Because Nobody Asked For It: The Panda's Top 250 Movies of All Time - COMPLETE

[The Panda]

Number 76

Before Midnight (2013)

 

"Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through."

 

Most Valuable Player: Richard Linklater's Direction and Screenplay

Box Office: 8.1m (8.6m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar

Synopsis: We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.

Critic Opinion: "The first two films were courtship dramas and wildly romantic. It might have seemed that all they did was talk, but they were seducing each other, and the question was always whether it would work, whether they would get together. For "Before Midnight," the same dramatic strategy is no longer possible. Now the question is whether they will stay together, and this makes for an entirely different movie, not just non-romantic but anti-romantic, a movie that can make an audience sad about what sometimes happens to lovers a few years down the line." - LaSalle, Hearts Newspapers

User Opinion: "Perfection. It adds to the other two movies as much as Sunset added to Sunrise because of how much more invested we are in this relationship, though the film simultaneously works on its own as a day in the life of a sad, beautiful, funny, intimate, real love story. We never know where this relationship will end, and I never want to. 
 
If Linklater decides to Michael Apted this series and keep giving us a new installment every nine years, then I'd be thrilled. We should be so lucky." - Gopher

Reasoning: Quite possibly the greatest trilogy of movies ever made, that is if this stays a trilogy (and I'd be more than happy for this not given how consistently perfect these movies have been).  Before Midnight is the latest installment of the series of movies about the relationship of Jesse and Celine, and it treads areas that the previous two movies dared not to go, or at least it wasn't their time to tread those thematic waters as of yet.  Before Midnight is incredibly human, and it's potentially the most heartbreakingly real of one of the most human trilogies of movies you're ever going to watch.  While Before Sunrise was something unique and moving, and Before Sunset was something swoonily romantic, Before Midnight is a film that touches on the tragedy of romance.  It doesn't last.  At least not in that perfect honeymoon phase that Hollywood always portrays it as.  Before Midnight shows the couple in a position every long-term couple will at one point reach, in that rocky period where they discover if they will truly work out or not.  You're so invested in this point n this couple, that the film makes you feel as if you're in this rocky area with them.  The film offers no immediate conclusions to how they'll work out, just reasons to worry and hope, and that makes it all so painstakingly human.

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 18, 1980s: 34, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 24
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 3, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 7

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Some upcoming stuff

 

75: @TelemAAchos's Favorite Musical

73: Ridley Scott Makes an appearance

72: I promise the 2010s Decade takes up less than 15% of my top 100

71: Maybe I like musicals more than Westerns?

68: The Greatest Straight Horror Film Ever Made

66: Rawr

64: Bowled a 300

63: Star Wars??  Killing Off All of the Characters??

[Plain Old Tele]

1 minute ago, The PandAA said:

Some upcoming stuff

 

75: @TelemAAchos's Favorite Musical

 

This better not be what I know it is.

[franfar]

1 minute ago, TelemAAchos said:

 

This better not be what I know it is.

[chasmmi]

Oh Gosh Darn it

[RandomCat]

4 hours ago, The PandAA said:

Number 77

 

Per qualche dollaro in piu (For a Few Dollars More) (1965)

 

Worst of the three.  But still pretty fantastic.

[The Panda]

3 hours ago, TelemAAchos said:

 

This better not be what I know it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 75

 

 

La La Land (2016)



 

"How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you're such a traditionalist? You hold onto the past, but jazz is about the future."

