BOT Top 250 Films of All-Time: or How We Learned to Start Shitposting and Love the Countdown!

[The Panda]

With a little over 50 lists submitted and now compiled, we are ready for 8th edition of the BOT 100! 

 

We had a wide range of members, including many first time list submitters, which has lead to some surprises!

 

Some beloved franchises took a dramatic falling off, some did not. Some films which have had a consistent presence in the top 100 were snubbed, others held strong. Some older films made the list and some newer ones did. In some ways Christopher Nolan fell off and in others he is back better than ever (in the ranking performance).

 

I am sure members of all kinds will have something to be happy about and something to rage about. So let's all learn to sit back, shitpost a little, and enjoy the countdown!

 

The Top 250

 

....

8.    The Empire Strikes Back (dir. Irvin Kershner, 1980)
9.    Lawrence of Arabia (dir. David Lean, 1962)
10.    2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
11.    Jaws (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1975)
12.    Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
13.    12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1957)
14.    Back to the Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
15.    Star Wars (dir. George Lucas, 1977)
16.    The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960)
17.    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (dir. Peter Jackson, 2003)
18.    Pan's Labyrinth (dir. Guillermo Del Torro, 2006)
19.    The Godfather: Part II (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
20.    The Matrix (dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999)
21.    The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2008)
22.    Terminator 2: Judgement Day (dir. James Cameron, 1991)
23.    Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee, 1989)
24.    Mad Max: Fury Road (dir. George Miller, 2015)
25.    Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch, 2001)
26.    Jurassic Park (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1993)
27.    Singin' in the Rain (dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
28.    Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
29.    Oppenheimer (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2023)
30.    Princess Mononoke (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
31.    Heat (dir. Michael Mann, 1995)
32.    Taxi Driver (dir. Martin Scorse, 1976)
33.    The Incredibles (dir. Brad Bird, 2004)
34.    Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
35.    Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2010)
36.    The Wizard of Oz (dir. Victor Fleming, 1939)
37.    Ratatouille (dir. Brad Bird, 2007)
38.    Star Wars: The Last Jedi (dir. Rian Johnson, 2017)
39.    Wall-E (dir. Andrew Stanton, 2008)
40.    E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1982)
41.    The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (dir. Peter Jackson, 2002)
42.    The Shawshank Redemption (dir. Frank Darabont, 1994)
43.    My Neighbor Totoro (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
44.    The Social Network (dir. David Fincher, 2010)
45.    Seven Samurai (dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1953)
46.    The Truman Show (dir. Peter Weir, 1998)
47.    Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941)
48.    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (dir. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, 2018)
49.    The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
50.    Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979)
51.    Coco (dir. Lee Unkrich, 2017)
52.    The Thing (dir. John Carpenter, 1982)
53.    Saving Private Ryan (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1998)
54.    Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
55.    Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-Ho, 2019)
56.    Inside Out (dir. Pete Docter, 2015)
57.    Before Sunrise (dir. Richard Linklater, 1995)
58.    Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz, 1942)
59.    Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
60.    Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
61.    It's a Wonderful Life (dir. Frank Capra, 1946)
62.    Toy Story 2 (dir. John Lasseter, 1999)
63.    Silence (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2016)
64.    Before Sunset (dir. Richard Linklater, 2004)
65.    Toy Story (dir. John Lasseter, 1995)
66.    Sunset Boulevard (dir. Billy Wilder, 1950)
67.    Monty Python and the Holy Grail (dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
68.    Interstellar (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2014)
69.    Once Upon a Time in the West (dir. Sergio Leone, 1968)
70.    City of God (dir. Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, 2002)
71.    The Silence of the Lambs (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1991)
72.    Inglorious Basterds (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
73.    In the Mood for Love (dir. Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
74.    Fargo (dir. Joel Coen, 1996)
75.    Avengers: Endgame (dir. Anthony and Joe Russo, 2019)
76.    A.I. Artificial Intelligence (dir. Steven Spielberg, 2001)
77.    Spider-Man 2 (dir. Sam Raimi, 2004)
78.    There Will Be Blood (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
79.    Malcolm X (dir. Spike Lee, 1992)
80.    Beauty and the Beast (dir. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991)
81.    Rashomon (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
82.    The Elephant Man (dir. David Lynch, 1980)
83.    Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele, 2017)
84.    Avatar (dir. James Cameron, 2009)
85.    Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
86.    Gladiator (dir. Ridley Scott, 2000)
87.    Aliens (dir. James Cameron, 1986)
88.    The Lion King (dir. Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, 1994)
89.    Blue Velvet (dir. David Lynch, 1986)
90.    The Young Girls of Rochefort (dir. Jacques Demy, 1967)
91.    Nashville (dir. Robert Altman, 1975)
92.    Memento (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2000)
93.    The Sixth Sense (dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 1999)
94.    The Exorcist (dir. William Friedkin, 1973)
95.    The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (dir. Sergio Leone, 1966)
96.    Duck Soup (dir. Leo McCarey, 1933)
97.    Ikiru (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
98.    The Passion of Joan of Arc (dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
99.    Amadeus (dir. Milos Forman, 1984)
100.    Harakiri (dir. Masaki Kobayashi, 1962)

