# top films ever?



## choubix (Jul 31, 2005)

hi!

how abOut a topic on movies?
I would say that Orson Wells was a genius and therefore rate his movies among the very best I have ever seen (such as "the third man" or "Malpertuis")
In a more "modern" style I would say that "Lock stock & Two smoking barrels" is one of my favorites 

as for the TV series: "Profit"
a tv series (1996) only a few did enjoy in France. A real shame Fox had to stop broadcasting it in the US...


----------



## Curator (Aug 4, 2005)

Good idea for a topic. I'd say M by Fritz Lang. It was made in 1931 and still comes off as shocking, modern, and beautiful. Amazing lead acting by Peter Lorre. 

As I just spent a summer studying the art collections of William Randolph Hearst, I'm partial to the movie based on his life, Citizen Kane. Of course, it's all too easy to name a movie like Kane as your favorite, so I'll stick with M.

----------------------------


----------



## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

Anyone with access to Turner Classic Movies could do a lot worse than staying up all night for the following lineup, which starts at 8 P.M. (EST) tonight:

8 P.M. Libeled Lady, with Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and William Powell

10 P.M. Roman Holiday, with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn

12:15 A.M. His Girl Friday, with Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy

2:00 A.M. Meet John Doe, with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck

4:15 A.M. Five Star Final, with Edward G. Robinson

6:00 A.M. Citizen Kane, with Orson Welles

8:00 A.M. The Magnificent Ambersons, with Joseph Cotten


Regards,

Charles


----------



## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

Tombstone, of course.


----------



## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

Arsenic and Old Lace. It reminds me of my own family and I try to identify with Cary Grant. Harvey with Jimmy Stewart to emulate his kind nature. Treasure of the Sierra Madre to remind me what greed does to a man. Anything with Laurel and Hardy to remember what real comedy is. A fan club organised an annual recreation of the pianno delivery at the still existing residence and stairway.


----------



## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

Another vote for Tombstone...I also love Little Caesar, Scarface (both versions), Ocean's 11 (both versions), Casino, Goodfellas, (and for those who know a good Kung Fu flick) The One Armed Boxer Vs The Master of the Flying Guillotine, Jaws (greatest horror movie ever), and of course...the most quotable if not the greatest motion picture ever to grace a celluloid reel...The Godfather...

*****
"When you wear lapels like the swellest of swells, you can pass any mirror and...
*smile*
...You've either got or you haven't got style!!!"​


----------



## Gong Tao Jai (Jul 7, 2005)

A few favorites:

Tokyo Story and An Autumn Afternoon by Yasujiro Ozu
The Seven Samurai
Cabaret
You Can Count On Me
The Palm Beach Affair
Get Carter (the 1971 version starring Michael Caine) 
Yojimbo


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Ahhh...

I am a connoisseur of crapola. Nothing is too dreadful for me to watch.

But there's lousy, and then there's the sublime feeling one gets when a movie turns out to be so impossibly bad that there's no way _not_ to watch it all the way through, and tell everybody about it...

Let us start out with a fine example, 1964's _Wrestling Women vs. The Aztec Mummy._

A Mexican horror movie, ineptly dubbed and re-edited by a drive-in entrepreneur named K. Gordon Murray for Stateside consumption. If it were made today it would be hailed by the _Village Voice_ for being brilliantly post-modern.

As it is, it simply makes no sense, but reinforces a sneaking suspicion I've always had: that the world could be saved from Unspeakable Ancient Evil by women in tight sweaters and capri pants.

And the gangsters have great suits.

I'll have more...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058304/


----------



## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> I am a connoisseur of crapola. Nothing is too dreadful for me to watch.
> 
> ...


"Them!" is by far my favorite B movie. It's actually a pretty good film. And I'm a sucker for giant insects.

I like the 1950s B-movie genre in general.


----------



## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

Swing Time - 1936 - Astaire and Rogers.

Won an Oscar and was full of morning coat goodness.


----------



## bwep (Apr 17, 2005)

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Animal House

"Is the juice worth the squeeze?"


----------



## mikeber (May 5, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Gong Tao Jai_
> 
> A few favorites:
> 
> ...


One note in regard to Citizen Kane. Hearst was heart because in addition to smearing his name, Wells added "facts" which were simply fabrication. The chase for cheap sensation started earlier then we think... 
Kurosawa's movies are among of my favorites:
RashÃ´mon
Kagemusha
Yojimbo
Kumonosu jÃ´
I did not grow up in the US, but there are some American jewels like:
Casablanca
High noon
The French connection
Bullitt
On the waterfront
Street car...
Wait a minute! I will have to spend all night naming favorite movies and probably tomorrow as well. Too many to count...


----------



## bwep (Apr 17, 2005)

I also forgot Raising Arizona

"Is the juice worth the squeeze?"


----------



## marc_au (Apr 22, 2004)

Amadaous. (You know, that 1980's film babout Mozart).

Plains, trains and automobiles. (John Candy and Steve Martin are a classic)
Groundhog Day.

(l like comedy).

