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

[The Panda]

4 minutes ago, TelemAAchos said:

 

I was thinking more about one movie up the list.

 

Oh, I know.  I should have ranked it higher shouldn't I?

[Plain Old Tele]

5 minutes ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

Oh, I know.  I should have ranked it higher shouldn't I?

 

[baumer]

14 hours ago, franfar said:

 

I don't know what this means.

 

I don't like most of Pixar's films.  So when Dory came out, and it was making all kinds of money, one day I just said "Fuck that stupid blue fish."   It just kind of stuck and now people use it for other films as well, from time to time.  But if you see FTSBF, that is in reference to Dory and Nemo.  So when I said FTSC, that just meant Fuck that stupid Chasmmi" because he dislikes two of my favourite films.

[The Panda]

Number 50

Gladiator (2000)

 

"Are you not entertained!?"

 

Most Valuable Player: Ridley Scott's Direction

Box Office: 187.7m (301.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 76%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.
Critic Opinion: "If there's a soft spot in your heart for the sword-&-sandal epic - and from the star rating above, I think you can guess where I stand - then you'll swoon with giddy delight over "Gladiator," a sweaty, stylish hunkfest that takes you back to the days of "Ben-Hur," "Spartacus" and the so recently departed Steve Reeves.
 
From his biceps to his gluteus, Maximus is maximus. This Roman general turned slave turned gladiator hasn't a shred of humor, but then, he doesn't have time for idle nonsense when he's lopping off heads all day. (The head-lopping is apparently his signature, like the mark of Zorro.)

User Opinion: NONE?!?!?!

Reasoning: I'm shook there's not review thread for this movie, especially since it's from this century, a Best picture winner, Ridely Scott film and everything.  Anyways, Gladiator may be a film that seems to have polarizing opinions about it.  People either seem to really love it or be pretty meh about it.  Obviously, I fall into the category of really loving this movie, historically inaccurate be damned.  Gladiator is everything that I want in a movie, from a moving story, to well-balanced and nuanced performances, to superb direction, thrilling action scenes, and an epic scale that sucks you into the plot of the film.  For fans of the genre, Gladiator manages to hit all of the notes that you would want from a film like this, and it really leaves you nothing to complain about.  The technical design is gorgeous to watch, it boasts one of Hanz Zimmer's good scores, the fights are breathtaking (Especially the opening battle scene) and every actor gives it their all.  It's good enough to make me ignore the glaring historical untruths of it all, which says a lot for me.  

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 14, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 31, 2000s: 27, 2010s: 27
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 6, 2010s: 10

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Beauty and The Panda

[The Panda]

Number 49

The Godfather, Part II (1974)

 

"I make him an offer he don' refuse. Don' worry."

 

Most Valuable Player: The Ensemble of the Film

Box Office: 47.5m (219.9m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Won 6 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.

Critic Opinion: "When superfans speak of the superiority of The Godfather Part II, this is not merely to be contrary. Coppola took Mario Puzo’s pulp and darkened it with Nixonian paranoia and the power of political back rooms. The sequel’s decadence—Michael sweeping down on Fredo, Kay, all of them—is counterweighted by nostalgia, as we see the young immigrant Vito (De Niro) striving to protect his own. Thus we have the birth of a quasi-noble idea: the neighborhood defender. But De Niro, gun barrel blazing, plays it squirrelly, unsure if bad wheels have been set in motion. Vito’s son will pay the ultimate price, a descent that is the richest the movies have to offer." - Rothkopf, Time Out

User Opinion: "I used to be in Algren's camp.  I thought the Godfather's were over rated.  I saw them when I was in my teens, and never again since.  Well, yesterday, I watched both 1 and 2 and I was floored.  Did it take me maturing to finally understand the brilliance of the films?  Maybe.  All I know is that these two films will now make my top 50 films of all time.  The one thing I noticed about the first film was how big James Caan looked.  I looked him up on imdb and he is only 5'9.  But in the Godfather he looks like he is about 6'2.  He is menacing and he kind of frightened me.  He was just a volcanic eruption waiting to happen in every scene he was in.  Brando was awesome of course and even smaller players like Talia Shire were really good.  She didn't deserve to get beaten by her husband, but everything he said about her was true.  She was spoiled and expected everyone to do everything for her.  But getting back to her husband, what a FUCKING MORON.  I know he was working with one of the bad guys (Benzini I think it was) but to beat up the daughter of the biggest mobster in the US, are you insane?  He's lucky he died quickly.  If that was my sister I would have hurt him for hours before killing him." - Baumer

