BOT in the Multi-Verse of Madness: Countdown of the DEFINITIVE Top 250 Movies of All-Time (2022 Edition)

[The Panda]

 

55 Lists were received. Hearts will be thrilled and broken. As usual we will be doing full write-ups for every movie in the top 100, but announcing the full top 250.

 

We will also see how movies in the top 100 would have performed using re-weighted user stats denoted at:

Powism - The percent of franchise films on a user's list

• Used to calculate a movie's 'Fanboy Ranking' and the 'Cinema Ranking' (re-weight the list inverse of the Powism scores)

Breadth - The percent of pre-1980 movies on a user's list

• Used to calculate a movie's 'Old Fart Ranking' and the 'Damn Kids Ranking' (Inverse breadth scores)

International - The percent of non-English language movies on a user's list

• Used to calculate a movie's 'Ambassador Ranking' and the 'All American Ranking' (Inverse International scores)

Animation - The percent of animated movies on a user's list

• Used to calculate a movie's 'Cartoon Ranking' and 'Damn Kids Again Ranking'

 

The List

 

31.    Saving Private Ryan (1998)
32.    Apocalypse Now (1979)
33.    Alien (1979)
34.    Beauty and the Beast (1991)
35.    Citizen Kane (1941)
36.    Seven Samurai (1954)
37.    Pulp Fiction (1994)
38.    Psycho (1960)
39.    Rear Window (1954)
40.    The Lion King (1994)

41.    The Thing (1982)
42.    Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
43.    Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
44.    It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
45.    Inside Out (2015)
46.    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
47.    Silence of the Lambs (1991)
48.    Do the Right Thing (1989)
49.    Princess Mononoke (1997)
50.    The Truman Show (1998)

51.    Wall-E (2008)
52.   Once Upon a Time in the West (1966)
53.   The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1964)
54.    Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
55.    Sunset Boulevard (1950)

56.    Dr Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
57.   Toy Story (1995)
58.    The Shining (1980)
59.    Mulholland Drive (2001)
60.    Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

61.    Halloween (1978)
62.   Silence (2016)
63.    Your Name (2016)
64.    The Wizard of Oz (1939)
65.    Gladiator (2000)

66.   Ratatouille (2007)
67.    Avengers: Endgame (2019)
68.    Se7en (1995)
69.   Aliens (1984)
70.    Return of the Jedi (1983)
71.    Memento (2000)
72.    A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
73.    The Incredibles (2004)
74.    The Social Network (2010)
75.    In the Mood for Love (2000)

76.    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
77.    The Prince of Egypt (1998)
78.    Finding Nemo (2003)
79.    Before Sunset (2004)
80.    My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

81.    Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
82.   Fargo (1996)
83.    The Departed (2006)
84.    Interstellar (2014)
85.    Scream (1996)

86.    Rocky (1976)
87.    Forrest Gump (1994)
88.    Akira (1988)
89.   Magnolia (1991)
90.    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

91.    Blade Runner (1982)
92.    Avatar (2009)
93.    Bicycle Thieves (1948)
94.    The Exorcist (1973)
95.    Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
96.   Malcolm X (1992)
97.   City Lights (1931)
98.    City of God (2002)
99.    Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
100.   Unforgiven

...

126.    The Intouchables
127.    Ghostbusters (1984)
128.    The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
129.    Nashville (1975)
130.    Get Out (2017)
131.    Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
132.    Inglourious Basterds (2009)
133.    Rashomon (1950)
134.    Ran (1985)
135.    Whisper of the Heart (1995)

136.    The Age of Innocence (1993)
137.    Batman Begins (2005)
138.    Zodiac (2007)
139.    The Princess Bride (1987)
140.    The Big Lebowski (1998)
141.    The 400 Blows (!959)
142.    Stalker (1979)
143.    The Handmaiden (2016)
144.    Children of Men (2006)
145.    Amadeus (1984)

146.    A Clockwork Orange
147.    Face/Off (1997)
148.    Memories of Murder (2003)
149.    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
150.   Up (2009)
151.    Knives Out (2019)
152.    Good Will Hunting (1997)
153.    Dazed and Confused (1993)
154.    1917 (2019)
155.    Bambi (1942)
156.    Whiplash (2013)
157.    Oldboy (2003)
158.    Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
159.    The Sound of Music (1965)
160.    Modern Times (1936)

161.    Guardians of the Galaxy (2013)
162.    Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
163.    Candyman (1992)
164.    Fight Club (1999)
165.    The Great Escape (1963)
166.    La La Land (2016)
167.    Come and See (1985)
168.    Brokeback Mountain (2005)
169.    Fanny and Alexander (1982)
170.    A Star is Born (1954)