*GR8MAN (The shooman) B8MAN.*


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

2001
Citizen Kane
Rear Window
Goodfellas
The Conversation
Metropolis
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Glengarry Glen Ross (With Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, etc...)
The City of Lost Children
Die Hard (quintessential mindless action flick)
The Sting (the best film score of all time, IMHO)

As far as schlock goes, anything screened by Mystery Science Theater 3000 is outstanding. They introduced us to Manos - The Hands of Fate, which has been voted the absolute worst movie on the IMDB. That's number 1 worst movie, out of over 120,000 in the database, heh.



Good/Fast/Cheap - Pick Two


----------



## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

For a variety of reasons, my tops are

The Philadelphia Story
When Harry Met Sally
Play It Again, Sam
Harvey
Scent of a Woman
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Metropolitan
Animal House
Big Fish
most Alfred Hitchcock

Though I recently enjoyed Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Old Virgin very much despite being a totally different sort of movie than most mentioned above.


----------



## Vettriano Man (Jun 30, 2005)

First and foremost: *Vertigo* _Alfred Hitchcock_ 
Runner up: *Metropolis* (the original) _Fritz Lang_


----------



## misterbowles (Apr 14, 2004)

I am shocked - shocked! - that nobody has yet mentioned _Dr. Zhivago_, the greatest film of all time.


----------



## choubix (Jul 31, 2005)

In addition to my initial post I must say that Steve McQueen's movies are really great as well...

I don't really know kurosawa (except the seven samourais).
Did he shoot only Chambara movies?


----------



## bobbyball (Jul 20, 2005)

Has to be fo me:

The Godfather
Citizen Kane
North by Northwest


----------



## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

The Blues Brothers. Please let us pretend that there was only one of them.

Kung Fu movies in general. Shaw brothers or www.thekwoon.com anyone?

CT


----------



## RichardS (Nov 20, 2004)

Among others:

John Ford`s "The searchers" an "Stagecoach"
Leo McCarey`s "The awful truth"
Victor Fleming`s "Gone with the wind"
Hitchcock`s "39 steps", "Notorious", "North by Northwest" and "Rear window"
Frank Capra`s "It happened one night", "Mr. Smith" and "Mr. Deeds"


----------



## rtaylor61 (Jul 25, 2005)

> quote:The Blues Brothers. Please let us pretend that there was only one of them.


But the all star ensemble at the end of Two...incredible! Would have loved to be the sound man on that stage!

Randy


----------



## Jill (Sep 11, 2003)

> quote:_Originally posted by bosthist_
> 
> Anyone with access to Turner Classic Movies could do a lot worse than staying up all night for the following lineup, which starts at 8 P.M. (EST) tonight:
> 
> ...


Wow, Charles! I finally found something about which I can agree with you!!  *GREAT list!! * Sorry I missed it.


----------



## brent1308 (Sep 11, 2005)

North By Northwest--(also best performance by a suit in a starring role)
Dr. Zhivago
Double Indemnity
Days of Heaven
On the Waterfront
Best years of our lives
Wonder Boys (love that movie. Though wouldn't really be considered a classic, it is one of my favs).

Had to chime in, though perhaps a little late.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I loved the musicals, "Sound of Music" and "the Music Man"

"Chicago" was fun, too.

I can't really say which other movie was my favorite. I tend to watch only musicals and comedies.


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

I am the founder of Cinema, Angling and Culinary Appreciation (CACA)- an exclusive group of film and fly-fishing enthusiasts who meet a couple times a year at my place in the Catskills for fishing, great gaseous pots of chile and stews, and the world's most godawful movies.

Some recent faves:

_The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies _ Greaser hotshot corrupts girl, lingers too long in burlesque house, is seduced and drugged by Gypsy fortuneteller, and finally gets locked in the zombie cage, which he deserves. Long, incomprehensible musical interludes. Bad dancing. Gratuitous Ferris wheel. Minus one star for no nudity. Good acid-in-face scene. Short. Three stars.

_Ilsa - She-Wolf of the SS_ Shot on the set of "Hogan's Heroes," this Nazi fetish exploitation splat-fest was so repugnant the original producer (with credits like "Manacle Me, Darling" and "Erotic Wild Kingdom") refused to put his name on it. It's about as awful as you can imagine. Ilsa as the POW camp commandant finally meets her match in an American GI who would have no need for Viagra, if you get my drift. (Priapic, apparently.) Lots of skin, most of it flayed, boiled, or otherwise mistreated. Gallons of blood. Water sports. Gratuitous saluting, "Heil Hitler"-ing and atrocious German accents. No redeeming social value. Stomach-turning. No CACA member will ever admit to any female that he actually watched this film. Five stars.

_Zombie Lake_. Dead German soldiers arise from watery graves in French countryside to terrorize the population, which consists of naked volleyball players and villagers who talk one way, but their lips move another(!) Stunning transition shots between lake exteriors and underwater shots in a swimming pool decorated with seaweed fronds. Gratuitous zombie love story. Hayloft sex. Jealous zombie kung fu. The guy who plays the mayor wears the same suit throughout, but unlike Cary Grant in North by Northwest, never sends it out for sponging. Shot as a two-fer production, the other half being a soft-core flick, which accounts for better-than-average nekkidity and aquatic wildlife shots. Four stars.

All of these are available on Amazon.


----------



## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

Patrick:

Are you a fan of Joe Bob Briggs?