Reasoning: The Godfather Part II is the art of making sequels at its best, The Godfather itself was already a perfect movie, but then Coppola made the sequel and managed to enhance the original film a great deal by the sequel's mere existence.  The Godfather Part 2 takes the original film and greatly expands on it, offering new ideas, more time to analyze layers of power in American society, and more time to deepen in characterization.  The American Dream is a popular theme within cinema and with American authors, and The Godfather Part II is one of those films that manages to fully deconstruct that idea, and be absolutely sweeping in its scope while it does it.  The movie is heartbreaking and powerful, and there's a reason its often regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 14, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 31, 2000s: 27, 2010s: 27
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 6, 2010s: 10

Top 50 Decade Count: 1970s: 1, 2000s: 1

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Beauty and The Panda

[The Panda]

Number 48

Ben-Hur (1959)

 

"Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength."

 

Most Valuable Player: William Wyler for his Direction

Box Office: 74m (847.7m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 86%

Notable Awards: Won 11 Oscars, Including Best Picture

Synopsis: When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

Critic Opinion: "The big difference between “Ben-Hur” and other spectacles, biblical or otherwise, is its sincere concern for human beings. They’re not just pawns reciting flowery dialog to fill gaps between the action and spectacle scenes. They arouse genuine emotional feeling in the audience.  This has been accomplished without sacrificing the impact of the action, panoramic, and spectacle elements. As a matter of fact, the famous chariot race between Ben-Hur, the Prince of Judea, and Messala, the Roman tribune–a trademark of the Gen. Lew Wallace classic–will probably be preserved in film archives as the finest example of the use of the motion picture camera to record an action sequence. The race, directed by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, represents some 40 minutes of the most hair-raising excitement that film audiences have ever witnessed." - Variety Staff

User Opinion: None?

Reasoning: I guess this would mark a third epic in a row?  Ben-Hur is one the grandaddies of the historical action epic, and one of the most successful to have ever been created. The movie is absolutely livid in its spectacle, it's personal in its characters and its lush in its writing, making it feel like something much more special than the other Biblical Epics that were so common around its time.  Ben-Hur is ultimately less of a Biblical story and more of a personal story about a man's quest for revenge, and in the end how the man is changed and ultimately redeemed.  I know it's gotten its fair share of backlash for just how well it's been regarded in history, and I didn't love it as much as I do now on my first go through (I mostly just loved the iconic Chariot scene), but I've grown to really appreciate the rest of the film as well.  The movie is gripping in its plot, the characters are well-formed, and it's ultimately a powerful and moving experience.  And in the end that really describes what Ben-Hur is,it's more than just a movie, it's a cinematic experience.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 15, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 31, 2000s: 27, 2010s: 27
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 6, 2010s: 10
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 1, 1970s: 1, 2000s: 1

 

 

 

 

 

[Ethan Hunt]

I was gonna complain about Tarzan...

 

But then I saw Gladiator

 

[The Panda]

18 minutes ago, Ethan Hunt said:

I was gonna complain about Tarzan...

 

But then I saw Gladiator

 

 

Just because the movies came out before you were born doesn't mean you have to dislike them!

[The Panda]

Number 47

Life of Pi (2012)

 

"And so it goes with God."

 

Most Valuable Player: Yann Martel's Novel

Box Office: 125m (134.8m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 87%

Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.

Critic Opinion: "Every once in a long while, the right director comes across the right project at just the right moment, and things so often discordant fall into perfect harmony. The director has mastered the shiny technology the story needs – without that mastery, the book could never make the transition from page to screen. Just as important, the story offers the director the deeper themes he craves – without such depth, the film could never make its own leap from entertainment to art. When this happens, this rare confluence, the cinematic bar seems to wiggle free from its fixed notch. And the bar gets raised, along with our spirits, because we’re reminded of how joyous movie-watching can be, the sheer and transporting wonder." - Groen, The Globe and Mail

User Opinion: Search isn't working correctly so none.

