Is your favorite movie the same as the movie that you think is best?
Submitted by AJDaGreat on Sun, 10/20/2002 - 09:17
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By favorite, I mean the movie that gave you the most personal enjoyment, while the movie that you think is the best movie ever made would be that one which you think has the best qualities of a film (great actors, great direction, great script, etc.). So would you call that movie which you think is the greatest your favorite movie? Or is your level of enjoyment different from your artistic perception of the movie?
Film is so subjective...or is it?
Oops sorry. I see you have said exactly as above in your following poll.
Surely the best movie is the one that touches/amuses etc you personally. Same applies to music/art etc etc etc.
What if we have trouble deciding our favorite movie but we know which 2 films we think are the best? How would we vote in this poll?
Hmmm... Well, I guess I can't answer this poll, because the best qualities of a film to me are totally intangible. You can have movies with great everything, but if they don't have that certain magic, that heart, they're not going to get me. MEMENTO, for example, incredibly well done. But where was its heart, its life?
Also, I think there's a lot of "supposed to" when people pick greatest movie, whether they want there to be or not. People "know" that CITIZEN KANE is a great movie, so they will find the "great" things in the movie. People know that REQUIEM FOR A DREAM is not an established classic, so even though this movie kicks the shit out of CITIZEN KANE technically and for pure visceral and intellectual edge, it will not be called "great".
And what is a movie's function. To call something better or worse, more or less, you have to know what its function is. You say, best director, actor, technical stuff. But even then, what makes a good actor, director, technical person. What is the overriding function?
These functions can include but aren't limited to: entertainment, education and intellectual stimulation, propaganda, beauty and artistry, etc. etc.
So to even name the greatest movie, there should be some notion of what a great movie is.
One final note. Men have traditionally picked the greatest in everything music, fine art, film, books. Women's subjects (think Jane Austen's novels, "chick flicks", pretty much all women musicians) just aren't respected quite as much. A war movie like Saving Private Ryan, a Gladiator movie like, well Gladiator will automatically get more respect for being about an "important" subject. As if war and death and violence were more important than the workings of the human heart, love, sex, home life, subjects which often give a movie the title "chick flick".
Anyway, that's a lot of baggage to throw on your poll, but those are the thoughts I had when trying to respond to this question. Notice I don't have a separate "Greatest" list. This is largely because I suspect it's impossible to really declare that for other people. We all watch the movies for different reasons, with different sensibilities, different lessons to learn. The most greatest lists usually offer me is a chance to watch some films lots of other people have pronounced good and see what I like. Sometimes I unearth treasures ORDINARY PEOPLE. But often its out-dated, great by reputation like TOUCH OF EVIL.
One last note - I find it easier to identify "greatest" books. Maybe this is because for a book to have survived so long, so many printings from so long ago, it's got to be pretty damn good. Sorting out the modern classics, now that's a little harder.
jeez, that's a heckuva response. well-stated, though. I would have taken twice the wrods to say half as much.
You liked "Requiem for a Dream"? I have a couple friends whose opinions I trust very much, and they loved it. Said it was difficult to watch, but well worth the experience.
although I wouldn't agree with Ebert. Admittedly, I've only seen Citizen Kane once. But I found large parts of it sterile. Yes, the camera work, the framing of shots, the scoring and editing were marvelous. But I felt that the character of Kane was too bi-polar to really resonate with me. He was hot or cold, little middle ground. I had no visceral response to him.
again, I need to see it again. but I saw Amelie once and it blew me away.
by the way, my favorite movie is likely The Royal Tenenbaums. Would I say it's the best? probably not.
I just meant if you agreed with Ebert in that his favorite movie wasn't the same as the movie he considered the greatest, not if you agreed that "Citizen Kane" is the greatest movie ever. Since you said that your favorite was "Tenenbaums" but not the movie you think is the best, I think you know how to vote.
I'm actually not sure what I think the greatest movie ever is. But I don't think I'd say "Citizen Kane", and I don't think I'd say my favorite movie.
Yeah, I did vote for the "different" option. Guess I needed to vent me spleen about "Kane". I think Sideshow Bob said it best: "Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king. That's why I did this: to protect you from yourselves."
I guess I loved "Tenenbaums", and I would like to say it's the best movie ever made, but I don't trust myself to make that judgment. I'd have to see a boatload more movies before I thought I was qualified to make that call. In the meantime, it'd be good enough to say that "Kane" is the best movie.
and I'm also comfortable with the fact that my Simpsons quote is totally irrelevant to anything.
"Well, kids, you tried your best...but you failed miserably! The lesson is, never try."
That's exactly how I felt about the movie - it was sterile!
Now maybe it was meant to be sterile, maybe that's what it was trying to say, but it doesn't seem like something that's really worth saying, at least not enough to be the greatest ever.
The Godfather and Godfather II are closer to the mark, but still, what's so important, universal, etc. about gangsters? I didn't really get anything out of it. I admired it, but so what? It's like a show dog on tv, versus the mutt you pick up at the pound who claims your heart.
Methinks you are putting too much thought into this poll. Just think of the film that appealed to you the most, the movie that gave you the most personal enjoyment. Is that film the one that you personally consider to be the greatest movie ever made? Use your own opinions in determining your "notion of what a great movie is." You don't have to declare a great movie for other people, just for yourself.
Roger Ebert, with whom I may not always agree, but whose reviews are enjoyable to read for me, once wrote:
"'Saturday Night Fever' was Gene Siskel's favorite movie, and he watched it at least 17 times. We all have movies like that, titles that transcend ordinary categories of good and bad, and penetrate straight to our hearts. My own short list would include 'La Dolce Vita', 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'The Third Man.' These are movies that represent what I yearned for at one time in my life, and to see them again is like listening to a song that was popular the first summer you were in love."
However, Ebert still attests that he thinks "Citizen Kane" is the greatest movie ever made. Do you agree with Ebert here or not?