Regards,

Charles


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by bosthist_
> 
> Patrick:
> 
> ...


A literary icon, or at least he was until he (John Bloom, mild-mannered Vanderbilt graduate) cracked up and started to believe he actually was his alter ego.

I try to tweak the style a bit - more _hommage_ than blatant rip-off.


----------



## Curator (Aug 4, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Vettriano man_
> 
> First and foremost: *Vertigo* _Alfred Hitchcock_
> Runner up: *Metropolis* (the original) _Fritz Lang_


There we go, a little Fritz Lang love. I'll maintain that "M" is on a completely different level than Metropolis, with it's gorgeous expressionist sets, artful cinematography, and sensational lead acting, but one could do worse than Metropolis.

----------------------------


----------



## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Last of the Mohicans
Tombstone
How to Murder Your Wife
Animal House
Indiscreet
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
You Only Live Twice


----------



## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

Patrick06790 - Those sounds like they rank up there with Silent Night, Deadly Night and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. Oh, those hurt.

CT


----------



## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Speaking of the classics, how about _Psycho Chicks at the Bowlarama _ or _Surf Nazi's Must Die_? [)]


----------



## sunnisalafi (Feb 20, 2005)

A lot of my favorite movies are of the "you either love it or hate it" variety........

Office Space
The Deer Hunter
Bananas
Sleeper
Take The Money and Run
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Godfather Pt. II
Revenge of The Sith
A Beautiful Mind
Blade Runner
The Defiant Ones
The Lost Weekend
No Way Home
25 Hours

and of course the two funniest movies ever made.....
Killer Nerd
Death Wish III


----------



## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

*La Dolce Vita
American Graffiti
Casablanca*

The Maltese Falcon
The Third Man
The Thin Man
All the Presidents Men
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles
Pulp Fiction

And along with bosthist, anything playing on TCM.

Andy
More Info on The Encyclopedia


----------



## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

I love The Maltese Falcon and really want a replica for my mantel as a joke.

I'll watch anything with Humphrey Bogart or Harrison Ford in it (I have to have one still-living actor to look forward to seeing). 

Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director, with the exception of Eyes Wide Shut.


----------



## Jill (Sep 11, 2003)

*Classics:*
Casablanca
Notorious
North by Northwest
To Catch a Thief
My Favorite Wife
Roman Holiday
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
An American in Paris
African Queen

*Romantic Comedies*
Sleepless in Seattle
Kate and Leopold
What Women Want
Someone Like You
Sweet Home Alabama

*Other (the eclectic list)*
Rudy
Fletch
Cinema Paradiso
Good Will Hunting
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Analyze This
Entrapment
All Bond - esp Brosnan and Connery
Most Clancy books turned film
Most Grisham "

I'm sure I'll think of others...


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

By all means go rent _Bubba-Ho-Tep_, starring Bruce Campbell (as Elvis) and Ossie Davis (as JFK).

Even if you dislike cheese-whiz cinema, you'll enjoy this light-hearted romp, in which an Egyptian mummy terrorizes a nursing home in east Texas, where a man who may or may not be Elvis is living out his days in the company of a pal who is convinced he's JFK.

I'm dead serious. No kidding. See it.


----------



## LabelKing (Sep 3, 2002)

8 1/2
Breathless 
Satyricon
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise
Fitzcarraldo
Death in Venice
The Leopard
Suspira 
Nosferatu
Blow-Up
L'Eclisse
L'Avventura 
Mon Oncle
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
Persona
Blue Velvet
Belle du Jour
Sunset Blvd

*"In truth, I am not altogether wrong to consider dandyism a form of religion."

Charles Baudelaire*


----------



## LabelKing (Sep 3, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> I am the founder of Cinema, Angling and Culinary Appreciation (CACA)- an exclusive group of film and fly-fishing enthusiasts who meet a couple times a year at my place in the Catskills for fishing, great gaseous pots of chile and stews, and the world's most godawful movies.
> 
> ...


I don't know about the Nazi She Wolf's aesthetic merit but if you like Nazi masochism then I'd suggest "The Night Porter" with Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in the Criterion Collection.

*"In truth, I am not altogether wrong to consider dandyism a form of religion."

Charles Baudelaire*


----------



## android (Dec 8, 2004)

*Boy Meets Girl*
_True Romance_

*War*
_Apocalypse Now_
_Band of Brothers_ (TV)

*Science Fiction*
_Blade Runner_
_2001: A Space Odyssey_

*Western*
_The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_

*Mob*
_The Godfather_
_Road to Perdition_

*Camel Jockies*
_Lawrence of Arabia_

*Fantasy*
_Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_

*Submarine*
_Das Boot_

*007*
_Live and Let Die_

*Cult*
_Rocky Horror Picture Show_


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by LabelKing_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


None. Zero. It's the black hole of aesthetics - a bottomless void into which all taste and humanity is sucked away, never to be seen again by mortal eyes.


----------



## rkw5000 (Nov 14, 2004)

Classic "guy" movie yet to be mentioned is "Slap Shot" with Paul Newman. Great cult film about minor league hockey team.


