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

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7 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Here's some more of the 'misses'!

 

Number 240

The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)

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Number 239

Little Women (2019, Greta Gerwig)

a91703ee3669fd0399b4404c5ae089d3bd91516f

 

Number 238

Speed (1994, Jon de Bont)

bus-keanu.gif

 

Number 237

Kingdom of Heaven (2005, Ridley Scott)

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Number 236

Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa)

tumblr_pf6ytqeXnp1solsulo3_500.gif

 

Number 235

The Right Stuff (1983, Phillip Kaufman)

FortunateMediocreBrahmancow-size_restric

 

Number 234

Short Term 12 (2013, Destin Daniel Cretton)

short-term12-grace-howard.gif

 

Number 233

The Sting (1977, George Roy Hill)

3836395a-75f9-44a9-968a-894041819b83_tex

 

Number 232

Only Angels Have Wings (1939, Howard Hanks)

tumblr_n8fc3d3t3g1qakh43o2_500.gifv

 

Number 231

Caddyshack (1980, Harold Ramis)

caddyshack-chevy-chase.gif

 

 

 


 

Damn this is a great group here

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Number 95

 

xYBa9PM.png

 

"On your left."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier."

 

Its Legacy

 

"As hard as it may be to believe, this week marks the fifth anniversary of the theatrical release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The 2014 Captain America sequel was universally acclaimed upon its initial release, a distinction that has only improved over the past five years, and brought directors Joe and Anthony Russo to Marvel Studios. The siblings' partnership with the studio would grow, with the Russos returning to helm Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and, next, Avengers: Endgame. More importantly than the impressive talent behind the camera, however, is how the film itself informed the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years to come, with the fallout from its story impacting its titular characters and more.

 

Following the World War II hero emerging in present day at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger and joining the eponymous team of 2012's The Avengers, the Russos, with screenwriters Stephen Markus and Chris McFeely, were tasked with creating the MCU's first present day solo adventure for the Star Spangled Avenger. To do so, the filmmakers chose to weave in other previously established characters for the sequel. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury, Black Widow, Maria Hill and Jasper Sitwell all returned with prominent roles in the film, while the sequel also introduced Falcon and Crossbones to the MCU. Most importantly, though, the movie reimagined Steve Rogers' best friend and World War II companion Bucky Barnes as the Hydra assassin the Winter Soldier, based on the classic comic book storyline by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting." - Sam Stone, Comic Book Report

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"We spend a lot of time here on the internet talking about the Meaning of blockbuster movies, attempting to analyze what some new mega-successful PG-13 rated corporate-branded movie says about our culture or the age we live in. We do this maybe because blockbuster movies have become more interested in tackling weighty themes. (9/11 is all over the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies; conversely, it’s difficult to graft some larger mid-’90s topical narrative onto Star Trek: First Contact or Batman Forever.) But we also do this because blockbuster movies are popular, and it’s fun to use popular things as a prism for understanding the issues of our day. It’s rare for a blockbuster movie to come right out and announce its intentions.

 

And so I was legitimately shocked and impressed and fascinated when I reached the middle of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — SPOILERS FROM HERE — and got to the scene where the movie clearly states that our modern intelligence apparatus and our whole system of national security was invented by some of the greatest villains of the 20th Century. And worse: Like the vampires of the pre-glitter period, HYDRA was welcomed in by their victims, freely and of their own will. In real-world terms, Winter Soldier basically says that the NSA was invented by Nazis…and that we let it happen, insisted even, giving up our freedom because we were too afraid to do anything else. EW critic Owen Gleiberman pointed out in his review that the villain in Winter Soldier is really the military-industrial complex. And that villain has accomplices, accessories, and henchmen who help the bad guys by doing nothing. To paraphrase Pogo: We have met the enemy, and they is us." - Darren Franich, EW

 

tumblr_pcwi7bJCSO1rfi53mo3_1280.gif

 

Public Opinion

 

"The Russo Brothers, Markus & McFeely, and Kevin Feige created a modern genre masterpiece with their sequel to the fabulous Captain America: The First Avenger. More importantly, they catapulted the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a completely new stratosphere of creativity and quality. TWS proves that modern blockbusters can nuanced, emotional character moments, and brilliantly choreographed action sequences.
 

