Favorite Movie Of All Time

[DATo]

The Red Violin

The Red Violin is my all time favorite movie. It is a Canadian film whose story involves the history of a violin made in the 16th century. The movie is filmed in five countries and the dialogue is subtitled (easy to read) in five languages. The movie employs well-known actors from each country though they were in most cases unknown to me and virtually every actor's part was rendered to perfection.

The movie vacillates between the stories of the individuals who have owned the violin in the past, and the present time where the violin is being auctioned at a prestigious auction house, then it jumps to the far past where the violin had been created. Each of the individual stories can be considered a short story within the context of the larger story and though this sounds complicated the movie is nonetheless very easy to follow.

The movie touches upon the supernatural in the form of fortune telling, has a thrilling ending with a major twist (there are several minor twists in the movie), and when it was over it left me literally gasping, the result of knowing that I had just, for the first time in my life, witnessed my conception of cinematic perfection.

[user name]

In the time it took you to write this you could have logged in several times.
The project was started for you, the characters are picked to entertain you.
Thank you so much for acknowledging our effort, by simply leaving us in the lurch.
I have never been in an agreement with anyone from Midwest before, are you a typical example?

[MorpheusSandman]

Not sure if this will work, but I have a list of my Top 250 in my IMDb profile: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur15862739/boards/

That list is old, though, and if I redid it today it would be significantly different. Particularly I've come to feel Hitchcock is the greatest filmmaker ever and I now have about 5 of his in my Top 40, and two (Vertigo and Rear Window) in my top 10.

I saw The Red Violin years ago and was not a fan at all, though I can appreciate your subjective experience. Your description of the ending is more akin to my experience with Kieslowski's film called Red.

[user name]

Posted in the Film section of your other club, the one you ignore

[DATo]

Not sure if this will work, but I have a list of my Top 250 in my IMDb profile: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur15862739/boards/

That list is old, though, and if I redid it today it would be significantly different. Particularly I've come to feel Hitchcock is the greatest filmmaker ever and I now have about 5 of his in my Top 40, and two (Vertigo and Rear Window) in my top 10.

I saw The Red Violin years ago and was not a fan at all, though I can appreciate your subjective experience. Your description of the ending is more akin to my experience with Kieslowski's film called Red.

I have never seen the Kieslowski film you mentioned. I will have to look it up.

[Lykren]

Ran, Solaris and Fanny and Alexander are my three favorite movies. Some other films I love are:

Sansho Dayu
Vivre Sa Vie
Taxi Driver
Floating Weeds
A Man Escaped
L'avventura
Stalker
Barry Lyndon
8 1/2
Andrei Rublev

Pan's Labryinth, Raise the Red Lantern, and Blue is the Warmest Color are a few others that possibly should be on my list; I'm just not certain yet.

I am not as learned as Morpheus is in film (or anything else) so I will definitely be taking advantage of that list he's linked to. Morpheus, if you could provide an updated version that would be great, but it looks pretty good as it is.

[hazelk]

My latest favorite is "Nebraska" I adored it!!

[MorpheusSandman]

I have never seen the Kieslowski film you mentioned. I will have to look it up.I should clarify that Red is the third part of Kieslowski's "Three Colors Trilogy." While not a trilogy in the manner of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings (in that they're a continuing story) they are related thematically, and Red alludes the previous two films, especially towards its finale, in order to create the affect I mentioned.

[MorpheusSandman]

My latest favorite is "Nebraska" I adored it!!That was my favorite film of this Oscar season (I've seen all the ones out on DVD), though The Great Beauty and Blue is the Warmest Color are close 2nds and 3rds.

[MorpheusSandman]

...Blue is the Warmest Color are a few others that possibly should be on my list; I'm just not certain yet.I just watch Blue is... yesterday, and while I had some initial reservations, it's really been going over in my mind and, the more I think about it, especially in terms of trying to answer some of my own questions (like what leads Adele to have the affair), the more I like it. When I finished I thought it something like a 7 or 7.5/10 if only on the strength of its performances and poignancy, but now that I've started considering its themes and allusions it's become more like an 8.5. Perhaps on an eventual second viewing I'll rate it even higher.