----------



## classyrik (Feb 22, 2005)

I've always found it interesting that, on most critic's lists, Citizen Kane is likely to be #1. A truly magnificent work of genius, but how often do people actually sit down and watch it over and over again? Strikes me as kind of like reading War and Peace. You gotta do it once -- but twice? That being said, my Top 10 List -- in no particular order, since this is hard enough!!! -- are:

1. Citizen Kane
2. Casablanca
3. Roman Holiday
4. Wizard of Oz
5. Gone With The Wind
6. The Godfather
7. Lawrence of Arabia
8. High Noon
9. Some Like It Hot
10. Zhivago

11. (Just like Lotto, I get one more) His Gal Friday or To Kill a Mockingbird


P.S. I'm a big Preston Sturges fan (Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story), but I'd still have to put his work in the NEXT 10.

Cheers,
CLASS




"A class act doesn't have to act classy" -- Ridley


----------



## doccol (Nov 13, 2003)

Most anything by Jim Jarmusch, except for Dead Man.


----------



## iammatt (Sep 17, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by choubix_
> 
> hi!
> 
> ...


My favorite movies were Goodwill Hunting and Shawshank.

What really matters is Profit. My wife and I watched it religiously for the short time it was on. We still refer to very stange people as Profits and surmise that they too must sleep in an old refrigerator box.


----------



## EL72 (May 25, 2005)

Apocalypse Now Redux

The Power of One


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

I just picked up a copy of _Double Indemnity_. Directed by Billy Wilder; screenplay at least in part by Raymond Chandler. Fred MacMurray playing a real slimy insurance agent, and Barbara Stanwyck getting more mileage out of a bare ankle than today's tarts get from all the midriffs in the world.

But what really gets me about watching old American and British films is how tightly they're constructed, compared to today's product. Time the credits sometime on _The Big Sleep_ or _The Killers_ (just to pick two). 90 seconds tops. Boom - straight into the story. By the fourth minute you're hooked.

Nothing explodes, nobody assembles guns with much clacking and clunking of parts, and no one utters the wretched phrase "mother-----".


----------



## Badrabbit (Nov 18, 2004)

How is it that no one has listed Full Metal Jacket?

Anyway here's my list (no particular order):
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
The Godfather
The Hustler 
Goodfellows 
Tombstone
The Shining (the original)
Blazing Saddles
The Search for the Holy Grail
Life of Brian
2001
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Heathers
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
Maltese Falcon
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets. 
Anthony Burgess


----------



## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Badrabbit_
> 
> How is it that no one has listed Full Metal Jacket?
> 
> ...


I quite approve! We have several favorites in common.


----------



## Mahler (Aug 5, 2005)

Wow, not a single Woody Allen fan so far. Well, I am one.

Plus:
1) directors: Fellini, Kieslowski, Bergman , Wes Anderson, Jarmusch, Polanski, David Lean, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Mamet

2) other films: 
Mulholland Drive
Heat
Lost in Translation
Gosford Park (sartorial paradise)
La regle du jeu
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Brief Encounter (Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto as a soundtrack!)
I know where I'm going!
Garden State
Usual Suspects
Zoolander (yeah!)
007
Monty Python films
and many more


----------



## Daywalker (Aug 21, 2005)

Randomly, my recurring favorites:

Gladiator
Unforgiven
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Saving Private Ryan
Underworld
Casablanca
The Big Country
North by Northwest
Pulp Fiction
Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2


----------



## alaric (May 23, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by VS_
> 
> I love The Maltese Falcon and really want a replica for my mantel as a joke.


https://www.hauntedstudios.com/

Just trying to help!

alaric

"Bunter, I shall have to look like a newspaperman." 
"Then, my lord, I would suggest the suit we don't like and the regrettable tie." 
"Perfect!"


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Caught a bit of _Rear Window _ last night. Grace Kelly - man, oh man...


----------



## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

I am rather surprised that in such an overwhelmingly male forum no one has yet (unless I missed it my quick skim) mentioned my fave: The Wild Bunch.

Of the B-grade trashers (and I've seen a passel of them, including a couple of the Ilsa series, a bunch of women's prison movies and "Surf Nazis Must Die") my personal favorite would have to be "Savage Streets" starring Linda Blair. I think it was released ca. 1983-4. As we were leaving, my best friend (who died earlier this month) remarked, "That was soul-defiling trash of the lowest order. I just loved it!" Highlights of the movie included the gang-rape of a little deaf-mute girl played by Linnea Quigley (a future B-queen herself), a pregnant bride to be hurled to her doom on the concrete bed of the Los Angeles River with her wedding dressing cast derisively fluttering down after her and a naked cat fight in the girls' shower room in a high school.


----------



## stylestudent (Feb 24, 2005)

My Top 10 (no order):
Once Upon a Time in the West ("I'm just a man".."an ancient race")
Children of Paradise
Swing Time
Unforgiven
Ran
Queen Margot
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (the lighting of the beacons)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
North by Northwest
Tie: The Thief of Baghdad and The Four Feathers


----------



## Mahler (Aug 5, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> Caught a bit of _Rear Window _ last night. Grace Kelly - man, oh man...


Couldn't agree more. And it's even more so in 'To Catch a Thief'. It has recently occured to me a character she plays there may be my ideal of a woman


----------



## SeaPlusPlus (Feb 11, 2003)

(It'd be easier to name favorite directors...)

