AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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BleuPanda
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AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by BleuPanda »

After years of the board gathering their top films of each decade, I decided to combine our earlier rankings into one mega list. 20 users contributed to this project, ranking those among the 256 that they had seen. I present to you now, the definitive Acclaimed Music Forum Top 250 Films of All Time. Each entry will feature basic information about the film and how it ended up in its spot, including each individual vote from the highest to lowest placement. Bolded votes are in either the top 25% or bottom 25% of an individual's list. The '---' separates those who placed the film in the top or bottom half.

But first, let's get through the 6 films that qualified but fell into those unfortunate final spots. We loved you one day, and I'm sure we still love you, but this was a strong selection of films.



256. A Beautiful Mind (2001) - Directed by Ron Howard
Image
Decade Rank: 35
Score: 597.83
Votes: 14


Individual votes:
bonnielaurel: 91/233
---
Gillingham: 156/229
Midaso: 140/184
Michel: 186/242
Petri: 191/247
Nick: 105/125
whuntva: 146/170
luney6: 63/69
Dexter: 222/236
MaschineMan: 157/165
bootsy: 83/87
BleuPanda: 218/222
MrMooney: 193/195
Chilton: 132/133



Howard isn't a great director, but John Nash is a very interesting person and the acting is fine. - Gillingham


255. Dances With Wolves (1990) - Directed by Kevin Costner
Image
Decade Rank: 40
Score: 611.96
Votes: 14


Individual votes:
bonnielaurel: 94/233
---
Live in Phoenix: 81/145
Petri: 144/247
Gillingham: 157/229
Dexter: 183/236
Midaso: 155/184
acroamor: 84/98
OtisRedding: 121/136
Chilton: 120/133
Michel: 221/242
Nick: 116/125
Greg: 222/237
bootsy: 82/87
MrMooney: 187/195



254. Inception (2010) - Directed by Christopher Nolan
Image
Decade Rank: 17
Score: 628.67
Votes: 19


Individual vote:
bootsy: 4/87
Nick: 51/125
MrMooney: 87/195
---
Chilton: 69/133
MaschineMan: 112/165
luney6: 48/69
Midaso: 133/184
BleuPanda: 169/222
whuntva: 139/170
Gillingham: 197/229
Michel: 218/242
Petri: 225/247
Dexter: 216/236
OtisRedding: 125/136
Nassim: 83/87
Emilien: 27/28
Greg: 229/237
acroamor: 96/98
bonnielaurel: 233/233



I have still only seen the film once, I'm afraid if I watch it again I'll ruin the illusion. - MaschineMan

Nolan proves again he knows how to direct inventive, exciting thrillers. Great action set pieces litter the film throughout. - MrMooney

Just a note: even though this is in my bottom fourth, I still rate this film a 9/10. Nolan really knows how to tie together intricate narratives, and the visual effects are phenomenal. - BleuPanda


253. High Fidelity (2000) - Directed by Stephen Frears
Image
Decade Rank: 34
Score: 636.54
Votes: 16


Individual votes:
Nassim: 19/87
Midaso: 58/184
bonnielaurel: 90/233
---
Greg: 170/237
OtisRedding: 98/136
whuntva: 124/170
Live in Phoenix: 114/145
Gillingham: 190/229
Petri: 217/247
MaschineMan: 145/165
MrMooney: 174/195
bootsy: 84/87
Michel: 234/242
Dexter: 233/236
Nick: 124/125
BleuPanda: 222/222



The biggest problem with High Fidelity is that its characters are self-absorbed, pretentious man-children. This would be fine, if the movie actually took this as an opportunity to criticize said man-children. However, High Fidelity seems convinced that being an asshole is a generally good thing. None of the characters change or see the error of their ways; instead the movie actually glorifies their behavior. The message of High Fidelity is simple: the media you consume is the single biggest aspect of your personality. It’s a message that I want no part of. - Nick


252. Dawn of the Dead (1978) - Directed by George A. Romero
Image
Decade Rank: 35
Score: 659.16
Votes: 10


Individual vote:
---
Live in Phoenix: 77/145
Greg: 148/237
Dexter: 157/236
Petri: 172/247
BleuPanda: 160/222
MrMooney: 143/195
Nick: 112/125
bonnielaurel: 218/233
Gillingham: 222/229
Michel: 239/242



I promise I still love you, Dawn of the Dead. Romero is one of the masters of building tension. To me, Dawn has always felt strangely light-hearted for a horror film, and it's always been hard for me to place it in the same series as the more serious Night due to this fact; at the same time, its playful atmosphere and direction really works for me. The key selling point to this film is the setting; the use of a shopping mall creates this strange commentary on consumerism, and where's a better location to represent 1970s America? - BleuPanda


251. Rushmore (1998) - Directed by Wes Anderson
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Decade Rank: 39
Score: 661.28
Votes: 14


Individual votes:
Midaso: 51/184
Nassim: 28/87
---
Nick: 66/125
MrMooney: 122/195
Michel: 154/242
Greg: 157/237
Dexter: 175/236
BleuPanda: 167/222
MaschineMan: 127/165
acroamor: 83/98
Gillingham: 210/229
whuntva: 158/170
Petri: 230/247
bootsy: 86/87


Decent movie somewhat ruined because the main character is an asshole. - whuntva

This is the first of the great Wes Anderson films, though there are 4 I would easily take before it (and only one made this list, unfortunately). It feels too simple compared to his later films, not reaching the surprisingly emotional depths of his later works. Either way, it's still Wes Anderson, which means it's both hilarious and has expert framing. - BleuPanda


250. Good Will Hunting (1997) - Directed by Gus Van Sant
Image
Decade Rank: 38
Score: 662.47
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Emilien: 7/28
Midaso: 52/184
Gillingham: 68/229
acroamor: 30/98
---
MrMooney: 134/195
bonnielaurel: 168/233
Nassim: 64/87
bootsy: 66/87
Live in Phoenix: 120/145
Petri: 211/247
Nick: 111/125
Michel: 227/242
Dexter: 223/236
BleuPanda: 217/222
Greg: 236/237
Chilton: 133/133



249. The Evil Dead (1981) - Directed by Sam Raimi
Image
Decade Rank: 34
Score: 663.76
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
---
Greg: 119/237
whuntva: 92/170
Petri: 186/247
Chilton: 102/133
Nassim: 68/87
Dexter: 193/236
BleuPanda: 214/222
Gillingham: 229/229
Michel: 242/242



248. Ghost World (2001) - Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Image
Decade Rank: 33
Score: 670.94
Votes: 11


Individual Rating:
Greg: 60/237
---
Live in Phoenix: 76/145
Petri: 134/247
Nassim: 50/87
Michel: 171/242
Midaso: 147/184
Gillingham: 185/229
MaschineMan: 139/165
Dexter: 225/236
bootsy: 85/87
MrMooney: 194/195


I enjoyed this quite a bit, very John Waters, one of the discoveries off this poll. - MaschineMan


247. Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Directed by Tim Burton
Image
Decade Rank: 37
Score: 673.99
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
OtisRedding: 24/136
MrMooney: 66/195
MaschineMan: 64/165
Greg: 105/237
---
Dexter: 144/236
Petri: 175/247
Live in Phoenix: 113/145
Midaso: 145/184
Nassim: 69/87
Chilton: 107/133
Michel: 209/242
Gillingham: 201/229
BleuPanda: 201/222
luney6: 64/69
bonnielaurel: 219/233



246. Young Frankenstein (1974) - Directed by Mel Brooks
Image
Decade Rank: 34
Score: 680.53
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 29/195
MaschineMan: 45/165
---
acroamor: 54/98
whuntva: 101/170
Greg: 155/237
bonnielaurel: 159/233
OtisRedding: 93/136
Dexter: 165/236
Live in Phoenix: 103/145
BleuPanda: 165/222
Michel: 201/242
Nick: 107/125
Midaso: 180/184
Gillingham: 225/229
Petri: 247/247


In most Brooks films I don't think most jokes are funny, they leave me cold and get me somewhat annoyed after too many of them. - Gillingham

Brooks ingenious tribute to classic horror films is hysterically funny, a loving homage to a great period in film history. - MrMooney

A sad fact about some of the greatest comedies; they are so influential that you're likely to hear the best jokes before you find the source. While still a classic, I have to remind myself that these jokes originate here. - BleuPanda

Our first #1 already falls.


245. Forrest Gump (1994) - Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Image
Decade Rank: 36
Score: 684.15
Votes: 19


Individual Votes:
Emilien: 1/28
Nick: 14/125

Chilton: 48/133
Nassim: 34/87
---
Midaso: 103/184
Gillingham: 140/229
acroamor: 60/98
Dexter: 163/236
bonnielaurel: 167/233
OtisRedding: 100/136
Petri: 189/247
bootsy: 68/87
luney6: 55/69
MrMooney: 162/195
Michel: 212/242
whuntva: 159/170
BleuPanda: 210/222
Greg: 226/237
MaschineMan: 163/165


Some great quotes, but the film drags on forever. - MaschineMan


244. Cool Hand Luke (1967) - Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
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Decade Rank: 33
Score: 684.52
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 69/195
acroamor: 41/98
---
Dexter: 147/236
bonnielaurel: 151/233
Gillingham: 152/229
Emilien: 19/28
Greg: 164/237
Petri: 184/247
Midaso: 141/184
Nick: 109/125
Michel: 215/242



243. Leon/The Professional (1994) - Directed by Luc Besson
Image
Decade Rank: 35
Score: 685.53
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Chilton: 22/133
Midaso: 60/184
bootsy: 37/87
whuntva: 84/170
MaschineMan: 82/165
---
Nassim: 54/87
Nick: 84/125
MrMooney: 138/195
Gillingham: 163/229
Petri: 176/247
Dexter: 186/236
Live in Phoenix: 119/145
bonnielaurel: 214/233
Greg: 227/237
BleuPanda: 215/222
Michel: 241/242



242. Dazed and Confused (1993) - Directed by Richard Linklater
Image
Decade Rank: 34
Score: 688.64
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 23/184
acroamor: 23/98

MaschineMan: 74/165
---
bootsy: 64/87
Dexter: 182/236
MrMooney: 156/195
Gillingham: 194/229
Nick: 106/125
BleuPanda: 194/222
Michel: 219/242
Nassim: 80/87
Petri: 239/247
Greg: 232/237



241. Donnie Darko (2001) - Directed by Richard Kelly
Image
Decade Rank: 32
Score: 689.14
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 38/229
Midaso: 49/184
MrMooney: 73/195
Chilton: 66/133
---
Petri: 131/247
Live in Phoenix: 87/145
bootsy: 54/87
Nick: 79/125
Dexter: 178/236
acroamor: 75/98
BleuPanda: 170/222
Michel: 194/242
MaschineMan: 149/165
whuntva: 155/170
bonnielaurel: 224/233
Greg: 234/237


Deep beneath this film is a fantastic tragedy, though I can't help but feel that Richard Kelly kept us at too much of an emotional distance for it to fully resonate. Replace Donnie with an even slightly more sympathetic character and this would be one of the all-time greats. Its narrative is effectively dizzying, its imagery gets under the skin, and few films so effectively capture the everyday horror of life as a teenager. The character Frank is handled especially well; from his ominous entrance to the final revelation, every scene with him brings us closer to the horror at the center of this film. I also have to give it credit since my favorite video game, Life is Strange, feels like what would happen if Donnie Darko and Twin Peaks merged into the perfect being. - BleuPanda


240. The Departed (2006) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
Image
Decade Rank: 31
Score: 689.75
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
Nick: 8/125
MrMooney: 55/195
bootsy: 28/87
Gillingham: 90/229
Midaso: 78/184
---
Emilien: 16/28
Nassim: 61/87
OtisRedding: 99/136
MaschineMan: 124/165
Michel: 188/242
Greg: 191/237
Petri: 218/247
Dexter: 210/236
BleuPanda: 199/222
luney6: 62/69
Chilton: 130/133
bonnielaurel: 230/233
whuntva: 170/170


I actually hate this film. I found the casting off and the writing predictable. Certainly not one of Scorscese's best. - whuntva

Some days I go back and forth between this and Goodfellas for my favorite Scorsese movie. Goodfellas won today, but The Departed is still a masterpiece, and a dense and intricately layered masterpiece at that. The Departed is a movie primarily concerned with identity and loyalty, with trust and betrayal and the invisible lines between “good” guy and “bad” guy, all wrapped up in a twisting and turning plot that feels almost Shakespearean in scope. And that’s not even getting into the movie’s complete unpredictability (the elevator scene, anyone?). The Departed may not be most people’s first choice when it comes to Scorsese, but it’s frequently mine. - Nick

Martin Scorsese well past his prime. So cheesy. - luney6

After a few below par attempts Scorsese returned to form with this superb crime drama. All the cast is fantastic throughout a joy to watch. - MrMooney


239. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - Directed by John Ford
Image
Decade Rank: 32
Score: 694.15
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 79/233
Dexter: 83/236
Chilton: 65/133
---
Petri: 161/247
MrMooney: 128/195
Greg: 156/237
Michel: 178/242
Gillingham: 170/229
MaschineMan: 129/165
whuntva: 134/170
BleuPanda: 196/222


I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would. - MaschineMan


238. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) - Directed by Coen Brothers
Image
Decade Rank: 30
Score: 695.44
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 8/170
acroamor: 9/98

MaschineMan: 77/165
---
Gillingham: 126/229
Greg: 143/237
Nick: 83/125
Petri: 167/247
MrMooney: 157/195
bootsy: 75/87
bonnielaurel: 201/233
Live in Phoenix: 128/145
Midaso: 166/184
Chilton: 125/133
OtisRedding: 132/136
Michel: 235/242
BleuPanda: 216/222
Dexter: 234/236


A masterpiece from start to finish. The Odyssey with an Americana spin that surprisingly works, thanks to lots of heart and a great soundtrack. - whuntva


237. Zelig (1983) - Directed by Woody Allen
Image
Decade Rank: 33
Score: 696.78
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
Petri: 50/247
Michel: 88/242
bonnielaurel: 100/233
---
Midaso: 135/184
MaschineMan: 126/165
Nick: 101/125
Gillingham: 192/229
Greg: 210/237
BleuPanda: 206/222
MrMooney: 186/195



236. Airplane! (1980) - Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Image
Decade Rank: 33
Score: 699.54
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Nick: 17/125
acroamor: 21/98

Live in Phoenix: 42/145
Nassim: 27/87
---
bonnielaurel: 121/233
luney6: 49/69
Dexter: 190/236
BleuPanda: 185/222
MaschineMan: 138/165
Chilton: 112/133
Petri: 216/247
Michel: 213/242
bootsy: 78/87
Greg: 220/237
Gillingham: 227/229
Midaso: 183/184


Airplane! is the single funniest movie ever made, a movie with an incredibly high level of quotability that essentially killed the 70s disaster movie genre. The jokes per minute rate here is staggeringly high too, with jokes that come so quick that you can only really catch them on your fourteenth viewing of the movie. Comedies made by people not named Chaplin aren’t really all that popular with the “serious” movie intelligentsia, but I’d place Airplane! over Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and The Godfather any day. Perhaps the greatest thing about the movie is how straight all of the actors play their roles, despite the absurdity that surrounds them. Airplane! is how you do spoof movies right, and is a comedy classic for a host of great reasons. - Nick

While there are other comedies I consider better films, few if any make me laugh as much as this one. Leslie Nielsen gives a great performance, and there are so many jokes going on that I seem to discover new ones every time I watch. However, much like Young Frankenstein, it's one of those classic comedies that has been ripped off a hundred times since, which is unfortunate considering it doesn't have much going on outside of jokes. - BleuPanda


235. Night of the Living Dead (1968) - Directed by George A. Romero
Image
Decade Rank: 31
Score: 699.79
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 21/145
Greg: 61/237
Dexter: 103/236
---
Nassim: 45/87
bonnielaurel: 136/233
BleuPanda: 132/222
whuntva: 119/170
Petri: 185/247
Nick: 100/125
MrMooney: 159/195
Gillingham: 188/229
Midaso: 160/184
Chilton: 123/133
Michel: 236/242



234. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) - Directed by Tim Burton
Image
Decade Rank: 31
Score: 700.2
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 6/145
Greg: 80/237
---
MaschineMan: 100/165
whuntva: 138/170
Dexter: 209/236
Petri: 223/247
Midaso: 175/184
Michel: 237/242
MrMooney: 192/195
BleuPanda: 221/222
bootsy: 87/87



233. Frances Ha (2012) - Directed by Noah Baumbach
Image
Decade Rank: 16
Score: 706.67
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 7/98
---
Midaso: 123/184
Michel: 173/242
bonnielaurel: 173/233
Petri: 197/247
Greg: 206/237
Dexter: 219/236
BleuPanda: 209/222
whuntva: 161/170



232. Inglorious Basterds (2009) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Image
Decade Rank: 29
Score: 708.46
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 28/170
Live in Phoenix: 38/145
MaschineMan: 53/165
acroamor: 35/98
Nick: 49/125
---
Midaso: 108/184
MrMooney: 115/195
bootsy: 53/87
Chilton: 89/133
Greg: 171/237
BleuPanda: 177/222
Gillingham: 189/229
Michel: 206/242
Dexter: 217/236
Nassim: 81/87
bonnielaurel: 223/233
Petri: 238/247


It's witty, it's violent, it's very entertaining but as with most modern tarantino films we have seen it perfected before in the 90's - MrMooney


231. The Exorcist (1973) - Directed by William Friedkin
Image
Decade Rank: 33
Score: 710.67
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 15/233
Greg: 71/237
Dexter: 95/236
Midaso: 77/184
---
Michel: 146/242
whuntva: 108/170
Gillingham: 151/229
MrMooney: 145/195
Live in Phoenix: 118/145
BleuPanda: 190/222
Petri: 220/247
OtisRedding: 122/136
MaschineMan: 158/165
Nassim: 87/87



230. L.A. Confidential (1997) - Directed by Curtis Hanson
Image
Decade Rank: 33
Score: 710.76
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 17/87
luney6: 18/69
MrMooney: 76/195
Gillingham: 104/229
OtisRedding: 65/136
---
Michel: 140/242
Dexter: 140/236
bonnielaurel: 145/233
acroamor: 62/98
Midaso: 117/184
MaschineMan: 106/165
Nick: 81/125
Chilton: 104/133
BleuPanda: 198/222
Greg: 219/237
Petri: 233/247



229. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Directed by George Miller
Image
Decade Rank: 15
Score: 712.08
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
Greg: 63/237
Live in Phoenix: 41/145
Nassim: 25/87
BleuPanda: 68/222
MaschineMan: 52/165
whuntva: 81/170
---
bootsy: 50/87
OtisRedding: 90/136
Michel: 196/242
Petri: 206/247
Dexter: 202/236
Nick: 110/125
acroamor: 89/98
bonnielaurel: 222/233
luney6: 66/69


The first movie in a long time to make my jaw drop with its stellar visuals and on-point direction. A relentless action film that never lets up. My favorite kinds of films are the ones that combine action and philosophy, and Mad Max delivers both in spades. - whuntva

Witness me! - Great fun, I think it's a bit over-rated, but considering how botched most sequels and reboots are, this was nothing short of a miracle. - MaschineMan

An enjoyable enough action flick, with some lovely scenery, but it’s really nothing all too special. Film critics and fanboys alike have been worshiping this thing since the day it came out, but the hype is all but lost on me. There’s nothing here in terms of plot, characters, dialogue, or theme that really jumps out at me, either by virtue of originality or by virtue of visceral impact. - Nick

Feels like it was written and (especially) acted by a 12 year old. The earlier Mad Max films are miles ahead. - luney6

For years, I've been theorizing how to make an actually effective modern action film, and Fury Road manages everything I hypothesized. Where most spectacle action films bog themselves down with narratives you're never going to care about (i.e. Top Gun or the Transformer films/who the fuck watches this type of film for the plot?), Mad Max takes a minimalist approach and allows the raw frenetic energy to carry the film. George Miller went to extreme levels to pull this off, featuring practical effects that make even Nolan look like an amateur. Though ostensibly a narrative film, it feels easier to discuss this film in the theories of the image. I mean, this film required the creation of a functional flamethrowing guitar; this became the most acclaimed film of 2015 because even the most pretentious critics working today couldn't deny how badass this is. Mad Max is cinema in its purest form, an action film that somehow appeals more to the film student crowd. - BleuPanda


228. The Sting (1973) - Directed by George Roy Hill
Image
Decade Rank: 32
Score: 713.12
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Greg: 86/237
Midaso: 71/184
Petri: 101/247
MrMooney: 83/195
Gillingham: 103/229
bonnielaurel: 110/233
---
whuntva: 95/170
Dexter: 187/236
Michel: 223/242
BleuPanda: 220/222
MaschineMan: 165/165


I just found the film to be quite dull. I couldn't wait for it to be over. - MaschineMan


227. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Image
Decade Rank: 32
Score: 713.41
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 26/184
luney6: 10/69

bonnielaurel: 64/233
Gillingham: 86/229
OtisRedding: 64/136
---
Petri: 127/247
MrMooney: 121/195
Dexter: 161/236
Greg: 172/237
BleuPanda: 168/222
bootsy: 73/87
acroamor: 87/98
whuntva: 162/170
MaschineMan: 160/165
Michel: 238/242
Live in Phoenix: 145/145


I'll be interested to see where this one lands, I should re-watch it sometime. - MaschineMan


226. A Prophet (2009) - Directed by Jacques Audiard
Image
Decade Rank: 28
Score: 718.64
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Michel: 29/242
MrMooney: 77/195
---
Petri: 148/247
Gillingham: 155/229
Chilton: 100/133
Greg: 183/237
Midaso: 154/184
bonnielaurel: 209/233
Dexter: 214/236


Grim and brutal in its portrayal of crime, but always gripping. An unforgettable movie experience. - MrMooney


225. La jetee (1962) - Directed by Chris Marker
Image
Decade Rank: 30
Score: 718.69
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 14/98
MaschineMan: 38/165

Michel: 69/242
BleuPanda: 86/222
Dexter: 97/236
Greg: 114/237
MrMooney: 95/195
---
Petri: 160/247
Nassim: 58/87
whuntva: 128/170
Midaso: 150/184
Nick: 108/125
Gillingham: 203/229
bonnielaurel: 217/233
Live in Phoenix: 137/145
Chilton: 126/133


A brilliant short about one of the hardest subjects to write about successfully. - MaschineMan

While there are a lot of films from this era that appear to exist solely to question what film is, most do so in a reductionist way. Of course Empire or Arnulf Rainer are films, but they ask a question that can very well be answered, "but they're not good films." La jetee, on the other hand, goes straight to the heart of film; is a film without movement still a movie, a moving picture? La jetee goes one step beyond by adding in one of the greatest sci-fi narratives, but it's the way the film makes people question what they're watching that makes it such a classic. An experiment without meaning is usually questionable, but La jetee proves its value in the one fleeting moment of movement. - BleuPanda


224. Deliverance (1972) - Directed by John Boorman
Image
Decade Rank: 31
Score: 719.61
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Michel: 44/242
acroamor: 22/98

Gillingham: 107/229
Greg: 115/237
Petri: 122/247
---
Chilton: 72/133
Dexter: 136/236
MrMooney: 113/195
Midaso: 115/184
Nassim: 63/87
bootsy: 79/87
BleuPanda: 211/222
OtisRedding: 135/136



223. Birdman (2014) - Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Image
Decade Rank: 14
Score: 719.97
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 4/98
MaschineMan: 13/165

Nassim: 33/87
MrMooney: 91/195
---
Petri: 124/247
Chilton: 68/133
Emilien: 15/28
BleuPanda: 159/222
Nick: 92/125
Greg: 194/237
Michel: 200/242
Gillingham: 195/229
bootsy: 76/87
Midaso: 171/184
whuntva: 160/170
OtisRedding: 131/136
bonnielaurel: 227/233
Dexter: 230/236


Very mixed here. Good visual language, but very bad dialogue sunk it for me. - whuntva

I don't know how many Oscars Lubezki has now, but it's not enough. - Chilton

A man becomes a critic when he cannot be an artist - I'll be interested to see how well the film ages, I quite enjoyed it. - MaschineMan

It took me a while to realize my problem with this film, but then I read an article that pretty much laid it out for me. While the cinematography is stunning, I can't find its purpose. There's nothing that links this choice of direction to the narrative it tries to sell, so instead of merging seamlessly it turns itself into a conspicuous mess. This is a film that wants you to know how impressive it is, which creates this visually mesmerizing work that left a bad taste in my mouth. - BleuPanda


222. The Iron Giant (1999) - Directed by Brad Bird
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Decade Rank: 31
Score: 720.58
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 14/170
BleuPanda: 103/222
MrMooney: 94/195
---
Nick: 77/125
Michel: 197/242
acroamor: 82/98
Dexter: 224/236
MaschineMan: 162/165
Petri: 243/247


One of the films that I missed as a child, so never had an attachment to. - MaschineMan

The Iron Giant has always stood out as one of the most surprisingly emotional films. While it runs on a perfect setting, this 1950s Red Scare small town America unaware of the terror in its own backyard, where it really sells itself is the finale. It creates this question of purpose and fate as the previously docile Giant is triggered into becoming a literal war machine. The "You are not a gun" scene is one of my all-time favorites, and it's a rare American animated film outside of Disney and Pixar that proves its value even more as an adult. No one is born into a set path, we all can choose to change ourselves for the better at any time. The Giant thinking of himself as Superman as he sacrifices himself to save the town is one of only a handful of moments in cinema to bring a tear to my eye. - BleuPanda


221. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - Directed by John Frankenheimer
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Decade Rank: 29
Score: 722.9
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Petri: 43/247
Greg: 103/237
bonnielaurel: 106/233
---
Dexter: 134/236
whuntva: 101/170
Live in Phoenix: 98/145
MrMooney: 146/195
Michel: 211/242
Gillingham: 224/229



220. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Directed by Robert Mulligan
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Decade Rank: 28
Score: 723.23
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Petri: 26/247
whuntva: 23/170

bonnielaurel: 66/233
Dexter: 113/236
---
Live in Phoenix: 79/145
OtisRedding: 103/136
Nick: 98/125
bootsy: 69/87
BleuPanda: 181/222
MrMooney: 164/195
MaschineMan: 140/165
Michel: 228/242
Gillingham: 217/229
Midaso: 178/184



219. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) - Directed by Isao Takahata
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Decade Rank: 13
Score: 724.06
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Chilton: 7/133
---
bonnielaurel: 155/233
whuntva: 126/170
Greg: 185/237
BleuPanda: 188/222
Petri: 214/247
MrMooney: 173/195
Dexter: 212/236


What makes Princess Kaguya such an instant classic (he says about something in his bottom fourth...) is both the way it manages to simulate classical Japanese-style paintings and its refusal to update its source material to modern sensibilities. Few films feel as grabbed out of time as Kaguya, an unrelenting portrayal of womanhood in the old days of Japan. It's an experience entirely foreign, not because it's from another country but because it presents itself as if intended for the time it is set in. - BleuPanda


218. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - Directed by Darren Aronofsky
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Decade Rank: 27
Score: 724.61
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 34/165
Midaso: 42/184
Gillingham: 54/229

Petri: 72/247
Nick: 44/125
---
Chilton: 67/133
bootsy: 58/87
Michel: 163/242
BleuPanda: 150/222
acroamor: 76/98
Dexter: 185/236
OtisRedding: 107/136
bonnielaurel: 200/233
MrMooney: 171/195
Greg: 225/237
whuntva: 167/170


Honestly don't know whether I consider this good or bad. On the one hand, it is a powerful message, and well acted and written. On the other, it feels overblown in its direction and made me regret watching it soon after. My IMDB review even said I gave it *null*/10, because I felt no matter what I gave it, my ranking would not do it justice. - whuntva

A film so good I never want to watch it again, or inject drugs. - MaschineMan

One of the most visually mesmerizing films ever; the so-called 'hip hop' editing style does wonders. For some reason I have watched this film 3 times, because I'm apparently an emotionless machine who will overlook the horrors within the narrative to look at the pretty camera work. - BleuPanda


217. The Usual Suspects (1995) - Directed by Bryan Singer
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Decade Rank: 30
Score: 725.4
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
Michel: 33/242
Chilton: 19/133
MrMooney: 41/195

bootsy: 23/87
Petri: 68/247
BleuPanda: 95/222
---
Gillingham: 125/229
Midaso: 134/184
Dexter: 180/236
Nassim: 70/87
Live in Phoenix: 121/145
luney6: 59/69
Greg: 203/237
bonnielaurel: 203/233
MaschineMan: 153/165
acroamor: 91/98
Nick: 122/125
whuntva: 166/170


Not a bad film. But once I knew the twist, it had little to offer on rewatch. - whuntva

A film that tried to fly too close to the sun and got burnt. I don't know if it was everyone constantly talking about the twist, but I saw it come from a mile away. That being said the sequence itself was worth the wait. - MaschineMan

The only reason this movie is not downright terrible, is that Kevin Spacey is such a fantastic actor. His talents are better showcased on LA Confidential, actually. - luney6

Kevin Spacey is a phenomenal actor, and this is one of his best performances. While the film might be overshadowed by its twist, as someone lucky enough to avoid the spoilers, this is a fun mystery film exploring the idea of fear and evil. - BleuPanda


216. The Mirror (1975) - Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
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Decade Rank: 30
Score: 725.48
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 35/229
Dexter: 82/236
---
BleuPanda: 120/222
Michel: 142/242
Greg: 144/237
whuntva: 106/170
bonnielaurel: 199/233
Live in Phoenix: 135/145
Petri: 234/247


I'm still trying to wrap my head around this film, but it's undeniably a unique experience. It's one of those films that feels more akin to poetry than to prose. - BleuPanda


215. All About My Mother (1999) - Directed by Pedro Almodovar
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Decade Rank: 29
Score: 727.03
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 56/229
Greg: 90/237
bonnielaurel: 103/233
---
Petri: 153/247
OtisRedding: 89/136
Michel: 161/242
Dexter: 177/236
BleuPanda: 191/222



214. Monsieur Verdoux (1947) - Directed by Charles Chaplin
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 727.26
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Petri: 53/247
bonnielaurel: 60/233
Michel: 121/242
---
Greg: 154/237
Dexter: 155/236
MrMooney: 150/195
Chilton: 117/133
BleuPanda: 207/222



213. Halloween (1978) - Directed by John Carpenter
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Decade Rank: 29
Score: 729.14
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 7/87
Live in Phoenix: 43/145
Midaso: 70/184
Greg: 94/237
Dexter: 118/236
---
MrMooney: 99/195
BleuPanda: 140/222
whuntva: 121/170
bonnielaurel: 169/233
Petri: 215/247
bootsy: 80/87
Michel: 240/242
Nick: 125/125


I hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Out of the 125 movies I’ve seen in this poll, this is the only one I just flat out hated. Nothing at all happens in the movie’s first half. Nothing. The dialogue is atrocious. The acting here is undeniably horrible. Michael Myers is a completely boring, un-scary character in a completely boring, un-scary movie. And don’t try and tell me, “oh Nick, you’re just viewing it from the eyes of someone in 2016, it was way scarier when it came out in the 70s”, because I’m not buying it. I put The Shining in my top 20 movies in this poll, and that’s a horror movie released right around the time Halloween came out. I understand that this movie was innovative, but innovation only gets you so far. If this movie came out even 10 years later it would be deservedly forgotten. - Nick

There's three things that really make this movie one of the undeniable horror classics. One, its sense of framing creates the idea that something could happen at any time, yet it rarely follows through in a predictable manner. Next, with this film Jamie Lee Curtis became the definitive scream queen; but the film turns into something truly magnificent when she begins to fight back. Due to this change in character from just another victim to heroic protagonist, the key third point comes into creation. The movie takes a sudden trip into crazy land when the previously realistic Michael Myers suddenly gets back up from the dead, and the nightmare truly unleashes because the film has convinced us Laurie Strode had a reasonable chance of fighting back. It's a film that seamlessly shifts from the rules of reality to nightmare logic. - BleuPanda


212. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - Directed by Arthur Penn
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Decade Rank: 27
Score: 730.11
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Michel: 42/242
Dexter: 69/236
whuntva: 52/170
bonnielaurel: 82/233
Emilien: 13/28
---
Greg: 132/237
MrMooney: 124/195
Live in Phoenix: 95/145
Petri: 170/247
OtisRedding: 96/136
Gillingham: 175/229
MaschineMan: 130/165
Midaso: 151/184
BleuPanda: 197/222



211. Whiplash (2014) - Directed by Damien Chazelle
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Decade Rank: 12
Score: 730.26
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 48/184
Nassim: 23/87
bootsy: 33/87
MrMooney: 74/195
MaschineMan: 66/165
---
Nick: 76/125
whuntva: 104/170
acroamor: 73/98
BleuPanda: 174/222
Michel: 216/242
Dexter: 211/236
Petri: 224/247



210. Harakiri (1962) - Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
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Decade Rank: 26
Score: 730.37
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
BleuPanda: 78/222
Michel: 101/242
Greg: 109/237
---
Gillingham: 130/229
bonnielaurel: 164/233
Dexter: 188/236

Kobayashi's tale of so-called honor suicides gone wrong is predictably depressing. There are few scenes I can think of more gut-wrenching than when Motome is forced to disembowel himself with bamboo. It's one of those highly detailed moments that will etch itself in the back of your mind, no matter how much you want to forget. This sense of disgust at everyone involved helps the film pull off a phenomenal revenge sequence. Though late in the cycle of WWII reaction films, the sense of misplaced ideas of honor carries this film. - BleuPanda


209. Let the Right One In (2008) - Directed by Tomas Alfredson
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Decade Rank: 26
Score: 730.88
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 3/87
OtisRedding: 29/136

Petri: 82/247
Chilton: 57/133
---
MrMooney: 120/195
bootsy: 57/87
Gillingham: 154/229
bonnielaurel: 179/233
BleuPanda: 175/222
Live in Phoenix: 122/145
Michel: 204/242
Greg: 217/237
MaschineMan: 154/165
Dexter: 227/236


Interesting modern take on an old theme, and it works too! - Gillingham

As much a love story as it is a horror film. It's definitely scary and the two children deliver good performances. - MrMooney

Part of what makes this film so unsettling to me is the fact that people can walk away believing it to be a love story - it does such a perfect job convincing us of Eli's innocence that we forget they are a centuries old vampire targeting a child as their next assistant. It manages to hide a manipulative relationship behind this idea they are assisting each other. Maybe Eli even does love Oskar, but when has love ever stopped someone from using their partner? - BleuPanda



208. The Hunt (2012) - Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
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Decade Rank: 11
Score: 731.7
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Petri: 73/247
MrMooney: 61/195
---
bonnielaurel: 119/233
MaschineMan: 87/165
Midaso: 107/184
Gillingham: 139/229
bootsy: 56/87
whuntva: 142/170

I don't think a film has made me more angry than this one. That was key to it's success as a film. - MaschineMan

Tense, captivating and so worryingly believable. Mikkelson is beyond fantastic in what is probably a never bettered career best performance. - MrMooney


207. Pather Panchali (1955) - Directed by Satyajit Ray
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 733.51
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
luney6: 11/69
Dexter: 47/236
Greg: 53/237

---
whuntva: 89/17
Petri: 140/247
Michel: 141/242
bonnielaurel: 178/233
Midaso: 142/184
Chilton: 105/133
BleuPanda: 183/222
Gillingham: 200/229
acroamor: 97/98



206. Woman in the Dunes (1964) - Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 733.56
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Petri: 51/247
BleuPanda: 70/222
---
bonnielaurel: 139/233
Michel: 158/242
Dexter: 171/236
Greg: 176/237
Gillingham: 196/229

Woman in the Dunes is a mesmerizing horror. The film has great cinematography, with stunning shots of sand sliding down a pit. The basic premise is simple yet immediately gripping, even before I saw the film: a man is forced into digging the sand out of a hole alongside a woman, but more sand is blowing in than they can get out. It also refuses to give satisfying answers; why must he do this, what is there to gain from this impossible task? It creates a creeping sense of claustrophobia, a finely surreal display of desperation. - BleuPanda


