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

[The Panda]

Number 43

Unforgiven (1992)

 

"We all got it coming, kid."

 

Most Valuable Player: Clint Eastwood for Directing and Starring

Box Office: 101,2m (211m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 95%

Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.

 

Critic Opinion: "Eastwood has wisely surrounded himself with top-gun actors like Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris, who are both terrific. But it’s Gene Hackman who will blow you away with his vigorous performance as the dangerously self-righteous Little Bill.  Eastwood, who manages to be convincingly docile as Munny, pulls off a startling character transformation. David Webb Peoples’ script contain some wonderfully punchy, dryly humorous lines.  “Unforgiven” is a high-caliber movie, a gripping and haunting work of art that should finally establish Eastwood as one of America’s best directors." - Carroll, New York Daily News

User Opinion: "An absolute masterpiece from start to finish." - Joel M

Reasoning: A surreal and powerful Western film that really sets itself apart in the genre.  While there were many Westerns on my list, that I love, many of them fall into pretty familiar tropes in their plots, themes, tone and characters.  However, in Unforgiven's case, it manages to take the Western trope and completely deconstruct it, creating a moving and powerful cinematic experience.  Unforgiven takes away the adventurous luster of the Western, and takes a much more somber approach, it shows you the brutality of the world that the characters are living in, which is often overlooked in so many sanitized action flicks that just don't realize how violent they really are.  Clint Eastwood not only demonstrates his ability as a movie star in this movie, but he shows that he has the capability of being a great director too.  Unforgiven is a look at legends, violence and the genre the film is present in, a truly great movie.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 4, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 42

Blade Runner (1982)

 

"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."

 

Most Valuable Player: Ridley Scott's Direction

Box Office: 27.6m (81.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 89%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars

Synopsis: A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Critic Opinion: "It's been so long now since Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller Blade Runner was first released (1982) that the futuristic setting – 2019 – no longer seems far off.  The best version to see is Blade Runner: The Final Cut – as the perfectionist director’s definitive cut is called — which is bleaker than the original but a more wonderfully immersive and true film.  The film is based on Philip K Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and is set in Los Angeles. The 'hero' is a detective called Deckard (expertly played by Harrison Ford), who hunts down androids – in the film they are called replicants – who have escaped from their slave jails on outer-space colonies and are trying to blend in back on Earth. Rutger Hauer's android Roy Batty is one of the most dangerous, yet appealing, 'monsters' in cinema." - Chilton, The Telegraph

User Opinion: "It's hard to pinpoint where a review for Blade Runner should begin.  It is impressive in so many different ways that it is near impossible to single one specific thing out.  It is very much like a machine in that every aspect works together to form the ultimate whole.  You simply would not have the same film if you take away any of the work on display here.  And what a piece of work it is.
 
It defies categorization, but perhaps the easy way to categorize the film is a mix of heavy noir with heavy sci-fi.  I'm going to be blunt here and just say this is a match made in heaven for me.  The most impressive aspect to me lies in the fact that is simultaneously contains the style inherent in noir and the philosophical musings found in superior sci-fi.  This does not even begin to note just how damn amazing the look is here.  As I said, it's hard to know where to begin here." - mattmav45

Reasoning: A bleak and fully realized futuristic vision, buried to the brim with material and commentary oozing out of not only the screenplay, but the gorgeous, bleak production design of Los Angeles.  The film can come across as trippy the first time you see it, as there's so much going on on the screen, it's a little hard to take everything in all in one viewing. Blade Runner is a movie that requires multiple viewings in order to begin to truly appreciate, as well as viewings of both cuts of the film.  This is a film that you like alright at first, not finding much wrong, and then it slowly grows and creeps on you just how much you liked the movie.  The film not only feels like a weird hallucination, but it comes across as an almost profound, futuristic vision of what it means to be human.  I can't want for Villeneuve to give his take on this perfected Sci-Fi World created by Scott.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 20, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 1, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

[The Stingray]

Gladiator - 8.5
The Godfather: Part II - 10
Ben-Hur - N/A
Life of Pi - 8.5
Spirited Away - N/A
Saving Private Ryan - 8.5
Singin' in the Rain - N/A
Unforgiven - 9.5
Blade Runner - 9.5
 

[baumer]

You just shot an unarmed man.