171.    A Silent Voice (2016)
172.    The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
173.    Margaret (2011)
174.    The Searchers (1956)
175.    There Will Be Blood (2007)
176.    Chinatown (1974)
177.    Life of Pi (2012)
178.    Cabaret (1972)
179.    Call Me By Your Name (2017)
180.    RoboCop (1987)
181.    Das Boot (1992)
182.    The Blair Witch Project (1999)
183.    Amelie (2001)
184.    The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
185.    Catch Me if You Can (2002)
186.    Lady Bird (2017)
187.    Eraserhead (1977)
188.    Mary Poppins (1964)
189.    The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
190.    Doctor Zhivago (1965)

191.    Arsenic and the Old Lace (1944)
192.    A Beautiful Mind (2001)
193.    Notorious (1946)
194.    When Harry Met Sally (1989)
195.    Gone Girl (2014)
196.    Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
197.    Cinema Paradiso (1988)
198.    High and Low (1967)
199.    Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
200.    Paddington 2 (2017)

201.    Belle (2021)
202.    Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
203.    Paper Moon (1973)
204.    All That Jazz (1979)
205.    Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
206.    Ferris Beuller’s Day Off (1986)
207.    Hard Boiled (1992)
208.    Pinocchio (1940)
209.    The Martian (2015)
210.    Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

211.    A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
212.    District 9 (2009)
213.    The Iron Giant (1999)
214.    JFK (1991)
215.    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
216.    Wild Strawberries (1957)
217.    Cruel Intentions (1999)
218.    Gravity (2013)
219.    The LEGO Movie (2014)
220.   Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)

221.    No Country for Old Men (2007)
222.    Captain America: Civil War (2015)
223.    Braveheart (1995)
224.    The Big Short (2015)
225.    The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
226.    L.A. Confidential (1997)
227.    How Green Was My Valley (1939)
228.    Black Swan (2010)
229.    Once (2006)

230.    Spider-Man (2002)
231.    Caddyshack (1980)
232.    Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
233.    The Sting (1977)
234.    Short Term 12 (2013)
235.    The Right Stuff (1983)
236.    Ikiru (1952)
237.    Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
238.    Speed (1994)
239.    Little Women (2019)
240.    The Graduate (1967)
241.    Mean Girls (2004)
242.    The Third Man (1949)
243.    Evil Dead 2 (1987)
244.    Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
245.    Raging Bull (1980)
246.    Shrek (2001)
247.    The Avengers (2012)
248.    The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
249.    The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968)
250.   Almost Famous (2000)
 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by The Panda

[The Panda]

While I get a few additional things settled I will tease you all with the first 10 movies that did NOT make the top 100, but did make the top 250.

 

 

Number 250

Almost Famous (2000, Cameron Crowe)

 

Number 249

The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968, Jacques Demy)

 

Number 248

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)

 

Number 247

The Avengers (2012, Josh Whedon)

 

Number 246

Shrek (2001, Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson)

 

Number 245

Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese)

 

Number 244

Ocean's Eleven (2001, Steven Soderbergh)

 

Number 243

Evil Dead 2 (1987, Sam Raimi)

 

Number 242

The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

 

Number 241

Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters)

[That One Girl]

someone needs to answer for this shit

 

[SLAM!]

12 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

someone needs to answer for this shit

 

👀

[Eric Atreides]

17 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

someone needs to answer for this shit

 

This is gonna be a loooooooong two weeks, huh?

[Cap]

7 minutes ago, Eric the Superdog said:

This is gonna be a loooooooong two weeks, huh?

You mean it’s gonna be an AMAZING two weeks. 
 

[The Panda]

Number 100

 

 

"We all got it coming, kid."

 

About the Movie

 

Synopsis

 

"William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff."

 

Its Legacy

"Up to 1992, the genre had defined much of Eastwood’s career. His first success as an actor came with the television series Rawhide, and his performances in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy (1964-66) turned him into a western icon. Later he’d reflect on this image in much of his directorial work, for example with his comically self-deprecating take on the actor as outlaw in Bronco Billy (1980) or the subversion of his gunfighter persona in the two era-defining westerns that led to Unforgiven – The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Pale Rider (1985).

