Your 25 Favorite Movies of All-Time?

[zomgmouse]

Why so heavily skewed against remotely recent stuff?

Personally I think more recent stuff hasn't had a chance to shake off its recency bias.

[MortSahlFan]

Buffalo 66 is the only film from the last 30 years? Remove Shadows of Paradise and they're all 40+ years old.
Why so heavily skewed against remotely recent stuff? What went wrong with film after 1980 for you, I mean?

I guess they're just not nearly as good. Especially the writing..

[sevendaughters]

in chron order, subject to change and whim, etc.

The General (1926, dir: Keaton and Bruckman)
Napoleon (1927, dir: Gance)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946, dir: Powell and Pressburger)
Ikiru (1952, dir: Kurosawa)
Rear Window (1954, dir: Hitchcock)
Culloden (1964, dir: Watkins)
Jabberwocky (1971, dir: Švankmajer)
Wake in Fright (1971, dir: Kotcheff)
French Connection (1972, dir: Friedkin)
Penda's Fen (1974, dir: Clarke)
Barry Lyndon (1975, dir: Kubrick)
Alien (1979, dir: Scott)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984, dir: Reiner)
Come and See (1985, dir: Klimov)
Evil Dead 2 (1987, dir: Raimi)
Robocop (1987, dir: Verhoeven)
Where Is The Friend's House? (1987, dir: Kiarostami)
The Vanishing (1988, dir: Sluizer)
Paris Is Burning (1990, dir: Livingston)
From The East (1993, dir: Akerman)
Hoop Dreams (1994, dir: James)
The Son (2002, dir: Dardenne & Dardenne)
West of the Tracks (2002, dir: Bing)
The Act of Killing (2012, dir: Oppenheimer)
Bait (2019, dir: Jenkin)

Extra caveats: Heimat 2 is generally listed as a film and was screened in cinema, but I think longform episodic projects like this are a kind of proto-television so did not include. Jabberwocky is a short but I feel it merits inclusion. Didn't want to list directors twice.

[sevendaughters]

I guess they're just not nearly as good. Especially the writing..

But films aren't entirely a product of the script, no?

[greenman]

The Vanishing (1988, dir: Sluizer)

Studio Canal just put out a remastered bluray of this that looks way better than what I'd seen previously.

[sevendaughters]

Studio Canal just put out a remastered bluray of this that looks way better than what I'd seen previously.

got it lined up for next payday. can't wait.

[MortSahlFan]

But films aren't entirely a product of the script, no?

Not completely, but it does all start with the word. I was born in the 80s, but I kept noticing all my favorites were made before I was born, so I'll go with the probabilities.

[Puce Moment]

But films aren't entirely a product of the script, no?

Correct - also, which script? The final draft, the shooting script, or the in-production amended copy?

[greenman]

Not completely, but it does all start with the word. I was born in the 80s, but I kept noticing all my favorites were made before I was born, so I'll go with the probabilities.

The impression I get from the lists your posted here is a tendency towards more mainstream Hollywood and well know European cinema? What I think you see in more recent decades is that mainstream Hollywood is less likely to produce "intelligent" cinema of quality and non US cinema has less tendency to be lionised relative to the 50's and 60's.

The last 20-30 years your in much more of a two tier environment, more intelligent cinema of quality tends to be something you have to seek out a bit more on the arthouse scene rather than something that's trumpeted as openly, plus of course its had less time to build a following. Look at the selections from recent decades that come up here, very little of it got serious US awards buzz.

[sevendaughters]

Not completely, but it does all start with the word.

I mean, does it? Discounting extremes like Brakhage and Anger, let's take The Seventh Seal from your list and set it in the car park of Halfords in Middlesbrough, shooting on a bridge camera. Same script. It's not the same is it? Feels pretty clear that Bergman thought in particular images: the merging of the two women in Persona, Max von Sydow haunting the coroner in The Visit, the professor amongst the meadow in Wild Strawberries, the knight and Death playing chess, that stuff can't come off the page.

[greenman]

What your saying is that photographers are better than writers in every respect? interesting and of course correct view.

[sevendaughters]

What your saying is that photographers are better than writers in every respect? interesting and of course correct view.

Haha I take it you're a photog.? I mean I like all creative/technical aspects if they're done well and I do respect those witty screwball back and forths or the fatalist style of noir dialogue - but sensitive and intelligent camera, framing, positioning and movement can add so much to my enjoyment of something. Here's 5 images from films I chose...I don't see how you can "script" this. Some slightly require context but all are impactful in the moment (imo).











the last one of course being NOTHING without its visual component.

[greenman]

Script...

Walk around showing suppressed emotion for the last 45 mins Scarlett

[MortSahlFan]

I mean, does it? Discounting extremes like Brakhage and Anger, let's take The Seventh Seal from your list and set it in the car park of Halfords in Middlesbrough, shooting on a bridge camera. Same script. It's not the same is it? Feels pretty clear that Bergman thought in particular images: the merging of the two women in Persona, Max von Sydow haunting the coroner in The Visit, the professor amongst the meadow in Wild Strawberries, the knight and Death playing chess, that stuff can't come off the page.

But it does come off the page.. Bergman wrote many of his movies himself. Besides the dialogue, there is writing to describe what is happening visually.

[Puce Moment]

Just a quick note to say that some films are made without scripts.

#actually

[oy vey]

2001 A Space Odyssey - 5 movies that almost fit together, crazy end that somehow avoids being pretentious
Alien - perfect ensemble/effects/music/monster
Goodfellas - best of that genre for me
The Matrix - high concept, sexy, action, funny how my favourite scene (what the Matrix is) is total exposition so let's go easy on exposition when it's well placed.

Crucible/men-only/very-rewatchable:
12 Angry Men
The Thing

The Empire Strikes Back - the Falcon lightspeed failures get a bit repetitive, otherwise perfection
The Godfather 2 - the two parallel stories format was new to me so it stuck in my head, stylish and slower than 1
The Shawshank Redemption - Tim Robbins is a bit mopey but it watches like an old novel

The Wicker Man (original!!!) - old-school, low-budget, horrific, lovely
Nixon (directors cut) - long winded and convoluted with the editing but absolute Shakespeare
Paths of Glory - Kubrick as young, exciting and full of potential, I finally got the women in my family to enjoy a war movie
Jaws - Spielberg's schmaltz balanced with balls (for once)
The Shining - King's novel through a frosted pane of glass, iconic to the max
Perfect Blue - animated headfuck
Akira - animated headfuck
It's a Wonderful Life - 20th century Dickens
Baraka - an experience that sticks (no script^^)
Psycho - crime movie turns proto-slasher, I like the exposition at the end because I like all that dark-pop-psych crap.

I'm a sucker for movies that transcend the need for plot:
Withnail and I
Casablanca
The Big Lebowski

And any other 3 from earlier posts, thanks. Very hard to choose but good idea to try for 25. Covered many genres there. Wicker Man's a musical, right?

[kalowski]

BBC4 has just reminded me how fucking good Casablanca is.