The Top 100 Movies of All Time

[The Six]

Here I will be ranking and reviewing, definitively, the best films ever made. This is a comprehensive project not unlike an opera company undertaking a Ring cycle. Enjoy!

#100 - DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp

One of television's best dramatic series has finally made it to the big screen! It's DuckTales: The Movie, and it's just like watching three episodes in row, without those souless commercials! Of course, you are free to stop the film and fill in your own commercials if you please. The story of an old, rich duck and his nephews, and their quest for even more money and power has been passed down for centuries. I believe it started with the prophetic Chinese proverb, "Four feathers can find riches, but dragons fortune cookie Communism." With those shades of racism in mind, Disney has managed to craft a timeless animated saga, and turned it into quite a "treasure" of a movie!

What seals the deal is the impeccable Alan Young, the voice of Scrooge. This man's voice is truly the "treasure" to the "lost lamp" of our ears. Young, with but a precious few years spent in Scotland, has nailed the accent of our plucky hero with ease. Truly, when one thinks of the great old man voices in history, his is right up there, next to Vin Scully, Rod Roddy, and Cher.

All in all, if you pardon the pun, this "treasure" of a movie is sure to light up your "lamp!" This film is fun for the whole family, but is best enjoyed alone. So lock out your kids, dim the lights, and get "lost" in this real "treasure!"

Rating - 9.4

[The Six]

#99 - The Seven Samurai

There are certain films that have transcended the art of moviemaking. Some that make such a mark on not only how we think about creating films, but viewing them as well. There is a film from Japan that has accomplished just that. Unfortunately, Godzilla was sold out, and I was not able to rent it one more time before making the consideration for this list.

So I decided to look for a new film. This is like treading thin ice for me, because I don't like to have more than a certain amount of movies in my brain at any one time. But I had my heart set on a 1950's movie from Japan, and eventually stumbled upon The Seven Samurai. The squigly characters on the box turned me off, but it looked like it had fighting, so I made my choice.

I was not able to make it through the film in its entirety. The subtitles kind of threw me off, and I like to watch films, not read them. (Godzilla is OK, because who cares about the dialogue? I want stomping action!) Reading makes me fall asleep, and this film's subtitles were no exception.

But fear not, loyal reader, for this is a review of integrity! I would never include a film on a list like this without first having watched it. I do consider the film to have been watched, even if I was asleep. When I woke up, my head was perfectly tilted towards the TV screen, so it is not inconceivable that some of the movie entered my brain during my slumber. Also, that night, before bedtime, I looked at the video box, and there were a lot of nice things said about the film on it. Some critics even called it the greatest, most influential movie of all time. Well, I wasn't able to read the entire box, but I figured that such a beloved movie should have some place on my list. So here you go Seven Samurai, #99!

Rating - 2.65

#98 - Godzilla

Stompy stomp....stompstompstomp!

[greg]

Why don't you just put the list in one post? Then you could explain in subsequent posts.

btw, u still in Kyoto?

[Josquin des Prez]

Godzilla made it above Seven Samurai? What kind of bullshit list is that.

[The Six]

Why don't you just put the list in one post? Then you could explain in subsequent posts.

btw, u still in Kyoto?

Nah it's too long for one post. It's a nice thing to have in installments, too.

I've left Kyoto and have since graduated...I really want to go back though. There's a nice-looking grad school for music out there. If you're still studying and get the opportunity to study abroad, you gotta do it.

[greg]

But I can't wait! Which one is number one! 

Nah it's too long for one post. It's a nice thing to have in installments, too.

I've left Kyoto and have since graduated...I really want to go back though. There's a nice-looking grad school for music out there. If you're still studying and get the opportunity to study abroad, you gotta do it.

What did you go to school for, again? Was it music? (forgot) 
If I'm lucky, I'll get to visit Tokyo, but the only way I can live anywhere in Japan is if I get some type of work visa, and my only post-high school school experience is technical school completion.  So, I figure I'm going to have to start my 4-year thing as soon as possible, so I can get my CS degree and either do  computer programming or teaching English there.
Music school tends to leave a lot of people broke, though... it seems like a huge gamble to me unless you're rich.

[DavidW]

Godzilla made it above Seven Samurai? What kind of bullshit list is that.

I think that just having Duck Tales on the list proved how self-indulgent the list would be.  I suppose it is considered "eclectic" to put cartoons and rubber suit monster movies on equal ground with actual masterpieces.

Well this still beats the posts by that one guy about the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy.

[Brian]

I'm loving it, The Six! Keep them coming, and ignore the people who don't find this enjoyable. 

[Todd]

Sorry, but any list that includes Duck Tales cannot be taken seriously, or even half-jokingly.

[Brian]

Sorry, but any list that includes Duck Tales cannot be taken seriously, or even half-jokingly.

I'm taking it whole-jokingly and having a blast.

[oabmarcus]

uh, isn't there one out there already? by IMDB? Which is at least 1000 times more reliable then GMG, since they have much more data.

[jowcol]

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.)

[greg]

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Probably my favorite out of that list would be The Truman Show. After watching that movie, for awhile I used to seriously wonder if that was my life- and I've even read about other people thinking the same thing. The whole process of his breakthrough was pretty amazing.

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

Or maybe District 9 at #9 and Se7en at #7 (which would sound good to me anyways).

[Josquin des Prez]

I cannot for the life of me comprehend how such a boring piece of crap like The Shawshank Redemption could possibly dominate that list for so many years. But then again, i remember Star Wars made it on top at one point (and it wasn't even The Empire Strikes Back for crap's sake). People have shallow taste.

[Bulldog]

I cannot for the life of me comprehend how such a boring piece of crap like The Shawshank Redemption could possibly dominate that list for so many years. But then again, i remember Star Wars made it on top at one point (and it wasn't even The Empire Strikes Back for crap's sake). People have shallow taste.

Count me in.  Shawshank is a GREAT MOVIE.

[Josquin des Prez]

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.

[Bulldog]

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 glad I don't go the movies with you.

[jowcol]

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.

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

[Sergeant Rock]

Repo Man

Sarge

[drogulus]

   

Red Badge of Courage (1951)

     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.