But that Heaven just missed the top 10 = :(
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:53 (fifteen years ago) link
oh, yeah.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:54 (fifteen years ago) link
If All That Heaven... had ended with the TV scene, it woulda been perfect.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OaGg1ri3L._SS500_.jpg
10. Touch of EvilOrson Welles, 1958POINTS: 180VOTES: 8#1s: 1COMMENTS:Touch of Evil
COMMENTS:
Touch of Evil
BONUS FEATURE
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link
xp: oh, don't speak the heresy that the last 10 minutes are unintentionally funny...
I put ToE 36th, and I'm glad it's not higher than this.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J243GGY2L._SS500_.jpg
9. Duck AmuckChuck Jones, 1953POINTS: 184VOTES: 5#1s: 1COMMENTS:“The most terrifying film ever made.”-kjb“Alltime greatest God performance is Bugs Bunny in "Duck Amuck."”― Oilyrags
“The most terrifying film ever made.”
-kjb
“Alltime greatest God performance is Bugs Bunny in "Duck Amuck."”
― Oilyrags
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link
"A close-up, you idiot! A CLOSE-UP!!!"
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link
Daffy Duck > Apu trilogy
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:02 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H3G712CVL._SS500_.jpg
8. North By NorthwestAlfred Hitchcock, 1959POINTS: 194VOTES: 8#1s: 0COMMENTS:“There's so much that's fun or funny in North by Northwest: theauction, the drunk scene at the police station, thecaught-with-a-knife assassination (pure slapstick), themaking-love-with-clothes-on. But what makes it work is Cary Grantnever once suggesting that being taken out of his comfort zone is fun, adventurous, liberating, exciting, or otherwise a natural extension of his professional abilities. He seems irritated, shaken, and finally scared and determined, which grounds his gentlemanliness in reality, and makes the chase on a plainly fake Mount Rushmore nail-biting.” -Peter S. Scholtes“you can't have too much of the score from 'north by northwest'.”― That one guy that quit
“There's so much that's fun or funny in North by Northwest: theauction, the drunk scene at the police station, thecaught-with-a-knife assassination (pure slapstick), themaking-love-with-clothes-on. But what makes it work is Cary Grantnever once suggesting that being taken out of his comfort zone is fun, adventurous, liberating, exciting, or otherwise a natural extension of his professional abilities. He seems irritated, shaken, and finally scared and determined, which grounds his gentlemanliness in reality, and makes the chase on a plainly fake Mount Rushmore nail-biting.” -Peter S. Scholtes
“you can't have too much of the score from 'north by northwest'.”
― That one guy that quit
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:03 (fifteen years ago) link
(actually my fav LT is probably Bugs' showbiz retro, What's Up Doc? not the Bogdanovich)
xp
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:03 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51k8vAoMKBL._SS500_.jpg
7. The Seventh SealIngmar Bergman, 1957POINTS: 220VOTES: 8#1s: 1COMMENTS:“A corpse "most eloquent."”--Dr. Morbius“There's something about Death that makes him so compelling; how he appears as 'just' another human being. Death being one of us, someone like us. Like me.“It still scares the shit out of me, everytime Death appears. Seemingly not unlike all of us, but in the end nothing more than a cheater. Death is a cheater. Like me. Like us all.”--Le Bateau Ivre“I love when he uses his morbidity or broodingness as a set up for a punch line--in Wild Strawberries (the kids having a fist fight over whether God is dead) and especially Seventh Seal (Mary responding to Joseph's recounting of the Dance of Death with an amused "Oh you and your visions"). Also, throughout Smiles of a Summer Night.And OTM about his creation of a consistent world. When I first got into Bergman I gobbled down maybe a dozen of his movies in a month, and it got so whenever I'd see one of his regular actors it'd be like seeing an old friend.RIP, maybe my all-time fave.”― Martin Van Burne
“A corpse "most eloquent."”
--Dr. Morbius
“There's something about Death that makes him so compelling; how he appears as 'just' another human being. Death being one of us, someone like us. Like me.