 

Though a sense of closure and finality defines the picture, it doesn’t even mark the mid-point of Eastwood’s directorial career. He has directed 20 films over the last quarter of a century, and, though he hasn’t made another western, many of the film’s themes appear throughout his later work: the vagaries of ageing in Blood Work (2002), the futility of retribution in Mystic River (2003) or the role of fate in Hereafter (2010)." - Craig Williams, BFI

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

"With masterful temperance and humanity, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven adopts a critical structure to reassess our perception of the American West, both in historical terms and in an autobiographical context for its director, producer, and star. As a revisionist Western reflecting on the past, the film takes place at a time when gunslingers had lived long passed their prime. By 1880, about when the film takes place, these men had eased into what might be called simpler lives. Some escaped the violence of their former selves to settle down with a family, while others celebrated their own names by participating in dime novels and Wild West shows that transformed their exploits into the feats of living legends. Likewise, in 1992, when Unforgiven was released, the larger part of Eastwood’s career as an actor and filmmaker relied on his status as a masculine protagonist in violent, escapist action films where, along with Eastwood himself, characters like Dirty Harry and The Man with No Name became screen icons. With this film, Eastwood redefines his onscreen and offscreen persona by instilling uncertainty into traditional Western archetypes, and in doing so the film questions the history of the American West and furthermore Eastwood’s own role in defining the West in cinema." - Brian Eggert

 

 

Public Opinion

"This movie is a sublime flip whereupon the most vile culprits are also the ones who show the most hesitance towards violence, yet for everyone else violence is not just tolerated, it is expected. A western community is defined by simmering hatred spreading across class, race and sex, and everyone is just waiting for an outsider to kill so the sky can turn black and the torches can be lit. The latter sections do not resemble generic Western stereotypes as they do generic noir stereotypes - the world lives only blackness and dimly lit saloons. This combination is key, because here Clint shifts the subject from the iconography of genre to the iconography of himself. The films final moments are both explosive and a tunnel into the void - Eastwood does what he has done in a number of westerns, even ones he has directed - he walks into a doorway and single handedly kills an entire room full of men. He's not even above shooting a man in the back, running in fear. But what is once stylized like the Leone films which CE built his career on is now nothing short of horrifying - archetypal icon now is unmasked as psychopath. But this does not fully seem as reflective of western cinema as a whole as it does of the films Eastwood made with Leone, and furthermore his position in them. It's genuine inquiry if not total self-repudiation. This final sequence could be a sort of 'anti-aesthetic,' in that it rejects formalism for the purpose of sensory reaction. Or perhaps, the rejection of aestheticism if it does not have a moral position." - Neil Bahadur, Letterboxd

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

unforgiven

There's always that one person
Who you can't seem to forget
The one who hurt you

- dA vInci

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Years Rankings

 

#81 (2020), #86 (2018), Unranked (2016), Unranked (2014), Unranked (2013), #83 (2012)

 

Director Count

Clint Eastwood (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#145 Fanboy Ranking, #81 Cinema Ranking

#123 Old Farts Ranking, #93 Damn Kids Ranking

#66 Ambassador Ranking, #108 All-American Ranking

#182 Cartoon Ranking, #91 Damn Kids Again Ranking

 

 

[Eric Atreides]

1 hour ago, Cap said:

You mean it’s gonna be an AMAZING two weeks. 
 

 

[WrathOfHan]

Unforgiven and Shrek almost made my list  

[The Panda]

Number 99

 

 

"To wives and sweethearts."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

"After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship’s thoughtful surgeon, his best friend."

 

Its Legacy

"No movie production could ever be described as "easy," but the challenges and complexities involved in taking "Master and Commander" from the script to the screen would likely put many other modern films — even $200+ million superhero movies — to shame. Having been nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (which it won), Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects, it sure seems as if all that hard work paid off. That hard work, however, involved an assortment of tricks to bring the film to vivid detail.

 

As much as the film's reputation thrives on its adherence to filming on actual ships and sets, quite a bit of visual trickery was involved to bring out the story's true sense of scope and scale. So when it came to the question of using actual paintings in order to augment the use of miniatures, practical sets, and visual effects rather than opting for the "too perfect" tendency of CGI at the time, you could perhaps say that the creative team behind "Master and Commander" chose the lesser of two ... weevils." - Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

"Paintings were terribly important in all of these action sequences in terms of getting the volume of smoke, the attitude of ships in close combat and particularly for damage to the vessels... miniatures firing at each other were further enhanced. The sky and the water were all added. We had white smoke in the shot, which was then digitally enhanced to make it black. Until the ship emerges from the smoke, the audience clearly thinks that the English ship has failed in its objective. This created more tension.