The shrewdest creative decision in TWS is to have Natasha Romanoff fill the role/trope of the Best Friend/Sidekick and Sam Wilson to fill the role/trope of the Love Interest. By flipping these gendered norms, the movie now explores refreshingly modern takes on friendship and trust.
 

My favorite element of Captain America: The Winter Soldier is that for a superhero action movie, it features a hero whose true power is his goodness, and his ability to inspire others.  His big power play in the Third Act is to give a speech, over the PA system.  Steve's Price of Freedom Speech is the perfect example of all that's good about Captain America."

- @Cap

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

the winter soldier

"Soldier of winter,
His past a mystery.
Haunted by his ghosts."

- dA vInci

 

UnacceptablePastelIndianspinyloach-size_

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

#78 2020, #76 2018, #96 2016, #78 2014, NA (2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

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

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#69 Fanboy Ranking, #105 Cinema Ranking

#73 Old Farts Ranking, #105 Damn Kids Ranking

#143 Ambassador Ranking, #83 All-American Ranking

#94 Cartoon Ranking, #92 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

 

 

Edited by The Panda
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2 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 95

 

xYBa9PM.png

 

"On your left."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier."

 

Its Legacy

 

"As hard as it may be to believe, this week marks the fifth anniversary of the theatrical release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The 2014 Captain America sequel was universally acclaimed upon its initial release, a distinction that has only improved over the past five years, and brought directors Joe and Anthony Russo to Marvel Studios. The siblings' partnership with the studio would grow, with the Russos returning to helm Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and, next, Avengers: Endgame. More importantly than the impressive talent behind the camera, however, is how the film itself informed the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years to come, with the fallout from its story impacting its titular characters and more.

 

Following the World War II hero emerging in present day at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger and joining the eponymous team of 2012's The Avengers, the Russos, with screenwriters Stephen Markus and Chris McFeely, were tasked with creating the MCU's first present day solo adventure for the Star Spangled Avenger. To do so, the filmmakers chose to weave in other previously established characters for the sequel. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury, Black Widow, Maria Hill and Jasper Sitwell all returned with prominent roles in the film, while the sequel also introduced Falcon and Crossbones to the MCU. Most importantly, though, the movie reimagined Steve Rogers' best friend and World War II companion Bucky Barnes as the Hydra assassin the Winter Soldier, based on the classic comic book storyline by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting." - Sam Stone, Comic Book Report

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"We spend a lot of time here on the internet talking about the Meaning of blockbuster movies, attempting to analyze what some new mega-successful PG-13 rated corporate-branded movie says about our culture or the age we live in. We do this maybe because blockbuster movies have become more interested in tackling weighty themes. (9/11 is all over the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies; conversely, it’s difficult to graft some larger mid-’90s topical narrative onto Star Trek: First Contact or Batman Forever.) But we also do this because blockbuster movies are popular, and it’s fun to use popular things as a prism for understanding the issues of our day. It’s rare for a blockbuster movie to come right out and announce its intentions.

 

And so I was legitimately shocked and impressed and fascinated when I reached the middle of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — SPOILERS FROM HERE — and got to the scene where the movie clearly states that our modern intelligence apparatus and our whole system of national security was invented by some of the greatest villains of the 20th Century. And worse: Like the vampires of the pre-glitter period, HYDRA was welcomed in by their victims, freely and of their own will. In real-world terms, Winter Soldier basically says that the NSA was invented by Nazis…and that we let it happen, insisted even, giving up our freedom because we were too afraid to do anything else. EW critic Owen Gleiberman pointed out in his review that the villain in Winter Soldier is really the military-industrial complex. And that villain has accomplices, accessories, and henchmen who help the bad guys by doing nothing. To paraphrase Pogo: We have met the enemy, and they is us." - Darren Franich, EW

 

tumblr_pcwi7bJCSO1rfi53mo3_1280.gif

 

Public Opinion

 

"The Russo Brothers, Markus & McFeely, and Kevin Feige created a modern genre masterpiece with their sequel to the fabulous Captain America: The First Avenger. More importantly, they catapulted the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a completely new stratosphere of creativity and quality. TWS proves that modern blockbusters can nuanced, emotional character moments, and brilliantly choreographed action sequences.
 

The shrewdest creative decision in TWS is to have Natasha Romanoff fill the role/trope of the Best Friend/Sidekick and Sam Wilson to fill the role/trope of the Love Interest. By flipping these gendered norms, the movie now explores refreshingly modern takes on friendship and trust.
 