I am not as learned as Morpheus is in film (or anything else) so I will definitely be taking advantage of that list he's linked to. Morpheus, if you could provide an updated version that would be great, but it looks pretty good as it is.By all means, make use of it. I simply haven't bothered making an updated version yet. Making these lists takes a surprising amount of work; the first one took me several days. Making minor adjustments isn't a big deal using Microsoft Excel, but redoing the whole thing is a real pain. Basically, the way the list works is that any film I give a 9.0 or higher to goes on it. The top 70-or-so are 10/10, the next 90-or-so are 9.5s, and the rest are 9.0s. What I can do is provide a list of films that I had planned to include on my next update, but even it is incomplete as I stopped adding films to it probably over a year ago, so it's missing probably 10-20 that I've seen in that time-span that would've gone on the list. I just got very lazy about updating it. Anyway, here it is:
0 Neon Genesis Evangelion / The End of Evangelion Anno, Hideaki
1 The Seven Samurai Kurosawa, Akira
2 Rear Window Hitchcock, Alfred
3 2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick, Stanley
4 Vertigo Hitchcock, Alfred
5 The Seventh Seal Bergman, Ingmar
6 The Passion of Joan of Arc Dreyer, Carl Theodor
7 Mulholland Drive Lynch, David
8 The Wizard of Oz Fleming, Victor
9 A City of Sadness Hsiao-hsien, Hou
10 Late Spring Ozu, Yasujiro
11 Ikiru Kurosawa, Akira
12 The Rules of the Game Renoir, Jean
13 Persona Bergman, Ingmar
14 My Darling Clementine Ford, John
15 Marnie Hitchcock, Alfred
16 Meet Me in St. Louis Minnelli, Vincente
17 Gone With the Wind Fleming, Victor
18 Sunrise Murnau, F.W.
19 The Godfather Pt. II Coppola, Francis Ford
20 Ordet Dreyer, Carl Theodor
21 Last Year at Marienbad Resnais, Alain
22 Grave of the Fireflies Takahata, Isao
23 Yi Yi: A One and a Two Yang, Edward
24 Contempt Godard, Jean-Luc
25 Once Upon a Time in America Leone, Sergio
26 Notorious Hitchcock, Alfred
27 Raging Bull Scorsese, Martin
28 Three Colors: Red Kieslowski, Krzysztof
29 Au Hasard Balthasar Bresson, Robert
30 The Third Man Reed, Carol
31 O Thiassos (The Travelling Players) Angelopoulos, Theo
32 Psycho Hitchcock, Alfred
33 Touch of Evil Welles, Orson
34 Ugetsu Mizoguchi, Kenji
35 L'avventura Antonioni, Michelangelo
36 Satantango Tarr, Bela
37 The Puppetmaster Hsiao-hsien, Hou
38 Dekalog Kieslowski, Krzysztof
39 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise Bunuel, Luis
40 The Grapes of Wrath Ford, John
41 Only Angels Have Wings Hawks, Howard
42 Citizen Kane Welles, Orson
43 Pather Panchali Ray, Satyajit
44 Eight and a Half (8 1/2) Fellini, Federico
45 M Lang, Fritz
46 Distant Voices, Still Lives Davies, Terence
47 The Princess Bride Reiner, Rob
48 Star Wars Lucas, George
49 Some Like it Hot Wilder, Billy
50 Tokyo Story Ozu, Yasujiro
51 In Absentia Quay Brothers
52 Children of Paradise Carne, Marcel
53 The Godfather Coppola, Francis Ford
54 A Brighter Summer Day Yang, Edward
55 Lord of the Rings Jackson, Peter
56 Princess Mononoke Miyazaki, Hayao
57 Pierrot Le Fou Godard, Jean-Luc
58 Wild Strawberries Bergman, Ingmar
59 His Girl Friday Hawks, Howard
60 Sherlock Jr. Keaton, Buster
61 Hiroshima Mon Amour Resnais, Alain
62 Dr. Strangelove Kubrick, Stanley
63 Eraserhead Lynch, David
64 La Dolce Vita Fellini, Federico
65 Andrei Rublev Tarkovsky, Andrei