101.    Whiplash (dir. Damien Chazelle, 2014)
102.    Finding Nemo (dir. Andrew Stanton, 2003)
103.    Avengers: Infinity War (dir. Anthony and Joe Russo, 2018)
104.    The Princess Bride (dir. Rob Reiner, 1987)
105.    Return of the Jedi (dir. Richard Marquand, 1983)
106.    Akira (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988)
107.    Bambi (dir. David D. Hand et al., 1942)
108.    Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (dir. Peter Weir, 2003)
109.    Forrest Gump (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
110.    North by Northwest (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
111.    Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (dir. George Lucas, 2005)
112.    Hard Boiled (dir. John Woo, 1992)
113.    Dog Day Afternoon (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1975)
114.    All That Jazz (dir. Bob Fosse, 1979)
115.    Fight Club (dir. David Fincher, 1999)
116.    Some Like it Hot (dir. Billy Wilder, 1959)
117.    Your Name (dir. Makoto Shinkai, 2016)
118.    Life of Brian (dir. Terry Jones, 1979)
119.    Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski, 1974)
120.    8 1/2 (dir. Federico Fellini, 1963)
121.    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Michel Gondry, 2004)
122.    Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)
123.    The Iron Giant (dir. Brad Bird, 1999)
124.    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1988)
125.    Unforgiven (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1992)
126.    The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel Coen, 1998)
127.    Mission: Impossible - Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
128.    Chungking Express (dir. Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
129.    The Grand Budapest Hotel (dir. Wes Anderson, 2014)
130.    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (dir. F.W. Murnau, 1927)
131.    The Terminator (dir, James Cameron, 1984)
132.    Spider-Man (dir. Sam Raimi, 2002)
133.    The Departed (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2006)
134.    Django Unchained (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2012)
135.    Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich, 2010)
136.    The Avengers (dir. Joss Whedon, 2012)
137.    Airplane! (dir. David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, 1980)
138.    Stalker (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
139.    Blazing Saddles (dir. Mel Brookos, 1974)
140.    Come and See (dir. Elem Klimov, 1985)
141.    The Rocky Horror Picture Show (dir. Jim Sharman, 1975)
142.    Guardians of the Galaxy (dir. James Gunn, 2014)
143.    Uncut Gems (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie, 2019)
144.    Days of Heaven (dir. Terrence Malick, 1978)
145.    Dazed and Confused (dir. Richard Linklater, 1993)
146.    The Bridge on the River Kwai (dir. David Lean, 1957)
147.    All the President's Men (dir. Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
148.    Cabaret (dir. Bob Fosse, 1972)
149.    Planet of the Apes (dir.Franklin J. Schaffnfer, 1968)
150.    Wild Strawberries (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
151.    Everything, Everywhere All at Once (dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022)
152.    Top Gun: Maverick (dir. Joseph Ksinski, 2022)
153.    No Country for Old Men (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
154.    Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1989)
155.    Magnolia (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
156.    Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2010)
157.    Kiki's Delivery Service (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1989)
158.    Scream (dir. Wes Craven, 1996)
159.    High and Low (dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1963)
160.    Groundhog Day (dir. Harold Ramis, 1993)
161.    Children of Men (dir. Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
162.    Boogie Nights (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)
163.    Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott, 1982)
164.    The Best Years of Our Lives (dir. William Wyler, 1946)
165.    When Harry Met Sally… (dir. Rob Reiner, 1989)
166.    Barry Lyndon (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
167.    The Insider (dir. Michael Mann, 1999)
168.    The Wolf of Wall Street (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2013)
169.    A Clockwork Orange (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
170.    Arrival (dir. Denis Villeneuve, 2016)
171.    Fanny and Alexander (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
172.    Casino Royale (dir. Martin Campbell, 2006)
173.    What We Do in the Shadows (dir. Taika Waititi, 2014)
174.    Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve, 2021)
175.    Up (dir. Pete Docter, 2009)
176.    Aladdin (dir. John Musker & Ron Clements, 1992)
177.    All About Eve (dir. Jospeh Mankiewicz, 1950)
178.    Edward Scissorhands (dir. Tim Burton, 1990)
179.    The Prestige (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2006)
180.    The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974)
181.    RoboCop (dir. Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
182.    Brokeback Mountain (dir. Ang Lee, 2005)
183.    City Lights (dir. Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
184.    Halloween (dir. John Carpenter, 1978)
185.    Arsenic and the Old Lace (dir. Frank Capra, 1944)
186.    Fantastic Mr. Fox (dir. Wes Anderson, 2009)
187.    Fiddler on the Roof (dir. Norman Jewison, 1971)
188.    Big Fish (dir. Tim Burton, 2003)
189.    The Matrix Reloaded (dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999)
190.    Stand By Me (dir. Rob Reiner, 1986)
191.    The Royal Tenenbaums (dir. Wes Anderson, 2001)
192.    Persona (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
193.    Zodiac (dir. David Fincher, 2007)
194.    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (dir. Milos Forman, 1975)
195.    The Big Short (dir. Adam McKay, 2015)
196.    A Star is Born (dir. Goerge Cukor, 1954)
197.    Whisper of the Heart (dir. Yoshifumi Kondo, 1995)
198.    Face/Off (dir. John Woo, 1997)
199.    Dunkirk (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2017)
200.    Oldboy (dir. Parkk Chan-wook, 2003)
201.    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (dir. Chris Columbus, 2001)
202.    The 400 Blows (dir. Francois Truffaut, 1959)
203.    Knives Out (dir. Rian Johnson, 2019)
204.    The Bridges of Madison County (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1995)
205.    Se7en (dir. David Fincher, 1995)
206.    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (dir. Alfonso Cuaron, 2004)
207.    Margaret (dir. Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
208.    Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch, 1977)
209.    Shaun of the Dead (dir. Edgar Wright, 2004)
210.    The Searchers (dir. John Ford, 1956)
211.    Shrek (dir. Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, 2001)
212.    The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed, 1949)
213.    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (dir. Gore Verbinski, 2006)
214.    The Right Stuff (dir. Dennis Quaid, 1983)
215.    The Black Stallion (dir. Carrol Ballard, 1979)
216.    Speed Racer (dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 2008)
217.    Eyes Wide Shut (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
218.    Stop Making Sense (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1984)
219.    3 Idiots (dir. Rajkumar Hirani, 2009)
220.    District 9 (dir. Neill Blomkamp, 2009)
221.    Touch of Evil (dir. Orson Welles, 1958)
222.    Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2020)
223.    The Sound of Music (dir. Robert Wise, 1965)
224.    Good Will Hunting (dir. Gus Van Sant, 1997)
225.    Castle in the Sky (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1986)
226.    West Side Story (dir. Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, 1961)
227.    King Kong (dir. Peter Jackson, 2005)
228.    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (dir. James Gunn, 2017)
229.    L'Avventura (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
230.    Soul (dir. Pete Docter, 2020)
231.    Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (dir. Paul Schrader, 1985)
232.    Memories of Murder (dir. Bong Joon Ho, 2003)
233.    The Thin Red Line (dir.Terrence Malick, 1997)
234.    Ocean's Eleven (dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2001)
235.    The Dark Knight Rises (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2012)
236.    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2019)
237.    Batman Begins (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2005)
238.    Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle, 2008)
239.    Monsters, Inc (dir. Pete Docter, 2002)
240.    Rocky (dir. John G. Avildsen, 1976)
241.    Call Me By Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
242.    Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder,  1944)
243.    Persepolis (dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parnnaud, 2007)
244.    Notorious (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
245.    The Night of the Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)
246.    Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig, 2019)
247.    Punch-Drunk Love (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
248.    Apollo 13 (dir. Ron Howard, 1995)
249.    Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins, 2016)
250.    Brazil (dir. Terry Gilliam, 1985)