My favorite element of Captain America: The Winter Soldier is that for a superhero action movie, it features a hero whose true power is his goodness, and his ability to inspire others.  His big power play in the Third Act is to give a speech, over the PA system.  Steve's Price of Freedom Speech is the perfect example of all that's good about Captain America."

- @Cap

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

the winter soldier

"Soldier of winter,
His past a mystery.
Haunted by his ghosts."

- dA vInci

 

UnacceptablePastelIndianspinyloach-size_

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

#78 2020, #76 2018, #96 2016, #78 2014, NA (2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

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

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#69 Fanboy Ranking, #105 Cinema Ranking

#73 Old Farts Ranking, #105 Damn Kids Ranking

#143 Ambassador Ranking, #83 All-American Ranking

#94 Cartoon Ranking, #92 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

 

 

Oh Come On Jim Carrey GIF

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Number 94

 

dWypBaS.png

 

"Your mother sucks cocks in Hell, Karras, you faithless slime."

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith."

 

Its Legacy

 

"The production, distribution, and marketing of The Exorcist, along with other specific techniques, helped the film reach a larger audience. The special effects team utilized the tried and accurate low-tech methods of the day. Along with innovative ideas to create unforgettable images, these effects would sell one of the greatest horror films. Due to its special effects, marketing, and distribution, The Exorcist completely changed the horror genre into what it is today.

 

The importance of The Exorcist seeming as realistic as possible began before the movie came to fruition. The film is adapted from the 1971 William Blatty novel, based on a true story revolving around a fourteen-year-old boy named Ronald Hunkeler living in Silver Springs, Maryland. When Blatty began his research, he contacted Reverend Thomas Bermingham, a professor at Georgetown University. Friedkin later hired Father Bermingham and two other priests as technical advisors: Father John Nicola and Father William O’Malley. Friedkin realized that many Catholics, let alone most people, never heard of an exorcism; he needed the priests' image as trusted men to add faith and belief to the religious subject matter." - Melissa Rose Cusano, GameRant

 

tumblr_plwtrwiwZa1rsi0yho2_500.gifv

 

From the Filmmaker

 

"Q: You stated a couple of times that, when you made The Exorcist, your intention was never to make a horror film. The fact that people consider it to be one of the best horror films ever made says quite a lot about how frightening exploring the nature of human beings really is.

 

William Friendkin: Well, by now, obviously I recognize that audiences for generations have considered it a horror film. I won’t deny that, but when I set out to make it, the writer and I never had any concept of it as a horror film. We thought of it as a powerful, emotional, disturbing story. But we did not think of it in terms of a horror film, let alone a classic horror film, or a lot of the stuff that passes for horror films. We just both found this story, which was inspired by an actual case, you know, to be very powerful, and I thought would be cinematic. But I never thought in terms of horror films, like the ones that I appreciated, like Psycho and Diabolique, and Onibaba, and a handful of others. They are clearly horror films, and I didn’t think of The Exorcist to be one of them when I made it. Now I understand that the public thinks of it that way, so I don’t dispute it.

 

Q: And what do you think scares the public the most?

 

Well, why bad things happen to good people. An innocent 12-year-old girl, who goes through extraordinary symptoms that clearly represent a disease that medical science is unable to deal with. That’s extremely disturbing to people. Because most people either have a child, or have been a child or are a child. So whenever your child goes through the sort of illnesses that are depicted in The Exorcist, it’s of great concern to everyone. And I think the fact that I made the film in a realistic way is what ultimately gets to people. It’s not done as though it takes place on a planet far, far away or something like that, or in an intangible world—it’s set in the real world, with characters who are portrayed as humanly possible. So I think that the fact the story is portrayed realistically is what disturbs people about the events in it. It was a very productive and exciting period to work with William Peter Blatty on his great creation." - A Discussion with William Friedkin, Cinephilia and Beyond

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"Nearly five decades on, The Exorcist continues to be one of the most talked about horror movies of all time; even to the point that its many surrounding curiosities and controversies are practically common knowledge to even non-horror fans. On top of claims of injury, pain and misery for its cast and crew, The Exorcist also enjoys claims of its apparent sacrilege and being one of the scariest films of all time – its initial release had droves of audiences fainting in the aisles of their local cinemas and even some modern viewers testify to losing sleep after a curious watch. Often enough, the urban myths surrounding certain films inflate the expectations of the audience to ridiculous levels, which inevitably leads to disappointment, but the fact of the matter is that the hype for The Exorcist hasn’t died down over the years, even amongst hardcore horror fans; so can we be blamed for our curiosity? " - Katie Doyle, Film Magazine

