0001: My Top 100
Submitted by AAA on Fri, 07/06/2001 - 03:48
Tags:
- Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
- Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)
- Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles)
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, Stanley Kubrick)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean)
- All About Eve (1950, Joseph Mankiewicz)
- Cabaret (1972, Bob Fosse)
- Manhattan (1979, Woody Allen)
- Wings of Desire (1988, Wim Wenders)
- Breathless (1960, Jean-Luc Godard)
- Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder)
- Ran (1985, Akira Kurosawa)
- 8 1/2 (1963, Federico Fellini)
- Harold and Maude (1971, Hal Ashby)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, Mike Nichols)
- Do the Right Thing (1989, Spike Lee)
- Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze)
- Jules and Jim (1962, Francois Truffaut)
- M (1931, Fritz Lang)
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, Jacques Demi)
- Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
- The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)
- Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei Eisenstein)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962, John Frankenheimer)
- Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorcese)
- Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder)
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
- King Kong (1933, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
- Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson)
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Alexander Mackendrick)
- The Bicycle Thief (1948, Vittorio De Sica)
- Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)
- Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale)
- Amadeus (1984, Milos Forman)
- Blowup (1966, Michelangelo Antonioni)
- Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Michael Curtiz)
- The Man With a Movie Camera (1929, Dziga Vertov)
- Bringing Up Baby (1938, Howard Hawks)
- Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989, Woody Allen)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961, Blake Edwards)
- Being There (1979, Hal Ashby)
- Stagecoach (1939, John Ford)
- The Wizard of OZ (1939, Victor Flemming)
- Stranger Than Paradise (1983, Jim Jaramusch)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel)
- Grapes of Wrath (1940, John Ford)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean)
- Sherlock, Jr. (1924, Buster Keaton)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967, Arthur Penn)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, Woody Allen)
- The Producers (1968, Mel Brooks)
- The Searchers (1956, John Ford)
- The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)
- Some Like it Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)
- The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges)
- Duck Soup (1933, Leo McCarey)
- Mildred Pierce (1945, Michael Curtiz)
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979, Brian Jones)
- Imitation of Life (1959, Douglas Sirk)
- Talk to Her (2002, Pedro Almodovar)
- Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau)
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955, Nicholas Ray)
- Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorcese)
- The Last Picture Show (1971, Peter Bogdonovich)
- Blood Simple (1984, Joel Coen)
- North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock)
- Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
- The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Ernest Lubitsch)
- The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene)
- Black Narcissus (1947, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
- This is Spinal Tap (1984, Rob Reiner)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Ang Lee)
- Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
- Fargo (1996, Joel Coen)
- A Night at the Opera (1935, Sam Wood)
- West Side Story (1961, Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise)
- Topsy-Turvy (1999, Mike Leigh)
- Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell)
- A Hard Day's Night (1964, Richard Lester)
- The King of Comedy (1983, Martin Scorcese)
- All About My Mother (1999, Pedro Almodovar)
- 12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet)
- Halloween (1978, John Carpenter)
- Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam)
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992, Michael Mann)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, Lewis Milestone)
- M*A*S*H (1970, Robert Altman)
- Romeo and Juliet (1968, Franco Zeffirelli)
- Sleeper (1973, Woody Allen)
- Beauty and the Beast (1991, Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise)
- The 39 Steps (1935, Alfred Hitchcock)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner)
- Moulin Rouge! (2001, Baz Luhrmann)
- Miller's Crossing (1990, Joel Coen)
- The Man Who Would Be King (1975, John Huston)
Author Comments:
Honorable Mentions
(alphabetical order)
The African Queen (1951, John Huston)
Airplane! (1980, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, & Jim Abrahams)
Bananas (1971, Woody Allen)
Dancer in the Dark (2000, Lars Von Trier)
Dead Man Walking (1995, Tim Robbins)
Deliverance (1972, John Boorman)
Edward Scissorhands (1990, Tim Burton)
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Steven Spielberg)
The Godfather Part II (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)
On the Waterfront (1954, Elia Kazan)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Milos Forman)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg)
Stardust Memories (1980, Woody Allen)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988, Phillip Kauffman)
Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
Yi Yi (2000, Edward Yang)
Young Frankenstein (1974, Mel Brooks)
I'm glad to see you're combining into one comprehensive list, but I must say I liked the old writeups! Still, looking forward to the new ones. Great list.
Thanks jim! I realized that my writeups could have been much higher quality. I think I shall be rewatching some of these films in order to give a full writeup. I'll be posting the first one tonight or tomorrow.
Okay, I no longer mourn the loss of the original writeups. What you have so far is great! They make me want to immediately rewatch the movies on this list.
First off, let me thank you for the compliment on my similiar list. I liked your list the way they were before but you are really shining with your new write-ups. Keep It up!! Very astute observation on Lawrence's sexuality. (Especially for someone as young as you are) I always assumed Lawrence was a homosexual and in real life I believe he was.
This post is adressed towards both you and Jim. Thank you very much for your compliments on my write ups. I rewatched Chinatown and Casablanca, and remembered exactly why I loved them so much. By the way, I am really enjoying your top 100 jgandcag.
AAA
Wow, nice list. Everyone can probably point out a favorite that is missing from this list, but it is extremely hard to argue with what is on this list. I'm especially surprised and pleased to see Cabaret, an often over-looked film presently, snag a top ten position.
