The Top 376 Films Of All Time So Far, Mostly Ten By Ten

[OdoWanKenobi]

You're welcome.

The thing about the good films on the list is that there's really nothing to say about them. Yeah, they're good movies that you see on lists like this all the time. The things to talk about are the incredibly unorthodox or downright insane choices that you've made. You're the one putting yourself out there. When you talk about something as close to people's hearts as their movies, prepare for some criticism.

The Friday the 13th films are actually a guilty pleasure of mine, though I would never think to call any of them high art. There are actually some that are better constructed films than others, as difficult as that may be to believe.

My avatar is meant to be ridiculous. The combination of My Little Pony and Green Lantern is an attempt at humor. You know, combining two things that don't go together, and getting something silly as a result? Things like combining Die Another Day, or X-Men 3 with a list of the best films ever made.

Oh, and thanks for pointing out my typo. I don't know what I would do without you to furiously police my posts.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Favorites, not bests. That's what the original posting said. Criticism is explaining why you like or dislike something, which Harvey and I have been doing. Saying a title is bad without explaining why is like ending your sentence without a

90. Ronin (1998)
89. Broadcast News (1987)
88. Ran (1985)
87. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
86. Mission: Impossible (1996)
85. The Wild Bunch (1969)
84. The Crucible (1996)
83. The Terminator (1984)
82. Traffic (2000)
81. North by Northwest (1959)

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Ok fine: Die Another Day starts out with so much potential, and the first half is actually one of the best Bond films ever. Sadly, it quickly descend into being ridiculous with a lousy, unmemorable villain with a silly space laser plan that would give even Roger Moore pause. Need I even mention the invisible car? It's a movie with such a case of schizophrenia. The first half is dark, and exciting, while the second half just becomes a cartoon.

 

[Saga]

Ok fine: Die Another Day starts out with so much potential, and the first half is actually one of the best Bond films ever. Sadly, it quickly descend into being ridiculous with a lousy, unmemorable villain with a silly space laser plan that would give even Roger Moore pause. Need I even mention the invisible car? It's a movie with such a case of schizophrenia. The first half is dark, and exciting, while the second half just becomes a cartoon.

i completely agree.

 

[Starkers]

But it was a homage to all Bond films. The space laser I'll give you, but not like they haven't done that before in Bond (in a Connery film don't forget), and I actually like Graves, I think Toby Stephens makes a good villain. As for the invisible car...is it any less believable than a hollowed out volcano launcing a space rocket that eat other space rockets, or the fact that 007 once went into space and had laser gun battles? And the technology does seem to be in its infancy already so theoretically it is possible (just obviously nowhere near as possible as shown in DAD).

Personally I like the film up to the finale on the Antonov. An invisible car I can deal with but Graves in a robot suit? Nah...plus I really wanted Miranda Frost to ice (ho ho) Jinx.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

YES!!!!!!! ''The Getting of Wisdom'', number 138 from Australia, is finally on DVD as of today. It was hard enough to find on VHS. Check it out....

And another new film which I mentioned last week, THE RAID: REDEMPTION, is another worthy thriller unfortunately too recent to include...........

80. Hard-Boiled (1992)
79. The Deer Hunter (1978)
78. The Crying Game (1992)
77. A Room with a View (1986)
76. No Way Out (1987)
75. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
74. Black Sunday (1977)
73. River's Edge (1987)
72. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
71. Clear and Present Danger (1994)

I think HARD-BOILED may have the single longest action pileup ever in terms of nonstop intensity. Its concluding battle in the hospital is literally one hour long. For those of you who might've seen the non-Barbara Steele BLACK SUNDAY, what did you think?

