Your Top 10 Greatest Films

[colmena]

Ha. Awesome. I can see myself working as a projectionist and in a rental shop.

I know what you mean about overflow. I've tried to be quite specific on Criticker. I have 66 films in my wishlist, 40 or so of which I'm certain were made for me. But I know that once I see a few of them, I'll have found more and it will be closer to 80.

I want to see more Paul Thomas Anderson films. It's sacreligious not seeing more considering how much I liked Magnolia. I'm looking forward to There Will Be Blood. I prefer his realism over the parable-esque, styalized Coen bros' efforts. (But I do love them too ).

I'll shut up before I geek up the place.

 

[pure_mercury]

Ha. Awesome. I can see myself working as a projectionist and in a rental shop.

I know what you mean about overflow. I've tried to be quite specific on Criticker. I have 66 films in my wishlist, 40 or so of which I'm certain were made for me. But I know that once I see a few of them, I'll have found more and it will be closer to 80.

I want to see more Paul Thomas Anderson films. It's sacreligious not seeing more considering how much I liked Magnolia. I'm looking forward to There Will Be Blood. I prefer his realism over the parable-esque, styalized Coen bros' efforts. (But I do love them too ).

I'll shut up before I geek up the place.

PTA's other films (excluding Hard Eight) are better than Magnolia, IMHO. You should be in for a treat. Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are really outstanding pictures, and Punch-Drunk Love is funny and compelling in a bizarre way.

 

[MacGuffin]

I'm a P so I'm going to cheat:

12 Angry Men (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Aliens (1986)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Casablanca (1942)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Die Hard (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Exorcist (1973)
Fight Club (1999)
Glory (1989)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Graduate (1967)
The Great Escape (1963)
The Iron Giant (1999)
Jaws (1975)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief)(1948)
Lat sau san taam (Hardboiled) (1992)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Psycho (1960)
Raging Bull (1980)
Rashomon (1950)
Schindler's List (1993)
Se7en (1995)
Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) (1954)
Sjunde inseglet, Det (The Seventh Seal) (1957)
Star Wars (1977)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Third Man (1949)
Unforgiven (1992)
Vertigo (1958)

 

[Samuel De Mazarin]

I have this on DVD. I love Ray (his b+w films, anyway). Haven't seen it yet, though. Ooh, but I'm eager and looking forward to it.

Have you seen Mahanagar?

I have.... and, speaking of Mahanagar (sounds more like maw-haa nog-or in Bengali), I'm in that very same big-city (Kolkata/Calcutta) as we speak...

It's not his best... but it's still good... about the life of a middle-class family in a big city... other films which are really cool by Ray include Charulata (same actress as in MN) and Teen Kanya / Three (Young) Girls... one of his last films (Shatranj Ke Khilaadi... The Chessplayers... his only film in Urdu and one of his few in color, was spectacularly mediocre)

Satyajit Ray was sooooo good though... more a Bengali filmmaker than an Indian one, though.... particularly with the unstoppable flow of trash coming out of Bombay.

 

[colmena]

I have.... and, speaking of Mahanagar (sounds more like maw-haa nog-or in Bengali), I'm in that very same big-city (Kolkata/Calcutta) as we speak...

It's not his best... but it's still good... about the life of a middle-class family in a big city... other films which are really cool by Ray include Charulata (same actress as in MN) and Teen Kanya / Three (Young) Girls... one of his last films (Shatranj Ke Khilaadi... The Chessplayers... his only film in Hindi and one of his few in color, was spectacularly mediocre)

Satyajit Ray was sooooo good though... more a Bengali filmmaker than an Indian one, though.... particularly with the unstoppable flow of trash coming out of Bombay.

I've seen Teen Kanya and The Chessplayers. I enjoyed Teen Kanya, but didn't connect with it properly. As you say, The Chessplayers was pretty poor. I couldn't read a lot of the subtitles because of the colour, but I get that a lot.

My favourite film so far is Devi (Goddess), I was mesmerised from the beginning. I love his music. On the strength of that alone, I bought the Apu trilogy. I've since seen Pratidwandi, as well, but I prefer his spiritual/relationship films to the didactic and political. I think his film making and strength as a musician better reflect this, also. As I say about Devi on Criticker, 'I think about this film daily. It haunts my dreams.'

