The Top 100 Movies of All Time

[DavidW]

Hour of the Wolf

Heck yeah!

[Harpo]

Wait a second, was this the version of Duck Tails directed by Ingmar Bergman where Scrooge McDuck played the role of Death?  Or am I confusing this with The Seven Seals?   (with real seals, no doubt)

What about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with a real cat? (not the Lloyd-Webber variety)
or Dog Day Afternoon with....well, you know

[jowcol]

   
     I don't know where this low budget film ought to be rated, I'm just glad to see that someone thinks highly of it besides me. It stars Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin, one of the strangest pieces of casting I can recall. Murphy was the most decorated soldier of WWII and Mauldin was a cartoonist for the Stars and Stripes known for Willie and Joe, the most famous cartoon soldiers, "dogfaces", of the war. Mauldin won the Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons in 1945 when he was 23.


     

One of the things that made this movie so fantastic was that there were  a lot of veterans were involved in the production, and the "fog of war" was very clear.   It's also some of the best black and white cinematography I've even seen.  Tragically, the studio cut at least of 20 minutes of run time off the original, and did not retain the footage.   There is no chance of a "director's cut".

BTW-- Bill Mauldin's autobiography The Brass Ring (which covers up to the point where Patton chewed him out in person for his lack of respect in his comics) is a really enjoyable read.

[Cato]

Any movie with Scrooge McDuck must be an all-around fave!

And I would rank it higher than #100,      but...okay! 

Hour of the Wolf is one of the most disturbed and disturbing movies ever made.  Close to it is David Lynch's Lost Highway.

[Brian]

What's so great about it? It isn't all that different from other productions based on Stephen King's non-horror stories, such as the Green Miles. Lots of style and polish, very little substance. They may be good movies by Hollywood standards but they are still far from being among the greatest films ever made.

I'm with the Bulldog. I will grant to you that Shawshank is an example of the "contemporary Hollywood" mainstream style of lots of polish, a certain kind of soundtrack with a bright varnish to it, an epic story, deliberate heart-string tugging, a Hollywood ending, etc. Except that Shawshank in many ways defined that style; ever since, movie upon movie has been trying to imitate it but failing to achieve its brilliance, its genius. I'd go ahead and argue further that if you define "contemporary Hollywood" (or whatever term you like) as a fixed style exemplified by the traits I've listed, the type of style that brings us Shawshank, Awakenings, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, etc. - I'd argue that Shawshank is the classic example of that style, much like Casablanca might be for that kind of movie, or Airplane! for that kind, or The Godfather for that kind.

I saw the IMDB ranking before I saw the movie. As a result, I tried very hard to hate Shawshank, to be "that guy" who acts like the buzzkill and says really snobbily, "It wasn't that great. What are you talking about?" But it didn't work. I tried to single out things I hated but the movie overwhelmed me with its generosity and defied my every attempt at cynicism. Eventually I gave up and just did the natural thing - loved it.

[jowcol]

Hour of the Wolf is one of the most disturbed and disturbing movies ever made.  Close to it is David Lynch's Lost Highway.

There are a couple moments from Bergman's Cries and Whispers (most notably the wedding night scene) which are right up there in terms of disturbing....

[Josquin des Prez]

It wasn't that great. Neither was the Godfather now that i think of it. It must be an American thing.

[greg]

I haven't seen Shawnshank or the Godfather... crazy, isn't it? 
Well, Brian's post helps me to what to expect a little better... I'm not much of a movie fan, but when something is that highly rated I think it's at least worth a try, statistically speaking.

[The Six]

#97 - Happy Gilmore

I had wondered how long it would take for Hollywood to return to the epic storytelling art form in film. We had been so far removed from the lost gems of the past such as Stewardess School and The Toxic Avenger, that I thought that movies grounded on characterization, storytelling, and balls in holes had become passé, an outdated relic representing more trying times. But this generation has problems of its own, and whenever our collective lives are at their darkest, there always seems to come a shining light of a masterpiece to brighten us up. Ladies and gentlemen, Happy Gilmore.

Who cannot relate to the plot? Happy's grandma needs money, or her house is gone. We've all been there. In 1972, my grandma ran it in deep with the mob. She had beefed the ponies so bad that they threatened to Niagara Falls her home and move in with her. The whole lot of 'em. Now having the mob shack up with you is bad enough, but the house was already full. She was really into Grandpappy, and was bangin' around with him so much she practically crapped out a small country's worth of kids. My aunts and uncles, I'll tell ya, I still don't think they're right, growing up listening to Maw-Maw and Grandpappy hit the sheets every night. But that's another story. The mob, once they learned of all them kids, just decided to throw all of them out and take the house outright. Well, they ended up compromising, and the kids worked off the debt by shining the gangsters' shoes and spit-shining their dishes.

If only it were that easy for Happy. No, he took the hard way, and went from hockey player to golfer. How painful it must have been for him to go from the sport of Mighty Ducks, to an overblown version of putt-putt. But he made it through. Adam Sandler is a treasure.

And, for another piece of praise, I cannot even begin to describe the brilliance of Bob Barker's cameo. Having long followed his career on The Price is Right, which, in my opinion, is television's greatest soap opera, I was thrilled the moment I saw him on screen. What emotion! That performance will not be topped. At the conclusion of the film, I went out and spayed and neutered several cats and dogs by myself, as my own personal way of thanking Mr. Barker. I keep the genitals in a jar in my bedroom.

Rating - 6,345

[Saul]

# 96

Class of 96

[greg]

I haven't seen Shawshank

just so no one comments on this... now i've seen it, and I think it was one of the best movies I've seen- maybe top 10.

[DavidW]

You know now I've actually looked at those posts I think I actually get it now.

[greg]

I'm not sure I get it, but that last "review" was disturbing. 