He shoulda armed himself, then.

 

Unforgiven is classic.

 

And so glad you mentioned that SPR is so much better than Weinsteins bought best picture that year.

[The Panda]

Number 41

The Godfather (1972)

 

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

 

Most Valuable Player: Francis Ford Coppola for his Direction and Writing

Box Office: 134m (680m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 99%

Notable Awards: Won 3 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Critic Opinion: "“The Godfather” is a stunning production. The Technicolor is subdued, right for a drama with the impact of this one. There never has been and probably never will be an ending as wonderously wrought as the unforgettable climax of “The Godfather.”  After the brilliant charity premiere at Loews State “The Godfather” settles down to continuous runs at five Loews theaters, State 1 and 2, Cine, Tower East and Orpheum." - Hale, New York Daily News (1972)

User Opinion: "My favorite of all time. Got the restoration blu-ray set for Christmas.I can discuss this movie all day long. The acting is just so superb. One of my favorite of all time scenes that doesn't discussed much is the scene where Vito gets shot and poor Fredo is so inept he can't even get the gun right to shoot back. The acting from John Cazale and the pain and guilt he feels because he couldn't do anything to help his father really gets to me. It's a small thing and would get un noticed but that's just how great the story and acting is from all the players." - ecstacy

Reasoning: This would probably be too low for many people's taste, both for this one and for Part 2, but I wouldn't take that too much as me knocking against the film, because I absolutely am not.  The Godfather is one of the greatest films ever made, from a technicality standpoint and from a person standpoint.  The screenplay is alive and fully realized. Each performance in this movie is absolutely phenomenal, especially by Al Pacino who was snubbed twice for his Oscar.  Coppola didn't direct tons of movies that'd I'd regard as classics, but he certainly delivered a small handful of undeniably all-time greats.  I really don't think The Godfather is a movie I have to spend too much time raving about for people to understand how good it is and why it deserves such a high ranking on the list.  The entire movie is simply technically perfect, and moving to the soul.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 21, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 7, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 2, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 40

Chinatown (1974)

 

"'Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

 

Most Valuable Player: Robert Towne for his Screenplay

Box Office: 29.2m (135.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder.
Critic Opinion: "“Chinatown” is an outstanding picture. Robert Towne’s complex but literate and orderly screenplay takes gumshoe Jack Nicholson on a murder manhunt all over the Los Angeles of 35 years ago, where Faye Dunaway, also above the title, is the wife of a dead city official. Roman Polanski’s American made film, first since “Rosemary’s Baby” shows him again in total command of talent and physical filmmaking elements.  Richard Sylbert’s production design is magnificent. The Paramount release, first to bear the producing credit of production chief Robert Evans, has money written all over it, and strong word of mouth should easily overcome any misconceptions suggested by the title.  Towne, whose most recent credit was the sensational adaptation of “The Last Detail,” in which Nicholson’s performance also was superb, has mixed a lot of period L.A. fact with some spicy fiction. The factual details – the procurement of water supplies for the Southern California area, profitable land acquisitions by knowledgeable insiders, etc. – may rattle a lot of civic skeletons in the closets of first families. It is easy to speak of Los Angeles admittedly prairie metropolis morality and behavior, but it must be remembered that the swindles and corruption and capers of the latterday pioneers rank with the worst in municipal rape." - Variety Staff

User Opinion: "One of the greatest films I will ever have the pleasure of seeing. Sheer perfection." - Jake Gittes

Reasoning: I'd write 5-6 lines gushing about this movie but forget it Jake, it's Chinatown.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 22, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 8, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 3, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

 

Number 39

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

 

"He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, piss off!"

