best film ranked 1-50 on that film canon list that morbs posted

touch of evil

So hard to choose which Hitchcock.

2001 easily (but I'm probably the only one that feels that way)

nope, me too

well, not EASILY i guess

by best I mean yr favorite

I think this distinction is preposterous but

Best/favorite: The Night of the Hunter

Worst/least fave: Taxi Driver (although the idolatry of The Godfather continues to baffle me)

milo otm. I went with Rear Window because with the others I feel like I'm watching some great dime novel mystery/thriller expertly acted and directed, but with RW's pace, single set, and relatability to the protaganist and his condition, I become part of the movie (ironic for a film about voyeurism to be the one that does this).

hmm worst would be a good poll too

worst film ranked 1-50 on that film canon list that morbs posted

rules of the game easily my favorite, then persona, then kane.

Things I love about 2001:
-it tells a complex story about human evolution without words and gets to the core of what is good and evil about humankind
-although the sound quality is not great (at least on last viewing on DVD), the music is powerful and enhances the story
-it alludes to a higher power in a magical way without being specific
-its chilling machine turning against man subplot was very realistic and far ahead of its time
-it has breathtaking cinematography
-it still seems like one of the most futuristic movies ever made, way outstripping all of the FX-driven stuff that came in its wake

guys I think this may be cheating but I took a peek at the actual ranking of these movies and at the top was Citizen Kane so I think that's the answer

Voted Persona because it is endlessly re-watchable and features some of the greatest acting and cinematography i've ever seen

vertigo edges out magnificent ambersons for me

Rear Window

tokyo story or chinatown or night of the hunter

tokyo story

or rear window

tokyo story tho

Rashomon. Kurosawa is my favourite among "classic" directors, and Rashomon is probably his most perfect film. (Though personally I love Read Beard even more, for sentimental reasons.)

Love a lot of these movies, but ultimately chose between Otto e Mezzo and La Dolce Vita, and picked the latter.

I think the best/favorite dichotomy gives you an honesty trapdoor. Otherwise you might be inclined to pick the film that makes you look the smartest, as opposed to the one you genuinely like the most. Example: Tho I'm embarrassed to say it, my answer is Casablanca. If I wanted to pick the IMHO best one tho... Potemkin.

which one makes you look smartest? poll?

Well, I think Rashomon is still my favourite film among the ones I've seen on this list. But if Red Beard had been there I would've voted for that.

Rules of the Game, Sunrise, Night of the Hunter, L'Avventura, and Magnificent Ambersons all very strong runners up, but my vote has to be Rear Window.

Apocalypse Now is my personal favourite, probably because I've lived with it for the longest, but I'd be hard-pressed to argue against those who dislike it. It's a film you have to embrace flaws and all, whereas some on this list are pretty watertight.

Best/favorite: The Night of the Hunter

I didn't like this. :-(

VERTIGO

I am pretty sure that I will be the only person voting for Singin' in the Rain but there is SO MUCH PURE CINEMA about that movie, it checks off all the boxes on my list. Next would probably be Casablanca tbh, guess I'm just corny that way; the 51-100 part of the list had more faves than the top 50.

Would like to see this list polled into mincemeat a la that book of the top 1,001 pop singles.

Bicycle Thieves. Definitely in my top 5 films.

Movie that was my favorite at 15:

Dr Strangelove

Movies that I really like, but would not be in my top 100

Bicycle Thieves
The Truffauts
The non-Vertigo Hitchcocks
Lawrence of Arabia
Rules of the Game
Godfather 1
2001
Tokyo Story

Movies on this list that would probably be in my top 50.

Vertigo
Rashomon
Chinatown
Night of the Hunter

Probably pick Chinatown cuz no one else has.

Oh add La Grande Illusion to the movies I really like list.

a question with no answer

You gotta be able to narrow it down a little though, right? To like maybe five or ten? And then just pick one at random. No one can love all of these not even the most dyed in the wool Sight-N-Sound-er.

Apocalypse Now is the worst movie on this list btw. Not the least entertaining or the least watchable, but the one I have the most "what the hell is this doing here" reaction to.