66 Amadeus Forman, Milos
67 Unforgiven Eastwood, Clint
68 The Grand Illusion Renoir, Jean
69 Life On a String Kaige, Chen
70 Lawrence of Arabia Lean, David
71 The Wild Bunch Peckinpah, Sam
72 Singin' in the Rain Donen, Stanley & Kelly, Gene
73 Akira Otomo, Katsuhiro
74 A Christmas Story Clark, Bob
75 Ivan the Terrible Eisenstein, Sergei
76 Last Tango in Paris Bertolucci, Bernardo
77 Ran Kurosawa, Akira
78 Landscape in the Mist Angelopoulos, Theo
79 The Gold Rush Chaplin, Charlie
80 Pickpocket Bresson, Robert
81 Barry Lyndon Kubrick, Stanley
82 Red Desert Antonioni, Michelangelo
83 Stalker Tarkovsky, Andrei
84 Manhattan Allen, Woody
85 Ace in the Hole Wilder, Billy
86 The 400 Blows Truffaut, Francois
87 The Conformist Bertolucci, Bernardo
88 I Am Cuba Kalatozov, Mikhail
89 Juliet of the Spirits Fellini, Federico
90 Battleship Potemkin Eisenstein, Sergei
91 Diary of a Country Priest Bresson, Robert
92 The Time to Live and Time to Die Hsiao-hsien, Hou
93 Cries and Whispers Bergman, Ingmar
94 Three Colors: Blue Kieslowski, Krzysztof
95 Devi Ray, Satyajit
96 The Bride of Frankenstein Whale, James
97 Vivre sa Vie Godard, Jean-Luc
98 The Last Laugh Murnau, F.W.
99 Sansho Dayu Mizoguchi, Kenji
100 The Music Room (Jalsaghar) Ray, Satyajit
101 The Last Picture Show Bogdonovich, Peter
102 Smiles of a Summer Night Bergman, Ingmar
103 What Time is it There? Ming-Liang, Tsai
104 No End Kieslowski, Krzysztof
105 Metropolis Lang, Fritz
106 Lost in Translation Coppola, Sofia
107 Apur Sansar Ray, Satyajit
108 Cat People Tourneur, Jacques
109 Curse of the Cat People Wise, Robert & von Fritsch, Gunther
110 La Strada Fellini, Federico
111 Los Olvidados Bunuel, Luis
112 Chinatown Polanski, Roman
113 Ulysses' Gaze Angelopoulos, Theo
114 Blade Runner Scott, Ridley
115 The Informer Ford, John
116 Toy Story Lasseter, John
117 Texhnolyze Hamazaki, Hirotsugu
118 GoodFellas Scorsese, Martin
119 Stagecoach Ford, John
120 Young Frankenstein Brooks, Mel
121 Double Indemnity Wilder, Billy
122 Throne of Blood Kurosawa, Akira
123 Days of Heaven Malick, Terence
124 Haibane Renmei Tokoro, Tomokazu
125 Bringing Up Baby Hawks, Howard
126 Apocalypse Now Coppola, Francis Ford
127 Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring Berri, Claude
128 All About Eve Mankiewicz, Joseph L.
129 The Children Are Watching Us De Sica, Vittorio
130 Wages of Fear Clouzot, Henri-Georges
131 Pan's Labyrinth Del Toro, Guillermo
132 Breaking the Waves Von Trier, Lars
133 Wings of Desire Wenders, Wim
134 Werckmeister Harmonies Tarr, Bela
135 No Country for Old Men Coen, Joel & Ethan
136 The Man With the Movie Camera Vertov, Dziga
137 The Fountain Aronofsky, Darren
138 Sullivan's Travels Sturges, Preston
139 Frankenstein Whale, James
140 Birth of a Nation Griffith, D.W.
141 Rome, Open City Rossellini, Roberto
142 Kagemusha Kurosawa, Akira
143 Ghost in the Shell Oshii, Mamoru
144 Once Upon a Time in the West Leone, Sergio
145 Flight of the Red Balloon Hsiao-hsien, Hou
146 Twin Peaks Lynch, David
147 Laputa: Castle in the Sky Miyazaki, Hayao
148 Pandora's Box Pabst, G.W.
149 The Milky Way Bunuel, Luis
150 Sunset Boulevard Wilder, Billy
151 Trouble in Paradise Lubitsch, Ernst
152 Rashomon Kurosawa, Akira
153 High Noon Zinnemann, Fred
154 Brazil Gilliam, Terry
155 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Huston, John
156 The Double Life of Veronique Kieslowski, Krzysztof
