

Very impressive, trans. A lot of work you've cut out for yourself here. Thanks! I guess there's no excuse for me not to see our top 100.

Oh, and thought I'd mention that my Raging Bull crack was supposed to be a joke, but was poorly phrased. I was not trying to insinuate that the movie was bullshit, but rather that its low placement was bullshit. I probably should've said "It's so low that it's total Raging Bullshit, amirite?" instead.

I have nothing against the movie 'cause I haven't seen it. I haven't seen it 'cause I suck.

[Qrazy]

I liked Scorsese's attempt at making Jesus easier to relate to, but Last Temptation of Christ suffered from some somewhat poor acting on all fronts and some awkward melodrama and grandstanding.

Yeah I like the approach to the material as well, particularly the final scene. I just don't like any element of the execution.

[Qrazy]

Because Jesus would want me to, I now forgive you.

It's OK I just watched The Devil and Daniel Webster and identified most with Mr. Scratch so maybe your analysis was initially correct. ;)

That's unfortunate about Boxcar Bertha but since I have so few left I figure I may as well complete the circle. I watched The Big Shave on youtube last night. Scorsese's a sick bastard.

[Qrazy]

No complaints with the top 100 thus far. Awesome films all.

Does Defoe play the Antichrist in Trier's new film? That would be deliciously ironic.

[Qrazy]

Very impressive, trans. A lot of work you've cut out for yourself here. Thanks! I guess there's no excuse for me not to see our top 100.

Oh, and thought I'd mention that my Raging Bull crack was supposed to be a joke, but was poorly phrased. I was not trying to insinuate that the movie was bullshit, but rather that its low placement was bullshit. I probably should've said "It's so low that it's total Raging Bullshit, amirite?" instead.

I have nothing against the movie 'cause I haven't seen it. I haven't seen it 'cause I suck.

It's Scorsese's best film in my opinion and probably one of the greatest American films of all time.

[Spinal]

Does Defoe play the Antichrist in Trier's new film? That would be deliciously ironic.

Not sure. Don't know much about the plot. But yeah, that'd be great.

Or maybe Jim Caviezel makes a cameo. Where's that guy been lately?

*checks IMDb*

Ah, making films that I have no interest in, I see.

[Qrazy]

Not sure. Don't know much about the plot. But yeah, that'd be great.

Or maybe Jim Caviezel makes a cameo. Where's that guy been lately?

*checks IMDb*

Ah, making films that I have no interest in, I see.

You're not interested in Outlander? But it has such a great tagline. 'It destroyed his world. He won't let it destroy ours.'

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/io9/2008/12/outlander_xlg.jpg

[Spinal]

From one of the producers of Lord of the Rings? Directed by a man that I am going to assume is John McCain's more talented brother? Heavenly light from above shining down on Jim and his giant phallic symbol? I'm sold!

[Winston*]

I've never heard of Outlander until now, but not I kind of want to see it.

During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan, a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking's Iron Age weaponry.

And John Hurt and Ron Perlman are in it. Man, sold.

[Qrazy]

I've never heard of Outlander until now, but not I kind of want to see it.


And John Hurt and Ron Perlman are in it. Man, sold.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewBIp8uv58I

Greatest movie ever made? Probably.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewBIp8uv58I

Greatest movie ever made? Probably.

Well thank god they speak the same language. That could have been confusing.

[Russ]

Hey Trans, where did Mind Game place? I haven't seen it show up yet and I see you're already at the ones with six mentions (MG had four, and was in the top ten in three of those lists).

Btw, great job.

[Winston*]

Well thank god they speak the same language. That could have been confusing.

They don't show it in the trailer but Caviezel gives all the vikings babel fish.

[Kurosawa Fan]

They don't show it in the trailer but Caviezel gives all the vikings babel fish.

Well. That wraps up that mystery. Well played Barrie Osbourne.

[Spinal]

Hey Trans, where did Mind Game place? I haven't seen it show up yet and I see you're already at the ones with six mentions (MG had four, and was in the top ten in three of those lists).


Coulda sworn I saw it back there somewhere. Doesn't come up in a search though.

[Qrazy]

Well thank god they speak the same language. That could have been confusing.

Hopefully Caviezel affects some sort of an accent from another country to clarify that he is indeed an alien from another planet.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Hopefully Caviezel affects some sort of an accent from another country to clarify that he is indeed an alien from another planet.

Nah. I think they're relying on the laser gun and the fancy armor to get the point across.

[Winston*]

Don't pretend like you don't want to see that movie after watching that trailer, KF.

[Qrazy]

Nah. I think they're relying on the laser gun and the fancy armor to get the point across.

Pish. Posh. Well hopefully his laser gun has an AI chip in it and they have witty banter back and forth.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Don't pretend like you don't want to see that movie after watching that trailer, KF.

I certainly hope my posts haven't conveyed that message. I'll be there opening night.

[Russ]

Coulda sworn I saw it back there somewhere. Doesn't come up in a search though.
I see now...looks like #s 151-160 are missing.

[B-side]

Yeah I like the approach to the material as well, particularly the final scene. I just don't like any element of the execution.

Well, I liked it enough, but the faults are many. I like it less as time passes.

[transmogrifier]

Hey Trans, where did Mind Game place? I haven't seen it show up yet and I see you're already at the ones with six mentions (MG had four, and was in the top ten in three of those lists).

Btw, great job.

Yeah, sorry, with the addition of the new lists, Mind Game, which was originally in the top 150, got pushed back to 165.

165. Mind Game (Masaaki Yuasa, 2004)
List mentions: 4
Average ranking: 13
Highest ranking: 2 (Sycophant)

These were the other films that got lost in the shuffle (previously slated to be listed, but pushed back with the update):

153. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
156. Akira
161. LA Confidential
162. Blood Simple
165. Mind Game
166. A Woman Under the Influence
170. The 400 Blows
171. Winter Light
172. Grave of the Fireflies
173. Schindler's List
174. The Sweet Hereafter
177. 12 Angry Men
179. Wall-E
180. The Long Goodbye
181. Field of Dreams
184. The Big Sleep
185. Week End
186. Ghostbusters

[transmogrifier]

94.
http://ferdyonfilms.com/Stroszek%20new.JPG

"We have a 10-80 out here, a truck on fire, we have a man on the lift. We are unable to find the switch to turn the lift off, can't stop the dancing chickens. Send an electrician, we're standing by."

Stroszek (Werner Herzog, 1977)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 45.3
Highest ranking: 4 (Russ)

I consider Stroszek to be an exceptionally depressing film. The saddest of any Herzog film I've seen. It's the only film of his that I have difficulty finding the humour in, whereas even something like Aguirre I can laugh along with. It's also the only fiction film of his I've seen that is set in the present (does he even have any others?) and I think there's a discernible outrage throughout. Specifically, I think he is outraged about the quiet viciousness of America. Bruno has a monologue about how Americans politely beat the hell out you without ever laying a hand on you. One of the most unnerving aspects of the film is the inability to communicate experience, which is something that has preoccupied me a lot lately. In terms of beauty, I'd say the film has plenty. I like that it lingers so long on shots that would have been cut entirely by almost any other director (and not just portrait shots). There's also the scene in the premature ward of the hospital. I don't know what to make of that scene, exactly, but I do know I don't find it depressing. It's moving and maybe inspiring even. - Duncan (from his own Top 100 list (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=634&page=26))

Heat and Stroszek rule! Repped! - Boner M (from the same thread)

[transmogrifier]

93.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4070/onceuponatimeinamerica2vj4.jpg

"You can always tell the winners at the starting gate. You can always tell the winners and you can tell the losers."

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 44.6
Highest ranking: 22 (Ezee E)


"If you think Once Upon a Time in the West is bloated and self-important, stay the hell away from Once Upon a Time in America." - Raiders

"But I heard it has some kind of cupcake scene that is one of the very best moments in cinema history. How can I resist?" - Melville

"It has a hallucinatory, Proustian-reverie quality that clashes interestingly with Leone's proclivity toward the crass/crude... it all feels very straight-from-the-heart, I guess is what I'm saying." - Boner M

[Spinal]

"We have a 10-80 out here, a truck on fire, we have a man on the lift. We are unable to find the switch to turn the lift off, can't stop the dancing chickens. Send an electrician, we're standing by."

Perhaps the greatest film quote ever. At least in the running.

[transmogrifier]

92.
http://www.wetcircuit.com/wp-content/myfotos/metropolis/Metropolis00.jpg

"I think from the beginning, one of my first films, the fight of man against his destiny or how he faces his destiny has interested me very much. I remember that I once said that it is not so much that he reaches a goal, or that he conquers this goal - what is important is his fight against it." - Lang


Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 43.6
Highest ranking: 13 (Antoine)


"The scores for these new fantasy epics are getting a lot of attention but in my humble opinion the original Metropolis score is still greater than all of them." - SirNewt

For me, my admiration for the film has always been from the art deco standpoint, even more so than Lang's direction or the story. It was beautifully futuristic, and seen in a silent movie context, it was visionary. If [the makers of the mooted remake] revamp it, either they'll copy the style, which will look pretty retro-silly in color and in this age, or they'll revamp into a more standard futuristic look, which would be boring. - number8

"Zooey Deschanel for Maria! If she's equally nekkid - I'm down with that." - ETM

[transmogrifier]

91.
http://www.yourprops.com/norm-47151755bc9c8-Jaws+(1975).jpeg

"If they don't like you going out, they'll love you comin' in."

Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 43.3
Highest ranking: 13 (Fezzik)
AFI ranking (2007): 56


"I watched Jaws again for the first time last night. Awesome!" - Wryan


"I had a dream where Travis Tritt did the theme song to a Jaws sequel. The song was called "Jaws Sucks Balls". It's still hilarious when I think about it." - Svensos


"I actually started watching Jaws, but I found it too morbid to watch more than the first twenty minutes. First, the hippy chick gets eaten, and then the little boy, and then there's a shot of Roy Schneider holding up the boy's arm. I just thought: "This is sick. I don't want to watch this." So I turned it off." - baby doll

[Boner M]

Awesome quote-culling job, trans.

[B-side]

I'm beginning to think my #1 didn't even make it.

[transmogrifier]

90.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/14/arts/14pontecorvo_CA1.600.jpg

"Should we remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences."

The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 43
Highest ranking: 2 (Antoine)
AFI ranking (2007): too foreign


"A beautiful woman enters the French district of Algiers by way of a military guarded checkpoint. Given a pass for her innocuous good looks, she sets off a bomb in the middle of a crowded café. People die. Such a violent act is near impossible to justify, but in the minds of the Algerian rebels who inhabit Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers those murders were righteous. Part of the difficulty of this film is trying to understand what emotional stimuli could drive a group of people to such a destructive means of communication." - Duncan

I don't think the responsibility and culpability for Iraq or Algiers can so easily be laid at the feet of the people of France or America. I greatly prefer the nuance of The Battle of Algiers to something as thematically obtuse as Cache. - Qrazy

[transmogrifier]

I'm beginning to think my #1 didn't even make it.

Do you want me to ruin the suspense for you?

[B-side]

Do you want me to ruin the suspense for you?

Yes. Just tell me if it's on or not.

[transmogrifier]

Awesome quote-culling job, trans.

It's tough with the older, sanctified classics to find anything more than a "Watched X, it was awesome, can't believe it took me so long to see it." Hence the freedom to find cool little snatches of Match Cut conversation that relate to these films in some way.

[transmogrifier]

Yes. Just tell me if it's on or not.



Yes.

PS I knew what it was so you can edit the title out of your post if you like to preserve the "suspense" for others, I guess

[B-side]

Yes.

Nice.:)

[soitgoes...]

Yes.

PS I knew what it was so you can edit the title out of your post if you like to preserve the "suspense" for others, I guess
Bah! Suspense. Ruined.

[B-side]

Whoops. I was expecting a PM.:P

Deleted.

[soitgoes...]

Whoops. I was expecting a PM.:P

Deleted.

I was partially joshing you. I figured it was still going to make an appearance. Mostly because I like it, and most people should like what I like.

[balmakboor]

I'm beginning to think my #1 didn't even make it.

I knew that about mine when I made the list.

[Fezzik]

I knew that about mine when I made the list.

Ditto.

[Yxklyx]

#120. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
List mentions: 5
Average ranking: 33.4
Highest ranking: 1 (Yxklyx)

Kurious Jorge v3.1 also had it at #1 - hope he wasn't skipped...

[transmogrifier]

Kurious Jorge v3.1 also had it at #1 - hope he wasn't skipped...

No, not at all. There were two or three films where two posters had the best ranking, and I had their names entered in two separate columns for when I entered the results here. I just keep forgetting to check the second column because it's usually empty. He was defintely included in the tally however.

[transmogrifier]

89.
http://www.seanax.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/close_encounters_kind.jpg

"It's better than Goofy Golf!"



Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 42.8
Highest ranking: 9 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -


It’s like one of those slow, meditative European art movies, but it’s about aliens and Richard Dreyfuss! Spielberg’s best, which, because I dig the guy most of the time, makes it an all-time best. - Svensos

No one is pissing on Close Encounters of the Third Kind here. - Qrazy

Speaking for myself, there are a lot of aliens that I enjoy in cinema. The childlike greys of Close Encounters, head-spiders of Dark City, E. T., the Mondoshiwan of Fifth Element, the Vogons of Hitchhiker, and many more. - Dead & Messed Up

Yep. That's all I could find. You may like it, but you don't like talking about it. :)

[Qrazy]

89.
http://www.seanax.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/close_encounters_kind.jpg

"It's better than Goofy Golf!"



Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 42.8
Highest ranking: 9 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -


It’s like one of those slow, meditative European art movies, but it’s about aliens and Richard Dreyfuss! Spielberg’s best, which, because I dig the guy most of the time, makes it an all-time best. - Svensos

No one is pissing on Close Encounters of the Third Kind here. - Qrazy

Speaking for myself, there are a lot of aliens that I enjoy in cinema. The childlike greys of Close Encounters, head-spiders of Dark City, E. T., the Mondoshiwan of Fifth Element, the Vogons of Hitchhiker, and many more. - Dead & Messed Up

Yep. That's all I could find. You may like it, but you don't like talking about it. :)

Haha when did I say that? I have no recollection.

edit: Nevermind found it in a search.

[balmakboor]

Great great movie. Close Encounters and The Godfather Trilogy are the first two Blurays I've purchased. You can feel Spielberg's youthful exuberance in every shot.

[transmogrifier]

88.
http://www.leftfieldcinema.com/files/filmupload/a_clockwork_orange_17.jpg

"The Durango '95 purred away a real horrowshow - a nice, warm vibraty feeling all through your guttiwuts. And soon it was trees and dark, my brothers, with real country dark."

A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 42.4
Highest ranking: 1 (EyesWideOpen)
AFI ranking (2007): 70


"There are overrated films on this [MC Yearly Consensus 1971] list, but A Clockwork Orange is not one of them." - Spinal

"I know plenty of people who are thouroughly disgusted with A Clockwork Orange" - Scar

"In the case of A Clockwork Orange, I find it veering closer to unwatchability with each viewing. It has a sadistic kick that carries it for a while, but that wears off leaving it actually quite flat and dull and poorly paced for the final two thirds." - fasozupow

I didn't completely embrace A Clockwork Orange's in-your-face nastiness, but I can't argue against its being brilliant, the ideas behind it being brilliantly constructed and formed into the film (like how, re-stating what you covered already, every motif of the film, from the classical music to the implicit sexual raunchiness, working so integrally with its expose of the base human impulse towards grandiose power and elite advantage). - Bosco B Thug

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9302/clockworkmonkeyiz3.th.jpg (http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clockworkmonkeyiz 3.jpg) - megladon8
__________________

[transmogrifier]

87.
http://cinematorium.files.wordpress.c om/2009/01/the-truman-show.jpg

"You were real. That's what made you so good to watch..."

The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 42.2
Highest ranking: 6 (ThePlashyBubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -

I'm randomly rewatching The Truman Show and I actually think it improves with multiple viewings. I think it has one of my favorite ending sequences ever. - Mara (note: Match Cut then went on to discuss Paul Blart: Mall Cop for the rest of the page)

"I like this movie for the way it tells me that I shouldn’t settle for what the world (and its denizens) offer me. Instead, it inspires me to try and offer something to the world." - Svensos

[transmogrifier]

86.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200710/20071101ho_walkabout_500.jpg

"I don't suppose it matters which way we go."

Walkabout (Nicholas Roeg, 1971)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 41.3
Highest ranking: 4 (Spinal)
AFI ranking (2007): -


I'm very happy to see Walkabout [on Svensos' list], even though I'm pretty sure Helen Mirren isn't in it, the point is, there is nudity... wonderful, wonderful nudity. - Philosophe Rouge


Now that I think of it, Helen Mirren nudity is the only thing that could have improved Walkabout. - Spinal

I just saw this again last night. First off, the boy is shown hunting and killing for like 10 minutes straight. It was kind of funny as I thought to myself how he was depleting all of Australia of its wildlife. I know that they had to eat but come on... Then the modern hunters come along and knock off a few wildabeasts (I think) and leave them to rot away. Argh, that score is annoying as hell for the most part but I still love it. - Yxklyx

[transmogrifier]

85.
http://ferdyonfilms.com/hanabi1a%20edit.JPG

“I want the spectators to feel like they are in another dimension of reality. I don't want my audience to understand every detail.” - Kitano

Hana-bi (Takeshi Kitano, 1997)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 39.7
Highest ranking: 10 (dreamdead)
AFI ranking (2007): -


I love how he fragments so much of the early part of this film, slowly unfurling it so that narrative connections become clear. Musically and thematically his best, though I know your preference to his softer side. And while the links to Kitano's own tragedies are a little too neat, I think it's one film that reveals so much of what is good about auteurism. I need to make this one a group watch with friends this year. - dreamdead

[Mara]

I'm randomly rewatching The Truman Show and I actually think it improves with multiple viewings. I think it has one of my favorite ending sequences ever. - Mara (note: Match Cut then went on to discuss Paul Blart: Mall Cop for the rest of the page)


:)

Seeing how I rarely get into a long discussion about film anymore, I was disappointed that nobody wanted to talk about this. It's a stunning achievement.

[Fezzik]

I caught this on television the other night and I was amazed at how much better the movie seems now than the first time I watched it. I agree that it improves with multiple viewings.

Everytime I see it, I move it higher on my all time list.

Oh, and yes, the ending has aged like wine.

[transmogrifier]

84.
http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0307.jpg

"They probably sit around on the floor with wine and cheese, and mispronounce allegorical and didacticism."


Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 39.1
Highest ranking: 1 (The Plashy Bubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -

Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1979) draws on all of the classical cinematic qualities to lend old-school character to a culture that is adrift in social mores and psychological neuroses. As such, the jubilee of Gershwin tunes, the haunting black and white cinematography, and the retreats into past cultural traditions and artifacts (such as Isaac and Mary’s visit to the old foreign films or Isaac and Tracy’s horse carriage through Central Park) all chronicle an attempt to bridge classical romanticism with a cultural age that is in excess. The characters (with Allen existing here as a possible metonym as well) pine for the stability of past eras; they pine for the constancy of belief in each other, in ideals, and in Love. The age they live in is one that consumes innocence, yet Allen maintains just enough skepticism of this (then) contemporary age to suggest that the same innocence can prolong itself with just a little faith. Thus, this film remains one of his singular achievements, orchestrating a humanism that survives the characteristic nihilism of his other work. - dreamdead (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=33650)

"It didn't quite resonate with me as much as I'd have liked. I was a bit more detached than I should've been in order for me to push it into the 9-range." - Brightside

That is your fault and not the fault of the movie. - Clipper Ship Captain

The only fault of Manhattan is the casting of Hemingway. She was awful. - soitgoes...

[Qrazy]

I found Hemingway to be surprisingly good. The scene where he breaks up with her is a highlight.

[soitgoes...]

I found Hemingway to be surprisingly good. The scene where he breaks up with her is a highlight.
I really want to give this and Annie Hall a re-watch soon. I remember her being wooden, flat. It is really more a quibble than anything, because I find the film to be absolutely wonderful.

[Boner M]

I like Hemingway in Manhattan. She's a little amateurish for sure, but also quite soulful.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I like Hemingway in Manhattan. She's a little amateurish for sure, but also quite soulful.
This I agree with

[transmogrifier]

83.
http://www.leftfieldcinema.com/files/filmupload/goodfellas7.jpg

"Our husbands weren't brain surgeons, they were blue-collar guys. The only way they could make extra money, real extra money, was to go out and cut a few corners."



Goodfellas(Martin Scorsese, 1990)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 37.8
Highest ranking: 1 (Ezee E)
AFI ranking (2007): 92
IMDB Ranking: 15


Even after Thanksgiving, thinking about this film still makes me hungry as I remember that bitching meal the old guys prepare in prison. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about this until I rewatch it, but I'll take a pass for now to keep things moving and hopefully add a review somewhere down the line. - Derek


My biggest problems with Goodfellas are Ray Liotta and the lack of anything visually interesting going on, save the few famous tracking shots and that scene at the diner. My favorite Scorsese films have cameras that are alive, dynamic, fluid. And they're colorful (like Casino). Goodfellas is just drab and unpleasant. Plus Ray Liotta. - Milky Joe



Duh.

But what is it about this movie that I love so much?

For one, it has a different take then most biopics have, and while it may seem like a typical gangster movie now, this was the one that started the trend of voiceovers guiding the story. In the end, I still can't think of a movie that handles a voiceover better than Goodfellas. For one, it isn't central to just one character, it's to the lifestyle. We still see the story told in images, but we also get an idea of the characters' mindset during the visuals. We don't necessarily get told what we see, unless its about Jimmy Two-Times.

Instead of finding redemption, the main character never really does change. He still loves the culture, and doesn't want to leave it, but his actions force him to. His life was at stake, and he betrayed the family.

ANd so on.

Thank God this is done. - Ezee E

[dreamdead]

I'm pleased as punch that Allen and Kitano placed so high. And that my write-up for Manhattan still makes sense. :P

And count me as another who found Hemingway beautifully awkward. That character doesn't work with a more experienced actress for me.

[Watashi]

This is going to sound like a very strange post, but stay with me.

I had a dream last night where I was on MC and trans was completing this list. I remember vaguely the top 50 being extreme obscure Iranian and Indian movies. I then complained that this board if full of elitists and then got into a huge argument with Derek and it ended with me being neg-repped.

I have no idea why I dreamed about this thread. I have no idea why I even dreamed about Match Cut. Also, this is the second Derek-centric dream I've had.

I need help.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I need help.

This is a fact.

[Russ]

This is going to sound like a very strange post, but stay with me.

I had a dream last night where I was on MC and trans was completing this list. I remember vaguely the top 50 being extreme obscure Iranian and Indian movies. I then complained that this board if full of elitists and then got into a huge argument with Derek and it ended with me being neg-repped.

I have no idea why I dreamed about this thread. I have no idea why I even dreamed about Match Cut. Also, this is the second Derek-centric dream I've had.

I need help.
This is just too easy. I can't do it.

But I'm repping you for baring your soul, you little dweeb.

[Derek]

Jesus.

[Watashi]

Jesus.
I'm sorry.

[Ezee E]

How many dreams have you had about Match Cutters Wats?

[Qrazy]

Things not to do today:

1) Dream about Match-cut.
2) Tell Match-cutters you had a dream about Match-cut.

[transmogrifier]

82.
http://media.decider.com/assets/images/events/event/62288/rules-of-the-game_image05_jpg_595x325_crop_ upscale_q85.jpg

"The awful thing about life is this: everybody has their reasons."


The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 34.6
Highest ranking: 1 (Beau)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)
Translated for Baby Doll: La Règle du jeu

Rules of the Game is where it's at. - Derek

I honestly wouldn't have remembered that there was a murder mystery in The Rules of the Game. All I remember is the class stuff, a sense of shame, and being impressed by its formalism. - Duncan

As I recall, Gosford Park is largely an homage to The Rules of the Game. - Melville

Other great Renoir moments: ....Octave getting drunker and drunker in Rules of the Game - Svensos

[dreamdead]

Infreakindeed. I remember the pure formal mastery at work, in addition to all the class stuff. And thinking that Renoir as actor was awesome. I really need to get on more of his work beyond this and Grand Illusion... ::sighs::

[Sven]

Infreakindeed. I remember the pure formal mastery at work, in addition to all the class stuff. And thinking that Renoir as actor was awesome. I really need to get on more of his work beyond this and Grand Illusion... ::sighs::

:slap:

[Raiders]

:slap:

:shrug:

[transmogrifier]

81.http://mondayscreening.info/graphics/18651996.jpg.
"Isn't life disappointing?"



Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 32.5
Highest ranking: 8 (fasozupow)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)


Someone please find some way to convince me to see more Ozu. As pathetic as it may seem, I really, really wanna love him. Don't ask me why. It defies explanation. I've only seen Tokyo Story which I thought was good enough, but pretty unremarkable. People speak of his films and say they achieve sheer genius in their simplicity. That they have a simple structure, but are rather profound. I'm odd, though. I actually feel bad if I don't enjoy certain directors or films. - Brightside



It's so lame that I hadn't before, but I've now seen my first Ozu film. Tokyo Story was even more than I thought it would be. I'm sure everything I could say about it has been said before and better, but I was astonished at how accomplished, simple, and sympathetic it was.

