Best Ever Movies

Poststructural Pub
1

OK, I know we’ve done this, but I love movies so much and we always have new people on Board, so…

What are your ten favorite all-time movies. For me favorites are those that have had emotional impact (like those catchy riffs in music), wherein lines, scenes and associated emotion have stayed with me through the years. Memorable performances and movie stealing scenes by supporting actors (Canada Lee in “Body and Soul” and Laura Linney’s Lady Macbethian role in “Mystic River” for example) as well as exemplary examples of a genre (sci fi, fantasy, semi-documentary, etc.) count…

1- On the Waterfront
2- Body and Soul (original with John Garfield and Lili Palmer)
3- Treasure of the Sierra Madre
4- Breaker Morant
5- LA Confidential
6- Blood Simple
7- El Topo
8- The Deer Hunter
9- Red River
10- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original)
11- The Godfather (I,II)
12- The Lord of the Rings (entire trilogy)
13- Harry Potter (all)
14- The Terminator, Alien, Silence of the Lambs, Psycho

Ok, so first off, we note that I can never restrict myself to 10 (I once tried with 100, and again exceeded the self-imposed limit).

Second there may be movies included that are not necessarily “best ever” critically, but are included for specific reasons.

“The Terminator” for the lasting now mainstream line “I’ll be back” and the relentlessness of the thing from beginning to end.

“Alien” because it may be the first really good movie wherein the female is the physical hero/lead.

“Psycho” which may seem campy today, but when seen on a rainy night in one’s youth while staying at a bungalow colony in the mountains, precludes forever any idea of a two closed eye shower.

“Silence of the Lambs” because of great acting and really scary scenes.

“Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” because they are the greatest fantasies ever brought to the screen and my daughter and I can watch them over and over…

Happy Thanksgiving to you all,

Philo

2

I will not name ten, but in no particular order:

Rob Roy. Liam Neeson is gorgeous in a kilt. Incredible scenery, background music, and a story that is violent, but ultimately cathartic.

Chocolat. Magical, chocolate, plus Johnny Depp as a gypsy.

The Sound of Music. Well, just because, sappy or no.

Joe Versus the Volcano. Completely wack, but so am I.

3

My list of favourite and Very Important movies (in no particular order, and i’ll probably miss a lot of important ones, but this is the Internet and bytes are cheap):

  • Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Glauber Rocha - do i need to say anyhting more?)
  • Body Snatchers (the original) - best paranoia movie ever
  • The Day The Earth Stood Still - best Scifi movie ever
  • Potemkim (Eisenstein - Russian) - much imitated, maybe the most influential movie ever, or maybe that was Citzen Kane
  • Citizen Kane - see above
  • City Lights - gotta have one Chaplin
  • The Princess Bride - how many people do you know, who can recite the whole movie by heart?
  • This is Spinal Tap - really, really captured the experience of being in a rock band
  • Pulp Fiction - many stories converging perfectly at the end
  • 1984 - another great paranoia movie, horrifying end
  • Blues Brothers (the original) - insanely great
  • Matrix (the first one) - low budget, reinvented SciFi and KungFu movies
  • Shane - could it be the best Western?
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance - When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
  • The Producers - Gotta have one Mel Brooks
  • Chariots of Fire - one of the few movies that actually inspired me
  • Psycho - gotta have one Hitchcock
  • Back to the Future (the first one) - Beautifully done.
  • Star Wars (the original trilogy)
  • Indiana Jones (the first one)

Honourable mentions:

  • The Steamroller and the Violin (Tartarkovski - Russian) - this movie is like a perfect jewel - impressive work for a college student!
  • Babette’s Feast (Dannish) - justice and grace reconciled
  • Shall We Dance? (the original, Japanese) - Why, o why did the Americans have to butcher it?
  • Space Cowboys - good old Clint
  • High Noon - Do not forsake, oh my darling!
  • Blazing Saddles - Gucci saddlebags. “We don’t need no steenking batches!”
  • Young Frankenstein - Alive! It’s Alive!
  • Unforgiven - Good old Clint… proof that you can make a Western today that’s as good as the old ones.
  • Modern Times - Another Chaplin. Might as well list all of his movies.
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Raindrops keep fallin on my head!
  • Adaptation - weird and intentionally self-defeating; plays with your ideas of fact and fiction, life and art; from the same people who did Being John Malkhovich
  • E.T.
4