Godfather I & II - Apocalypse Now

Rashomon - Ran - Seven Samurai

2001: A Space Odyssey - Clockwork Orange - Full Metal Jacket

Jour de FÃªte - Mr. Hulot's Holiday - Mon Oncle - Playtime

39 Steps - Rear Window - Psycho

Amadeus

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

Raise the Red Lantern

Barton Fink

VS:


> quote: I love The Maltese Falcon and really want a replica for my mantel as a joke.


 I have a penguin standing on my tele... (true)

Rich

P.S.

I made a Extended play VHS for a joke once of 2001, 2010, and 2069... (2069 was waaaaaaay out there...) 

OBTW... shouldn't forget "The Forbidden Zone" for laughs...


----------



## Rich (Jul 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by ChubbyTiger_
> 
> The Blues Brothers. Please let us pretend that there was only one of them.


Can anyone tell me whether their suit jackets are darted or not?


----------



## Rich (Jul 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Mahler_
> 
> (...)
> Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
> ...


I didn't expect to see these come up. Very fogeyish (I love them too).

stylestudent mentions: The Thief of Baghdad and The Four Feathers!

I didn't expect to see these either... It's unusual to find anyone who has even heard of any of these films, let alone seen (and loved) them. What a remarkable forum this is!

My two favorites just at the moment are They Live by Night (Nicholas Ray) and The Postman only Rings Twice (with Lana Turner).


----------



## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

When somebody mentions the The Four Feathers (one of my favorites as a kid), is he referring to the one made in the 1930s or to the one that came out a few years ago (that was actually closer to the book in many respects)? I assume the 1930s version is meant. (I think there were one of two cinematic versions of the novel even before that.)


----------



## rtaylor61 (Jul 25, 2005)

"The Natural" with Robert Redford. When he utters the line "life didn't turn out quite like I planned", he said it all.

Randy


----------



## Rich (Jul 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLibourel_
> 
> When somebody mentions the The Four Feathers (one of my favorites as a kid), is he referring to the one made in the 1930s or to the one that came out a few years ago (that was actually closer to the book in many respects)? I assume the 1930s version is meant. (I think there were one of two cinematic versions of the novel even before that.)


Korda's 1939 version, with Ralph Richardson.


----------



## yndy (Oct 31, 2005)

i bow to Orson Welles, luvd Citizen Kane
Sofia Ford Coppola's Lost in Transalation is cool
Y tu Mama Tambien and Chunking Express are great movies too!!![8D]


----------



## yndy (Oct 31, 2005)

i bow to orson welles luvd Citizen Kane
y tu mama tambien
lost in transalation
cruel intentions 1 & 2
blade 1& 2
jerry maguire
psycho
phantom of the opera

https://www.phonefactory.biz


----------



## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> Caught a bit of _Rear Window _ last night. Grace Kelly - man, oh man...


...and rumour has it she slept with every one of her leading men.

My best flick pick changes daily, but Rocky Horror would be high on the list, plus any of Wes Anderson's films so far. Perhaps a nice recent release would be Breakfast With Hunter, actually a documentary.

DD


----------



## pendennis (Oct 6, 2005)

So many great selections, thus far! Mine, in no particular order -
The Caine Mutiny - The final scene, in which Jose Ferrer throws a drink in Fred MacMurray's face is priceless.
Saving Private Ryan - The humanity shown by Tom Hanks is second to none.
Band of Brothers - Casting was spot on, and really brought out the characters. Frank John Hughes WAS Sgt. Guarnere.
Jaws - Terror and horror combined brilliantly.
Twelve O'Clock High - Probably the best performance ever by Gregory Peck (yes, even better than "To Kill A Mockingbird"), and Dean Jagger was brilliant.
The Usual Suspects - Kevin Spacey planned it all.
Heat - Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro really pulled together an supporting cast in this one.
Vanishing Point (1971) - Cultish, and a great finish.
Bullitt - Not a better chase scene before or since. Steve McQueen really played well off his supporting actors. Bill Hickman's genius as a stunt coordinator/driver, was never better.
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle - Robert Mitchum was outstanding, and Peter Boyle was as sleazy as one could be.



Dennis


----------



## ashie259 (Aug 25, 2005)

Mulholland Drive
Glengarry Glen Ross
Taxi Driver
Lift To The Scaffold
The Vanishing (original)
A Short Film About Killing
D.O.A. (original)
Strangers on a Train
Singing in the Rain
Get Carter (Mike Hodges)
Meantime (Mike Leigh)
Kes (Ken Loach)


----------



## winn (Dec 31, 2005)

_"I am the founder of Cinema, Angling and Culinary Appreciation (CACA)- an exclusive group of film and fly-fishing enthusiasts who meet a couple times a year at my place in the Catskills for fishing, great gaseous pots of chile and stews, and the world's most godawful movies." _ (Patrick, 22 September 2005)

Here are my two suggestions for the next CACA gathering:

_Squirm_ (1976) Just when you thought it was safe to go fly-fishing in the south...
My favorite line (as said in the thickest southern drawl possible by an older woman character) "I left the back door open...to get some fresh air."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075261/

_Empire of the Ants_ (1977)
ants + nuclear waste + Joan Collins
Need I say any more?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075989/

I saw these two movies - back to back - on a sleepless night in a motel in Norfolk, VA, in the early 90's.