Wow. - Sycophant

[Qrazy]

:shrug:

Actually from what I've seen I kind of agree. Renoir strikes me as someone I think I'd like more than I usually do. Although I do consider his two biggies excellent. I didn't much care for A Day in the Country or The Lower Depths. La Bete Humaine is interesting but deeply flawed and Boudu Saved from Drowning I enjoyed but it struck me as a little uneven.

[transmogrifier]

80.
http://www.smirk.com/jim/bkpics/bk-sevenchances.jpg

"Think slow, act fast" - Keaton

Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 32.3
Highest ranking: 9 (Yxklyx)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)


The General is awesome, but Seven Chances is the straight-up funniest. - Spinal

[B-side]

Haha. Damn. Couldn't find anything negative for it? Had to use that? Gah.:lol:

[soitgoes...]

Great last three films.

[transmogrifier]

79.
http://math.ucsd.edu/~dwildstr/reviews/movies/images/kumonosu-jo-full.jpg

"Admirable, my Lord. You, who would soon rule the world, allow a ghost to frighten you."

Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 32.3
Highest ranking: 8 (Beau)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.1/10)

Sat my dad down to watch Throne of Blood. I love the film, but this viewing reminded me that Kurosawa occasionally bludgeons a point, here when the two men are riding back and forth in the fog in the beginning about twenty times; and in Seven Samurai when drunk Mifune is hilariously staggering about while the men laugh at him, again almost ad nauseum; and in Ikiru.....almost everything. Whoops. Said that outloud. Love the wake! - Wryan


I've never understood [Kurosawa's] supposed greatness. The marching forest in Throne of Blood and the killer shrieking despairingly at the beauty of the world in Stray Dog are brilliant. Everything else is just serviceable. - Melville


Well, I always liked Throne of Blood. It's Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth. - Duncan

[Duncan]

Well, I always liked Throne of Blood. It's Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth. - Duncan Sometimes I just impress myself too much, and it's hard to take.

[Qrazy]

"I've never understood [Kurosawa's] supposed greatness. The marching forest in Throne of Blood and the killer shrieking despairingly at the beauty of the world in Stray Dog are brilliant. Everything else is just serviceable. - Melville"

Still so painful to me.

[transmogrifier]

78.
http://www.screensite.org/courses/Jbutler/T577/VsV080.jpg

The more one talks, the less the words mean.

My Life to Live (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 32.3
Highest ranking: 5 (Raiders)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.1/10)
For baby doll: Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux


I think Godard's films have a lot of great scenes, one of my favourites is without a doubt Nana's dance in Vivre Sa Vie. - Philosophe Rouge


Dear festival curators, producers, and whoever is responsible for anthology films.

It is now crystal clear to me that these omnibuses will never add up to anything more than vaporous piffles, regardless of the talent involved, in which only the 'funny ones' manage to hit their target. Nonetheless, I will probably see every one as long as I live, under the condition that the names appeal to me. To make these experiences less dreary, I propose a few guidelines under which the films are to be compiled, with examples from the recent To Each His Own Cinema:

-Specify the theme for the participants. This way, I won't have to sit through dozens of Vivre sa Vie homages in a row, to the point that I'm too numbed to care when a particularly good variation arrives. - Boner M.

[transmogrifier]

77.
http://www.newline.com/cm_images/pr/backtop_boogienights.jpg

"I have other interests. I'm a magician."

Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 27.7
Highest ranking: 2 (Ezee E)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.8/10)
For baby doll: Nuits endiablées


Remember that scene in Boogie Nights where the camera slowly zooms into Wahlberg's face during Jessie's Girl while Tom Jane's cool rapidly disintegrates? That scene is incredible. - Svensos


At this point, it's tough to explain why you like a movie so much when in the end it's basically, "Everything." Boogie Nights has been seen countless times by me, and it never gets old. It could be the best movie about filmmaking as well, with its wide range of characters, ranging from serious (Little Bill), to one-note (the producers), to pathetic (Scotty), to cartooney (Rollergirl/Buck Swope), and of course an ego (Dirk). - Ezee E


And it's interesting to see Boogie Nights rank so highly on E's list. I've said it before and I'll say it again. PDL, fools. Still, nice artistry in BN all-around, and that last hour is magnificent. Can't really get worked up to rewatch it, though. - dreamdead

[B-side]

For baby doll: Nuits endiablées

:lol:

[Mysterious Dude]

I'm kinda surprised Boogie Nights outranks Magnolia (by a considerable margin).

[Qrazy]

I'm kinda surprised Boogie Nights outranks Magnolia (by a considerable margin).

I prefer Magnolia but I can see how it's goal and it's melodramatic execution of that goal could put people off.

[Ezee E]

Boogie Nights is simply a more enjoyable experience. It has everything that Magnolia essentially has, but you know, boobs too.

[Qrazy]

Boogie Nights is simply a more enjoyable experience. It has everything that Magnolia essentially has, but you know, boobs too.

No frogs.

[soitgoes...]

I love Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I think its Boogie Nights's humor that sets it apart. Plus it is endlessly quotable.

[Ezee E]

No frogs.

Fair point. Dirk killed them with his Diggler.


I love Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I think its Boogie Nights's humor that sets it apart. Plus it is endlessly quotable.

This.

[transmogrifier]

76.
http://images.marketworks.com/hi/61/61370/nashville_005.jpg

"Y'all take it easy now. This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville! Let's show them what we're made of. Come on everybody, sing! Somebody, sing!"

Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)
List mentions: 6
Average ranking: 24.7
Highest ranking: 6 (iosos)
AFI ranking (2007): 59
IMDB Ranking: - (7.7/10)


Follow Henry Gibson’s paranoid eyes as he sings his patriotic song in the opening credits and you have much more than a ripple through the flag or Barbara Jean’s delirium. - Svensos


So Punishment Park is kind of leaving me conflicted, but not in the way that I expected (and yes, it's as great as everyone says, so lets get that out of the way). But the structure of the film--the editing, the multiple storylines, huge cast of characters, the sound--it all kind of makes Nashville (which I've long considered one of cinema's supreme acheivements) seem, well, a bit less impressive. Granted, Altman was able to create a much more nuanced film and it's certainly a step up in overall technical complexity, but it just doesn't seem quite as groundbreaking as it used to. Especially considering that Peter Walker was working with half the amount of time Altman granted himself, probably a fraction of the budget and much more adverse working conditions... - jesse (who commits the cardinal error of assuming that if something doesn't do something first, it is just that little less valuable as a standalone film)

[transmogrifier]

75.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/ews1.jpg

"Remove your clothes. Or would you like us to do it for you?"

Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 49.8
Highest ranking: 4 (EyesWideOpen)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.2/10)


Eyes Wide Shut is what I watched today, and each time, the sexual approaches to the main characters is fascinating to watch. The dreaminess of the whole film gets to me too. I'm not exactly sure what to consider a dream either. - Ezee E


The best date film is Eyes Wide Shut, for my money. The masked orgy is a great ice-breaker, and for what it's worth, I'm still with the same girl. - Spaceman Spiff


The honesty of the fornicating scenes is pivotal to the success of Eyes Wide Shut - it's the whole point, to look at the whole sex scenes free of social implications and erotic titillation. - Grouchy

[transmogrifier]

74.
http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/10onst6504.jpg

"One-stop shopping; everything you need, right at your fingertips."

Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 49.6
Highest ranking: 1 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.2/10)


Just watched Dawn of the Dead for the first time a few days ago... meh. It was alright and I can recognize why it has the status and respect it does for it's genre. The long shots are excellent, and Romero continues with the dynamic framing he employed in Night of the Living Dead, but the bad acting in the former film, coupled with the black and white cinematography, almost helped to make scenes more tense and threatening... in a found footage relic sort of way... while with Dawn the bad acting just detracts from the experience, and while Romero almost makes up for the poor drama with compelling and naturally integrated set pieces, he's not able to quite find his mark. When it comes to pulp filmmakers with a similar tonal quality to their work, I greatly prefer Carpenter. - Qrazy

[Ezee E]

Damn, this is a good list.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I wish I opined on Dawn of the Dead more on this site. Someone needs to counteract Qrazy's crazy.

[Qrazy]

Follow Henry Gibson’s paranoid eyes as he sings his patriotic song in the opening credits and you have much more than a ripple through the flag or Barbara Jean’s delirium. - Svensos


So Punishment Park is kind of leaving me conflicted, but not in the way that I expected (and yes, it's as great as everyone says, so lets get that out of the way). But the structure of the film--the editing, the multiple storylines, huge cast of characters, the sound--it all kind of makes Nashville (which I've long considered one of cinema's supreme acheivements) seem, well, a bit less impressive. Granted, Altman was able to create a much more nuanced film and it's certainly a step up in overall technical complexity, but it just doesn't seem quite as groundbreaking as it used to. Especially considering that Peter Walker was working with half the amount of time Altman granted himself, probably a fraction of the budget and much more adverse working conditions... - jesse (who commits the cardinal error of assuming that if something doesn't do something first, it is just that little less valuable as a standalone film)

He also calls him Peter Walker instead of Peter Watkins and ignores the fact that Altman had already traversed similar Nashville terrain with Mash and Brewster McCloud the year before Punishment Park.

[Spaceman Spiff]

The best date film is Eyes Wide Shut, for my money. The masked orgy is a great ice-breaker, and for what it's worth, I'm still with the same girl. - Spaceman Spiff

Well, no longer. Ho hum.

Great list so far, though.

[Qrazy]

Well, no longer. Ho hum.

Great list so far, though.

Ah ha! I knew it was a bad date film. Seriously though sorry to hear it... unless you wanted it that way... then *high five*.

[transmogrifier]

73.
http://image.toutlecine.com/photos/t/h/i/thing-1982-05-g.jpg

"You gotta be fucking kidding."

The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 48.9
Highest ranking: 12 (Daniel Davis)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 172 (8.1/10)


The Thing was great, of course. Can't really say anything about it that you folks don't already know. Glad to have finally caught up with that one. I saw a side of Brimley I didn't know existed. Cracked me up. Blood testing scene is the clear highlight for me. Kind of let down by the ending. Just didn't seem to leave on a high note. Probably the weakest aspect of the film for me. - Spinal

We don't get a solid grasp on most of the characters, only their sense of community in a generally broad sense, which I agree does strip away some of the paranoid tension Carpenter shoots for........ Perhaps one could argue that the movie's primary theme is some sort of social alienation. After all, Russell's character was a loner amidst the bunch of them. - Rowland

Unfortunately, they were remaking horror films before this. Cronenberg even did it in 1986 and Carpenter in 1982. Freakin' hacks. - Raiders

I'm sure I could think of a few people who don't like The Thing. But they all don't care for horror flicks. - Scar

[transmogrifier]

72.
http://www.ekrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/the-graduate-pdvd_014.jpg

"Not for me."

The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 46.9
Highest ranking: 1 (soitgoes...)
AFI ranking (2007): 17
IMDB Ranking: 157 (8.2/10)


Speaking of movies everyone likes, just finished The Graduate. Kind of disappointed by it. Well, not entirely disappointed, but not totally bought on it either. Lots of good stuff, but the constant camera tricks become tiring after a while. They feel show-offy at moments that would benefit from subtlety, or the sound would go mute for no apparent reason. There are so many montages where the music completely takes over that it's like it's put in there to elevate a drab spot in the action. The ending is pretty much a cop-out too. It's some sort of extended wish-fulfillment fantasy and I kept expecting Benjamin to wake up sweating or something. I did notice the couple's sort of bored expression at the very end as an attempt at satirizing those types of Hollywood endings, though.

The bottom line is, I appreciate the film, but while watching it, I was often thinking about the baby boomers Nichols was lampooning and the generation of confused teenagers he was reaching for, or thinking about the inventive editing and cinematography, but I wasn't often drawn into the drama or the characters. I couldn't care less. I have the feeling it's a classic and important movie that has aged pretty badly. Or that it just isn't made for me. - Grouchy


The film always brings a smile to my face. I've seen it more that any other film on my list, except Raiders, and yet it never ceases to entertain. If I could sum up this film in one word, it would be manipulation. Nichols's characters are masters of it, both in this film and in his almost as great Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. One difference between the two films, and what raises The Graduate up to a higher level, is the injection of humor. Martha and George in WAoVW? are just plain mean in their manipulating, whereas Ben brings a youthful awkwardness as he is being manipulated by Mrs. Robinson. You can also bring in the fact that film features brilliant framing, a wonderful soundtrack, great editing and a superb cast (a smoking hot Bancroft and Ross!!), but the main reason why it is number one is that I can put the DVD in my player at anytime, and be completely happy to be watching it. I can see why some might not see it as a perfect film, but in my eyes it is. - soitgoes...