205. The Taste of Others (2000) - Directed by Agnes Jaoui
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 735.27
Votes: 3


Individual Votes:
Michel: 52/242
---
Gillingham: 184/229
Petri: 219/247



204. Lust, Caution (2007) - Directed by Ang Lee
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 736.22
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 20/233
---
Petri: 135/247
MaschineMan: 125/165
Michel: 207/242
Gillingham: 204/229
Dexter: 236/236


There are many films about World War II, but not many show China during the Japanese occupation. A woman from the resistance gets involved with a collaborator. Visual details can refer to Western or Eastern culture: a poster of "Casablanca" vs. the mahjong symbols. The energetic camera movements and the subtle facial expression of the Asian actors make it mesmerizing. - bonnielaurel


203. 3-Iron (2004) - Directed by Ki-duk Kim
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 737.12
Votes: 5


Individual Votes:
Petri: 59/247
Midaso: 85/184
---
Gillingham: 115/229
Michel: 149/242
Dexter: 235/236


202. Schindler's List (1993) - Directed by Steven Spielberg
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Decade Rank: 28
Score: 738.21
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 29/145
OtisRedding: 43/136
bonnielaurel: 87/233
whuntva: 71/170
Nick: 55/125
Dexter: 110/236
bootsy: 42/87
---
Gillingham: 116/229
Midaso: 97/184
BleuPanda: 124/222
Emilien: 18/28
MaschineMan: 114/165
MrMooney: 141/195
Michel: 183/242
Greg: 195/237
Petri: 232/247


This has always been a strange beast of a film. Undeniably a powerful movie, but it's so clearly directed by someone whose main strength has been big budget adventure films. There are moments where Spielberg somehow reaches sentimentalism, as if the source isn't meaningful enough on its own. Yet, the moments when Spielberg takes a step back and just observes the events, those are among the most gripping in cinema. - BleuPanda


201. La Bête Humaine (1938) - Directed by Jean Renoir
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Decade Rank: 11
Score: 738.27
Votes: 5


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 38/195
Greg: 113/237
---
bonnielaurel: 154/233
Gillingham: 166/229
Michel: 189/242

Emile Zola's dark novel was turned into one of pre-war French cinema's true classics. Jean Gabin is brilliant as the train worker drawn into a murder plot. Hollywood would use the template of this film for many film noirs. A truly wonderful film. - MrMooney
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by BleuPanda »

200. 12 Years a Slave (2013) - Directed by Steve McQueen
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Decade Rank: 10
Score: 740.32
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 11/87
BleuPanda: 30/222

Nassim: 37/87
Gillingham: 114/229
---
Michel: 124/242
Chilton: 75/133
Greg: 146/237
whuntva: 113/170
bonnielaurel: 185/233
Petri: 198/247
MaschineMan: 147/165
Dexter: 221/236
MrMooney: 183/195


Although I prefer Hunger and Shame is at least as good as this film, 12 Years a Slave got all the awards. Probably understandable, because it's McQueen's most accessible film. - Gillingham

Honestly, this film went in one ear then out the other. - MaschineMan

Perhaps the most powerful, intimate portrayal of slavery ever caught on film. The focus on a single individual in a historical event largely discussed by its numbers helps frame the true horrors of America's past, a film that should make you as angry as it does disturbed. The acting is phenomenal, with Lupita Nyong'o giving an absolutely stunning breakthrough performance. Few scenes have haunted me as much as Solomon being left hanging from a tree; the cinematography frames it in such a way to make you realize how commonplace this event was. The day continues like any other, a black man hanging from a tree as everybody else continues with their business. - BleuPanda


199. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - Directed by Wes Anderson
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Decade Rank: 9
Score: 740.5
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 10/87
MaschineMan: 27/165

Nick: 39/125
acroamor: 31/98
BleuPanda: 79/222
---
bonnielaurel: 123/233
Gillingham: 141/229
Greg: 149/237
Chilton: 93/133
Michel: 179/242
whuntva: 130/170
Petri: 203/247
bootsy: 72/87
Midaso: 170/184
Dexter: 229/236
MrMooney: 190/195


I am a fan of Wes, this one has all the wit and jokes of the others but for me is lacking some charm of say The Royal Tenembaums - MrMooney

My favorite film by Wes Anderson. While as hilarious as his other works, it also has this sweetness that's rare to find. It has a bluntness to the way it handles childhood romance, but in a way I find more believable than most love stories. Where most people write off young love, Wes Anderson approaches it with a post-modernist sense of respect. The scene where Sam and Suzy dance on the beach is as awkward as it is nostalgia-inducing, and the sense of adventure the film creates perfectly reflects the sensations of falling in love for the first time. It's something big, so big you have to run away and the whole town will try to stop you. While not a film targeted toward children, it so perfectly captures what it was like to view the world as one. - BleuPanda


198. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - Directed by Julian Schnabel
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 740.98
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 11/98
Midaso: 56/184
Gillingham: 92/229
MaschineMan: 76/165
---
Chilton: 82/133
MrMooney: 139/195
Petri: 177/247
Dexter: 196/236
bonnielaurel: 207/233
Michel: 224/242



197. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Directed by Frank Capra
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Decade Rank: 10
Score: 741.36
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 37/233
MrMooney: 43/195

MaschineMan: 70/165
---
Michel: 138/242
Dexter: 138/236
whuntva: 102/170
Greg: 167/237
Petri: 178/247
Live in Phoenix: 129/145
Gillingham: 209/229



196. Koyaanisqatsi (1982) - Directed by Godfrey Reggio
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Decade Rank: 30
Score: 741.45
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Nick: 3/125
---
Petri: 126/247
BleuPanda: 145/222
Gillingham: 162/229
Midaso: 138/184
bonnielaurel: 196/233
Dexter: 208/236
Greg: 224/237


I love the idea of this film and it's executed pretty well. And then there's the splendid soundtrack by Phillip Glass. It's just so hard to compare this with regular feature films. - Gillingham

Without saying a single word, other than the title phrase (a Hopi word meaning “life out of balance”), Koyaanisqatsi takes the viewer on a hypnotic ride through desert landscapes, lakes, fields, power plants, Pruitt Igoe, cities, arcades, assembly lines, and so much more, through time lapse and slow motion, all accompanied by an equally hypnotic score by Philip Glass. The magic of Koyaanisqatsi is its ability to let the footage speak for itself, there’s no dialogue, characters, plot, or narration here. Koyaanisqatsi is a movie with a message more pertinent now than ever, a plea to protect our environment before it’s too late. This movie is a must watch for anyone interested in the intersection between civilization and nature. - Nick


195. Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1945) - Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 741.85
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Greg: 11/237
Dexter: 108/236
---
MaschineMan: 85/165
bonnielaurel: 161/233
Michel: 185/242
OtisRedding: 124/136
BleuPanda: 219/222
Petri: 246/247



194. Amour (2012) - Directed by Michael Haneke
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Decade Rank: 8
Score: 742.23
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
BleuPanda: 11/222
acroamor: 38/98
Chilton: 58/133
OtisRedding: 63/136
---
whuntva: 101/170
MrMooney: 131/195
Petri: 168/247
Gillingham: 159/229
Michel: 191/242
bonnielaurel: 190/233
Greg: 223/237
Dexter: 228/236


It's a pity Amour is the only Haneke film that made it. It's a good film, but not his best. - Gillingham

So many stories throughout history explore love at its birth, but it's the rare narrative that finds itself at the end; even more rare are those that end in death and not divorce. Haneke has a history as a rather brutal director, but where his most shocking moments in previous films are designed to unsettle, it finds a strange truth in Amour. Though it lacks the experimental nature of his former work, outside of a few key moments, it makes up for it in a touching if depressing sense of realism. This is a movie that hurts to watch, but there's a sense of beauty that permeates, the realization of a lifetime of love brought to its inevitably tragic close. Haneke has the tendency to leave the camera running, showing us so much more than we think we need, and this film in its totality feels like the ending of a larger work that went longer than we could handle; all those happily ever afters we find in romances and Disney films end something like this. - BleuPanda


193. Sansho the Bailiff (1954) - Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 743.98
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 53/236
BleuPanda: 56/222
Greg: 70/237
bonnielaurel: 84/233
---
Michel: 199/242
whuntva: 156/170
MrMooney: 182/195
Gillingham: 223/229


There's a series of great films that came out of Japan in the years immediately following World War II that could discuss the emotional fallout in any way but directly. Sansho the Bailiff is a devastating work, a film that begins hopelessly and never finds a brighter path. From kidnapping to slavery, we expect relief in freedom, but fate finds a way to push back harder. - BleuPanda


192. Army of Shadows (1969) - Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 746.22
Votes: 7


Individual votes:
MrMooney: 51/195
Gillingham: 60/229
bonnielaurel: 99/233
---
Petri: 142/247
Dexter: 141/236
Greg: 166/237
Michel: 210/242


191. The Man Who Planted Trees (1987) - Directed by Frédéric Back
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Decade Rank: 29
Score: 747.06
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
Chilton: 8/133
Midaso: 79/184
---
bonnielaurel: 172/233
Nick: 102/125
Petri: 207/247
BleuPanda: 213/222



190. A Christmas Story (1983) - Directed by Bob Clark
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Decade Rank: 28
Score: 747.1
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 4/145
whuntva: 32/170

---
bootsy: 65/87
Greg: 186/237
Dexter: 191/236
Nick: 119/125
acroamor: 95/98
MaschineMan: 161/165


A film that captures nostalgia over a specific memory while also accommodating for the bitter irony associated with it. This film is the rare "perfect film", in the sense that I can't think of anything that would build upon or improve it. - whuntva

I appreciated some of the jokes, but on the whole I was disappointed by the film. - MaschineMan


189. Grand Illusion (1937) - Directed by Jean Renoir
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Decade Rank: 9
Score: 747.31
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 20/236
BleuPanda: 40/222
Greg: 57/237

bonnielaurel: 102/233
---
Michel: 131/242
Gillingham: 129/229
whuntva: 111/170
OtisRedding: 91/136
Live in Phoenix: 124/145
MaschineMan: 142/165
MrMooney: 170/195
Chilton: 129/133
Petri: 241/247


Jean Renoir has an expert sense of framing; nearly every shot in Grand Illusion could be a phenomenal standalone image. The fact that it's in motion only makes it better. In many of his better shots, Renoir rejects the idea of a central image and extends focus to the farthest corner. The narrative is a compelling look at the classical sense of honor and a world halfway through evolving into modernism. A war film more concerned with class than it is country. - BleuPanda


188. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) - Directed by Mike Nichols
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 748.06
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 39/233
Petri: 70/247
Gillingham: 108/229
---
MaschineMan: 83/165
MrMooney: 101/195
Greg: 173/237
Dexter: 189/236
Michel: 220/242



187. Cabaret (1972) - Directed by Bob Fosse
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Decade Rank: 28
Score: 748.19
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Petri: 74/247
MaschineMan: 51/165
bonnielaurel: 73/233
OtisRedding: 51/136
Live in Phoenix: 66/145
Michel: 115/242
Dexter: 116/236
---
MrMooney: 102/195
Greg: 174/237
BleuPanda: 187/222
Chilton: 121/133


Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome - One of the best Musicals around, with a great performance by Liza. - MaschineMan


186. Ran (1985) - Directed by Akira Kurosawa
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Decade Rank: 27
Score: 748.53
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 65/236
Gillingham: 76/229
Michel: 95/242
Greg: 102/237
Petri: 117/247
---
BleuPanda: 118/222
MrMooney: 105/195
Midaso: 121/184
bonnielaurel: 189/233


185. On the Waterfront (1954) - Directed by Elia Kazan
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 749.27
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 15/98
Greg: 45/237
Dexter: 57/236

bonnielaurel: 76/233
Live in Phoenix: 67/145
MrMooney: 97/195
---
OtisRedding: 83/136
Michel: 151/242
BleuPanda: 164/222
Gillingham: 177/229
Midaso: 143/184
Chilton: 106/133
whuntva: 153/170
Petri: 242/247


Marlon Brando deservedly earned an Oscar for his unforgettable performance with memorable dialogue and a great score all culminate into a great film. - MrMooney


184. Barry Lyndon (1975) - Directed by Stanley Kubrick
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Decade Rank: 27
Score: 749.74
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 31/229
Michel: 46/242

Dexter: 83/236
Petri: 109/247
---
whuntva: 97/170
bonnielaurel: 134/233
MrMooney: 123/195
Midaso: 127/184
BleuPanda: 157/222
OtisRedding: 97/136
MaschineMan: 123/165
Greg: 205/237


183. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Directed by Rob Reiner
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Decade Rank: 26
Score: 749.96
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 11/145
MaschineMan: 28/165

Nassim: 31/87
luney6: 32/69
---
Dexter: 126/236
Nick: 71/125
bonnielaurel: 149/233
Michel: 165/242
acroamor: 69/98
Petri: 174/247
BleuPanda: 173/222
Midaso: 156/184
whuntva: 148/170
Gillingham: 202/229



182. Jean de Florette (1986) - Directed by Claude Berri
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 751.8
Votes: 5


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 24/233
Midaso: 88/184
---
Michel: 167/242
Greg: 177/237
Dexter: 193/236

The three main actors are all brilliant. Gérard Depardieu plays the intellectual who grew up in town, full of idealist visions of man's return to nature. Daniel Auteuil plays the naive go-between who's hardly aware of a world outside his village. Yves Montand plays the experienced farmer, manipulating in the background. Depardieu speaks a clean, academic French, the locals have that fruity accent from the Provence. Trees, earth, water, blue skies and thunderstorm provide beautiful images. - bonnielaurel


181. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) - Directed by Nicolas Roeg
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Decade Rank: 26
Score: 752.04
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 2/145
Greg: 100/237
---
MaschineMan: 92/165
whuntva: 107/170
Dexter: 160/236
Petri: 181/247
Michel: 203/242
Gillingham: 193/229
BleuPanda: 205/222



180. Pierrot le fou (1965) - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 752.85
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Michel: 4/242
BleuPanda: 65/222
Dexter: 89/236
bonnielaurel: 101/233
---
Midaso: 132/184
OtisRedding: 106/136
whuntva: 149/170
Greg: 209/237
Petri: 228/247
MrMooney: 188/195
Gillingham: 226/229



179. The Ice Storm (1997) - Directed by Ang Lee
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Decade Rank: 27
Score: 753.75
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 2/184
Petri: 120/247
---
Greg: 160/237
Gillingham: 158/229
Michel: 187/242
bonnielaurel: 192/233
BleuPanda: 193/222
Dexter: 232/236



178. Short Cuts (1993) - Directed by Robert Altman
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Decade Rank: 26
Score: 753.86
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Petri: 69/247
Michel: 76/242
Greg: 83/237
OtisRedding: 58/136
Midaso: 87/184
---
Dexter: 168/236
MrMooney: 158/195


177. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) - Directed by John Cassavetes
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 754.12
Votes: 8


Individual votes:
Midaso: 54/184
Petri: 100/247
Dexter: 96/236
Greg: 101/237
Michel: 113/242
bonnielaurel: 115/233
---
Gillingham: 127/229
BleuPanda: 136/222


176. Day of Wrath (1943) - Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
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Decade Rank: 15
Score: 754.88
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 41/229
Petri: 90/247
bonnielaurel: 86/233
---
Greg: 120/237
Michel: 136/242
Dexter: 158/236
BleuPanda: 179/222


175. Eraserhead (1977) - Directed by David Lynch
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 755
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Petri: 4/247
BleuPanda: 54/222

---
Midaso: 95/184
Dexter: 127/236
Chilton: 76/133
MaschineMan: 101/165
Michel: 150/242
acroamor: 66/98
MrMooney: 140/195
Gillingham: 176/229
bonnielaurel: 181/233
Greg: 199/237
Live in Phoenix: 133/145


David Lynch's first feature film is still his most horrifying. A near-incomprehensible tale of paranoia brought on by the fear of fatherhood, Eraserhead consistently features striking imagery, from the infamous deformed baby to the Lady in the Radiator. It is a film with the logic of nightmares, where nothing can be understood, yet so clearly everything is going wrong. I honestly can't think of a film that terrified me more. - BleuPanda


174. Hiroshima mon amour (1959) - Directed by Alain Resnais
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 755.48
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Chilton: 9/133
Gillingham: 49/229

BleuPanda: 92/222
---
Greg: 137/237
Dexter: 153/236
bonnielaurel: 171/233
Michel: 205/242
acroamor: 90/98
Petri: 236/247



173. Yi Yi (2000) - Directed by Edward Yang
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 755.99
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Greg: 58/237
BleuPanda: 63/222
Petri: 110/247
Michel: 116/242
---
Dexter: 120/236
bonnielaurel: 132/233
Gillingham: 171/229


172. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) - Directed by Ki-duk Kim
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 756.92
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Petri: 15/247
whuntva: 78/170
MaschineMan: 78/165
bonnielaurel: 111/233
---
OtisRedding: 72/136
Greg: 152/237
Gillingham: 148/229
Michel: 230/242
Dexter: 226/236



171. The Man With a Movie Camera (1929) - Directed by Dziga Vertov
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Decade Rank: 9
Score: 757.59
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 31/145
Gillingham: 64/229
Petri: 77/247
BleuPanda: 80/222
Dexter: 86/236
whuntva: 70/170
---
bonnielaurel: 143/233
Greg: 168/237
Michel: 181/242
Chilton: 115/133
Midaso: 161/184



170. The Graduate (1967) - Directed by Mike Nichols
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 757.6
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 28/233
Nassim: 16/87

MrMooney: 63/195
Michel: 94/242
Emilien: 11/28
OtisRedding: 57/136
Gillingham: 100/229
Dexter: 105/236
---
Chilton: 70/133
acroamor: 57/98
MaschineMan: 107/165
Petri: 171/247
Nick: 87/125
Live in Phoenix: 105/145
BleuPanda: 161/222
Greg: 179/237
whuntva: 135/170
Midaso: 164/184