 

The slightly larger miniature mast and the miniature ships were composited by ILM. But the key thing I had to always remind them of was that it shouldn't look too smooth. You can do so much with CGI that sometimes it can look too perfect. I wanted them to imagine they were doing the shot in a camera boat that was rocking so the shot looked a little off." - Peter Weir

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

"It's an odd claim to make for a film that won the Oscar for cinematography, but at its best Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (released on video this week) is less a visual experience than an aural one. Director Peter Weir opens with aerial shots of a tall ship accompanied by on-screen text--"H.M.S. Surprise ... N. coast Brazil. Admiralty orders: ... 'Intercept French privateer Acheron en route to Pacific.'"--before swiftly shifting to a nighttime  change of watch aboard the vessel. The camera glides past sleeping sailors and silent cannons; we see a hand flip an hourglass and another ring a bell; shadowy figures climb the rigging as others descend. The real function of the scene, however, is not to let us see--it takes place, after all, at night--but to let us hear. And what we hear is a marvel. Weir and his sound people fill the darkness with the low gurgle of the sea, the heavy creak of the hull, the squeak of hammocks and lanterns swaying with the ship's roll, the strain of rope ladders carrying men's weight. The scene has no narrative or expository purpose, but it announces Weir's intentions with wordless clarity: Master and Commander may feature crashing naval battles and acts of derring-do, but its primary concern will be the portrayal of life aboard this ship, the mundane rhythms and chores that were part of life in the Royal Navy circa 1800." - Christopher Orr, The Atlantic

 

 

User Opinion

"April 1805. Napoleon is master of Europe. Only toxic masculinity stands before him. The discourse is now a battlefield. H.M.S. Surprise. 28 guns, 197 bros." - Will Menaker, Letterboxd

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

master and commander

"The captain is the master
Of the ship and all who sail in her
A true commander"

- dA vInci

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

Unranked (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

Clint Eastwood (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#181 Fanboy Ranking, #71 Cinema Ranking

#58 Old Farts Ranking, #127 Damn Kids Ranking

#76 Ambassador Ranking, #101 All-American Ranking

#200 Cartoon Ranking, #88 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

 

[The Panda]

2 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 99

 

 

"To wives and sweethearts."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

"After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship’s thoughtful surgeon, his best friend."

 

Its Legacy

"No movie production could ever be described as "easy," but the challenges and complexities involved in taking "Master and Commander" from the script to the screen would likely put many other modern films — even $200+ million superhero movies — to shame. Having been nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (which it won), Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects, it sure seems as if all that hard work paid off. That hard work, however, involved an assortment of tricks to bring the film to vivid detail.

 

As much as the film's reputation thrives on its adherence to filming on actual ships and sets, quite a bit of visual trickery was involved to bring out the story's true sense of scope and scale. So when it came to the question of using actual paintings in order to augment the use of miniatures, practical sets, and visual effects rather than opting for the "too perfect" tendency of CGI at the time, you could perhaps say that the creative team behind "Master and Commander" chose the lesser of two ... weevils." - Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

"Paintings were terribly important in all of these action sequences in terms of getting the volume of smoke, the attitude of ships in close combat and particularly for damage to the vessels... miniatures firing at each other were further enhanced. The sky and the water were all added. We had white smoke in the shot, which was then digitally enhanced to make it black. Until the ship emerges from the smoke, the audience clearly thinks that the English ship has failed in its objective. This created more tension.

 

The slightly larger miniature mast and the miniature ships were composited by ILM. But the key thing I had to always remind them of was that it shouldn't look too smooth. You can do so much with CGI that sometimes it can look too perfect. I wanted them to imagine they were doing the shot in a camera boat that was rocking so the shot looked a little off." - Peter Weir

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

"It's an odd claim to make for a film that won the Oscar for cinematography, but at its best Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (released on video this week) is less a visual experience than an aural one. Director Peter Weir opens with aerial shots of a tall ship accompanied by on-screen text--"H.M.S. Surprise ... N. coast Brazil. Admiralty orders: ... 'Intercept French privateer Acheron en route to Pacific.'"--before swiftly shifting to a nighttime  change of watch aboard the vessel. The camera glides past sleeping sailors and silent cannons; we see a hand flip an hourglass and another ring a bell; shadowy figures climb the rigging as others descend. The real function of the scene, however, is not to let us see--it takes place, after all, at night--but to let us hear. And what we hear is a marvel. Weir and his sound people fill the darkness with the low gurgle of the sea, the heavy creak of the hull, the squeak of hammocks and lanterns swaying with the ship's roll, the strain of rope ladders carrying men's weight. The scene has no narrative or expository purpose, but it announces Weir's intentions with wordless clarity: Master and Commander may feature crashing naval battles and acts of derring-do, but its primary concern will be the portrayal of life aboard this ship, the mundane rhythms and chores that were part of life in the Royal Navy circa 1800." - Christopher Orr, The Atlantic