Cheers,
Winn

(Patrick - You're killing me. I have been quoting to myself a lot lately - "I bow to no man in the depths of my shallowness")


----------



## kronos77 (Jan 22, 2006)

Andrei Rublev (originally The Passion According to Andrei) 

A brilliant and awe inspiring film by the late Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. The greatest film ever made, and second place is not even close. It is a good 3 hours and 20 minutes, slow at many points, and demands you bring your mind to the film, but it is worth all the effort.


----------



## upstarter (Dec 3, 2005)

FORREST GUMP!!!!!

I can watch this moive so 1000's of times, and still feel great inside.

I recently saw _Matchpoint_, Woody Allen's new film. I think it is up there with his greatest, although a different genre altogether.


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

A random sampling of my favorite films, at least those I can recall at the moment:

*Previously listed:*
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Thin Man
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Y tu Mama Tambien

*Not so far listed:*
Death in Venice
The Client
Billy Elliot

*Unlikely to be listed:*
Get Real (I wonder if anyone caught this one.)

"The Bishop of _Rome_ hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of _England_."
Thomas Cranmer, _The Book of Common Prayer_, Article XXXVII.​


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

_-The Lost Prince
-Casablanca
-Kind Hearts and Coronets
-The Pianist
-My Fair Lady
-The Lion in Winter
-A Night to Remember
-The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (1945 version)
_-Anne of the Thousand Days_
-Anything with Peter O'Toole, Sir Charles Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, or Sir Anthony Hopkins
-Literally countless others, mostly of the dust-gathering variety

*Mr Evans- And if the new one disdains English: _Romanus Pontifex nullam habet iurisdictionem in hoc regno Angliae._


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

A couple of recent additions to the CACA archives

_Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter_ (2002) is a musical about lesbians, hippies and other counterculture types in Canada. The tunes aren't as good as the kung fu, which stinks.

_Dracula AD 1972_ is a Hammer production that shamelessly attempts to cash in on Swinging London. These people deserve eveything they get. A dork named Alucard (spell it backwards - oooh) lures his stoned doofus friends to a deconsecrated church for a Black Mass, where he pours some old Dracula dust out into a goblet and then drips a hippie chick's blood on it. Great scene with a rock band actually playing some really atrocious stuff while a bunch of people from AAAC's UK chapter look appalled - and quite right, too.


----------



## Vettriano Man (Jun 30, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> ...while a bunch of people from AAAC's UK chapter look appalled - and quite right, too.


...indeed. [^]

Top of the list for me is Hitchcock's *Vertigo* (the digital remaster)

...perennial favourite of mine, never tire of it, always spine chilling - Hitchcock's innovative forward/backward zooming, Saul Bass's spectacular graphics, Bernard Hermann's haunting music, Scottie's shrewd determination but above all, Madelaine's alluring and seductive beauty...


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> 
> _-The Lost Prince
> -Casablanca
> ...


----------



## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

Omar Sharif is my favorite actor, but I'm amazed Dr. Zhivago ranks in two posters' top films -- it really is, as Pauline Kael wrote, "stately... and dead."

Sadly, any liking for Omar Sharif must encompass how awful and cheesy most of his film work in the last thirty years has been, with some isolated standouts (Monsieur Ibrahim and Juggernaut, among others). However, in the 1960s he appeared in a very diverse array of films in both starring and supporting roles, acquitting himself (IMHO) very well despite sometimes weak or just bad material -- The Night of the Generals (Nazi murder mystery, just a bad idea!), MacKenna's Gold (atavistic Western featuring Julie Newmar (erstwhile Catwoman) in the altogether), Behold a Pale Horse (troubling Fascist Spain story) and the actually excellent Fall of the Roman Empire, which must have had a large influence on the recent Gladiator, particularly Christopher Plummer's performance as Commodus.

Throwing some out there -- these are more favorites than top films ever -- 
Lawrence of Arabia
The Ruling Class
CQ
Barbarella
The Talented Mr Ripley
The 39 Steps
Kind Hearts & Coronets
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (despite Lazenby)
Darling
8 1/2
Airplane
Scaramouche
The Richard Lester versions of The Three Musketeers and sequels
Army of Darkness ("This is my BOOMSTICK!") 
Jason & the Argonauts (love Ray Harryhausen, plus Nigel Green appearance!!!!)

I'm still trying to get my hands on the 1980 Flash Gordon, with stellar performances by Timothy Dalton and Peter Wyngarde.

Bubba Ho-Tep is an amazing film. Anyone see Bruce Campbell's pet project "The Man With the Screaming Brain"? An instant classic.



-- RJman


----------



## eurodove (Dec 29, 2005)

Roman Holiday, Singing in the Rain, To Kill a Mockingbird, A place in the Sun, Magnificent Seven, Blade Runner, The Professional, Gladiator, Transporter(the first one only), American Beauty, Schindler's List, Crash, Cinema Paradiso, A Beautiful Life, Like Water for Chocolate, Tommy Boy, M.P.'s Holy Grail, Swingers
I know there are plenty more, but this is what comes to mind.


