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Top 10 Movies, 2011 Edition

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No order:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Hot Fuzz
The Seventh Seal
The Big Lebowski
Aliens
Akira
Syriana
A Better Tomorrow
Glengarry Glen Ross
Blazing Saddles

The list would probably change if you asked me again tomorrow.
 
I've been thinking that, were I to be a bit more objective and a bit less influenced by culture, "The Conversation" would probably edge out The Godfather. And I'm still not sure what to bump out for La Dolce Vita.
 
1. Man on Fire
2. Collateral
3. The Good The Bad The Ugly
4. The Fast And Furious: Tokyo Drift (I know, it amazes even me)
5. Black Hawk Down
6. The Thomas Crown Affair
7. Munich
8. Terminator 2
9. The A-Team
10. Taken
 
I probably haven't seen as many movies as some other people in here, but here's my personal Top 10 off the top of my head.

1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Mr Smith Goes to Washington
3. Seven Samurai
4. Field of Dreams
5. The Dark Knight
6. Batman Begins
7. The Godfather
8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
9. Hamlet (Branagh version)
10. Anatomy of a Murder
 
The Good, The Bad and The ugly
V For Vendetta
Back To The Future 1
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Shaolin Soccer
Die Hard
The Godfather
Face Off
Yojimbo
Gattaca
 
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
I don't disagree that Godard was a HUGELY influential filmmaker, but it's a case where I think a person's historical importance outpaces his actual talent for the art. In the works that I've seen, his use of (for the time) innovative techniques and flourishes ends up just being kinda... there. They're interesting historical curiosities, since others were not doing them at the time, but they rarely matched themselves to the stories and characterizations in appreciably interesting and fitting ways. Take the much-lauded jump cuts in Breathless, for example. They're kinda neat, but what are they really adding? They don't really convey much about the situation of the characters or elide time in any way illuminating to the plot or the characters. On the other hand, there's a jump cut in the Robert Bresson movie "A Man Escaped" (which actually precedes Breathless) that is used to show the passage of an hour's worth of time, and there's a bunch of jump cuts in the Woody Allen movie "Stardust Memories" that are used to illuminate to the audience the fractured mental state of Allen's love interest. It's the same with almost every Godard film that I've seen, though I also admit that I'm less familiar with some of his later, post-New Wave stuff or some of his more lauded New Wave stuff like Contempt and Vivre sa Vie, both of which I will watch this summer.
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the point of the first jump cut when he shoots the cop is to juxtapose the the timing between the leisure of the opening scene in the frenetic (uh breahtless?) pace of the rest of the film. it tells you everything you need to know about the movie and how it's going to end with a camera movement.

also if people think week-end is godard's worst film, he made a lot of bad movies after that one.


CaptYamato said:
This is my personal list.

1) Taxi Driver (1976, God)
2) A Bittersweet Life (2005, Kim Jee-Woon)
3) Le Samouraï (1967, Jean-Pierre Melville)
4) Stray Dog (1949, not made by a Japanese person)
5) Harakiri (1962, Kobayashi)
6) Love Exposure (2008, Shion Sono)
7) Terminator 2 (1991, Cameron) (BRING IT SWOON!)
8) The Man That Shot Liberty Valance (1962, John Ford)
9) Castle in the Sky (1986, Hayao Miyazaki)
10) Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner)

These are the movies I can watch over and over.

Days of Heaven should be on there but I couldn't think of a spot.
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i like T2 more than a bittersweet life, empire/castle in the sky and stray dog. i haven't seen love exposure though
 
Number one

jurassic+park+poster.jpg


others i have not decided yet. Number one will not change though.
 
revolverjgw said:
WHAT THE HELL MAN. Seems like you'd have to consciously avoid his movies to not catch one at some point. He's not my favorite but I think I've seen more of his movies than anybody else's. You should dig in, it's not even daunting, his movies are so watchable. I could watch a few in a row without getting restless.
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I honestly don't know how I haven't managed to see one at some point either. I think I even have Psycho sitting in my DVD collection I just have such an enormous DVD backlog I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Ah hell, I have nothing better to do since my friends ditched me tonight. Might as well pop it in.
 