 

 

User Opinion

"April 1805. Napoleon is master of Europe. Only toxic masculinity stands before him. The discourse is now a battlefield. H.M.S. Surprise. 28 guns, 197 bros." - Will Menaker, Letterboxd

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

master and commander

"The captain is the master
Of the ship and all who sail in her
A true commander"

- dA vInci

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

Unranked (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

Clint Eastwood (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#181 Fanboy Ranking, #71 Cinema Ranking

#58 Old Farts Ranking, #127 Damn Kids Ranking

#76 Ambassador Ranking, #101 All-American Ranking

#200 Cartoon Ranking, #88 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

 

 

Sorry i wrote the wrong subtitle it's

 

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

 

My bad!

[DAR]

5 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 99

 

 

"To wives and sweethearts."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

"After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship’s thoughtful surgeon, his best friend."

 

Its Legacy

"No movie production could ever be described as "easy," but the challenges and complexities involved in taking "Master and Commander" from the script to the screen would likely put many other modern films — even $200+ million superhero movies — to shame. Having been nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (which it won), Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects, it sure seems as if all that hard work paid off. That hard work, however, involved an assortment of tricks to bring the film to vivid detail.

 

As much as the film's reputation thrives on its adherence to filming on actual ships and sets, quite a bit of visual trickery was involved to bring out the story's true sense of scope and scale. So when it came to the question of using actual paintings in order to augment the use of miniatures, practical sets, and visual effects rather than opting for the "too perfect" tendency of CGI at the time, you could perhaps say that the creative team behind "Master and Commander" chose the lesser of two ... weevils." - Jeremy Mathai, Slashfilm

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

"Paintings were terribly important in all of these action sequences in terms of getting the volume of smoke, the attitude of ships in close combat and particularly for damage to the vessels... miniatures firing at each other were further enhanced. The sky and the water were all added. We had white smoke in the shot, which was then digitally enhanced to make it black. Until the ship emerges from the smoke, the audience clearly thinks that the English ship has failed in its objective. This created more tension.

 

The slightly larger miniature mast and the miniature ships were composited by ILM. But the key thing I had to always remind them of was that it shouldn't look too smooth. You can do so much with CGI that sometimes it can look too perfect. I wanted them to imagine they were doing the shot in a camera boat that was rocking so the shot looked a little off." - Peter Weir

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

"It's an odd claim to make for a film that won the Oscar for cinematography, but at its best Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (released on video this week) is less a visual experience than an aural one. Director Peter Weir opens with aerial shots of a tall ship accompanied by on-screen text--"H.M.S. Surprise ... N. coast Brazil. Admiralty orders: ... 'Intercept French privateer Acheron en route to Pacific.'"--before swiftly shifting to a nighttime  change of watch aboard the vessel. The camera glides past sleeping sailors and silent cannons; we see a hand flip an hourglass and another ring a bell; shadowy figures climb the rigging as others descend. The real function of the scene, however, is not to let us see--it takes place, after all, at night--but to let us hear. And what we hear is a marvel. Weir and his sound people fill the darkness with the low gurgle of the sea, the heavy creak of the hull, the squeak of hammocks and lanterns swaying with the ship's roll, the strain of rope ladders carrying men's weight. The scene has no narrative or expository purpose, but it announces Weir's intentions with wordless clarity: Master and Commander may feature crashing naval battles and acts of derring-do, but its primary concern will be the portrayal of life aboard this ship, the mundane rhythms and chores that were part of life in the Royal Navy circa 1800." - Christopher Orr, The Atlantic

 

 

User Opinion

"April 1805. Napoleon is master of Europe. Only toxic masculinity stands before him. The discourse is now a battlefield. H.M.S. Surprise. 28 guns, 197 bros." - Will Menaker, Letterboxd

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

master and commander

"The captain is the master
Of the ship and all who sail in her
A true commander"

- dA vInci

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

Unranked (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

Clint Eastwood (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#181 Fanboy Ranking, #71 Cinema Ranking

#58 Old Farts Ranking, #127 Damn Kids Ranking

#76 Ambassador Ranking, #101 All-American Ranking

#200 Cartoon Ranking, #88 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

 

 

Good now let’s get this higher for 2024 list.

[The Panda]

I apologize on behalf of Dall-E Mini for drawing terrible faces for this one.

