Board 8 > The SephG Top 250 [movies] - Topic II: the top 75

(+) Yeah! (+)

#39. The Thin Red Line
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/The_Thin_Red_Line_Poster.jpg
Dir: Terrence Malick
Genre: War
Year: 1998

The Thin Red Line is not your average war movie. It's scattered, dreamlike, almost mystical in presentation, and doesn't tell a "story" in a traditional sense. Like war itself, it's a collection of moments of nightmares and levity, pieced together through the lens of the countless men who found themselves in a foreign land.

This was Terrence Malick's return from his 30 year filmmaking sabbatical, and everyone wanted in. Famously, he cast virtually every star in Hollywood at the time and either significantly trimmed their scenes or cut them altogether. But by doing so, he creates that feeling I described before, which makes the war both incredibly real and transcendentally spiritual. It's ultimately less focused on the characters in the war, but the effect of the war on the spirit of the planet. Bullets fly through the jungle, trees are cut in half, the ground is pounded into dust. There's incredible symbolism here that is almost impossible to fully digest on first viewing, so you just have to sit back and enjoy the beauty and the horror.
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#38. City Lights
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Chaplin_City_Lights_still.jpg
Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Year: 1931

SephG Superlative: The greatest silent movie ever made; the greatest movie of the 1930s

Although I haven't seen much of his work, I am pretty sure Charlie Chaplin is a genius. He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in almost all of his films, which is an unimaginable feat even in the silent era. And his magnum opus (according to many) holds up even with the best movies of today.

City Lights is more than what most people probably imagine a Chaplin film to be like. It's actually pretty darkly humorous--the drunk millionaire character particularly made me laugh out loud at just how preposterous he was. It's also supremely sweet, with a timeless love story that could have been a Shakespeare premise or a contemporary rom-com on Netflix. The ending in particular is simply one of the nicest things I've ever seen in a movie and leaves you with a very warm feeling that I'm usually far to cynical to get.
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#37. Sunset Boulevard
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/SunsetBoulevardfilmposter.jpg
Dir: Billy Wilder
Genre: Drama, Film Noir
Year: 1950

Sunset Blvd. is crazy to think about sometimes. I always saw a movie from this era as the beginning of Hollywood, but obviously as we see in the film, this is already the second or third generation of the industry! This creates a really surreal feeling, as if people in the film industry are fated to repeat the same cycle of glamor to being a has-been over and over.

Sunset Blvd. is intentionally enhanced every way by this surreal feeling. It starts in media res with our narrator floating dead in a swimming pool, and we spend the rest of the movie trying to find out why. It's bizarre, creepy, and weirdly funny--which is also the perfect way to describe Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond. She plays this role so brilliantly, to the point that you might think Billy Wilder just found a washed up silent film actress and told her to be herself. It's one of the most haunting performances ever and absolutely makes this movie everything that it is.
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#36. The Silence of the Lambs
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_poster.jpg
Dir: Jonathan Demme
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Year: 1991

In many ways, almost every detective/cop/serial killer drama in the past 30 years has been trying to be the next Silence of the Lambs. This movie really started it all--an FBI agent with a traumatic past, a psychopath with a bizarre modus operandi, and using psychoanalysis to ultimately track the killer down. Silence of the Lambs popularized this arc, but also does it better than anyone else.

You can probably think of a good half-dozen scenes in this movie that penetrated pop culture and probably have stuck with you since seeing them. That's a testament to the quality of the writing, acting, and direction--everything is so wholly unique and slickly made that it has become a genuine phenomenon. Even if you've seen the movie a bunch of times and know what's going to happen, it's still fun to watch this and marvel at just how immaculately put together everything is and how the burgeoning tension reaches a head at the exact right moment, delivering one of the most satisfying climaxes ever.
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#35. Rashmon
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Rashomon_poster_2.jpg/330px-Rashomon_poster_2.jpg
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Year: 1950

When you get a sociological phenomenon named after your film, you know you did something right. Even though Roshomon is set in feudal Japan, it brings a trait of human nature to life and gives it this universal quality you can apply to any time or any place. And I think that's ultimately the genius of Kurosawa--to take a beautiful samurai setting and make the story applicable to modern society.

Roshomon, of course, is famous for its narrative device in which a story is told from multiple perspectives with diverging facts. Witnesses involved in a crime are all lying--not necessarily to cover up their misdeeds, but to serve their own self-interest in one way or another. Finding out the truth at the end of the movie is deeply satisfying in the sense that it portrays realistic motivations and undercuts a sense of morality that these characters are supposed to have.
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i've never seen city lights (shame on me) but my favorite chaplin is probably either modern times or the great dictator.

the ending speech in the great dictator is one of the most powerful scenes in movie history imo. (the original version, please. not the stupid remix with inception music in the background.)
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I've shamefully never seen either. It's a big asterisk to The List
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More to come tomorrow
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I'm rather awed that Modern Times, easily my favorite Tramp movie, somehow had blatant cocaine use in 1936.

