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

[The Panda]

Number 136

Up (2009)

 

"That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."

 

Most Valuable Player: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson for Directing and Writing

Box Office: 293m (340m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars, nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: Seventy-eight year old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his home equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.

Critic Opinion: "PIXAR extends the longest winning streak in Hollywood history with “Up,” an exquisite work of cinematic art that also happens to be the funniest, most touching, most exciting and most entertaining movie released so far this year.  The animation studio’s latest instant classic — and its first offered in 3-D in many theaters — is also the best directed and written film I’ve seen thus far in 2009, and quite possibly this century." - Lumenick, New York Post

User Opinion: "Exceptionally good. Made me cry like a bitch during the first 15 minutes, and that never happens."

Reasoning; Obviously, this movie is most known for the first 15 minutes that make even the toughest and thick-skinned among us cry like a baby.  However, I'll wager to say that this movie is incredible the entire way through, not just for the all-time classic opening.  The characters are endearing, and the entire film takes a heavy theme of loss and moving forward from it in life and translates it into something digestible to all audiences, without losing the brevity of the topic.  The jazz-inspired score is among Pixar's best, and Pete Docter shows that he is likely the best director to ever work in animation, and somebody who knows how to tap into human emotions.  Up is deservingly one of the very few animated films to ever be nominated for Best Picture.

Decade Count: 1930s: 7, 1940s: 8, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 11, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

[The Panda]

It may be a few days (or maybe not at all, depending on how connection is where I am going and if I have time) before I post anymore, so here are some hints of movies to come

 

140: An old fantasy film

130: Stranger Things?

129: Trains!

128: Aeroplanes!

127: A grand historical epic masterpiece that won many Oscars, made more money than anyone expected, and starred Leonardo DiCaprio in a career defining role.  Directed by a man who certain people on these forums have very vocal opinions about

122: SADDEST MOVIE EVA

 

117: 

 

[chasmmi]

129: Under Siege

 

128: Air Force One

 

127: It's great to see Man in the Iron Mask getting some love  

 

122: Lassie come home?

 

117: What Women Want

[The Panda]

Going to get back on this later today!

[RandomCat]

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:50 PM, The Panda said:

Now for me to reveal the best comic book movie of all-time... What am I truly a fanboy of?  Nolan's Dark Knight?  MCU?  Howard the Duck?  OSCAR WINNING SUICIDE SQUAD??

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

NOPE, NONE OF THE ABOVE!  X GON' GIVE IT TO YA

 

NUMBER 143

DEADPOOL (2016)

 

"Time to make the chimi-fuckin'-changas."

 

Most Valuable Player: Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

Box Office: 363.1m (365.8m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 84%

Notable Awards: PGA, WGA AND EDDIE NODS, PLUS NOMINATED FOR THE GOLDEN GLOBE FOR BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL and BEST ACTOR

Synopsis: A fast-talking mercenary with a morbid sense of humor is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers and a quest for revenge.

Critic Opinion: "Deadpool is what Spider-man should have been. He was the smartest, fastest and funniest of the Marvel stable, but the humor never made it to the big screen in either version.  Deadpool does.  This is the rare movie where you wish you’d been a fly on the wall when it was written. Writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick (Zombieland) and Miller start with the funniest opening credits in history and keep up the comic pace through Reynolds’ ending outtake. Pay attention. You won’t want to miss a single line." - Wolcott, Tri-City Herald

User Opinion: "Finally saw it a second time and liked it even more the second time.  I didn't get the visual joke the first time when Deadpool uses the dead bodies to spell out Francis.  I also laughed more at the joke about Ryan Reynolds not getting by on his acting alone.  
 
This is one of the most enjoyable films I've ever seen and imo, it's up there with TDK and Avengers as the best super hero film ever made.

Reasoning: The best superhero movie ever made, Deadpool isn't only the best comic book movie, it's simply a perfect movie (for what it's trying to be).  There is not a single flaw in this film.  None.  If you try to name one to me I will fanrage at you and tell you you're wrong.  There is no way they could have been a better Deadpool movie than this one.  The film is briskly paced, it turns the cliche of the overdone superhero origin story and make it hilarious.  It's gutsy, it's bold, it has a clear vision and it's an absolute wonder that it was made.  I only see this movie climbing up my list over time, maybe in a few years it'll even be in my top 100!  Honestly though, they should just quit making comic book movies now because there's no way they'll be able to top this one.