 

[pure_mercury]

How about Ritwik Ghatak?

 

[colmena]

How about Ritwik Ghatak?

I hadn't heard of him, personally. Thank you. "The Golden Thread" looks good.

Again, like Ray, frustratingly rare to get hold of.

 

[Samuel De Mazarin]

How about Ritwik Ghatak?

Three of India's (arguably) greatest directors were all Bengalis who worked entirely in Bengali and produced most of their best work decades ago: Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, and Mrinal Sen. (i.e. non-Bollywood)

Shyam Benegal is a pretty good Hindi filmmaker... but his ouvre is spotty... several excellent films to his credit, though, like the Ankur Trilogy (which shouldn't be hard to get on DVD... try Indian neighborhood DVD stores in Queens or equivalents elsewhere)... Guru Dutt had one or two really good films, the rest crashed and he crashed... the one film of his of great quality was Pyaasa ('Thirst'). Benegal was non-Bollywood and Guru Dutt had maybe one film of international quality. Bimal Roy had a few good 'uns (Do Bigha Zameen).

The only other Indian filmmakers really making decent films in recent memory are, to my mind, Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair who, while not Bengali, are decidedly non-Bollywood directors. Both of their ouvres are spotty though... Mira Nair's best films were Salaam, Bombay! (great work) and Monsoon Wedding though the latter doesn't bowl me over... the others she did, like Mississippi Masala and Vanity Fair were not good... Kama Sutra was a joke... as for Deepa Mehta, she has flashes of brilliance in her Elements Trilogy, particularly in Water... but neither of these directors matches up to SR, RG, and MS.

There are the occasional Indian films which pop up, like Nayakan (Tamil, non-Bollywood), which are really good... but very few consistently excellent directors...


As for Bollywood... ugh... what a blight... it's begun dominating everything else in India... I do like a few Bollywood films... but I like them qua Bollywood films, not as really good films period... many avid Bollywood fans will point to films like Sholay (Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmendra star), but it's terrible from an even casually filmic point of view. Mughal-e-Azam is a national favorite, but the acting is quite hammed. Same with others like Black, Lagaan...


My whole rant: why is India, with all its upper-middle class (which outnumbers the populations of most countries), interest in art and literature, and with the shining examples of people like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, and their homebred though absconded Ishmail Merchant, still producing so much crap?

 

[booyalab]

Rear Window
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Donnie Darko
Closer
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte
The Chocolate War
Das Leben Der Anderen
Election (just saw this one again recently, maybe doesn't belong here but I had forgotten how good it was and I want to mention it)

 

[pure_mercury]

Ha. Awesome. I can see myself working as a projectionist and in a rental shop.

I know what you mean about overflow. I've tried to be quite specific on Criticker. I have 66 films in my wishlist, 40 or so of which I'm certain were made for me. But I know that once I see a few of them, I'll have found more and it will be closer to 80.

I want to see more Paul Thomas Anderson films. It's sacreligious not seeing more considering how much I liked Magnolia. I'm looking forward to There Will Be Blood. I prefer his realism over the parable-esque, styalized Coen bros' efforts. (But I do love them too ).

I'll shut up before I geek up the place.

I was a projectionist for two years at university. It was a great job. I loved the quiet time to study, and girls really like being in the projection booth, I noticed. Most of the movies were crap, though.

 

[TenebrousReflection]

Interesting lists.

This is what I have on my myspace page, but its just what came to mind when I was typing that stuff in.

-------------------------------------
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
Serenity,
V for Vendetta,
Anchor Man,
The Usual Suspects,
Dark City,
Gattaca,
-------------------------------------

After reading some of the lists, Bladerunner, Princess Bride and L.A. Confidential probably belong in that list too but its been years since I've watched those. Anchor Man probably does not belong in an "all time favorites" list of mine, but it was a good movie that made me laugh a lot more than most comedies.

I'd have a heard time calling these ones all time favorites, but stuff that I think deserves to be watched at least once if you like the genre its from (a sort of top 10 of "try it, it might surprise you" stuff ).