 

Exorcist-1973.gif

 

Public Opinion

 

"Watch any clip of The Exorcist on YouTube and you'll find comments debating whether the movie itself is still scary or not. Aside from the obvious point that horror is about the most subjective genre out there besides comedy, I think it's particularly funny that people are finding this to be a worthy discussion, especially with scenes taken out of context. If you put The Exorcist on late at night, as I just did, with the sound cranked up, there's no conversation to be had, it's just that scary, pea soup and all. If you're religious, it could even be deemed 'evil' or 'unholy'. For me, it's an unsettling examination of a cast of characters thrown into an unexplainable existential quandary, a mess of symbols and bread crumbs leading up those set of stairs to a white door with a haunted little girl inside. Within that room, the mystical - another dimension torn between the faithful and the faithless, an ancient evil adapting to the beliefs of our world, taking hold of the innocent as a hostage.

 

William Friedkin importantly disregards any blunt metaphors or trite discussions of religion. He portrays Catholicism as just another detached process, a system that is only summoned when medicine finds no other explanation. And we learn through Friedkin's precise sequencing (the opening in Iraq, the scenes with Karras and his mother, Chris MacNeil yelling at the operator over the phone) that these people are uniquely tied to this experience, time and place and circumstance all culminating in a battle of strength and will. The film is first-rate. Performances and scripting are most immediately evident, but everything about it is exceptional. The Exorcist patiently builds a believable scenario, no matter how improbable, and heightens it with shocking imagery and an undercurrent of bad vibes." - SilentDawn, Letterboxd

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

the exorcist

"The exorcist is
the only one who can
save us from the devil"

- dA vInci

 

14c3692e18bb134f5cbe1eaeaf3dddd204f5994b

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

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

 

Director Count

 

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

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#117 Fanboy Ranking, #84 Cinema Ranking

#67 Old Farts Ranking, #109 Damn Kids Ranking

#102 Ambassador Ranking, #85 All-American Ranking

#122 Cartoon Ranking, #86 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

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Number 93

 

Hft41ZN.png

 

"There's a cure for everything except death"

 

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"Antonio, an unemployed man in the depressed post-WWII economy of Italy, at last finds a good job hanging up posters, the only requirement for which is that he must have his own bicycle. When Antonio’s bicycle is stolen, he and his son are forced to walk the streets of Rome in search of it, or else face ruin."

 

Its Legacy

 

"There is a group of filmmakers like myself who wanted to counter the distorted narratives and stereotyped images of Hollywood, and on seeing Bicycle Thieves, I was moved by how ordinary people were able to express so much humanity. The story achieved in very simple terms what I was looking to do in film: humanize those watching. Bicycle Thieves has the quality and intention of a documentary. It is totally unromantic. The characters are just ordinary people, and the film gives the impression you are watching life unfold before you. It is entertaining, but that is not the goal. Its goal is to make audiences aware of a particular social condition that needs a political solution. It is clear that it was made as a tool for change.

 

Also amazing is the fact that the thieves are not portrayed as bad people but as victims of a corrupt society. It is postwar Italy, just freed from a Fascist government that had controlled information and lied to its people. When Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) forces the young man who stole his bike to take him to his house, all of the thief’s neighbors come out to give him support. His partner comes out of his rundown apartment holding a baby when he hears the commotion. When he sees Antonio, he escapes back into his apartment. You find a kind of Lower Depths, but in spite of their poverty, they have grace."  - Charles Burnett, The Criterion Collection

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"The use of ordinary people and actual locations, which didn’t begin with De Sica, was already, in 1948, a hallmark of neorealism, the movement that helped Italy secure a central place in postwar world cinema. Like most artistic tendencies, neorealism has often been more of a puzzle than a program, its essence obscured by theoretical hairsplitting and ideological disputation. By the strict accounting of some critics, there are exactly seven films in the neorealist canon: three apiece by De Sica and Roberto Rossellini and one by Luchino Visconti. A less rigorous definition includes countless Italian films released between the end of the war and the mid-1960s, even big-budgeted, movie-star-filled, internationally flavored productions like Federico Fellini’s “La Strada” and Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers.” Any Italian movie shot in black-and-white and concerned with the struggles of poor people might qualify.