1. Miller's Crossing
The Thing
Sin City
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Clockwork Orange
Snatch
Brick
Children of Men
Shaun of the Dead
Blade Runner

In no particular order after Miller's Crossing.
 
1. Porco Rosso (Hayao Miyazaki, 1992)
2. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
3. Baraka (Ron Fricke, 1992)
4. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
6. Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu, 1959)
7. 3-Iron (Ki-duk Kim, 2004)
8. Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964)
9. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
10. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

One-per-director rule enforced.
Most of my list was easy to make, but the 10 spot took some time. The Lives of Others, Lawrence of Arabia and Nights of Cabiria all almost made it.

revolverjgw said:
WHAT THE HELL MAN. Seems like you'd have to consciously avoid his movies to not catch one at some point. He's not my favorite but I think I've seen more of his movies than anybody else's. You should dig in, it's not even daunting, his movies are so watchable. I could watch a few in a row without getting restless.
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Hitchcock is certainly worth watching just because of his impact on cinema, but of the 6 films I've seen none blew me away. (Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Notorious, Strangers on a Train)
 
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
3. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
5. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
6. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
7. The Twilight Samurai (Yôji Yamada, 2002)
8. Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
9. THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971)
10. Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)

What this thread has made me think about more than anything is having a "Great Films" draft. Anyone familiar with fantasy drafts should get the basic idea, you get a group of people, come up with a randomized selection order that alternates (1 - 16, 16 - 1, 1- 16, etc), and pick based on positions you need to fill on your roster. I did this quite a while back on another forum and it was a really good time, especially once you get into voting.

The categories we used were: Non-American Films; Silent Films; Hollywood Classics (1930-1969); Modern Hollywood (post 1970); Comedies; Action; Drama; Horror; Blockbuster; Animated; Musical; Cult; Documentary; Sci-Fi/Fantasy; Adapted Work; Independent; Sports; War; Childrens; Holiday; Martial Arts; Western; Bad Movie; and Wildcard.

Now, a few of those had more than one slot. Classics and Modern had 3 each, foreign had 2, and Comedies had 2. But I don't think the particulars are important. I just wanted to gauge interest in running something like that here. It's a lot of fun and a good excuse to watch movies you otherwise wouldn't.
 
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Apocalypse Now
3. The Godfather
4. City of God
5. Full Metal Jacket
6. Children of Men
7. Taxi Driver
8. Pi
9. Scarface
10. Oldboy

Not really in order & there are a lot of films I haven't seen that I probably should.

Edit: And I just thought of a ton more, god this is really hard to do.
 
Personal top ten (nostalgia included), not a list of the "ten best movies ever":

10. Die Hard (I watch it every Christmas Eve before I go to bed)
9. The Thing
8. Blade Runner
7. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Terminator 2
4. Apocalypse Now
3. Back to the Future Pt. 1
2. Aliens
1. The Empire Strikes Back
 
This thread again :O

Anyway, here's some that I like, but can't put in order because I like them all equally:

Titanic
Jurassic Park
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
The Godfather
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Toy Story
Lion King
 
Going to try to do the 1 film per director

Blade Runner
Seven Samurai
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
La Haine
Raging Bull
Bottle Rocket
Zodiac
Die Hard
Shaun of the Dead
Jaws


edit: if anyone sees this, I'd love to get some recommendations based of what is listed here.
 
1) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
2) The Godfather
3) Raiders of the Lost Ark
4) 2001: A Space Odyssey
5) Schindler's List
6) Pulp Fiction
7) The Godfather: Part 2
8) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
9) The Royal Tenenbaums
10) American Graffiti
 
1. Sunset Blvd
2. Detour
3. Citizen Kane
4. Days of Heaven
5. Criss Cross
6. Le Mépris (Contempt)
7. Vertigo
8. 400 Blows
9. Paris, Tx
10. Psycho

----

11. The Searchers
12. Out of the Past
13. Breathless
14. The Last Picture Show
15. Double Indemnity
16. Letter from an Unknown Woman
17. Greed
18. Shadow of Doubt
19. Night of the Hunter
20. Night and the City

21. All That Heaven Allows
22. Le Cercle Rouge
23. Duck Soup
24. Nashville
25. Point Blank
26. Brief Encounter
27. Play Time
28. Le Plaisir
29. A Place In The Sun
30. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

I'm surprised there's not a lot of champions for the classic art-house films like L'atalante, Rules of the Game, 8 1/2, grand illusion, L'avventura...
 