An older woman seducing a younger man was pretty unconventional. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) wants to stay young and sees her own daughter as a rival. Dustin Hoffman's role is a good example of underacting; he hardly shows any emotion. During the underwater scene you can hear him breathing and see his point of view. The songs of Simon & Garfunkel were a departure from classical soundtracks. - bonnielaurel


169. Great Expectations (1946) - Directed by David Lean
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Decade Rank: 14
Score: 759.46
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 6/170
bonnielaurel: 51/233

---
Greg: 122/237
Dexter: 124/236
Chilton: 80/133
bootsy: 77/87
MrMooney: 177/195
Petri: 226/247
Gillingham: 211/229


The film closest to director Lean's heart. Faithful to the book and bringing out the right emotion, this film lives up to its great expectations. - whuntva


168. Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - Directed by Alain Resnais
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 761.5
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
BleuPanda: 41/222
Greg: 49/237
Petri: 54/247
Dexter: 56/236

---
whuntva: 101/170
bonnielaurel: 152/233
Michel: 208/242
Gillingham: 207/229
Live in Phoenix: 132/145
Midaso: 177/184


Few films are as atmospherically oppressive as Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad. There is a man, a woman, and her lover, and their relationships shift in and out of place. A heavy screen of something obfuscates our understanding of the situation. The man remembers meeting the woman last year at Marienbad, but she denies the encounter. Maybe they did meet, maybe they didn't, and if they did, who knows what innocuous or horrible thing actually took place. On a technical level this film is bewitching, starting with a tracking shot through a grand hall full of mirrors, the camera almost magically hiding behind the motionless humans that inhabit this strange resort. Film repeats on itself, people cast shadows as their surroundings do not, and this is all backed by a relentless organ throughout the entire piece. This is to drama what Eraserhead is to horror. - BleuPanda


167. Oldboy (2003) - Directed by Chan-wook Park
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 761.63
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 12/87
whuntva: 25/170
Nick: 25/125
MaschineMan: 41/165

Gillingham: 105/229
---
MrMooney: 110/195
OtisRedding: 82/136
BleuPanda: 139/222
Michel: 177/242
Dexter: 181/236
Petri: 190/247
Chilton: 114/133
bonnielaurel: 210/233
Midaso: 169/184
Greg: 230/237



166. Hoop Dreams (1994) - Directed by Steve James
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Decade Rank: 25
Score: 761.89
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 13/184
Greg: 87/237
whuntva: 68/170
---
bootsy: 55/87
Petri: 194/247
MrMooney: 155/195
Dexter: 194/236



165. Talk to Her (2002) - Directed by Pedro Almodovar
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Decade Rank: 18
Score: 762.61
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Petri: 32/247
bonnielaurel: 48/233

acroamor: 28/98
---
Gillingham: 128/229
Michel: 144/242
Greg: 175/237
Dexter: 176/236
OtisRedding: 110/136
BleuPanda: 182/222



164. Rebecca (1940) - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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Decade Rank: 13
Score: 762.81
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 30/165
Petri: 57/247

whuntva: 44/170
bonnielaurel: 61/233
Greg: 74/237
MrMooney: 89/195
---
Dexter: 128/236
Chilton: 98/133
Live in Phoenix: 108/145
Michel: 195/242
Gillingham: 186/229
OtisRedding: 111/136
BleuPanda: 212/222


Hitchcock's first Hollywood film is a beautiful and suspenseful Gothic tale, Laurence is fantastic but Joan Fontaine is brilliant as the timid second Mrs de Winter. Deserved it's Oscar. - MrMooney


163. The Battle of Algiers (1966) - Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 763.21
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 43/229
Petri: 75/247
Dexter: 84/236
Michel: 100/242
---
whuntva: 88/170
Greg: 134/237
BleuPanda: 129/222
bonnielaurel: 208/233

I would not have watched this movie had it been directed by anyone else. It is directed sharp and tight, and that's what kept me in. - whuntva


162. Notorious (1946) - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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Decade Rank: 12
Score: 763.24
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Petri: 41/247
Dexter: 51/236

MrMooney: 50/195
bonnielaurel: 68/233
Greg: 98/237
---
Michel: 133/242
Chilton: 81/133
BleuPanda: 172/222
Live in Phoenix: 123/145
whuntva: 154/170
Gillingham: 216/229


Not as technically adventurous or bold as some of his later classics, but is so entertaining I don't really care. - MrMooney


161. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Directed by John Ford
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Decade Rank: 11
Score: 763.66
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 40/229
Greg: 66/237
bonnielaurel: 65/233
Dexter: 66/236
Michel: 75/242
Live in Phoenix: 61/145
Emilien: 14/28
---
whuntva: 110/170
Midaso: 129/184
BleuPanda: 171/222
OtisRedding: 108/136
MrMooney: 160/195
Petri: 231/247



160. Songs From the Second Floor (2000) - Directed by Roy Andersson
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 764.61
Votes: 3


Individual Votes:
Petri: 14/247
---
Michel: 214/242
Greg: 228/237



159. The Searchers (1956) - Directed by John Ford
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 766.33
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 8/236
Greg: 24/237

BleuPanda: 66/222
bonnielaurel: 92/233
---
Gillingham: 122/229
Michel: 168/242
Live in Phoenix: 112/145
MaschineMan: 128/165
whuntva: 133/170
MrMooney: 176/195
Midaso: 176/184
Petri: 245/247
OtisRedding: 136/136



158. The Matrix (1999) - Directed by The Wachowskis
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 766.95
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 8/87
Live in Phoenix: 19/145
Nick: 24/125
MrMooney: 39/195
Gillingham: 47/229

MaschineMan: 67/165
---
Midaso: 101/184
whuntva: 101/170
Michel: 162/242
Nassim: 59/87
Dexter: 172/236
Petri: 204/247
BleuPanda: 186/222
bonnielaurel: 220/233
acroamor: 94/98
OtisRedding: 133/136
luney6: 68/69
Greg: 235/237


Fair for what it is, but hasn't aged well. - whuntva

The Wachowskis get a lot of unwarranted hate in my opinion, I guess with such an early success like The Matrix, it was always going to be an uphill battle. - MaschineMan

To think that this is considered a good film makes my belly ache with laughter. Zz - luney6

I've always been a fan of films that go beyond over-the top, and The Matrix fully delivers. From well-choreographed action sequences to bizarro psuedo-philosophy, The Matrix, like most films by the Wachowskis, is a total trip; whether or not it works completely depends on if you can buy into their often on-the-nose storytelling. As far as similar films from this era, I would always recommend Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon first, and this is a film I've never quite felt the need to return to like many classics. - BleuPanda


157. Winter Light (1962) - Directed by Ingmar Bergman
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Decade Rank: 18
Score: 767.22
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 8/229
Midaso: 90/184
Greg: 118/237
---
bonnielaurel: 126/233
Petri: 182/247
Michel: 192/242
BleuPanda: 204/222


Not one of Bergman's most well known movies, but very typically Bergman nonetheless and part of the understated but potent 'God's silence trilogy', with The Silence and Through a Looking Glass Darkly. - Gillingham


156. Waltz With Bashir (2008) - Directed by Ari Folman
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 767.57
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Michel: 27/242
Gillingham: 48/229

BleuPanda: 88/222
Chilton: 54/133
Nassim: 39/87
whuntva: 77/170
---
bonnielaurel: 122/233
Petri: 193/247
MaschineMan: 137/165
Midaso: 153/184
Dexter: 215/236


Call of Duty: The Movie. Not at all an insult. - whuntva

It sets itself up with what appears to be a contradictory label: how can a documentary be animated? That itself is the question at the heart of Waltz With Bashir. How we recreate our memories can have a heavy effect on the way we view life, whether we imagine events that never truly happened or completely block out those we did. Waltz with Bashir presents these memories colored over, creating this sensation of distance from lived experiences. It sells itself right at the end, the veil being torn open as animation turns into brutal documentary footage. Our worst memories can be a haze until we look directly at the source. - BleuPanda


155. Rocco and His Brothers (1960) - Directed by Luchino Visconti
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 769.11
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Petri: 11/247
Dexter: 73/236
---
Michel: 137/242
Greg: 159/237
Gillingham: 161/229
bonnielaurel: 166/233
BleuPanda: 208/222


154. Rosemary's Baby (1968) - Directed by Roman Polanski
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 769.23
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 18/233
OtisRedding: 39/136
Michel: 83/242
Petri: 93/247
Gillingham: 87/229
Greg: 106/237
---
MrMooney: 127/195
Dexter: 156/236
Live in Phoenix: 99/145
BleuPanda: 152/222
MaschineMan: 136/165
Midaso: 179/184


Traditionally horror stories were set in ancient castles or faraway woods. Novelist Ira Levin transported this to a modern apartment in New York. The film by Roman Polanski begins with a young couple moving in. Bit by bit it becomes clear that something is wrong with the place and with their neighbours. This slow dramatic build-up towards a climax works better than many recent horror films with a faster succession of scary scenes. - bonnielaurel


153. Happiness (1998) - Directed by Todd Solondz
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 769.47
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 8/184
Michel: 102/242
OtisRedding: 59/136
Gillingham: 109/229
---
Petri: 130/247
Greg: 151/237
Dexter: 207/236
whuntva: 163/170



152. The Social Network (2010) - Directed by David Fincher
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Decade Rank: 7
Score: 771.78
Votes: 19


Individual Votes:
Nick: 13/125
Midaso: 36/184
Live in Phoenix: 35/145

bootsy: 25/87
Gillingham: 69/229
acroamor: 37/98
MrMooney: 81/195
BleuPanda: 98/222
Michel: 107/242
Nassim: 41/87
---
luney6: 47/69
OtisRedding: 101/136
whuntva: 127/170
Chilton: 109/133
Petri: 205/247
Dexter: 197/236
Greg: 215/237
MaschineMan: 155/165
bonnielaurel: 231/233


Yawn. - MaschineMan

If there ever was a subject that could have been boring, its the creation of a website but Fincher does amazing work and really emphasizes the characters at work here. Also I still think there is a number of people who think Armie Hammer has a twin. - MrMooney


151. Ikiru (1952) - Directed by Akira Kurosawa
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 772.44
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 52/236
bonnielaurel: 57/233

Greg: 91/237
BleuPanda: 87/222
Gillingham: 97/229
MaschineMan: 75/165
---
Michel: 123/242
Petri: 157/247
MrMooney: 149/195


150. Groundhog Day (1993) - Directed by Harold Ramis
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 772.46
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 5/98
Nassim: 13/87
MrMooney: 47/195
Live in Phoenix: 36/145

Michel: 96/242
whuntva: 74/170
---
BleuPanda: 113/222
Dexter: 130/236
OtisRedding: 84/136
Gillingham: 146/229
Midaso: 118/184
Nick: 94/125
Greg: 189/237
MaschineMan: 132/165
Petri: 201/247
luney6: 60/69
Chilton: 128/133



149. Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Directed by John Schlesinger
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Decade Rank: 15
Score: 773.17
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 12/184
Petri: 49/247

Dexter: 115/236
Greg: 117/237
---
OtisRedding: 70/136
Michel: 147/242
Gillingham: 149/229
bonnielaurel: 188/233
Nick: 115/125



148. City of God (2002) - Directed by Fernando Meirelles
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Decade Rank: 15
Score: 773.33
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 41/184
Gillingham: 63/229
MaschineMan: 46/165
Michel: 78/242
bootsy: 34/87
Petri: 107/247
OtisRedding: 60/136
BleuPanda: 102/222
---
whuntva: 100/170
Chilton: 79/133
MrMooney: 126/195
Dexter: 167/236
bonnielaurel: 165/233
Greg: 182/237


147. Black Swan (2010) - Directed by Darren Aronofsky
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Decade Rank: 6
Score: 773.39
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 10/233
Petri: 22/247
Chilton: 28/133

MaschineMan: 50/165
BleuPanda: 97/222
MrMooney: 92/195
---
Gillingham: 132/229
Live in Phoenix: 86/145
whuntva: 105/170
OtisRedding: 85/136
Michel: 170/242
Nassim: 62/87
acroamor: 74/98
luney6: 56/69
bootsy: 71/87
Greg: 214/237
Midaso: 172/184
Dexter: 231/236


I felt it. Perfect. I was perfect. - Aranofsky is one of my favourite working directors and this was the first film of his I saw. It was actually a screener for the oscars, but once it finally came out in the cinemas in Aus, I just had to see it again on the big screen. Loved the Winona casting. - MaschineMan

Portman's performance which is brilliant papers over this films flaws. A great watch nonetheless. - MrMooney

Natalie Portman plays a ballet dancer who's growing up in an overprotected environment. She still sleeps in a pink bedroom with cuddly toys. Behind the on-stage splendor tragedy is hidden: rivalry between the dancers, stress, injuries, eating disorders. We see the turbulence in Nina's distorted perception: knees bending backwards (like those of a swan), a wet dream, her reflection in the mirror leading its own life, jerking camera movements. Gradually she's transformed from the white into the black swan, from nice and innocent to paranoid and delusional. - bonnielaurel


146. Wild Strawberries (1957) - Directed by Ingmar Bergman
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 773.78
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 32/229
Greg: 55/237

Michel: 73/242
Dexter: 80/236
bonnielaurel: 81/233
Petri: 88/247
BleuPanda: 81/222
luney6: 30/69
Chilton: 63/133
---
Midaso: 131/184
MrMooney: 166/195
whuntva: 151/170
OtisRedding: 126/136
Live in Phoenix: 136/145



145. Amelie (2001) - Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
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Decade Rank: 14
Score: 774.19
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 7/165
Gillingham: 27/229

Petri: 76/247
Chilton: 44/133
acroamor: 33/98
luney6: 24/69
Michel: 109/242
---
bonnielaurel: 124/233
whuntva: 115/170
OtisRedding: 104/136
Midaso: 146/184
Greg: 192/237
Dexter: 204/236
MrMooney: 169/195
BleuPanda: 203/222
Live in Phoenix: 134/145
Nassim: 82/87


Even artichokes have hearts - Such a charming film. When in Paris I had to make a pilgrimage to the cafe it was filmed in and have Crème brûlée - MaschineMan

I'm surprised I'm placing this above A Clockwork Orange. But I recently saw this again, and it does have some very strong points going for it. - luney6


144. Nashville (1975) - Directed by Robert Altman
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 775.18
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Greg: 42/237
luney6: 13/69
Dexter: 50/236
BleuPanda: 52/222

Midaso: 62/184
---
Live in Phoenix: 101/145
whuntva: 120/170
Gillingham: 167/229
bonnielaurel: 195/233
MrMooney: 189/195
Petri: 244/247



143. The Conversation (1974) - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 775.32
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
luney6: 16/69
bonnielaurel: 59/233
Gillingham: 75/229
MrMooney: 75/195
Dexter: 99/236
Michel: 114/242
Petri: 123/247
---
Greg: 121/237
Live in Phoenix: 78/145
Midaso: 159/184


142. Days of Heaven (1978) - Directed by Terrence Malick
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 775.47
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Petri: 39/247
Midaso: 30/184
Greg: 41/237

Gillingham: 61/229
Dexter: 94/236
---
BleuPanda: 133/222
MaschineMan: 105/165
Michel: 160/242
MrMooney: 147/195
OtisRedding: 116/136
bonnielaurel: 215/233
Live in Phoenix: 141/145



141. The Best of Youth (2003) - Directed by Marco Tullio Giordana
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Decade Rank: 13
Score: 775.63
Votes: 5


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 14/184
Greg: 75/237
Gillingham: 88/229
---
Dexter: 201/236
bonnielaurel: 206/233



140. Fanny and Alexander (1982) - Directed by Ingmar Bergman
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Decade Rank: 24
Score: 776.7
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
OtisRedding: 33/136
Midaso: 55/184
Petri: 80/247
Gillingham: 77/229
Dexter: 85/236
BleuPanda: 82/222
Michel: 117/242
---
whuntva: 98/170
Greg: 147/237
Live in Phoenix: 91/145
bonnielaurel: 184/233


139. Machuca (2004) - Directed by Andrés Wood
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Decade Rank: 12
Score: 776.79
Votes: 1


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 19/233
---

A crucial period in the history of Chile, culminating in Pinochet's 1973 coup, is seen through the eyes of a teenage boy. It's a clash between two major ideologies of the twentieth century: Pinochet's fascism against Allende's socialism. It deals with the question whether two boys with a different social background can sustain a friendship. - bonnielaurel


138. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) - Directed by Don Hertzfeldt
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Decade Rank: 5
Score: 778.5
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 3/98
BleuPanda: 51/222

whuntva: 66/170
---
Petri: 195/247
Greg: 201/237
Midaso: 181/184


I thought I would be the only one to vote for this film when the time came. Looking at the decade poll results, it seems like I was one of very few. It's a shame because this film is a touching story told in a clever and unique way. Hertzfeldt's minimalist style only adds to the emotional impact this film conveys. It is an animated document that deserves more attention. - whuntva

Don't let the art style fool you; this is a master class study in existentialism. Made largely by the hand of the director himself, It's Such a Beautiful Day takes the most minimalist approach to cinema, yet his editing style proves how much any of us could do with enough skill. Behind the stick figure animation is visual design inspired by both Brakhage and Marker's La jetee. The film is an intimate study in coping with one's own death, with the film presented as if inside Bill's own decaying mind. The film tears and rips as his health fails, images become blurred as his disconnect from reality grow stronger.Throughout this madness, the film shines through with some honestly beautiful moments; one scene finds Bill stumbling across the phrase "I love you" written in the sand on a beach, and the final confrontation with his father is truly heartbreaking. Only a handful of films have left me so compelled to find the beauty in life. - BleuPanda


137. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - Directed by Jonathan Demme
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 780.28
Votes: 20


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 20/145
Gillingham: 37/229
Michel: 48/242

acroamor: 25/98
OtisRedding: 37/136
Nick: 54/125
Petri: 116/247
bonnielaurel: 113/233
---
MaschineMan: 86/165
Dexter: 131/236
Midaso: 104/184
Nassim: 51/87
Chilton: 78/133
bootsy: 59/87
whuntva: 117/170
BleuPanda: 155/222
MrMooney: 144/195
Greg: 178/237
Emilien: 24/28
luney6: 61/69