 

I prefer to think of neorealism as an impulse, an ethos, a spore that caught the wind of history and sprouted in the soil of every continent. The spirits of Maria and Antonio Ricci — and perhaps especially of the impish, vulnerable Bruno — live on in the work of Satyajit Ray in Bengal in the late 1950s, in the Brazilian Cinema Novo in the 1960s, in Iran in the 1990s and the United States in the first decade of this century. Films like Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop” and Kelly Reichardt’s “Wendy and Lucy,” which tally the moral and existential costs of economic precariousness, have a clear affinity with “Bicycle Thieves.”" - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

 

c6495196976cada96555cf6626f417c5.gif

 

Public Opinion

 

"It's a film that posits a simple premise of a man trying to get his bike back from a thief. Yet in a clever turn of events, Bicycle Thieves has perhaps one of the densest conflicts I've seen in a movie. It's through the lens of Antonio, performed by Lamberto Maggiorani, that we see why the bike was stolen in the first place. Between all the glitz and glamour, Rome is a terrible place, full of income inequality, the poor struggling to find work, a police system that is indifferent to others in the best of times, and everybody has to either give up the things they love or take what isn't there's. And in the end, nothing really changes. We're all so used to it that there's no point helping your fellow man.

 

It's devastating, yet engrossing odyssey, anchored by both of the lead performances of Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola and Vittorio De Sica's stunning direction. Simply masterful." - @Eric the Superdog

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

bicycle thieves

"A haiku about bicycle thieves

 

Thieves who love to steal bikes
Always looking for their next prize
Never knowing when they'll strike"

- dA vInci

 

G7m0.gif

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

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

 

Director Count

 

Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), William Friedkin (1), Spike Lee (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), The Russos (1), Vittorio de Sica (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Decade Count

 

1930s (1), 1940s (1), 1970s (1), 1990s (1), 2000s (2), 2010s (1)

 

Franchise Count

 

The Exorcist (1), The MCU (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#113 Fanboy Ranking, #85 Cinema Ranking

#70 Old Farts Ranking, #107 Damn Kids Ranking

#72 Ambassador Ranking, #96 All-American Ranking

#69 Cartoon Ranking, #97 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

Edited by The Panda
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12 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 93

 

Hft41ZN.png

 

"There's a cure for everything except death"

 

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"Antonio, an unemployed man in the depressed post-WWII economy of Italy, at last finds a good job hanging up posters, the only requirement for which is that he must have his own bicycle. When Antonio’s bicycle is stolen, he and his son are forced to walk the streets of Rome in search of it, or else face ruin."

 

Its Legacy

 

"There is a group of filmmakers like myself who wanted to counter the distorted narratives and stereotyped images of Hollywood, and on seeing Bicycle Thieves, I was moved by how ordinary people were able to express so much humanity. The story achieved in very simple terms what I was looking to do in film: humanize those watching. Bicycle Thieves has the quality and intention of a documentary. It is totally unromantic. The characters are just ordinary people, and the film gives the impression you are watching life unfold before you. It is entertaining, but that is not the goal. Its goal is to make audiences aware of a particular social condition that needs a political solution. It is clear that it was made as a tool for change.

 

Also amazing is the fact that the thieves are not portrayed as bad people but as victims of a corrupt society. It is postwar Italy, just freed from a Fascist government that had controlled information and lied to its people. When Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) forces the young man who stole his bike to take him to his house, all of the thief’s neighbors come out to give him support. His partner comes out of his rundown apartment holding a baby when he hears the commotion. When he sees Antonio, he escapes back into his apartment. You find a kind of Lower Depths, but in spite of their poverty, they have grace."  - Charles Burnett, The Criterion Collection

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"The use of ordinary people and actual locations, which didn’t begin with De Sica, was already, in 1948, a hallmark of neorealism, the movement that helped Italy secure a central place in postwar world cinema. Like most artistic tendencies, neorealism has often been more of a puzzle than a program, its essence obscured by theoretical hairsplitting and ideological disputation. By the strict accounting of some critics, there are exactly seven films in the neorealist canon: three apiece by De Sica and Roberto Rossellini and one by Luchino Visconti. A less rigorous definition includes countless Italian films released between the end of the war and the mid-1960s, even big-budgeted, movie-star-filled, internationally flavored productions like Federico Fellini’s “La Strada” and Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers.” Any Italian movie shot in black-and-white and concerned with the struggles of poor people might qualify.