“It still scares the shit out of me, everytime Death appears. Seemingly not unlike all of us, but in the end nothing more than a cheater. Death is a cheater. Like me. Like us all.”
--Le Bateau Ivre
“I love when he uses his morbidity or broodingness as a set up for a punch line--in Wild Strawberries (the kids having a fist fight over whether God is dead) and especially Seventh Seal (Mary responding to Joseph's recounting of the Dance of Death with an amused "Oh you and your visions"). Also, throughout Smiles of a Summer Night.
And OTM about his creation of a consistent world. When I first got into Bergman I gobbled down maybe a dozen of his movies in a month, and it got so whenever I'd see one of his regular actors it'd be like seeing an old friend.
RIP, maybe my all-time fave.”
― Martin Van Burne
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:05 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZQXJHC58L._SS500_.jpg
6. Sunset BoulevardBilly Wilder, 1950POINTS: 232VOTES: 10#1s: 1COMMENTS:“What can I say? There really is none higher.”--Le Bateau Ivre“Norma Desmond is a not-exactly-fictional character that could have been created by no one but Gloria Swanson, but it's still not a biography of Gloria Swanson; it's a performance. Her greatest. Her caricature of herself is one of the bravest things ever put on film, and sometimes one of the funniest. And to boot, the movie surrounding her is also great.”―kenan“Sunset is the most fun vampire film of its era.”― Dr Morbius
“What can I say? There really is none higher.”
“Norma Desmond is a not-exactly-fictional character that could have been created by no one but Gloria Swanson, but it's still not a biography of Gloria Swanson; it's a performance. Her greatest. Her caricature of herself is one of the bravest things ever put on film, and sometimes one of the funniest. And to boot, the movie surrounding her is also great.”
―kenan
“Sunset is the most fun vampire film of its era.”
― Dr Morbius
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:08 (fifteen years ago) link
ludicrously overrated by da gayz
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Rear Window and Vertigo better both be higher than NxNW.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Love that you've got a blurb there, Morbs.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:11 (fifteen years ago) link
that Nancy Olsen character, ugh
xxp
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:11 (fifteen years ago) link
If NxNW is the biggest top 10 bummer, this poll will have turned out pretty good.
lol, it's "screwball," right?
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:12 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/315A26S45ZL._SS500_.jpg
5. Seven SamuraiAkira Kurosawa, 1954POINTS: 239VOTES: 8#1s: 0COMMENTS:“A new translation of the subtitles vindicates the dialogue, I think,and the dream still sweeps me up. I can't think of a moment in three hours where I'm not wanting to crunch popcorn, yet how many other movies this exciting are so completely opened up to outdoor atmosphere, beauty, and sound? The charged magic of the woods is my childhood link between A Midsummer Night's Dream at the outdoor American Players Theater and Star Wars , while those climactic fights to the death in the mud and bright rain are their own gripping cinema. Few Westerns managed as much kinetic action and gentle heroism, and I can't remember a moment from The Magnificent Seven, the Seven Samurairemake.”--Peter S. Scholtes“I'm for the Seven Samurai, mainly because the peasants are so hardcore in it. Once they get the robust leadership of the Samurai they turn into killing machines, dishing out tasty bamboo tipped death to the evil bandits.“― DV
“A new translation of the subtitles vindicates the dialogue, I think,and the dream still sweeps me up. I can't think of a moment in three hours where I'm not wanting to crunch popcorn, yet how many other movies this exciting are so completely opened up to outdoor atmosphere, beauty, and sound? The charged magic of the woods is my childhood link between A Midsummer Night's Dream at the outdoor American Players Theater and Star Wars , while those climactic fights to the death in the mud and bright rain are their own gripping cinema. Few Westerns managed as much kinetic action and gentle heroism, and I can't remember a moment from The Magnificent Seven, the Seven Samurairemake.”
--Peter S. Scholtes
“I'm for the Seven Samurai, mainly because the peasants are so hardcore in it. Once they get the robust leadership of the Samurai they turn into killing machines, dishing out tasty bamboo tipped death to the evil bandits.“
― DV
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:13 (fifteen years ago) link
^another Eric bummer?
