Current Events > The 1,000 greatest films ever made

(+) Yeah! (+)

berlyman101 posted...

That may be true, but I think in general various factors should be taken into account. Here it seems like the most "classic" movies are given weight without any explanation. So it comes off a pretensious.

As far as I know, the list is being aggregated not just from critics and filmmakers today, but from filmmakers and critics from history, many (if not most) of whom probably never lived to see anything from the 90s or above. It makes sense that there would be a lot of older films on such a list. Also, to state the obvious, the earliest and newest films on the list are 55 years apart, while only 40 years have passed between the newest and the current day, so the larger time frame is a factor.

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BettyWhite posted...

Dude must be digging way back or modern critics are pretentious as fuck.

As mentioned in the OP he cited over 11,000 lists. Most are likely not from recent memory. He took nearly 2,000 of his lists from the Sight & Sound polls, which are done every ten years since 1952, so obviously that is gonna have a lot of stuff skewed towards older movies. Furthermore, S&S is only ten movies from each person polled and considering most filmmakers and critics have seen several thousand movies and have pretty refined taste, I don't think it's all that odd to assume that the ten movies they pick are pretty varied, and likely don't lean towards being filled with newer movies. And if there are newer movies being mentioned, there probably isn't a consensus on which recent movies are the best. Plus he likely weighs the older ones to count as a little more since newer movies haven't faced the test of time.

Also I don't know why it's pretentious to think older things are better. If anything it is pretentious to write off old movies as pretentious lol!

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Its also worth noting that some of those films are more singularly influential than anything released since...those movies were released, so it makes sense that they'd be favored over recent movies by critics and filmmakers. Like, the effect that Battleship Potemkin or Bicycle Thieves had on the art of filmmaking is roughly equal to the effect that Star Wars had on the commercial industry. So it makes sense that they would rank highly in a consensus of people who critique, and people who make movies, especially considering what I said earlier, even if they're not among my personal favorites. There's no single film since, say, 1960 that has that kind of immediate effect on the craft. Boring, perhaps, but not really pretentious.

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Seen 10 of the top 25 so far. If I were to rank them...
10. The Searchers
09. The 400 Blows
08. Citizen Kane
07. Bicycle Thieves
06. The Godfather
05. Psycho
04. Vertigo
03. The Passion of Joan of Arc
02. 2001: A Space Odyssey
01. Singin' in the Rain

I think all of the ones I've watched were at least an 8/10, but I will say The Searchers is the standout one where I find myself a little perplexed by its placing.
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Psycho is not a great movie.

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Honestly a decent list but Vertigo at #2 is absurd imo

Purely posted...

An obvious problem with this list is that the newest of those top 25 was made in 1980. Does anyone really believe that all the best films of all time were made prior to 1980? With all the advancements we've made?

Anyways, many of the posts in this topic are cringe.

What recent film belongs in the Top 25?

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Btw for anyone who wanted to see more 21st century movies on here, I made y'all a little guide:

Top 50 from the 2000s:
50. [2006] Syndromes and a Century (#649)
49. [2000] Memento (#642)
48. [2002] Blissfully Yours (#636)
47. [2002] Distant (#618)
46. [2003] Goodbye, Dragon Inn (#616)
45. [2002] The Son (#613)
44. [2008] The Dark Knight (#604)
43. [2006] Still Life (#599)
42. [2004] Before Sunset (#598)
41. [2007] Zodiac (#593)
40. [2006] Children of Men (#590)
39. [2001] Cinaga (#577)
38. [2007] 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (#573)
37. [2007] Silent Light (#561)
36. [2000] In Vanda's Room (#558)
35. [2006] Colossal Youth (#536)
34. [2001] Amlie (#529)
33. [2001] The Royal Tenenbaums (#526)
32. [2006] Pan's Labyrinth (#517)
31. [2000] Songs from the Second Floor (#510)
30. [2007] No Country for Old Men (#508)
29. [2005] Grizzly Man (#504)
28. [2006] The Lives of Others (#494)
27. [2006] Inland Empire (#486)
26. [2001] A.I. Artificial Intelligence (#480)
25. [2003] Oldboy (#475)
24. [2003] Elephant (#443)
23. [2002] Punch-Drunk Love (#421)
22. [2005] The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (#420)
21. [2009] The White Ribbon (#398)
20. [2000] The Gleaners & I (#388)
19. [2000] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (#384)
18. [2002] Talk to Her (#382)
17. [2008] WALLE (#381)
16. [2002] Russian Ark (#379)
15. [2003] Lost in Translation (#377)
14. [2000] Werckmeister Harmonies (#367)
13. [2000] Platform (#364)
12. [2005] Brokeback Mountain (#359)
11. [2003] Dogville (#355)
10. [2003] Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (#342)
09. [2002] City of God (#303)
08. [2004] Tropical Malady (#229)
07. [2004] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#227)
06. [2005] Cach (#215)
05. [2001] Spirited Away (#172)
04. [2007] There Will Be Blood (#166)
03. [2000] Yi yi (#123)
02. [2001] Mulholland Dr. (#54)
01. [2000] In the Mood for Love (#42)