 

Most Valuable Player: The Screenplay (many writers)

Box Office: 19.4m (66.9m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 96%

Notable Awards: Rated #181 on IMDb Top 250

Synopsis: Brian is born on the original Christmas, in the stable next door. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

Critic Opinion: "Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, utterly irreverent tale of a reluctant messiah whose impact proved somewhat less pervasive than that of his contemporary Jesus Christ, is just as wacky and imaginative as their earlier film outings. Film was shot using stunning Tunisian locales.  As an adult in Roman-occupied Palestine, Brian’s life parallels that of Jesus, as he becomes involved in the terrorist Peoples Front of Judea, works as a vendor at the Colosseum, paints anti-Roman graffiti on palace walls, unwittingly wins a following as a messiah and is ultimately condemned to the cross by a foppish Pontius Pilate." - TV Guide

User Opinion: "A classic satire, and a comedy masterpiece. Monty Python's finest hour." - Jack Nevada

Reasoning: One of the most hysterical films ever made, Life of Brian is proof that the Monty Python crew are absolute masters of comedy, no matter what medium they make their content in.  The film is infinitely quotable, with nearly every scene managing to be its own standout, this is a movie I can always watch and laugh just as hard as I did as the first time. And beyond the pure comedy, the film is brilliant satire on religions and how far people will go to follow something.  This movie also features possibly the greatest comedic sequence of all time to ever feature in a movie, it's truly great and almost made me place this film even higher than this rank. You know what, instead of spewing how funny this movie is, why don't I just show you with a few truly classic scenes.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 16, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 23, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 6, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 9, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 2, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

A truly moving and emotionally stirring stoning sequence

 

 

 

And the greatest comedic scene of all time

 

[franfar]

2 minutes ago, Beauty and The Panda said:

 

 

Number 39

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

 

 

Still haven't seen it

[The Panda]

Just now, franfar said:

Still haven't seen it

 

[The Panda]

Number 38

Vertigo (1958)

 

"You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing. You shouldn't have been that sentimental."

 

Most Valuable Player: Alfred Hitchock's Direction

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars

Synopsis: A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

Critic Opinion: "Alfred Hitchcock’s audaciously intricate melodrama, from 1958, concerns an acrophobic detective (James Stewart) who spurns the attentions of a fashion illustrator (Barbara Bel Geddes) to pursue his frustrated passion for a chilly, suicidal platinum-blond woman of mystery (Kim Novak). It’s as much a wonder of suspense as it is a catalogue of the director’s themes and an allegory for his own art of enticement—and for the erotic pitfalls of his métier. Novak’s famous transformations, Stewart’s haunted fabrications, and Bel Geddes’s unrequited longing are all tethered to the whim of another master plotter, the detective’s long-lost friend (Tom Helmore), whose marital suspicions are the MacGuffin with which Hitchcock unfurls his own obsessions: the tragic difference between friendship and love, the seductive power of style and disguise, the proximity of lust and madness, and the inseparability of sex from suspense, danger, and death. (The story is, among other things, a template for how Hitchcock makes a borrowed story his own.) The irrepressible allure of Hitchcock’s visual extravagance—his baroque swirl of caustic greens, voluptuous purples, acidic yellows, and fiery reds, and the indecent glare of daylight—conjures a torrent of unconscious desires beyond the realm of dramatic machinations; his happy ending, of health restored and crime punished, resembles an aridly monastic renunciation." - Brody, New Yorker

User Opinion: "i was wondering how hitchcock's most acclaimed movie would turn out. quite well, apprently. probably is his best." - lisa

Reasoning: Alfred Hitchock's masterwork, which is crazy to say given how many great films and masterpieces this man has been able to churn out throughout the years.  What makes Vertigo stand as the best of Hitchcock's works is he shows his tender ability to deconstruct himself.  Hitchcock takes the recipes and formulas that made so many of his movies successful and he breaks them all down in Vertigo, making possibly the most unique vision of Hitchock's filmography.  The movie is beautifully crafted, scary to a degree, and contains that same level of high-stakes suspense you'd expect out of Hitchcock.  The imagery of the movie is absolutely livid, each shot and sequence drawing you in and being a wonder to the eyes.  The movie is something you can watch multiple times and always find something new to appreciate in it.  Phenomenal.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 23, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 9, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 3, 1970s: 4, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 37

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

 

"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen."