----------



## EL72 (May 25, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by RJman_
> 
> I'm still trying to get my hands on the 1980 Flash Gordon, with stellar performances by Timothy Dalton and Peter Wyngarde.
> 
> -- RJman


The region 1 Universal release is out of print and hard to find but here is one:

Great deal at under $40 and likely to fetch $50-60.

Cheers,

EL


----------



## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

Alaric, that's great!

I've forgotten two films I've watched a ton of times: The English Patient and Until the End of the World.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101458/


----------



## eurodove (Dec 29, 2005)

Yes!!! the English Patient and Usual Suspects!!! I forgot those too.


----------



## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

In no particular order:

_Memento
Sexy Beast
The Magnificent Ambersons
Nightmare Alley
Millerâ€™s Crossing, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski
Dersu Azala
The Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie 
Topsy-Turvy
A Scent of Green Papaya, The Vertical Ray of The Sun
A Taste of Cherry
Harlan County USA
American Dream
The Birds
Chimes at Midnight
Local Hero, and Comfort and Joy
In The Mood For Love
Jackie Brown
The Man Who Would Be King
Oscar and Lucinda
Ride With the Devil
Potemkin
Tango
The Battle of Algiers
Sideways
The Quiet American_

"Cross-legged under an umbrel umbershoot, he thrones an Aztec logos"


----------



## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

Not necessarily the top films ever, but movies that I will always stop and watch if I come across them. Tivo and Turner Classic Movies is a great combination...

The Big Clock
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040160/

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038854/

Orson Wells' Othello
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045251

Wages of Fear
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046268

The Double Life of Veronique
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101765

Get Carter (1971)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067128

The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072251

Comfort and Joy
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087072

That Sinking Feeling
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080012

The Lavender Hill Mob
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044829

The Trouble With Harry
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048750

Holiday (1938)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030241

Lisbon Story (1994)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110361

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058450

North by Northwest
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/

Pickup on South Street
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046187

The Third Man
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

Am I alone in thinking _Death in Venice_ was a great film?

It all has tremendous resonance for me. I've read the Thomas Mann novella many times, and after _Peter Grimes_ and _Billy Budd_, Benjamin Britten's valedictory opera on the subject is almost too intense for me to contemplate.

"The Bishop of _Rome_ hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of _England_."
Thomas Cranmer, _The Book of Common Prayer_, Article XXXVII.​


----------



## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> Am I alone in thinking _Death in Venice_ was a great film?
> 
> ...


You are not alone. When compiling lists of this sort, one can never remember every title one would like; well, this "one" can't. _Death in Venice_ is superb.

"Cross-legged under an umbrel umbershoot, he thrones an Aztec logos"


----------



## Old Brompton (Jan 15, 2006)

Lonely Are The Brave (1962) is a good one too.


If you consider what are called the virtues in mankind, you will find their growth is assisted by education and cultivation. - Xenophon 

"You are symptomatic of the lazy, unimaginative management which is driving this country
on the rocks!" - Mr. Bridger, "The Italian Job"


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oops. Should have known that. I just assumed that when the Church of England broke with Rome, why should the Articles have been written in Latin? Wasn't one of the goals of the break to bring English into the service?

_Blimey_, it's back to the textbooks!

"The Bishop of _Rome_ hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of _England_."
Thomas Cranmer, _The Book of Common Prayer_, Article XXXVII.​


----------



## Vettriano Man (Jun 30, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> Oops. Should have known that. I just assumed that when the Church of England broke with Rome, why should the Articles have been written in Latin? Wasn't one of the goals of the break to bring English into the service?
> 
> _Blimey_, it's back to the textbooks!


That, young man, constitutes ten "Our Father's" and five "Hail Mary's"!


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by Vettriano man_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, and I will do them in Latin. Perferably facing Canterbury (never Rome) to the accompaniment of Palestrina's _Missa Papae Marcelli_?

And I will donate a pair of my braces to Rowan Williams, perhaps to the accompaniment of Sir Edward Bairstow's anthem _If the Lord had not braced me_?

Seriously, I am attempting to get an appointment with Dr. Williams. I would just like to talk to him for a few minutes. I think he is a glorious man of utter integrity. (Alas, I don't think he wants to hear the subject I will bring up.) Yet I simply do not currently have the proper connections, though I am working on it.

"The Bishop of _Rome_ hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of _England_."
Thomas Cranmer, _The Book of Common Prayer_, Article XXXVII.​


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> Oops. Should have known that. I just assumed that when the Church of England broke with Rome, why should the Articles have been written in Latin? Wasn't one of the goals of the break to bring English into the service?


So sorry, I mis-typed. I meant 1553, though they were still indeed in Latin. These were the Forty-Two original articles written by Cranmer. The 1563 Thirty-Nine Articles (not written by Cranmer, but based upon the Articles of 1553) were in English.

I also meant to add to the list, _Charles II: The Power and the Passion_, an epic masterpiece.