Top 10 from the 2010s (only 10 made the list):
10. [2011] Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (#706)
09. [2010] Nostalgia for the Light (#652)
08. [2015] Mad Max: Fury Road (#629)
07. [2012] Amour (#620)
06. [2012] Holy Motors (#619)
05. [2011] Melancholia (#465)
04. [2011] The Turin Horse (#378)
03. [2011] A Separation (#375)
02. [2010] Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (#351)
01. [2011] The Tree of Life (#219)

Italicized = Non-English-language (some of these have official dubs and/or contain some English dialogue)
Bold = Documentary
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lol at citizen kane being #1

I've seen three of those.

Honestly, my tastes are closer in line with imdb than that list, but I never claimed to be a cinephile. I'd be surprised if I've seen more than a couple hundred movies, let alone a thousand.

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I'm okay with Fury Road being the most recently-made movie in this list.

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449 watched according to Icheckmovies

86 watched of the top 100
24 watched of the top 25

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Purely posted...

An obvious problem with this list is that the newest of those top 25 was made in 1980. Does anyone really believe that all the best films of all time were made prior to 1980? With all the advancements we've made?

Anyways, many of the posts in this topic are cringe.

A movie isn't as good as its special effects. As long as filmmakers have the freedom to do so, there's nothing stopping them from creating great art. Frankly it wouldn't surprise me if Hollywood has shifted its focus away from meaningful art in favor of reaching an ever increasing globalized market.

Zithers posted...

Also I don't know why it's pretentious to think older things are better. If anything it is pretentious to write off old movies as pretentious lol!

This. I listen to a lot of experimental and avantgarde music, and I often see comments dismissing truly great music as pretentious simply for differing from popular norms. But of course the commenters are the ones being pretentious as they are dismissing great art due to their closed minded world view and personal ego.

Paper_Okami posted...

449 watched according to Icheckmovies

86 watched of the top 100
24 watched of the top 25

I'm only at 389 sigh. Missing 3 in the top 25, 32 in the top 100.

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masterbarf posted...

This. I listen to a lot of experimental and avantgarde music, and I often see comments dismissing truly great music as pretentious simply for differing from popular norms. But of course the commenters are the ones being pretentious as they are dismissing great art due to their closed minded world view and personal ego.

Top ten sitcoms

1. I Love Lucy
2. Green Acres
3. Leave it to Beaver
4. Bewitched
5. The Honeymooners
6. The Andy Griffith Show
7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8. Wonder Years
9. I Dream of Genie
10. Happy Days

Seinfeld(86), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia(233), Malcolm in the Middle(402)

Like.. I can imagine having one or two in a person's top 10.. But a person who exclusively indulges in off beat tastes often comes across as a person who avoids identifying with anything popular to maintain a sense of superiority. Not assuming that y'all think that way, more of a statement against people who obviously strive to be offbeat. Something I believe to be very common in film and music, less so in TV and gaming but still to some extent.

This list puts FAR too much weight on "standing the test of time".

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BettyWhite posted...

Top ten sitcoms

1. I Love Lucy
2. Green Acres
3. Leave it to Beaver
4. Bewitched
5. The Honeymooners
6. The Andy Griffith Show
7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8. Wonder Years
9. I Dream of Genie
10. Happy Days

Seinfeld(86), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia(233), Malcolm in the Middle(402)

Like.. I can imagine having one or two in a person's top 10.. But a person who exclusively indulges in off beat tastes often comes across as a person who avoids identifying with anything popular to maintain a sense of superiority. Not assuming that y'all think that way, more of a statement against people who obviously strive to be offbeat.

This list puts FAR too much weight on "standing the test of time".

Liking these movies isn't really considered offbeat since they've become canonized. Why is it weird for someone who has seen thousands of movies to have a majority of their favorites coming from the first ninety years of cinema instead of the past forty???