 

Most Valuable Player: Justin Hurwitz's Music

Box Office: 149.1m

Tomatometer: 93%

Notable Awards: Won 6 Oscars, didn't win Best Picture

Synopsis: A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

Critic Opinion: "‘La La Land,” Damien Chazelle’s exuberant, thoughtful ode to bygone movie musicals, begins with two bravura gestures. After a retro-looking CinemaScope logo announcing the film’s big-screen purists’ credentials, it opens in earnest with an exhilarating, wildly ambitious production number during which dozens of Los Angeles strivers sing and dance atop their cars during a highway traffic jam.  Bright, primary-hued and boldly staged as if to occur in one unbroken shot, that prologue sets the stage for what’s to come: a nostalgic boy-meets-girl romance shot through with winsome musical numbers and modestly charming dance numbers that, at its core, makes a dazzling case for movies as they used to be. With “La La Land,” Chazelle seems to be staking his claim, not only as a passionate preserver of cinema’s most cherished genres (he made his mark a few years ago with his breakthrough drama “Whiplash”), but also a savior of the medium itself." - Hornaday, Washington Post

User Opinion:  "It's sooooo goooooooood. Everything is so god damn delightful in this movie.
 
Damien Chazelle knocks it out of the park. Whiplash was probably my favourite film of 2014, so La La Land has been on my hype radar since I first heard about it and it does not disappoint. The music is perfect, the acting is charming, the story is lovely and the direction is impeccable. There's not much else for me to say here. It's definitely my favourite movie this year, and I'd be shocked to see anything top it (Manchester and Moonlight haven't come out yet here but maybe they have a shot).
 
So yeah. Was okay I guess. It gets an A+ from me." - AABATTERY

Reasoning: Tele nearly thought I wasn't going to put this movie on here, didn't he?  Moonlight may have been the best Best Picture winner of the decade, but that doesn't mean La La Land wasn't even better.  La La Land is a complete jolt of energy, fun and emotions, harkening back to the musicals of the Golden Age while offering a mixture of something new and a dose of realism to the picture.  If you've read my posts on these forums at all you should already know I love this movie.  It's an instant Hollywood classic, I don't feel like I need to spit out more of the same verbatim that I have for the last few months.  Everyone should have an opinion about this movie by now, given how it's been all over the forum and media for the past couple of months.  La La Land, while new, is instantly one of the greatest musicals ever made (although I do have a number more ahead of it). 

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 18, 1980s: 34, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 25
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 3, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 8

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

5

Edited March 16, 2017 by The PandAA

[franfar]

fuck

[RandomCat]

30 minutes ago, The PandAA said:

 

 

 

 

Number 75

  Reveal hidden contents

 

La La Land (2016)



 

"How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you're such a traditionalist? You hold onto the past, but jazz is about the future."

 

Most Valuable Player: Justin Hurwitz's Music

Box Office: 149.1m

Tomatometer: 93%

Notable Awards: Won 6 Oscars, didn't win Best Picture

Synopsis: A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

Critic Opinion: "‘La La Land,” Damien Chazelle’s exuberant, thoughtful ode to bygone movie musicals, begins with two bravura gestures. After a retro-looking CinemaScope logo announcing the film’s big-screen purists’ credentials, it opens in earnest with an exhilarating, wildly ambitious production number during which dozens of Los Angeles strivers sing and dance atop their cars during a highway traffic jam.  Bright, primary-hued and boldly staged as if to occur in one unbroken shot, that prologue sets the stage for what’s to come: a nostalgic boy-meets-girl romance shot through with winsome musical numbers and modestly charming dance numbers that, at its core, makes a dazzling case for movies as they used to be. With “La La Land,” Chazelle seems to be staking his claim, not only as a passionate preserver of cinema’s most cherished genres (he made his mark a few years ago with his breakthrough drama “Whiplash”), but also a savior of the medium itself." - Hornaday, Washington Post

User Opinion:  "It's sooooo goooooooood. Everything is so god damn delightful in this movie.
 
Damien Chazelle knocks it out of the park. Whiplash was probably my favourite film of 2014, so La La Land has been on my hype radar since I first heard about it and it does not disappoint. The music is perfect, the acting is charming, the story is lovely and the direction is impeccable. There's not much else for me to say here. It's definitely my favourite movie this year, and I'd be shocked to see anything top it (Manchester and Moonlight haven't come out yet here but maybe they have a shot).
 