#34. Rocky
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Rocky_poster.jpg
Dir: John G. Avildsen
Genre: Sports, Drama
Year: 1976

Rocky, at its core, is the best traditional sports movie ever made. The sports element of the story is pretty straightforward--your classic underdog trying to go the distance with a seemingly unbeatable champion. But what makes Rocky superb is the subplots that it adds to it, namely the love story between Rocky and Adrian.

It's quite incredible how well this movie holds up. We've seen the story a hundred times since. We've seen Rocky go through commercial desecration in the sequels that followed. And let's just say that Stallone didn't exactly maintain that genius actor/writer double-threat moniker for very long after this release. Despite everything that came after it, Rocky remains one of the most deeply authentic and satisfying movies on this list--a real testament to the heart of Stallone as he envisioned this role as a metaphor for his life.
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#33. Fantasia
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Fantasia-poster-1940.jpg
Dir: 12 people according to wikipedia!
Genre: Animated, Musical, Fantasy
Year: 1940

Fantasia is an unparalleled work of art and my favorite Disney film of all time. I am sure a lot of you will scoff at its placement above the greats of the Disney Renaissance and the prime Pixar films, but this movie truly moves me the most out of any of them. Maybe it's because it is what sparked my love of classical music, maybe it's because I probably watched it more than anything else as a kid. But Fantasia is the kind of movie that gets me excited to have children of my own to share this experience with them.

Virtually every scene in Fantasia is iconic for one reason or another. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is creepy and thrilling, the Pastoral Symphony is appropriately peaceful and bucolic, the Nutcracker is perhaps the finest hand-drawn animated ever, the Rite of Spring is all of earthly existence in like 6 minutes, and Bald Mountain is simultaneously horrifying and uplifting--the perfect ending to the film. Fantasia is, in my opinion, the height of animated artistry, and something that perhaps will never be matched again.
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Time for another list! @Underleveled might appreciate this discussion.

The top 10 Disney/Pixar animated features of all time
1. Fantasia
2. Aladdin
3. The Lion King
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. Toy Story 3
7. Coco
8. Up
9. Toy Story
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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That's a really solid selection.

I'm not the biggest fan of Fantasia, that is, it's not a film I can sit through easily, but it is an impressive film, especially considering it's almost 80 years old, and I get its appeal. I wish I had the patience to enjoy it more than I do.

Of the animated films that Walt himself personally oversaw I think Pinocchio is the best. It has animation that is impressive even by today's standards, timeless (if extreme) morals, likable characters, memorable songs, a well-paced three-act structure, and just an overall fun, adventurous (if perilous at times) feel to it. But Fantasia and Snow White are milestones in the film industry and deserve to be on the list for sure.

The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast are my favorites of the hand-drawn films and Up is my favorite Pixar movie, and overall I have no major gripes with anything in your 10.
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Give us yours!
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Hmm...

1. The Little Mermaid
2. Up
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. The Lion King
5. Inside Out
6. Pinocchio
7. Aladdin
8. The Jungle Book
9. Tangled
10. Monsters, Inc.

Something like that.
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HMs: Coco, Toy Story trilogy, Peter Pan, Wreck-It Ralph, and the most underrated of them all, Treasure Planet.
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#32. Schindler's List
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Schindler%27s_List_movie.jpg
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Drama
Year: 1993

It almost goes without saying now, but Schindler's List is Spielberg's magnum opus. This was an immensely personal project for him, and it really shows in the quality of its presentation and its meticulous attention to detail. What Spielberg did for Holocaust remembrance and immortalizing that event in the mind of the everyday American can't be understated--and it's safe to say that he absolutely nailed this vision in every regard.