 

Most Valuable Player: Stanley Kubrick for his Direction and Writing

Box Office: 26.6m (135.3m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 90%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: In future Britain, Alex DeLarge, a charismatic and psycopath delinquent, who likes to practice crimes and ultra-violence with his gang, is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem - but not all goes according to plan.

Critic Opinion: "It seems to me that by describing horror with such elegance and beauty, Kubrick has created a very disorienting but human comedy, not warm and lovable, but a terrible sum- up of where the world is at. With all of man's potential for divinity through love, through his art and his music, this is what it has somehow boiled down to: a civil population terrorized by hoodlums, disconnected porno art, quick solutions to social problems, with the only "hope" for the future in the vicious Alex.  It is hardly a cheery thought, which is why the sound of Gene Kelly singing "Singin' in The Rain" as we leave the theater is so disconcerting. It's really a banana peel for the emotions.    "A Clockwork Orange" might correctly be called dangerous only if one doesn't respond to anything else in the film except the violence. One critic has suggested that Kubrick has attempted to estrange us from any identification with Alex's victims so that we can enjoy the rapes and the beatings. All I can say is that I did not feel any such enjoyment. I was shocked and sickened and moved by a stylized representation that never, for a minute, did I mistake for a literal representation of the real thing.  Everything about "A Clockwork Orange" is carefully designed to make this difference apparent, at least to the adult viewer, but there may be a very real problem when even such stylized representations are seen by immature audiences. That, however, is another subject entirely, and one for qualified psychiatrists to ponder. In my opinion Kubrick has made a movie that exploits only the mystery and variety of human conduct. And because it refuses to use the emotions conventionally, demanding instead that we keep a constant, intellectual grip on things, it's a most unusual--and disorienting--movie experience."  - Canby, The New York Times

User Opinion: "One of Kubrick's most enjoyable films, imo. Here he has a clear sense of what the story is and what kind of message he wants to send, and he's helped by memorable performances and a wickedly dark sense of humor." - tribefan695

Reasoning: It's absolutely disturbing just how funny and comical this dark, dystopian sci-fi film manages to be.  So much to a point, that it almost feels like Kubrick's point isn't to show the terribleness of the human beings on screen, but just how terrible you are by how he manipulates it to enjoy it.  The film slams a powerful thematic punch by displaying the psychopath Alex, brilliantly portrayed by McDowell, and despite the awfulness of the man, he manages to match it with the awfulness of the world surrounding him, leaving you perplexed.  Is it truly Alex that is wrong, or is it the society that allowed for people like Alex to exist in the way they "rehabilitate" criminals and glorify ultra-violence?  The film is rich in ideas, production design, screenplay, and all of it is pulled together with a distinct and focused vision by Kubrick.  Like many of Kubrick's movies, this film was quite controversial when it was released, but that polarizing controversy is what makes this movie just the wild and maniacal masterpiece that it truly is.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 24, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 10, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 3, 1970s: 5, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

Warning: Scene is potentially NSFW as it features two people fighting with a Beethoven head and a penis sculpture

Spoiler

 

 

 

[The Panda]

This is the end!  My only friend!

 

Number 36

Apocalypse Now (1979)

 

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Francis Ford Coppola for Writing and Directing

Box Office: 78.8m (271.5m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis:  During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.