----------



## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

A number of the lists had many films I admire. Here is my listing. These are all films I would gladly watch again:
Rashamon
Chushingura
Third Man
Dirzu Uzala
Mr Hulot's Holiday
Mon Oncle
The Red Baloon
Pull My Daisy
Wild Strawberries
Yojimbo
Throne of Blood
Full Monte
The "Carry On" series of British films
El Hombre Importante (Made in Mexico, starred Toshiro Mifune)
La Bonheur (With apologies for my inability to spell in French)
Last Year at Marianbad
M
Grand Illusion (I think that is the correct title of the Jean Renoir film.)
King of Hearts
The Apaloosa
Hombre
Waterhole Number Three
Horse's Mouth (One of the few films as good as the book.)
Zorba
La Strada
Harold and Maude
Shop on Main Street
Fireman's Ball
Two Women
La Cage au Folle (Again, pardon spelling.)
Viridiana
Hour of the Wolf
Two for the See Saw
The Postman
Black Orpheus
Remains of the Day
Howard's End
All of the Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films
The Cup


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

Gurdon, that's a mighty impressive list! I cannot claim to have seen them all, but those I have... well you are a discriminating gentleman.

Let me put this out:

Yesterday evening I saw a recent film on DVD that I never caught in the theatre: _Ladies in Lavender_. Excellent.


----------



## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> Gurdon, that's a mighty impressive list! I cannot claim to have seen them all, but those I have... well you are a discriminating gentleman.
> 
> ...


Thank you. I'll look for Ladies in Lavendar.

I recently saw Merchant of Venice. It was quite evocative. Don't know if it will wear well. I don't have as much time for film watching as I'd like. A lot of the more recent films in the thread are ones I wanted to see and just didn't get to. I'm currently trying to get a copy of Al Leslie's _Cedar Bar_. It is already "out of print" as a video, as is the VCR of his _Pull my Daisy _ that includes the recently reconstructed short "Last Clean Shirt" which I initially saw in 1964 when he showed it to the drawing class I was in.

This is pretty obscure stuff but it is interesting. I think Pull my Daisy is an important film but I don't know how many people have seen it.

I think the animated films of Christine Panushka are worthwhile.

Regards,


----------



## winn (Dec 31, 2005)

Check these out...



This is the list index from the American Film Institute. AFI polled its members to create top lists in the categories of Greatest American: all times films, most inspiring movies, film scores, movie quotes, heroes, villians, love stories, heart pounding films, funniest movies, etc. Each list has an adjacent list of the entire nominees in the category.



I have given this list to a few friends, and they are working their way through it.

I know the discussions here have been those movies of "all time" , not just "American", as well as fringe films that one would only view while fixing flies in the evening to cast into Catskills waters the next morning.

Cheers,

Winn


----------



## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

From the "so bad it's good" file, I bring you...


DD


----------



## mokita (Feb 9, 2006)

> quote:_Originally posted by LabelKing_
> 
> 8 1/2
> Breathless
> ...


Finally, someone who likes some of my favorites. But, my vote for the best film (and most complex) ever is EYES WIDE SHUT. 
After that, Blow Up
Then 8 1/2

My favorite directors:

Stanley Kubrick
Michaelangelo Antonioni
Federico Fellini
Peter Greenaway
Roberto Rossellini
David Lynch 
Alfred Hitchcock
Ken Russell
Roman Polanski
Ingmar Bergman


----------



## Relayer (Nov 9, 2005)

A few of my favorites that I don't _think_ I saw mentioned

Le Retour de Martin Guerre
A Man for All Seasons
Sleuth

Of course, I second (among many others)

North By Northwest
Rear Window
To Kill A Mockingbird


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Doctor Damage_
> 
> From the "so bad it's good" file, I bring you...


One of my faves. Makes a great double bill with _The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies_.


----------



## AddisonBelmont (Feb 2, 2006)

In order, sort of...
Metropolis (Giorgio Morodor's 8Os pop-music version) 
Trouble in Paradise
The Thin Man
Saboteur
Grosse Freiheit No.7
The Third Man
North by Northwest
Yellow Submarine
Barry Lyndon
Love & Death
Back to the Future
Mighty Aphrodite
Pas sur la Bouche

What can I say? I go for fluff. I don't want to see anything gross or violent or scary, I don't want to cry, I don't want to be preached to, I don't like thoughtful and I hate heartwarming, which eliminates just about every possible draw but laughs & good art direction.


----------



## NoVaguy (Oct 15, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by RJman_
> 
> On Her Majesty's Secret Service (despite Lazenby)
> 
> -- RJman


My favorite 007 flick as well. Mediocre James Bond ("This never happened to the other fella"), but easily the best Bond Girl and story. (my 2nd favorite is From Russia with Love.)

In retrospect, I'm not sure Connery could have done OHMSS...


----------



## mokita (Feb 9, 2006)

> quote:_Originally posted by AddisonBelmont_
> 
> What can I say? I go for fluff. I don't want to see anything gross or violent or scary, I don't want to cry, I don't want to be preached to, I don't like thoughtful and I hate heartwarming, which eliminates just about every possible draw but laughs & good art direction.


From that list, I greatly enjoyed (and own) Barry Lyndon. The cinematography is outstanding and comparable to Greenaway's "The Draughtsman's Contract." Both have similar sets and costumes and are done to perfection.


----------



## Thracozaag (Sep 5, 2002)

one word:

ZARDOZ

koji


----------

