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Author Topic: Top Films of All Time  (Read 944414 times)

1SO

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5090 on: December 10, 2018, 11:43:36 PM »
Unless I'm mistaken, Scenes From a Marriage was once #1, then #2, and now it's #181! :)

Has any other film rocketed up or down that much over years?

The new ranking is alphabetical.


I used to be 239/251 but now I'm 234. Towards the end of Noirvember, Female on the Beach came up in my Watchlist.

Quote from: Martin
as I agonized over chart positions, I was struck by how meaningless all this ranking stuff is. I would mentally pit one film against another to determine which I “liked” “more” and almost always the answer was… “well, it depends.”
I recently attempted a revision of my Top 150 and hit a similar snag. Most of ranking is done by pitting 2-4 films against each other and I would hit this problem constantly. For example...

80.   Destry Rides Again
81.   Airplane!
82.   Wings Of Desire


Wings of Desire is the best film of these three, the greatest achievement and a bold, original use of cinema. Airplane is one of the funniest movies ever made, though today it's more smiles of nostalgia while Destry is one where I still enjoy the humor and characters.


MartinTeller

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5091 on: December 11, 2018, 08:24:33 AM »
Unless I'm mistaken, Scenes From a Marriage was once #1, then #2, and now it's #181! :)

Has any other film rocketed up or down that much over years?

As 1SO pointed out, the list is non-ranked. However, I dug up the first top 100 I posted here and some of those films are no longer even in my top 250:

28. Napoléon (1927)
31. Postava k podpírání (1963)
42. Den Brysomme mannen (2006)
44. Fires on the Plain (1959)
49. Hoop Dreams (1994)
58. Play Time (1967)
62. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
63. Ugetsu (1953)
66. The World of Apu (1959)
67. Zivot je cudo (2004)
72. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
73. Commingled Containers (1997)
76. Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)
77. F for Fake (1974)
78. A Geisha (1953)
94. Unforgiven (1992)
100. Love and Death (1975)


I used to be 239/251 but now I'm 234.

I don't know why, but this pleases me.

Towards the end of Noirvember, Female on the Beach came up in my Watchlist.

Just came out on Blu-Ray! My copy is on its way to me!

Quote from: Martin
as I agonized over chart positions, I was struck by how meaningless all this ranking stuff is. I would mentally pit one film against another to determine which I “liked” “more” and almost always the answer was… “well, it depends.”
I recently attempted a revision of my Top 150 and hit a similar snag. Most of ranking is done by pitting 2-4 films against each other and I would hit this problem constantly.

I had this idea to use Flickchart so I fired up my old account and spent a lot of time trying to craft my top 250 by matching them up against other and from the beginning it just felt so dumb. Do I like The Shining more than Eraserhead? No measurement of that makes any real sense.

I will say there are some things lost in getting rid of the rankings. I enjoyed hitching my wagon to Linda Linda Linda by placing it so high on my list, it's a movie that just really really satisfies me. And to me there was value in including oddballs like Xanadu and Hairspray in the more prestigious "top 100" rather than the also-ran "101-250" list. But overall I prefer the flattened-out list (for now, at least).
« Last Edit: December 11, 2018, 08:26:39 AM by MartinTeller »

smirnoff

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5092 on: December 13, 2018, 03:17:28 AM »
I dug up the first top 100 I posted here and some of those films are no longer even in my top 250:

49. Hoop Dreams (1994)

Does it have to do with being such a daunting film to revisit? That's the way I feel about it. Strong as I know I felt about it at the time, the memory of it continues to fade and I can't work up the interest to carve out 3+ hours for it.


MartinTeller

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5093 on: December 13, 2018, 08:57:55 AM »
I saw it in the theater and saw it again when Criterion released it on DVD. It was still good. I don't find it daunting, but I just can't imagine going back for a third time. When the Blu-Ray came out I didn't even consider buying it, which seemed to me a good sign that it didn't belong on my favorites list.