136. Children of Men (2006) - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
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Decade Rank: 11
Score: 780.8
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 5/87
MrMooney: 24/195
MaschineMan: 22/165

acroamor: 32/98
Gillingham: 81/229
---
bootsy: 46/87
BleuPanda: 131/222
Nick: 78/125
Midaso: 125/184
Chilton: 103/133
Petri: 192/247
bonnielaurel: 182/233
Greg: 197/237
Dexter: 199/236
OtisRedding: 127/136
Michel: 233/242


The cinematography of this film is truly outstanding, but the whole atmosphere is impressive too. - Gillingham

As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. - I hope (and expect) time to be kind to this film. It stayed with me for weeks. - MaschineMan


135. Earth (1996) - Directed by Julio Medem
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 780.91
Votes: 4


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 15/229
bonnielaurel: 49/233

---
Petri: 200/247
OtisRedding: 123/136


I'm afraid not a lot of voters have seen this film, but if it and director Julio Medem can get some attention this way, than I'm happy I nominated it. - Gillingham


134. The Idiots (1998) - Directed by Lars von Trier
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 782.49
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Michel: 2/242
bonnielaurel: 95/233
Greg: 104/237
---
OtisRedding: 79/136
Gillingham: 168/229
Petri: 202/247
MrMooney: 191/195



133. Toy Story 3 (2010) - Directed by Lee Unkrich
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Decade Rank: 4
Score: 785.48
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 1/87
OtisRedding: 38/136
MaschineMan: 48/165
bootsy: 27/87
whuntva: 53/170
Chilton: 46/133
acroamor: 36/98
---
Nick: 65/125
Michel: 143/242
BleuPanda: 143/222
MrMooney: 137/195
Live in Phoenix: 115/145
Petri: 212/247
bonnielaurel: 211/233
Dexter: 218/236
luney6: 65/69


A great end to a magnificent trilogy of family films, inevitably though it lacks some originality. - MrMooney


132. The Right Stuff (1983) - Directed by Philip Kaufman
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Decade Rank: 23
Score: 785.97
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 5/184
Petri: 95/247
whuntva: 83/170
---
Michel: 135/242
Dexter: 142/236
Greg: 200/237


131. Being John Malkovich (1999) - Directed by Spike Jonze
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Decade Rank: 18
Score: 786.21
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
Petri: 31/247
MaschineMan: 36/165
Michel: 59/242

Midaso: 50/184
Gillingham: 65/229
Nick: 40/125
bonnielaurel: 89/233
MrMooney: 85/195
---
acroamor: 63/98
Live in Phoenix: 104/145
bootsy: 67/87
Dexter: 200/236
whuntva: 147/170
BleuPanda: 195/222
Greg: 237/237


Malkovich - Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich! - MaschineMan


130. Heart of Glass (1976) - Directed by Werner Herzog
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 786.4
Votes: 2


Individual Votes:
Greg: 6/237
---
Petri: 240/247


129. Festen (1998) - Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 786.72
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 21/229
Petri: 40/247

BleuPanda: 62/222
Nick: 43/125
---
Michel: 122/242
Midaso: 126/184
bonnielaurel: 160/233
Chilton: 122/133
MrMooney: 185/195



128. Kill Bill (2004) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
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Decade Rank: 10
Score: 786.77
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 16/165
Petri: 29/247
Nick: 16/125

bonnielaurel: 63/233
OtisRedding: 44/136
Nassim: 38/87
bootsy: 40/87
---
MrMooney: 104/195
Chilton: 86/133
luney6: 46/69
whuntva: 114/170
Live in Phoenix: 102/145
BleuPanda: 178/222
Dexter: 204/236
Gillingham: 198/229
Michel: 225/242
Greg: 221/237
Midaso: 173/184


That woman deserves her revenge and we deserve to die. - A fantastic revenge flick and great ode to cinema. - MaschineMan


127. Los Olvidados (1950) - Directed by Luis Buñuel
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Decade Rank: 18
Score: 788.05
Votes: 6


Individual Votes:
Petri: 46/247
Greg: 50/237

Michel: 79/242
Dexter: 90/236
---
BleuPanda: 116/222
bonnielaurel: 129/233


126. Down By Law (1986) - Directed by Jim Jarmusch
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Decade Rank: 22
Score: 789.1
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
Greg: 19/237
Michel: 28/242
Petri: 42/247

Gillingham: 83/229
---
Dexter: 149/236
bonnielaurel: 175/233
BleuPanda: 189/222
OtisRedding: 118/136
MrMooney: 178/195
Midaso: 174/184



125. Amadeus (1984) - Directed by Milos Forman
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Decade Rank: 21
Score: 789.74
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 4/170
Michel: 41/242
Live in Phoenix: 30/145

Petri: 94/247
Midaso: 80/184
MrMooney: 90/195
bonnielaurel: 114/233
---
Dexter: 132/236
acroamor: 67/98
MaschineMan: 117/165
Gillingham: 169/229
Chilton: 101/133
OtisRedding: 114/136
Greg: 208/237
BleuPanda: 200/222


Don't let the title fool you. This film has you feel for Salieri, a character with whom many empathize. If you feel bested by others but still love your business, pop this one in. - whuntva


124. A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth (1956) - Directed by Robert Bresson
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 792.55
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Petri: 28/247
Gillingham: 44/229
Greg: 56/237

Dexter: 68/236
BleuPanda: 109/222
---
whuntva: 101/170
Michel: 174/242
Midaso: 148/184
bonnielaurel: 205/233


Generally I'm not very impressed by Bresson's films, but this one by itself proves to me that he is indeed a great film maker. Not that much happens, but what happens is mesmerizing. - Gillingham


123. The Wages of Fear (1953) - Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 795.85
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
Nassim: 14/87
Gillingham: 42/229

Petri: 79/247
Midaso: 67/184
BleuPanda: 89/222
Michel: 103/242
Dexter: 107/236
---
Greg: 141/237
MrMooney: 129/195
bonnielaurel: 170/233


122. Three Colors: Red (1994) - Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 796.71
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
luney6: 1/69
bonnielaurel: 38/233
Midaso: 32/184

Michel: 87/242
whuntva: 69/170
Petri: 108/247
---
Greg: 130/237
Dexter: 145/236
MaschineMan: 113/165
MrMooney: 142/195
BleuPanda: 176/222
Gillingham: 191/229
Live in Phoenix: 140/145



121. The Deer Hunter (1978) - Directed by Michael Cimino
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 799.99
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 13/98
Michel: 36/242

Petri: 63/247
Greg: 68/237
Gillingham: 72/229
MrMooney: 86/195
Midaso: 82/184
Dexter: 106/236
---
MaschineMan: 90/165
bonnielaurel: 133/233
BleuPanda: 163/222
Nick: 119/125
Live in Phoenix: 139/145



120. A Separation (2011) - Directed by Asghar Farhadi
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Decade Rank: 3
Score: 800.04
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 17/229
BleuPanda: 38/222
Michel: 50/242

OtisRedding: 52/136
Petri: 113/247
bonnielaurel: 107/233
Chilton: 62/133
---
Midaso: 100/184
whuntva: 99/170
Greg: 202/237
Nassim: 77/87
Dexter: 213/236


Modern masterpiece, I adore the way every character is quite nuanced from their perspective. Nobody is right, but nobody is wrong either. - Gillingham


119. Fight Club (1999) - Directed by David Fincher
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Decade Rank: 15
Score: 800.49
Votes: 19


Individual Votes:
Nick: 6/125
whuntva: 10/170

Midaso: 59/184
MrMooney: 67/195
Chilton: 47/133
Gillingham: 84/229
Nassim: 35/87
Michel: 105/242
Live in Phoenix: 72/145
---
Petri: 132/247
MaschineMan: 89/165
bootsy: 49/87
BleuPanda: 130/222
Dexter: 165/236
luney6: 57/69
Greg: 196/237
acroamor: 92/98
bonnielaurel: 228/233
Emilien: 28/28


Visual language with a powerful message. It is a product of its time, and in all the best ways. Tyler is probably my favorite character ever because of his psychological and physical implications. - whuntva

I fear that in recent years, the movie Fight Club has turned into something of a shibboleth for the “holier than thou” intro to film crowd, the people look down on the unwashed masses who can’t grasp the “deep meanings, man”, unaware of the fact that the world of film gets a whole lot more mindfuck-y the deeper the rabbit hole you fall. “Baby’s first cinematic mindfuck” comments aside, Fight Club is an incredible work of art because it actually means the exact opposite of what your 16-year-old nephew who can’t stop posting Tyler Durden quotes as his facebook status thinks it means. Tyler Durden isn’t the hero of the movie, but he’s not necessarily the villain either. If the narrators life is too consumerist, too materialistic, too ordered, then Tyler Durden’s life is what happens when the pendulum swings the other way. The message of Fight Club isn’t one of anarchy, anti-consumerism, or grown men punching other grown men. It’s a message of the middle path, a plea for moderation. The lives of the narrator and Tyler Durden are nothing more than two approaches to the craziness of modern life, to fully give in or to fully lash out. Sometimes there’s a time and a place for each. - Nick


118. Manhattan (1979) - Directed by Woody Allen
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Decade Rank: 18
Score: 802.78
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
Michel: 23/242
OtisRedding: 27/136
bonnielaurel: 54/233

Dexter: 64/236
luney6: 20/69
Greg: 73/237
BleuPanda: 90/222
---
Nick: 63/125
Gillingham: 134/229
Petri: 159/247
Midaso: 122/184
MaschineMan: 118/165
acroamor: 78/98
Chilton: 113/133
MrMooney: 175/195



117. Raise the Red Lantern (1991) - Directed by Yimou Zhang
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Decade Rank: 14
Score: 803.37
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 26/165
Gillingham: 45/229
Chilton: 30/133

Greg: 82/237
---
OtisRedding: 71/136
Dexter: 143/236
Michel: 156/242

She has the face of Buddha and the heart of a scorpion - I watched this film for the Poll, what a revelation, Gong Li was phenomenal in this fascinating film. I expect this to rise fast and high upon my second viewing. - MaschineMan


116. Network (1976) - Directed by Sidney Lumet
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Decade Rank: 17
Score: 804.18
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
acroamor: 12/98
Midaso: 34/184
Petri: 52/247
bonnielaurel: 58/233

Live in Phoenix: 60/145
BleuPanda: 96/222
Greg: 116/237
---
Dexter: 119/236
MaschineMan: 96/165
Michel: 157/242
Gillingham: 187/229
Nick: 120/125


I recognize that this movie is good, but the movie’s tagline- “prepare yourself for a perfectly outrageous motion picture” is a bit of a lie. Network is a bit too serious to really be “outrageous”, and a bit too farcical to really be “serious”. It’s a good movie, but it can’t really decide on what it wants to be, and the whole “TV is corrupting our minds”, while certainly well-intentioned and agreeable, seems a little quaint in the era of facebook, twitter, and smartphones. A good movie, but not a great one. - Nick


115. Nosferatu (1922) - Directed by F.W. Murnau
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Decade Rank: 8
Score: 805.28
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Greg: 17/237
MaschineMan: 12/165
Petri: 60/247

Dexter: 61/236
Live in Phoenix: 56/145
---
bonnielaurel: 120/233
whuntva: 93/170
Michel: 134/242
BleuPanda: 156/222
MrMooney: 161/195
Gillingham: 213/229
Chilton: 127/133
OtisRedding: 130/136


Is this your wife? What a lovely throat. - The first and best vampire film and a great suspense all around. One of the reasons I'm so against long running copyright on creative works. It would have been a shame to lose such a brilliant creation, it was close. - MaschineMan


114. Jaws (1975) - Directed by Steven Spielberg
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Decade Rank: 16
Score: 805.68
Votes: 19


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 28/195
Live in Phoenix: 24/145
bonnielaurel: 41/233
Dexter: 54/236
Nassim: 20/87

whuntva: 50/170
OtisRedding: 61/136
MaschineMan: 81/165
---
Greg: 131/237
Gillingham: 131/229
Midaso: 106/184
luney6: 41/69
Nick: 75/125
BleuPanda: 137/222
Michel: 153/242
bootsy: 56/87
Petri: 208/247
acroamor: 86/98
Chilton: 124/133


In this confrontation between culture and nature John Williams' two note ostinato suggests the lurking danger under the water. They had to do this because there were technical problems with the mechanical sharks. They avoided the color red in most of the film to enlarge the contrast with the blood. Just before Brody leaves to hunt for the great white shark his wife asks him what to tell the children. He replies with a euphemism: "Tell them I'm going fishing." But is the boat big enough? - bonnielaurel


113. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Directed by David Lean
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Decade Rank: 14
Score: 806.3
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 13/236
whuntva: 19/170

bonnielaurel: 85/233
Petri: 91/247
Midaso: 75/184
Gillingham: 95/229
luney6: 29/69
Live in Phoenix: 69/145
---
BleuPanda: 115/222
MrMooney: 136/195
Michel: 175/242
Greg: 190/237
MaschineMan: 133/165
Chilton: 119/133



112. Star Wars (1977) - Directed by George Lucas
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Decade Rank: 15
Score: 806.73
Votes: 20


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 1/145
whuntva: 11/170
Emilien: 2/28
Nick: 15/125

Dexter: 62/236
bootsy: 35/87
BleuPanda: 99/222
---
Gillingham: 120/229
MrMooney: 118/195
Nassim: 53/87
Chilton: 95/133
Michel: 182/242
Greg: 181/237
OtisRedding: 119/136
Midaso: 165/184
Petri: 222/247
MaschineMan: 152/165
acroamor: 93/98
bonnielaurel: 224/233
luney6: 69/69


What a pathetic film. It has terrible acting (and characterization), a predictable screenplay, and even the only reason it may have been popular when it was released, the special effects are now terribly dated. It feels like one of those childhood fantasies I used to play out in my mind as a kid. I grew really bored of those. This film will undoubtedly be forgotten in the years to come. - luney6

If Steven Spielberg's Jaws defined the blockbuster, Star Wars was the proof of what a blockbuster could do. What lies at the center of the modern blockbuster is the theory of the four quadrants; the basic movie-goer can be divided into four distinct groups, between men and women and those over and under the age of 25. It is the job of the blockbuster to find the elements that unite all four quadrants; in other words, a blockbuster must find what there is in cinema that appeals to everyone. Where a bad director would simply latch onto the lowest common denominator, George Lucas was (and emphasis on 'was') too big of a fan of cinema to take the easy route. Though the solution has been reduced to a formula now, Star Wars in its day was the definition of ambitious; how do you attract the toughest film critics and five-year-olds to the same movie and have them both leave satisfied?

Lucas's Star Wars is a visual tour de force, and little of that comes from the visual effects. No film's art direction has been as influential. Is there a single more iconic image in all of cinema than Darth Vader's helmet? What about the desert landscape of Tatooine? Is there a more ominous sci-fi creation than the Death Star? Star Wars is one of the rare films to truly create a universe beyond our own, a rare film as set in defining its scenery as it is with its characters. Few films set in even the real world paint such a perfect picture of their environment.

What has always made Star Wars stand out among the many imitators is its phenomenally minimalist writing. There isn't much dialogue, but that's actually to the film's benefit. The way Lucas defines characters is near-flawless; Darth Vader's ease of use in implementing the force choke reveals how little he thinks of even his own subordinates, while Han shooting first showcases his nature as a morally-questionable gun-for-hire. These are characters that speak in their actions; in many ways an ode to silent cinema, Star Wars is a film so perfectly directed you could watch the film on mute and understand the dynamics at play. Of course I suggest you at least leave the soundtrack, which is one of the best in cinema.