Critic Opinion: "In contrast to Coppola’s earlier ‘The Godfather Part II’ and ‘The Conversation’, ‘Apocalypse Now’ isn’t a conspicuously ‘smart’ film: literary references aside, there are no intellectual pretensions here. Instead, as befits both its tortuous hand-to-mouth genesis and the devastating conflict it reflects, this is a film of pure sensation, dazzling audiences with light and noise, laying bare the stark horror – and unimaginable thrill – of combat. And therein lies the true heart of darkness: if war is hell and heaven intertwined, where does morality fit in? And, in the final apocalyptic analysis, will any of it matter?" - Huddleston, Time Out

User Opinion: "One of the best films ever made. Brilliant, atmospheric and unforgetable. Everything is impressive but the final 30 minutes when Brando appears is something truly unforgetable. A film with so many layers and interpretations. Coppola during the 70's had the best streak ever starting with The Godfather up until Apocalypse Now!
 
The horror, the horror...
One of the best lines and deliveries ever." - acab

Reasoning: My favorite of Coppola's works, and what a way to finish off his 70s win streak of films!  Apocalypse Now is a movie that is packed to the brim with so many scenes and images that are completely out there.  There were many Vietnam War films that came out around this time period, and Apocalypse Now is the best out of all of them.  The movie manages to accomplish something over the top that none of the other 'Nam war movies were able to accomplish.  Apocalypse Now truly showed off the dizzying and hypnotic madness that was the Vietnam War.  The film showed the psychological effects, to the lucid and physical imagery that accompanied it.  This is the greatest "horrors of war" movie ever made, as I really can't think of another movie that shows off the hellish nature of war more than Apocalypse Now manages to do so.  A monumental film.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 25, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 11, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 3, 1970s: 6, 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 35

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

 

"Get out of my way son, you're usin' my oxygen."

 

Most Valuable Player: Jack Nicholson's Lead Performance

Box Office: 109m (464.4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 95%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

Critic Opinion: "Nicholson could always be relied on to supply a certain rakish charm. Here he actually becomes the brash, outspoken McMurphy, delighting us with his impudence and defiance. He also manages to expose yet another, less noticeable layer of McMurphy - his deep compassion for his fellow human beings, which acts as a balance for his otherwise violent nature. It is a performance of dazzling complexity and energy, the kind of perfect triumph that happens in those rare times when the right actor meets the challenge of the right role.  That the remainder of the cast is equally brilliant is a tribute not only to their talent, but to Forman’s ability to draw such natural responses from everyone. One must mention Louise Fletcher as the icily determined, hopelessly misguided Nurse Ratched, William Redfield as the ward’s fussy intellectual, Will Sampson as the Indian chief - a gentle giant - and Brad Dourif as the painfully tongue-tied victim of Nurse Ratched’s heartlessness.  “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is the best film therapy one can recommend." - Carroll, New York Daily News

User Opinion: "It definitely is my kind of movie, where characters are not defined by their evilness or their goodness, where people are shown as complex animals that they are instead of simplistic stereotypes that some filmmakers like to shove down your throat to make their vision of reality work.  The last sequence is the absolute highlight of the movie." - Goffe

Reasoning: Absolutely spectacular in every way you could put it.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a film that neither defines heroes, villains, crazy or sane, but simply crafts a set compelling characters and lets the craziness all happen completely naturally.  It's a brilliant work of filmmaking.  In it, Jack Nicholson gives not only the best performance of his career, but one of the best performances of all-time.  A Top 10, or even top 5 of all time level performance by Nicholson.  That's also not to diminish the other cast members of this piece, as they all are perfectly done in how naturally their characters act, and how well they work together as an ensemble.  Milos Forman as a director is also spot on in how he approaches this film, and you have to credit a lot of the great performance work by the actors to him as well.  The film is still thematically relevant in its ideas, and never ceases to be entertaining without losing its depth and honesty.  Pure and perfect cinema.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 33, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 13, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 3, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 2, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 34

Pulp Fiction (1994)

 

"But Marcellus Wallace don't like to be fucked by anybody except Mrs. Wallace."