Decade Count: 1930s: 6, 1940s: 7, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 9, 1970s: 11, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 15, 2010s: 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

FTFY

[The Panda]

Number 135

The Deer Hunter (1978)

 

"A deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don't listen."

 

Most Valuable Player: The Acting Ensemble

Box Office: 50m (181.1m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 94%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

Critic Opinion: "Everyone knows by now that Vietnam was a cruel, unnecessary war but, in “The Deer Hunter,” director Michael Cimino sees it as only more alarming evidence that society has grown increasingly callous and even disrespectful of life. In trying to measure the devastating impact of Vietnam on the lives of three American soldiers, Cimino brings home the true horror of that senseless conflict in a way that the 6 O’Clock News never could.  In ferociously intense, chillingly brutal scenes, this bravely innovative, kingsized movie (one should be warned that it runs over three hours) enables one to fully understand why this particular war not only destroyed the hopes and dreams of America’s young men, but why it left so many of them permanently shattered and alienated from society." -  Carroll, New York Daily News

User Opinion: "The first 100 minutes or so and the ending are basically flawless. Most of the third hour I'm not so sure about - it certainly became less sharp and coherent, and could have used another 10 or 15 minutes to help put things into focus. But at its best I thought this was an epic on both a grand and a human scale, a film as tremendously passionate as it was technically grand; it had me glued to my seat for the entirety of its runtime. The three-way juxtaposition of the happiness of marriage, the devastation of war, and the ruined life afterwards may not be subtle, but it hits hard. (On a human scale, I honestly think that cut from the characters quietly sitting in the bar, one of them playing a beautiful melody, to the explosions and killings in Vietnam rivals the bone-to-spaceship cut in 2001 in its power, except the effect is directly opposite). The final scene got tears out of me. Will see it again for sure." - Jake Gittes

Reasoning: While some may call it dated, The Deer Hunter is a mixture of grandeur and intimacy that delivers one of the most effective movies of the horrors of War and its mental effect on soldiers that has ever been made.  Part of what makes the movie work is brilliant ensemble work from Walken, Streep and De Niro, as well the rest of the cast, plus some delicate direction by Cimino.  The film treads a balance of brutality and the evolution of the human relationships and psyche.  The film feels both poetic and tragic in its structure.  The Deer Hunter is one of the great all-time war epics.

Decade Count: 1930s: 7, 1940s: 8, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 134

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

 

"You still think it's beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, it's better not to die at all."

 

Most Valuable Player: Lewis Milestone's Direction and Imagery

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Won 2 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

Critic Opinion: "“You still think it’s beautiful and sweet to die for your country, don’t you?” Into the meat grinder, boys: Warmongering elders in small-town Germany hype up service in the Great War as the ultimate honor, and their unsuspecting broods march eagerly into the first mechanized conflict of the new century. Their reward? Constant artillery bombardment, a nonstop jackhammering of machine-gun fire and feverish huddling in the muddy squalor of frontline trenches. The neighborhood postman’s new army rank unleashes his inner sadist; friends lose limbs while doctors shrug; landscapes are nothing but wastelands.

 

One of the earliest antiwar films and an urtext for all those that have followed, Lewis Milestone’s beautifully brutal adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s harrowing novel is a spry, feisty 82-year-old bruiser of a movie. This is protogenre, an undiluted dose of outrage and alarm that uses war not as a set of tropes but as the raw material to create a portrait of extreme trauma and dumbfounding existentialism. Milestone’s directorial style (honed by the silent era) is strikingly modern, too, exploiting sound and image to liberate the story from its literary roots and convey an experience of anguish that words cannot express. The despair—and the artistry—is breathtaking."

User Opinion: "yep.
 
A" - lisa

Reasoning: Following up the last Best Picture winning war movie, is another Best Picture war movie, this one being over 40 years older than the last one.  It may be 30s style camera and sound quality, but the age doesn't take away from just how effective this movie managed to be.  Frankly, I'm shocked this even managed to get made in 1930, given how anti-patriotic its themes are, but then again I guess this was pre-WW2 and early depression era where people were likely less patriotic.  The movie is tragic and haunting, it lets its imagery and sound effects take the main stage to deliver the themes, and it leaves you moved.  A powerful movie about the horrors of war, and one that set a template on how these films should be made.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 8, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 133

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

 

"When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it."

