BOT Top 100 Movies of All Time: The Empire Strikes Back... Again... For the Third Time...

[The Stingray]

2 minutes ago, Goffe said:

the Indiana Jones movies are all pretty mediocre, but there are worse movies out there so I'm okay with them being in the list.

[Skullpoopl]

1 hour ago, Tower said:

 

Their are plenty of films that I might find mediocre, or OK but nothing special. But unlike some people there are very few films that I actively dislike, maybe 2% of films that I see (although I watch films that I am predisposed to like). Citizen Kane is easily one of those, and has a place of honour in my bottom 10 of all time. The other films on this list might be worse in some aspects by having stupid plot lines, obvious plot holes, bad blurry action, bad acting and unfunny jokes. Where Citizen Kane really outshines its fellow films on the list at being terrible at, is that it is just so excruciatingly boring, that I just couldn't care about any of what happened in it. No film has ever given me as strong of a feeling of "I wish I were doing almost anything else rather than watching this film right now" as Citizen Kane did.

 

I'll jump on the CK hate train... Citizen Kane is a pompous, melodramatic, pointless, pretentious bore.

 

"But but but... the camera angles! The innovative editing style!"

 

Fucking bore.

 

[Dementeleus]

What's funny is that KANE isn't pompous or pretentious.

[Goffe]

53 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Being routinely proclaimed the greatest movie of all time over several decades has done Kane more harm than good.

Pretty much.

[The Panda]

Number 75

Memento (2000)

32 Points (15 Votes, Avg Score 45.2)

 

"We all lie to ourselves to be happy."

 

Top 10 Placements: 1 Placement

Changes in Rankings Over Time: 2014 (32, -43), 2013 (51, -24), 2012 (25, -50)

Tomatometer: 92%

Box Office: 25.54m (38.72m Adjusted)

Most Notable Award Recognition: Nominated 2 Oscars

IMDb Synopsis: Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

Critic Opinion: "But the real brilliance of "Memento" is the way in which Nolan tells the story. In a word: backward, with events unfolding for the audience in the same way they unfold for Pearce's character.  "It's a tricky balance at the beginning, " Nolan says. "You're intriguing the audience and confusing the audience, and, at the same time, just giving them enough time to connect with the material."  And connect it does, no matter if you're watching it the first time or the 10th time." - Mike Scott

User Opinion: "Arguably the most innovative use of non linear storytelling ever utilized in film.  (*SPOILERS*) I loved the part where the drunk was laughing after Leonard drank his beer, which was confusing at first, but then in the next scene (or is it previous?) we see that he spit in it.  But it's where we see that Carrie-Anne Moss' character using him the whole time that was the ultimate twist." - Squaremaster

Personal Comment: Memento marks the first Nolan film to make the list and it is also one of the biggest drop-offs from the the previous years' lists yet.  Often revered as one of Nolan's best, Memento is the 4th film from the 2000s decade to be featured and is also another inclusion of a more indie level production.  The film is often viewed as mind bending of a sorts and because of this often warrants many repeat viewings (which may explain how it manages to make its mark on the list of many fans).  

 

 

[Wrath]

That's a heck of a good movie.

 

Did you track which movies got the most individual votes? I'm curious if the drop-off is from Memento getting fewer overall votes (or, rather, being on a lower % of the # of votes cast) or if the people who voted for it had it lower on their lists than voters in prior years.

[Tower]

Memento is by easily the highest film from my list to make it so far, great film. Though unfortunately this drop suggests that all of the Nolan films will be dropping this year.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Tower

[Dementeleus]

I don't think any Nolan movies made my list.

[Kalo]

I still haven't seen memento, in fact there is already quite a few on here I haven't seen.

[Empire]

Memento was 1 of 2 Nolan films to make my list. 

[The Panda]

Number 74

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

34 Points (6 Votes, Avg Score 10.1667)

"People scare better when they're dying."