 

Most Valuable Player: Quentin Tarantino for his Direction and Screenplay

Box Office: 107.9m (219.6m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 96%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Critic Opinion: "Quentin Tarantino's astonishing "Pulp Fiction" is a slow dance on the killing ground, a great horror-comedy done tongue-in-cheek, with a wacko wit and buoyancy that belie its seeming cruelty. Expanding on the violence, virtuoso tough-guy acting and verbal dazzle of his brilliant 1992 debut movie, "Reservoir Dogs"-pulling out homages and steals from all over the hard-boiled film noir map-Tarantino has craftily, artfully fashioned the buddy-buddy movie from hell, an art movie lover's super-thriller and a charnel house romantic comedy punctuated with massacres." - Wilimgton, Chicago Tribune

User Opinion: "This may not be for everyone as some people forget this is a film and they think it is a documentary on life and they get offended because it is not about love and honesty and morals and all that other crap that exists in some Hollywood films. This is a film that takes all that you have ever known about film and bludgeons it to death with a pen and paper. It redefines what is acceptable and what is off beat and all it asks you to do is enjoy this film for 2 and a half hours. I did, immensely, and I think most people will, and have. If you really have not seen this, then you are robbing yourself of one of the best cinematic experiences in the history of film. This is easily one of the best films ever made. How anyone can disagree is beyond my understanding and I can't see how you can truly call yourself a film fan if you can't see the brilliance of this film." - Baumer

Reasoning: Pulp Fiction was wildly outrageous and inventive in its narrative structure, to its unapologetic use of violence, profanity and pop-culture, and simply the controversial (yet brilliant) nature of the movie.  The film creates a sense of nihilism and archaism in every aspect of the its structure, giving an aimless sense of meaning to everything that transpires on the screen.  Beyond that, the movie is simply entertaining and original to the highest degree, never ceasing to be less than 100% enjoyable, even when it makes your stomach curl up a little bit.  I found every aspect of the movie to work, and when everything intertwines it's way together to wrap up at the end, it brings a sense of meaning to the random craziness that all happened throughout the film.  Pulp Fiction is a pinnacle point for noir filmmaking.

Decade Count: 1930s: 9, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 34, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 1, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 14, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1950s: 3, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 33

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

 

"Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that."

 

Most Valuable Player: Sidney Buchman for the Screenplay

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 94%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down.

Critic Opinion: "If that synopsis is balder than the Capitol's dome, it is because there is not space here for all the story detail, the character touches, the lightning flashes of humor and poignance that have gone into Mr. Capra's two-hour show. He has paced it beautifully and held it in perfect balance, weaving his romance lightly through the political phases of his comedy, flicking a sardonic eye over the Washington scene, racing out to the hinterland to watch public opinion being made and returning miraculously in time to tie all the story threads together into a serious and meaningful dramatic pattern. Sidney Buchman, who wrote the script, has his claim on this credit, too, for his is a cogent and workmanlike script, with lines worthy of its cast.  And there, finally, Mr. Capra has been really fortunate. As Jefferson Smith, James Stewart is a joy for this season, if not forever. He has too many good scenes, but we like to remember the way his voice cracked when he got up to read his bill, and the way he dropped his hat when he met the senior Senator's daughter, and the way he whistled at the Senators when they turned their backs on him in the filibuster, (He just wanted them to turn around so he could be sure they still had faces.) Jean Arthur, as the secretary—lucky girl being secretary to both Deeds and Smith—tosses a line and bats an eye with delightful drollery. Claude Rains, as the senior Senator, Edward Arnold, as the party steam-roller, Thomas Mitchell, as a roguish correspondent, are splendid all.  Have we forgotten to mention it? "Mr. Smith" is one of the best shows of the year. More fun, even, than the Senate itself." - Nugent, The New York Times