So yeah. Was okay I guess. It gets an A+ from me." - AABATTERY

Reasoning: Tele nearly thought I wasn't going to put this movie on here, didn't he?  Moonlight may have been the best Best Picture winner of the decade, but that doesn't mean La La Land wasn't even better.  La La Land is a complete jolt of energy, fun and emotions, harkening back to the musicals of the Golden Age while offering a mixture of something new and a dose of realism to the picture.  If you've read my posts on these forums at all you should already know I love this movie.  It's an instant Hollywood classic, I don't feel like I need to spit out more of the same verbatim that I have for the last few months.  Everyone should have an opinion about this movie by now, given how it's been all over the forum and media for the past couple of months.  La La Land, while new, is instantly one of the greatest musicals ever made (although I do have a number more ahead of it). 

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 18, 1980s: 34, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 25
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 3, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 8

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

5

Boo!

[The Panda]

Number 74

Mississippi Burning (1988)

 

"Rest of America don't mean jack shit. You in Mississippi now."

 

Most Valuable Player: Peter Biziou's Cinematography

Box Office: 34.6m (75.3m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 89%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.

Critic Opinion: "Movies often take place in towns, but they rarely seem to live in them. Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning” feels like a movie made from the inside out, a movie that knows the ways and people of its small Southern city so intimately that, having seen it, I know the place I’d go for a cup of coffee and the place I’d steer clear from. This acute sense of time and place - rural Mississippi, 1964 - is the lifeblood of the film. More than any other film I’ve seen, this one gets inside the passion of race relations in America." - Roger Ebert

User Opinion: "Mississippi Burning shows us how strange people are when it comes to racism. The characters in this film don't know why they hate the way they do, they just know that they do. And they are powerless to stop themselves. What happened to the three civil rights workers was a disgrace and a tragedy. But not just because three boys were murdered, but because no one knows why they were murdered,besides racism that is. Why did they have to die? Because they were a different colour of skin? Because they were Jewish? It really doesn't make any sense.Mississippi Burning is one of the best films I have ever seen. It is important and it is entertaining. If you haven't seen it, do so just for the scene with Mr. Anderson and Deputy Pell at the barber shop. This scene alone is worth searching for on you-tube." - Baumer

Reasoning:  A close-up and real take at a gruesome act of racism and violence that happened all to many times in this country.  Mississippi Burning is one of the most powerful movies about racism and the Civil Rights movements that you're going to see.  It moves your gut and leaves you not only unsettled, but completely angry and disturbed about what could bring people to behave and treat others the way they do.  It also exposed just how deep the problem went within towns and the state, where a sheriff of the town (who is supposed to be keeping the peace) was trying to cover up and hide what had happened there.  The cinematography of this film is up close and personal, putting you into the events, and making you feel like you're watching real life happen before your eyes, because in a way you really are.  Mississippi Burning is gut-wrenching and real, a master work of a movie.

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 18, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 25
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 8

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 73

Alien (1979)

 

"You... BITCH!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Ridley Scott's Direction

Box Office: 78.9m (272.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis: After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious life-form, and soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

Critic Opinion: "The film's slow-coiling pace allows us to savour filmmaker Scott's exquisitely wrought tableaux. In one of a dozen memorable scenes, an alien abduction is captured in an elaborate play of lights on a pet cat's widening eyes.  Then there is the matter of the film's shrewdly assembled cast, from laconic cowboy commander, Dallas (Tom Skerritt) to comically grumbling maintenance engineers, Brett and Parker (Harry Dean Stanton and Kotto). One of Scott's conceptual coups was figuring out space travel would eventually be conducted by interplanetary truck drivers as opposed to astronauts and heroes. That the characters here, except for the scientist, are all working stiffs arguing over food and pay, makes Alien's story line more credible and menacing." - Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail

User Opinion:  "Not only the best horror film ever made, but one of my all-time favorites.
I love Aliens as much as anyone, but this is an another level. Really gets better with multiple watches as well.
Dark, brooding, menacing, claustrophobic.........one of the few films that is pretty damn close to being an objective masterpiece." - Mattmav45

Reasoning: A slow-building and tension-filled work of pure genius by Ridley Scott.  The way that Scott paces the entire film makes the movie work so well, leaving the majority of the scare in the tension of nothing happening but knowing what's going to happen is just on the brink of hitting.  Alien is an incredibly influential film, and a superior film to all of the rest of the movies in the Alien and Predator franchises.  While you could make the argument that Sigourney Weaver is superior in the sequel, I'd argue she is in just as good of form in this film as she was in Aliens, she's definitely strong enough to deserve and Oscar nod for the performance.  What's also phenomenal is how this film never seems to become dated, many horror and action flicks lose their appeal when their cutting-edge special effects are no longer so, but Alien manages to avoid that.  Alien is incredible Sci-Fi work from Ridley Scott and it stands as one of his top films.

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 25
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 8

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 72

The Social Network (2010)

 

"You know, you really don't need a forensics team to get to the bottom of this. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

 

Most Valuable Player: David Fincher's Direction

Box Office: 97m (104.7m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 96%

Notable Awards: Won 3 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.

Critic Opinion:  "Ultimately, Sorkin and Fincher trust their audience not only to keep up but also discover the “truth” of the story on their own. The filmmakers neatly avoid Hollywood trappings or the need for a happy ending.  That may be their greatest gift at a time when the American film industry is obsessed with action, action and more action — all preferably in 3-D. This is an extraordinary, perhaps defining, film, which deserves the comparisons it’s been getting to the truly great movies of all time." - McCollum, San Jose Mercury News

User Opinion: "One of the greatest films of all time. An intoxicatingly entertaining movie with some of the snappiest and most intelligent dialogue I've ever heard, amazing performances (especially from the mesmerizing Jesse Eisenberg who deserved an Oscar), great cinematography, slick editing, a fucking fantastic score, a goosebump inducing final scene and overall masterful directing from David Fincher.The Social Network is about as close as you can get to cinematic perfection. It will go down as the best movie of its time." - Jack Nevada

Reasoning: Truly impeccable filmmaking by David Fincher on this movie.  Just about every single aspect of this movie is about as good as it possibly could get.  There's no making a better movie about social media and the new digital age than what David Fincher already did with the Social Network.  Jesse Eisenberg gives the best performance of his career, probably his own legitimately great one, and Andrew Garfield is an early standout in his supporting role in the movie.  However, the real star of the movie is Fincher and his complete control of the movie.  There isn't a second of the movie that needs to be cut, and there isn't a second that needs to be added, it does exactly what it needs to do with no excess.  It's still a little shocking how this film lost the Oscar to that decent speech impediment biopic, it's truly revolutionary and as good of a kick-off as you could get to what's turned into a great decade for filmmaking.  The Social Network is the definitive movie to define the online times.

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9

 

 

 

[The Panda]

There's a place for this!

 

Number 71

West Side Story (1961)

 

"All of you! You all killed him! And my brother, and Riff. Not with bullets, or guns, with hate. Well now I can kill, too, because now I have hate!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for their Direction

Box Office: 43.7m (484.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 94%

Notable Awards: Won 10 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.

Critic Opinion: "The Romeo and Juliet theme, propounded against the seething background of rival and bitterly-hating youthful Puerto Rican and American gangs (repping the Montagues and the Capulets) on the upper West Side of Manhattan, makes for both a savage and tender admixture of romance and war-to-the-death. Technically, it is superb; use of color is dazzling, camera work often is thrilling, editing fast with dramatic punch, production design catches mood as well as action itself.  Even more notable, however, is the music of Leonard Bernstein and most of all the breathtaking choreography of Jerome Robbins, who in film is not limited by space restrictions of the stage. His dancing numbers probably are the most spectacular ever devised and lensed, blending into story and carrying on action that is electrifying to spectator and setting a pace which communicates to viewer. Bernstein’s score, with Stephen Sondheim’s expressive lyrics, accentuates the tenseness that constantly builds." - Variety Staff