In an atypical move, Spielberg shot Schindler's List in black and white, likely to enhance the bleak atmosphere of the concentration camps where most of the movie takes place. It almost begins to take on this ethereal quality about halfway through the film, especially with the famous shot of the little girl dressed in the red coat--the only item of color in the movie. We of course see this red coat one more time in a mere hint of her piled amongst the dead bodies, and it's touches like that throughout the film that just make this movie absolutely powerful and gutting. It's probably not something you want to watch more than twice, but it's pretty much required viewing for anyone with eyes, so see it if you have not done so already.
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#31. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Kill_Bill_Volume_1.png
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Action
Year: 2003

Kill Bill Volume 1 may have had a more profound impact on my adolescence than any other movie on this list. There was a period from when I got my PS1 until I started working when I was 14 where video games were the guiding force of my taste and served as my main extracurricular interest. When I started working, this guiding force started to fully transition to movies more than anything, and Kill Bill was a big reason for that. I saw it the weekend it came out, purely out of boredom, and was left completely obsessed. The scope, the music, the badassery, the action, the artistic stylization--everything felt perfectly tailored for my 15 year old self, and I have been searching for a return to that initial feeling ever since.

It's hard to explain how fucking unique Kill Bill was upon release. Tarantino always nodded to the genre films of his youth, but nothing he made was ever a complete re-creation of them the way Kill Bill was. Nothing else was like it. No one was making the same kind of tongue-and-cheek action scenes. No one was experimenting with black-and-white and color photography and blending styles, incorporating anime into a live action movie, remixing songs from classic westerns and martial arts films. It felt like a laser light show--just so many sensory experiences all happening at once, leaving you almost breathless when you walked out of the theater.

Of course that feeling from my first viewing has moderated itself a bit over time, but I will forever appreciate everything this movie gave to me. It remains the second best action movie ever, and I'll still return to it every now and then to just marvel at it's insane glory.
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I count Disney and Pixar as separate entities, so I'll make two lists.

Disney:

1. Fantasia
2. Pinocchio
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. The Lion King
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
6. Bambi
7. The Emperor's New Groove
8. Aladdin
9. Zootopia
10.The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Pixar:
1. WALL-E
2. Up
3. Toy Story 2
4. Toy Story
5. Finding Nemo
6. Ratatouille
7. Toy Story 3
8. The Incredibles
9. Inside Out
10.Toy Story 4

Mythiot posted...

I'm rather awed that Modern Times, easily my favorite Tramp movie, somehow had blatant cocaine use in 1936.

The best part is that it's an especially hilarious scene. Modern Times is one of my most-rewatched films, and this scene always brightens my mood.

I concur that it's the best Tramp film. It's my favorite of Chaplin's films in general too. For a while, I preferred The Gold Rush, but Modern Times feels more purposeful and refined overall.

I don't think City Lights would crack my Chaplin top five. I'd for sure take Modern Times, The Gold Rush, Monsieur Verdoux and The Circus over it. I probably prefer The Kid slightly, as well. City Lights is still quite good - Chaplin's filmography is just that stacked!
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#30. Brokeback Mountain
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Brokeback_mountain.jpg
Dir: Ang Lee
Genre: Drama, Romance
Year: 2005

There's something about gay romance movies that makes for a more powerful story than straight "star-crossed lovers" premises. My theory is that, for the most part, movies have been made in an era where family/class/(to a large extent) race didn't really matter too much. If someone were to make a modern love story about a billionaire falling in love with a waitress or something, no one would really feel too moved by the predictable second act where the billionaire's friends/family tells him not to date the common folk or whatever. We see these movies all the time, and they're mostly just throwaway hallmark movies made for a quick buck.

But Brokeback Mountain feels far more tragic and far more real. Much of this is from what I just mentioned, but it's also masterfully made by Ang Lee--the premiere "let's make something super beautiful" director of our time. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are absolutely phenomenal together and really walk a tight rope to make them both seem like real people. Everything comes together perfectly--the acting, the sprawling rustic setting, the perfectly laconic music--to create the right balance of forbidden love and inevitable tragedy, with one of the most beautiful endings of all time.
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Mythiot posted...

1. Fantasia

My man
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Echoing the Fantasia love. My favorite Disney "proper" movie as well. I prefer WALL-E overall.
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I think Wall-E is a bit overrated. Never really understood the love it gets.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

I think Wall-E is a bit overrated. Never really understood the love it gets.

From what I understand it's loved almost like a futuristic Bambi. It's not meant to be loved for its narrative and characters but for its atmosphere, emotions, and message.
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Wall-E is cute but not all that special imo
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tongue and cheek
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WALL-E is my favorite Pixar film, but Coco is damn close.
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KingButz posted...

tongue and cheek

I hate that this site has an editing time limit
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Mythiot posted...

1. Fantasia

My man

The only Disney film immune from live-action remakes. I hope.

Mythiot posted...

The only Disney film immune from live-action remakes. I hope.

oh no why did you say it

GO AWAY DISNEY EXECS DON'T LISTEN TO HIM HE DIDN'T MEAN IT.
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To be fair, a filmed ballet with Disney production values might not be that bad.