157 All That Heaven Allows Sirk, Douglas
158 Umberto D De Sica, Vittorio
159 Jurassic Park Spielberg, Steven
160 Sergeant York Hawks, Howard
161 Before Sunrise Linklater, Richard
162 Before Sunset Linklater, Richard
163 Mccabe and Mrs. Miller Altman, Robert
164 I Was Born But… Ozu, Yasujiro
165 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Powell, Michael & Pressburger, Emeric
166 The Exterminating Angel Bunuel, Luis
167 23rd Psalm Branch Brakhage, Stan
168 Mouchette Bresson, Robert
169 My Night at Maud's Rohmer, Eric
170 L'Age D'or Bunuel, Luis
171 After Life Kore-eda, Hirokazu
172 In a Lonely Place Ray, Nicholas
173 Closely Watched Trains Menzel, Jiri
174 The Seventh Victim Robson, Mark
175 La Belle Noiseuse Rivette, Jacques
176 Seven Chances Keaton, Buster
177 Aguirre: The Wrath of God Herzog, Werner
178 The Magician Bergman, Ingmar
179 Alice Adams Stevens, George
180 L'Atalante Vigo, Jean
181 Strike Eisenstein, Sergei
182 Maborosi Kore-eda, Hirokazu
183 Life of Oharu Mizoguchi, Kenji
184 Close-Up Kiarostami, Abbas
185 The Spirit of the Beehive Erice, Victor
186 Destiny Lang, Fritz
187 Three Colors: White Kieslowski, Krzysztof
188 Synechdoche, New York Kaufman, Charlie
189 The Two of Us Berri, Claude
190 The Cranes are Flying Kalatozov, Mikhail
191 City Lights Chaplin, Charlie
192 Le Jour Se Leve (Daybreak) Carne, Marcel
193 Belle de jour Bunuel, Luis
194 A Man Escaped Bresson, Robert
195 ****ing Åmål (Show Me Love) Moodysson, Lukas
196 Damnation Tarr, Bela
197 Dust in the Wind Hsiao-hsien, Hou
198 Inland Empire Lynch, David
199 How Green Was My Valley Ford, John
200 Dog Star Man Brakhage, Stan
201 Ball of Fire Hawks, Howard
202 Back to the Future Zemeckis, Robert
203 Don't Look Now Roeg, Nicolas
204 Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream One Calls Human Life Quay Brothers
205 Taxi Driver Scorsese, Martin
206 La Notte Antonioni, Michelangelo
207 Raiders of the Lost Ark Spielberg, Steven
208 Faces Cassavetes, John
209 Flowers of Shanghai Hsiao-hsien, Hou
210 Un Chien Andalou Bunuel, Luis
211 Y Tu Mama Tambien Cuaron, Alfonso
212 The Heart of the World Maddin, Guy
213 L'eclisse Antonioni, Michelangelo
214 Alphaville Godard, Jean-Luc
215 Beauty and the Beast Cocteau, Jean
216 Shiki-Jitsu Anno, Hideaki
217 Breathless Godard, Jean-Luc
218 Vampyr Dreyer, Carl Theodor
219 Boudu Saved from Drowning Renoir, Jean
220 Early Summer Ozu, Yasujiro
221 Sayat Nova (The Color of Pomegranates) Parajanov, Sergei
222 Rebecca Hitchcock, Alfred
223 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Scorsese, Martin
224 Persepolis Paronnaud, Vincent & Satrapi, Marjane
225 Daisies Vera Chytilová
226 The Awful Truth McCarey, Leo
227 The Wind Will Carry Us Kiarostami, Abbas
228 Spring in a Small Town Fei, Mu
229 Eaux d'Artifice Anger, Kenneth
230 Love Exposure Sono, Sion
231 Hamlet Branagh, Kenneth
232 Street of Crocodiles Quay Brothers
233 Twilight of the Ice Nymphs Maddin, Guy
234 Terminator 2 Cameron, James
235 Yojimbo Kurosawa, Akira
236 The Red Balloon Lamorisse, Albert
237 Darling Schlesinger, John
238 Pulp Fiction Tarantino, Quentin
239 Paisan Rossellini, Roberto
240 A Clockwork Orange Kubrick, Stanley
241 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Leone, Sergio
242 Uzak Ceylan, Nuri Bilge
243 Jaws Spielberg, Steven
244 Annie Hall Allen, Woody
245 Titanic Cameron, James
246 Spirited Away Miyazaki, Hayao