 

Most Valuable Player: John Huston for Directing and Writing

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Critic Opinion: "The Maltese Falcon is the first crime melodrama with finish, speed and bang to come along in what seems ages, and since its pattern is one of the best things Hollywood does, we have been missing it. It is the old Dashiell Hammett book, written back in the days when you could turn out a story and leave it at that, without any characters joining the army, fleeing as refugees or reforming bad boys, men or women. It is hokum, all right—about a historic image so costly with gold and jewels that people follow it all over the world, plotting to get it away from other people similarly employed, the various forces finally converging in the territory of Sam Spade, a detective. But John Huston has written the screen play and directed the picture so that a fast pace and direct, vigorous approach give a surface meaning to each situation as it follows another." - Otis Ferguson, The New Republic (1941)

User Opinion: "Fantastic and entertaining -- not to mention sardonic and cynical -- movie. Lots of famous moments and lines."

Reasoning: The Maltese Falcon is a melodramatic noir masterpiece that helped to define a genre.  John Huston's writing and direction manages to craft a film that is suspenseful, memorable and quite entertaining.  There's great craft in the making of the film, and there really isn't a doubt in the movie had a profound influence on films to follow it.  Everything in the movie works, from the performances, to the cinematography, to the crafty screenplay that still has resonating lines today.  The film feels quite modern compared to other movies in its era, making it an easy watch for people who don't watch a lot of older cinema.  The Maltese Falcon is a definitive detective and crime film.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 9, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 132

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

 

"I am Abu the thief, son of Abu the thief, grandson of Abu the thief."

 

Most Valuable Player: Pernial, Whitney and Butler for The Visual Effects and Cinematography

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Notable Awards: Won 3 Oscars

Synopsis: After being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.

Critic Opinion: "This 1940 movie is one of the great entertainments. It lifts up the heart. An early Technicolor movie, it employs colors gladly and with boldness, using costumes to introduce a rainbow. It has adventure, romance, song, a Miklos Rozsa score that one critic said is "a symphony accompanied by a movie." It had several directors; as producer, Alexander Korda leaped from one horse to another in midstream. But it maintains a consistent spirit, and that spirit is one of headlong joy in storytelling." - Roger Ebert

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: Maybe you haven't heard of this one, maybe you have, but think of it as an even more entertaining, adventurous (and live action) version of Aladdin.  The movie is visually arousing, even in modern times, and it keeps your eyes glued to the screen and irrelevant to the fact that this movie is over 70 years old.  The score by Rozsa is absolutely brilliant and one of the best he has made, it nearly outshines the film itself.  There's so much world building and atmosphere that really brings everything in this epic little children' adventure to life.  One of the all-time great fantasy films.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 12, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by The Panda

[The Panda]

Number 131

The French Connection (1971)

 

"All right, Popeye's here! Get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and get on the wall!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Gene Hackman's Lead Performance

Box Office: 51.7m (271m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture

Synopsis: A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

Critic Opinion: "Good films about modern American crimes have been few and far between in the last half-dozen years, and "The French Connection" beautifully fills the void.

There is only one problem with the excitement generated by this film. After it is over, you will walk out of the theater and, as I did, curse the tedium of your own life.

I kept looking for someone who I could throw up against a wall." - Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

User Opinion: "Great movie. Really enjoyed the cinematography choices. That shot of the little bar in the foreground of the Brooklyn Bridge was really nice. The acting was great, the direction was great, the train/car chase was awesome, and the story was top notch. Definitely the best Hackman role I've seen. Only thing I did not care for was the music." - redfirebird

Reasoning: The French Connection is an older classic that plays out as if it were quite modern.  The pacing of the movie is quite fast compared to other action/thriller type films at that time, and the car chase scene is truly an all-timer with how thrilling it manages to be.  Friedkin is incredibly innovative with his stylistic choices throughout the film, and Hackman delivers the best performance of his career.  Ellis' score is also quite good and dabbles in a dissonant musical style that isn't used in films all to often, which makes it quite memorable from other scores in the era.  The French Connection is violent, exciting and flat out fun, a fantastic 70s classic.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 130

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

 

"E.T. phone home."