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

Nice to see River's Edge on there. Great movie, great cast. And a role that Keanu Reeves doesn't seem out of place in. Of course, in that same ten you also have Dracula, which does have one of the worst Keanu performances.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

I too won't pretend Reeves was as outstanding as the film he was in. Even Anthony Hopkins seemed to be capitalizing on his Lecter-based fame in a comedic way while playing Van Helsing. It's doubtful he would've been cast if not for the Oscar win earlier that year. Still, Gary Oldman was very impressive---and very different---as Drac. And Francis Coppola delivered a truly scary change of pace which gave him a box office comeback, though not as much critical acclaim as he deserved.

Plus, it was much better than JACK, of course.

70. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
69. Unforgiven (1992)
68. Crash (2005)
67. Testament (1984)
66. The Boys in the Band (1970)
65. Crimson Tide (1995)
64. Platoon (1986)
63. Malcolm X (1992)
62. The French Connection (1971)
61. RoboCop (1987)

The ''RoboCop'' remake is expected to get laughed out of town next year or so. I can wait. Does anyone here feel CRASH stole BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN's Oscar for Best Picture?
(Not me.)

 

[Harvey]

I thought Crash (technically released in '04, not '05) was insufferably melodramatic, with a narrative that was only held together by a string of unlikely coincidences. On top of that, it has a rather backwards message about race that pretends to be progressive and useful; it's neither.

I never saw Brokeback Mountain, though, so I can't really comment on the Oscars.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

CRASH was released in 2004, wide-released the following year, and won Best Picture for that same year (in 2006). The funny thing is CASABLANCA somehow pulled off that same trick by winning Best Picture for the year after it was originally released. When Jessica Lange won Best Actress for BLUE SKY in 1994, they decided not to mention the film had been delayed four years.....
More thoughts on CRASH later today.....

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

When CRASH was about to be released, the ad campaign reminded me of GRAND CANYON's approach and themes, and TRAFFIC-style multiplotting. If you were to sum the whole concept in two blunt words, it would probably come down to ''skin judgments.'' CRASH seems to polarize people more than most movies do, but I was especially taken by the wildly surprising Matt Dillon character arc, plus later key moments with Terrence Howard and Ryan Phillippe. There were several ''out-of-the-blue'' incidents, but I think the film would've been far more conventional without them.

That being said, never give a carjacker's gun back to him, even if he hates rap music. There are stretches of disbelief and then there are explosions of them.

60. Cape Fear (1991)
59. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
58. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
57. E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
56. JFK (1991)
55. Thunderball (1965)
54. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
53. The Caine Mutiny (1954)
52. Tootsie (1982)
51. L.A. Confidential (1997)

Whoa. THREE Spielberg classics all taken down in one ten-spot. Am I too harsh on him?

Long ago when I was only starting to be a filmaholic, POSEIDON was actually my second all-time favorite film ever. Now I know better....

And now I can promise you all, James Bond will not return. Adjusting for inflation, THUNDERBALL is also the highest grossing of the series. Normally that'd lead me to disagree with that verdict, but not in this case.

Favorite line: Connery sees Q come in, and says ''Oh, no.''
It's their third meeting on film.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Now...beginning the final fifty.

50. Paths of Glory (1957)
49. Fight Club (1999)
48. Planet of the Apes (1968)
47. Blade Runner (1982)
46. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Last fall I met an actor upstate who had appeared in both 50 and 47, as well as THE SHINING, THE KILLING and THE SAND PEBBLES.....

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Joe Turkel.

45. Sahara (1943)
44. Fail-Safe (1964)
43. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
42. The Breakfast Club (1985)
41. Sin City (2005)

''Show Dick some respect.''----Judd Nelson.

 

[Harvey]

The DVD of Sahara has been sitting on my parent's shelf for years; it's always there when I visit, unmoved. Does it really rise above the level of most World War II propaganda films made in the '40s? Casablanca is usually described as a bit of an outlier. The only other film in the genre I can remember seeing at the moment is Background to Danger, which was truly awful.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Outlier?

You have me curious what other WWII era films may be in your parents' collection. I first saw SAHARA just five years ago and was unexpectedly mega-impressed. Like THE BOYS IN THE BAND, it's a late arrival in the favorites. I was just as surprised when an Australian remake of SAHARA starring James Belushi appeared from the 90s and was also better than expected.