 

Top 5 Placements: 1 Placement

Top 10 Placements: 4 Placements

Changes in Ranking Over Time: 2014 (97, +23), 2013 (92, +28), 2012 (Not Ranked)

Tomatometer: 98%

Box Office: N/A

Most Notable Awards Recognition: Ranked #28 on IMDb

IMDb Synopsis: Story of a young woman, Mrs. McBain, who moves from New Orleans to frontier Utah, on the very edge of the American West. She arrives to find her new husband and family slaughtered, but by whom? The prime suspect, coffee-lover Cheyenne, befriends her and offers to go after the real killer, assassin gang leader Frank, in her honor. He is accompanied by Harmonica, a man already on a quest to get even.

Critic Opinion: "Cardinale's Jill is the first significant female character in a Leone film since The Colossus of Rhodes, back when he was just a hack; even then, it's worth noting that the female lead there was revealed to be the villain. Here, she is an ex-whore who is the only one of the four leads that the film can't figure out: Harmonica is the taciturn amoral man who gets things done that need doing, Frank is the evil avatar of greed and rapine, Cheyenne is a well-meaning lapsed Romantic. Jill is first seen as the rugged, knows-what-she-wants sort, who turns into a lost and confused victim, before ending as... I don't even know what to make of the last few scenes, and the way they present her character. Domesticity is praised, that much is clear, but the degree to which Jill is expected to be a traditional woman at the end is wildly hard to make out. I get the impression that Leone set out to make her a strong Action Girl type, and lost his nerve, eventually shoving her offstage altogether - despite having top billing, Cardinal gets the least face time of the main actors. And it's worth noting the strong woman from the East, a stock character, has to be made a whore before she can join Leone's boys' club, and that the only moment in the last half of the film where she gets to express any real autonomy is a scene in which she fucks the villain to protect herself - a scene that could easily be cut without damaging the story much at all.

 

I don't know if there's any lesson that can be drawn from this, other than that Leone was profoundly uncomfortable with female characters, and could only deal with them by framing them as masculine fantasies (the cold-blooded femme fatale in Colossus, a gorgeous tomboy hooker here). Once Upon a Time in the West gets enough so amazingly right in its depiction of the waning days of the frontier that I'm not inclined to make much of it, though it is a considerably sour note in what is otherwise one of the pinnacles of world cinema." - Tim Brayton

User Opinion: "One of the three or four greatest films I've ever seen. First time I watched it, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (out of eone's films I'd only seen A Fistful of Dollars prior to it) and had a somewhat mixed reaction - the cinematography, the music, _that_ flashback scene, Bronson's coolness, Fonda's evilness, Robards' likability and Cardinale's beauty all instantly knocked me off my seat, but the very deliberate pacing and storytelling had me scratching my head. Still, there was a certain magnetic quality to the film that left me convinced I was going to return to it before long, and sure enough, by the third viewing I admired every single thing in there and wished I could spend as much time as possible in the film's world. A magnificent epic on the passing of the mythic Old West and the archetypes that inhabited it, with some of the finest cinematography and original music of all time."

Personal Comment: Once Upon a Time in the West manages to make the countdown as the 2nd film from the 60s and as the film with the least amount of votes on the list, mostly because the people who voted for it really loved it (including myself, as it's easily one of my top 10 favorites of all time).  This also received quite a large increase on the list due to the emphasis I put in the voting on an individual's top 10. The movie is an underrated masterpiece that is often placed in the shadow of Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly when talking about classic Westerns, but in my opinion is superior to any other Western I've seen (nearly any other movie I've seen also, at that).  The film also features one of my favorite screenplays and probably the legendary Morricone's best work with his spine-chilling score  There's many fantastic gems out there that are often overlooked, but Leone's masterpiece soars above all of them, if there were any film on this list I'd recommend everyone to go see as soon as possible, it's this one.

 

 

[Dementeleus]

Arguably the best Western ever made. (Personally, I put THE WILD BUNCH higher, but OUATITW is worthy of being in the discussion.)

[The Panda]

20 minutes ago, Wrath said:

That's a heck of a good movie.