I mean that is what "The Nutcracker Suite" is for if nothing else.
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#29. The Shawshank Redemption
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/ShawshankRedemptionMoviePoster.jpg
Dir: Frank Darabont
Genre: Drama
Year: 1994

1994 strikes again!

Shawshank for me was always the Internet's movie. I am old enough to remember when it came out and it was received with a general shrug from audiences. But it was always playing on TNT and cable channels like that, and that is where I saw it and fell in love with it. People in my generation must have had similar experiences, because lo and behold when I starting posting on forums in the early 00s, it was in everyone's top 5. That was also my first exposure to the IMDB Top 250, where I think it's had the #1 spot for at least a decade (maybe trading off with The Godfather once or twice).

Anyway, Shawshank really is deserving of this kind of praise. It's one of those stories that are simple enough to pick up at any point, but also packs a powerful emotional punch by the time you finish. Everyone probably has their favorite scene, but so many stick out to me as peak cinematic glory--especially the cathartic escape in the rain. The only thing that stops this from being in my top 5 as well is that I wish they kept the story's original ambiguous ending--but hey, I'll take 2.5 hours of movie perfection leading up to it anytime.
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#28. City of God
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/CidadedeDeus.jpg
Dir: Fernando Meirelles and Ktia Lund
Genre: Drama, Crime
Year: 2002

SephG Superlative: The greatest Latin American movie ever made

Every so often a film comes out that just blows your mind for the magnitude of its scope and the intensity with which every scene is filmed. You have epics like Once Upon a Time in America that span decades, but with a pacing that allows you to catch your breath and absorb what's happening. This doesn't happen in City of God.

City of God is a true crime epic that covers the slum wars of Rio from the 60s through the 70s, following a group of characters as they are children through their rise as the gang leaders of the area. But every scene throughout the story is insanely intense, appropriately filmed with a fast-paced action reminiscent of a less indulgent Aronofsky. It's a supremely 2000s film, one that influenced countless movies later in the decade--yet also one that holds up astonishingly well. This is The Godfather trilogy of Latin America--their Citizen Kane--and we are lucky to bear witness.
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#27. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/SouthParkbiggerlongeruncut.jpg
Dir: Trey Parker
Genre: Animated, Musical, Comedy
Year: 1999

SephG Superlative: The greatest animated movie ever made, the greatest musical ever made

I am going to get shit on this selection the most for anything in the top 50. So be it. You probably either love South Park or you hate it. But, in my mind, the early years of the series represent the best modern satire has to offer--and it all peaked in the 1999 feature film release.

South Park BLU was not supposed to be as brilliant as it wound up being. Matt & Trey had other ideas for the film, but the MPAA essentially told them that if they would get an NC-17 rating if they did it. So, instead, they purposefully made it more offensive and used it as a vehicle to lampoon the MPAA and the outrage culture of yore--and the MPAA ironically was fine with this. The meta-narrative in South Park BLU is something that only South Park was able to pull off--creating a movie-within-a-movie that both predicted and satirized the reception that their own movie would have. It's hard to articulate how ingenious this is--if you get offended by the film, then you are part of the joke and thereby make the movie more relevant and true. It's something I don't think I have ever seen before.

I also need to talk about the musical part of this film. If I called this the best musical ever made 10 years ago, I would probably get laughed out of the topic. But I think now people are starting to realize how special Matt & (mostly) Trey are in this realm after they created the single-most successful musical comedy in the history of Broadway. South Park BLU was just a precursor to this, churning out some of the most uproariously funny, poignant, and catchy songs I have ever heard.
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#26. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Terminator2poster.jpg
Dir: James Cameron
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
Year: 1991

It is remarkable how great T2 is to this day. This was really the first action movie to incorporate CGI and it all still looks better than 99% of the shit you see today. This is large part due to the master James Cameron, who knew exactly how to balance the emerging technology with some of the best practical effects we've ever seen.

T2 is an action movie before it is a sci-fi film, and it does it better than anything before or since. Arnold is perfect as a sort of anti-hero, buttressed by Linda Hamilton as the movie's true protagonist. But how can you make an exciting movie where one of the heroes is an invincible machine? Well, that's where the T-1000 comes in, one of the greatest movie monsters ever conceived. You spend the entire movie wondering just how he can possibly be defeated, which leads to some of the most inspired action set pieces (the truck chase, the steel mill, etc.) ever. Finally, T2 also manages to balance out this action with an intriguing story and some truly atmospheric apocalyptic themes, and a human element in John's relationship with the machine.