George Lucas took the most familiar narrative he could and turned it into something special by surrounding it in a world that is very, very new. Star Wars turns the struggle between good and evil into a literal physical force. You could deride it as too simple, but that was always the point. This is a film to be consumed both by children and adults, and to attack a family film for not carrying a complex narrative is the most definitive example of pretension; to hold films up to standards that aren't inherent in any view but your own biased eye, where you can redefine the rules until you reduce what is oft considered one of the most preeminent works in its field to nothing. If you can't at least grasp the reasons Star Wars redefined cinema, you have managed to miss something even the average child understands without attempting; not that this child would be able to articulate why, but more that this film is at its best when viewed through the eyes of youth. Star Wars is a film that speaks almost entirely in the language of cinema, and as has been theorized since the beginning of film, the language of cinema is near-universal; this is the pop culture follow-up to the theories of Soviet montage. - BleuPanda


111. La Dolce Vita (1960) - Directed by Federico Fellini
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Decade Rank: 13
Score: 807.07
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
Greg: 20/237
bonnielaurel: 27/233

BleuPanda: 64/222
Gillingham: 74/229
Dexter: 78/236
Chilton: 45/133
Michel: 119/242
Midaso: 91/184
---
Petri: 137/247
OtisRedding: 86/136
MaschineMan: 120/165
MrMooney: 148/195
Live in Phoenix: 127/145
whuntva: 152/170


All Fellini needed was the city of Rome, Anita Ekberg and a kitten, to win me over. - Chilton


110. Blow-Up (1966) - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
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Decade Rank: 12
Score: 808.46
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 29/233
Dexter: 33/236
Michel: 37/242
Petri: 61/247

acroamor: 40/98
---
Greg: 158/237
BleuPanda: 154/222
Midaso: 128/184
Gillingham: 179/229
MrMooney: 195/195



109. Battleship Potemkin (1925) - Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein
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Decade Rank: 7
Score: 809.01
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 11/236
Greg: 36/237

BleuPanda: 67/222
bonnielaurel: 80/233
whuntva: 59/170
OtisRedding: 50/136
Live in Phoenix: 64/145
Michel: 111/242
---
Petri: 151/247
Gillingham: 173/229
MrMooney: 167/195
Nick: 114/125
Chilton: 131/133


The appeal of Eisenstein and his Soviet propaganda films have always confused me. Battleship Potemkin in particular is the epitome of boring. - Chilton

Battleship Potemkin is a film created without the barrier of language. Though its presentation of themes is questionable and propagandistic, the way it redefined editing is magnificent. Even to this day, it's rare to find a film so dedicated to speaking through editing alone. The waking stone lion is clever, and the odessa steps sequence still resonates. - BleuPanda


108. The Thin Red Line (1998) - Directed by Terrence Malick
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Decade Rank: 13
Score: 809.37
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 11/229
luney6: 6/69
Greg: 59/237

MaschineMan: 65/165
bootsy: 43/87
---
Petri: 133/247
Midaso: 102/184
BleuPanda: 125/222
OtisRedding: 80/136
MrMooney: 116/195
Michel: 176/242
Dexter: 173/236
bonnielaurel: 198/233

Why have so many male directors felt the need to make long, throbbing, testosterone-fueled war films? - MaschineMan

The Thin Red Line is testosterone-fueled? That's quite the opposite of how I view it. Terrence Malick reduces the battleground to an existential crisis; it is a rare war film where the battles are never glorified, but rather used as moments of horror which are then turned into questions of philosophy. Why do we do this, over and over? Why is this a thing we just accept? Much like early Soviet cinema, The Thin Red Line refuses to settle on an individual hero; but in a way, this film has no heroes. These are people simply trying to survive a situation they were thrown into without much control over their own choices. Heroes make choices, and these soldiers just do as their told. This is the best use of Malick's 'floaty' direction style, where scenes are overlaid with existential narration. If only we could see a longer cut, though it's almost surreal seeing so many phenomenal actors reduced to nothing. - BleuPanda


107. Sleuth (1972) - Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
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Decade Rank: 14
Score: 810.59
Votes: 5


Individual Votes:
Michel: 15/242
bonnielaurel: 34/233

Live in Phoenix: 50/145
---
MrMooney: 111/195
Gillingham: 182/229


106. Her (2013) - Directed by Spike Jonze
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Decade Rank: 2
Score: 811.68
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
MaschineMan: 15/165
Midaso: 35/184
Petri: 55/247

Chilton: 35/133
Nassim: 30/87
BleuPanda: 85/222
Michel: 97/242
Gillingham: 93/229
acroamor: 43/98
OtisRedding: 62/136
Nick: 62/125
---
whuntva: 116/170
bonnielaurel: 176/233
Greg: 184/237
MrMooney: 153/195
bootsy: 74/87
Dexter: 220/236


The past is just a story we tell ourselves. - Such a wonderful, unique take on romance and sci-fi. - MaschineMan

Jonze's talent for making highly original films is undeniable. It's funny, sweetly romantic and thought provoking. At 2 hours it's a bit long and didn't have me fully invested for the entire time. - MrMooney

This will be my last post tonight, and I will not post tomorrow. After this, I will post a list of all the films that made the top 100 in the write-up topic so people can claim those that haven't been written about yet. I'm ramping up the presentation with the top 100 so I need additional time to gather some stuff, so might as well give time to let people get their responses to me.


105. The Element of Crime (1984) - Directed by Lars von Trier
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Decade Rank: 20
Score: 812.67
Votes: 3


Individual Votes:
Greg: 3/237
Michel: 56/242

---
Petri: 196/247


104. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Directed by Frank Darabont
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Decade Rank: 12
Score: 812.68
Votes: 19


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 2/87
Emilien: 5/28
bonnielaurel: 46/233
whuntva: 35/170

Nick: 36/125
Live in Phoenix: 46/145
Midaso: 61/184
Nassim: 36/87
---
luney6: 38/69
acroamor: 59/98
BleuPanda: 135/222
Dexter: 146/236
Greg: 162/237
MrMooney: 135/195
Gillingham: 164/229
Chilton: 96/133
Petri: 188/247
Michel: 222/242
MaschineMan: 159/165


Over-rated. - MaschineMan


103. Memento (2000) - Directed by Christopher Nolan
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Decade Rank: 9
Score: 812.96
Votes: 18


Individual Votes:
bootsy: 6/87
Nassim: 9/87
MrMooney: 21/195
acroamor: 19/98

luney6: 21/69
Gillingham: 70/229
Chilton: 55/133
---
BleuPanda: 114/222
Midaso: 109/184
OtisRedding: 94/136
Michel: 172/242
Nick: 99/125
whuntva: 137/170
MaschineMan: 134/165
Dexter: 195/236
Petri: 221/247
bonnielaurel: 221/233
Greg: 231/237


A film that is too smart for its own good. - MaschineMan


102. Le samourai (1967) - Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
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Decade Rank: 11
Score: 813.02
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
Greg: 21/237
Petri: 23/247
Midaso: 28/184

Michel: 89/242
MrMooney: 72/195
---
Gillingham: 147/229
Dexter: 157/236
bonnielaurel: 156/233
BleuPanda: 158/222
whuntva: 145/170
Live in Phoenix: 138/145



101. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) - Directed by Sergio Leone
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Decade Rank: 19
Score: 815.44
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 4/184
Greg: 62/237
Dexter: 70/236
Gillingham: 71/229
Emilien: 10/28
Petri: 89/247
BleuPanda: 94/222
MrMooney: 84/195
---
MaschineMan: 97/165
bonnielaurel: 150/233
whuntva: 125/170
Michel: 193/242
Live in Phoenix: 142/145
Last edited by BleuPanda on Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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If you lose this war, don't blame me.
100. The General (1926) - Directed by Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton
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Decade Rank: 6
TSPDT rank: 38
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 817.04
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 23/236
Greg: 37/237
OtisRedding: 30/136

MaschineMan: 44/165
Chilton: 43/133
bonnielaurel: 96/233
Petri: 103/247
Live in Phoenix: 65/145
---
BleuPanda: 117/222
Nassim: 46/87
whuntva: 109/170
Midaso: 120/184
Gillingham: 150/229
Michel: 169/242
Nick: 95/125
MrMooney: 154/195


Where someone like Chaplin balances out his shtick with more human moments, Buster Keaton is a pure clown, and I mean that with the highest regard. Buster Keaton approached the cinema with an almost child-like sense of curiosity, as if every idea was a challenge. He was a man who would risk injury for a great shot, and those risks actually came true on the set of this film. What makes Keaton’s brand of humor work so well is his demeanor; no matter the situation, Keaton is always this pseudo-straight man, carrying a straight face into absurdity. Though his greatest films maintained a consistent level of quality, The General has always stood out as his greatest due to the visual structure. Each sequence on the train is as jaw-dropping for Keaton’s slapstick as it is for his daring stunts. The raw level of energy Keaton displays here is enough to be awe-inspiring, and this truly feels like the birthplace of the modern action epic. These moments, though scripted, are really happening, and the way the camera frames every moment creates a sense of wonder within a genre no one would ask that from. – BleuPanda

We don't know what to do with other worlds. We don't need other worlds. We need a mirror.
99. Solaris (1972) - Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
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Decade Rank: 13
TSPDT rank: 204
AMF 2012 rank: 55 (down 44)
Score: 817.53
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
Greg: 7/237
Gillingham: 16/229

Petri: 62/247
Dexter: 112/236
---
BleuPanda: 122/222
Michel: 148/242
bonnielaurel: 163/233
Midaso: 137/184
Live in Phoenix: 117/145
MaschineMan: 146/165


So. Slow. - MaschineMan

Solaris exists as almost an anti-sci-fi film. As much as it fits the narrative structure, Solaris avoids much of the cinematic language that marks a traditional genre film. Tarkosvky is one of the most significant auteurs in cinema due to the way his films, no matter their subject, reflect each other. Many of his films treat color as having an off switch; in Solaris, Earth is off and space is on. The set design is exceedingly claustrophobic; though much of the film is set on an entirely different planet, you wouldn’t know outside of a few establishing shots. The battle here is framed as introspective, the planet itself a living organism that tries and fails to find a mutually understood language, each new act harming those with which it tries to speak. Though solid, Solaris is designed like an abstraction, which in a way fits the narrative; the characters are being assigned a role by the world, and this will eventually break them. They are as enclosed in their roles as they are in the space station. At the heart of Solaris is a question of how much we can truly understand one another, one of the many existentialist questions Tarkovsky asks in his career without providing much of a positive outlook. – BleuPanda

This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere, at any time.
98. Sunrise (1927) - Directed by F.W. Murnau
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Decade Rank: 5
TSPDT rank: 8
AMF 2012 rank: 46 (down 52)
Score: 818.59
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 28/229
BleuPanda: 45/222

Live in Phoenix: 37/145
Dexter: 76/236
Michel: 92/242
Petri: 97/247
bonnielaurel: 108/233
Greg: 112/237
OtisRedding: 68/136
---
MrMooney: 98/195
whuntva: 103/170
MaschineMan: 111/165

Silent film at it's best. They story is archetypal, but the filming is both creative and skillful, a joy to watch. - Gillingham

Sunrise sets itself up with a minimalist premise: a man and his wife visit the city together after a woman from the city nearly convinces him to kill his wife and run away with her. This is both a story of healing and of culture shock, a relevant account of the transition into the modern era. The city is first a place of horror; the man and his wife can barely cross the street safely. As the film stretches onward, they come to accept this new technology, not as a wicked representation of the temptress, but as something that coincides with their own rural way of life. As they come to accept this new world, they also find their own lost love in the city. The film is one of the finest examples of the expressionistic style, where interior emotions are cast into the physical world, each movement a symbol of the turmoil between the two lovers. - BleuPanda

Yeah, fuck you too!
97. The Thing (1982) - Directed by John Carpenter
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Decade Rank: 18
TSPDT rank: 344
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 820.26
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 8/195
Live in Phoenix: 10/145
Nassim: 17/87

Greg: 79/237
Midaso: 81/184
---
BleuPanda: 126/222
Gillingham: 135/229
Dexter: 150/236
whuntva: 118/170
Petri: 173/247
Nick: 89/125
bonnielaurel: 202/233
Michel: 232/242


The ‘50s version of this movie is perfectly enjoyable, in a matter involving peppy, rapid-fire dialogue. But this is a different beast altogether. Besides switching out the relatively findable monster played by James Arness, the ‘80s version takes out any female representation, which Kurt Russell defended by saying “there’s no posturing” then; and I agree, in the sense that the men have no barrier of civility to keep them from freefalling into primal fear, hostility and paranoia. The ending, a downer for any other movie, is practically a positive sign after all the chaos and despair that has followed. John Carpenter’s films have sometimes seemed too simple, but there’s no such problem here. Even strictly on the basis of its horror effects and shocks, there are plenty of disturbing moments. A great movie, doomed at release (perhaps because it was the year of E.T.) and sent into a deep freeze, finally rescued by its cult followers. – Live in Phoenix

Has God promised you things?
96. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
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Decade Rank: 4
TSPDT rank: 17
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 820.39
Votes: 10


Individual Votes:
Dexter: 17/236
BleuPanda: 24/222

Michel: 62/242
Greg: 92/237
whuntva: 67/170
Gillingham: 111/229
---
MaschineMan: 88/165
Petri: 155/247
bonnielaurel: 177/233
MrMooney: 172/195


Perhaps the most minimalist film to be considered a true classic, The Passion of Joan of Arc carries itself on two simple elements; the performance of Renee Jeanne Falconetti and the cinematography that frames her. Never before or since have I encountered an actress so expressive. Few actors can say in words what Falconetti says with her eyes. The combination of the camerawork and nearly blank backgrounds creates this sensation that we are here only for the acting. Nearly every shot is from a low angle, framing the imprisoned Joan with a sense of power. It is one of the simplest yet most effective lessons in filmmaking; you don’t need much of a set or even a physical sense of space to tell a story. A few key elements, such as a good performance and fine cinematography, can replace the need for anything else. Acting in the silent era was an entirely different beast, and this is a rare performance as expressive as it is subtle. - BleuPanda
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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Remember, you're fighting for this woman's honour, which is probably more than she ever did.
95. Duck Soup (1933) - Directed by Leo McCarey
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Decade Rank: 8
TSPDT rank: 145
AMF 2012 rank: 94 (down 1)
Score: 822.7
Votes: 11


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 26/170
Live in Phoenix: 25/145

Dexter: 60/236
Greg: 64/237
MrMooney: 68/195
bonnielaurel: 97/233
Nick: 58/125
acroamor: 47/98
BleuPanda: 107/222
---
Petri: 141/247
Michel: 226/242

What makes the Marx Brothers such an interesting comedic group is the way each brother represents a different ideology of comedy. Groucho is the ringleader, fitting considering his nature as the fast-talking witty one. Harpo plays the mute, relying purely on sight gags, while Chico plays his conniving partner in crime (Zeppo is essentially the straight man of the bunch). Duck Soup turns World War I into a total farce, expertly crafting jokes out of the imperialist powergrab that started the war. Though an ensemble piece, Groucho really takes center stage, dropping some brutal jokes at the expense of both the other characters and the political mindset of contemporary Europe. The script is an endless cycle of gags and the Brothers’ delivery is always spot-on. What it lacks in cinematic evolution it makes up for in stride with some truly hilarious scenes, whether it be the oddly-placed musical number or the mirror confrontation. While not as biting as Dr. Strangelove, Duck Soup has a straight-forward charm. – BleuPanda

Can anyone who has heard this music, I mean truly heard it, really be a bad person?
94. The Lives of Others (2006) - Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
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Decade Rank: 8
TSPDT rank: 741
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 822.77
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 20/195
Nassim: 12/87
Michel: 53/242

OtisRedding: 48/136
Gillingham: 85/229
Petri: 98/247
bootsy: 36/87
MaschineMan: 71/165
---
BleuPanda: 141/222
Dexter: 166/236
Midaso: 139/184
bonnielaurel: 191/233


Deservedly won the Oscar for best foreign film in 2006, a brilliant story with a fantastic performance from Ulrich Muhe. An engrossing, tragic thriller. - MrMooney

The Lives of Others is an intimate look at the last few years of communist-era Eastern Europe. It is the tale of a Stasi spy who begins keeping tabs on a popular playwright, one who actually starts off as a supporter of the state. The film is an exploration of privacy and inconsistency. The most harmful secrets exposed are those held by the government; the country has a massive suicide rate that has gone unreported. It soon turns into a tale of doubt, as the spy begins to subvert his own duties to let the playwright remain free. By placing the spy as both a revolutionary and as another victim of increasing surveillance, it creates an image of a country falling apart well before it has actually crumbled. The Lives of Others builds up to a powerful conclusion and finishes off with a satisfying epilogue, but its strongest feature is how it delivers a surprisingly detailed look at this key moment in history. – BleuPanda

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
93. Gone With the Wind (1939) - Directed by Victor Fleming
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Decade Rank: 7
TSPDT rank: 103
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 825.37
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 4/233
Dexter: 45/236
Michel: 54/242

MaschineMan: 58/165
OtisRedding: 49/136
Petri: 106/247
---
acroamor: 51/98
Gillingham: 124/229
whuntva: 94/170
Greg: 139/237
Live in Phoenix: 111/145
MrMooney: 163/195
BleuPanda: 202/222


The epic to end all epics. - MaschineMan

This love story against the backdrop of the Civil War is unusual because it's told from the losers' point of view. The "wind" is a metaphor for the troops of General Sherman that swept Georgia and destroyed the old Southern way of life. Scarlett O'Hara evolves from a naive young woman to an opportunist and hard business woman. she manipulates the people around her. Blockade runner Rhett Butler is the only one who sees through her. It's full of remarkable secondary characters and beautiful scenery, and we learn words like carpetbagger", "white trash" and "scallawags". - bonnielaurel

Cinema’s first Technicolor epic, Gone with the Wind is a sprawling tale of the American South. It’s hard to think of a ‘bigger’ film in American history, through its combination of scope, running time, and sheer volume of attendance (with inflation, this is the best-selling film in American history, beating out Star Wars by a rather large margin). The film explores the Civil War era South through the eyes of Scarlett O’Hara, the daughter of a plantation owner who sees her social prospects shift throughout the years. As much a tale of a bitter woman rising to power as it is a look at the war, we fully explore Scarlett’s cold-hearted evolution. She is an especially challenging protagonist, at times both strong-headed and shallow, and her relationship with Rhett Bulter is predictably volatile. I’ll always remain partial to the end of Act I; the burning of Atlanta is suitably iconic, and Scarlett standing in darkness as she delivers the classic “God as my witness” line is a wonderful expression of her willpower. – BleuPanda

Maybe those who crucified him loved him because they helped in this divine plan.
92. Andrei Rublev (1966) - Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
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Decade Rank: 10
TSPDT rank: 26
AMF 2012 rank: 43 (down 49)
Score: 829.16
Votes: 9


Individual Votes:
Greg: 10/237
Dexter: 37/236
whuntva: 30/170
Gillingham: 55/229

---
Michel: 127/242
BleuPanda: 123/222
Midaso: 144/184
bonnielaurel: 204/233
Petri: 235/247


Tarkovsky’s black and white epic is many things: a great religious film, a great historical film, a fascinating filmic portrait of the historical makings of Russian civilization as seen through the eyes of one man, and simply one of the most powerful works of art ever committed to celluloid. There are far too many incredibly moving pieces of imagery in this film to even bother naming, but the bell casting sequence is the one that gets me every single time. It is easy to see Tarkovsky project himself, or any great filmmaker, onto Rublev in many ways, making this masterwork an incredible fusion of the personal and the historical. - JimmyJazz

JimmyJazz also wanted to throw in two comments from other users:
The incredible cinematography is obvious, but what stands out most about the film is the emotional core. The child of a bell maker who stakes his life on knowledge that his father never transferred to him. The man who has a man's tongue cut off for vulgar entertainment. The film seamlessly explores human emotion with a political and religious backdrop inspired by a great Russian artist. I can not watch this film enough. - Jirin

Andrei Rublev is just one of those films that is somehow so revolutionary. From the opening sequence of the church and the way the camera pans, Tarkovsky just rivets you. And the way he separated the incidents into separate vignettes - I think I can probably recall them all now even after a couple of years. Oh, and that ending with the montage of the Andrei Rublev icons - the choral combined with the martyrdoms and the gold! I remember reading about a critic who had gotten so drunk one night that he hallucinated that entire ending. While I could write a full page essay detailing the film's odd mystique, I just say that this is a film to be revered even if you're not a fan. – Babydoll


And the rest of us, all the rest of us, we go straight down to hell to eternal torments, don't we?
91. Ordet (1955) - Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Image
Decade Rank: 15
TSPDT rank: 36
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 831.33
Votes: 8


Individual Votes:
Gillingham: 9/229
Greg: 15/237

BleuPanda: 72/222
Michel: 98/242
---
bonnielaurel: 141/233
Petri: 158/247
Dexter: 152/236
whuntva: 141/170

I was surprised this didn't make the cut for the first longlist and it's my favorite films that didn't make that list. The themes and the filming reminds somewhat of the work of Bergman and Nykvist, but Dreyer was here first and makes a very powerful but austere film. - Gillingham

For my money, Carl Dreyer’s greatest work, even more so than Joan of Arc. Some of the most powerful imagery ever put on the screen, and a truly incredible and, in spite of its bleak moments, very much inspirational portrait of faith and spirituality. As far as I’m concerned, one of the Top 5 or so greatest religious films ever made, rendered even more ironic when one considers the fact that Dreyer was reportedly an atheist! It has often been said by many that this film holds a power to spiritually uplift even someone who is very irreligious, and you are seeing someone who is guilty as charged here. – JimmyJazz

I have to second most of what JimmyJazz has said; this film feels like a religious experience, a rare narrative that asks you to believe the most unlikely occurrence in a way that will likely succeed. - BleuPanda
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

For posterity, I'll be copying my comments before they get deleted.