Edited August 16 by The Panda

[The Panda]

As before, I'll reveal 250-101 throughout the countdown in batches of five. We'll do full write ups for every movie from 100-1!

 

 

Listed movies if image ever breaks

246.    Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig, 2019)
247.    Punch-Drunk Love (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
248.    Apollo 13 (dir. Ron Howard, 1995)
249.    Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins, 2016)
250.    Brazil (dir. Terry Gilliam, 1985)

[Ethan Hunt]

I am so here

 

[The Panda]

Number 100

 

 

"Motome Chijiiwa was a man of some acquaintance to me."

 

Synopsis

"Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

"In his version of the evolution of the sound film, Gilles Deleuze writes of the transformations that produced modern cinema, which, as he sees it, broke what was previously a unity between sound and image, producing instead two heterogeneous materials or entities—sound and image—and a cinema in which the autonomy of the two and the dissonance between them is paramount.[3] Harakiri, however, departs from the classical assumption of the unity of sound and image, without following the precepts of the European modernists, with their heritage in an avant-garde that would focus on the disjunctive potential of bringing together two heterogeneous materialities. In Harakiri, sound and image retain their heterogeneous materialities but those materialities are held in a dialogue with each other, as if one energy or impulse is passed back and forth between image and sound and the energy erupts in the space, the interval between them—across the gap—in a kind of relay between the senses.[4] A sensation, an intensity or a narrative pivot simmers in the image and is then flicked over from one sensory medium to another—from image to sound and back again—so that, as viewers, we are flipped between visual and aural—between the different registers in a relay—awakening one sense and then the other." - Anne Rutherford, The CineFiles