Rules of the Game, Sunrise, Night of the Hunter, L'Avventura, and Magnificent Ambersons all very strong runners up, but my vote has to be Rear Window.

The first time I completely agree with Eric.

where's booty call for chrissake

Vertigo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjT6ARHmASA

8 1/2 or Vertigo.

I think the best/favorite dichotomy gives you an honesty trapdoor. Otherwise you might be inclined to pick the film that makes you look the smartest, as opposed to the one you genuinely like the most. Example: Tho I'm embarrassed to say it, my answer is Casablanca. If I wanted to pick the IMHO best one tho... Potemkin.

― Mordy, Monday, September 7, 2009 6:06 AM (6 hours ago)

casablanca is top 3 for me too

Mordy otm. I can see plenty of films on that list that are "better" than Apocalypse Now. Having chosen that, I feel like I'm sitting in the corner of this thread wearing a dunce cap.

Lucky for me I am just that arrogant and snobbish that I actually derive sensual pleasure from cold, remote works of art.

Would like to see this list polled into mincemeat a la that book of the top 1,001 pop singles.

does anyone else think this is a good idea? or is it going overboard? I feel like not enough people are gonna have seen films 700-750 (etc.) to make this meaningful - but after looking at the list again, maybe not. 50-100 could def be polled.

I'm gung ho on that idea, especially because some of their choices in the last few hundred are so nutty).

i and most other ppl would end up voting for the one film we've seen, but go for it

tbh i feel like the enthusiasm for morbs' thread was kind of an anomaly - don't see more than 15 posts for any of the polls above 100 or so

right, but the marsh singles polls on ilm are not for everyone either

which is to say, I guess I'm asking the film buffs if they're interested

Most polls (including, yeah, the Marsh lists) get a couple dozen votes, so it's not like these would be any different.

not esp, bcz I'm dreading compiling my best films of the '00s already. (ie, worst decade ever)

xp

The 80s will always be the worst decade ever for film.

1880s, I mean.

The General. Having seen it on the big screen with a live orchestral score helps it immensely.

well, sure -- but it's maybe Buster's most atypical film. (also, you need the big screen to see his face most of the time.)

dr. strangelove? chinatown? quite possibly the third man.

but you only named two dude

"Sunrise" for me.

I haven't seen all of them, but of the ones I have seen, probably Dr. Strangelove or Chinatown

Modern Times.

There are a number of these that I like very much (and probably an equal number that I'm completely underwhelmed by), but Chinatown might by my personal favorite. Or maybe Apocalypse Now. Hmm. I might need to sit with this for a minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4JpDUMXBqo

more like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZg8a0nqjTE

The theme brings to mind the whole movie instantly, though. Pour moi.

But yeah, the cuckoo clock speech is the heart of it.

i don't know if it's the best, but Tokyo Story is my favourite.
runners up:
Ordet,Rublev,Stangelove,Vertifo.

all of them i can watch endless times, and always find something new,intersting,clever and exciting.

But Tokyo Story is the most special of the specials, and wathching it is like going threw a perfect meditation session:relaxing,hypnotic, and you end up a happier person.

So I'll be the only one voting for La Dolce Vita? "Marcellooo!"

total pick'em, but i voted enfants du paradis because i saw it for the first time only fairly recently (probably 3 years ago) and i really loved it. so scanning the list, it's the one that gives me the warmest buzz. rest of the shortlist would be rules of the game, singin' in the rain, casablanca, tokyo story. with persona and north by northwest on the bubble.

definitely either casablanca, regle du jeu, chinatown, or the third man. but i voted north by northwest anyway, because who else will?

Just to bump the thread: I voted Chinatown.

Of those I haven't seen, the one I'd most like to is Rashomon.

night of the hunter over rear window and the third man, guess i've got a thing for stylish thrillers

Night of the Hunter! I voted for it too. Then I'd go for Andrei Rublev. Then Sunrise.

Actually, I would have voted for a Herzog film.

dr. strangelove? chinatown? quite possibly the third man.