 

Number 98

 

 

"If you run, you're dead. If you stay, you're dead again."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"Buscapé was raised in a very violent environment. Despite the feeling that all odds were against him, he finds out that life can be seen with other eyes…"

 

Its Legacy

 

"Directed by Fernando Meirelles, the 2002 film portrays life in the City of God, a favela known by the same name for over three decades, starting in the 1960s when it was a new housing project and its main characters were children and petty thieves, and ending in the early 1980s, by which time the slum is a war zone and most of the protagonists are either dead or engaged in a bloody war over drugs turf. Narrated by Rocket, a boy who dreams of becoming a photographer, the story focuses on the escalating battle between rival gangs led by the murderous Lil Zé and Carrot.

 

The favela itself is a central character in the film, which traces its deterioration into anarchic bloodbath: for the 1960s segment, the slum is bathed in a golden light and laughing children kick around a football in open spaces. As Rocket, Lil Zé and his sidekick Benny become teenagers in the 1970s, the streets take on a grey/brown hue. Leaving the favela is shown as going from darkness into light. By the time the community has sunk into all-out war, the favela is portrayed with the detachment of a documentary as Rocket, beginning to distance himself, shoots the killers with his camera." - Jo Griffin, The Guardian

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"The crew filming City of God were all professionals though the movie gave off the effect that everything from the actors to the filming was amateur.  A lot of the scenes were shot at low angles, without tripods, and at slanted curves.  When Buscape is at the beach kissing Angelica, the camera is slated almost sideways and very close up to their faces.  While during the filming of the scene where Lil’ Ze forces the little boy to kill the other boy for stealing, the camera is put at the level of Lil’ Ze’s legs, and almost all the time the camera is shaky and moving. These techniques give the audience a very realistic tone to the movie.  These along with Buscape’s narration make City of God seem almost like a documentary. Overall, the success of the movie is well deserved as the directors helped open the eyes of the international crowd and everything was well done. Though the picture was very violent, it was based on true events which helps one take everything they see more seriously.  This film was the beginning for a lot of people’s acting careers and even helped director Fernando Meirelles receive many job offers from Hollywood.  City of God is the perfect example of the Post-Cinema Novo Brazilian Cinema movement." - sjfilmhistory

 

 

Public Opinion

 

"From the moment that the antagonist of the film is revealed, City of God becomes absolutely enrapturing. An absolutely mesmerizing crime epic that captures the carnage, devastation and toll that the drug wars took on the streets of the slums (or favelas) of Rio de Janeiro, everything from the characters, to the actors, to the direction, the cinematography, the music and the production values was on point. The film is somehow able to juggle the weight of so many different characters in a 2 hour runtime, leading them to organic and senseful conclusions, even if the characters didn't really learn life-changing lessons, but in a story strongly based on real events, you don't necessarily need that to tell a tale that's gripping and compelling from start to finish. City of God is about how greed, corruption and soullessness have wrecked so many lives, even including shocking scenes of tortured or dead children caught in the war. Meanwhile, the character of Zé Pequeno might just be one of the most iconic villains of 2000's cinema - ruthless, cold and remorseless. Astounding performance from Leandro Firmino, and even his child counterpart Douglas Silva.

 

It takes a solid act to get itself together and allowing you to meet it in its wavelength, but once you settle in, City of God is an unforgettable experience that captures the horrors of Brazil's social struggles. Between this and Walter Selles' Central Station, turn of the century Brazil cranked out some absolutely all-time classic cinema." - Andre Meria, Letterboxd and Box Office Theory Forums

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

city of god

"The city of God,
amidst the noise and pollution
a beacon of hope."

- dA vInci

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

#56 2020, #97 2018, Unranked 2016, Unranked 2014, #58 2013, #81 2012

 

Director Count

Clint Eastwood (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#143 Fanboy Ranking, #83 Cinema Ranking

#126 Old Farts Ranking, #92 Damn Kids Ranking

#62 Ambassador Ranking, #110 All-American Ranking

#154 Cartoon Ranking, #92 Damn Boomer Ranking

 

 

[The Panda]

Thank you @Jake Gittes for reminding me that I had forgotten to reveal the points and votes scores.

 

City of God got 109 points, 7 votes

Master and Commander got 109 points, 7 votes

Unforgiven got 109 points, 6 votes

 

Tiebreakers for tied points and votes went to whichever one got the highest individual ranking (so if one's highest points from a vote was 40 and the other was 35, then the movie with a 40 point vote wins the tiebreaker)

 

Number 97

 

 

"True blind love."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically."

