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Author Topic: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10  (Read 7955 times)

oldkid

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So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« on: March 08, 2015, 03:57:30 PM »
This is in response to the conversation between Adam and Josh about Christopher’s contention that “you can’t call yourself a film critic if you haven’t seen Dr. Zhivago.”  I disagree with Christopher (possibly because I’ve never seen Dr. Zhivago either), but there are certainly films that I would insist that a person must see if they are going to publicly call themselves a film critic or a teacher about film. I thought of it partly when Adam said he had not seen Seven Samurai, and I thought “How could that be?”

When I think of this list, I’m not thinking it like our usual “best” top tens.  They aren’t our favorites, certainly, and I don’t think it’s the same as the Sight and Sound list, which I would consider a “best” list.  Rather, in my mind, these films are just what comes to mind as “basics”.  If a person claiming to be a film teacher says, “I haven’t seen that one” I am shocked.  Not even because I like it, or have even seen it, but it just seems so obvious NOT to have seen.   These are the films that inform the possibilities of film, the films that must be referenced when we look at other films. 

I realize that top 10 is a cheat, this being a top 5 forum, but 5 is so restrictive.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2015, 03:59:39 PM »
Here's my top 10:

Rashomon—This film is used to reference stories told from different viewpoints to question objectivity. 

Lawrence of Arabia—The broad view and the stark beauty and the heroic story pretty much defines “epic”

Citizen Kane—Welles helps us see how early unique cinematography and editing began.  Pulp Fiction is nothing new.

Apocalypse Now--  A rambling odyssey that is the very heart of madness in cinema

Do the Right Thing—Every film about the experience of being marginalized should be compared to this one, for good or ill.

Jaws—The first blockbuster and the standard by which all other blockbusters must be compared.

2001: A Space Odyssey—Long takes, mysterious plot.

Last Year at Marianbad—The very definition of advant garde when we speak of film.

It’s a Wonderful Life—I might put in other Capra films here, but this film is at the heart of Americana cinema.

The Wizard of Oz—While Singing in the Rain  is arguably the film with the greatest reputation, this film is the one everyone knows and can relate to in some way.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Melvil

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2015, 04:16:56 PM »
"Essentials" lists are always hard for me. You can approach them in so many different ways, and depending on what you most value in a film your list may skew in one direction rather than another. Ultimately you are so limited in your choices you have to make omissions, so do you favor variety or adhere more strictly to whatever ranking you can come up with?

I'll mull it over during dinner. :)

MartinTeller

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2015, 05:17:03 PM »
I don't have a list but I just wanted to say that while Dr. Zhivago is a pretty good movie, I wouldn't call it essential by any definition.

1SO

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 14
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2015, 06:15:51 PM »
I cheated. I pulled up my list of Essentials on Letterboxd and organized them by rating. It left me with films I can definitely get behind as an Essential list of Cinema Basics.

1. The Godfather/The Godfather Part II - The definition of a classic epic and the definition of a classic genre deconstruction on an epic scale.

2. Seven Samurai - Sorry Bondo, this is the long film that justifies its length. Perhaps if Adam would watch this he would find the benefit a long movie can bring.

3. 12 Angry Men - A highly cinematic play. Great writing and acting, but also wonderfully visual.

4. Pulp Fiction - This list is mostly about knowing the rules of cinema, but just as important is watching what good things can come from ignoring these rules.

5. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - A myth that's the cinematic equal of Homer's Odyssey, and a damn fine western to boot.

6. Star Wars - And by that I mean Episodes 4-6. Does the same as The Godfather, but on a level of pulp adventure.

7. The Passion of Joan of Arc - What advantage do silent films have above talkies? It's all in the faces. It's also in the way you are drawn into the framing.

8. High and Low - My least favorite film personally among these 10, but as important in terms of narrative construction, and resonating themes. The one title among these 10 where each new viewing uncovers new things to think about. [NOTE: This has been replaced with Singin' In the Rain.]

9. Sunset Blvd. - This covers all the genres not covered by the other 9: black comedy., macabre horror, Hollywood satire, film noir

10. TIE: Rear Window/Psycho - If I had to pick one director you cannot ignore if you plan to be a critic or a teacher of film, it would be Alfred Hitchcock. Both films show an admirable amount of restraint while proving to be the best examples of Hitchcock's label "Master of Suspense"
« Last Edit: March 08, 2015, 09:13:26 PM by 1SO »

oldkid

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2015, 07:42:16 PM »
Would you really be shocked if a film critic had seen, say, Seven Samurai but hadn't yet seen High and Low?
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

MartinTeller

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2015, 08:18:26 PM »
H&L is definitely the odd man out on that list.  And do you really need two by Kurosawa?

pixote

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2015, 08:51:48 PM »
So many live-action fiction films, so little time.

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1SO

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2015, 09:12:34 PM »
oldkid and MartinTeller, I definitely see your point. I was careful not to include Apocalypse Now or Once Upon a Time in the West (which were also among this group) because I thought the directors were well represented and unlike Hitchcock, I didn't see enough diversity to want to share a slot. Unfortunately, the next titles on my list (Alien, There Will Be Blood, Paths of Glory) would be less surprising blind spots than High and Low.

Looking further down, Singin' In the Rain stands out as a worthy substitute. It's also a Hollywood story, but unlike Sunset Blvd. It's also a musical, which is an essential genre not represented yet on my list. I'll make a note directing people to this change.

Sandy

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Re: So You Think You Know Film... Top 10
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2015, 09:58:04 PM »
Quote
If a person claiming to be a film teacher says, “I haven’t seen that one” I am shocked.

If I were asked to make the curriculum for an essentials film class, these are the ones I'd choose:


Metropolis
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Double Indemnity
Singin' in the Rain
Rear Window
Seven Samurai
The Searchers
The Godfather  (I have to choose this one, don't I? :P   :D)
Star Wars