[transmogrifier]

71.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q234/captnyro/MySpace%20Profile/SomeLikeItHot2.jpg

"Stoop, listen to me! No butter, no pastry. We're on a diet!"

Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 42.7
Highest ranking: 10 (Philosophe Rouge)
AFI ranking (2007): 22
IMDB Ranking: 82 (8.4/10)


I've seen the film like half a million times... a lot of times and I never get tired of it. Last time I saw it was on a big screen, and it was even more glorious that way! Everything was amplified, emotions and intentions somehow became clearer. Curtis is so good at playing a slimy asshat, it's unbelievable... here and in Sweet Smell of Success. If I didn't have class in four hours I'd totally watch it right now. - Philosophe Rouge

I think all [Wilder's] films are pretty dark frankly, even Some Like it Hot which I've seen a bazillion times is so close to being a noir at times... plus Tony Curtis' character is one of the biggest assholes to grace the screen. He really had a rare talent, because he played essentially the same role but not for laughs in Sweet Smell of Success. - Philosophe Rouge

I thought Double Indemnity and Some Like it Hot were good, but I dunno, maybe I was expecting too much. - Winston*

Some like it Hot was entertaining. I dunno, it was pretty funny but I expected moar funny. Marilyn Monroe is teh sex. - Winston*

God do I love Some Like it Hot. Lemmon's performance is so gloriously over the top, and Curtis's Grant impression is hysterical. The mob elements tie in well as well. Wilder is my hero. - ledfloyd

[Winston*]

I thought Double Indemnity and Some Like it Hot were good, but I dunno, maybe I was expecting too much. - Winston*

Some like it Hot was entertaining. I dunno, it was pretty funny but I expected moar funny. Marilyn Monroe is teh sex. - Winston*



I can be a pretty shitty poster sometimes.

[Sycophant]

I remember when you made that second post, Winston. I remember I said to myself "Marilyn Monroe is teh sex."

Good times.

[Spinal]

I can be a pretty shitty poster sometimes.

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on Some Like it Hot, so no complaints here.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I am so awesome.

[Spinal]

I am so awesome.

I'm impressed that at the time of your first post, you had only seen the film half a million times. But in between that and the second post, you had found the time to watch it a bazillion times. I have not even seen my favorite movie a jillion times, let alone a bazillion.

[transmogrifier]

70.
http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/theconversations/001/davidfincher10.jpg

"Just because the fucker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda!"

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 39.7
Highest ranking: 7 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 32 (8.6/10)


After rewatching Se7en, I would have loved to see The Dark Knight as done by David Fincher. Hell, Se7en's unnamed setting is pretty much Gotham City and just put some make-up on John Doe and he's your Joker. - Watashi

What was the fucking point of Seven? Cause, I really don't get it. - SirNewt

I think the goal of the movie is to come to a conclusion about how to approach all the cruelty and sin in the world. You're given three distinct viewpoints that overlap in regard to passion (Mills, Doe), pessimism (Somerset, Doe), and judgment (Mills, Somerset).

But I also think it's a lovely-looking film, technically perfect in its execution (except for maybe the last line, which is superfluous), and its serial killer structure has a real resonance, thanks to the Dante-inspired justice. And the acting is fantastic. It's great to see John Doe emerge as a true personality. That conversation in the cop car, towards the end, is beautifully done.

It's one of my favorites. - Dead & Messed Up

The last line is essential and in my book much more effective than the similar final spiel in No Country for Old Men. - Qrazy
__________________

[Winston*]

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on Some Like it Hot, so no complaints here.

You should complain about my double use of "I dunno".

I do stand by my prior opinion of the movie and Ms Monroe's appearance. Teh sex indeed.

[Watashi]

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
List mentions: 7
Highest ranking: 7 (Dead & Messed Up)


I see what you did there.

[transmogrifier]

Se7en seems to be one of those films everyone has seen, most have liked, but no-one has written more than two sentences about. Though I am hardly the most rigorous searcher at times.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I'm impressed that at the time of your first post, you had only seen the film half a million times. But in between that and the second post, you had found the time to watch it a bazillion times. I have not even seen my favorite movie a jillion times, let alone a bazillion.
This is why I am so very awesome, see, I have actually found a way to bend time, and create a sort of loop, so that I can achieve these ridiculous amount of views for my favourite films. If I wanted to, I could even do it for films I hate, but I don't quite see the point in that.

[Qrazy]

Se7en seems to be one of those films everyone has seen, most have liked, but no-one has written more than two sentences about. Though I am hardly the most rigorous searcher at times.

I remember one conversation a while back about the final line of the film and whether or not it was important or redundant. I argued that it was valuable. I think Melville agreed with me. I think DaMU felt it was redundant but could be wrong there. Can't find the conversation though... pretty sure it was in the Film Discussion Thread.

[Qrazy]

This is why I am so very awesome, see, I have actually found a way to bend time, and create a sort of loop, so that I can achieve these ridiculous amount of views for my favourite films. If I wanted to, I could even do it for films I hate, but I don't quite see the point in that.

Chandraseker loop FTW.

[transmogrifier]

69.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v24/Green13/images%20for%20blog/f100eraserhead.jpg

"I thought I heard a stranger. We've got chicken tonight. Strangest damn things. They're man made. Little damn things. Smaller than my fist. But they're new. Hi, I'm Bill."

Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 38.5
Highest ranking: 26 (iosos)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.4/10)


When I saw this movie for the first time, the scene with the girl in the radiator somehow eked its way into the core of my brain and shattered everything that I thought I understood as right and sensible about the world. - Svensos

I once took a date to a triple bill of The Grandmother, Eraserhead and Blue Velvet. She hated them. She later married me anyway. - fasozupow

I finally saw Eraserhead. It's a bizarrely hilarious and dreamlike mind-fuck with great cinematography and even more impressive sound design. The atmospheric industrial drones, rumbles, static, and hissing of the steam really drives the film. The orchestration of the room tones, background noises, and fx all mesh to create a rhythmic soundtrack that acts as score, sounding like a Black Dice album, or even Merzbow at times. Just as the images employ oneiric recall tactics, so do the sounds. Although The Elephant Man remains my favorite Lynch film, Eraserhead showcases his original visionary style and talents, and is likely his most significant work. - origami_mustache

[transmogrifier]

I remember one conversation a while back about the final line of the film and whether or not it was important or redundant. I argued that it was valuable. I think Melville agreed with me. I think DaMU felt it was redundant but could be wrong there. Can't find the conversation though... pretty sure it was in the Film Discussion Thread.

Thanks for the heads up. Edited.

[transmogrifier]

68.
http://sarcastig.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/samourai.jpg

"If I understand you right, I'll have no problems if I perjure myself. If I insist on telling the truth, then I can expect trouble. Am I right?"


Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 36.6
Highest ranking: 5 (Kurosawa Fan)
IMDB Ranking: - (8.1/10)

So, what exactly is this film? Is it just a taciturn version of 300, where ultra-male men live by some code that requires sacrifice for a principle? Is it a pre-cursor to Sin City, jacking itself off to the extremes of genre exaggeration? Or, does Le Samourai have a sense of irony? “It has all been arranged,” says Jef as he goes to meet Death for the last time (contrary to what the Criterion subtitles say: “It will all work out”). I like to think that it’s Melville speaking here, and that it’s the films silliest exaggerations that have been arranged, that a sense of humour exists below Delon’s imperturbable coolness. It is to Melville’s credit as an artist that I can’t quite define Le Samourai. Its tone is ambiguous or stratified, perhaps maintaing a note people can’t normally hear while simultaneously playing a familiar tune. It’s not El Topo or Inland Empire, but Le Samourai is certainly one of the most bizarre films I have seen. Its aesthetic is precise, its cultural signposts are diverse, and its director and star are stubbornly reticent to let the viewer in on a joke that may or may not exist. Ba-dum-chsh. - Duncan (http://match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=138845&postcount=1020)


...I simultaneously did and didn't have Melville's apathy to Melville's film (whatda?!? http://match-cut.org/images/smilies/wink.gif). Despite my appreciation for the cultural signifiers at work here, there is the very real sense that I didn't leave moved or transformed by the exercise that Melville employs. And while I hate the semantic implications invoked within my use of word "exercise," that ultimately is the way I approach Le Samourai. It is patently the sum of its parts, but it is frequently ambivalent about whether or not it's in on the joke. In that respect, I think back to something like Contempt, which is certainly working metatextually but also works as a fully designed text, and feels like a smarter twin than Melville's film. Though I value both genre deconstruction and signification (and Le Samourai feels more like the latter), not much of it resonates or moves me in any way beyond the scope of its textuality. I have no real understanding, then, for why Truffaut's film that Derek had earlier referenced works in a better way than this one, though neither would place as a great film in my eyes... but I digress. - dreamdead


Jef Costello is a clockwork man, living in a clockwork film. The facts are his drive, a plan culminating in success, his passion. He's a killer, living by a code of his own making, a false bushido (as is exemplified by the fabricated quote that opens the film), a conundrum. Even the visits his girl receives from other men don't bother him. On the contrary, they provide him an alibi. And more basically, they are a fact of life.

We are not shown how Costello formulated his creed nor how its delicate crystalline structure has endured so far. Those are not the matter of the film. We study the equation where it turns and otherwise rule out its domain.

Costello's code is his end. It's not for love that he gives himself up. He has come to find something beautiful, which, he would rather not destroy. Reality, desire, has entered his world.

Meleville has done the cruel and fascinating work of inventing a character in a vacuum and then smothering him with the air of reality. Two human elements have entered Costello's world, evil, personified by greed and good, personified by beauty. He commits ritual suicide because his purpose is compromised. His profession has been smeared by treason and misuse. Honor cannot sustain among thieves nor a bushido among the denizens of the 20th century. Costello is an idea personified, one that cannot stand humanity. - SirNewt

[soitgoes...]

The best film Melville made. Well Army of Shadows is pretty much tied with this one.

[Sven]

I believe I incorrectly used the word "eke" in my capsule for Eraserhead. "Edged" or "seeped" or "found"... just one of those myriad times where my fingers are working faster than my brain I guess.

[Dead & Messed Up]

70.

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 39.7
Highest ranking: 7 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 32 (8.6/10)

Seven at 70 with seven list mentions and a highest ranking of seven?

:eek:

As for extended discussions, you shoulda been there when I watched it for the first time with three friends and we spent three hours talking about its moral questions. Everything from the structural validity of Doe's plan to the merits of using private library information.

Ah, college.

[transmogrifier]

67.
http://thecia.com.au/reviews/o/images/oldboy-4.jpg

"Revenge is good for your health, but pain will find you again."

Oldboy (Park Chan-Wook, 2003)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 36.1
Highest ranking: 6 (Daniel Davis)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 117 (8.3/10)


I haven't seen Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but I think you're over-simplifying Oldboy. Woo-Jin is not devoid of humanity. The flashback makes clear that, behind his revenge-seeking automations, he is haunted by a single tragic moment from which he can never escape (even physically, as suggested by his eternal youth). He bases his whole identity around the transference of that moment onto the man whom he blames for it. The act of seeking revenge served to perpetually keep that moment at a distance from him, but the completion of the revenge dissolves that distance. Once he has completed his revenge, he is left only with that moment, the weight of which he cannot stand, and outside of which he has nothing. He doesn't end his own life because he is a non-entity; he ends it because his obsession with that one tragic event has left him with nothing to live for. I actually found his demise somewhat affecting. - Melville (replying to Duncan)

I haven't watched Oldboy since my attitude towards violence has started to change, and I wonder how I would respond to a viewing now? - Daniel Davis

On what you're talking about, I find Oldboy to be the easiest to swallow out of Park Chan-wook's trilogy. Mr. Vengeance is just cynical, while Lady Vengeance is purposely unsettling with a character who has a specific and unwavering goal. Oldboy, at least, has a clueless protagonist who heroically protects someone as he's seeking vengeance, and it's treated with tons of black humor. - number8

I mean, I liked Old Boy, but let's not go nuts--it's not exactly Alain Resnais we're talking about. - baby doll

Seriously, Oldboy over ROTK?

Really, Match Cut? I thought you were better than this. - Watashi

[transmogrifier]

66.
http://evenfallreviews.files.wordpres s.com/2007/03/the_shawshank_redemption_d220. jpg

"They send you here for life, and that's exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyway."

The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 35.1
Highest ranking: 5 (Fezzik)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 1 (9.2/10)

So I finally watched The Shawshank Redemption... ehhh, it's a fair piece of work, confidently and competently made, but it doesn't really say anything... It's hardly even about anything. Criminals and prisons, sure, but barely, and motions toward indicting the institutional status quo are thin. This film is likely a prime example of the criticism of "too story-driven." The film just kind of plods along with the same neutral pace for its 2hr+ running time, and Robbins' character is kind of very boring. - Bosco B Thug

[Thirdmango]

If I ever get around to making a top 100 Mind Game would be in my top 20.