I wasn't too big on Good Will Hunting and A Beautiful Mind for the same reason. They aren't bad movies, but their somewhat flippant attitude towards mental illness (mental illness can be cured by either yelling "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT" or some good old fashioned lovin', respectively) was a little off putting.

As for Rushmore, I like the movie a great deal, but it's probably my fourth favorite Anderson movie (behind The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and my personal favorite, Moonrise Kingdom).

Inception is a great movie and it deserved a higher placement than what it got. But hey, I only put it at 51, so I share in some of that blame. Oh well.

As for Young Frankenstein, it's a solid movie, but again, my fourth favorite by its director. I'd put High Anxiety, Spaceballs, and my personal favorite, Blazing Saddles, well above it.

Excited to see the rest of the roll out!
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

I guess Forrest Gump was a little too sentimental for most of the AMF?

Well I love it. Fantastic movie. It might walk the line between sincerity and sentimental pretty close, but for me it falls into the sincerity camp a good 95% of the time. Forrest Gump is one of cinema's all time great characters, and the movie is a fantastic tragicomic romp through the Baby Boomer generation.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Also, with respect to A Beautiful Mind and Ron Howard. While I didn't really enjoy A Beautiful Mind all THAT much, Howard has directed one of my all-time favorite movies, the 2008 movie Frost/Nixon. Definitely worth watching, even if its historical accuracy is about what you'd expect from a Ron Howard directed film.

And he was also the executive producer for Arrested Development, so, come on, that alone redeems whatever sins he could've committed.

Anyway, the presentation is great thus far. Keep 'em coming!
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Re: Mad Max: Fury Road

I think luney6 hit the nail on the head with this one, even if he was a little too harsh here and there.

Re: Birdman

Bleupanda raised a great point about this movie. The single shot throughout the film is, on a purely technical level, an absolute visual marvel. But what does this single shot have to do with anything else related to the movie? In a way I'm reminded of a really, really technically gifted progressive rock band who just writes absolute drivel. Technical ability is great and all, but if you're not using it in a way that connects to the greater work,then what really is the point?

Also, Birdman really lacked a sense of humor about itself. Not every movie needs a sense of humor, like movies about, oh, concentration camps or some other atrocities. But the life of a failed actor trying to make an "artistic" comeback is something that could really take itself too seriously without some lightness to it. Which is exactly what happened to Birdman.

That being said, the themes behind Birdman are top notch, the story is great, and the acting is phenomenal too. But I just don't get all the hype surrounding it.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

The Usual Suspects isn't a bad movie. But it's too convoluted for its own good, and most of the fun is in the twist. Much like whuntva said, once you know the twist, what's the point in a rewatch? The main joy found here is figuring out who Keyser Soze is and once that's done...well...the mystery's over, guys.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Very happy to see Koyaanisqatsi make the top 200. I was worried that the film was going to place quite low, as it's a real love it or hate it. Perhaps my number 3 vote was enough to propel it forward.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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Was anybody else surprised to find out that A Beautiful Mind won the Best Picture at the Oscars? With all this Beautiful Mind hate going around, I wonder how the AMF would rank all the Best Picture winners.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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Guilt as charged. I've only seen Mulholland Drive once, but I honestly didn't "get it" at all. The whole movie seems like it's striving for some great meaning, but falls short of actually coalescing around any great idea(s). I will say this about it though- Lynch is probably the only director who can make me feel incredibly uncomfortable without actually showing anything outright "scary".

It's definitely a movie I need to rewatch though, as I'm not opposed to movies that need to be seen a couple times in order to really appreciate (hence my praise for 2001: A Space Odyssey). And of course, I look forward to the write-ups on it, as I'm sure the movie will place very, very high on this list.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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It was pretty close between Koyaanisqatsi and The Big Lebowski for number 2 movie on my list. Ultimately Koyaanisqatsi lost and The Big Lebowski won, but it's pretty cool to see how one really, really high placement can get a movie up the list.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Re: The Social Network, Maschine Man, yawns, etc.

I would've written a writeup on The Social Network, and perhaps I should've, but I didn't because I was running out of time and it's hard to write at length about a lot of movies without reusing the same stock phrases (or really, write at length about anything without using stock phrases, but that's a discussion for another day...)

My love of The Social Network stems from my love of effective character portraits, and as a character portrait The Social Network is amazing. The cold, calculating, do anything or step on anyone to get ahead attitude and overall pretentiousness of the movie's Zuckerberg (whether this in any way resembles the real Zuckerberg is something I couldn't really care less about) is just so captivating that I can't look away. Sure, the movie portrays him as a very intelligent person, but it also portrays him as a self-absorbed asshole and a rather reprehensible human being (which, given the fact that you had to leave a job because of Facebook should only endear you to the movie, no?).

It's also funny that you mention the movie's "predictability", because I didn't find much predictable about the movie at all. On the contrary, when I heard there was a movie coming out about Facebook I thought it was going to be an incredibly dumb movie that sucks up to Zuckerberg and has nothing interesting going on under the surface. In reality, The Social Network is as much about Facebook as Fight Club is about grown men beating the shit out of each other- which is to say, it's not really about Facebook at all. The themes of betrayal, of ego, of power-hungry people who will do anything to succeed are themes as old as human civilization, and at its core that's what the movie is about. Honestly (and I know I used this comparison when talking about The Departed, so I'm probably going to be guilty of overusing it) the movie feels almost Shakespearean, and I'm sure if the Bard was alive today he'd be writing stories like the one in this movie.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Re: The Silence of the Lambs

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first film all 20 voters have seen. Interesting to see how many more films will fall under that category.

Re: Children of Men

A good film, no doubt about that, but I feel like my general aversion to children prevents me from connecting to the film more. I'm not even joking right now, I know the world in the film is essentially post-apocalyptic, but I can't help but feel like a world where the youngest person is 18 would be my own personal utopia.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Re: Toy Story 3

A good movie. Hell, a great movie. But it's still weaker than the original (in my opinion), and easily ranks as my 5th favorite Pixar movie (behind Toy Story, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up- in that order).

Re: Being John Malkovich

What a fun mindfuck of a movie. A shame it didn't rank higher, as it totally deserves a top 100 placement. But I "only" put it at 40, so I can't really complain that much about its high score.

Re: Kill Bill

This was one of my nominations, and I'm a bit surprised at its high placement, especially after Inglourious Basterds failed to crack the top 200. Tarantino's my favorite director, and this is my second favorite of his movies. But we still have my number 1 and number 3 favorites to get to in the coming days...
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Although Bleupanda has already offered up a good refutation of this point, I feel the need to toss my 2 cents in here.

I'm not sure where you're from luney6, but here in the U.S., Star Wars is practically a religion. It's a film that pretty much invented the modern day notion of a "fanboy", and the appeal of the franchise is undoubtedly cross-generational. Even though the original Star Wars film came out roughly 40 years ago, the series is as popular as ever. Just look at "The Force Awakens", which came out at the tail end of last year. Without adjusting for inflation, "The Force Awakens" is the third highest grossing film worldwide, and at just a little under $100,000,000 away from "Titantic" (the current second place film, and by the way, 100 million is chump change compared to the over 2 billion dollars it's already grossed), and considering the fact that the movie is still in theaters, it could very well end up at the number 2 position in the near future. One look at these figures, or a look at any popular Halloween costumes this year or years prior, or a look at the multi-generational comic book/sci-fi convention attendees, is all you need to know about the appeal of Star Wars. Once again, I'm not sure if you're from the U.S. or not, but over here everyone from age 10 to age 70 knows who characters like Luke Skywalker or Han Solo or Darth Vader are. Little kids dress up as these characters every Halloween en masse. Teenagers buy the video games and line up around the block to see "The Force Awakens". Average Joe adults (i.e. people who aren't necessarily super-nerds) will throw on "The Empire Strikes Back" and watch it with their spouse. And consider this: Disney, the most powerful entertainment brand in the world bought the rights to Star Wars in 2012 for over 4 billion dollars. Clearly Disney thinks the Star Wars franchise has a long, long life to it.

It's hard to know how long the Star Wars franchise will continue in popularity, simply because the whole concept of "fandom" as we know it in the modern day sense is so very, very new. But we can look back at the franchise of Disney characters like Mickey Mouse who've been around since the 1920s, look back at the enduring popularity of Superman and Batman (both of whom debuted in the 1930s), at Tolkein's Middle Earth mythos ("The Hobbit" was published in 1937, and Peter Jackson just made a fortune directing its three movie adaptations, the latest of which was released in 2014 and grossed nearly 1 billion dollars), or at Dr. Who and Star Trek (both of which debuted in the 1960s) and conclude that, despite the outdated visuals/graphics of these franchises, or despite the fact that many of them are, as Star Wars, just riffs on the classic "Hero's Journey", some franchises do tend to endure for very long periods of time. The ones that do all tend to have one thing in common- a rich, detailed world that the viewer can wish to inhabit, vibrant characters that the viewer wants to meet, and a classic battle of good versus evil. When it comes to these traits, the Star Wars franchise has them in spades. And although none of us have a crystal ball to peer into the future, I'm confident for these reasons that the Star Wars franchise will endure for generations to come.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Maschine_Man »

I'm posting this again, not wanting to ignite anything, but because I sat on that Liar Liar gif for days, waiting for the right time to post it.
Yawn.
Image

I feel kinda bad, because I expected it to be in a higher position, and with a bunch of gushing quotes.

At the same time, the fact no one else had thought to comment on the film, kinda proves my point. There isn't anything wrong with the film (I gave it a 72/100) but is there anything remarkable about this film? I know some people will say yes and point to the cinematography or the soundtrack, maybe the script. I guess they were all good, and I couldn't really fault them. My issues with it boils down to it being a predictable film about rich white men and their 'struggles'; while the rest of the world deals with the implications. On top of that I think Fincher, Sorkin and Eisenberg have all done better.

It also didn't help that I had to leave a job earlier that year because of a situation involving Facebook, but that's a story for another time.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by BleuPanda »

Y'know, where I grew up, in Brooklyn, nobody committed suicide. Y'know, everyone was too unhappy.
90. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Directed by Woody Allen
Image
Decade Rank: 17
TSPDT rank: 229
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 832.13
Votes: 14


Individual Votes:
MrMooney: 5/195
luney6: 8/69
bonnielaurel: 33/233

acroamor: 26/98
Petri: 104/247
Greg: 110/237
Dexter: 111/236
Michel: 118/242
---
Gillingham: 137/229
BleuPanda: 148/222
OtisRedding: 95/136
Nick: 93/125
MaschineMan: 141/165
Midaso: 167/184


This is almost too Woddy Allen for its own good. I would love to see the full "documentary" that he had made of Lester. - MaschineMan

With Crimes and Misdemeanors, Allen is at the top of his form. His usual witty screenplay following related characters is at its apex here. Nearly everything about this film is perfect, because it is exactly what it needs to be. Now generally, while giving my opinions on a film, I take care to point out each aspect of the film and how it contributes to the film as whole. However, in with this film, while looking up reviews of it, I found this one, that perfectly coalesces why the film is great. I feel that there is no need for me to rack my brain, and to try and convey what I feel, when this reviewer has already done it, better than I could hope to. So here: http://www.cosmoetica.com/B926-DES719.htm.

Also, for a little bit of light reading to go with this: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great ... anors-1989 . – luney6

That's the trouble with everybody - you're all so bored.
89. Naked (1993) - Directed by Mike Leigh
Image
Decade Rank: 11
TSPDT rank: 519
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 834.66
Votes: 7


Individual Votes:
Midaso: 7/184
Gillingham: 26/229
Petri: 44/247

Greg: 88/237
---
Dexter: 170/236
bonnielaurel: 174/233
Michel: 190/242

Great that this film got nominated, I almost did so myself. Leigh is a superb observer of human behaviour and he almost forces the watcher to sympathize with some despicable characters. - Gillingham

Leigh's best film is also his darkest, grittiest and in some points surprisingly brutal. The movie begins with a scene in which the protagonist (Johnny) rapes a woman. After that he steals a car and leaves the city. Johnny wanders in the streets of London talking with strangers. The performance of David Thewlis as a threatening and self-destructive antihero is unforgettable. – Petri

We who are of noble blood may not follow the wishes of our hearts.
88. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) - Directed by Robert Wiene
Image
Decade Rank: 3
TSPDT rank: 190
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 835.74
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
Greg: 34/237
MaschineMan: 33/165
Petri: 58/247

whuntva: 45/170
BleuPanda: 61/222
bonnielaurel: 67/233
Chilton: 39/133
Dexter: 72/236
Michel: 77/242
---
Nick: 103/125
MrMooney: 168/195
Gillingham: 199/229
OtisRedding: 120/136


Still holds up as one of the creepiest and most visually interesting horror movies ever made. The modern Goth aesthetic owes a lot to this film. - whuntva

When film was still trying to figure where it stood, Caligari came along and made one of the greatest pivots in creative history. - MaschineMan

The oldest film to make our list, Caligari is still one of the most visually pleasing. The tale of a town in fear of a terrifying somnambulist, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari essentially legitimized the German Expressionism movement. If films were first praised for their ability to capture reality in its truest form, Expressionism rejected that idea. Nothing about Caligari reflects the real world, and intentionally so. The set design consists of oddly angled backdrops, the acting is exaggerated, and the whole atmosphere of the piece is nightmarish. This is a film commanded by its image. Where film would first appear to lack the ability to fully get inside a character’s head, Expressionism creates a heightened sense of emotion, with Caligari crafting its visual design as a reflection of the unhinged nature of its protagonist. Though nearly one hundred years have passed, Caligari still holds up as one of the most unique experience in cinema, perhaps due to the way every image is designed with an ominous artificiality. – BleuPanda

Do, or do not. There is no try.
87. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Directed by Irvin Kershner
Image
Decade Rank: 16
TSPDT rank: 253
AMF 2012 rank: 54 (down 33)
Score: 835.78
Votes: 17


Individual Votes:
Live in Phoenix: 7/145
bootsy: 5/87
Nick: 11/125
whuntva: 27/170
BleuPanda: 44/222

Dexter: 75/236
Gillingham: 91/229
---
MrMooney: 119/195
Michel: 164/242
Greg: 180/237
OtisRedding: 109/136
Petri: 209/247
Midaso: 158/184
Chilton: 118/133
MaschineMan: 156/165
Nassim: 84/87
bonnielaurel: 229/233


Rule of thumb on whether a particular Spielberg and/or Lucas film was great: Did John Williams find it necessary to compose a great score? (Though really, if Mr. Williams composed a great score for an Andy Warholesque film about reading through the phone book, I’d be talking about “that great moment when they reached the letter B.”) The final sequence of the movie, with everyone suspended in the promise of a future journey, is such a beautiful moment musically and visually that by the time Han Solo is actually rescued in the next movie it’s sort of a comedown. I consider the first installment to be the ultimate Star Wars film, the most self-contained story for one thing. Yet Star Wars ’77 hardly ever looks as good as Empire. Perhaps due to a change in director, or an unlimited budget, the film looks magnificent (by the way, the shot selected for its listing in They Shoot Pictures is awesome). “Darkly elegant” is a good description I read of this installment. Finally, if you hate the sort of Darth Vader that inquires, “Are you a angel?” well good news, Vader is an utter tyrant in this one, to the point that choking guys out becomes its own kind of humor. It’s a hell of a thing for the plucky hero from the first film to find out that he shares the dinner table, so to speak, with possibly the most villainous man in the universe… - Live in Phoenix

Your future's all used up.
86. Touch of Evil (1958) - Directed by Orson Welles
Image
Decade Rank: 14
TSPDT rank: 35
AMF 2012 rank: 27 (down 59)
Score: 836.03
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
Greg: 12/237
Dexter: 18/236

Midaso: 53/184
Michel: 71/242
bonnielaurel: 93/233
MaschineMan: 69/165
Petri: 121/247
---
BleuPanda: 112/222
Gillingham: 142/229
OtisRedding: 92/136
Live in Phoenix: 109/145
whuntva: 143/170

Didn't make a whole lotta sense. - whuntva

The opening sequence is one of the must-views in the history of cinema. - MaschineMan

I have such a strange opinion on this film; at times, it feels like Welles is trolling his audience, looping narrative threads within themselves and then revealing even bigger shams. But a bad film wouldn't be as effective nor gripping in the way it plays with our expectations. Few if any directors can handle cinematography as well as Welles at his peak, and the opening of Touch of Evil is perhaps the greatest in all of cinema. So much of the lightning and framing throughout adds a sense of foreboding, from impossible shadows to flickering street lights. - BleuPanda

Possibly the best noir ever, and the ultimate culmination of the genre at the end of its original cycle at the end of the 1950s. The cinematic flair of Welles is on full-display in this film, with its incredible long takes and a mise-en-scene that is overwhelmingly baroque in its near-gothic seediness. Hank Quinlan, one of the great villains of the cinema, feels like another continuation of Welles’ penchant for depicting larger-than-life figures who are Shakespearean in their incredible flaws, as fallible as a Macbeth or a Hamlet. A shocking film for the era it was made in when one considers its subject matter, but timeless in both its style and overarching themes. - JimmyJazz
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Not to be all "ohhhhhhhhh you haven't seen that??", but I am honestly shocked that there are people alive in 2016 that haven't seen "The Empire Strikes Back". Maybe that's just an American bias though. Interesting to see what other movies I thought "oh, everyone must've seen that" don't have all 20 viewers listed.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by BleuPanda »

Well, one thing you need to consider is Emilien, who only voted for 28 films. That's going to severely limit how many films everyone has seen. I'm actually shocked The Silence of the Lambs was one of them, considering there are only 3.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

BleuPanda wrote:Well, one thing you need to consider is Emilien, who only voted for 28 films. That's going to severely limit how many films everyone has seen. I'm actually shocked The Silence of the Lambs was one of them, considering there are only 3.
And two, The Silence of the Lambs and Star Wars, have already come up.