User Opinion: "I was not prepared for the brilliance of this movie. The style, the music, the furious energy of its dance numbers and the no-nonsense attitude towards race make it so modern it feels like it came at least 10 years ahead of its time at 1961. But I would be a liar if I said that the 2 biggest latino roles being played by white people in tan didn't threw me off the movie. It's really not fair to judge the movie for this, since it was pretty much a given that the lead of a big studio movie would be white no matter the story. But watching Natalie Wood next to real latino people with her tan and her accent was kind of embarassing. She's very charming and her romantic scenes with Tony were very cute, but the only reason I liked him much more than her is because the character is the same race with the actor protraying him. That's a minor thing to focus though, the movie is otherwise brilliant throughout and Anita is the real star of this whole thing. She is only the 5th most important character of the story but she is the real heart and soul of West Side Story." - Joel M

Reasoning: A movie that's either fairly underrated or overlooked on these forums, or maybe both. Anyways, West Side Story is the definitive Hollywood adaption of the Romeo and Juliet story, as well as a phenomenal adaption of the iconic Broadway Musical. There's a reason this film swept the Oscars back in its day, not just because the Academy had a hard on for musicals, but because the film is that good. Everything from the production design, to the choreography, to the portrayal of the songs (and actually casting actors who could sing and dance in a musical, think about that!), to tight direction by Robbins and Wise. The film comes to life off the screen, and there's really few musicals that can live up the grand and urban nature of this musical. The climax of the whole thing is also particularly moving and provoking in its use of the Romeo and Juliet story to address discrimination and prejudices.  Also, all of the songs in this musical are absolutely iconic!  All of them are standouts!  This is a golden age musical that lives up to the name of the age, it's golden!

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 16, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 4, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by The PandAA

[Ethan Hunt]

Only 75

[The Panda]

Number 70

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

 

"It's a terrible thing to hate your mother. But I didn't always hate her. When I was a child, I only kind of disliked her."

 

Most Valuable Player: George Axelrod for the Screenplay

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars

Synopsis: A former prisoner of war is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

Critic Opinion: "‘The Manchurian Candidate’ raises the same red flags today as it did in the early 1960s, when its story of political intrigue and assassination became all too relevant following the death of JFK, causing the film’s abrupt disappearance from screens. Re-released to coincide with the current election campaign, it remains a nightmarish tale of high-level subterfuge, mental manipulation and the futility of one man’s rebellion against an ingrained social system.

In one of his last roles as a genuine actor before he was swallowed by shallow fame, Frank Sinatra stars as disturbed Korean war veteran Bennett Marco, who uncovers a plot to murder a presidential frontrunner. One of the first films to voice the growing belief that the American system of power and privilege was corrupt, it prefigures not just the Kennedy and King murders, but Vietnam, Watergate and the entire ’70s conspiracy boom. More importantly, it’s a sensational piece of genre filmmaking: pacy, compelling, witty and cynical, it depicts, in unflinching detail, the beginning of the end for post-war American optimism." - Time Out

User Opinion: "This film was before its time in many ways and a great work of art. It was also prescient in the way it predicted that it is conceivable that America's enemies could do everything in their power to make sure the US people elect and keep electing as president a man who is the most likely to do irreparable harm to his country under the guise of the best intentions. Does this prospect chill you to the bone? If this sounds too far-fetched, just take half a minute to Google the words "manchurian candidate" and "George W. Bush" on the same line and see what comes up...This film came out just before the Kennedy assassination and it sent a lot of fear into the subconscious of the American mind back in 62-63. Look up MK-Ultra and you see that brainwashing experiments are not as uncommon or impossible as one might think.This is a brilliant film." - baumer