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a film that'll probably turn a few heads from people on these forums on why exactly this movie made my list (and there'll be another one a little bit later that'll turn even more for similar reasons), mostly because even though I wouldn't call it an obscure classic, it isn't well known here.  Frank Capra is one of the great directors from the early years of film history, directing movies that are filled with sentiment, humor and charm, and Mr Smith Goes to Washington is a movie that embodies just about everything that made Capra such a great director.  James Stewart demonstrates his range as an actor in this movie, fully embodying the good-natured Mr. Smith as he attempts to take on the corruption in Washington.  There's rich lines of dialogue that are full of true American patriotism and it stands as one of the most fun political movies to have ever been made.  This is a classic film that you should definitely take some time to go and watch.

Decade Count: 1930s: 10, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 34, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 2, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 14, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1930s: 1 1950s: 3, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

This next movie I am also putting at number 33, because I forgot to include it when I started the list, but I absolutely had to add it in.  It's that essential.  (This will also mean that I have 4? movies from 1939 in my top 50)

 

Number 33 - Part 2

Stagecoach (1939)

 

"Well, you gotta live no matter what happens."

 

Most Valuable Player: John Ford's Direction

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.

Critic Opinion: "Ford never makes the mistake of cutting so quickly that the sense and context of an action sequence is lost. The extended stagecoach chase always makes sense, and he allows his camera to be clear about the stunt work. Consider this extraordinary stunt: An Apache leaps from his own horse onto the stagecoach team, straddling the lead horses. He is shot. He falls between the horses to the ground, and the horses and stagecoach pass entirely over him. No CGI here; he risks his life.  Wayne is the hero of the film, but not an "action hero." He was manifestly a bad man; the "Ringo Kid" doesn't get his picture on Wanted posters for nothing. But he never suggests evil, and seems prepared to be taken to prison even though he has many opportunities to escape. There is the suggestion he stays with the stagecoach because he is needed to protect its passengers, especially the two women. We see here Wayne's extraordinary physical grace and capacity for tenderness, and understand why Ford later cast him as "The Quiet Man."" - Roger Ebert

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: Stagecoach is a Western that is going to seem fairly archetypal if you watch it now, it'll be hard to see the revelations that were made in this film when you compare it to modern cinema.  Stagecoach is a film that really created the Western genre, sure there were Western's before this, but it's hard to deny the sheer influence this had.  Not only that, but it began John Wayne's career and his attachment to John Ford as a director, creating a dynamic duo that crafted so many great pieces of cinema.  John Ford really demonstrates his ability as a director in this movie to shoot some truly exhilarating and risky action sequences, and the film as a whole is still an absolute blast to watch today nearly 80 years after it has been made.  The score roars loudly and beautifully, and John Wayne excels in his lead performance.  Stagecoach is the classic of classics when it comes to Westerns.

Decade Count: 1930s: 11, 1940s: 13, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 34, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 14, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1930s: 2, 1950s: 3, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 32

Citizen Kane (1941)

 

"Rosebud."

 

Most Valuable Player: Orson Welles for Directing, Writing and Starring

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.

Critic Opinion: "From the tight log cabin of Kane’s youth to the cavernous castle he builds himself to die in, from a fecund breakfast parlour to a mausoleum-like library, built environments are put to richly expressive use throughout the film. Many of the novel techniques Welles developed with cinematographer Gregg Toland were calculated to offer new angles on film space: as well as refining deep-focus photography, they used camera tricks to elide scales and locations, and dug holes in the floor to shoot upwards.   But there’s a constant tension between the freedom with which the camera creeps, swoops and climbs and the restrictions bearing on the characters’ behaviour: the more lavish the buildings get, the more ammunition they provide for the picture’s scepticism about the pursuit of material acquisition. Welles remained alive to the expressive potential of architecture throughout his career, from the doomed richness of the Ambersons’ mansion to the splendidly anonymous Chartres cathedral in ‘F for Fake’." - Walters, Time Out

User Opinion: "We judge a movie by its execution of the story. The execution is revolutionary. Because a story had never been told that way in cinema. It's just set a standard in illustrating "The rise and fall of a character". It invented a new cinematographic language most directors use nowadays on daily basis. I mean Nolan built his whole schtick of fragmented narrative puzzle and convoluted temporality on Citizen Kane, 60 years after its release!
 