 

I prefer to think of neorealism as an impulse, an ethos, a spore that caught the wind of history and sprouted in the soil of every continent. The spirits of Maria and Antonio Ricci — and perhaps especially of the impish, vulnerable Bruno — live on in the work of Satyajit Ray in Bengal in the late 1950s, in the Brazilian Cinema Novo in the 1960s, in Iran in the 1990s and the United States in the first decade of this century. Films like Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop” and Kelly Reichardt’s “Wendy and Lucy,” which tally the moral and existential costs of economic precariousness, have a clear affinity with “Bicycle Thieves.”" - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

 

c6495196976cada96555cf6626f417c5.gif

 

Public Opinion

 

"It's a film that posits a simple premise of a man trying to get his bike back from a thief. Yet in a clever turn of events, Bicycle Thieves has perhaps one of the densest conflicts I've seen in a movie. It's through the lens of Antonio, performed by Lamberto Maggiorani, that we see why the bike was stolen in the first place. Between all the glitz and glamour, Rome is a terrible place, full of income inequality, the poor struggling to find work, a police system that is indifferent to others in the best of times, and everybody has to either give up the things they love or take what isn't there's. And in the end, nothing really changes. We're all so used to it that there's no point helping your fellow man.

 

It's devastating, yet engrossing odyssey, anchored by both of the lead performances of Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola and Vittorio De Sica's stunning direction. Simply masterful." - @Eric the Superdog

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

bicycle thieves

"A haiku about bicycle thieves

 

Thieves who love to steal bikes
Always looking for their next prize
Never knowing when they'll strike"

- dA vInci

 

G7m0.gif

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

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

 

Director Count

 

Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), William Friedkin (1), Spike Lee (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), The Russos (1), Vittorio de Sica (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Decade Count

 

1930s (1), 1940s (1), 1970s (1), 1990s (1), 2000s (2), 2010s (1)

 

Franchise Count

 

The Exorcist (1), The MCU (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

 

#113 Fanboy Ranking, #85 Cinema Ranking

#70 Old Farts Ranking, #107 Damn Kids Ranking

#72 Ambassador Ranking, #96 All-American Ranking

#69 Cartoon Ranking, #97 Damn Boomers Ranking

 

 

Follow my Letterboxd YALL

 

https://letterboxd.com/ericmcinnis/film/bicycle-thieves/

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2 hours ago, The Panda said:

 

tumblr_pcwi7bJCSO1rfi53mo3_1280.gif

 

#69 Fanboy Ranking,

 

I approve of this. 
 

Also my worry/job for the next two weeks is over, so me currently:

 

Out Of Office Summer GIF by Merge Mansion
 

 

 

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Number 92

 

abE2GoI.png

 

"Neytiri calls me skxawng. It means "moron.""

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization."

 

Its Legacy

 

"Cameron had a very specific vision for Avatar, which is why he waited for so long to finally get it done. He worked on new motion capture animation technologies that would allow him to better capture the facial expressions of the actors so the animators could later use them. Other technologies developed for Avatar were a new system for lighting massive areas (like Pandora’s jungle), a new texturing and paint software system, and new ways to make many of the CGI elements look as realistic as possible. In addition to that, Avatar made the 3D format popular (and relevant) again, with a lot of films getting 3D releases ever since. It was built to be a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience and it definitely succeeded on that, and also made it possible for other films to use these new technologies to their advantage. Simply put, without Avatar’s technical advancements, films like Avengers: Endgame or even the Star Wars sequels wouldn’t look as they do.