247 Meshes of the Afternoon Deren, Maya
248 The Silence Bergman, Ingmar
249 Blind Chance Kieslowski, Krzysztof
250 Black Girl Sembene, Ousmane
251 La Ronde Ophuls, Max
252 Magnificent Obsession Sirk, Douglas
253 The Piano Teacher Haneke, Michael
254 The Conversation Coppola, Francis Ford
255 Germany, Year Zero Rossellini, Roberto
256 LA Confidential Hanson, Curtis
257 Somewhere in the Night Mankiewicz, Joseph L.
258 Up Docter, Pete & Peterson Bob
259 Alien Scott, Ridley
260 Inglorious Basterds Tarantino, Quentin
261 Listen to Britain Jennings, Humphreys
262 The Graduate Nichols, Mike
263 Dinner at Eight Cukor, George
264 A Serious Man Coen, Joel & Ethan
265 Schindler's List Spielberg, Steven
266 The Killers Siodmak, Robert
267 The Exorcist Friedkin, William
268 All About Lily Chou-Chou Iwai, Shunji
269 Toy Story 2 Lasseter, John
270 Sideways Payne, Alexander
271 Barefoot Gen Yamada, Tengo
Hour of the Wolf Bergman, Ingmar
Tristana Bunuel, Luis
Trilogy (Children, Madonna & Child, Death & Transfiguration) Davies, Terence
The Long Day Closes Davies, Terence
The Cloud-Capped Star Ghatak, Ritwik
A Streetcar Named Desire Kazan, Elia
Dracula, Pages from a Virgin's Diary Maddin, Guy
The Thin Red Line Malick, Terence
The Tree of Life Malick, Terence
The Fire Within Malle, Louis
Repast Naruse, Mikio
The Sound of the Mountain Naruse, Mikio
The Only Son Ozu, Yasujiro
Charulata Ray, Satyajit
Dimensions of Dialogue Svankmajer, Jan
Darkness-Light-Darkness Svankmajer, Jan
The Man From London Tarr, Bela
Basic Instinct Verhoeven, Paul
Gilda Vidor, Charles
Tropical Malady Weerasethakul, Apichatpong
Possession Zulawski, Andrej
L'amour braque Zulawski, Andrej
Floating Clouds Naruse, Mikio
There Was a Father Ozu, Yasujiro
Lovers on the Bridge Carax, Leos
Four Nights of a Dreamer Bresson, Robert
A Day in the Country Renoir, Jean
Easy Rider Hopper, Dennis
A nos amour Pialat, Maurice
Enter the Void Noe, Gaspare
Alexander the Great Angelopoulos, Theo
The Suspended Step of the Stork Angelopoulos, Theo
The Weeping Meadow Angelopoulos, Theo
Eternity and a Day Angelopoulos, Theo
Voyage to Cythera Angelopoulos, Theo
The Hunters Angelopoulos, Theo
Shadow of a Doubt Hitchcock, Alfred
Spellbound Hitchcock, Alfred
Strangers on a Train Hitchcock, Alfred
North By Northwest Hitchcock, Alfred
The Birds Hitchcock, Alfred
That Obscure Object of Desire Bunuel, Luis
To Have and Have Not Hawks, Howard
L'Argent Bresson, Robert
Pickup on South Street Fuller, Samuel
Playtime Tatie, Jacques
My Neighbor Totoro Miyazaki, Hayao
The Lady Eve Sturges, Preston
I Know Where I'm Going! Powell, Michael & Pressburger, Emeric
The Turin Horse Tarr, Bela
Letter Never Sent Kalatozov, Mikhail
The Phantom of Liberty Bunuel, Luis
Mysteries of Lisbon Ruiz, Raul
Come and See Klimov, Elem
Dancer in the Dark Trier, Lars Von
Barton Fink Coen, Joel & Ethan
Lola Montes Ophuls, Max
The World Zhangke, JiaA final note: that entire list (including those not ranked) comprise probably the top 4-5% of films I've seen, just to give you a frame of reference on how tough/easy it is for a film to get on there. I also finally put Evangelion at "0" because, for one, it's difficult to really call it a "film" since it's comprised of a mini-series and concluding feature film, but because it's my favorite work of art ever I had to have it on the list somewhere, so putting it at "0" I thought might indicate what a profound impact it had on me.