Nappuccino said:
Going to try to do the 1 film per director

Blade Runner
Seven Samurai
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
La Haine
Raging Bull
Bottle Rocket
Zodiac
Die Hard
Shaun of the Dead
Jaws


edit: if anyone sees this, I'd love to get some recommendations based of what is listed here.
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Persona
L'Avventura
Don't Look Now
 
Mine hasn't changed as I don't watch movies too often.

10. Chasing Amy
9. Swingers
8. The Prestige
7. Sideways
6. The Beach
5. Good Will Hunting
4. Vanilla Sky
3. Gattaca
2. Before Sunrise
1. Before Sunset
 
Jo Shishido's Cheeks said:
Stuck to the one director rule and listed them chronologically. Having to rank them would've killed me, it was hard enough getting it down to 10 :'(

Citizen Kane (1941, Welles)
The Big Sleep (1946, Hawks)
Tokyo Story (1953, Ozu)
On The Waterfront (1954, Kazan)
The Seven Samurai (1954, Kurosawa)
Vertigo (1958, Hitchcock)
Vivre Sa Vie (1962, Godard)
Faces (1968, Cassavetes)
The Godfather (1972, Coppola)
My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Miyazaki)

Worth noting that although it's not amongst the best films I've seen, The Matrix was the film that inspired me to attempt to become a director, so that film will always hold a special place within my life
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For someone with a username of Jo Shisdo's Cheeks, there isn't any Suzuki films on your list. For shame. I will make my list tonight.
 
Blair said:
Nothing has topped my experience of watching The Thing as a small boy.
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I just watched it for the first time a couple of nights ago at 24 years old (took me long enough, I know) and it was still amazing. I only saw Alien for the first time a few years back and I'd put my initial viewing of The Thing over it.
 
8 1/2 - Federico Fellini
Almost Famous - Cameron Crowe
Before Sunset - Richard Linklater
Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola
Hannah and Her Sisters - Woody Allen
Jules and Jim - Francois Truffaut
The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman
Trainspotting - Danny Boyle
Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuaron


Can we also use this topic to get other people's Criticker profiles?

www.criticker.com/profile/meliorism
 
The Empire Strikes Back
2001: A Space Odyssey
There Will Be Blood
Amadeus
The Graduate
Fellowship of the Ring
Inglourious Basterds
Layer Cake
Young Frankenstein
Fight Club
 
1. The Man From Nowhere
2. Children of Men
3. Aviator
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. For a Few Dollars More
6. Taegukgi
7. A Bittersweet Life
8. Blade Runner
9. Once Upon a Time in the West
10. Frantic
 
Rashomon
The Dark Crystal
Requiem for a Dream
Full Metal Jacket
Evil Dead 2
The Terminator
Kill Bill vol 1&2
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Nosferatu
Amadeus
 
dblaze503 said:
My personal top ten movies are:
1.) Goodfellas
2.) Terminator 2
3.) Jurrasic Park
4.) Heat
5.) Collateral
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I love the first half of your list. Some of my favorite flicks in there.

I can't take part in these, because like you said, I always get caught up in trying to balance my personal favorites with what I think is objectively the best (I know, nothing is but you know what I mean). And I don't wanna make two lists because I tried to come up with one and that was hard enough.
 
Some of my other favorites outside my top 10 are:
Michael Clayton
Collateral
North by Northwest
2001: A Space Odyssey

Too many to list.
 
HiResDes said:
I feel completely the opposite way actually.
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so stoked to see your list this year

2010!
City of God
American Beauty
Fight Club
A Bittersweet Life
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Swingers
Sunset Boulevard
Boogie Nights
Punch Drunk Love
Some Like It Hot
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swoon said:
yea with all those bangers, it's hard to squeeze it in there. ;)
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You have no idea how much I love that movie. Also, don't hate because I had the swag to put the greatest action movie of all time on list. I just re-watched High and Low. That one director rule is a bitch because I think I like it more than Stray Dog.



swoon said:
so stoked to see your list this year

2010!
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Any list with A Bittersweet Life gets a pass.
 