I'd say Number 45 is a less propangandistic, slightly less memorable film compared to Number 25.....which will be more propagandistic, but gripping as hell with an incredibly effective endng.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

40. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
39. The Road Warrior (1981)
38. True Grit (2010)
37. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
36. The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter was at the same shindig Turkel was last year.

 

[Harvey]

I've never been crazy about either of the first two Mad Max films (I haven't seen the third). They have great car chases, but are rather plodding otherwise.

The Blair Witch Project is garbage. I can understand why it's influential (the transmedia marketing campaign essentially made the movie into a blockbuster), but the movie itself isn't scary or interesting.

I haven't seen any other World War II era World War II films in full, but I've seen many clips from Back to Bataan, Mission to Moscow, and Confessions of a Nazi Spy.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

But-but-but-but-but-but-but-but-but------I mean, that is to say.....

The BLAIR WITCH non-recommendation is not surprising. Even more so than CRASH, BWP can be quite the polarizer. Some viewers got overly nauseous. More disliked Heather Donahue's character from the get-go. Myself? I was totally engrossed when she exploded during the halfway point, at that moment convinced I was now watching a horror classic. I still feel that way. And I believe when they came upon the same exact rock after walking south all day, it wasn't because they were careless. It was because something was turning the very woods around to torment them.....not unlike the reappearing house that could not be escaped by car in THE LEGACY.

Still, I'm rather thrown that you'd think MAD MAX and ROAD WARRIOR plodding in any respect. BEYOND THUNDERDOME certainly had a slow middle section, plus the unnecessary stunt casting '80s movies often fell prey too. But the first two films? One reason I put THE ROAD WARRIOR higher than MAD MAX is because until MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE came along, TRW had the single best-edited action sequence finish I'd ever seen. I had to freeze-frame it and check it out frame-by-frame. Moving on......

35. M*A*S*H (1970)
34. The Usual Suspects (1995)
33. The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966)
32. Dogma (1999)
31. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

In the interests of full disclosure it behooves me to mention ''M*A*S*H'' 's Sally Kellerman was also at another convention at the same hotel where Joe Turkel and John Carpenter appeared. We sang one of her LOST HORIZON songs together at my request.

Also, I would like to see everybody else's top ten film choices if they have them, whether bests, favorites, or both, at your convenience. Thanks in advance.

30. No Country for Old Men (2007)
29. Deliverance (1972)
28. And Then There Were None (1945)
27. The Departed (2006)
26. Witness (1985)

 

[Harvey]

Still, I'm rather thrown that you'd think MAD MAX and ROAD WARRIOR plodding in any respect. BEYOND THUNDERDOME certainly had a slow middle section, plus the unnecessary stunt casting '80s movies often fell prey too. But the first two films? One reason I put THE ROAD WARRIOR higher than MAD MAX is because until MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE came along, TRW had the single best-edited action sequence finish I'd ever seen. I had to freeze-frame it and check it out frame-by-frame.

I agree, the car chases (i.e. the action sequences in these kinds of films) are great. But the rest I find to be rather plodding, and unmemorable. Everyone always goes to the climactic editing sequence in Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior), but a movie has to have more than that.

I've seen three of the next five you've listed. The only problem I have with Deliverance is the use of some awful day-for-night photography; other than that it's superb. No Country for Old Men is a masterpiece. The Departed, however, is a piece of garbage.

I've seen Infernal Affairs (and its sequel, which might be an even better movie) enough times to notice their flaws, but they're infinitely superior films to The Departed. Scorsese's direction (and casting of Nicholson, Baldwin, and Whalberg) lets the film go over-the-top, and William Monahan's script sacrificed being believable when it combined three female characters from the Hong Kong version to set up a rather implausible and melodramatic love triangle. When the movie won the Oscar, it was a sympathy award for all the times the Academy snubbed Scorsese in the past for superior work.