[mande2013]

Rules of the Game-Renoir
Contempt-Godard
We Won't Grow Old Together-Pialat
Au Hasard Balthazar-Bresson
In A Lonely Place-Ray
My Darling Clementine-Ford
The 400 Blows-Truffaut
Madame De-Ophuls
M-Lang
My Night at Maud's-Rohmer

P.S. 'Objectively' I feel Contempt, The Searchers, and Lola Montes, with Rules of the Game coming in fourth to be the greatest films ever made, but my current mood doesn't drive to me include Montes and The Searchers in my personal list at the moment.

[Emil Miller]

Here's a list I made years ago and that still stands.

1. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles

2. Brief Encounter - David Lean

Those are without any doubt my two favourite films.


Others in no particular order:

Ashes and Diamonds - Andre Wajda

Alexander Nevsky - Sergei Eisenstein

The Wages of Fear - Henri Clouzot

The Glass Menagerie - Irving Rapper

Paths of Glory - Stanley Kubrick

Trumph of the Will - Leni Riefenstahl

The Third Man - Carol Reed

Il Bidone - Federico Fellini

La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini

Macbeth - Orson Welles

All The KIng's Men - Robert Rossen

Les Diabollques - Henri Clouzot

The Way to the Stars - Anthony Asquith

[qimissung]

A few older ones, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Raise the Red Lantern; more recently, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; Rachel Getting Married; The Royal Tennenbaums; The Descendants (listening to it's awesome soundtrack now); The Seven Samurai;and perhaps the capper, The Big Lebowski.

[hazelk]

That was my favorite film of this Oscar season (I've seen all the ones out on DVD), though The Great Beauty and Blue is the Warmest Color are close 2nds and 3rds.

I also loved The Great Beauty, I would like to see it again as I was in a movie theatre and found because of the movie length of I needed to visit the rest room a few times!! I shall try to track it down on DVD.
Another one of my favorites was Blue Jasmine.

[MorpheusSandman]

Haven't seen Blue Jasmine yet. The Great Beauty was very reminiscent of La Dolce Vita, though in a good "homage" sort of way and not the bad "ripoff" way. Luckily, it was released on Criterion blu-ray, so it looks spectacular.

[Pierre Menard]

Through A Glass Darkly
2001: A Space Odyssey
Paris, Texas
Manhattan
Duck Soup
The Seventh Seal
Double Indemnity
Rear Window
No Country For Old Men/A Serious Man/Fargo
La Strada
Citizen Kane
The Maltese Falcon
Ran
On The Waterfront
Chinatown
Touch of Evil
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Memories of Murder
Autumn Sonata
Eyes Wide Shut
City of God
12 Angry Men

[hazelk]

Very impressed with yesterday's movie at my local cinema. It was a German film "Hannah Arendt" based on true events, Hannah reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann for The New Yorker, her coverage caused a big uproar with the Jewish community and others world wide.

Her views have made for me lots of food for thought!!

[user name]

You seem to have lost interest in this site now, are we to presume you are on the move again?

[HCabret]

MASH
Goodfellas
Slumdog Millionaire
Amadeus
Gandhi
The Lion King
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Star Wars

[hazelk]

Two of my all time favorites are Coen brother's "Fargo" and "Oh Brother Where Art Thou".

[user name]

I have never seen the Kieslowski film you mentioned. I will have to look it up.

After you have discharged your chain obligations would be a good idea.

[R.F. Schiller]

I loved:

Glengarry Glen Ross (Al Pacino was absolutely perfectly cast as Ricky Roma)

Amadeus

Memento

[Emil Miller]

What begins as a seemingly heavy-handed satire on English upper-class eccentricity turns out to be a dazzling display of surrealistic black comedy with Peter O'Toole as the inheritor of an ancient family title who believes he is Jesus Christ. On his return to the the ancestral home from a mental institution, he becomes the subject of a plot by the family to get him married to a floozy so that an heir is produced before getting him certified as insane and the family fortune returns to the control of his relations. When, through violent means, a psychiatrist convinces O'Toole that he isn't Jesus Christ but Jack, the 14th Earl of Gurney, Jack begins to think he is Jack the ripper, with horrific consequences for the family.

The film could have been shorter but the surrealism is brilliantly done as these extracts show:

http://youtu.be/Vze0utkYypI

[Snowqueen]

Here are a few my favourite films.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Jinnah

The Godfather Part I, Part II

Disney's Beauty and the Beast

The Departed

[butterflylover]

the notebook and pearl harbor.

[Dkbogord]

Some of my all time favorite movies are:
Brave Heart,
Die Hard,
Terminator,
Gladiator,
The Troy,
The Matrix,
and Sky Fall.

[HCabret]

These are favorites among those I've actually seen.


MASH - this is my favorite above the rest.

Comedy:
Bananas (most laughing I've ever done watching a movie)
Annie Hall (had to watch it twice in a row)
Midnight in Paris (I love France, the 20s and TS Eliot)
The Hangover (funniest gen y movie)
The Gold Rush (bread rolls)
The Kid (it'll make you cry and laugh just as hard)
The Great Dictator (it's okay to laugh)
Ruby Sparks (everyone has a Pygmalion in their head)

Sci-Fi:
Star Wars (SciFi pulp at its best)
The Empire Strikes Back (brooding teenage Star Wars)
Star Trek: The Voyage Home (most uplifting movie ever)
Star Trek: Wrath of Khan (best Star Trek movie)
Back to the Future (all three put together are just pure fun)

Sports:
Field of Dreams (BOE scene stealer, movie is about America)
Ken Burn's Baseball (John McGraw will make you love sports more than ever)
The Sandlot (tequila!)