 

Its Legacy

 

"Charlie Chaplin's signature character, the gentlemanly vagabond known as the Little Tramp, appeared in numerous short films in the 1910s, followed by several features in the '20s and '30s. The Tramp was insanely popular, becoming one of the most recognized fictional characters in the world, perhaps the most recognized until Mickey Mouse -- who Walt Disney said was partially inspired by the Tramp -- came along. Among the character's most beloved films was City Lights, still considered one of the finest movies of the silent era. But is it still funny? Was it even funny then? What's the big deal? Let's put on our big shoes, derby hats, and fake mustaches and consider.

 

The praise: In 1949, film critic James Agee called the final scene of City Lights "the greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid." Coming in 69th among all movies, it's the highest-ranked silent film by Internet Movie Database users. The American Film Institute named it the #1 best romantic comedy of all time, the 38th best comedy, and 11th best film of any genre (the highest comedy on the list). The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine's first survey of film critics, in 1952, put City Lights as the second greatest film of all time (behind Bicycle Thieves). Orson Welles called it his favorite movie, and Stanley Kubrick had it in his top five.

 

The context: The advent of sound in motion pictures caused a general upheaval in Hollywood, as many performers who had honed their craft in the silent era -- or who had annoying voices -- wondered if their talents would survive the transition. But few had more to lose than Charlie Chaplin. Since his film debut in 1914, Chaplin, aided by his trademark Little Tramp character, had become the biggest movie star in the world. His Gold Rush (1925) and The Circus (1928) were among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the silent era. He co-founded the United Artists film studio and exercised almost complete control over his own films, writing, directing, producing, editing, and starring in them, in addition to composing the musical scores. His personal life was tabloid fodder; one biographer says his romance with the much younger Lita Grey -- he was 35 when they became involved; she was 16 -- was the inspiration for Vladimir Navokov's novel Lolita. And Chaplin was extremely rich: his and Grey's divorce, in 1927, set a record with its $825,000 settlement, plus a million bucks in legal fees." - Eric D. Snider, Film.com

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"City Lights, an indelible masterwork of cinema and, it seems fairly safe to say (nearly eighty-five years after its debut), Western civiliza­tion, represents both a beginning, in that it has been endlessly imitated, and an end, in that it has never been superseded. Charles Chaplin invented a new art in 1921 with his first feature film, The Kid. With City Lights, ten years later, he perfected it. Chaplin’s new art was a form of storytelling combining burlesque comedy and dreadful pathos, each tuned to a pitch so high that the audience is jolted from one physical response to another: laughter and tears, the two faces of Comedy and not Tragedy but rather the melodramatic concession of Pathos, look­ing straight at each other. Familiar territory today, but it smacked of radical egotism then. No one had brought it off before, and Chaplin—the orphaned music hall clown who became, through movies, the most popular comedian the world had ever known—defied his partners’ warn­ings that his ambition would cost him his audience." - Gary Giddins, The Criterion Collection

 

Public Opinion

 

"A lighthearted comedy about homelessness, suicide, disability, manic depression, substance abuse, handguns, bipolar disorder, drunk driving, robbery, rheumatic fever, and incarceration.

Ladies and gentlemen.....the 1930s!" - Keith, Letterboxd

 

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

city lights

"A million lights aglow
In the city that never sleeps
The hustle and bustle below"

- dA vInci

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

UNRANKED (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#174 Fanboy Ranking, #73 Cinema Ranking

#56 Old Farts Ranking, #129 Damn Kids Ranking

#78 Ambassador Ranking, #100 All-American Ranking

#189 Cartoon Ranking, #89 Damn Boomer Ranking

 

 

[Cap]

40 minutes ago, DAR said:

 

Good now let’s get this higher for 2024 list.

I should have kept this at 10 points but I dropped it to 1. Will keep that in mind for next time. 

[Ozymandias]

Master and Commander was in the unfortunate position of coming out the same year as ROTK, which completely overshadowed it at the Oscars.

[YM!]

3 hours ago, That One Guy said:

someone needs to answer for this shit

 

Don’t look at me, both Shreks didn’t make my list lol.

[The Panda]

Number 96

 

 

"That's too much power for one man to have."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride."

 

Its Legacy

 

"It has been 55 years since Malcolm X was assassinated and 28 years since Spike Lee released his cinematic chronicle of Malcolm X’s life but the injustices he fought against still plague the world today. Quite possibly one of the best biopics ever made, Malcolm X is more relevant now than ever for anyone who wants to try and understand the deeply problematic history of systemic racism in America. Lee’s three-hour epic about one of the most prominent and “controversial” Black intellectuals of the 1960s is an attempt to understand and demystify the man who has been consistently vilified and slowly erased from the history textbooks.

