CC00005: Billy Wilder
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:16
Tags:
- Double Idemnity (10)
- Some Like It Hot (10)
- Sunset Boulevard (10)
- The Apartment (10)
- The Lost Weekend (9.5)
- The Seven Year Itch (9)
- The Fortune Cookie (9)
- Witness for the Prosecution (9)
- Stalag 17 (8.5)
- Sabrina (8.5)
- One, Two, Three (8.5)
- The Major and the Minor (8)
- Love in the Afternoon (7.5)
- Five Graves to Cairo (7.5)
- The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (7.5)
- A Foreign Affair (7)
- The Spirit of St. Louis (7)
- Buddy Buddy (6)
- Avanti! (6)
- Mauvaise Graine (5.5)
- The Emperor Waltz (5.5)
- Irma La Douce (5.5)
- Kiss Me, Stupid! (5.5)
- The Front Page (5.5)
Author Comments:
This is the fifth in a new series I call Critical Consensus. I am averaging the opinions of several excellent film critics to produce a list of each director's films. The films will each have a rating between 1 and 10. The films will be listed in a recommended viewing order, so new fans will have an idea of where the best place to start watching a director's work is. These are not my opinions, although, since I have chosen the critics used (and I'm using many), my taste will perhaps seep through a bit.
Terribly nerdy, I know, but maybe this will help people only now beginning to dabble into certain directors' bodies of work.
Anybody else a bit shocked at Stalag 17's relatively low showing? Apparently, the critics aren't quite as in love with this film as they once were...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Haven't seen it. I assume you recommend it?
I would recommend it. Perhaps not a 10 (some of the characterizations are a bit crude), but probably at least a 9 in my book. I'm more shocked, however, by its rating because it used to be a critic's darling. Growing up in the 80s, it seemed every critical source lavished their highest ratings or praise on the film. Now, obviously, things have changed. On the other hand, several of the films gaining a 9 were not nearly as highly praised a decade or two ago. Oh, those fun critical trends...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yes, I can't believe that potentially the second best prisoner-of-war film (Bridge on the River Kwai, #1) received only an 8.5 average. Also, Witness should be a 10 as well; grand performances with one of the greatest cinematic twisting plots of all time. Those 2 movies and the top 3 on the list are easily on my top 100 of all time, perhaps even top 50. I don't actually have a list, so I can't say for sure. The other surprise is the low score of Irma La Douce. I have not seen it, but most people I have spoken to speak highly of it.