Western:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (am I supposed to like the bad guys?)
Django (symbolism and violence)
Django Unchained (made yah think, didn't it?)
How The West Was Won (American epic, a little racist)
Dances With Wolves (American epic, not as racist)

Action/Adventure:
Raiders of the Lost Ark (pulp at its absolute best)
Temple of Doom (lots of fun, lots of racism)
The Last Crusade (ahhhhh, Venice)
King Kong (1933) (stop motion)

Musical:
ONCE (grafton street is amazing)
Woodstock (I wish I was there)
Yellow Submarine (as good as the animation is, the music is even better)
Amadeus (Mozart was the original rock star)

Drama:
Goodfellas (don't cut the onions too thin)
Bicycle Thieves (just beautiful, just watch it)
The Godfather (both parts) (2nd part is better, 1st is world class)
Gandhi (thoreau's civil disobedience in movie form)
Slumdog Millionaire (I just really like Danny Boyle and Dev Patel)
Reservoir Dogs (best opening scene ever)
Pulp Fiction (structure, structure, structure, also The Black Mask)

Animation:
The Lion King (what millennial doesn't love this movie)
Castle in the Sky (adventure and gorgeous animation)
Porco Rosso (I just really love Italy and Illyria and airplanes)

Horror:
Let The Right One In
Carrie (1976)
Pan's Labyrinth

[108 fountains]

The Color Purple

I wouldn't be able to make a top-ten or top 25 list; there are too many great ones out there, but I can say The Color Purple is my favorite.
I often see Citizen Kane listed by people who make these kind of lists as at or near the top.
I watched it and really didn't see why it is so highly rated. What am I missing?

[Hawkman]

Yes, by contemporary standards, Citizen Kane isn't particularly special. However, it is an important film, as, at the time, it was groundbreaking and innovative. Orson Welles was not hidebound by Hollywood practice and consequently, he did things with the medium and introduced techniques that traditionally would have come under, "you just can't do that!" Or "that's impossible." Perhaps you have to be a movie buff or film historian to appreciate its significance.

[108 fountains]

Thanks for the explanation Hawkman. Can you give me an example of what I should be looking for.
I've watched some of the old Alfred Hitchcock movies and saw some of the things he became known for, such as movement of the camera and odd camera angles - I remember one spot (although I forget which movie) that simply showed a close-up of a slowly turning doorknob at a particularly tense moment in a scene.
What are some of the innovations or techniques I should be looking for in Citizen kane?

[Hawkman]

Two that immediately spring to mind are the iconic shot at the beginning, where Kane drops dead and the snow globe thing catches the nurse entering the room, a composite shot, and the long crane shot which starts outside, what is, I think, a bar, where Kane's wife/girlfriend/widow (it's a while since I've seen it) is getting quietly sloshed. The exterior is a model, if I remember rightly, but the camera appears to descend through a glass roof into the room. It's done quite seamlessly and looks like one continuous shot. Robert Wise was the editor on that film, and he went on to direct some major classics.

[108 fountains]

Thanks Hawkman,
When I watched it (a few years ago), I wasn't looking for these types of things.
I'll watch it again and expect that I'll apperciate it more.

[Hawkman]

Simon Callow wrote a very good biography of Welles which contains some interesting info, and if you get hold a good DVD with special features, you can probably find out even more. It's 15 years since I studied film in depth, so I've forgotten most of it :D Can't even find my copy of the film. There are a number of good documentaries on the making of the film though.

[DATo]

The Color Purple

I wouldn't be able to make a top-ten or top 25 list; there are too many great ones out there, but I can say The Color Purple is my favorite.
I often see Citizen Kane listed by people who make these kind of lists as at or near the top.
I watched it and really didn't see why it is so highly rated. What am I missing?

I'm with you 108. I never could see what all the hoopla was about Citizen Kane. My understanding of the details surrounding the "greatness" of this movie parrots much of what Hawkman said. The movie was very innovative with respect to technical effects involving lighting, camera perspectives, sound and such. It was not so much exalted for the story itself, which, though OK, was nothing to write home about in my opinion.

[Emil Miller]

I'm with you 108. I never could see what all the hoopla was about Citizen Kane. My understanding of the details surrounding the "greatness" of this movie parrots much of what Hawkman said. The movie was very innovative with respect to technical effects involving lighting, camera perspectives, sound and such. It was not so much exalted for the story itself, which, though OK, was nothing to write home about in my opinion.

