Top 100 Movies Meme

[omorka]

Note: yes, I'm aware that the IMDB Top 100 is a living document, and this is an old version. However, it's the one in the meme, so herewith:



1. Godfather, The (1972)
2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) (been meaning to see this for a while)
3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
4. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
5. Schindler's List (1993) (also need to see this)
6. Citizen Kane (1941)
7. Casablanca (1942)
8. Seven Samurai (1954)
9. Star Wars (1977)
10. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
11. Memento (2000) (we own it, and I need to watch it)
12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (read the book, though)
13. Rear Window (1954)
14. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
17. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
18. Amelie (2001)
19. Pulp Fiction (1994 ) (deliberately avoiding this one)
20. North by Northwest (1959)
21. Psycho (1960)
22. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991 ) (also deliberately avoiding)
23. 12 Angry Men (1957)
24. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
25 It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
26.The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
27. Goodfellas (1990)
28. American Beauty (1999 )
29. Vertigo (1958)
30. Pianist, The (2002) (meant to see this one and never made it)
31. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
32. Apocalypse Now (1979 )
33. Some Like It Hot (1959) (wanted to see this periodically since Celluloid Closet)
34. Matrix, The (1999)
35. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (read the book)
36. Taxi Driver (1976)
37. Third Man, The (1949)
38. Paths of Glory (1957)
39. Fight Club (1999 ) (we own it; I've been putting it off)
40. Boot, Das (1981)
41. L.A. Confidential (1997)
42. Double Indemnity (1944)
43. Chinatown (1974)
44. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
45. Maltese Falcon, The (1941 )
46. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
47. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) (I've probably seen all of this one, in pieces, but never all at once in order)
48. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) AKA - Spirited Away
49. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
50. All About Eve (1950)
51. M (1931)
52. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
53. Raging Bull (1980)
54. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
55. Se7en (1995 )
56. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000 )
57. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
58. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (this may be a cheat - I *think* I've seen all of it)
59. Vita e bella, La (1997) AKA: Life is Beautiful
60. American History X (1998)
61. Sting, The (1973) (but it's been a really, really long time - I think I was six)
62. Touch of Evil (1958)
63. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
64. Alien (1979)
65. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (also a very, very long time)
66. Rashemon (1950)
67. Leon (1994)
68. Annie Hall (1977)
69. Great Escape, The (1963) (another one of Daddy's war movies I've probably seen all of, but not all at once in order)
70. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) (avoiding)
71. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
72. Reservoir Dogs (1992) (avoiding like the godsdamned freaking plague)
73. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
74. Jaws (1975)
75. Amadeus (1984)
76. On the Waterfront (1954)
77. Ran (1985)
78. Braveheart (1995) (I probably ought to see it, but - dude - Mel Gibson)
79. High Noon (1952) (for a class in college - I don't remember much of it)
80. Fargo (1996)
81. Blade Runner (1982)
82. Apartment, The (1960)
83. Aliens (1986)
84. Toy Story 2 (1999)
85. Strangers on a Train (1951)
86. Modern Times (1936)
87. Shining, The (1980)
88. Donnie Darko (2001) (we own it, though, and I need to watch it while I'm off)
89. Duck Soup (1933)
90. Princess Bride, The (1987)
91. Lola rennt (Run Lola, Run) (1998)
92. City Lights (1931)
93. General, The (1927)
94. Metropolis (1927)
95. Searchers, The (1956)
96. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
97. Notorious (1946)
98. Manhattan (1979)
99. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (once again, I was a fairly small child at the time)
100. Graduate, The (1967) (but I've seen so many parodies I feel like I have)


Goodness, I'm a child of my times, ain't I? : (

Comments

[greeneyedpagan.livejournal.com]

aren't you just. LOL
You saw Run Lola Run when the coven went to see it, didn't you? I honestly can't remember.

There are many I am purposely avoiding, and should have noted that, but whatever.

There are many on that list I am sure you would like. As many movies as you watch...well, yeah, watch Donnie Darko. It's um, interesting. I liked it, but it isn't for everyone.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

No, I managed to miss the outing for RLR. I don't remember why . . .

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

They had to start from somewhere, of course, but I think the "living document" approach is not the best way to determine what the classics are. I mean, that "Spirited Away" thing was okay if you like incredibly surreal kiddie Japanimation, but let's face it, immortal classic it isn't. But because it just came out, it outranks some pretty good Kubrick films. That ain't right.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Actually, I think the Miyazaki films are likely to outlive the Kubrick, who is (IMHO, of course) much more a product of his time and place. The appropriate person to compare Miyazaki to is Disney, who is not in the list at all; Kubrick is at least represented. And while Spirited Away is certainly written to be accessible to children, so are several other films on the list; I don't think it's any more a "kiddie" film than Wizard of Oz is, for example.

Having said that, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a better Miyazaki film than Spirited Away is - but the original US release was butchered, so the majority of the IMDB voters haven't seen the good version. (And the Disney Corp. people are taking their sweet time getting it released on DVD . . .)

So what's your beef with anime, anyway?

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

Anime is all well and good, and it has its place in the cinematic medium. I have fond memories of Star Blazers, for instance. And the one about the doomed roaches, well, it reminds us all that bugs have rights too. Watership Down was pretty good, as I recall -- it wasn't stylistically anime, but it's a good example of what could be done.

But I think that Spirited Away is high on the list simply because it came out recently and is therefore high on the "Ooh, shiny" factor. I can't help but be reminded of The Phantom Menace.

Myself, I thought Spirited Away was as surreal as Eraserhead, though not in a disturbing way, which takes all the fun out of surrealism. Okay, here's this little girl whose job is to wash spirits in this big hot tub. As if spirits, being non-corporeal, need to be washed. But first she has to have water tokens for some weird reason, and has to jump through hoops to get one. But then comes this benevolent spirit reminiscent of an emaciated mime who gives her a bunch of them. Later this spirit turns out maybe not to be so benevolent. Or is it just misunderstood? But before that plot twist comes to pass, there's this critter full of gunky junk that is reminiscent of the Golgothan in Dogma. And all throughout there's all these weird visual things going on that make absolutely no sense. I couldn't help but wonder if the filmmakers had too many magic sugar cubes in their coffee one day.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Odd. I didn't find Spirited Away surreal at all, and I don't know a whole lot about Japanese culture. I do think knowing a little about Shinto and the culture does help - for instance, that "non-corporeal" vs. "corporeal" is not an important distinction for them; a kami can be either, neither, or both at once, and that a bathhouse is not merely a place to get clean; it's a social event - but even without that (the Spouse is even less versed than I am), it doesn't seem more surreal than, say, the Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella. Maybe the cultural gap is bigger than I think it is. If so, that's an even better argument for Nausicaa deserving that slot more than SA - the culture it takes place in is neither Japanese nor Western, and the audience isn't supposed to understand all of its conventions either way.

It sounds like your exposure to anime is pretty limited. Not a problem, certainly, but if you were interested in broiadening your horizons a little, there are a couple of well-done shows we could lend you.

I do have to take you to task for throwing in Watership Down - it was entirely British. Japan had nothing to do with it.

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

All told, there was just a lot there that didn't make sense, especially visually. As in weird stuff always floating around for no apparent reason. As in these two butterfly looking things are hovering there holding up something that looks like a potato *why*? Some of it may be more accessible to those well-versed in Japanese culture, but that's a rather limited market. So, I just can't help but think that its popularity on the IMDB top 100 list is explained more by novelty than by being a true classic.

As for Watership Down, I know it isn't Japanese. I was just making an example of a top-notch movie that happens to be animated.