[transmogrifier]

65.
http://eriksez.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/bergmanpicpersona.jpg

"To change oneself. My trouble is laziness."


Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 34
Highest ranking: 1 (Raiders)
IMDB Ranking: - (8.1/10)


I'm taking a break from Persona after about ten minutes (something came up). I'll assume it gets better, because all that junk at the beginning was uber pretentious. Unless of course it all ties in with the rest of the movie, then I'll shut up. But, it kinda reminded me of Illeana Douglas' short in Ghost World. - Cult


[Persona] is only my second Bergman, after the decidedly more straightforward Through a Glass Darkly--so I'm not familiar with his recurring themes, style, etc. For the record I do think it turned out quite good, but not exactly the masterpiece I was expecting. The visual rhyming was poetic and powerful enough, we really didn't need quite so many hysterical, dramatic BiBi Andersson monologues. - Cult


I wasn't exactly head-over-heels for Persona. I mainly watched it a while back because Robin Wood suggested it was the prototype for films like Fight Club and Mulholland Dr. When it was over, I nodded my head in semi-agreement and sealed it up in its red envelope.

I'll give it another look some day. For now, it's one of those "great" films that failed to win me over, much like Sunrise. - fasozupow

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:| - Raiders

Can anyone imagine Scorsese as a trained ferret contracted to make a remake of Persona starring Timothy Spall and a tomato with a smiley face painted on it?

How crazy would that be? - Winston*

[Raiders]

Hey now. That's a misleading quote. It should read:

:pritch::pritch::pritch::pritc h:

[transmogrifier]

64.
http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2007_02_ldv.jpg

"By 1965 there'll be total depravity. How squalid everything will be."

La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 33.7
Highest ranking: 6 (Beau)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 240 (8.1/10)


Also, La Dolce Vita is my least favourite of the Fellini classics. - Velocipedist

Also, the username "BIOSpasm" paired with a La Dolce Vita avatar is a combination that just doesn't work. Please change one or the other immediately. - Winston*

(Yep, that's the extent of Match Cut's indepth analysis of La Dolce Vita, apart from being part of several lists.)



Fellini once spoke of La Dolce Vita (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=152623&postcount=449) as the confidential confession of a man who was expressing “to other friends his confusion, his contradictions, and his deceptions, trying to clarify for himself his own sentimental aridity.”1 It is this confusion, these contradictions and self-deceptions which primarily interest me in relation to the ending of the film.

[transmogrifier]

Hey now. That's a misleading quote. It should read:

:pritch::pritch::pritch::pritc h:

It's in response to the quotes above (in reality, it was a direct rpely to that first Cult quote).

[Ezee E]

La Dolce Vita had some good discussion at the old site I think.

It's one that I really should go back to, it's been over five years since I've seen that and 8 1/2.

[Qrazy]

64.
http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2007_02_ldv.jpg

"By 1965 there'll be total depravity. How squalid everything will be."

La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 33.7
Highest ranking: 6 (Beau)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 240 (8.1/10)


Also, La Dolce Vita is my least favourite of the Fellini classics. - Velocipedist

Also, the username "BIOSpasm" paired with a La Dolce Vita avatar is a combination that just doesn't work. Please change one or the other immediately. - Winston*

(Yep, that's the extent of Match Cut's indepth analysis of La Dolce Vita, apart from being part of several lists.)

Maybe I'll post an essay I wrote for a class about it if you all are willing to bear in mind that I tossed it off a few hours before it was due.

[transmogrifier]

Maybe I'll post an essay I wrote for a class about it if you all are willing to bear in mind that I tossed it off a few hours before it was due.

Yes, yes please.

[Qrazy]

Yes, yes please.

It's on a different computer, I'll grab it tomorrow.

[transmogrifier]

63.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/s/a/sam50/film_bicycle_thief1.jpg

"There's a cure for everything except death."

Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio Di Sica, 1948)
Original title: Ladri di biciclette
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 33.2
Highest ranking: 3 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 98 (8.4/10)



1. The Bicycle Thief (the importance and brilliance of this cannot be overstated)


The Bicycle Thief was one of the very first foreign films ever recommended to me.

It was the lady working at the library when I was about 12 or 13, and I had begun taking movies out there.

Yet to this day I still haven't seen it.:cry:


I watched Bicycle Thief for the first time about 3 1/2 years ago at a time when I was laid-off with four mouths to feed and a mortgage. It sure packs a wallup under those conditions. I got it from the library.




P.S. Is Bicycle Thieves the sequel to the The Bicycle Thief?

[transmogrifier]

62.
http://www.hertfordshirefilmconsortiu m.co.uk/content/images/events/november%2008/ruby_slippers%20copy.jpg

"Where do you want to be oiled first?"


The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
German title: Das zauberhafte Land
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 32.6
Highest ranking: 9 (EyesWideOpen)
AFI ranking (2007): 10
IMDB Ranking: 124 (8.3/10)



How to begin a review of The Wizard of Oz (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=51833&postcount=273)? I’ve dreaded writing about this for a while because there’s simply no possible way I can review as I would just about any other film. I’m too close to it, too connected, as it’s burned images and emotions into my heart and mind since I was a young impressionable child. Part of getting older and growing as an individual is, to a certain degree, a rejection of who you were in the past and as an avid film lover, that often includes coming to the realization that when I was a kid, I had pretty awful taste in movies. I’m not ashamed to admit it; especially because if I had the same preferences as an average boy, I might be giving girls wet willies or doing God-knows-what with the hip, new over-the-counter medications. But this is all very much beside the point, a way for me to avoid talking about the film and confront why I still love it to death when I’ve turned my back on so many other films that I loved back in the day.


One of the most beautiful things about The Wizard of Oz, probably the most exquisite pure film fantasy ever, is the discovery that all the while, these adventurers had their trophies within themselves. That's never clearer than the very introduction of the tin man, who laments that he doesn't have a heart. Look at Jack Haley's face and listen to that voice and your own heart will melt like butter with sadness. This tin man's lament is full of heart and soul. Never again will I doubt the capacity for a metal man to love.


My wife has a great story about getting in trouble when she was a kid and being sent to bed on the night The Wizard of Oz came on television. This was before every household had a personal video system, so the one time per year that Wizard of Oz came on TV was an event. So she ended up bawling into her pillow as the muffled sounds of the film leaked in from the other room. Perhaps no greater torture short of cancelling Christmas could possibly be devised for a child of that era.

[transmogrifier]

61.
http://home.arcor.de/annonym2803/bilder/ripley1_.jpg

"Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?"

Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
Estonia title: Tulnukad
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 32.3
Highest ranking: 4 (Ezee E)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 62 (8.5/10)



I challenge you to name me a movie more enjoyable than Aliens. Can't do it can you? I knew it. CAPTAIN OBVIOUS PREVAILS AGAIN! I, of course, refer to the uncut version.



You know, if you were to time them, there aren't that many action sequences in Aliens, and most of them are infused with a strong vibe of horror-tinged suspense. Look at the entire sequence with the team exploring the ravaged colony that builds to the military team getting slaughtered, the sequence with the face-hugger in the locked room, or even the few survivors watching as their defensive sentry guns almost run out of ammo as the aliens try to attack their hideout. It's hardly just an adrenaline-soaked action movie.



I've always found it strange that Aliens is considered an action movie, when it's so low on action.



Aliens is an action movie.

[transmogrifier]

60.
http://deeperintomovies.net/journal/image08/ordet3.jpg

“Nothing in the world can be compared to the human face. It is a land one can never tire of exploring. There is no greater experience in a studio than to witness the expression of a sensitive face under the mysterious power of inspiration. To see it animated from inside, and turning into poetry.” - Dreyer

Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 32
Highest ranking: 11 (Boner M)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.8/10)




Watched Carl Dreyer's Ordet (1955) last night. I thought it was incredible. The nuanced and delicate explorations of faith and the variety of responses people have to it was extremely well done without being preachy or dismissive. All the characters seemed very realistic in their responses to each other and spiritual issues, which is unusual. I cared a lot about what happened to them...

...when Inger died and Johannes ran away, I was sure he had committed suicide, and I was an emotional wreck for a full ten minutes.
Despite being set in Denmark in the 1920s, the film felt very contemporary and relevant. I also enjoyed the pacing of the film, which was just slow enough to feel unhurried as the film savored the weighty themes introduced.



Best movie ever.


Speaking as a non-believer, I couldn't appreciate Ordet's ending at all. I would have almost liked the movie without it.



I got caught up in the debate and post-debate nonsense last night. I promise to go back and write something about this one though, because I think it's an interesting film.

(He never did)

[Qrazy]

Bicycle Thief


If I had a nickel for everytime Meg hasn't seen a film... holy jesus.

[transmogrifier]

59.
http://www.unreel.co.uk/reviews/a/Amadeus_-_Directors_Cut/co1.jpg

"Your... merciful God. He destroyed His own beloved, rather than let a mediocrity share in the smallest part of His glory."


Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 31.5
Highest ranking: 1 (Spinal)
AFI ranking (2007): - (was 53 on the original list)
IMDB Ranking: 84 (8.4/10)


Amadeus FTW.



Barry Lyndon is BETTER THAN Amadeus. The former features far better photography.


That's all I could find. Sorry.

EDIT:


I love Amadeus so much.

It's just about perfect. I adore it.


Amadeus, read as an allegory of the ultimate struggle between man and God, has rarely been surpassed.

This moment:

From now on we are enemies, You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation. Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able.

...the first time I heard it, literally left me breathless.

[megladon8]

I love Amadeus so much.

It's just about perfect. I adore it.

[Mara]

Amadeus, read as an allegory of the ultimate struggle between man and God, has rarely been surpassed.

This moment:


From now on we are enemies, You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation. Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able.

...the first time I heard it, literally left me breathless.

[transmogrifier]

58.
http://blogs.amctv.com/future-of-classic/images/gene_wilder_peter_boyle_young_ frank.jpg

"Oh. Where you going?... Oh, you men are all alike. Seven or eight quick ones and then you're out with the boys to boast and brag. YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Oh... I think I love him."

Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 24.2
Highest ranking: 6 (The Mike)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)



Young Frankenstein (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=5325&postcount=42) is a brilliant film because it works on a variety of levels. What could have been just another spoof, ala Airplane!, or perhaps even, to a lesser extent, Blazing Saddles, ends up being a film that contains elements of parody, comedy, satire, drama, and a ton of heart. While often cited as one of the funniest films ever made, I feel this classification does a disservice to the film as a whole. Yes, some parts are damn funny, outrageous, uproarious, and a whole slew of other descriptors critics often sling at great comedies. However, Young Frankenstein transcends the comedy genre in a way that elevates the film far above its yuk-yuk genre roots. Put simply, it is a film that I think is perfect, and expertly executes each facet of the filmmaking process.



Easily my favourite Brooks film, I find a lot of his work can be repetitive and stretched out too long but this one is pitch perfect. I completely agree with you [Daniel Davis] on the visual front, it's a great looking film and it only helps to cement the comedy and to make it worth watching again and again.



These low scores for Young Frankenstein are making my blood pressure rise.

[Dead & Messed Up]

63.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/s/a/sam50/film_bicycle_thief1.jpg

Yes. Yes yes. Love it. It seems designed and calibrated to create the maximum amount of heart-breakage capable from a film.

[The Mike]

Young Frankenstein makes me want to dance in the streets. Too awesome of a movie. :pritch:

[Duncan]

Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 32
Highest ranking: 11 (Boner M)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.8/10)

Duncan promised to write something.

(He never did)

I actually did write something, but I was too embarrassed to post it. It was about Obama as Kierkegaardian Knight of Faith, and his ability to make people believe unreservedly in impossible things, thus making the world better.

[Sven]

It was about Obama as Kierkegaardian Knight of Faith


too embarrassed to post it

Yeah. Yeah...

[D_Davis]

I kind of like Young Frankenstein.

[Ezee E]

Guess I should see Ordet.

If I had a nickel for every time MadMan said he should see a movie, I'd have more money than the one that claimed Meg.

[transmogrifier]

57.
http://www.filmforum.org/films/marker/sansoleilsm.jpg

"We do not remember. We rewrite memory much as history is rewritten. How can one remember thirst?"


Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983)
List mentions: 7
Average ranking: 17.8
Highest ranking: 4 (iosos)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)



I think it's safe to say I deserve to give the following films another chance (not just because of the critical acclaim in which they're held, but for the fact that each still resurfaces in my memory from time to time - favorably, which I take as a positive sign, even though my initial impressions weren't very favorable):

Sans Soleil (Marker) - although, do I really need to sit through

that fucking giraffe scene

again? Maybe someone can properly contextualize its significance for me.



It feels like it contains the secret of life's meaning. I love associative picture essays like this. I’d love to see more of them.