 

Did you track which movies got the most individual votes? I'm curious if the drop-off is from Memento getting fewer overall votes (or, rather, being on a lower % of the # of votes cast) or if the people who voted for it had it lower on their lists than voters in prior years.

 

There were 47 lists and Memento received 15 individual votes which is probably near the average number of votes movies on the countdown got, maybe a little below that.

[Infernus]

So 5 out of its 6 votes were top 10 for an average rank of 10.1667? Thats impressive.

[chasmmi]

Memento appearing increases the chance of Interstellar missing out, so I can live with that. The Prestige popping up to would be quite lovely also.

 

Still no Casablanca is something I will also take as a good sign at this point...

[The Stingray]

Greatest opening scene ever?
 

[4815162342]

7 minutes ago, The Stingray said:

Greatest opening scene ever?
 

 

It's up there.

 

I didn't have OUaTitW on my list this time (narrow miss) but I am glad for its inclusion.

[The Panda]

Number 73

Boyhood (2014)

34 Points (13 Votes, Avg Score 42.5385)

 

"I just thought there would be more."

 

Top 10 Placements: 2 Placements

Changes in Rankings Over Time: 2014 (Not Ranked), 2013 (Not Ranked), 2012 (Not Ranked)

Tomatometer: 98%

Box Office: 25.35m (26.88m Adjusted)

Most Notable Awards Recognition: Won 1 Oscar, also ranked as The Panda's #1 Movie of 2014 on his BOT Countdown (Big Honor)

IMDb Synopsis: Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason's parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay's Yellow to Arcade Fire's Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.

Critic Opinion: "Linklater has already experimented with time in his Before trilogy with Hawke and Julie Delpy, who play the same characters in three movies over an 18-year period, each film set within a 12-hour time frame. The risk in Boyhood was obviously much greater, though the quasi-documentary approach allows the freedom of not having to tie up all the narrative loose ends.  At one point, Olivia advises an immigrant gardener to go back to school, and he pops up a few years later in a new role, grateful for her advice. But those happy coincidences are as rare as they are in life. Other characters – including Mason and Lorelei’s unhappy stepsiblings – simply fall out of the picture, as people sometimes do.  Though photography and cinema have long made special claims for representing reality, in the era of computer-generated imagery and Instagram home snaps we no longer assume that any film is an accurate record of life. Yet Linklater’s experiment in temporal sampling reminds us how much film can serve as a gateway to a larger reality. Throughout Boyhood, we recognize one moment after another, and those moments trigger our own sense of the patterns in our lives." - Liam Lacey

User Opinion: "I wanted to expand upon why I think this is one of the best, and most important movies to come out in many years. This movie succeeds not only being just a great piece of film-making, but gives new definition of coming-of-age. There have been a lot of coming of age stories I've really enjoyed the last couple of years. Some of my favorites include Super 8, The Way Way Back, and now Boyhood. Even during my younger years growing up, I enjoyed movies like The Goonies and The Sandlot. This movie not only managed to be a great coming-of-age story, but it did it like none of the others have before. Seeing the main protagonist growing up before the viewers eyes was incredible. Not just seeing the young boy grow up(Ellar Coltrane), but seeing the others grow up as well. It was cool see what Ethan Hawke looked like back in 2002, as well as Patricia Arquette. We got to see Mason's sister Samantha grow up as well. It's damn entertaining to see how these characters grow and change overtime.  Being filmed over 11 years, I never got the feeling Boyhood or Linklater overused this 'gimmick.' I got a real feeling of nostalgia watching this movie. From beginning to end. Not b/c of the filming technique which started back in 2002 and took place over 12, it had a lot to do with it, but b/c of the dialogue and situations we see throughout the movie. Seeing these characters interact with each other through the years at various points in time was entertaining. There were points in time where the characters talked about Harry Potter, or talked about movies which came out during the year, or events that happened like September 11th, and the presidential election between McCain and Obama. Linklater did a great job of showcasing growth of technology. From Razr Phones to IPhones. From Gamecubes and PS1 and 2, to X-Box 360 and PS4. The protagonist even played Oregon Trail 3 on a computer, I remember playing that game many a times growing up, Some of the other reviewers mentioned Dragon Ball Z as well. 
 