Reasoning: A film from the 1960s that I don't think could be fully appreciated until much later in time.  The Manchurian Candidate is a technically brilliant film, with fantastic performances all around.  What really makes the film stick out above many others, and be remembered today when it was mostly overlooked in its time, is just how poignant and prescient the screenplay of the film manages to be.  It's a dark, satirical and witty breakdown of much of the politics going on at the time, and frankly much of the politics that has gone on through today.  This is the noir genre at its very best, adding in some stinging and direct political commentary with it all.  The Manchurian Candidate is an unconventional thriller that manages to be thought-provoking as well as suspenseful, and it is another case of master craft in film.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 17, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9

 

 

 

 

 

[aabattery]

7 hours ago, The PandAA said:

Number 76

Before Midnight (2013)

 

"Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through."

 

Most Valuable Player: Richard Linklater's Direction and Screenplay

Box Office: 8.1m (8.6m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar

Synopsis: We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.

Critic Opinion: "The first two films were courtship dramas and wildly romantic. It might have seemed that all they did was talk, but they were seducing each other, and the question was always whether it would work, whether they would get together. For "Before Midnight," the same dramatic strategy is no longer possible. Now the question is whether they will stay together, and this makes for an entirely different movie, not just non-romantic but anti-romantic, a movie that can make an audience sad about what sometimes happens to lovers a few years down the line." - LaSalle, Hearts Newspapers

User Opinion: "Perfection. It adds to the other two movies as much as Sunset added to Sunrise because of how much more invested we are in this relationship, though the film simultaneously works on its own as a day in the life of a sad, beautiful, funny, intimate, real love story. We never know where this relationship will end, and I never want to. 
 
If Linklater decides to Michael Apted this series and keep giving us a new installment every nine years, then I'd be thrilled. We should be so lucky." - Gopher

Reasoning: Quite possibly the greatest trilogy of movies ever made, that is if this stays a trilogy (and I'd be more than happy for this not given how consistently perfect these movies have been).  Before Midnight is the latest installment of the series of movies about the relationship of Jesse and Celine, and it treads areas that the previous two movies dared not to go, or at least it wasn't their time to tread those thematic waters as of yet.  Before Midnight is incredibly human, and it's potentially the most heartbreakingly real of one of the most human trilogies of movies you're ever going to watch.  While Before Sunrise was something unique and moving, and Before Sunset was something swoonily romantic, Before Midnight is a film that touches on the tragedy of romance.  It doesn't last.  At least not in that perfect honeymoon phase that Hollywood always portrays it as.  Before Midnight shows the couple in a position every long-term couple will at one point reach, in that rocky period where they discover if they will truly work out or not.  You're so invested in this point n this couple, that the film makes you feel as if you're in this rocky area with them.  The film offers no immediate conclusions to how they'll work out, just reasons to worry and hope, and that makes it all so painstakingly human.

Decade Count:  1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 15, 1970s: 18, 1980s: 34, 1990s: 24, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 24
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 3, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 3, 1990s: 4, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where's the rest, Panda?

[The Panda]

1 minute ago, AABATTERY said:

 

 

Where's the rest, Panda?

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 69

Goodfellas (1990)

 

"For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster. To me that was better than being president of the United States. To be a gangster was to own the world."

 

Most Valuable Player: Martin Scorsese's Direction

Box Office: 46.8m (95.9m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy.

Critic Opinion: "Still, it's the darkness that prevails. Membership in a Mob family comes with strangulating restrictions. There is no life outside of it. As Henry's wife, Karen is shocked at first by the sudden bursts of violence that are part of her husband's profession. But guns, drugs and deals soon become part of her life, too; Karen even finds them easier to accept than Henry's infidelities. Scorsese is peerless at detailing random brutality, the kind good-fellas have developed as a natural reflex. In a chilling shot, a shaken Henry watches as Jimmy and Tommy, who have just come from dinner at Tommy's mother's house, shoot and stab a helpless enemy they've trapped in a car trunk.  In its refusal to deny the malignant allure of Mob life, Scorsese's indictment gains in intensity. After turning Judas to save his neck, Hill, who went into hiding with his wife and their two daughters, told Pileggi, "I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook." By capturing the pain as well as the ignorance in that statement, Scorsese's GoodFellas makes poetic drama of warped ambitions. It's a prodigious achievement." - Travers, Rolling Stone