Top five worst films I've seen with artistic aspirations?

1. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2. The Suspended Vocation (Raoul Ruiz)
3. Sans Soleil (Chris Marker)
4. Pierrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. Reds (Warren Beaty)



Anyone who gives Marker's Sans Soleil a 1 (out of 10 or 100) should have his critical license revoked.



Well, it isn't bad. I felt like I was watching it just to watch both movies on the set. I think it was a little unfocused too, but maybe that is because the structure... well now, what structure!? Does one even exist with this movie? Maybe it was more a matter of me not being fully prepared for what I was about to see. The only flaw I found with the movie was that maybe it showed too much Tokyo (which isn't inherently bad... Tokyo rules) and not enough Iceland.



Marker's Sans Soleil is fascinating in that I really have no idea how to rate it. Regardless, it's endlessly fascinating, and a wonderful amalgamation of disparate images and ideas. The Coppola and Hitchcock references were the high point for me.

[B-side]

Top five worst films I've seen with artistic aspirations?

1. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)

Oh God, yes. I hated that film. I doubt there's a film more lifeless. I liked some of the symbolic gestures ie the statuesque people, the paintings reflecting the stillness of their lives, but boy was it painfully tedious. Not a bit of it hit home.

[transmogrifier]

56.
http://www.saintvespaluus.com/moonrise.jpeg

"You are a real boy. At least as real as I've ever made one."

Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 63.3
Highest ranking: 30 (ThePlashyBubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (6.9/10)



Whether or not you want to argue that A.I. was too Spielberg and not enough Kubrick or vica-versa, the same can't be said about Williams's fantastic score. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but when you've working for this long, you don't have to be. A.I. is one of Williams more sentimental scores he ever did that had to cover David's trek in being reunited with his mother. Heavy emotional tracks like Abandoned in the Woods carries a reprise of Williams' own E.T.. It carries a sad and moving theme out of the brass and strings. The main theme Where Dreams Are Born is a soft cue, this time with a beautiful female soprano vocalizing over it. The cue is played over a pivotal scene in the film (you should know it) and even can be considered a nod to Ennio Morricone.


AI's third act made me bawl my fucking eyes out because it was so powerful.


Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) - The ending ruled.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I might get lynched by some, but I adore A.I. Really thought provoking and moving film. I'm surprised to see it here (and so high up)

[transmogrifier]

55.
http://davidarias.es/especiales/gilliam/fotos/brazil48.jpg

"Sorry, I'm a bit of a stickler for paperwork. Where would we be if we didn't follow the correct procedures?"

Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 58.4
Highest ranking: 23 (ThePlashyBubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)



The worst I can say about [Brazil] is that it's a gut wrenching experience in the end, but it's certainly a masterpiece that has to be seen in its entirety.



Brazil = best movie ever.




Kristen: "That movie is crazy. It's good, though."
Patrick: "Same old ambivalence with perhaps a slighter respect for the witty dialogue and the rapture of its dream."
Kristen: "I wonder what the tubing budget was..."



So Brazil was pretty good. As usual, Gilliam's use of the camera was excellent, and the set/prop/creature design was all fantastic (creepy doll faces). That said, I didn't much go for the instantaneous switch of dream-girl Jill from skeptical to loving, and I thought Lowry was too pathetic to really be likeable.



I hate how everything on earth is using that song from "Brazil" now. Did Michael Kamen even give them permission to do this?

[Sven]

AI? I like it, but it's on that many people's top 100s? Whoa.

[Russ]

56. Artificial Intelligence: A.I.

The rating of this film reminds me of Ann Veal.

[transmogrifier]

54.
http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/1410/heat19qt.jpg

"You prefer the normal routine. We fuck, then you lose the power of speech."

Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 57.9
Highest ranking: 23 (megladon8)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 135 (8.2/10)



Michael Mann's 1995 crime epic masterpiece Heat (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=141040&postcount=1035) contains all of the director's typical thematic concerns, but over the course of its nearly 3 hour runtime creates a depth of characters, plot intricacies, emotional weight, and sense of visual mastery than none of his other films have achieved. Since its release, it is often referred to as the only film to put acting giants Al Pacino and Robert De Niro up against one another (the less said about Righteous Kill the better, I imagine), but too rarely is overlooked as a key entry in the genre and one of the best films of the 90s. The rhythm and pacing allow it to move at its own speed leaving room for roundly developing several of the characters and their backgrounds as well as a number of brilliant action set pieces, each of which must stand among the best sequences Mann has ever filmed. It is risky in its attempts to humanize the criminals, but by showing them as actual human beings with normal problems without sympathizing with their criminal activity, Heat places itself in the gray area where good and evil are not as clearly defined as most films make them.


I think Heat and The Insider (two movies I disliked) were merely examples of Mann's experimenting this [cienmatography] style. They almost work as prototypes. The former can be occasionally exhilarating, but it's marred by the excessive character focus and way too much dialogue.

[Spaceman Spiff]

The rating of this film reminds me of Ann Veal.

:sad:

Speaking of mediocre... Brazil? Pshaw.

[Raiders]

We go from Ordet, Bicycle Thieves and Sans soleil to AI, Brazil and Heat?

Yeesh.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This list is taking a turn for the worse.

[Spinal]

Brazil is awesome. A.I. and Heat though ... not so much.

[lovejuice]

Brazil is awesome. A.I. and Heat though ... not so much.
word.

[transmogrifier]

53.
http://thecia.com.au/reviews/n/images/no-country-for-old-men-0.jpg

"Yeah, I'm going to bring you something, alright. I decided to make you a special project of mine."


No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 55.9
Highest ranking: 31 (Sycophant)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 104 (8.3/10)



What a film! It has just about everything that I love in movies. A gentle and understanding, but not snarky, sense of desolation both visual and internal. Black humor and the occasional exchange of gunfire. Straight forward, but beautiful cinematography. Memorable characters, but no so loopy to call attention to themselves. A little narrative gamble that shifts the focus on the film's real character hidden in plain sight.

The Coen Brother's triumphant return to form is at times as thrilling as any action film and then at times as haunting as any mood piece. Its a truly fascinating combination. Some movies you get over time. It's nice to see one that you connect with every step of the way in real time. There was perhaps no moment finer this year than to watch Sheriff Bell accept his irrelevance, listen to his beautiful remembrance of a dream the night before, the sudden cut to black and recalling the huge smile on my face. Just as joyous an experience as watching the film was watching its successful crossover to mainstream popularity. Kind of a silly thing I know, but it nice to see.



I just rewatched No Country. I dunno how this film didn't get sound editing or design or editing oscars. The editing is perfect and the sound is great. I love the Coen brothers.



I think this film is basically an evil version of Forrest Gump. I am reminded of Hank's monologue at the end of that film where he patly concludes that the world is filled with both unavoidable fate and human action. Well, thanks for stating the obvious Forrest. No Countryfor Old Men, for all its attempts at obfuscation, is essentially making the same point. The only difference between the two films is that Forrest Gump is cartoonishly good, whereas No Country for Old Men is cartoonishly evil. Neither has much depth.




The verbal exchanges between Coencharacters range from hysterical to cryptic, alluring and mysterious. They've always had a great ear for accents, which they've incorporated as part of the comedy in each of their movies, which always feature a different U.S.-based setting. In this movie, everyone is a reject from the ass end of Texas, and so they ramble on, sometimes not making much sense, but always pleasing the ear. The actors all do an incredible job, and Bardem really had that Oscar coming. His geeky look paired with his deadpan performance are the heart of the film and its most recognizable symbol. Unusually for the Coens, there's almost no music that can be heard throughout the film. There are subtle chords here and there, but until the end credits there isn't anything resembling a musical theme. The editing is crisp and the pacing leisurely. In suspense scenes, the ambience sound and the deliberate slowness of the characters movements are seriously unnerving. There are a couple such scenes that are truly deserving of being called Hitchcockian.

[Dead & Messed Up]

They are all good movies, so it's not a huge deal. Brazil's gotten better in my mind, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

[Watashi]

The last few movies have been great, especially A.I.

[transmogrifier]

52.
http://petergreenaway.org.uk/zoo31l.jpg

"In the land of the legless the one-legged woman is queen."


A Zed & Two Noughts (Peter Greenaway, 1985)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 52.3
Highest ranking: 5 (Spinal)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.3/10)


A Zed & Two Noughts is a masterful film.



It's been about 20 years for me since ZOO. All I really remember is a lot of symmetrical compositions, animals decaying in time lapse, and a whole helluva lot of snails.



A Zed and Two Noughts. Hmmm... I don't think I liked this one.



What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

[Sycophant]

We're down to the final sixty and a bunch of films that were mentioned 7+ times, which means it's probably going to get a lot less adventurous. Oh well.

[transmogrifier]

We've got 51 films left. Anyone want to predict the Top 10, in order?

[Spinal]

I wish we still had the stuff from the old site. I know that I had long entries on many of these films. Glad to see the continued enthusiasm for Zed, but it really deserves better blurbage.

[Raiders]

I wish we still had the stuff from the old site. I know that I had long entries on many of these films.

I was thinking the same thing. Particularly when Persona came up.

[transmogrifier]

I wish we still had the stuff from the old site. I know that I had long entries on many of these films. Glad to see the continued enthusiasm for Zed, but it really deserves better blurbage.

Yeah, I know.

[Spinal]

We've got 51 films left. Anyone want to predict the Top 10, in order?

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Seven Samurai
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. Pulp Fiction
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Mulholland Dr.
7. Vertigo
8. Citizen Kane
9. Fargo
10. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Also possibly:
Rear Window
Casablanca
Annie Hall
Dr. Strangelove
The Godfather

[MadMan]

Guess I should see Ordet.

If I had a nickel for every time MadMan said he should see a movie, I'd have more money than the one that claimed Meg.You wish :P

I have seen roughly 3,000 some movies over my lifetime. However, I don't recall all of them, mainly some of the ones I saw when I was a kid.

Also I'm waiting to see if I finally complete my list before #1 gets posted. I doubt it.

[Mara]

I'm not normally one to concern myself with the technical aspect of film. (As long as a technical process doesn't distract me from the film, either by being bad or intrusive, I don't really care.)

That said, I have never had any film that I wanted to cut to pieces and reassemble into a good film except A.I.

[Qrazy]

Yes, yes please.

I don't have the final draft which I completed at the library. Here's the rough draft.

Fellini once spoke of La Dolce Vita as the confidential confession of a man who was expressing “to other friends his confusion, his contradictions, and his deceptions, trying to clarify for himself his own sentimental aridity.”1 It is this confusion, these contradictions and self-deceptions which primarily interest me in the following sequence of the film.

The sequence occurs near the end of the film. In it an unknown period of time has passed from the preceding narrative of the film. Marcello has aged slightly and has gray streaks in his hair. He has left journalism and become a publicity agent. He currently presides over a decadent party at a villa on the coast near Fregene. More specifically the sequence begins just after Marcello has completed boorishly covering an inebriated young girl in pillow feathers. The host of the party Riccardon states, “It's daytime people,” suggesting that it is time for the party-goers to leave his home. This line marks a tonal shift from the party itself to the passage out of the party. It also signals the beginning of my sequence.

The sequence begins with a shot of the drunken girl Marcello has just accosted laying on the ground in a pool of feathers, coughing, and with her back to the camera. She gradually raises herself and turns to face an also drunk Marcello. She looks at Marcello sadly, her make-up smeared and her face covered in feathers. She states “It was a nice party, but that's enough. Enough. Enough. Enough.” After this she first crawls and then begins to walk towards the door. As she leaves Marcello begins to throw more pillow feathers in the air as he announces by name the exit of the other partygoers. After twelve guests dance their way out of the exit Marcello drops his pillow and walks outside himself. A few guests remain behind as he leaves. The first segment of the sequence therefore consists of the brief exchange between Marcello and the young drunk girl and her exit. The second segment encapsulates the dancing exit of the others guests. The final segment consists of Marcello's exit.

The above sequence constitutes a sub-scene in the midst of the larger scenario of the villa party. The two minutes outlined above form their own small scene because they can be viewed as the final moments of the party. Moments prior the party climaxed with Marcello's feather assault and in this sequence we now witness the emotional consequences of that action. This party can be viewed as perhaps the most debauched and decadent period of Marcello's life. Time has passed since Steiner's death and Marcello has come to fully embrace La Dolce Vita or in other words a life of sensuality and indulgence. He has forsaken literature and journalism to become a publicity agent because he can make more money that way.

On the one hand the sweet life seemed hedonistically attractive but on the other hand he finds little happiness in this milieu. He has deceived himself into believing he wants a certain type of freedom that only money can buy but what he ends up receiving is a cacophonous, hollow existence. This confusion and unhappiness is written on his face in the third segment of the sequence as he leaves the party. He has not found a woman to love. He does not have a career that brings him joy. He is not happy with his life and as a result he takes out his frustration and his anger on a weak, helpless, sick, drunken girl.