One of the reviewers mentioned nothing of intrigue happened during this movie. I disagree strongly with that remark. We got to see the main protagonist grow up before our eyes. He experienced many important events. Like his first girlfriend, or winning 2nd in the photography contest, seeing his mom go through two divorces, breaking up with his girlfriend, graduating and going off to college, getting his first job, and et al. I don't believe this movie is full of short-segments where nothing happens. Not in the least.
 
Boyhood is one great coming of age story. It surpasses the other ones made b/c it felt so different, but original. The ending moved me in ways very few movies can. The mother explaining life was just a series of events, we go from one event to the next, is so true. Life is about living in the moment. It wasn't till the end, till I got the true message of what Linklater was trying to say. Boyhood is the best movie of the year for me, and one of the best of the decades. Hope this movie gets many nominations come oscar time. It's locked for Best Original Screenplay, but it should also get nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor(Ethan Hawke)." - FilmBuff

Personal Opinion: While Linklater may have missed out on his amazing efforts of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, he was able to get on the list with his most recent and most famous effort, Boyhood.  Boyhood is the 7th film from the 2010s to make the list, which ties it back up with the 80s on the decade contest.  The movie managed to strike a chord right upon release with its innovative form of storytelling and poignant message told through the structure of the movie.  While the movie ultimately got snubbed out of the Oscar, it was the one that's managed to establish a quiet indie legacy based on its heart touching and emotional touch in a quiet way only Linklater seems to know how to pull off.

 

https://youtu.be/8C64EO5YdmU

Edited May 17, 2016 by The Panda

[Empire]

Boyhood didn't make my list, but it is certainly worthy of making the list. 

[James]

19 hours ago, The Panda said:

Number 82

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

30 Points (14 Votes, Avg Score 43.3571)

 

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

 

Top 10 Placements: 1

Changes in Rankings Over Time: 2014 (56, -26), 2013 (49, -33), 2012 (48, -34)

Tomatometer: 95%

Box Office: 108.98m (460.62m Adjusted)

Most Notable Awards Recognition: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

IMDb Synopsis: McMurphy has a criminal past and has once again gotten himself into trouble and is sentenced by the court. To escape labor duties in prison, McMurphy pleads insanity and is sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. Once here, McMurphy both endures and stands witness to the abuse and degradation of the oppressive Nurse Ratched, who gains superiority and power through the flaws of the other inmates. McMurphy and the other inmates band together to make a rebellious stance against the atrocious Nurse.

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." - Kathleen Carrol

User Opinion: "Brilliant film, Forman's best. The cast and performances are superb, it's not only Nicholson. Louise Fletcher's only noteworthy appearance (imho) but what a haunting and elusive antagonist she makes as nurse Ratched! Brad Dourif, Danny deVito, Christopher Lloyd! And lots more!
It's one of a few films that dispense with film music. There are a few notes, especially beginning/ending, but most of the time it's just the sounds and dialogue. When nurse Ratched puts on music, it's part of the plot. It makes for a really gritty atmosphere.
My favourite scenes: When they "escape" and steal a boat for a day's deep-sea fishing. It underlines how much happines there could be and so makes the institution even more opressive by contrast.

Visually it's by-the-numbers, but you don't need creative cinematography with such a terrific cast and story and dense atmoshere. The set-up is so simple this could be a good stage play." - IndustriousAngel

Personal Comment: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is another film that suffered a relatively large drop off over the last three years, very similar to Saving Private Ryan.  The movie marks another appearance by Nicholson on the list, and the second film from the 70s to make the list.  The movie received fantastic reception upon release, and strangely adjusts to quite a large amount of money given its nature as a drama (But then again, the film landscape was much different in the 70s than right now).  The film is another one nearly everyone has seen and liked to some extent, and has oddly made its own little place in cinematic history.

 

 

OMG. I remember seeing this in english class. The most boring, pretentious piece of shit I've ever watched.