 

Avatar’s success was such that it got a theatrical re-release in 2010, exclusively in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D and with nine minutes of extra footage, all of which was CG. Re-releases are a move that many other films have made since, and while Avatar obviously wasn’t the first to do so, it can brag about having a successful release and re-release, which added more to its box office numbers (and, once again, it was a strategy that Avengers: Endgame used to its advantage). Another particularity of Avatar which ended up becoming a sort of “strategy” in the film industry is its release date. Summer used to be the ideal time to release big films, but Avatar proved that December also works quite well. Studios keeping their biggest titles for the last month of the year is very common now, and the new wave of Star Wars films (except Solo: A Star Wars Story) is a good example of this. While many film enthusiasts feel the world has now forgotten about Avatar, truth is that it had such an impact on so many areas that it won’t be forgotten for a long, long time – more so now that Cameron is working on Avatar 2 and 3. It remains to be seen if the sequels will bring new technologies and have an effect on the film industry as big as the first film."  - Adrienne Tyler, Screen Rant

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"More than a decade in the making, James Cameron’s 3-D fantasy about a colony of human astronauts hoping to plunder an alien rain forest represents a quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw King Kong. Motion-capture animation, which transposes actors’ physical movements and facial expressions to digital characters onscreen, has never been executed with such accuracy and delicacy, and the planet’s strange, colorful landscape is so minutely realized, with such careful study of botany and biology, that the movie’s standard eco-parable feels effortlessly sincere. None of this would matter, though, if not for Cameron’s perfectly arcing story line, in which a paraplegic military man (Sam Worthington) gets a chance to inhabit an ambulatory alien body and ultimately must choose between his own people and the tribal community they’re about to attack." - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

 

BleakPaltryIlsamochadegu-size_restricted

 

Public Opinion

 

"4 billies is coming lad, would be a shame if box office expert like yourself didn't see it coming." - @IronJimbo

 

The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

avatar

"The blue one
Aang is the chosen one
He will save us all"

- dA vInci

 

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Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

UNRANKED 2020, #88 2018, UNRANKED 2016, #43 2014, UNRANKED (2013, 2012)

 

Director Count

 

James Cameron (1), Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), William Friedkin (1), Spike Lee (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), The Russos (1), Vittorio de Sica (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Decade Count

 

1930s (1), 1940s (1), 1970s (1), 1990s (1), 2000s (3), 2010s (1)

 

Franchise Count

 

Avatar (1), The Exorcist (1), The MCU (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#70 Fanboy Ranking, #104 Cinema Ranking

#119 Old Fart Ranking, #87 Damn Kids Ranking

#69 Ambassador Ranking, #97 All-American Ranking

#78 Cartoon Ranking, #94 Damn Boomer Ranking

 

 

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last one for tonight, although i'll post some more of the 'misses' right after this.

 

Number 91

 

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"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?"

 

 

About the Film

 

Synopsis

 

"In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans."

 

SpecificQuerulousIguana-size_restricted.

 

Its Legacy

 

"“’Blade Runner’ changed the way the world looks and how we look at the world,” science fiction author William Gibson told Wired. Gibson’s books, specifically “Neuromancer” — which came out a year after “Blade Runner” — are viewed as being the defining stories of what became known as the cyberpunk movement. The popular science fiction sub-genre juxtaposes a technologically-advanced future with the breakdown of social order (in other words, a technological dystopia). The exploration of the moral and philosophical quandaries that would come with computers and artificial intelligence was present in science fiction books dating back to the ’60s and ’70s — including Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” which “Blade Runner” is based on. What made “Blade Runner” groundbreaking was it created the visual look, atmosphere, and world of cyberpunk. Ridley Scott and his team of incredible technicians built a futuristic Los Angeles that was the perfect extension of the near-future dystopia sci-fi authors were writing about in their books.

 

As the role technology plays in our daily lives has grown exponentially since the ’70s and ’80s, the themes of the cyberpunk movement have permeated all aspects of popular culture. As a result, the international film market has increasingly gravitated toward this futuristic setting defined by technology — bleeding into genre re-defining superhero movies (“Dark Knight”), action movies (“The Matrix”) and anime (“Ghost in the Shell”) — for which “Blade Runner” is the visual touchstone. It’s a connection that filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, the Wachowskis, and “Ghost in the Shell” visionary Mamoru Oshii readily acknowledge." - Chris O'Fault, IndieWire

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

 

Why It's Great

 

Critic Opinion

 