 

Most Valuable Player: Spielberg's Direction

Box Office: 359.2m (1.075b Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Won 4 Oscars, was nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home world.

Critic Opinion: ""E.T., the Extra Terrestrial" may be the best Disney film Disney never made. Captivating, endearingly optimistic and magical at times, Steven Spielberg's fantasy about a stranded alien from outer space protected by three kids until it can arrange for passage home is certain to capture the imagination of the world's youth in the manner of most of his earlier pics, as well as those of George Lucas. Result will be a summer time bonanza for distrib Universal. In short, "E.T." equals b.o." - Todd McCarthy, Variety

User Opinion:  I think I liked E.T. when I was ten but when I viewed it as an adult, I developed a deep level of respect for it. E.T. is simply one of the finest films ever made and if you have not seen the film in the theatre then you have no idea what you are missing. Everything about this film is perfect, and there really aren't many films around I can say that about. Even some of my personal favourites have moments of weakness but not E.T. There has never really been another movie that has offered the experience that E.T. does. For some reason as a kid, I did not cry watching this but that changed as an adult.  You can analyze the film, psychologically deconstruct it and tell me that the reason the film works so well is because of the feeling of loneliness and the friendship that is developed between two lost souls and I would agree with you.  But ET is much more than that.  There's so much goodness and warmth and intangibles that make this film what it is.  Spielberg's best film imo is JAWS but ET might be his most complete film.  As a child growing up in the 80's who experienced his parents almost getting a divorce on numerous occasions, this film spoke to in ways that other film just couldn't.  ET is simply one of the best.  (baumer)...sorry Panda....I couldn't let this section go empty.

Reasoning: A box office smash for its time, E.T. is one of Spielberg's big definitive blockbusters.  The film is absolutely magical, and that's something that stays no matter how old you are when you watch it.  It features one of the defining John Williams scores, it boasts an adventurous and eerie atmosphere that really resonates, and E.T. is the cutest ugly Alien you'll ever see on screen.  Many movies try to mimic this one, but pretty much all of them fall short of the wonder and awe this film manages to invoke when you watch it.  This won't be the last Spielberg film to make the list, so I can't say it's one of his absolute bests, but even then it's nothing short than a family film masterwork by a master director.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 23, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by baumer

[chasmmi]

Those films are old. Awww shucks

[The Panda]

Number 129

Strangers on a Train (1951)

 

"Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you, Mr. Haines. It might disturb Mother."

 

Most Valuable Player: Alfred Hitchcock's Direction

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 98%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar

Synopsis: A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder - a theory that he plans to implement.

Critic Opinion: "Hitchcock was a classical technician in controlling his visuals, and his use of screen space underlined the tension in ways the audience is not always aware of. He always used the convention that the left side of the screen is for evil and/or weaker characters, while the right is for characters who are either good, or temporarily dominant. Consider the scene where Guy is letting himself into his Georgetown house when Bruno whispers from across the street to summon him. Bruno is standing behind an iron gate, the bars casting symbolic shadows on his face, and Guy stands to his right, outside the gate. Then a police car pulls up in front of Guy's house, and he quickly moves behind the gate with Bruno; they're now both behind bars as he says, "You've got me acting like I'm a criminal."" - Roger Ebert

User Opinion: "One of the tensest and thrilling films of the master. The premise is great, the romantic pair is not a damsel in distress and the villain is deliciously insane.  The last 30 minutes, including the amazing climax, is at least top 5 most tense sequences directed by Hitchcock. I loved the happy yet tragic ending, conveying a sense of catastrophe that very few directors are able to duplicate." - Goffe

Reasoning: Hitchcock time and time again proved that he was one of the greatest directors to ever work in cinema, and Strangers on a Train is another case where he proves that.  The film is smart, suspenseful and it leaves you guessing the entire way through.  In terms of actors, Walker is exceptionally good as Bruno Anthony, he plays the part believably yet still in a way where you're left unsettled.  Hitchcock also creates a great tone and mood throughout the film, working creatively with every shot.  It'd be quite difficult to make an argument against Hitchcock's quality as a director, and it'd be even more difficult to argue against the quality of this film.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 23, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 128

Airplane! (1980)

 

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."