[The Six]

#96 – Van Helsing

I'm waiting for you.

My desire quivers, my passion burns. I think about it every 2 seconds. Who wouldn't? Any red-blooded human being who was taken on the ride of his or her life would feel the same way. The culprit is anticipation. Anticipation born of sheer delight.

Why hasn't a sequel to this remarkable piece of cinema arrived yet? And what will it take for it to happen?

The tale of Van Helsing is not a new one, but never has it been done with such brilliance. An orgy of classic monsters and villains gives us the most thrilling crossover since Battle of the Network Stars. The film is also educational; we hear that Frankenstein is the Monster's creator. The Monster himself has no name. Also, being bitten by a werewolf causes the victim to turn into one. I usually don't bother to remember details like these, but that is just how much this film impacted me.

And what can I say of Richard Roxburgh's performance of Dracula that has not already been said? Simply, subtle marvel. His portrayal made me want to reanimate Bela Lugosi so that I could kill him with my own bare hands for fouling up this timeless character. How dare you, Bela! Curse your foul overacting and enunciating! I shall bring a copy of this movie to your grave so that you may study from the afterlife how IT SHOULD BE DONE!!!!

Now if only the sequel would arrive. Sigh.

Rating: C-

[RJR]

Wait a second, was this the version of Duck Tails directed by Ingmar Bergman where Scrooge McDuck played the role of Death?  Or am I confusing this with The Seven Seals?   (with real seals, no doubt)


Waiting to see where Showgirls and Battlefield Earth show up.

I'm hoping Plan 9 from Outer Space shows up at #9.  It would only make sense.

(All silliness aside, I'd put Rashamon and Ran over the 7 Samurai, but that's just me.)

The Seventh Seal.

[RJR]

This begs the question-- what are the "greatest  films ever made?"

Which in turn begs the question by what criteria?  Best cinematography?  Acting?  Screen play?  Genre? Ticket sales? 

This is an inherently subjective assessment (which is a point that The Six seems to understand).    As far as IMDB goes-- it's not exactly a scientific survey. (Given the demographics of people likely to post, older movies will suffer). And  face it, even if the rest of the herd likes something, do we have to?  If someone likes something we don't, does it matter? 

I'll toss out some of my faves, but I won't presume to pronounce them "great."- this is a subjective listing.    This list is far from complete, and many of these are flawed in one way or another, but, for me, their strengths outweigh their weaknesses.


A Clockwork Orange
Fantasia
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
All Quiet on the Western Front (Original version)
Red Badge of Courage (1951)
Ran
Rashamon
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Hour of the Wolf
Dr. Strangelove
The Seventh Seal
Brazil
A Christmas Carol (1951 with Alistair Sim)
Psycho
Alien
Duel
Pulp Fiction
Sound of Music
8 1/2
The Shining (Kubrik version, of course)
The Snake Pit (Major crush on Olivia deHavilland)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hunchback of Notre Dame (Silent version)
Intolerance
Repo Man
The Warriors
Ugestu
Alexander Nevsky

Ugetsu monogatari. Or as it's called in French 'Les contes de la lune vague après la pluie'.

[RJR]

There are a couple moments from Bergman's Cries and Whispers (most notably the wedding night scene) which are right up there in terms of disturbing....

... it's all a tissue of lies.

[RJR]

Off the top of my head, no particular order:
The Conversation
La Grande Illusion
Duck Soup
Noir et blanc en couleur
Paths of Glory
Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb
All quiet on the western front
King of Hearts
His Girl Friday (Ben Hecht)
(plus other screwball Cary Grant comedies whose titles I've forgotten)
The Philadelphia Story
The Third Man
Modern Times
High Noon
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
If
Midnight Cowboy
Coming Home
Full Metal Jacket
Quest for Fire
La Dolce Vita
Amarcord
Eight and a half (Fellini)
La Strada
M
Metropolis
October
Ivan the Terrible (music by Prokofiev)
Les enfants du Paradis
Lacombe, Lucien (Louis Malle)
Casablanca
It happened one night
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Cool Hand Luke
Hud
The Long, hot summer
The Seventh Seal
Shame
Divorce Italian Style (Germi + Marcello M)
The Damned (Visconti)
Les vacances de M. Hulot
Zazie dans le métro
Fahrenheit 451
L'année dernière à Marienbad
Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard)
Sauve qui peut la vie (Godard)
Taxi Driver (music by Bernard Herrmann)
Nashville (R Altmann)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Health
A Wedding
Performance (Mick Jagger)
The Servant
The Bicycle Thief
Rome Open City
Closely watched trains
The Graduate
Freaks
Frankenstein (Boris Karloff)
King Kong (original)
The Wild One
Burn (Marlon Brando)
The Ugly American
Hiroshima, mon amour
Cléo de 5 à 7
A Tale of Two Cities
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Charles Laughton)
Failsafe
Seven days in May
The China Syndrome
Quadrophenia
The Long Goodbye
A Hard Days' Night
The French Connection
La Dentellière (Isabelle Huppert)
A Christmas Carol
The Great Escape
82
À nous la liberté (René Clair)
Méliès
The Fixer
The Devils of Loudon
To kill a Mockingbird
The Grapes of Wrath
Angels with dirty faces
Public Enemy
The Male Animal
Sitting Pretty
Petrified Forest
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
African Queen
My man Godfrey
Days of Locusts
Zorba the Greek
Two Women
Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Passenger (Jack Nicholson)
Five easy pieces (J Nicholson)
Shoot the piano player (Tirez sur le pianiste-Truffaut)
Une belle fille comme toi (Truffaut)
whew! that's enough for now.

[drogulus]

     The Leopard (Visconti)

[Jaakko Keskinen]

#1 The Good the Bad and the Ugly.