Chasmmi's top 250 films of all time - Because I honestly had this idea at the same time and it's not a Ripoff - :)

[chasmmi]

222nd - Princess Mononoke

 

This is the most epic of the Ghibli films. It plays out on a massive scale and has a story that could easily have been some mega-budget 3 hour live action fantasy epic trilogy if Hollywood had come up with the idea. 

 

For me, this is Miyazaki's best film. It has the grandest stage, the best story and possibly also the best looking animation. It is a modern masterpiece and a film that should be near the top of anyone's 'to watch' list if they are looking at trying out what Japanese animation has to offer.

 

 

[chasmmi]

221st - Mother India

 

 

So it turns out that one of the oldest films on this list is Bollywood. 

 

Before this film, my experience of Bollywood was of a cinema that, while sometimes containing drama or emotional moments, essentially was a dancy dancy fun-fest style of cinema. Yeah that's not overly accurate. 

 

This film is hard to watch at times, it is strong powerful and one a par with any epic Hollywood was making in the same period. The lead actress carries this film on her back and its an amazing performance for somebody playing a role years older than her actual age for half of the film.

 

If you are interested in getting into Bollywood cinema, there are more accessible films to start with, but if you are interested in watching an epic and at time tragic story from an unexpected source, this is a great film to seek out and give a shot to.  

 

 

 

[chasmmi]

May try and do another 5 or 10 in a few hours. 

 

220th - The 5th film in a universe 

219th - The fifth film in a universe

218th - An homage to Abbot and Costello

217th - @aabattery may be happy about this at least... or not  

216th - The 5th language to make the list 

[baumer]

Some really interesting entries here.  

 

Rocky III would make my 250 as well.....and like you, I can watch any Rocky...except the fifth.  

Mallrats is the only Kevin Smith film that I have seen, that didn't really resonate with me.  I might give it another shot.

Green Mile is terrific of course.

Holy grail is a masterpiece.

 

i'm enjoying your brief write ups.....keep it coming.

[Ethan Hunt]

there are only two good Rocky movies and one of them is called Creed

[chasmmi]

220th - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

 

More Kevin Smith... I know I know. 

 

But as has been said multiple times, I like the comedy and style of these films. And this one also has some of the funniest scenes in the series. Good Will Hunting 2 is great, Mark Hamill and the American Pie stuff too.

 

I am kind of excited that there is going to be a second one of these. Hopefully there is still some life in these characters and universe.  

 

 

[chasmmi]

219th - Nightmare on Elm Street 5

 

Yeah, sometimes I can like a franchise a little too much...

 

I've made no secret of considering Elm Street and Kreuger to be a step above the other horror classics such as Friday and Halloween. Englund created a character for the ages and there is enough imagination put into the dreams and kills that even a 5th outing such as this has a lot to enjoy. 

 

Not every Elm Street film made my top 250, but this is not going to be Freddy's last appearance here. The films are generally so much damn fun and its a shame that its a franchise that cannot really come back now that Englund is done with the character. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

218th - Rain Man

 

It is easy to forget how good of an actor Tom Cruise can be when he isn't jumping of of mountains or something. 

 

Rain Man is one of those films that doesn't happen anymore. Sure the genre, quality or style can be repeated. But this film made $172M domestic 30 years ago. that is a crazy number. Pretty much the same as A Beautiful Mind could do 13 years later.

 

Rain Man is another film that is all about 2 lead performances, and the chemistry between the two leads here is amazing. Neither would work without the other, and it is just one of many films that make me kind of wish that Cruise would just throw in another film like this every couple of years just to remind us what he is capable of.   

 

[baumer]

Hated Elm Street 5 but high marks on the other two.

[The Panda]

Well... You weren't lying in your thread description

[chasmmi]

217th - Men in Black 3

 

Nostalgia can go an awful long way with me. 

 

I know that even on this list, this will be a WTF for many people, but I really enjoyed this (probably) final installment of a franchise that first really got me into blockbusters and cinema-going. Josh Brolin is a great Tommy Lee Jones in this and Smith is also on fine form.