 

History has constantly drawn comparisons between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X to criticise the radical extremism of the latter. Lee has actively tried to show that they are not antithetical approaches to the same problem, insisting that a synthesis of their ideas is required for Black empowerment. In Malcolm X as well as the end of his 1989 magnum opus Do The Right Thing, he has maintained that Malcolm is just as important a figure as Martin Luther King Jr. in Black history if not more. It is crucially important to put things into perspective when we compare the two. While King received a formal education and began his PhD at Boston University in 1951, Malcolm was educating himself at the same time in a prison library. He was realising how the language he uses is not his own, scouring the dictionary to see how the words “black” and “white” were formulated as oppositional terms. He was understanding how his surname is not his own, it is the legacy of the people who enslaved him. He was finally discovering the possibility that the white God he had shunned might have the same skin colour as him. Yes, he was religiously indoctrinated by a follower of Elijah Muhammad (played by Al Freeman Jr.), the leader of Nation of Islam, and taught that the only way to combat the religious conservatism of Christian white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan was to adopt another religion. He was taught to bend the knee in the name of Allah, religious radicalism masquerading as discipline. However, all of these contributing factors help us understand why Malcolm became Malcolm X. He was a lost Black prison inmate who turned his life around by “religiously” studying and improving himself, rising to the uppermost ranks of public intellectuals under the guidance of Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm wasn’t an absolute pacifist like King because his experiences were vastly different from the relatively privileged life of the latter, he saw that his people were suffering in America and he was very angry." - Swapnil Dhruv Bose, Far Out Magazine

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

""Malcolm X" will offend many people for all the wrong reasons. It is neither so inflammatory as Mr. Lee's statements about it would have you believe nor so comforting as might be wished by those who would call a halt to speculation concerning Malcolm's murder. It is full of color and exuberance as it tells of life on the streets in Boston and New York, but it grows increasingly austere when Malcolm is arrested for theft and sent to prison, where he finds his life's mission. The movie becomes proper, well mannered and somber, like Malcolm's dark suits and narrow ties, as it dramatizes his rise in the Nation of Islam, founded by Elijah Muhammad.

 

Mr. Lee treats the Nation of Islam and its black separatist teachings seriously and, just as seriously, Malcolm's disillusionment when Elijah Muhammad's fondness for pretty young secretaries is revealed. When, after his split from the Nation of Islam, Malcolm goes on his pilgrimage to Mecca, the film celebrates his new insight into racial brotherhood, which makes his assassination all the more sorrowful." - Vincent Canby, The New York Times

 

Public Opinion

 

"Absolutely gigantic, epic cinema that paints an astonishing portrait of America and the black lives within it through the lens of one of its most prolific voices. Denzel Washington is truly mesmerizing and never fails to capture Malcolm through everything - his powerful, passionate speeches, his tender empathy, uncertain fear, and more. He's just as powerful delivering monologues as he is in moments of complete silence, and as much as I love Scent of a Woman, I can't fathom how he lost this Oscar.

 

Lee incorporates his style seamlessly into a classical cinematic epic, beautifully stitching together gorgeous footage that never dulls for its 200 minute runtime and packs so much into every frame and cut. I'm still trying to piece together everything in my mind on this movie, but it absolutely goes without saying that this is one of the greatest films of our modern era, and I'm a tad embarrassed it took me this long to see it." - @Ezen Baklattan

 

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

malcolm x

"Malcolm X,
born Malcolm Little,
changed his name and his life"

- dA vInci

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

UNRANKED (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

 

Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Spike Lee (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#113 Fanboy Ranking, #93 Cinema Ranking

#122 Old Farts Ranking, #95 Damn Kids Ranking

#85 Ambassador Ranking, #99 All-American Ranking

#67 Cartoon Ranking, #100 Damn Boomer Ranking

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

18 minutes ago, Cap said:

I should have kept this at 10 points but I dropped it to 1. Will keep that in mind for next time. 

[The Panda]

Here's some more of the 'misses'!

 

Number 240

The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)

 

Number 239

Little Women (2019, Greta Gerwig)

 

Number 238

Speed (1994, Jon de Bont)

 

Number 237

Kingdom of Heaven (2005, Ridley Scott)

 

Number 236

Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa)

 

Number 235

The Right Stuff (1983, Phillip Kaufman)

 

Number 234

Short Term 12 (2013, Destin Daniel Cretton)

 

Number 233

The Sting (1977, George Roy Hill)

 

Number 232

Only Angels Have Wings (1939, Howard Hanks)

 

Number 231

Caddyshack (1980, Harold Ramis)