Quite excellent work; I await your future write-ups!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I think that what is most interesting about Dr. Strangelove, like many of Kubrick's films, is that the subtext of the script is much more important to the understanding of the movie than the mere story. Is this really a Cold War movie? Or is it a movie that is about sex? Inability of sex drives Major Ripper; the possibility of sex drives Stangelove and the rest of the President's cabinet; Premier Kissov is engaged in sex when the President calls; the airplane crew read Playboy magazines and such. The whole film is inundated with the idea that sex drives people's actions. This is also evident in Lolita, of course, but the reason people hated Lolita when it came out, I think, was that Kubrick decided to make the serious nature of the story humorous. Just think of the extremely funny scene of the roll-away bed. Ironically, the movie that Kubrick made where sex is out in the open - Eyes Wide Shut - is a big disappointment.
Is it my imagination or did this used to be a top 100 list?
Actually, it had aspirations to be a top 100, but it ended up settling for a rather mediocre 50. The thing is, I went back and did some examination, and realized that I hadn't really been true to my taste when I made the list, so I fized it up, added films, rearranged a few, and generally improved it. I could make it to 40, but I would end up putting some films on there that I'm not sure I truly love. The short list for the next few spots looks something like this:
Miller's Crossing
Rear Window
Heathers
Annie Hall
This is Spinal Tap
The Sweet Hereafter
Duck Soup
The Manchurian Candidate
I think if you want monty python here you should put in the search for the holy grail not Life of brian but just my opinion...
I'll take the witty spiritual farce anyday. While the Holy Grail is funny and timeless, Life of Brian made me laugh far more than the Grail. There's nothing like the scene in which Brian flees and his minions chase after him worshipping idols along the way.
Sheer delight.
Howdy AAA, any particular reason you changed this from a top 20 to a top 10? Just curious - there was some mighty fine viewing in your 11-20 slots.
Having realized the horrible gaps in my film education, I've decided to watch more films before I attempt to create a top anything. I hope to spend the summer and most of next school year seeing some older fims and then creating a top 100.
See, perfect example. Tonight I watched Double Indemnity, and I was blown away. I loved it so much that it would make a strong entry onto my top twenty, maybe even top ten. But I hadn't seen it until tonight. So I'm gonna give myself a chance to see more films before I do anything.
You know I want to see the top 50 version. :-)
Amen to that!
Hmm, well...I have enough films that I love...but the problem is that I'll feel like I'm being completely arbitrary with the ordering...it all depends on how I feel at that moment. I'm gonna work on this and post it little by little until I get to 50. Hey! Let's make a game of it! I'll be posting #'s 11-15...guess what'll be on the list.
Hmm, how well do I know you? Probably not all that well, but here are my guesses:
Annie Hall
Being John Malkovich
The Last Picture Show
Sunset Blvd.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Mmm, just like AJ, all five are really good guesses, but none are right. You came pretty darn close with two of them (top twenty material, perhaps). The other three will be making appearances as well.
Here's my guess.
11. Casablanca
12. Sunset Boulevard
13. M
14. Being John Malkovich
15. Double Indemnity
Hmm, those are actually all very good guesses. But, only one is correct. I'm surprised that you came anywhere near, though, considering that there are so many to choose from. The other four will be appearing pretty high on my list, though.
To be honest, I cheated. I went back to that Sight and Sound project where I had everyone submit their top 20 films that didn't make the list (heh, I don't think I ever officially finished that thing). The first four were next on your list when you submitted your picks a little over a year ago. Then I added "Double Indemnity" because in an earlier post on this page, you said it was top 20 material if not top 10. Anyway, it just goes to show you how much your taste can change over a year.
Wow, ask and ye shall receive, and then some! Thanks AAA!
Agreed. Very nice list, AAA, and filled with plenty of great musicals and film-noirs.
Thanks to both of you guys. I appreciate the encouragement. As for the musicals and film noir, I think that more of both is necessary. As much as I love the genres, there aren't nearly enough great films in either. I have a feeling that the director that is going to end up being my signature favorite is Woody Allen. He has four films on the list, and I'm going to put some more that I love in the honorable mentions.
Wow, and another 25 make the list! You are on FIRE lately. Love those top-10-by-decade lists too. As if my "to see" list wasn't long enough. :-)
No wonder you were looking forward to the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre - I didn't realize you admired the original so much. I haven't seen it yet, but it's in my queue.
Yeah, that might explain my excitement.
I saw the new film. Sadly, it is merely OK at best. While it could have been much worse, it fell into the genre trappings that the original avoided.
I'm gonna write down my thoughts on Tobe Hooper's films some day.
Just reached 1000 views!
Go team!
Hey, you've just heard this about a hundred times, but you have great taste in films. I'm glad Woody Allen was on there, in my opinion, he's incredibly underrated (except in France) and it makes me feel connected (funnily enough) to the people who can appreciate his films.
Thank you so much for your kind comments.
I think Woody Allen is one of America's all-time great filmmakers. His ability to blend theme, character, pathos, and humor back in the late 70's and all through the 80's was just incredible.
A very respectable list.
If you'd kicked out #100 and replaced it with The African Queen I'd have no complaints.
Awesome. Frankly, this may be the most interesting My Top 100, etc.-list on listology: clear, a lot of interesting and original choices, ... Wow!