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#25. Fargo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Fargo_%281996_movie_poster%29.jpg
Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen
Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy
Year: 1996

Fargo is everything you should think about when you hear the term "black comedy." It's eerily hilarious, but never laugh-out-loud funny. It almost has this way of making you feel weird about yourself for being amused. The movie is quite dark and violent, but the humor does not detract from the bleak atmosphere.

What separates Fargo from the pack is probably Frances McDormand's character. She is a paragon for everything good and righteous in a very cynical, selfish world. Her counterpoint to the criminal elements of Steve Buscemi and that other dude and the venal ambition of William H. Macy gives you a semblance of hope that is genuinely life affirming. Her final monologue pretty much sums this all up and is one of the most beautiful moments ever captured on film.

Fargo also inspired a TV show of the same name that borrows similar elements to the film. It happens to be one of the best shows in the history of television, so I highly recommend checking that out if you haven't.
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I actually just finished catching up on Fargo. Really great show.

1 > 2 > 3 probably.
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#24. Raging Bull
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Raging_Bull_poster.jpg
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Drama
Year: 1980

SephG Superlative: The greatest movie of the 1980s

Raging Bull is not a sports movie. Not even a modicum of one. The boxing is merely a device that frames the story. Raging Bull is really about the rise and fall of Jake LaMotta--a tragedy of uninhibited masculinity.

There's something biblical about this movie as well. Scorsese was really experimenting around this time period (with more than just cocaine!), so it's all filmed with such an ethereal quality. The black-and-white dissolves, the angelic/operatic score, the bright lighting--it all appears as if LaMotta's fall is part spiritual allegory and part biography. And I think that's why this movie gets the praise it gets. It's not a more sports biopic--Scorsese and DeNiro create their own story and their own character out of this real person, and now we as film buffs can look to it as scripture.
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KingButz posted...

I actually just finished catching up on Fargo. Really great show.

1 > 2 > 3 probably.

3 > 1 > 2 for me

They're all phenomenal though
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I really liked the back half of 3 but the series had a lot of problems.

Varga was kind of a cartoon character, and outside of Gloria, nobody was very sympathetic. It was hard to not just hate everyone, especially Ray and Nikki at first. I was a really big fan of Mr. Wrench showing up again and loved his arc in the last few episodes.
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#23. Persona
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Persona_Poster.jpg
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Genre: Drama
Year: 1966

If you've never seen Persona, you may be completely shocked. A 50+ year old black-and-white movie from Sweden--it must be a boring old drama right? I will warn you now that this is one of the most insane, experimental works of avant garde cinema ever made, and you will be quite surprised the second it starts.

Persona isn't a pretentious art film for the sake of being weird. A lot of movies in this vein admittedly are, but Ingmar Bergman is legitimately applying Freudian theory and themes of identity throughout the film, making for this wonderfully surreal character study of two women. You could probably spend a semester in film school analyzing these thematic elements and another semester marveling at the technical feats Bergman accomplishes as well. Without spoiling anything, there are several authentically "how the fuck did he do that" moments in the movie, as Bergman shows the world that no one else behind the camera is like him.
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Threshold Warning

This is the point of The List that, when I look at the movies that remain, I can legitimately call them perfect. The way I see it, I could understand anyone calling one of these top 22 movies as objectively the greatest of all time. Just wanted to throw that out there and let it marinade as I start to count down each one.

I am going to take a break here, perhaps for a couple of days, as I celebrate America.
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interesting how, according to IMDb, scorsese claims that "nothing should be read into" the "i coulda been a contender" speech jake lamotta recites in the ending scene in raging bull. seems obvious to me that it refers back to what's shown of lamotta's relationship with his brother!

edit: oh wait, it's the ending scene, of course, not the opening. was confused for a moment there. but yeah, the point is that the speech seems significant.
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I remember the first time seeing Fargo, feeling baffled and later impressed that Marge was introduced so relatively late into the film. How many movies, especially nowadays, would introduce the protagonist a third of the way into the film?

Mr Lasastryke posted...

interesting how, according to IMDb, scorsese claims that "nothing should be read into" the "i coulda been a contender" speech jake lamotta recites in the ending scene in raging bull. seems obvious to me that it refers back to what's shown of lamotta's relationship with his brother!

This makes sense, as the brother part of the speech that Jake starts to really get into it
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Love Fargo (both the movie and show)

I have the opposite season ranking as you, though (2 > 1 > 3).
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Shawshank too low
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If I had to remember what the average user's favorite movies were here when I first started posting (2004), I'm guessing it would be:

1. Shawshank
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the King
4. The Matrix
5. Fight Club
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Bumpo
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