1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
2. Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976)
3. Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1964)
4. Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998)
5. From Russia With Love (Terence Young, 1963)
6. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
7. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
8. The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996)
9. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
10. Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004)

I'd post reasons for including each on my list, but I always find it very hard to describe what makes movies so enjoyable for me.
 
Snuggler said:
wait, someone liked The Beach?

maybe I'm thinking of a different movie
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Treefingers said:
I will never understand what people have against this movie. It's not one of my absolute favorites but I liked it.
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I liked it, personally. The movie gets really, really sloppy in the third act. That's what I think most critics (and I) had problems with.

The book is pretty good.
 
I am allowing more than one director for my list of films.
1. Down by Law (1986, dir. Jim Jarmusch)
2. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989, dir. Woody Allen)
3. Branded to Kill (1967, dir. Seijun Suzuki)
4. Annie Hall (1977, dir.
5. Chungking Express (1994, dir. Wong Kar-Wai)
6. Babe (1995, dir. Chris Noonan)
7. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976, dir. Nicolas Roeg)
8. Sweet Movie (1974, dir. Dusan Makavejev)
9. Yi Yi (2000, dir. Edward Yang)
10. My Night at Maude's (1969, dir. Eric Rohmer)

11. Gummo (1997, dir. Harmony Korine)
12. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989, dir. Peter Greenaway)
13. 8 1/2 (1963, dir. Federico Fellini)
14. Charade (1963, dir. Stanley Donen)
15. The Double Life of Veronique (1991, dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski)
16. I Am Cuba (1964, dir. Mikhail Kalatozov)
17. Paris, Texas (1984, dir. Wim Wenders)
18. Wise Blood (1979, dir. John Huston)
19. Dead Man (1995, dir. Jim Jarmusch)
20. Wings of Desire (1987, dir. Wim Wenders)

21. Grey Gardens (1975, dir. David and Albert Maysles)
22. Ikiru (1952, dir. Akira Kurosawa)
23. Murmur of the Heart (1971, dir. Louis Malle)
24. The Holy Mountain (1973, dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky)
25. Spirit of the Beehive (1973, dir. Víctor Erice)
26. Last Year at Marienbad (1961, dir. Alain Resnais)
27. Breathless (1960, dir. Jean Luc Godard)
28. Window Water Baby Moving (1962, dir. Stan Brakage)
29. Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam)
30. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, dir. Mike Nichols)

31. My Winnipeg (2008, dir. Guy Maddin)
32. Solaris (1972, dir. Andrey Tarkovskiy)
33. Two Lane Blacktop (1971, dir. Monte Hellman)
34. Die Hard (1988, dir. John McTiernan)
35. Three Colors: Blue (1993, dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski)
36. Koyaaniquatsi (1982, dir. Godfrey Reggio)
37. If... (1968, dir. Lindsay Anderson)
38. Sweet and Lowdown (1999, dir. Woody Allen)
39. My Life as a Dog (1986, dir. Lasse Hallström)
40. Four Months, Three Weeks, and Two Days (2007, dir. Cristian Mungiu)

41. Manhattan (1979, dir. Woody Allen)
42. Pulp Fiction (1994, dir. Quentin Tarantino)
43. Shoot the Piano Player (1960, dir. François Truffaut)
44. Polyester (1981, dir. John Waters)
45. Fantastic Planet (1973, dir. Rene Laloux)
46. Salo (1975, dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini)
47. The Piano Teacher (2001, dir. Michael Haneke)
48. Playtime (1967, dir. Jacques Tati)
49. Harold and Maude (1971, dir. Hal Ashby)
50. Desperate Living (1977, dir. John Waters)
 
1. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1967)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
4. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
5. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
6. Last Year at Marienbad (Alan Resnais, 1962)
7. F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1975)
8. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Werner Herzog, 1974)
9. Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
10. Paris Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
 
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