Top Five Movies of All Time

[Jim]

I ask this question as the risk of being OT (i) to find out more about where eveyone is coming from and (ii) to get some good picks.

 

My list would be, although not necessarily in this order:

 

1. The Navigator (not Flight of the Navigator-it was a complete suprise to me)

2. To Kill A Mockingbird (no one did decency like Gregory Peck)

3. House of Games (the characters were so appealingly twisted);

4. Saving Private Ryan (I thought I appreciated the Greatest Generation but after the first few minutes I knew my gratitude did not run deeply enough; any movie that can instantly change your POV within the first few minutes is a great movie); and,

5. Contact (not as good as the book but you've got to love a movie for a mass audience which intelligently talks about the issues we deal with here and, wow, that opening scene was amazing; again, another opening scene that changed my POV).

 

Anyone else?

[insane_alien]

1. 28 days later

2. ginger snaps

3. the breakfast club

4. the proposition

5. the godfather

[bascule]

Well, this is going to come off as a weird list, probably

 

1. Citizen Kane

2. The Godfather

3. Lawrence of Arabia

4. Colossus - The Forbin Project

5. Powaqqatsi

[gcol]

Jazz on a summers day. (lovely atmospheric jazz)

Casablanca. (no excuses)

All quiet on the western front. (War is stupid)

Forbidden planet. (Archetypal modern genre sci-fi)

The Mission. (made me angry and thoughtful)

[ydoaPs]

Donnie Darko, just about anything by Tim Burton, History of the World Part One, The Shawshank Redemption, Batman Begins, Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind.........oops, that's more than five

[swansont]

Depends on my mood, but The Godfather, Casablanca and The Shawshank Redemption all rank up near the top, and are movies I don't tend to get tired of watching. I think Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia are good, too.

 

 

3. House of Games (the characters were so appealingly twisted);

Twisted, yes, but I thought Lindsay Crouse's acting was appalling. Very flat.

[Jim]

Depends on my mood' date=' but The Godfather, Casablanca and The Shawshank Redemption all rank up near the top, and are movies I don't tend to get tired of watching. I think Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia are good, too.

 

 

 

Twisted, yes, but I thought Lindsay Crouse's acting was appalling. Very flat.[/quote']

 

Not to argue the pount but I thought Crouse's acting was intentionally flat. It helped set the dark mood of the movie and kept her from being too sympathetic. To each his own....

 

Hey, I'm a molecule!

[augment]

1. Gladiator(What can I say, if you've seen it you know this movie kicks ass)

2. Batman Begins(Best Batman yet. I love the direction Nolan has taken. The other batmans all had that chessy feel to them where as this is serious)

3. Dog Soldiers(cool movie)

4. Underworld or Underworld: Evolution. I can't tell what movie is better.

5. Armageddon

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Done twice already:

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19280

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4504

[swansont]

Not to argue the pount but I thought Crouse's acting was intentionally flat. It helped set the dark mood of the movie and kept her from being too sympathetic. To each his own....

 

 

I had just seen her in something else when I rented House of Games, and she was flat in that other thing, too. Anyway, to each his own is quite right. Enjoy what you enjoy.

[pink_trike]

In no particular order:

 

- American Beauty (viewed through a Buddhist filter)

- 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (Dr. Suess is GOD)

- The City of Lost Children (just roll a blunt and get into it)

- Brazil (Cloris Leachman, nuf said)

- The Wizard of Oz (viewed through a Jungian filter)

- My Private Idaho (viewed through a Buddhist filter)

- Forest Gump (whatever...I'm an emo. Tom Hanks = marriage material)

- Yume (viewed through a Buddhist filter)

 

Oh wait, I lost count...oops.

[Jim]

Done twice already:

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19280

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4504

 

Lol. Ah well.

 

Makes me wonder if I saw that thread the opening list and the idea planted itself subconsciously. Or, maybe I'm getting old...

[pcs]

1. Harold and Kumar

2. Shaft in Africa

3. Red Dawn

4. Booty Talk 14

5. The Hebrew Hammer

[Jim]

1. Harold and Kumar

2. Shaft in Africa

3. Red Dawn

4. Booty Talk 14

5. The Hebrew Hammer

 

Lol. I actually watched 10 minutes of Red Dawn the other in a fit of channel surfing insomnia. I'm not proud of it but nothing else was on....

[Pangloss]

Red Dawn has actually acquired a certain appeal over the years, in part due to nostalgia, but there's also a certain degree of appreciation for the film's actual cinematic value, in part due to the reflection it casts upon our society during that time frame (i.e. towards the end of the cold war period). It also has a strong visual concept and brought the cold war home to a new generation in a fairly powerful way, which of course goes right to the heart of what movies are all about.