"In Blade Runner, as in all science-fiction, the “future” is a style. Here that style is part film noir and part Gary Numan. The 40s influence is everywhere: in Rachael’s Joan-Crawford shoulder pads, the striped shadows cast by Venetian blinds, the atmosphere of defeat. It’s not just noir, Ridley Scott also taps into 70s cop shows and movies that themselves tapped into nostalgic style, with their yearning jazz and their sad apartments; Deckard even visits a strip joint as all TV detectives must. The movie remains one of the most visually stunning in cinema history. It plots a planet of perpetual night, a landscape of shadows, rain and reflected neon (shone on windows or the eye) in a world not built to a human scale; there, the skyscrapers dwarf us like the pyramids. High above the Philip Marlowe world, hover cars swoop and dirigible billboards float by. More dated now than its hard-boiled lustre is the movie’s equal and opposite involvement in modish early 80s dreams; the soundtrack by Vangelis was up-to-the-minute, while the replicants dress like extras in a Billy Idol video, a post-punk, synth-pop costume party. However, it is noir romanticism that wins out, gifting the film with its forlorn Californian loneliness." - Michael Newton, The Guardian

 

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Public Opinion

 

"Ridley Scott’s genre-defining film, Blade Runner, is a colossal cinematic achievement and the blueprint of which informs nearly every science-fiction film since its 1982 release. Scott’s often imitated, never replicated depiction of a desolate dystopian future is an utterly enveloping sensory experience. Jordan Cronenweth’s sweeping lurid vistas of towering monolithic pyramids, neon-lit streets, invasive probing lights, and perpetual downpour create visual texture, tactility, and a sense of world-weariness of a future on the brink of collapse. The roads feel walked on, the houses seem lived in. Vangelis’ jazzy synth score drunk on its melodic vibrancy is majestic and ethereal, evoking tension and mood whilst calling attention to the absence of nature in the dreary machine of Los Angeles 2019.

 

But at the heart of Blade Runner and the source of its cultural resonance is its thematically-dense rumination on mortality, existence, and the unyielding question of what it means to be human, physically manifested in the form of replicants, who blur the lines between naturalism and artificiality. But the lingering discussion regarding Deckard’s humanity is not as important as the reason for the discussion itself. The point isn’t whether Deckard is a replicant, the point is that we can’t tell the difference. What does this entail about our humanity and our purpose?" - Ethan, Letterboxd

 

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The AI's Poetic Opinion

 

blade runner

"In the dark night
Harrison Ford runs through the rain
pursued by robots"

- dA vInci

 

Factoids

 

Previous Rankings

 

UNRANKED (2020), #89 (2018), #65 (2016), #60 (2014), #94 (2013), UNRANKED (2012)

 

Director Count

 

James Cameron (1), Charlie Chaplin (1), Clint Eastwood (1), William Friedkin (1), Spike Lee (1), Katia Lund (1), Fernando Meirelles (1), The Russos (1), Ridley Scott (1), Vittorio de Sica (1), Peter Weir (1)

 

Decade Count

 

1930s (1), 1940s (1), 1970s (1), 1980s (1), 1990s (1), 2000s (3), 2010s (1)

 

Franchise Count

 

Avatar (1), Blade Runner (1), The Exorcist (1), The MCU (1)

 

Re-Weighted Placements

#135 Fanboy Ranking, #75 Cinema Ranking

#78 Old Farts Ranking, #102 Damn Kids Ranking

#81 Ambassador Ranking, #34 All-American Ranking

#176 Cartoon Ranking, #80 Damn Boomer Ranking

 

 

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Just some consolation if you're sad about these misses. Over 1600 movies received a vote, so it was very competitive to even get a top 250 spot!

 

Number 230

Spider-Man (2002, Sam Raimi)

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Number 229

Once (2006, John Carney)

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Number 228

Black Swan (2010, Darren Aronofsky)

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Number 227

How Green Was My Valley (1941, John Ford)

how-green-was-my-valley-john-ford.gif

 

Number 226

L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson)

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Number 225

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013, Francis Lawrence)

Catching-Fire-Gif-the-hunger-games-movie

 

Number 224

The Big Short (2015, Adam McKay)

AdmirableWarmAustraliankestrel-size_rest

 

Number 223

Braveheart (1995, Mel Gibson)

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Number 222

Captain America: Civil War (2016, The Russos)

avengers-civil-war.gif

 

Number 221

No Country for Old Men (2007, Ethan Coen)

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8 hours ago, The Panda said:

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

 

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"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

 

tumblr_nw8mnrSBQ01qzn6ruo1_500.gifv

 

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

 

 

The ending to this film is better than any film that's about to be placed higher than this. 

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10 hours ago, Cap said:

92 for Avatar, huh. That also feels like a good OW number. 

pretty sure the public opinion of Avatar cited by Panda covers this post you've just made

Edited by IronJimbo
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