Time Bandits
Spaceballs
Running Man
Robo Cop
Batman (the first Tim Burton Batman movie)
Daredevil (yes, I really did like that one!)
Darkman
Judge Dread
Demolition Man
The Island

 

[pure_mercury]

Interesting lists.

This is what I have on my myspace page, but its just what came to mind when I was typing that stuff in.

-------------------------------------
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
Serenity,
V for Vendetta,
Anchor Man,
The Usual Suspects,
Dark City,
Gattaca,
-------------------------------------

After reading some of the lists, Bladerunner, Princess Bride and L.A. Confidential probably belong in that list too but its been years since I've watched those. Anchor Man probably does not belong in an "all time favorites" list of mine, but it was a good movie that made me laugh a lot more than most comedies.

I'd have a heard time calling these ones all time favorites, but stuff that I think deserves to be watched at least once if you like the genre its from (a sort of top 10 of "try it, it might surprise you" stuff ).

Time Bandits
Spaceballs
Running Man
Robo Cop
Batman (the first Tim Burton Batman movie)
Daredevil (yes, I really did like that one!)
Darkman
Judge Dread
Demolition Man
The Island

That is very good taste for 1980-present. It seems that you have a particular affinity for movies set in dystopian near-futures.

 

[Snowey1210]

Umm a lot of the movies I like are fairly mainstream but I find simplicity often works wonders.

The Shawshank Redemption- A classic, great storytelling.
Forrest Gump- I love how it's just a story about what a guy does.
Zoolander- I find this movie hilarious, it seems to get better every time I see it.
Groundhog Day- This movie is my pick for most inspirational, I love the whole live life to the fullest message.
The Empire Strikes Back- The best Star Wars movie in my eyes, perfect blend of action and characterisation.
Indianna Jones and the Last Crusade- Both Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are in top form on this one, great story also.
Rear Window- Extremely clever, Only 1 set but it maintains your attention for the whole film.
Don't Look Back- Great portrait of Bob Dylan, you can't help but love his acerbic wit.
Dirty Harry- Scorpio gets my vote for best movie villian ever, why the actor who played him didn't win an academy award is beyond me, his performance is chilling.
The Fugitive- Extremely simple, yet fantastic chase story it's great how it reveals a bit at a time. Harrison Ford and Tommy-Lee Jones are fantastic in this film.

 

[booyalab]

Daredevil (yes, I really did like that one!)

wow....

 

[JustDave]

My favorites are, in order from most to least:

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Jaws I
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- Robin Hood, Men in Tights
- Zoolander
- Old School

Movies I hate include:
- Anything with Fast and the Furious in the title.
- Anything starring a musician who suddenly discovered his/her acting talent.
- Grease
- The Wizard of Oz -Water!? That's the best they could come up with ...
- The Grudge

 

[clueless]

My favorites are, in order from most to least:

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Jaws I
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- Robin Hood, Men in Tights
- Zoolander
- Old School

Movies I hate include:
- Anything with Fast and the Furious in the title.
- Anything starring a musician who suddenly discovered his/her acting talent.
- Grease
- The Wizard of Oz -Water!? That's the best they could come up with ...
- The Grudge

What's The Grudge about?

 

[JustDave]

What's The Grudge about?

Stright from IMDB:

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

I don't want to spoil the movie for you so I will only say this. If I were the lead in that movie it would have ended in about ten minutes. All I would have needed were a few sticks of dynamite.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001)
Through a Scanner Darkly (2006)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Forgotten (2004)
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Gattaca (1997)
Hulk (2003)
edit: Kundun (1997)

 

[jungie]

Not in any order
eXistenZ
Lost Highway
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
There Will Be Blood
Lost in Translation
Donnie Darko
Dark City
Matrix
Magnolia
Once Upon a Time in the West
and...
The Wire (the entire TV series)
6 Feet Under (TV)

 

[Samuel De Mazarin]

YES! YES! How could I have forgotten to mention "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"!?!?!?!?! Incredible film.....

And I should have added "A Scanner Darkly"... very nice adaptation of Philip K. Dick...