 

It's still not a very good movie, IMO. But that's just my opinion.

 

Getting back to the subject at hand, I'm not a big fan of "top" lists, but I'll be happy to list several classic films that still play well today:

 

1) Casablanca -- An amazing movie that plays astonishingly well even today. I defy any human being to watch the La Marseillaise scene without getting a lump in their throat. (#2 on the AFI Top 100.)

 

2) Sunset Blvd. -- Yeah, that's actually how it's spelled. Part of what makes this movie so amazing is the story behind it. The ironies and reflections on reality are a bit mind-blowing even after all these years. Noire purists usually list The Maltese Falcon, but unlike Falcon, Sunset actually still plays well today. Watch it. You won't be disappointed. (#12 on the AFI Top 100.)

 

3) North by Northwest -- No "greatest" list is complete without at least a mention of The Master, and this one has always been my personal favorite. Modern film owes more to Hitchcock than any other single individual. In particular, this film represents the pinnacle of one of his favorite story dynamics -- a good man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hitch so popularized that dynamic that it still influences movies today. (#40 on the AFI Top 100.)

 

4) Network -- The birth of the modern socio-political satire, made all the more fascinating by how it all came true (and more). Inspired in part by the story of local television reporter Christine Chubbuck, who on her morning talk show in 1974, said, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts in living color, we bring you another first, an attempted suicide." -- and then shot herself in the head. Nothing about modern media has ever been quite the same since. (#66 on the AFI Top 100.)

 

5) Shichinin no samurai -- As with Hitch, so much we include Kurosawa. "The Seven Samurai" made the career of Toshiro Mifune, but in my view the real performance here is that of Takashi Shimura (tragically known mostly to western film-goers from the Godzilla series). The ultimate, original "movie for guys who like movies".

 

6) Jaws -- As with Hitch and Kurosawa, so must we include Spielberg. Watch it again today, and just ignore the fact that it's a "scary shark movie" and look at the pure film-making aspect of it. It's an amazing piece of work. (#48 on the AFI Top 100.)

 

Jaws is similar to "Red Dawn", by the way. Purists hated Jaws, and along with Star Wars would constantly cite it in the 1980s as a sign that movies were in decline. It seems obvious now in restrospect how wrong they were, but it's important to understand that the reason they were wrong is not just because movies make more money now. It's because they're still good.

[-Demosthenes-]

The Last Samurai

A Knight's Tale

Return of the King (all of them)

Revenge of the Sith (all of them)

War of the Worlds (a lot didn't like it, but it was just like a scifi novel, ending and all)

 

I have more than five

Pirates of the Caribbean - amazing.

All of M. Night Shyamalan's movies

Back to the Future (all of them)

[ecoli]

the Great Escape

Coolhand Luke

Shawshank redemption

Dr. Strangelove

The Holy Trilogy (you know what I mean)

 

3 out of 5 are prison movies... what can I say, I'm a fan.

[ydoaPs]

i think shawshank redemption is the most common favourite so far.

[insane_alien]

I just saw V for Vendetta. i'm going to say 4th equal.

[abeefaria]

1. October Sky (doesn't matter where you come from, you can succeed and follow your dreams)

2. LotR (wow, a cinematic masterpiece)

3. Aliens (sci fi at its best)

4. Jaws

5. Meet the Parents

[[Tycho?]]

In no particular order...

 

The Fifth Element

Fight Club

Donnie Darko

12 Monkeys

The Matrix

[Royston]

Also in no particular order:

 

Baraka

Withnail and I

Donnie Darko

Gladiator

Free Willy 2... Fight Club

[ydoaPs]

two more for Donnie Darko......i love that movie....

[futureless]

In no order.....

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Mummy Returns

Armageddon

Gladiator

Lord of the Rings Triology

[Jim]

1. October Sky (doesn't matter where you come from' date=' you can succeed and follow your dreams)

2. LotR (wow, a cinematic masterpiece)

3. Aliens (sci fi at its best)

4. Jaws

5. Meet the Parents[/quote']

 

October sky was wonderful as was LoTR. I appreciate any movie that can make me feel the integrity of an alternate reality. For much the same reason I also loved Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan. The conclusion of Gladiator may have sucked but I appreciated getting to feel what it might have been like to see the Coliseum in ancient Rome or to approach Omaha Beach on D Day at H Hour.

 

I also admit to being a Harry Potter fan. I constantly argue with my kids whether the fact that Snape ... did that thing in the last book... makes him evil.