I also feel like that comparison isn't really accurate because TV didn't go for serialization as much and had one camera and shot in front of a live audience and wasn't able to poach top talent from the movies like TV does today... so obviously they are a lot less gripping than stuff made today. But you can't argue that for old movies vs current movies. They basic tools have always been there and the only major difference these days is the proliferation of CGI and digital filmmaking... which imo is a negative for the form but that's another discussion lol!

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Zithers posted...

I'm only at 389 sigh. Missing 3 in the top 25, 32 in the top 100.

ive honestly barely watched movies the last 5 or so years.

it's just that i would regularly watch like 5 a week. i didn't drink my first semester of college. so i watched movies while my friends partied. then i started drinking and it was all downhill from there.

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BettyWhite posted...

Top ten sitcoms

1. I Love Lucy
2. Green Acres
3. Leave it to Beaver
4. Bewitched
5. The Honeymooners
6. The Andy Griffith Show
7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8. Wonder Years
9. I Dream of Genie
10. Happy Days

Seinfeld(86), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia(233), Malcolm in the Middle(402)

What is this a reference to? Is this your top ten list? Who's ranking Seinfeld the 86th best sitcom?

BettyWhite posted...

I can imagine having one or two in a person's top 10

One or two what? Sorry; I'm just trying to understand what you're saying.

BettyWhite posted...

But a person who exclusively indulges in off beat tastes often comes across as a person who avoids identifying with anything popular to maintain a sense of superiority.

I just don't see it that way in my experience. People have favorite styles. It is unfortunate that only a small handful of styles are present in popular culture because "offbeat" styles are as valid a form of expression and every bit as good as anything else, but if somebody's favorite styles of music or film are offbeat then it's likely that most of their favorites are going to be so too. I think somebody from the outside thinking it's about image is just trying to make sense out of something they don't relate to.

I belong to a local experimental music community, and I can promise you that the performers are all playing what speaks to them and the people who come out to see it, are there because they like it.

Back to the Future isn't #1.

Shit list.

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Not a single Tarkovsky film in the top 25. What a load of bullshit.

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Their highest ranked film of the Coen Brothers is Fargo at 198. I cannot accept this

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Heartomaton posted...

Shrek isn't #1.

Shit list.

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Not a single MCU film? Joke list

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EverDownward posted...

Not a single Tarkovsky film in the top 25. What a load of bullshit.

Well, he has seven on the list. Two are 27th and 30th.

I doubt many directors have eight or more films on the list.

Hitchcock - 13
Ford - 14
Godard - 15
Ozu - 8
Fellini - 10

OK i'm getting bored of looking but that's not bad company.

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I guess subjectivity comes into play, but I find the majority of older performances to be overdone and bordering into cheesy. Acting as a craft has developed immeasurably over the years, as have practical effects and film scoring. Even though practical effects are dying in lieu of special effects. :/

The experimental nature of an infant art form left most films unwatchable IMO, though a few greats truly pioneered techniques and formats that became commonplace in the future.

70s-90s is the sweet spot for me.. Before the rise of digital effects but after the awkward beginnings.

And my list was more so mocking how this dude's master list was compiled.

My point still stands that cinemaphiles delve deeper into isolated corners than buffs of any other common art form. I guess it has progressed rather rapidly, enabling caveman chants to be as easily memorable as Chubby Checker and the progression to such within a lifetime. Though obviously the roots of cinema exists in theater..

Ahh fack I'm rambling.


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BettyWhite posted...

I guess subjectivity comes into play, but I find the majority of older performances to be overdone and bordering into cheesy. Acting as a craft has developed immeasurably over the years, as have practical effects and film scoring. Even though practical effects are dying in lieu of special effects. :/

The experimental nature of an infant art form left most films unwatchable IMO, though a few greats truly pioneered techniques and formats that became commonplace in the future.

70s-90s is the sweet spot for me.. Before the rise of digital effects but after the awkward beginnings.

And my list was more so mocking how this dude's master list was compiled.

My point still stands that cinemaphiles delve deeper into isolated corners than buffs of any other common art form. I guess it has progressed rather rapidly, enabling caveman chants to be as easily memorable as Chubby Checker and the progression to such within a lifetime. Though obviously the roots of cinema exists in theater..

Ahh fack I'm rambling.

It isn't like overdone performances aren't happening constantly in movies today. I mean, do you even watch the movies that are awarded Oscars every year? Lots of corny bullshit. Gary Oldman and Rami Malek and Allison Janney winning Oscars in recent memory are EMBARRASSING examples. It isn't like performances today are somehow more grounded in reality or something. In 100 years people will watch movies from today and bitch about stuff not looking or seeming realistic. You have to meet older movies on their own terms and accept that they are speaking a different cinematic language than what you are used to today.