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:15 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512K3aVsh5L._SS500_.jpg
4. Rear WindowAlfred Hitchcock, 1954POINTS: 240VOTES: 10#1s: 1COMMENTS:“How to catch a voyeur, by Grace Kelly.”--Dr. Morbius“The first time I saw this as a kid, the cityscape seemed tooartificial, its whiteness striking, and its '50s attitudes towardsmarriage and Manhattan high society alien--plus the plot template had been imitated so much already. But learning to love Rear Window is a process of coming to appreciate limits, of learning to see your backyard as a community. I love its longing look at New York, its use of piano as source music from the nearby apartment with giant windows and cocktail parties, its street sounds in the distance, and its creation of a little world to explore from your chair. It's a great New York movie in spite of itself, and it's partly about why cities are desirable. None of which would mean squat if it didn't isolate film's basic appeal in an often humorous dramatic situation, with the kick that your voyeurism might suddenly turn on you, the lights coming up on somebody stepping off the screen to strangle you and throw you out into the lobby.”--Peter S. ScholtesRear Window: Great Hitchcock or Greatest Hitchcock?
“How to catch a voyeur, by Grace Kelly.”
“The first time I saw this as a kid, the cityscape seemed tooartificial, its whiteness striking, and its '50s attitudes towardsmarriage and Manhattan high society alien--plus the plot template had been imitated so much already. But learning to love Rear Window is a process of coming to appreciate limits, of learning to see your backyard as a community. I love its longing look at New York, its use of piano as source music from the nearby apartment with giant windows and cocktail parties, its street sounds in the distance, and its creation of a little world to explore from your chair. It's a great New York movie in spite of itself, and it's partly about why cities are desirable. None of which would mean squat if it didn't isolate film's basic appeal in an often humorous dramatic situation, with the kick that your voyeurism might suddenly turn on you, the lights coming up on somebody stepping off the screen to strangle you and throw you out into the lobby.”
Rear Window: Great Hitchcock or Greatest Hitchcock?
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link
The only flaw in Rear Window: that awful jangly bracelet Grace wears.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Naw, I never committed myself to sitting through 7S.
NxNW as screwball ... makes sense.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:25 (fifteen years ago) link
Lemme guess, it's your favorite in this top 10 thus far, right Morbs?
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Three left!
― Mark G, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:26 (fifteen years ago) link
xxp: oh, the other things you've sat through!
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:26 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tg1IrvF%2BL._SS500_.jpg
3. Singin’ In The RainStanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952POINTS: 249VOTES: 9#1s: 0COMMENTS:“Singin' in the Rain is a little mean toward its villainess (though it helps that Jean Hagen actually dubbed Debbie Reynolds in most scenes rather than the other way around), and the sexual chemistry between Gene Kelly and Reynolds evaporates the moment they stop bickering and she admits she's impressed (enter Cyd Charisse). But pretty much everything else about this greatest-ever musical stands up and does back flips before its head explodes.”--Peter S. Scholtes“Postmodernism avant la lettre (or après if you believe Lawrence Grossberg). “ ― Kevin John Bozelka“when I saw this at the Castro, at Cyd's pressed slide down Gene's calf at 2:15 my date audibly gasped, grabbed my wrist and then crossed her legs”― Milton ParkerSingin' in the Rain
“Singin' in the Rain is a little mean toward its villainess (though it helps that Jean Hagen actually dubbed Debbie Reynolds in most scenes rather than the other way around), and the sexual chemistry between Gene Kelly and Reynolds evaporates the moment they stop bickering and she admits she's impressed (enter Cyd Charisse). But pretty much everything else about this greatest-ever musical stands up and does back flips before its head explodes.”