 

The story here is pretty cool and I actually really liked how they resolved everything in the final scenes. It gave a lot of good closure and made for a trilogy that I will always like a lot more than pretty much anyone else. 

[chasmmi]

216th - The Terrorist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnP4vMyyy_c

 

Not often that John Malkovic, Roger Ebert and I agree on things I expect.

 

But this was a gem of a little film from India about a young girl chosen to carry out a suicide bombing attack, and the doubts that enter her mind in the lead up to her task. A world away from Bollywood India, this film does a really great job of showing the different feelings that the girl feels as she progresses from pride and joy at being chosen, to fear, doubt or worry about going through with it. 

 

It's a great film that likely is not on that many a radar, even here. 

[chasmmi]

215th - Baseketball

 

It's that Trey Parker and Matt Stone film that wasn't made by Trey Parker or Matt Stone.

 

Baseketball is a forgotten ace of a comedy. It's a cool concept with good lead comedic performances from everybody. The story is also pretty cool and Parker and Stone are better actors than one would expect them to be (not great, but good enough for this). 

 

The sports matches too are a lot of fun and the film's ability to keep up with the imaginative silliness with each game is pretty cool and always cause for a laugh. More people should see this. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

214th - The Imitation Game

 

There are a multitude of films each year that are released based on real events in history.

 

Sometimes a film gets by on the fact that it is an amazing story that would be interesting even when executed poorly. Monuments Men is an example of this in my book.

 

Sometimes there is a performance (or two) that are so extraordinary that it's worth price of admission to watch the performance itself, even if the film around it isn't the most engrossing ever written (Theory of Everything felt a bit that way to me). 

 

Imitation Game however for me was an amazing story that needed to be told, and got backed up with a great lead performance. This film was a personal highlight of 2015, and while I don't think everyone will rate it as highly as I did, I would be surprised if too many didn't appreciate the story that was told here. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

213rd - The Legend of Bagger Vance 

 

It will become clear sooner than later that I rate Will Smith, the same way @Baumer loves ol' Ryan Reynolds. 

 

It's been years since I have seen this film, but I always enjoyed watching this film about a Golfer in a rough patch and the Caddy that reawakens him. I think this may have been Smith's first dramatic role after he hit it big and with a cast that today would cost about $465M to put together, this is a performance driven work that I (like on so many occasions) enjoyed more than most. 

 

 

[chasmmi]

212nd - Hacksaw Ridge

 

The more I think about this film, the better it gets.

 

This film really cemented the idea in my head that Gibson may be the best actor turned directer... I don't want to say period, but well... period.

 

This film is a cinematic marvel. The war scenes are some of the best seen in the 21st century and mixing that with the superb balancing act of ideals between the main characters and you have a film that I appreciate now, but may likely consider a classic in a few years time (Saving Private Ryan was a similar case in that respect.)  

 

[chasmmi]

211st - Spy

 

Maybe I love this film, or maybe this is a reflection of how few truly great pure comedies we have had in the past few years.

 

Spy was such a nice surprise, McCarthy has always been hit or miss for me, but I love her in this, Statham is amazing in every scene and just overall this is a film that is actually less conventional than it first appears, and also just damn funny from start to finish.

 

I really appreciate the creative decision to make McCarthy's character actually competent and not a bumbling female Johnny English type. It was a direction that to me made a funny film, all the better.  

 

[chasmmi]

210th - Alien 3

 

And I had worked so hard to make this list credible too.

 

Alien 3 falls into a small group of films where the mega-quality of multiple previous installments in a franchise kind of blinds people to the plusses of the next installment. Terminator 3 is one film I rate in this sense. I think it is a very good film that suffers because it is vastly inferior to 1 and 2. (It doesn't make my 250 though).

 

Alien 3 is another, It is not a patch on the first two, but at the same time there is a lot to like here. I think the prison setting is different and sets up a different type of Alien film, I think Weaver still brings the goods as Ripley, and whilst it was damn tragic to kill off all the other characters between films, the film we were given was still a damn good sci-fi horror.

 

In my humble opinion.  

 

[chasmmi]

Gonna take a break and potential burst this down to 200th in a couple hours. 

[The Stingray]

This list is mind-boggling. Elm Street 5?