Also, practical effects don't really come into play for, like, the vast majority of movies being mentioned on this list. Plus, I mean, I feel like practical effects and scoring are pretty inconsequential things to point out when the major visual storytelling crafts such as editing, cinematography, blocking, etc is so far superior in older films than newer ones, at least as far as Hollywood movies go (which is presumably what you mostly watch). Not to mention the amount of exposition and fat that is on movies today is just insane. Movies in the 1930s were regularly under 100 minutes and now everything today is 120+. Annoying.

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BettyWhite posted...

Acting as a craft has developed immeasurably over the years, as have practical effects and film scoring. Even though practical effects are dying in lieu of special effects. :/

The experimental nature of an infant art form left most films unwatchable IMO, though a few greats truly pioneered techniques and formats that became commonplace in the future.

I very much disagree with this. Directors have been precisely crafting style and storytelling with intent for at least a century. These elements have not evolved. Trends just change.

This is getting deeper than I wished.

Overall my point is this list isn't an accurate reflection of an actual collective opinion... Though I don't wager it was presented as such.. but there's certainly a bias to present older films as superior to modern. Which seems to be extremely common among cinemaphiles.

Just because it's better than IMDB's list doesn't mean it's a good list.

It's interesting how film is more pocketed in it's appeal than music.... I guess purely because there's more commitment involved in appreciating an older film as opposed to a song and more variety in presentation. But generally I'm shocked to hear a person's favorite movie is Citizen fucking Kane, and not so much if Chopin's Prelude in e minor. Though in the scope of time, Citizen Kane is more of an equivalent to cavemen incorporating drumming patterns into their chants than Chopin.

I'm fucking rambling again.


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I haven't watched anything in their top 100.

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You're not rambling. Just stating your opinion like the rest of us.

There should be more older films on the list because the great majority of films were made before 1990. Also I'd bet that it's a lot harder to make a great movie as of late, as at least Hollywood is risk adverse, algorithmic, and targeting a global market. Movies with cultural significance and bold artistic takes aren't good investments when a Hollywood studio is worried about how a movie will play in China.

masterbarf posted...

I very much disagree with this. Directors have been precisely crafting style and storytelling with intent for at least a century. These elements have not evolved. Trends just change.

My point was directed towards the actors ability to portray realistic emotions, the score's ability to carry such emotions, and practical effects that were at their peak in the '80s-'90s. I didn't comment once on storytelling or overall direction. Though it's a bit ignorant to believe direction isn't impacted by obvious limitations. It's just sad because conversely, modern films have almost no limitations but fail to attempt to achieve anything that can be considered art.


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I gotta sleep guys.

Barf, send me a song you like.

Zithers, tell me your favorite movie that I don't have to buy or rent to watch.

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And I'm just commenting on my rambling because I start drifting away from my overall points and start getting lost in what the hell I'm even doing. lol.


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BettyWhite posted...

Dude must be digging way back or modern critics are pretentious as fuck.

He's digging back and even admitted it skewed toward older films to the extent that there's a separate list for the 2000's.

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BettyWhite posted...

My point was directed towards the actors ability to portray realistic emotions

How actors act is a tool to create a style and get a point across. More realistic acting doesn't equal better art, any more than a photo realistic painting is better than a Picasso or a Vincent van Gogh. I don't even think actors today strive for realism either. People are often ambiguous, insincere, and withdrawn. Such behaviors could prevent a scene from making its point. Not that its point can't utilize those characteristics.

BettyWhite posted...

Though it's a bit ignorant to believe direction isn't impacted by obvious limitations.

Except this isn't what I said. Obviously a director is limited to his options. But such limitations do not impact how good a film can be, any more than a composition using just a piano can't be as good as the greatest songs using a full band and most advanced studio equipment.

BettyWhite posted...

I gotta sleep guys.

Barf, send me a song you like.

Zithers, tell me your favorite movie that I don't have to buy or rent to watch.

I'm following you because of this post. Different points of view don't mean people can't be cool with each other.

A song? I love recommending music. But I can't send just a song. I'll post some examples of various sounds I really like.