“Postmodernism avant la lettre (or après if you believe Lawrence Grossberg). “
― Kevin John Bozelka
“when I saw this at the Castro, at Cyd's pressed slide down Gene's calf at 2:15 my date audibly gasped, grabbed my wrist and then crossed her legs”
― Milton Parker
Singin' in the Rain
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:27 (fifteen years ago) link
*sigh*
xp: I had Rear Window higher than 7S or NxNW
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:28 (fifteen years ago) link
My blurb for Rear Window from that thread, fwiw:
Not only is Rear Window maybe the best Hitchcock, it's also one of those rare movies that are, while you're in the act of watching them, clearly the best movie ever made.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm guessing Fires on the Plain is not in the top 2. (also one of those rare movies)
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PAZ4AM0EL._SS500_.jpg
2. Night of The HunterCharles Laughton & Robert Mitchum (uncredited), 1955POINTS: 318VOTES: 11#1s: 0COMMENTS:“The terrible, horrible capacity for evil in us all.” ― Kevin John Bozelka“A lot of this film reminds me of what old movies and children's books were to me when I was little, reading Angus and Sam the Minuteman and watching Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, or The Red Balloon: stories that were completely possessing dreams, vivid and unreal, that could turn nightmare at any moment. The music, ravishing black-and-white imagery, surreal "outdoor" sets, and lost children on a journey belong to the '40s or earlier in my mind. But the attitude is subversive modern horror: Bill Sikes of Oliver Twist has become a smart noir sadist disguised in the garb of so many Depression-era preacher heroes. Children see through him but adults are taken, charmed, or cowed. The way the film deals with sexuality is also shockingly frank and clear-eyed. This is a film about truths where only the presentation is fanciful, which might be why it was a flop.”--Peter S. Scholtes“Cinema straight out of the Anthology of American Folk Music. This is one of those weird films that by all means shouldn’t hit like it does. All the comedy stuff (the Rev bouncing into town in his jalopy, the executioner dialogue) and the yuletide cheer at the end seem out of place, but it DOES NOT MATTER. There is darkness on the face of this earth, or better still:“Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil?”― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain)"night of the hunter"
“The terrible, horrible capacity for evil in us all.”
“A lot of this film reminds me of what old movies and children's books were to me when I was little, reading Angus and Sam the Minuteman and watching Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, or The Red Balloon: stories that were completely possessing dreams, vivid and unreal, that could turn nightmare at any moment. The music, ravishing black-and-white imagery, surreal "outdoor" sets, and lost children on a journey belong to the '40s or earlier in my mind. But the attitude is subversive modern horror: Bill Sikes of Oliver Twist has become a smart noir sadist disguised in the garb of so many Depression-era preacher heroes. Children see through him but adults are taken, charmed, or cowed. The way the film deals with sexuality is also shockingly frank and clear-eyed. This is a film about truths where only the presentation is fanciful, which might be why it was a flop.”
“Cinema straight out of the Anthology of American Folk Music. This is one of those weird films that by all means shouldn’t hit like it does. All the comedy stuff (the Rev bouncing into town in his jalopy, the executioner dialogue) and the yuletide cheer at the end seem out of place, but it DOES NOT MATTER. There is darkness on the face of this earth, or better still:
“Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil?”
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain)
"night of the hunter"
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:33 (fifteen years ago) link
My sources tell me it's Picnic.
xpost
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm fine with all of the top 4!
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:34 (fifteen years ago) link
wow, I didn't know this was that overrated.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:34 (fifteen years ago) link
I didn't know you were that much an arrogant asshole.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:35 (fifteen years ago) link
you ALWAYS say that.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:37 (fifteen years ago) link
I'd be fine with Hunter as best First Film.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EJJnyLYZL._SS500_.jpg
1. VertigoAlfred Hitchcock, 1958POINTS: 358VOTES: 11#1s: 1COMMENTS:“Maybe the greatest dream film ever, hence laughed at by the prosaic. "The gentleman certainly knows what he wants."”--Dr. Morbius“Like Rear Window, Vertigo isolates an aspect of why movies work and turns it into a story. Just hearing the soundtrack at a Halloween party recently* brought it all back: that old sinking feeling of falling in love with a wishful fiction, one you imagine exists for you--and in a sense does, at least when it comes to movies, not real-life projections, since an actress wouldn't perform for you without your ticket stub or rental receipt. Then I watched Mad Men on DVD, and noticed the Vertigo bite of the opening, which makes perfect sense, since the heroes of this '50s-as-sanity-squeezing-nightmare are as wrapped up in what feminism and the counterculture had to destroy as Jimmy Stewarts delusion was. He's basically going off a cliff aftera girl in an ad, and the girl goes off the cliff trying to be the ad.*Coincidentally, I dressed as Alfred Hitchcock, with my date as Tippy Hedren from The Birds.”--Peter S. Scholtes“Casting Stewart against type was one of the best things in Vertigo. It makes his descent towards the end all the more affecting, because you don't expect Jimmy Stewart to go that low.”― Tuomas“To paraphrase William Carlos Williams, the pure products of America may go crazy, but that ain’t nothin' compared to what they do to the ones they love.”― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain)“I wish movies still looked like Vertigo.”― milo z “the last shot of "vertigo" is one of the pinnacles of the cinema, and not a word is spoken”― amateur!st
“Maybe the greatest dream film ever, hence laughed at by the prosaic. "The gentleman certainly knows what he wants."”