Chinatown

Rob Roy

Fiddler on the Roof

Culpepper Cattle Company

Frenzy (by Hitchcock..hopefully I remember the title right)

Jeremiah Johnson

McCabe and Mrs Miller

Casablanca

Saving Pvt Ryan

Last of the Mohicans

Black Robe

5

BRAVEHEART
years ago (about 6.5 to be precise), i wrote how i felt about the movie, you can read my ‘braveheart impressions’ here: http://www.macbraveheart.co.uk/messages/bhapp-01.htm
I’m Robert Bruce. :smiley:


oh, ‘dumb and dumber’ ain’t bad either :laughing:

6

…in no particular order:

\

  1. Entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy

  2. “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

  3. “Labyrinth”

  4. “Pink Floyd: Live in Pompeii” more of a “concert” rather than a movie, but what the hell…

  5. “Masked and Anonymous”

  6. “Alien”

  7. “The Day the Earth Stood Still”

  8. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” original

  9. “Night of the Living Dead” original

  10. “Star Wars” orginals

  11. “High Fidelity”

  12. “Rear Window”

  13. “Half Baked”

…the list goes on and on.

7

I have no response to that. :wink:

Ummm…In no particular order…

An affair to remember
West Side Story
It’s a Wonderful Life
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
Life is Beautiful
Jurassic Park (for the effects)
Rear Window
Monsters Inc.



HeySue

8

How can you discuss the “Best Ever Movies” without the words “Billy Wilder”? The simple answer is that you can’t.

Will O’Ban

9

I had Gene Wilder! Twice!

10

I tend to lean toward sci fi..so her are my picks:

  1. BladeRunner. Starring Harrison Ford. Made from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K Dick
  2. Forbidden Planet. You gotta see it to believe it
  3. The Fantastic Voyage. Full of 70’s kitch.. Written by Asimov i believe.
  4. Diva
  5. My Dinner with Andre’
  6. STARWARS et al.
  7. The Longest Day
    :sunglasses: The Matrix, first one
  8. AKIRA
  9. Saving Private Ryan
11

Except for that response. Which I use as often as needed.

12

How was he?

13

A little overdone. But good in small quantities.

14

It’s funny, I hated that movie the first time I saw it; it felt like a slick and manipulative Hollywood version of Babette’s Feast, which was far more subtle and a fine film, but after friends made me watch it a few more times I grudgingly started to come around to liking most of it. The book is pretty good too.

I liked Local Hero a lot, as well as Gregory’s Girl. I’m a sucker for Bill Forsyth, I guess. Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies was great.

I’ve watched Tampopo a dozen times or so. Night on Earth (Wim Wenders) was pretty wonderful. Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain) will always be a favorite.

15

A few (but by no means all) of my favorites, in no particular order:

The Lord of the Rings (entire trilogy) – a nice adaptation of my favorite book.

Chariots of Fire – inspirational.

Harry Potter (all of them so far) – wonderful stories, and MAGIC. (But, as with the Lord of the Rings, the books are better.)

The Princess Bride – “Inconceivable!”

Bladerunner (director’s cut) – I hated the narration in the theatrical release.

The Sound of Music – fond childhood memories.

16

Sorry, G, not quite the same :slight_smile:

My favorite Billy Wilder picture is The Apartment with Jack Lemon and Shirley MacLaine. I’m also a big Jack Lemon fan – he and Wilder worked well together.

Will O’Ban

17

Skyward (Early Ron Howard film)
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Miracle on 34th Street
Man Without a Face
Waking Ned Devine
Roman Holiday
Cannonball Run
Mars Attacks
ET
Spitfire Grill

18

Last year, Dale started a similar thread called [u]The Undisputed Cimima[/u].
You’ll find five pages of all-time favorite movie titles there.

19

CATEGORY:
War: Saving Private Ryan (Effects are fantastic)
Full Metal Jacket (Probably the closest thing to Marine Corp BC)

Comedy: Pee Wees Big Adventure
24 Hours (Eddy Murphy)
Holy Grail

Romance: Have no comment (Ask my wife)

Thriller: Six Sense

20

blackhawk - thanks for mentioning “Black Robe.” That is an excellent movie, and I don’t know many people who have seen it.