Well we all have an opinion and in my view Kane is and in all probability will remain the greatest film ever screened and here's why:


http://youtu.be/gCez9Pgqb5s


What's not generally acknowleged is that William Randolph Hearst can be seen as a surrogate for the USA itself: inheriting wealth in its formative years to become a nation of great influence and power; the overweening superiority of which leads to inevitable decline. It's an old story but the details are always riveting.

[108 fountains]

Well we all have an opinion and in my view Kane is and in all probability will remain the greatest film ever screened and here's why:


It's probably 8 or 9 years since I saw the movie. I'll watch the youtube, and I'll watch the movie again. I expect I'll appreciate it much more now that I have some background on it.

[romeoindespair]

Enter the void

Just a spectacular movie to look at. The visuals and camera work are some of the best I've seen. That and I've always been pretty obsessed with death.

[romeoindespair]

that or wild strawberries

[Clopin]

I've always planned to watch more movies, I even drafted out a list of about six hundred I planned to watch but I barely ever get around to watching one.

Anyway some favourites would be...

Mouchette of course!
Wild Strawberries
Annie Hall/Hannah and her Sisters
Spirited Away
Fargo
Synecdoche New York/Adaptation
The Sacrifice/Andrei Rublev

Oh I'm also a big fan of pretty much every film put out in Disney's golden age as well as Pixar films from that time period.

[bounty]

I think ive not seen the majority of films that have been mentioned here but the red violin from the op sounds like something id enjoy.

I cannot pick a singular movie but I do have a short list in no particular order: the princess bride, hair, glory, the chronicles of Narnia: the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, mayyyyyy be the last of the mohicans, and the sandlot.

[Marcus1]

Chris Marker's Sans Soleil (obviously)

I also like films made by these directors:

Yasujiro Ozu
Mikio Naruse
Heinosuke Gosho
Kenji Mizoguchi
Satyajit Ray
Ritwik Ghatak
Mrinal Sen
Hou Hsiao Hsien
Jia Zhang-ke
Wang Bing

[free]

Films come and go, new ones throw a shadow on old ones. It is not easy to stick to just one. I like Almodovar's films (not all of them, but I like his ability to show dark sides of human nature in a humoristic way). I remember being delighted with 'Ryan's Daughter' when I first saw it. The second watching was OK, but not as much as the first time. It has beautiful scenery and emotions. Then I remember being fascinated with Kubrick's 'A Space Odyssey', although the second watching left me not so much excited. But, the one I've watched for the second time with the same quantity of liking is 'Back to the Future', all sequels.

There are so many. I like films in general (if they are not morbid!).

[prendrelemick]

I watched "Singing in the rain" in colour recently. It is incredible. Those dance scenes will never be bettered, and all that wise-cracking dialogue is fantastic. It is the ultimate product from the zenith of Hollywood studio musicals.

However, "Singing in the Rain" is just pure wide entertainment. My favourite film is "Fight Club", The most thought provoking film I think I have watched. All those lost men searching for purpose.

[YesNo]

As far as musicals go, I liked "Carousel". I must have seen "Scary Movie 3" more than 3 times, so that one would have to be somewhere on the top of my list.

[wrc]

There are many movies I feel are good enough to watch twice. In the Heat of the Night, The Pawnbroker, Taxidriver, Dr. Strangelove, and many more.

But my favorite movie, which I can watch over and over is The Wild Bunch. Sam Peckinpah, director, was a real genius in taking an audience on a ride they won't long forget. This movie still haunts me. If rating a movie by the amount of truth in it, I would give it the highest rating.

If you haven't seen it, it's available online to watch on your computer. Just search for Wild Bunch.

Why not?

[Number 34]

There are a lot of films I love, so I'll just list the ones I watch regularly.

Bronson (Tom Hardy)
Saturday Night Fever
Goodfellas
Casino
Phenomenon (John Travolta)
Point Break
Every Chris Nolan film (recently saw Interstellar)
Dead Poets Society
Good Will Hunting
The Baltimore Bullet (James Coburn)
All The President's Men
Nixon
All fourteen Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films.

[Warchat]

Why not so many people here like The Ninth Gate ?

[HCabret]

Why not so many people here like The Ninth Gate ?

Because people generally don't like that movie. It only has a 41% on Rotton Tomatoes and a 44/100 on Metacritic.

[Tyrion Cheddar]

It's hard to say. It used to be Braveheart, till Mel Gibson turned out to be a pathetic little drunk who treats his wife the way a baby treats a diaper and apparently isn't the biggest fan of Jews. :-0 Now I'd have to say it's either Teen Wolf 2 or Bride of Chucky. :-0