― call all destroyer, Monday, 7 September 2009 21:16 (2 days ago) Permalink

but you only named two dude

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Monday, 7 September 2009 21:21 (2 days ago)

(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)

My favourite on this list? A toss up between Citizen Kane and It's a Wonderful Life, depending on it being Christmas or not.

Personal favorites:
1 Citizen Kane
2 Vertigo
4 2001: A Space Odyssey
11 Singin' in the Rain
12 Sunrise
13 Lawrence of Arabia
14 Bicycle Thieves
17 Passion of Joan of Arc, The
24 Third Man, The
28 Taxi Driver
29 Sunset Blvd.
47 Rear Window
48 Modern Times

More great movies:
3 Rules of the Game, The
7 Searchers, The
8 Battleship Potemkin
9 Seven Samurai, The
15 Casablanca
16 Atalante, L'
21 Touch of Evil
22 Some Like it Hot
25 Grande illusion, La
30 General, The
31 Enfants du paradis, Les
37 Night of the Hunter, The
39 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
44 400 Blows, The
46 Blade Runner

Movies I like, but I don't consider great:
6 Godfather, The
23 City Lights
27 Gold Rush, The
32 Psycho
33 Breathless
35 Apocalypse Now
36 Chinatown
40 Persona
42 Jules et Jim
49 North by Northwest

Movies that aren't my thing, but definitely have their merits:
10 Tokyo Story
18 Raging Bull
19 Rashomon
20 Godfather Part II, The
34 Ordet
38 Avventura, L'
50 Strada, La

Bad movies:
5 8½
26 Dolce vita, La
45 It's a Wonderful Life

The ones I need to watch again:
41 Andrei Rublev
43 Magnificent Ambersons, The

Chewshabadoo and abanana - can you tell me why you like Citizen Kane, not why it's good, or great or whatever?

I find its continued status mystifying. Like it being "the best film of all time" is a thing in itself, separate from the movie or any viewer, like the Mona Lisa.

casablanca, third man and singin in the rain all edged out by godfather II, but i need to see so many more of these.

anyone who thinks IAWL is a "bad movie" and blade runner a "great" one is high, sorry.

I really don't understand the disdain for Blade Runner. I really don't have any interest in talking about film, music, or pretty much anything else, with someone who just dismisses Blade Runner as less than a great film, especially without any reason - like it's such a given that it's a lesser film that it doesn't even deserve an argument against it. What exactly is a "great" film if Blade Runner isn't? Blade Runner was an extremely ambitious, epic, film that accomplished exactly what the creators wanted it to (even if it did take three director's cuts to completely get there), and it made a big impact on our culture: Its influence is still present in many current movies, books, games, comics, and music. (More so than a few of these other movies, I dare say.) I can't think of a less subjective way of defining "great" than that.

I haven't voted in this poll, or the other one, because I haven't seen all of the movies, but if I was going to knee-jerk vote for my favorite, which is what the poll creator asks for, I wouldn't think twice about voting for Blade Runner. I loved it when I had the old VHS copy with the bad voice-over, I loved the first director's cut, and I love the recent restored "final cut" most of all. This movie has been on my top 5 all-time favorite list since I first saw it on TV when I was 13 or so.

I don't expect people to like everything I do, but I hope they would at least recognize the craft that went into it if they don't want me to just write them off as an elitist jerk and cease any further interaction with them. For what it's worth, I really like It's a Wonderful Life, and every other movie on this list that I've seen. Rear Window would probably be my #2.

Blade Runner is a high achievement in set design and visual effects, as well as establishing mood, and having a far above-average science fiction plot. It's needlessly slow in places, though. That's my objection to it, if I have one.

"Craft" is a pretty good description of Blade Runner, actually.

I don't *dislike* Blade Runner and I think that w/r/t set design, setting and characters it's a super memorable movie, but 'needlessly slow in places' + (imo) the whole philosophical deeper meaning/'is he a replicant' aspect is not super interesting as far as sci fi goes.