User Opinion:  "I'm on a Martin Scorsese' movies marathon, this is the second movies watched after The Departed.It was a great movie, a classic gem in the mob/gangster categories for sure. It has the distinct Scorsese flavor in it, and as often seen in his movies, strong acting performances from everyone. Compelling story, good directing, neat editing, and great music." - Sam

Reasoning:  Martin Scorsese has a bit of a hard on when it comes to making crime and mob films, and it's a good thing too, because he's quite good at filling that role as a filmmaker.  However, out of all of the films Scorsese has made in his favorite genre, Goodfellas is the best of them.  The screenplay is lively and engaging, and it's only heightened to an even further extent by how each actor plays off their role in the film, there's not a single person on screen who isn't carrying their weight in the acting work.  The thematic material of Goodfellas hits you square in the face.  The film is absolutely sprawling in its length, both in the time periods covered on screen and the pure length of the movie, but it doesn't put a second to waste, every moment is fully utilized and realized.  Goodfellas is an absolute jolt of powerful work behind the camera to perfect what's on screen, as well as some of the best characterization that you're going to see in any movie ever.  Goodfellas is the great Scorsese at his best.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 17, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 25, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 5, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 5, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 68

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

 

"Pain, begone, I will have no more of thee!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Mia Farrow for her Lead Performance

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 99%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis:  A young couple move into an apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to control her life.

Critic Opinion: "Released at a time when horror mostly meant Vincent Price in a goofy cape, Roman Polanski’s realistic supernatural drama was a transfusion of thick, urbane blood. Much of the movie’s revolutionary impact should be credited to the city itself: The Dakota looms menacingly, every bit the Gothic pile as any Transylvanian vampire’s mansion. A young couple, played by Mia Farrow (in a fashion-forward NYC pixie cut) and John Cassavetes, moves in—they’re recognizable enough. But in another one of the film’s clever subversions, the perennial lovable but nosy neighbor (Ruth Gordon) hides an evil intent. Weird obstetricians, mysterious night noises and even Farrow’s improvised stroll into actual oncoming traffic add up to a bustling nightmare that’s spawned many a Black Swan since." - Rothkopf, Time Out

User Opinion: "This is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen, even though it never scares me when I actually watch it. Its strength is that its presence seems to linger. The idea of thinking that a satanic monster is growing inside of you is absolutely haunting and I've had dreams about the final scene so many times. A truly horrifying movie with excellent direction and an amazing performance by Mia Farrow." - Fanboy

Reasoning: While some horror movies are made to give you instant frights and popcorn movie scares, there aren't many that manage to genuinely disturb you and leave you terrified by the ideas and paranoia it places within your head.  Hell, I got chilled just re-writing my thoughts about this and listening to some of the score, and re-watching a scene or two for the list, so much to the point I need to do a write-up of another movie after this one before I go to bed.  I don't have much Polanski on my list, but you can't deny how genuinely terrifying this movie manages to be.  Not only that, but based on how the terror is in the films idea and what's not on the screen (and not a lurking visual effects monster), it's a movie that will never grow less scary with age.  In a way, when I saw the Witch this year it was a movie that reminded me of this one, at least in the way it left you scared.  Rosemary's Baby slowly builds a creepy atmosphere until it becomes almost unbelievably terrifying, to a point where it haunts your sleep and dreams long after you see it.  Beyond that, the film is also just terrifically made, from brilliant performances by Farrow and Gordon, which are the two selling points of the scary nature of the movie, to the source material, to the way Polanski adapts the ideas of the source material onto the screen.  Rosemary's Baby is the scariest horror movie that I've ever seen.  