What other movies of that era can brag about that? You can't dissociate its story to the way it is narrated. That's what makes Citizen Kane the achievement and the crown jewel it is in movie history." - dashrender

Reasoning: At first it was boo'ed when it won its Oscar, and then it was re-discovered as the greatest movie ever made, and then many people on the internet backlashed against it because any movie hailed at the "Greatest Movie Ever Made" is going to receive some.  Even though this is number 32 on my list, I wouldn't argue with somebody who put this at number 1, while I would raise eyes at somebody who thought it was bad or mediocre in anyway.  Citizen Kane is a groundbreaking movie in the cinematography, to the way the film is paced and edited, to the way it depicts the "rise and fall" epic narrative.  Orson Welles not only directs the hell out of this movie, and not only does he write one of the most compelling screenplays ever written, he also manages to be a charismatic lead performer.  While Citizen Kane may not be my personal favorite of all time, it's easy to see why this movie is hailed as the greatest.

Decade Count: 1930s: 11, 1940s: 14, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 21, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 34, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 2, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 14, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1930s: 2, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 3, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

 

[franfar]

@Beauty and The Panda how badly does baumer hate Citizen Kane

[The Panda]

Just now, franfar said:

@Beauty and The Panda how badly does baumer hate Citizen Kane

 

Ask him yourself! @baumer

 

Number 31

Dr Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

 

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

 

Most Valuable Player: Stanley Kubrick's Direction and Writing

Box Office: 9.2m (85.2m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 99%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

Critic Opinion: "Like most of his work, Stanley Kubrick's deadly black satirical comedy-thriller on cold war madness and its possible effects (1964) has aged well: the manic, cartoonish performances of George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, and Peter Sellers (in three separate roles, including the title part) look as brilliant as ever, and Kubrick's icy contempt for 20th-century humanity may find its purest expression in the figure of Strangelove himself, a savage extrapolation of a then-obscure Henry Kissinger conflated with Wernher von Braun and Dr. Mabuse to suggest a flawed, spastic machine with Nazi reflexes that ultimately turns on itself." - Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

User Opinion: "One of the best black comedies ever. Sellars is great, as usual, but the real surprise (for me) is George C. Scott, going all out in an amazingly demented way." - Telemachos

Reasoning: An absolutely demented and hysterical black comedy and satire that fully shows off how not only genius Kubrick was, but how the man had the the biggest pair of balls of steel in Hollywood.  Imagine a film being made today that takes a dramatic and realistic Military "War Room" setting, a compelling drama, and then plays the entire thing for laughs, making complete fun of the military think-style at the time it was made.  What makes the movie even more relevant, is that the actual plot going on the screen is something that'd make for an entirely compelling and suspenseful drama on its own, but it's the twisted hilarity of it all that pushes it over the edge.  The performances in the film are completely spot on, especially with Sellars in the lead the role.  It's hard to get comedy on a higher level than this one right here.

Decade Count: 1930s: 11, 1940s: 14, 1950s: 17, 1960s: 22, 1970s: 26, 1980s: 36, 1990s: 34, 2000s: 28, 2010s: 28
Top 100 Decade Count: 1930s: 3, 1940s: 2, 1950s: 7, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 5, 1990s: 14, 2000s: 7, 2010s: 11
Top 50 Decade Count: 1930s: 2, 1940s: 1, 1950s: 3, 1960s: 1, 1970s: 7 1980s: 1, 1990s: 3, 2000s: 2, 2010s: 1

 

 

 

 

 

[Ethan Hunt]

Citizen Kane is soooooooooooooooo  good