Any guesses on the other one? Pulp Fiction? Spirited Away? Raiders of the Lost Ark?
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Gillingham »

Spirited Away? Is that film so popular and well known? Doesn't come close to the other films mentioned, I would guess...

Pulp Fiction is a good guess. What about The Godfather? Goodfellas? Saving Private Ryan or another Spielberg film?
Not even sure if the last one is competing...
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Gillingham »

Really nice that Naked ended up in the top 100, even if it had only 7 votes. Outstaning character acting and an interesting peek at the darker side of life in London.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by whuntva »

BleuPanda wrote:

Rule of thumb on whether a particular Spielberg and/or Lucas film was great: Did John Williams find it necessary to compose a great score?
Probably my biggest complaint with Force Awakens. I didn't hate the film, but Williams wasn't up to par with the soundtrack. I can't think of one memorable theme from it.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Gillingham wrote:Spirited Away? Is that film so popular and well known? Doesn't come close to the other films mentioned, I would guess...

Pulp Fiction is a good guess. What about The Godfather? Goodfellas? Saving Private Ryan or another Spielberg film?
Not even sure if the last one is competing...
My guess of Spirited Away could be a generational thing or a regional thing. It seems like everyone my age has seen it.

I wouldn't guess The Godfather or a Goodfellas though, as they're three hour long crimes movies that may sound too appealing to people not too invested in three hour long movies or crime movies. Then again, Pulp Fiction is about as long and is also a crime movie.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bootsy »

whuntva wrote:
BleuPanda wrote:

Rule of thumb on whether a particular Spielberg and/or Lucas film was great: Did John Williams find it necessary to compose a great score?
Probably my biggest complaint with Force Awakens. I didn't hate the film, but Williams wasn't up to par with the soundtrack. I can't think of one memorable theme from it.
Rey's theme and Follow Me were good. Don't know if they will be memorable.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bootsy »

Nick wrote:For posterity, I'll be copying my comments before they get deleted.


As for Rushmore, I like the movie a great deal, but it's probably my fourth favorite Anderson movie (behind The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and my personal favorite, Moonrise Kingdom).

Inception is a great movie and it deserved a higher placement than what it got. But hey, I only put it at 51, so I share in some of that blame. Oh well.
Agree with you on both of these. I love Grand Budapest and Moonrise is close behind.

Inception is one of my favorites of all time. Just never get tired of watching it.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Midaso »

Gillingham wrote:Really nice that Naked ended up in the top 100, even if it had only 7 votes. Outstaning character acting and an interesting peek at the darker side of life in London.
Yes,it was a good placing. Thanks to you and Petri also for providing some comments on it. I know I should have contributed something since I was the one who submitted it,but I just don't feel confident in writing about films,as much as I love watching them,and reading other people's ideas. It is a film that shakes me to the core every time,and I would single out the scene with Johnny and the security guard,Brian as my favourite in any film. Bleak,brutal,powerful stuff
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

Just thought of another two movies that could be the one all 20 voters have seen- Back to the Future and The Wizard of Oz. Once again, it could be an American bias, but it seems like everyone has seen those two.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Gillingham »

I'd think The Wizard of Oz is simply too old and therefore less popular and less available. Even Gone with the Wind didn't get more than 13 votes. Back to the Future on the other hand...
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by babydoll »

Gillingham wrote:I'd think The Wizard of Oz is simply too old and therefore less popular and less available. Even Gone with the Wind didn't get more than 13 votes. Back to the Future on the other hand...
I know this to be true. Not that many millennials even know who Judy Garland is, much less seen The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind has been troubled by the African-American community who oppose the slavery shown in the film. And, gasp, they're both from 1939!

Back to the Future is from the '80s so it's more available thanks to endless showings on cable. Plus, it's from the '80s so therefore it's old. Seriously, people classify the '80s as old all the time now.

Back to the topic of slavery in Gone with the Wind, I just wanted to say I thought Django Unchained was worse about it.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

I think you guys are really discounting the popularity of "The Wizard of Oz", even among millennials (of which I am one). Even if "The Wizard of Oz" doesn't get all 20 votes, I'll be shocked if it gets any less than 15.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by babydoll »

Nick wrote:I think you guys are really discounting the popularity of "The Wizard of Oz", even among millennials (of which I am one). Even if "The Wizard of Oz" doesn't get all 20 votes, I'll be shocked if it gets any less than 15.
I didn't say it wouldn't receive at least 15 votes on here. I just said overall it's not as popular as it used to be due to its age.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

So...you got any more of those results coming up, Bleu?
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bootsy »

babydoll wrote:
Gillingham wrote:I'd think The Wizard of Oz is simply too old and therefore less popular and less available. Even Gone with the Wind didn't get more than 13 votes. Back to the Future on the other hand...
I know this to be true. Not that many millennials even know who Judy Garland is, much less seen The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind has been troubled by the African-American community who oppose the slavery shown in the film. And, gasp, they're both from 1939!

Back to the Future is from the '80s so it's more available thanks to endless showings on cable. Plus, it's from the '80s so therefore it's old. Seriously, people classify the '80s as old all the time now.

Back to the topic of slavery in Gone with the Wind, I just wanted to say I thought Django Unchained was worse about it.
How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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Nick wrote:So...you got any more of those results coming up, Bleu?

Sorry, I've been busy with Easter and other stuff this weekend. I'll try to get back on track Monday. Sorry for the sudden delay of everything.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by JimmyJazz »

bootsy wrote:
babydoll wrote:
Gillingham wrote:I'd think The Wizard of Oz is simply too old and therefore less popular and less available. Even Gone with the Wind didn't get more than 13 votes. Back to the Future on the other hand...
I know this to be true. Not that many millennials even know who Judy Garland is, much less seen The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind has been troubled by the African-American community who oppose the slavery shown in the film. And, gasp, they're both from 1939!

Back to the Future is from the '80s so it's more available thanks to endless showings on cable. Plus, it's from the '80s so therefore it's old. Seriously, people classify the '80s as old all the time now.

Back to the topic of slavery in Gone with the Wind, I just wanted to say I thought Django Unchained was worse about it.
How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
Are we really all injecting controversy into a thread again? Let us just allow the roll-out to go by BleuPanda, or we will never get these results finished!

:angry-banghead:
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by JimmyJazz »

BleuPanda wrote:
Nick wrote:So...you got any more of those results coming up, Bleu?

Sorry, I've been busy with Easter and other stuff this weekend. I'll try to get back on track Monday. Sorry for the sudden delay of everything.
Also, did you get my blurbs, Bleu?
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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bootsy wrote:How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
They are, but it gets me riled that Django Unchained is somehow acceptable when it shows slaves bashing each other's head with hammers yet Gone with the Wind is to be scorned for life because of "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies."

But nonetheless it's a great list, BleuPanda! And I'll hush...
Last edited by babydoll on Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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BleuPanda wrote:
Nick wrote:So...you got any more of those results coming up, Bleu?

Sorry, I've been busy with Easter and other stuff this weekend. I'll try to get back on track Monday. Sorry for the sudden delay of everything.
No need to apologize! I'm just excited to see the results is all.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

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JimmyJazz wrote:
BleuPanda wrote:
Nick wrote:So...you got any more of those results coming up, Bleu?

Sorry, I've been busy with Easter and other stuff this weekend. I'll try to get back on track Monday. Sorry for the sudden delay of everything.
Also, did you get my blurbs, Bleu?
Yes.
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bootsy
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bootsy »

JimmyJazz wrote:
bootsy wrote:
babydoll wrote: I know this to be true. Not that many millennials even know who Judy Garland is, much less seen The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind has been troubled by the African-American community who oppose the slavery shown in the film. And, gasp, they're both from 1939!

Back to the Future is from the '80s so it's more available thanks to endless showings on cable. Plus, it's from the '80s so therefore it's old. Seriously, people classify the '80s as old all the time now.

Back to the topic of slavery in Gone with the Wind, I just wanted to say I thought Django Unchained was worse about it.
How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
Are we really all injecting controversy into a thread again? Let us just allow the roll-out to go by BleuPanda, or we will never get these results finished!

:angry-banghead:
I just asked a question. That isn't controversy and isn't interfering with the roll-out. Jeez. Stop.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Gillingham »

babydoll wrote:
bootsy wrote:How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
They are, but it gets me riled that Django Unchained is somehow acceptable when it shows slaves bashing each other's head with hammers yet Gone with the Wind is to be scorned for life because of "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies."
I don't know, it's different (one not necessarilly worse or better than the other). I do know that Django Unchained is (or seems to be) less ignorant about it and shows a more ambigious perspective. It's more post-modern, but that's all expected since Django was made more than 70 years(!) later.
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bootsy
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bootsy »

Gillingham wrote:
babydoll wrote:
bootsy wrote:How? They are too entirely different movies in too entirely different eras.
They are, but it gets me riled that Django Unchained is somehow acceptable when it shows slaves bashing each other's head with hammers yet Gone with the Wind is to be scorned for life because of "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies."
I don't know, it's different (one not necessarilly worse or better than the other). I do know that Django Unchained is (or seems to be) less ignorant about it and shows a more ambigious perspective. It's more post-modern, but that's all expected since Django was made more than 70 years(!) later.
I just took Django for what it is. Historically inaccurate and almost satire like and very entertaining, well written/acted movie. I tried not to look for anything beyond that.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by BleuPanda »

Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?
85. Double Indemnity (1944) - Directed by Billy Wilder
Image
Decade Rank: 10
TSPDT rank: 147
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 839.09
Votes: 13


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 43/233
Chilton: 25/133
Dexter: 59/236

Greg: 65/237
MrMooney: 57/195
Gillingham: 67/229
whuntva: 62/170
MaschineMan: 62/165
BleuPanda: 108/222
---
Midaso: 93/184
Michel: 132/242
Live in Phoenix: 83/145
Petri: 180/247

Billy Wilder’s classic noir is one of the quintessential works of the genre. The overall fatalism of this film perfectly encapsulates the societal malaise that was already seeping into American society just before the end of the war. MacMurray, Robinson, and especially Stanwyck are all in top form, the screenplay by Wilder and Chandler is absolutely killer, and Wilder’s own direction is excellent in terms of mise-en-scene. A masterpiece from classical Hollywood that is unfortunately declining in reputation on the TSPDT list compared to the other three “Big Four” Wilder works. Wilder is more popularly perceived as a comedy director by many, but this film alone shows his chops at the crime noir genre. – JimmyJazz

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.
84. The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Directed by Victor Fleming
Image
Decade Rank: 6
TSPDT rank: 101
AMF 2012 rank: new
Score: 840.43
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 7/170
Dexter: 48/236
bonnielaurel: 55/233
Midaso: 45/184

Live in Phoenix: 44/145
Greg: 84/237
MaschineMan: 59/165
Nick: 45/125
---
acroamor: 52/98
Chilton: 73/133
BleuPanda: 138/222
Petri: 156/247
MrMooney: 125/195
Nassim: 71/87
Gillingham: 228/229


The main characters just don't convince me at all. And the rest of the movie doesn't make up for it, unfortunately. - Gillingham

Best Fantasy film? Check. Best Musical? Check. Best Family Film? You bet! The Wizard of Oz seems to top every genre of filmmaking, and emerges as a distinctly American fairy tale. Many have tried to replicate its magic, but there can be only one Oz! - whuntva

Though color film actually existed long before The Wizard of Oz, this is the film that legitimized its use. Seemingly aware that the oversaturated colors would have a fake look even compared to black and white cinematography, The Wizard of Oz dives headfirst into artificiality. Dorothy opening the door of her realistic Kansas home to stumble into the colorful world of Oz is still a stunning shot. This is one of those films that redefined what film could do on a purely visual level, much like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari before it. Where Gone with the Wind used color simply due to it being the next step in filmmaking, The Wizard of Oz integrates color into its very existence. Much like the idea persists with animation to this day due to Disney’s initial popularity, color film spent an extended period being viewed as less legitimate for realistic adult-oriented films. It’s hard to believe the world would have come to such a conclusion if it wasn’t for Dorothy’s magical adventure through Oz. – BleuPanda

Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
83. Trainspotting (1996) - Directed by Danny Boyle
Image
Decade Rank: 10
TSPDT rank: 447
AMF 2012 rank: 65 (down 18)
Score: 840.8
Votes: 16


Individual Votes:
whuntva: 12/170
Midaso: 31/184
Gillingham: 46/229
BleuPanda: 46/222
Michel: 57/242

acroamor: 27/98
MaschineMan: 61/165
Live in Phoenix: 70/145
---
Nick: 64/125
bonnielaurel: 127/233
Petri: 136/247
Chilton: 90/133
Dexter: 162/236
OtisRedding: 113/136
Greg: 218/237
MrMooney: 184/195


This film never tires me. It's funny, well acted and contains some valuable life lessons for younger folks. - Gillingham

This is one of those films that comes out of nowhere. A film about addiction shouldn’t be this fun, but Trainspotting takes a rare approach that actually simulates the reason people get addicted in the first place. Those fleeting moments of a heroin high are above a non-user’s comprehension. Where similar films attempt to expose the gritty truth through brutal realism, Trainspotting draws on modern editing techniques to create a sensation of a world unbound by time. The characters know they’re hurting themselves, but that doesn’t matter while coasting between highs. By viewing the issue through such a sympathetic lens, Trainspotting becomes a rare issue film that speaks with some semblance of authority. Perhaps a few catastrophes will rip people out of your life, but the real suffering takes hold when it’s simply a habit you can’t kick, an exciting addiction that drains all other energy away from you. Add in the licensed soundtrack supreme and top-notch technical approaches and you get a rare issue film that’s even more concerned with being an artistic statement. – BleuPanda

Listen, kid, we're all in it together.
82. Brazil (1985) - Directed by Terry Gilliam
Image
Decade Rank: 15
TSPDT rank: 181
AMF 2012 rank: 37 (down 45)
Score: 847.11
Votes: 15


Individual Votes:
Michel: 16/242
luney6: 7/69
BleuPanda: 42/222
MrMooney: 40/195
whuntva: 42/170

Nick: 32/125
Dexter: 93/236
Gillingham: 110/229
---
Midaso: 105/184
Chilton: 87/133
Petri: 165/247
MaschineMan: 116/165
bonnielaurel: 193/233
Greg: 207/237
OtisRedding: 128/136


Brazil is Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece, and is a tragicomedy of the highest order. Despite the film’s often whimsical appearance, Brazil is able to convey a sense of relatability to anyone who has ever felt trapped in a system of rigidity and mindless rules. Simultaneously charmingly funny and heartbreakingly sad, Brazil reimagines a classic story of love in the face of overwhelming adversity, with the adversity here being the chaos of modern life, the rules, the red tape, the technology that fails on us, the pollution and urban decay of a sprawling metropolis. Ultimately the movie is an ode to escapism, the country of Brazil is never actually seen or even talked about in the movie, but the idea of Brazil, the idea of a land exotic to our protagonist, is where the movie’s title comes from. In this way, “Brazil” becomes not a country, but a state of mind, a state of escapism from the concrete and steel nightmare that these characters inhabit. If there’s one flaw in the film it’s that the “man pursues woman who clearly isn’t into him” trope is a bit overdone in the world of movies, but that’s just a minor mark on what is otherwise a sublime movie. - Nick

Shut up and deal.
81. The Apartment (1960) - Directed by Billy Wilder
Image
Decade Rank: 9
TSPDT rank: 55
AMF 2012 rank: 84 (up 3)
Score: 848.28
Votes: 12


Individual Votes:
bonnielaurel: 11/233
OtisRedding: 15/136
Dexter: 44/236

Petri: 66/247
Michel: 67/242
MrMooney: 71/195
BleuPanda: 101/222
---
MaschineMan: 94/165
Greg: 153/237
whuntva: 129/170
Midaso: 149/184
Gillingham: 215/229


The best comedies often have a serious undertone. Bud Baxter is an individual in a modern city. He functions as a part of the system, as a tool in the hands of his superiors. The question is whether he can overcome this and become a Mensch. Including a suicide attempt in a comedy was unusual. One of the funniest moments is when he uses his tennis racket as a colander. - bonnielaurel

This is perhaps the film that best ties together Billy Wilder’s comedy with his knack for cynicism. This is a comedy that features an attempted suicide as a central conflict and one that delves into the fear of modernism. Wilder’s wit is matched with something shockingly human, providing a hard look at what we truly value while working in society. – BleuPanda
Last edited by BleuPanda on Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by babydoll »

Hey, Nick, there's your Wizard of Oz at #84! I am sorry.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Nick »

babydoll wrote:Hey, Nick, there's your Wizard of Oz at #84! I am sorry.
No apologies necessary! I'm happy to see The Wizard of Oz place in the top 100, even if I expected a little more than 15 votes. Oh well. Still curious to see what the last movie with all 20 votes is.
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by Petri »

Nick wrote: Still curious to see what the last movie with all 20 votes is.
I guess it is Back to the Future (or Fargo).
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Re: AMF Top 250 Films of All Time (2016 edition)

Post by bonnielaurel »

That screenshot from "The Apartment" is a good example of false perspective. The benches in the background are really smaller than those in the foreground, which makes the room seem bigger. They used children and cardboard dolls too.
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