 

Most Valuable Player: Jim Abrams and David Zucker for writing and directing

Box Office: 83.5m (268.4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 97%

Notable Awards: Nominated for 1 Golden Globe

Synopsis: A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.

Critic Opinion: "Airplane! is what they used to call a laff-riot. Made by team which turned out Kentucky Fried Movie, this spoof of disaster features beats any other film for sheer number of comic gags.  Writer-directors leave no cliche unturned as they lay waste to the Airport-style disaster cycle, among other targets. From the clever Jaws take-off opening to the final, irreverent title card, laughs come thick and fast." - Variety Staff

User Opinion: "Wow. One of the most consistently funny movies ever. It's just joke after joke after joke, and they all hit. So what if the plot is thin and it's just a series of sketches, it's a spoof, and a great one." - darkelf

Reasoning: Maybe not the most intelligent comedy ever made, but it's one of the most consistently hysterical films ever made.  The film never stops with the jokes, and pretty much every single one of them either lands.  The spoof comedy genre has a pretty bad wrap nowadays, for a good reason, but Airplane! is an exception to that, it's one of the flat out funniest films ever made.  Everything in the movie is working to elevate the humor, from Bernstein's satirical homage filled score, to the non-stop barrage of one-liners and gags, to the fantastically ham-filled performances.  Airplane! is what a comedy should be.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 24, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 16

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Now... Which Leonardo DiCaprio historical epic is the best Leonardo DiCaprio epic?

 

Titanic?  Iron Mask?  Aviator?  Inarritu's Masterpiece?

 

@Telemachos will Shirley be pleased...

[franfar]

6 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Now... Which Leonardo DiCaprio historical epic is the best Leonardo DiCaprio epic?

 

Titanic?  Iron Mask?  Aviator?  Inarritu's Masterpiece?

 

@Telemachos will Shirley be pleased...

The Aviator was DiCaprio's first major leading role where he was the main focus throughout, and the film relied on his acting.

 

Great movie overall

[Ozymandias]

On 3/4/2017 at 4:59 PM, The Panda said:

After this film, there are 10 other animated movies that made my list...

 

Number 147

Mononoke-hime (1999)

 

"Life is suffering. It is hard. The world is cursed. But still, you find reasons to keep living."

 

Most Valuable Player: Hayao Miyazaki for Direction and Writing

Box Office: 2.4m (4m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 92%

Notable Awards: Rated #66 on IMDb Top 250

Synopsis: On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Critic Opinion: "True artistry in feature animation is so rare these days, because something usually gets sacrificed in the process. If lots of effort is expended in visual magic, the plot may suffer. Intricate stories may demand that the visuals take a back seat.  That's why Hayao Miyazaki's anime masterpiece "Princess Mononoke," Japan's most successful film, is such a treat. Beautifully constructed and painstakingly written, this is about as close to a perfect animated epic as you're likely to get." - McFarland, Seattle Times

User Opinion: "Pure magnificence. An epic undertaking that makes Lord of the Rings pale in comparison." - Jack Nevada

Reasoning: Grand and sweeping, Mononoke-hime (or Princess Mononoke) is an animated film put to an epic scale.  The score soars melodically with the film, and the hand-drawn animation is absolutely gorgeous, some of the best animation ever put to screen.  There's a mixture of mythology and adventure throughout the film, as well as a plethora of neat characters that really elevate the film to not just being a all-time great animated movie, but an all-time great movie.  Miyazaki delivers extraordinary work with this one, and the shocking part about it is somehow this isn't even his best, he's a director of incredibly tall heights.  The film has shades of grey and manages to be an epic that still stands tall and remembered.

Decade Count: 1930s: 6, 1940s: 7, 1950s: 4, 1960s: 8, 1970s: 11, 1980s: 22, 1990s: 15, 2000s: 14, 2010s: 14

 

 

 

 

Its like the Lawrence of Arabia/LOTR of animation movies.

 

I never liked animation and still don't however there are exceptions for everyone.  I saw this movie by accident in the early 2000s when I was kid over at a friend's house and re-watched it again recently about a year or so ago.  Damn good movie.