“Like Rear Window, Vertigo isolates an aspect of why movies work and turns it into a story. Just hearing the soundtrack at a Halloween party recently* brought it all back: that old sinking feeling of falling in love with a wishful fiction, one you imagine exists for you--and in a sense does, at least when it comes to movies, not real-life projections, since an actress wouldn't perform for you without your ticket stub or rental receipt. Then I watched Mad Men on DVD, and noticed the Vertigo bite of the opening, which makes perfect sense, since the heroes of this '50s-as-sanity-squeezing-nightmare are as wrapped up in what feminism and the counterculture had to destroy as Jimmy Stewarts delusion was. He's basically going off a cliff aftera girl in an ad, and the girl goes off the cliff trying to be the ad.
*Coincidentally, I dressed as Alfred Hitchcock, with my date as Tippy Hedren from The Birds.”
“Casting Stewart against type was one of the best things in Vertigo. It makes his descent towards the end all the more affecting, because you don't expect Jimmy Stewart to go that low.”
― Tuomas
“To paraphrase William Carlos Williams, the pure products of America may go crazy, but that ain’t nothin' compared to what they do to the ones they love.”
“I wish movies still looked like Vertigo.”
― milo z
“the last shot of "vertigo" is one of the pinnacles of the cinema, and not a word is spoken”
― amateur!st
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Well. I wish Rear Window had traded places.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:39 (fifteen years ago) link
since Vertigo was my #1, I guess this is the most meaningful vote I have ever cast!
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Deciding between Rear Window and Vertigo is the very definition of splitting hairs. I'm glad they're both above NxNW.
Night/Hunter is the best first film in that it feels like its the first film ever. The level of invention and lack of baggage in debt to other movies is practically unparalleled that late in the game.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:56 (fifteen years ago) link
drowning Shelley Winters done in Place in the Sun (j/k)
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:00 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, and silhouette of villain done in Nosferatu, et al, blah blah, still an uncontestable masterpiece.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:00 (fifteen years ago) link
I mean if you seriously like screwball that much, remove your own eyes immediately, they are obviously of no use to you.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Night/Hunter is the best first film in that it feels like its the first film ever
wow, otm.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:02 (fifteen years ago) link
did Brando & Clift really make their names by appearing in such insignificant films? (not that I voted for any but the one btwn em that is ranked)
I DON'T like screwball as much as you pretend, I thought that was part of our mutual-caricature shtick.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Don't you think I was exaggerating too?
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:05 (fifteen years ago) link
Loving and respecting Mad Men even more now that I've seen the last episode of Season One, which is like a Sirk film storyboarded by Kubrick.
My blurb for All That Heaven Allows FWIW:
Emo feminism in the strong, subtle, sure hands of a great male director, though maybe it's the uncommonly empathetic female performance at the center that gets me. Sirk's best, I think.
― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:07 (fifteen years ago) link
Damn, I had Sansho the Bailiff at #1 and it didn't even make the list. Is the title that off-putting? At least Rio Bravo beat The Searchers.
― Chris L, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:07 (fifteen years ago) link
Having fun imagining Morbs' reaction to Sirk being described as emo.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:08 (fifteen years ago) link