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 18, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 25, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 5, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2017 by Beauty and The Panda

[The Panda]

The Panda's "first date" story is in this post!

 

Number 67

The Lion King (1994)

 

"I'm surrounded by idiots."

 

Most Valuable Player: Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff's Direction

Box Office: 312.9m (645.5m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 92%

Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars

Synopsis:  Lion cub and future king Simba searches for his identity. His eagerness to please others and penchant for testing his boundaries sometimes gets him into trouble.

Critic Opinion: "To pounce or not to pounce: Any questions?  The movie opens with a gospel anthem celebrating the interrelatedness of all within the circle of the animal kingdom.  The rest of The Lion King alternates between grand-opera melodrama and low-comedy hi-jinks, superbly blending the two approaches." - Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

User Opinion: "I don't think I need to stress any further on how this is my favorite film of all time."

Reasoning AKA Panda's First Data Story: Everyone knows why this animated film is the absolute king (and my second favorite WDAS film, so yeah there's one more ahead of this), hell I think there was one point in my life where this would have been in my top 5 movies of all time.  While I still obviously love the movie, I have acquired a bit more of taste since then and wouldn't rank it quite so high.  So story time, I believe it was in 2011 when this film had a re-release in theaters.  Well, I took a girl out "on a date" for the first time in my life to go see this movie, not saying it was my first "dating experience", I had done those hold hands in the hallway type of relationship stuff before then.  Anyways, I go to pick up the girl (who I have a huge crush on at the time, spoiler alert she wasn't into me at all.  I was friendzoned pretty hard), and I'm just like "sup".  I then go onto brag about how I can quote the entire movie, and she's like "Cool."  We go over to the ticket machine and I'm like, "You can buy your ticket first," thinking I was being such a nice guy for letting her buy her ticket first instead of, I don't know, buying her ticket for her.  We then walk-in and get our 3D glasses, and I start complaining about how we didn't get the special Lion King 3D glasses and that I was super bummed, because that obviously makes me look cool.  She just kind of looks at me like, 'You serious bro?'.  We then walk to get concessions, again I obviously let her buy hers first because you should always let the lady pay on the date.  I notice she buys a pretty big popcorn and I'm just like, "You wanna share that popcorn?"  Thinking I'm being super sly, when in reality I'm just being cheap, and she shoots me a weird look (that I obliviously overlook) and says, "Sure".  We then go into the theater, she tries to talk to me during the previews, and I tell her to shush because the trailers are the best part, she's obviously annoyed and uncomfortable but I'm an oblivious, jerky high schooler who doesn't understand girls.  Well the movie starts, and I get the smart idea to actually quietly quote everyline to the movie right before it's said, to her, because I wanted to make sure she knew that I knew every line to the movie.  She eventually tells me to stop because she wants to watch the movie, and I'm like, "Okay."  Well finally, it gets to the part of the movie I've been waiting for, the part of the movie where I get to make my move, it's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" scene.  Well, as Nala and Simba playfully pounce each other down the hill as Elton John sings his sweet tune away, I slowly pick up my arm, and place it around her.  I look at her smiling, and I see her turn her head to look back... She then picks up her hand, places it on mine, and grabs it... only so she can lift my arm and put it back in my seat, she then lets go and says, "Yeah, no".  After the movie ends, she says, "That was a good movie," and calls her mom to come pick her up.  She then texts me later that night and says, "Yeah, this isn't going to work out."  Luckily, I've yet to ever have a date go as poorly as that one did (even including that one time I took a girl to homecoming, only for her to go to the corner and talk to her friend the entire night refusing to dance with me.  Because at least that girl told me she had a great time.)

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 12, 1950s: 12, 1960s: 18, 1970s: 19, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 26, 2000s: 23, 2010s: 26
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1950s: 2, 1960s: 6, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 6, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 9