Jeff Schroeck

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5094 on: February 10, 2019, 02:04:20 PM »
In anticipation of rejoining the Top 100 club I decided to reconfigure my Top 100, which is now a Top 75.* Features only. No shorts, no concerts.

https://letterboxd.com/jeffschroeck/list/top-75-feb-2019/detail/

01. Picnic At Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975
02. Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
03. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
04. 3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)
05. Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)
06. Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
07. Paths Of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
08. Barton Fink (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1991)
09. Back To The Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
10. Dirty Work (Bob Saget, 1998)
11. Phoenix (Christian Petzold, 2014)
12. The King Of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
13. The Match Factory Girl (Aki Kaurismaki, 1990)
14. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
15. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
16. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
17. The Wizard Of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
18. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
19. Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski, 2013)
20. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
21. Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1996)
22. Blind Chance (Krystof Kieslowski, 1981)
23. Thief (Michael Mann, 1981)
24. Wing Of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
25. The Changeling (Peter Medak, 1980)
26. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wei, 1994)
27. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
28. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
29. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
30. Wendy & Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
31. A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2009)
32. We Jam Econo (Tim Irwin, 2005)
33. They Live (John Carpenter, 1988)
34. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
35. Le Bonheur (Agnes Varda, 1965)
36. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
37. Field Of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989)
38. The Double Life Of Veronique (Krystof Kieslowski, 1991)
39. Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992)
40. Fearless (Peter Weir, 1993)
41. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995l
42. You, The Living (Roy Andersson, 2007
43. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
44. The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda, 2008)
45. TAD: Busted Circuits & Ringing Ears (Ryan Short & Adam Pease, 2007)
46. Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2008)
47. The Orphanage (JA Bayuna, 2007)
48. Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
49. Wayne's World (Penelope Spheeris, 1992)
50. Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990)
51. Major League (David S. Ward, 1989)
52. Scrooged (Richard Donner, 1988)
53. Killer Of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1978)
54. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
55. Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
56. Claire's Knee (Eric Rohmer, 1970)
57. Wings (Larisa Shepitko, 1966)
58. The Crane's Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
59. Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund, 2014)
60. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
61. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
62. Another Year (Mike Leigh, 2010)
63. Big Fan (Robert D. Siegel, 2009)
64. Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009)
65. Shaun Of The Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
66. A Mighty Wind (Christopher Guest, 2003)
67. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
68. Tommy Boy (Peter Segal, 1995)
69. Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson, 1994)
70. UHF (Jay Levey, 1989)
71. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
72. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
73. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
74. Johnny Dangerously (Amy Heckerling, 1984)
75. Pootie Tang (Louis CK, 2001)


*by Letterboxd's count I've seen 768 features. I figure 10% of total films seen is a good target for a top films list.

smirnoff

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5095 on: February 10, 2019, 02:24:36 PM »
Lots on there I'm curious about and some I would look forward to catching up with. Pheonix and Big Fan probably top that list.

Jeff Schroeck

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5096 on: February 10, 2019, 03:17:52 PM »
Lots on there I'm curious about and some I would look forward to catching up with. Pheonix and Big Fan probably top that list.

Those two make a good pair, if only because they both end with a creative and interesting act of revenge.

(The spoiler isn't a plot reveal for either, it's just in case you or anyone want to go in as cold as possible.)

oldkid

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5097 on: February 11, 2019, 09:31:26 PM »
I like that list.  Some of my favorites are on it, but there's plenty there for me to sink my teeth into, come Club time!

Top of the list I haven't seen: Dirty Work
Most interesting sounding titles: We Jam Econo and TAD: Busted Circuits & Ringing Ears.
Longest on my list to see: A Man Escaped, Blind Chance
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

philip918

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5098 on: February 11, 2019, 10:36:16 PM »
Really great list! I'm skeptical of anyone without many comedies in their favorites, so it's nice to see Wayne's World, Tommy Boy, and UHF on there.

Picnic at Hanging Rock has been high on my watch list for a long time, so I'll use this as inspiration to finally see that.

Jeff Schroeck

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Re: Top Films of All Time
« Reply #5099 on: February 12, 2019, 03:29:31 AM »
I like that list.  Some of my favorites are on it, but there's plenty there for me to sink my teeth into, come Club time!

Top of the list I haven't seen: Dirty Work
Most interesting sounding titles: We Jam Econo and TAD: Busted Circuits & Ringing Ears.
Longest on my list to see: A Man Escaped, Blind Chance

I don't know how you feel about about Norm Macdonald. If you like his comedy style than you'd probably like Dirty Work. It pushes against the boundaries of good taste but it's not a stupid, gross-out movie. I feel like it gets unfairly lumped in with Tom Green and that kind of dare humor, or at least that's the "you like this, try this" recommendation I get from people. It's also delightfully short (77 minutes, short enough to fit on an audio cd. I know this because my old band was so obsessed with the movie we would listen to it in the tour van.)

We Jam Econo & TAD:BC&RE are great dramas disguised as music docs. I'd recommend them to anyone even if The Minutemen & TAD were the last bands that they would listen to. (They are killer bands, though.)

 

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