I'm sure a lot of these movies are needlessly slow in places to some people. I love the fact that Blade Runner takes its time and lets you soak in the music and atmosphere. The scene where he comes home from the big chase scene, with Rachel, and drinks the liquor, and the blood mixes with it, and the light from the sunset shows through his blinds - that scene can go on forever as far as I'm concerned.

yeah, as a movie experience, blade runner is as much or more about creating and existing inside its world as it is about the details of its plot and characters. i think it's the most immersive, coherent, fully imagined sci-fi film since metropolis. for everything that it's obviously influenced since, nothing else has come close to it.

+ (imo) the whole philosophical deeper meaning/'is he a replicant' aspect is not super interesting as far as sci fi goes.

I don't mind the "Decker is a replicant" thing, though it seems like a twist where nobody asked for one. But the larger issue of hating your maker for designing something as flawed as yourself is better than science fiction, it's mythic, biblical even.

Of course I know, it's all about presentation when you're dealing with the mythic. But I think it's obvious that it's a much better film than Star Wars. If it's pitched a little higher than it can be made to resonate, well, you can't fault the effort.

IT'S TOO BAD SHE WON'T LIVE. BUT THEN AGAIN, WHO DOES.

I give BR lots of points for worldbuilding, but narrative-wise parts of it are clunky.

Chewshabadoo and abanana - can you tell me why you like Citizen Kane, not why it's good, or great or whatever?

I find its continued status mystifying. Like it being "the best film of all time" is a thing in itself, separate from the movie or any viewer, like the Mona Lisa.

― Jamie T Smith, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 15:37 (Yesterday)

I really hate giving 'Citizen Kane' as the answer, as usually my favourites are quite different from most people, it's about the only untouchable 'canon' piece in any artform I'll defend to a great degree.

I definitely have other films I'd consider bigger favourites which aren't in this list, but when these kind of lists come up its usually the one that I have the fondest feelings for. It's probably the film I've watched the most - I must have watched it 15-20 times when I was doing my A-Levels as we were required to write a long essay on it as the final project on the course. Because of this it is also probably the film I know the most background on, and have a lot of emotional attachment to it.

All this could have made me hate it though. having to study something over and over again - like so many classics I was forced to study in English - has spoiled many things for me. But, I find when I watch it again (which I probably do every couple of years) it's just such a pleasure to sit there and take in.

It's a film with some amazing cinematography, great direction, and very importantly for such "serious fare" a great sense of humour: it brings the lols.

I guess I'm also someone who both gets enjoyment out of 'craft' and innovation - something which Citizen Kane combines in an incredibly assured and enjoyable way; to me it still feels like a film which could be made today.

eh i get why blade runner is important and influential and it certainly does create an environment and blah blah blah but it's not particularly good as a narrative film and by the end i didn't really care what happened.

blade runner is so po-faced and literal-minded compared to the dick novel

I like Blade Runner a lot! That's quite possible to do w/out considering it one of the 50 (or 200) best films ever.

Morbs OTM. It's a great movie just not that level of great. Also it's nothing like the book really. The basic characters outlines/concept is drawn from it, but the whole mod/pacing/plot is completely different.

Blade Runner is a high achievement in set design and visual effects, as well as establishing mood, and having a far above-average science fiction plot. It's needlessly slow in places, though. That's my objection to it, if I have one.

It's a good film with lots of things I don't like (the performances, underwritten story), but people get so carried away with their enthusiasm. If you love something, it doesn't stand to reason that the thing is great. I love lots of things i wouldn't defend as great novels or films.

What part of the story would you like to have seen expanded? I can sort of get onboard with the needlessly slow part (although I would say that a lot that slowness is necessary to establishing mood so its not exactly needless) but I'm just not sure what else need to said in regards to these characters that isn't said.

Also agree that the performances are uh varied.

But I think you could make that complaint about a lot of "great" films, frankly.

blade runner is so po-faced and literal-minded compared to the dick novel

Not fair. Compared to Dick, reality is po-faced. I don't want to live in the place that Dick wrote from.

blade runnerevery dick movie is so po-faced and literal-minded compared to the dick novel

Total Recall is the only one I've seen that gets close to the actual atmosphere of a Dick novel...NB I haven't seen A Scanner Darkly and whatever other indie productions which have been based on a Dick novel

every time there's a new BR director's cut I think "Blade Runner: Now with more unicorns"

"Total Recall is the only one I've seen that gets close to the actual atmosphere of a Dick novel"

Except for the awful casting of Arnie in the lead!