[The Panda]

Number 127

The Revenant (2015)

 

"I ain't afraid to die anymore. I'd done it already."

 

Most Valuable Player: Leonardo DiCaprio's Leading Performance

Box Office: 183.6m (185m Adjusted)

Tomatometer: 81%

Notable Awards: Won 3 Oscars, was nominated for Best Picture

Synopsis: A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

Critic Opinion: "From this simple tale, Iñárritu has constructed an epic fable of uncommon grace and resonance, a film that, like its hero, achieves a kind of transcendence. The director is immeasurably aided in this achievement by his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki. Shooting exclusively with natural light, Iñárritu and Lubezki craft a winter landscape at once pitiless and ravishing, a universe of muted grays: gray skies, gray snow, gray rock. (If these vistas recall Terrence Malick, it’s no coincidence: Lubezki shot the director’s last four films.)" - Orr, The Atlantic

User Opinion: "Loved it, sure it may not be the deepest story ever. but the way it captured the rawness and savagery of the pioneer days was brilliant and something rarely seen, especially with this kind of budget. The Cinematology was just gorgeous, literally every scene was a work of art in that aspect, and the natural lighting only added layers to it making it more vibrant. Leo and Tom were both fantastic imo. I kind of feel like the real moral or theme here was loss. you can fight it or seek revenge for what you have lost, but there is nothing you can do to change it or get it back. I actually really liked the way it ended too. funny how people are saying they were bored, I wasn't bored for an instant I would give it an A+"

Reasoning: For some reason, this masterpiece and its director Inarritu get a really bad rap on these forums, it's like there's a portion of people who just love to hate him. Whatever, I really dig this movie, a lot actually, and it'll likely climb even higher up on my list as the year go on.  If I recall correctly, my immediate reaction after seeing it was saying it deserved to be viewed in a temple and that it made me want to pull a liver out of a buffalo and eat in raw boasting in the naturalism, or something like that.  The Revenant is a masterpiece, from the Chivo's brilliant cinematography, to the best performance of Leonardo DiCaprio's career, and to Inarritu's pointed direction.  The Revenant left me shivering at parts, as if the theater had gotten colder, a packed house and dead silence (with the exception of the chilling score by Sakamoto).  It's immersive, an experience and pretentiously profound.  One of the greatest movies of the decade.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 10, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 24, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 17

 

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by The Panda

[aabattery]

[The Panda]

Number 126

The Third Man (1949)

 

"Oh, I still do believe in God, old man. I believe in God and Mercy and all that. But the dead are happier dead. They don't miss much here, poor devils."

 

Most Valuable Player: Hafenrichter for Editing

Box Office: N/A

Tomatometer: 100%

Synopsis: Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.

Critic Opinion: "In the London Review of Books, Michael Wood recently wrote of “the lens of the meantime” — that happy phenomenon whereby we superimpose on a movie we’re watching other movies that its actors have been in. “The Third Man” offers a wondrous case in point. Seeing Welles and Cotten together summons the shades of Charles Foster Kane and Jed Leland. Trevor Howard’s unflappable Major Calloway looks back to his doctor in “Brief Encounter” and ahead to Captain Bligh, in the first remake of “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Then there’s Bernard Lee as the sergeant at Howard’s side. A dozen years later, he would debut as M, a part Lee played in 11 James Bond pictures. Which brings us back to aural movie madeleines. Monty Norman’s Bond theme may be the most potent of them all. Ah, but what would it sound like on a zither?" - Feeney, Boston Globe

User Opinion: None

Reasoning: One of the most technically brilliant films ever made, The Third Man is a thriller that marks a transition of the "serious thriller" to an entertaining affair, while also remaining of the utmost quality in nearly aspect.  From the performances of Cotten and Welles, to the gorgeously lit cinematography, to Reed's direction, to how the film is perfectly edited, there really just isn't any flaw or imperfection to be found with this film.  The movie manages to be quite atmospheric, with a fairly unique and memorable guitar score to go along with it.  Beyond the technical quality, The Third Man is thoughtful and exciting, a wonderful classic.

Decade Count: 1930s: 8, 1940s: 11, 1950s: 5, 1960s: 10, 1970s: 13, 1980s: 24, 1990s: 16, 2000s: 18, 2010s: 17