Reasoning:  Life of Pi is a particularly special film because both it, and the novel that it's adapted from, helped me come to grips with my faith and beliefs in a period in my life where I wasn't sure what I believed.  It's pretty rare to have a story that personally inspired you.  Beyond the personal aspect, this film and the novel is absolutely ripe with gorgeous and contemplative thoughts on faith, belief and personal acceptance.  It's wonderfully acted by Suraj Sharma who is the focal point of this epic film on spiritual growth, especially give how little this young actor actually had to work with.  Think about it, he was on a boat and the Tiger, the only thing he interacts with for most of the movie, was CGI whenever he had to work with it.  The film sounds like it shouldn't work, an epic where the bulky second act takes place in isolation on a boat, but it adapts a book that reads as unadaptable beautifully.  The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, the score sweeps you in and you can tell Ang Lee really cared about this source material.  Richard Parker also probably ranks among the best VFX characters/work of all time.  Life of Pi is inspirational, and there's only three other films from its decade that I ranked above it (spoiler alert).

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 15, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 31, 2000s: 27, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 6, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 1, 1970s: 1, 2000s: 1, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Beauty and The Panda

[Ethan Hunt]

1 hour ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

Just because the movies came out before you were born doesn't mean you have to dislike them!

... Wait a second...

 

For a second there you almost convinced me that Gladiator came out before I was born

 

[The Panda]

3 minutes ago, Ethan Hunt said:

... Wait a second...

 

For a second there you almost convinced me that Gladiator came out before I was born

 

 

Oops, it came out 9 days after you were born.

[aabattery]

52 minutes ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

Oops, it came out 9 days after you were born.

 

1 year and 9 days old Ethan had some very strong opinions on cinema.

Edited March 22, 2017 by aabattery
fixed because panda is gosh darn liar

[Ethan Hunt]

1 minute ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

Oops, it came out 9 days after you were born.

Errrrrrr... A year and nine days you mean?

[The Panda]

44 minutes ago, Ethan Hunt said:

Errrrrrr... A year and nine days you mean?

 

I thought you were 16?

[Ethan Hunt]

6 minutes ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

I thought you were 16?

I was last year

[The Panda]

Number 46

Sen to chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (2001)

 

"Welcome the rich man, he's hard for you to miss. His butt keeps getting bigger, so there's plenty there to kiss!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Hayao Miyazaki's Direction

Box Office: 10.1m (14.7m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar

Synopsis: During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.

Critic Opinion: "For a story that takes off from the same starting point as "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland," Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" is just about the freshest and most captivating children's feature since ... well, "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland.  " A blockbuster in Japan last year, where it outgrossed previous champ "Titanic," "Spirited Away" turns everything we know about the contemporary world on its head, and substitutes it with one in which spirits, monsters, magicians and animals mix it up in a carnival of energy, good humor and freewheeling illusion. Disney executives, knowing a good animated thing even when they don't make it, bought the worldwide rights to "Spirited Away" and refitted it with an English script and a new voice cast that includes such American actors as Suzanne Pleshette, David Ogden Stiers and Daveigh Chase, last heard as Lilo in Disney's "Lilo & Stitch.  " The result is nothing less than magical, a throwback to the very best of early Disney. If I can't remember the last time I was this enchanted by an animated film, it's because I was too young. " - MAtthews, New York Daily News

User Opinion: "One of my favourite animated movies ever. A huge amount of imagination went in to this, moreso than Miyazaki's other work, which is saying something. Just absolutely beautiful." - CoolioD1

Reasoning: An absolutely gorgeous and captivating work from Miyazaki, I must have watched this movie numerous times when I was a child, and still do.  The work just absolutely draws you in, with the weirdness and the beauty in each scene that plays out through the movie.  Ultimately it's a Wizard of Oz story of a young girl trying to find her way back home, maybe in a more psychological sense, as she's trying to figure out how to turn her parents back into humans again after they were turned into pigs.  The score is breathtakingly beautiful and one of the best modern cinematic scores of all time, and maybe the best non-musical score for an animated movie ever.  The film is funny, but it also manages to pull on your heart strings in all the right ways.  This is an example of a movie that truly manages to achieve that sense of "magical" that people use to describe many Disney films, but it applies to this movie even moreso.  There's a reason Spirited Away is one of two animated movies to make my top 50, and that's because it's a true masterpiece of animated filmmaking.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 15, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 31, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 11, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 1, 1970s: 1, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Beauty and The Panda

[The Panda]

Some hints for some later movies because I have to say my top 50 is truly epic in my non-biased opinion.  All of these movies were in the major leagues but these are like the all-stars of the major leagues (this applies to Gladiator and down that I have mentioned too)

 

45: Spielberg strikes again

44: Another Musical???