What follows in the first segment of the sequence is a glimpse of someone's suffering, in this case a young woman, and the apathetic response of the people around her. A moment just prior to the sequence a guest standing nearby exclaimed “Who is that poor woman?” He recognizes that she is suffering but does nothing to help her. He surveilles the spectacle of her suffering instead. He watches bemused, detached. Similarly in the first shot of the sequence the camera is positioned at waist height and two male guests (Tito and The Lawyer) are sitting next to the girl as she lies on the floor coughing. The shot is in deep shadow as Riccardo the host has just turned off the lights. The characters are harder to make out in the darkness but we hear them discussing the time. 'My watch must have stopped,' one of them exclaims. Another guest dances in the background. The Lawyer asks Tito for a ride into Rome but is rebuffed, Tito is not heading into Rome. Here then there are multiple layers of action and of indifference.

This is a confusing and chaotic environment, while we witness the girl turning to face Marcello we also hear Tito and The Lawyer's conversation. Adding to the confusion music plays throughout the scene and guests clap along stopping only briefly and coincidentally when the girl turns to face Marcello. There are many events occuring at once and characters drift along through this tumultuous experience. The lawyer for instance is lost in space and time. What time is it? How to return to Rome? No one seems to care about one another's problems. The girl suffers on her own, the lawyer must find another route into the city.

The chaos of the environment fuels Marcello's own drunken confusion. Marcello stumbles backwards and his legs exit frame right of the initial shot. His top half re-enters a new shot from frame left and he moves backwards to settle in frame right once more. As Marcello's legs leave the first shot a makeshift bed is revealed frame right. This staging geographically bridges the shots together and also visually ties Marcello and the girl to the bed in the background. This serves as a reminder of the licentious behaviour which has occurred throughout the villa party and the sexually aggressive nature of Marcello's actions towards the girl. He has covered her in feathers, making an animal of her, effectively dehumanizing her.

The girl now looks at Marcello in close-up, from the center of the frame. Tito and the lawyer are still behind her but in even deeper shadow now. The spectacle of Marcello's attack has faded. She is the focus of attention. She looks sad, unfocused, unkempt, tired. She begins pulling feathers off her face. No one else has come to her aid. As mentioned earlier, she then says, “It was a nice party, but that's enough. Enough. Enough. Enough.” Perhaps she is speaking to Marcello perhaps to the room in general. To the other guests who are complicit in her suffering as they did nothing to help her. Still, she is not mad or hysterical. Her statement seems to suggest that she enjoyed the party up to a point but now it's enough. Enough because it's daytime and the party is over but also because the dehumanization has gone too far. She is coughing and holds her stomach as she leaves the room sick and in pain. The film then cuts to a wide shot of the villa as the girl shuffles out. The other guest members seem to wait anticipatorily as she leaves. A few characters dance about in place as if anxious for her exit so that they may make their own. As the girl reaches the doorway Rota's score returns full bore and the tone shifts drastically.

This marks the beginning of the next segment of the sequence as the other guests dance their way outside. The resurgence of Rota's score marks a major turning point in the sequence. The first segment of the sequence had a somber tone. Suddenly as the girl leaves things become lively once more. After the first segment another director may have condemned Marcello and the guests for their cruelty and indifference but Fellini instead embraces them. He does not excuse their action or inaction but he does recognize these characters capacity for joy, beauty and the celebration of life. The guests do not march out in shame or ghoulish glee. They exit playfully, joyfully. These are not the damned. They are genuine albeit flawed human beings. They clap to the music. They share this moment with one another. They dance. They live. It is this conflict, this seeming contradiction between moments of great beauty contrasted with moments of great ugliness which characterize much of Fellini's work, including this sequence.

In the second segment of the sequence we remain in a wide shot of the villa. The left half of the room and of the frame is shadowed in darkness as is the far right of the shot. For the most part everywhere the guests are is in shadow. When contrasted with a similar long shot near the begining of the villa scene, the room is now a complete mess. Light does enter the image from the background as the new dawn streams into the apartment. Caterina, a male guest and then Sondra and Daniela dance out of the apartment as Marcello throws feathers into the air above them. The tone is lively now, vibrant.

As the four guests exit the scene cuts to a mid-shot of Marcello contentedly throwing feathers into the air. His anger, his cruelty, has dissipated as he appreciates the beautiful if perhaps materially destructive moment he is helping to create. For a moment he seems at peace as he orchestrates the exit of the guests. Fellini here as he has elsewhere in the film, seems to suggest that perhaps solace can be found in artistic creation.

The mood is now lighter so the camera loses it's earlier rigidity, and dances along with the guests. From Marcello's mid-shot the scene cuts to a mid-shot of a fifth and sixth guest and the camera follows them as they glide towards the exit. A quick rack focus follows a seventh guest as she jumps into frame. She leaves and an eighth guest near the door dances her way out. They all pass through the feathers Marcello streams down from above. Quick cut back to Marcello and then a return to the eighth guest as she exits. Throughout this the guests are saying goodbye, wishing each other well. To a certain if perhaps limited degree these people do care about one another afterall. Life is never black and white with Fellini.

Then a cut over to the host Riccardo, Nadia and Ruggero. Nadia blows Marcello a kiss and Marcello bows slightly in reception. Throughout this segment in all of the cuts back to Marcello an older woman stands behind him in frame left and looks at herself in a pocket mirror. She reflects Marcello's own shift towards vanity and temporal putrefaction. Fellini's constant return to prior shots helps to maintain the illusion that events are constantly in flux. It also creates geographical points of reference for the viewer. It aids our understanding of the sequence environment. In the second and last travelling shot of the sequence the camera pulls back with Nadia and Ruggero as they too dance towards the exit. There's reinvigorated clapping because the party was to celebrate Nadia's annullment afterall. Further evidence that there is some unity between these people. Finally there's a cut back to the long shot of the room as Nadia, Ruggero and then at last the lawyer dances out.

The last segment of the sequence cuts back to Marcello in mid-shot frame right he has just dropped the pillow case in the long shot and now pauses for a second before walking rather than dancing out. Although the music continues a much mellower mood has taken it's place due to Marcello's wistful expression. Keeping Marcello in shadow in the long shots, and pushed to the side of the frame in mid-shots also serve as visual reminders of his spiritual imprisonment. He does not inhabit a free, open space externally or internally. Marcello has just orchestrated a moment of beauty but it was a transient moment and now it is over. It was a fun instant, but it is not enough for lasting change. He can not go back in time and reverse his actions towards the feathered girl nor on a grander scale can he go back and shift the direction his life has taken. The last of the feathers settle on the floor as he exits the house and the remaining guests stop clapping and settle into reverie.

It is worth noting that Marcello and the girl are the only two characters who do not dance towards the exit. Their exits serve as bookends for the retirement of the other guests and as atmospheric focal points for the scene to transition from somber to animated and back to a more subdued state. The girl does not dance because she is physically sick from the alcohol and emotionally uneasy from Marcello's treatment. Marcello on the other hand does not dance because he is soul sick. He is deeply unhappy about the direction his life has taken and the people with whom he finds himself.

The sequence as a whole serves a dual purpose in the context of the film. On the one hand it serves to demonstrate how far Marcello has fallen, how unhappy, confused and contemptuous he has become with his life. On the other hand the sequence reinforces the fact that all is not lost for these party guests or for Marcello. 'The Sweet Life' is not the path to hell although it is a path replete with suffering. Marcello has chosen this path and suffers for his choice but life is complex and full of contradiction. While Marcello can be selfish, spiteful and cruel he can also still experience beauty and the joy of life even at the lowest point of his existence.

[Boner M]

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Seven Samurai
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. Pulp Fiction
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Mulholland Dr.
7. Vertigo
8. Citizen Kane
9. Fargo
10. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
If the top ten does look like this, I demand a moratorium on future all-time lists.

[Winston*]

I think The Passion of Joan of Arc will be in there and if it is KF has to paypal me US $20.

[Spinal]

If the top ten does look like this, I demand a moratorium on future all-time lists.

If you are expecting something more idiosyncratic, I think you're going to be disappointed.

[megladon8]

Is it just possible that, maybe, just maybe, all-time lists consistently look similar because...maybe...those films are that good? And because these are the films that are universally seen as being "best"?

Le Samourai and Soderbergh's Solaris are in my top 10, but I wouldn't expect them to be here because not as many people have a) seen them or b) loved them as something like Seven Samurai or Citizen Kane.

[Ezee E]

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Mulholland Drive
3. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
4. Citizen Kane
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. Passion of Joan of Ark
7. Taxi Driver
8. Dr. Strangelove
9. Fargo
10. Casablanca (?)

There's a director with two movies in the top ten...

[The Mike]

Is it just possible that, maybe, just maybe, all-time lists consistently look similar because...maybe...those films are that good? And because these are the films that are universally seen as being "best"?

Le Samourai and Soderbergh's Solaris are in my top 10, but I wouldn't expect them to be here because not as many people have a) seen them or b) loved them as something like Seven Samurai or Citizen Kane.

Films like Kane and Samurai are also primarily ones that are, while complex and compelling, more accessible. A lot of people's favorite films are ones that fit some kind of personal niche, and aren't going to connect with everyone, no matter their artistic merits.

This is part of why I've always found it silly to argue what films are "best", because the artistic side can only take a film so far with any particular viewer. Right or wrong, human error will always take over.

[Spinal]

There's a director with two movies in the top ten...

Did he say that? Ah, then yeah, it's probably Dr. Strangelove in there. Unless it's Vertigo and Rear Window, but I think the former is more likely.

[transmogrifier]

51.
http://philzine.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-shining-family-moment.jpg

God, I'd give anything for a drink. I'd give my god-damned soul for just a glass of beer.

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 49
Highest ranking: 3 (Ezee E)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 54 (8.5/10)



I think Mick Garris's The Shining is about equal to Kubrick's - both are mediocre. Forgivable?




I used to claim lukewarm feelings toward The Shining, but the film reaches a level of depravity and an intimation of savagery achieved by very few horror films. The stretch from Jack at the bar to his conversations in that hellish white bathroom makes the film for me. And Shelley Duvall.



The Shining (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=10415&postcount=61) is my favorite horror movie. It's the only one that I can think of where everyone perceives the movie differently. Some say that the ghosts were there. Others say it was all in Jack's mind. Others say it was in the son's mind. Others say there were no ghosts at all, and everyone just went mad. Then there's a few that say there was not anybody at all.




Regarding the question about what film you can trace your film obsession back to, for me it's The Shining when I was 12 or 13. I even gave up skateboarding shortly after I saw it.

[Ezee E]

Did he say that? Ah, then yeah, it's probably Dr. Strangelove in there. Unless it's Vertigo and Rear Window, but I think the former is more likely.
Thought I remember that. Something with the highest woman director too, but I forgot that fact.

[transmogrifier]

This is a cropped photo from our film at #50. What is it?

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no50.jpg

[Winston*]

Alien?

[Sven]

This is a cropped photo from our film at #50. What is it?


Fun game! I don't want to spoil the answer so soon, so I'll let others chime in. Are you going to do this for more of them?

[transmogrifier]

Fun game! I don't want to spoil the answer so soon, so I'll let others chime in. Are you going to do this for more of them?

I'm going to do this for the rest of them, but it may not always be photos, seeing as the quality of images is not always the best.

Winston* is right, by the way. I thought I'd start with an easy one.

[Qrazy]

I'm going to do this for the rest of them, but it may not always be photos, seeing as the quality of images is not always the best.

Winston* is right, by the way. I thought I'd start with an easy one.

You can tell by the nipple.

---

Uploaded my essay last page... it's fairly context specific but maybe the first paragraph could make a decent quote.

"Fellini once spoke of La Dolce Vita as the confidential confession of a man who was expressing “to other friends his confusion, his contradictions, and his deceptions, trying to clarify for himself his own sentimental aridity.”1 It is this confusion, these contradictions and self-deceptions which primarily interest me in relation to the ending of the film."

[transmogrifier]

50.
http://www.javno.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2007/m05/x82140305430383901.jpg

"Bones are bent outward, like he exploded from inside."

Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 48
Highest ranking:11 (megladon8)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 49 (8.5/10)



Speaking of Ridley Scott, I saw Alien over the weekend and realized that aside from some notable flaws it is a truly great film, and one of the best of the horror/sci-fi hybrids that were really prominent in the 1950s. When I woke up I actually thought out a decent review of the film, but I lost it after breakfest. I hate it when that happens....

[transmogrifier]

Here is a (badly) cropped shot from #49. What is it?

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no49.png

[Ezee E]

Last Year at Marienbad?

[Winston*]

Rules of the Game?