My favorite album by my favorite singer. Consider this a softball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5tV-mNNUxY&list=PLxV9BH2N6ixNz1ehXts3dQPMyxxlLPrEe

I got to have my favorite album featuring my second favorite singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jf8w4Zb2iY

I recommend this to everybody. My favorite piece of one of my very favorite styles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkmsnaP_d8g

An early predecessor of industrial noise perhaps?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGwlb6sONg

One of its children?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTIOkvLfEF4

Gotta have some electronic industrial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcUInoAQ5IU&list=PLDzS1Jgeqb3Nwkazvdn61d3M8EE6AHBny

My favorite band. If the first song is grating, it's okay. Try the next one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEPU68zqik

Amazing collage work here on top of a great concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAj8Dvnoxd0

My favorite album with conventional orchestral instruments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZxIc0iL7VU

Excellent guitar work. I promise that this is very precise and difficult to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KFPLJkH2fI

Here's a light and fun one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIOniFBoGbE

Some post punk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zclze9rRGoM

A modern classic you're sure to enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q68_DhH-Kwc

Some drone on behalf of a certain M:R poster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKrZdvqzAEc

This record is too smooth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_Cp3pv638&list=PL5JF5i-v4BuRnoivd9GvBo4qFwBbgaNw5

This is where I do what everybody thinks I'm going to do. Best opening to a record ever?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF0g-2SeoMM

There's too much good stuff out there. Hopefully each of these offer something the others don't

masterbarf posted...

My favorite band.

Holy shit, I didn't think I'd see someone else on CE talk about or even like The Residents.

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BettyWhite posted...

I gotta sleep guys.

Barf, send me a song you like.

Zithers, tell me your favorite movie that I don't have to buy or rent to watch.

The best thing about being a fan of old movies is that they don't stream on Netflix or Amazon Prime and therefore can't get anyone to watch my recommendations lmfao! Thanks corporations for limiting what we can watch! HBO Max hasn't even come out and said that their (vast, enormous, best in the world Warner Bros) library will be available and Disney has locked Fox movies into a vault now! Love when we give power to conglomerates and let them influence Congress into extending copyright law!

Anyway.

2001: A Space Odyssey - not streaming
The Good The Bad and The Ugly - not streaming
There Will Be Blood - not streaming
Rear Window - not streaming

anyway this is getting depressing. you should just get a free trial of the criterion channel, which is the only streaming service that gives a shit about curating your movie watching experience. they program stuff based on certain themes, directors, queer or female or poc representation, studios (columbia noir was their first theme when they launched - good stuff), etc.

anyway there's a shitload of arthouse movies on there and they lease quite a bit of classic hollywood things on there to try and emulate the now-shuttered filmstruck (RIP the GOAT streaming service).

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Yeah, the funny thing about streaming is that it *should* make it easier for people to see movies from across history, but because of the good ol' competitive nature of capitalism, its actually very difficult to keep track of which services provide them, and even then you might have to pay additional money to them just to get access.

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Doe posted...

Their highest ranked film of the Coen Brothers is Fargo at 198. I cannot accept this

Jesus!... Where did Miller's Crossing place?

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Night of the Living Dead is like 243.

:(

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Miller's Crossings it the best Coen Brothers film
it's better than Goodfellas which came out the same year
It is a complete and utter masterpiece


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Just watched Joker. Definitely not in the top 1,000 movies I've seen. Also, bump.

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Taxi driver was just okay

No La Cit des enfants perdus?
Fail.

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Foppe posted...

No La Cit des enfants perdus?
Fail.

wonder how many more fail posts like this will happen in the topic

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Top 10 imo:

1.)The Godfather
2.)The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3.)Casablanca
4.)Goodfellas
5.)Shawshank Redemption
6.)Dog Day Afternoon
7.)The Searchers
8.)A Clockwork Orange
9.)Citizen Kane
10.)Aguirre, Wrath of God

12 Angry Men, Chinatown, and Yojimbo could replace some of them depending on my mood.

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I'm glad The Texas Chainsaw Massacre got the respect it deserves.

EverDownward posted...

Holy shit, I didn't think I'd see someone else on CE talk about or even like The Residents.

I love them. I have copies, mostly original pressings, of Meet the Residents, Fingerprince, Commercial Album, Eskimo, Not Available (my favorite record), Duck Stab / Buster & Glen, Mark of the Mole, and Third Reich 'N' Roll. And I got to see them live in 2018. They played their cover of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" which was worth the price of admission alone.

I'm making a thing which is similar to a Top 1,000. I'm doing a top 100 for each decade, plus the silent era as a whole, minus 50 because I can only get to 75 for the 90s and 2000s before I think its time to stop, which adds up to 950. Its early, and I don't drink coffee, so I wonder if that even makes sense.

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I'll look into tha music and movies when I have the mindset to give in to something new(or uhh old).

I tend to watch the same shit over and over because my attention span sucks.. Which ain't fair when judging anything.

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