A SCANNER DARKLY is prob the most faithful PKD adaptation, and manages to catch some of the humour that's so absent from BLADE RUNNER. Agreed, tho, that TOTAL RECALL also has some pretty 'Dickian' moments even when it differs majorly from the source material.

Suggest Ban Permalink

"Total Recall is the only one I've seen that gets close to the actual atmosphere of a Dick novel"

Except for the awful casting of Arnie in the lead!

― Alex in SF, Thursday, September 10, 2009 4:23 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

It's saying something when an animatronic exploding head has more memorable lines.

Haha you don't remember "consider that a divorce"!

"Sleazy ... demure."

Haha you don't remember "consider that a divorce"!

― Alex in SF, Thursday, September 10, 2009 4:56 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Now I do! That's a pretty good one.

Out of Arnie, Ford, Affleck, Cage and Cruise, Arnie's got to be in the top two for best-suited for PKD adaptation.

In a vacuum, I guess, but for that movie almost any of them would have been a better choice than Arnie.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

O the suspense

i added a bunch of these to my netflix (not just the top 50, just stuff i hadn't seen that looked interesting) and my wife and i are working our way through them. 'laurence of arabia' was a snooze.

crazytalk

Lawrence of Arabia, like 2001, needs an 80-foot screen.

(or Playtime)

eh i'd probably enjoy it more if i were in the right mood i guess

otm re: playtime for sure, the first time i saw it was on the big screen

get yer last minute votes in

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

La Strada - only movie to get zero votes on both polls. Is it the most okay movie of all time?

Andrei Rublev got zero didn't it?

o u right

there is no way that is the most okay movie of all time tho

whereas I think La Strada could be a contender

Hah yeah pretty clearly Andrei Rublev got that zero much more from laziness than from okayness.

lolz @ 2001 being both best AND (well almost) worst

Le Strada's allright but honestly I prefer Nights of Cabiria

seems logical that four of the top five films were directed either by Hitchcock or Kubrick, given the results of this poll:

who is yr favourite director of the most popular ones from the best films list that morbs posted?

who is yr favourite director of the most popular ones from the best films list that morbs posted?

the fact that the final human < superhuman evolution in "2001" comes through an act of transubstantiation, guided by a higher power, always blows my mind. It requires seeing on a very big screen and being very stoned...

xpost yes, a pattern has clearly emerged

2001? really? i am sorry, but you people suck.

ugh.

Amazing and lovely.

It is picking ONE of these that sucks

Hey, my pick got second place, nice!

Chinatown/Vertigo would be a helluva double bill!

comes through an act of transubstantiatio

it does? I didn't notice any catholic shit in 2001

Adrian Martin on a Star Wars canon, the old canon, the new canon

Canons favour an *organic* aesthetics – they valorise whole, entire films as perfect objects. This leaves no room for imperfect films, or brilliant bits or fragments of films. And we all know there are many films that are great for just ten minutes, maybe just for one scene.

Canons valorise singular masterpieces over bodies or corpuses of work. But there is no single great masterpiece to be plucked from the careers of many important and influential directors, including Fassbinder, Pasolini and Preston Sturges.

… In short, canons simply ignore too many good, important, significant and pleasurable movies. But what, realistically, is the alternative? I recall a story by Jorge Luis Borges in which fanatical mapmakers create a map of their territory so precise, true and big that it covers the whole territory. And I sometimes think that this is what the best canon of cinema would be: the cinema itself, whole and entire.

But, of course, nobody’s grasp of cinema could ever actually happen in that kind of impossibly holistic, total way. We can’t just go out and see everything, alas! What any of us understands of cinema depends, at every moment, on material, social and political factors: what films are available, or lost; what films are in circulation and in which format (celluloid, video, DVD, etc); what decisions are being made by those in power concerning which available films audiences will actually get to see, where and for how long.

http://www.filmcritic.com.au/essays/canons.html