[transmogrifier]

It was a #1 film in one of our yearly consensus threads, and was the subject of this quote:



Interesting. If someone forced me to make a list of cinema's few perfect films, I would start with Late Spring along with A Man Escaped and #49.

[Boner M]

Surprised people don't recognise Ingrid Bergman's mouth.

EDIT: It's Notorious.

[Ezee E]

Surprised people don't recognise Ingrid Bergman's mouth.

EDIT: It's Notorious.
Second guess. Seriously.

[transmogrifier]

49.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Notorious_Hitchcock_cameo_part _10.png

"This is a very strange love affair."

Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 47.4
Highest ranking:12 (soitgoes...)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 114 (8.3/10)


Let's not go nuts. [Rope]'s a good film, but it lacks the moral nuance of Hitchcock's best work (Notorious is the most obvious example if not necessarily the best). Personally, I like things a little less clear-cut.


I'd say Notorious has that (or a) "super-ordinate" element that elevates it to great. I'm looking forward to watching '39 Steps' and 'Strangers,' too, for I fully expect that "Hitchcock element" to be there. I'm a pretty big fanboy now, I'd like to claim (though I've got to start re-visiting his British or plain earlier stuff); re-visiting Notorious and Vertigo and North By Northwest in the past three months now has me expecting a lot from his films.

I knew I would like Notorious during one of Grant and Bergman's mopey romantic tiffs early in the film. Bergman is giving a gratuitously affected and self-decrying speech and points out that their dinner is getting cold and the camera cuts to a shot of the table outside, the table cloth flapping in the wind. See, now, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about or why I thought that shot was so good. Maybe I was reacting to another shot and I'm just associating it with the dinner table shot for some reason... But I do remember thinking "This is good filmmaking" around that time. Anyone who loves the film, any thoughts on that moment or am I being a crackpot? :lol:


Yeah, it has it's moments, but I find for every interesting moment (that walk down the stairwell) there's an equally uninspired one (the completely visually uninteresting car scene).

[transmogrifier]

#48 is the subject of this quote:



I have enjoyed every film I've seen directed by DIRECTOR A, and many people consider Film #48 to be one of his better, if not his best film, so coming into this I had pretty high expectations. The film is formally and technically a great achievement, from the editing and sound, to the art direction, blocking and framing, and so on. LEAD ACTOR is excellent in his role and LEAD ACTRESS is adorable. Unfortunately the story felt like something I've seen hundreds of times in romantic comedies and sitcom television, chalked full of stereotypical characters and familiar genre devices. DIRECTOR brings a few tinges of darkness as usual with a suicide attempt and excessive infidelity, but nothing stood out enough for me to consider it great.

[Qrazy]

The Apartment (Wilder).

[transmogrifier]

The Apartment (Wilder).

Correct!

[transmogrifier]

48.
http://pro.corbis.com/images/0000278466-006.jpg?size=67&uid=%7BA5EC5AB5-4182-47B0-8DD7-D9AFA9B95C88%7D

"Just because I wear a uniform doesn't make me a girl scout."

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 45.8
Highest ranking:16 (Weeping Guitar)
AFI ranking (2007): 80
IMDB Ranking: 88 (8.4/10)




I have enjoyed every film I've seen directed by Billy Wilder, and many people consider The Apartment to be one of his better, if not his best film, so coming into this I had pretty high expectations. The film is formally and technically a great achievement, from the editing and sound, to the art direction, blocking and framing, and so on. Jack Lemmon is excellent in his role and Shirley MacLaine is adorable. Unfortunately the story felt like something I've seen hundreds of times in romantic comedies and sitcom television, chalked full of stereotypical characters and familiar genre devices. Wilder brings a few tinges of darkness as usual with a suicide attempt and excessive infidelity, but nothing stood out enough for me to consider it great.



I agree that the cover art for The Apartment is just horrible...Makes it look like bargain-bin trash.




I'll put this out there right now. I vow to rewatch The Apartment before the year is over. I make no promises that my opinion will change, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did considering the circumstances during my first viewing.


(Did this happen?)
EDIT: yes (thanks soitgoes...)



I rewatched The Apartment. I was wrong. I was dead wrong. I was young, and was expecting a comedy (due to AFI's list), and I made snap judgments. This movie is wonderful. It was sad and beautiful and charming. I loved it.

So, can we all forgive me and not refer to me as the guy who didn't like The Apartment? I'd appreciate it. I think I've embarrassed myself enough over the years.

[transmogrifier]

Film #47 shares links with the following films:

Mystery Train
Sid and Nancy
Picnic at Hanging Rock

[soitgoes...]

(Did this happen?)

Yes. It is his new favorite film. He likes to watch it with a self-made soundtrack composed of only Beatles songs.

[transmogrifier]

Film #46 has the following plot keywords over at the IMDB:

River (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/river/)
No Opening Credits (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/no-opening-credits/)
Insanity (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/insanity/)
Based On Novel (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/based-on-novel/)
Accidental Suicide (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/accidental-suicide/)

[soitgoes...]

(Did this happen?)
For reals though. (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=69916&highlight=apartment)

[Kurosawa Fan]

Yes. It is his new favorite film. He likes to watch it with a self-made soundtrack composed of only Beatles songs.

Bah. BAH!

[Kurosawa Fan]

Film #46 has the following plot keywords over at the IMDB:

River (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/river/)
No Opening Credits (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/no-opening-credits/)
Insanity (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/insanity/)
Based On Novel (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/based-on-novel/)
Accidental Suicide (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/accidental-suicide/)


EDIT: Nope. How about The Thin Red Line?

[Raiders]

I'm thinking The Thin Red Line for #46.

[transmogrifier]

47.
http://www.curatormagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/fargo.jpg

"Oh, he was a little guy... Kinda funny lookin'."

Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 45.4
Highest ranking: 20 (Dead & Messed Up)
AFI ranking (2007): - (was 84 on the original list)
IMDB Ranking: 120 (8.3/10)



Spun_Lepton (over at Axis Archives / Jumpscare) and I once tried out to be extras for Fargo. They took pictures of us, and we filled out a permission form, and had to answer the question "what skills can you contribute to the film?" I answered with, "a quick dry wit".

Neither of us were selected.

Later on, we learned that a friend of ours' father made the cut. Ever since, the film has been known to us as Fargo STARRING The Reverend Phil Tesch.


And I'm dismissing the Coens because I'm starting to get why some reviewers find their films empty. I used to really like Fargo, but every time I see it I like it that much less.


Fargo > sex


I know I’ve said that No Country for Old Men is the Coen’s best, but a rewatch of Fargo (and seriously, like, my 20th time seeing it) revalidated its greatness. Watch it again and think about the connection between cultural heritages embodied Paul Bunyan and Gaear Grimsrud. Add capitalism to that stew. You’ve got yourself a fascinating perspective.


(Connections mentioned before:

Mystery Train: Buscemi (even repeats a line exactly in both films)
Sid and Nancy: Deakins
Picnic at Hanging Rock: fake "Based on true story")

[transmogrifier]

46.
http://www.student.kuleuven.ac.be/~s0110944/thin%20red%20line.jpg

"War don't ennoble men. It turns them into dogs... poisons the soul."

The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 45
Highest ranking: 10 (The Plashy Bubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.4/10)



I picked up The Thin Red Line at Walmart a while back for $5.00 and finally watched it yesterday. I first watched it years ago and pretty much hated it. I can't quite remember why.

Yesterday, I truly, madly, and deeply loved it. I'm talking all time top 10 favorite potential. It is so stunningly made in every way. The cinematography especially. Interpretation-wise, it seemed to me the most spiritual of wars films. It's like how everyone -- me, you, everyone -- is always years away or perhaps just seconds away from death and if they are aware of this fact, they are constantly in a state of preparation for what they expect to follow this life. The theater of war only magnifies this 100 fold.

I can see TTRL as being a movie that only deepens as a person ages. One of my friends -- in his 60s at the time -- loved this far beyond Saving Private Ryan when they came out and I never quite understood why until now. He passed away a few years later, very calmly, very much at peace with his life.

[transmogrifier]

#45:

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no45.jpg

#44:

The director of this film has had all but one of his five feature length films appear in the Top 250.

[Kurosawa Fan]

It's a Wonderful Life.

[transmogrifier]

It's a Wonderful Life.

Too easy :)

[Kurosawa Fan]

Too easy :)

Yes it was.

[Kurosawa Fan]

#44 is a Wes Anderson film. The Life Aquatic?

[transmogrifier]

45.
http://www.geardiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/its_a_wonderful_life_02.jpg

"Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends."

It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 42.5
Highest ranking: 14 (The Mike)
AFI ranking (2007): 20
IMDB Ranking: 30 (8.6/10)


So after (finally) viewing Capra's classic, I'm largely struck by the success he has in eliciting true empathy in the goodness of man (represented in George Bailey), and by how much than goodness is trodden upon by other machiavellian forces (Mr. Potter, the epitome of rampant capitalism). As others like Melville have noted, the continual beat-down that George's dreams take affirms a darker vision of the world than is typically granted to this film.

However, I must rescind my praise before it becomes euphoric because I'm stuck by a (perceived) glitch in the film's ideology--namely, how are we to ascertain that the community coming together to reward George at film's end will do anything to assuage the (existential) misery that he's otherwise in? Sure, the family company is saved from ruin, but at the end of the day his life is still sacrificed without any real recompense for his essential goodness. He and his wife are still barred from traveling and getting beyond the small town that he's yearned to be freed from for so many years. Or do others here read the ending to suggest some fuller note of transformation beyond George Bailey? That is, is the whole community going to enable George and his family to find financial in addition to their spiritual contentment?



In a word, yes. Didn't Clarence teach you anything? George thinks he needs to escape Bedford Falls, or rather "disappear," but as Clarence shows him, he can accomplish great things and mean a lot to people and change their lives right within the confines of his "crummy ol' town." The money at the end is a signifier that the greed of Potter won't strip him of his dignity and his chance to help out the citizens of this town, but the real joy is in the collection of people at the end there to celebrate his "return." The people in his life are his wealth. He doesn't need a million dollars.




I don't think anything in the film implies that the community is going to suddenly make George rich (and he was already financially content). And thank God, since such an implication would ruin the whole impact of the film. The point is that George has learned to love life as it is—in other words, to love his ineluctable entanglements with other people. His dream to go to other places and to build monumental things is an idealized expression of an existential (or Nietzschean, if you prefer) desire to make the world his own, to escape his involvement in a community of Others. Conversely, his perpetual self-sacrifice for others is an admission of the responsibilities inherent in that involvement with Others. The way in which he follows the latter path while desiring the former is the reason why I have always considered him an existential hero: he does not merely do what is expected of him because it is the way things are done (i.e. he is not living in habit according to his sense of how people live, as a Heideggerian "they-Self"); he lives with one foot outside the social norm of "the they", and from that position he commits himself to aiding the individuals who form his community (and not to some normative ideals abstracted from that community).




I watched It's a Wonderful Life for the first time ever yesterday. It was nice.

[transmogrifier]

#44 is a Wes Anderson film. The Life Aquatic?

Nope.

[Raiders]

Paul Thomas Anderson. Um, There Will Be Blood?

[transmogrifier]

Paul Thomas Anderson. Um, There Will Be Blood?

#100

[Kurosawa Fan]

Punch-Drunk Love?

[transmogrifier]

44.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/punch1.jpg

"You can go to places in the world with pudding. That's funny."

Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 38.3
Highest ranking: 8 (The Plashy Bubbler)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.4/10)


Oh, I re-watched Punch Drunk Love the other night. Still not sold. Perhaps I never will be. This is a cross I must bare.



Yes, I hate it quite strongly.




I would have voted for PDL over virtually any movie ever made.




Punch Drunk Love actually beat out City of God for the #1 spot? What the hell is the matter with you people?




Punch Drunk Love at #1? Really? Of all the great films that came out that year that's number one?


It was in a lot of battles, but not, you know, so much actual discussion. Except this pointed critique:



PDL is shit!

Anyway, Anderson:


Punch-Drunk Love #44
Boogie Nights #77
There Will Be Blood #100
Magnolia #248

[Raiders]

Add this one, trans:

PDL is shit!

[transmogrifier]

#43:

"I'll have a butterscotch sundae I guess."

#42:

In a Vanity Fair article, Kubrick admitted that he thought this was maybe the best film ever made, and certainly the best cast.

[transmogrifier]

Add this one, trans:

PDL is shit!

THE shit?
Or just shit?

[Kurosawa Fan]

#43 is Tenenbaums. I have no idea about the Kubrick one.

[Pop Trash]

I watched PDL again a few months ago to give it another shot and liked it much more than when I saw it in the theaters when it was first out. That's still way, way too high for an all time list and I don't even think it would make my top five of that year, but maybe top ten. I just think it's the cult around anything PT Anderson.