43: Another Western???

42: Harrison Ford plays an iconic role in this one

39: A truly moving stoning sequence is in this film

37: NC-17??  This list is supposed to be safe for work!

34: Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness

[The Panda]

Number 45

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

 

"James, earn this... earn it."

 

Most Valuable Player: Steven Spielberg's Direction

Box Office: 216.5m (395.7m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 92%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars

Synopsis: Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Critic Opinion: "Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece. It cements Steven Spielberg’s reputation as one of the seminal filmmakers of the era. It tells a gallant story of honor and duty and courage under fire. It shows you things about war that have never been seen on a motion picture screen. It makes you proud to be an American without a lot of phony, sentimental, patriotic flag-waving. And it revives my faith in the potential greatness of movies. And now, having said enough to raise eyebrows, let the controversy begin." - Rex Reed

User Opinion: "Kids, witness the Master at work." - The Futurist

Reasoning: I've placed plenty of Spielberg films on my list, and surprise this won't be the last (or even second to last), and it's really because "Greatest of All Time" truly applies to Spielberg in his ability has a director.  Saving Private Ryan is a war movie at its best.  The opening scene in Normandy is absolutely brutal, and up there as one of the greatest war/battle scenes to have ever been put on a screen.  The characters in the film are all endearing and when one of them falls, it makes you really feel the pain of them falling.  The film is a touching take on sacrificing for idealism.  And despite it being a Spielberg film, the movie never borders on the line of sentimental, in-fact it's probably one of Berg's least sentimental pictures.  This is a way film that shows you the brutality of battle, but it's one that never loses its humanity.  An all-time great that's much better than Shakespeare in Love.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 15, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 32, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 1, 1970s: 1, 1990s: 1, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[chasmmi]

21 hours ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

I thought you were 16?

 

20 years from now, I think we will still all be assuming Ethan is still 16

[The Panda]

Number 44

Singin' In the Rain (1952)

 

"Lina. She can't act, she can't sing, she can't dance. A triple threat."

 

Most Valuable Player: Lennie Hayton for the Music

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars

Synopsis: A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Critic Opinion: "“Singin’ In the Rain” is a fancy package of musical entertainment with wide appeal and bright grossing prospects. Concocted by Arthur Freed with showmanship know-how, it glitters with color, talent and tunes, and an infectious air that will click with ticket buyers in all types of situations.  The Freed production has three stars, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. It should have a fourth, Jean Hagen, for certainly she figures just as importantly in socking the fun, grabbing big laughs even in such fast company as O’Connor et al. A solid directorial credit is divided between Kelly and Stanley Donen for joint handling of the Adolph Green-Betty Comden hilarious satire on Hollywood at the start of the “talkie” era. Pair also splits credit for staging and directing the musical numbers." - Variety Staff

User Opinion: "This movie's amazing; so quick and deft and smooth, just gliding along, entertaining you every second." - Telemachos

Reasoning: I've placed a lot of musicals on my list, and this isn't the last one, but Singin' in the Rain most definitely earns its spot on my list as one of the greatest musicals, as well as films ever made.  There are plenty of iconic musical numbers and sequences, all of which are rigorously entertaining.  The movie has no trouble pacing itself, it goes along briskfully and leaves you laughing and smiling the entire way through.  The film is excellent satire on early Hollywood films right at the beginning of the "Talkie" era and is fairly self-referential, knowing exactly what it is.  The amount of happiness and joy exerted in this movie is at a level where it's practically contagious, where you're simply happy because the actors on the screen are happy as well.  Singin' in the Rain is how you make a big, fun musical production.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 32, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 12, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 1, 1990s: 1, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1