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"It would be wrong for me to reveal the details of the story Tsugumo tells. What I can say is that it is heartbreaking. He explains that Motome was not a man trying to avoid death by the excuse of asking for a delay. He was a man whose actual honor humbles Saito and other authoritarian bureaucrats. Sometimes it takes more courage to do the right thing than to do the traditional thing. Following the Bushido Code frees its adherents from the need to arrive at their own moral conclusions. "Harakiri" is a film reflecting situational ethics, in which the better you know a man the more deeply you understand his motives." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, February 2012

 

 

From the Public

"When the movie is so good you gotta kill yourself but you only have a wooden sword so you go ahead and do it anyways." - CinemaVoid, Letterboxd

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

 

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 -Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 -Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

Director Count

 

Kobayashi (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (1)

 

 

A Recipe

The Hara-Kiri Shot

 

Ingredients

1⁄3 ounce melon liqueur
1⁄3 ounce dark rum
1⁄3 ounce lemon juice

 

Steps

1. Shake everything in a shaker with a few ice cubes.
2. Strain in a shot glass.
3. Enjoy!

- https://www.food.com/recipe/hara-kiri-299887

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 99

 

 

"Mediocrities everywhere... I absolve you..."

 

Synopsis

 

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a remarkably talented young Viennese composer who unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined and determined Antonio Salieri. Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by his jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart's downfall, leading to a devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men." - The Movie Database

 

From the Scholar

" Friends, film buffs, fellow musicologists: I have come to praise Amadeus, not to bury it! But before I get to that let me say that I felt privileged when I was asked to take part, during the 1996 annual meeting of the American Musicological Society, in the first-ever panel devoted to estab lishing a new discipline within our discipline, namely Film as Musicology (ossia: Musicology as Film Criticism). It was certainly about time for such a panel, considering how many times I have been asked-and I am sure just about all of us have been asked: "Was Mozart really like that?" or "Were there really such creatures as castrati-and were they really like That?" In short: Hollywood has discovered the romance of music history and has become infatuated with it (if not necessarily with us). But before true love can take hold with this new object of desire, Tinseltown evi dently is convinced that cosmetic surgery is necessary-minor or major (no pun intended) as the case may be. But since, for the love object, the more radical the surgery, the greater the risk of disfigurement, perhaps fatally so, it would seem to fall to us, if to anyone, to be on guard-pre pared to do battle, if necessary, but not to assume that we are destined to be up against an inevitably hostile antagonist." - Robert L. Marshall
The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 173-179 (7 pages)

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Amadeus was neither the first nor the last great motion picture crafted by gifted director Milos Forman. Nine years earlier (also with producer Saul Zaentz), he made One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest. 12 years later, his The People vs. Larry Flynt became the darling of the critics (and earned Forman his third Best Director nomination). Yet, of all the projects Forman has been involved with, none has striven for and achieved as much as Amadeus. No matter how many additional great movies he makes, he is unlikely to surpass this one.

 

Whether you choose the original 1984 theatrical version or the extended Director's Cut, you won't find a better motion picture depiction of genius, art, and the artist. Not only is Amadeus a fascinating character study, but it also features a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions in the twisted triangle of Mozart, Salieri, and God. No movie before or since has so effectively woven music into the tapestry of the motion picture. Many films treat sound as an adjunct to the visual aspects; Amadeus views them as equals. Lovers of classical music will be enraptured by this soundtrack. Those who prefer Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot will find themselves introduced to a new dimension of music here, and won't be bored or turned off by it in the least. Amadeus is, without question, a modern classic." - James Berardinelli, ReelViews

 

 

From the Public

 

"a retelling of squidward and spongebob’s relationship through the contempt maelstrom of music!" - benheck, Letterboxd

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

 

Director Count

Kobayashi (1), Forman (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (1) 1980s (1)

 

 

A Recipe

CAPEZZOLI DI VENERE (NIPPLES OF VENUS)

 

Ingredients
Truffle Filling:
▢8 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
▢16 ounces whole chestnuts, canned, jarred, packaged–drained if packed in liquid
▢5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
▢⅓ cup granulated sugar
▢¼ cup brandy
▢1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Decoration:
▢15 ounces white chocolate, chopped
▢1 ounce bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped

 

From: https://mission-food.com/capezzoli-di-venere-nipples-of-venus/

 

 

Edited July 23 by The Panda

[cannastop]

2 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Those who prefer Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot will find themselves introduced to a new dimension of music here

lmao what a ridiculous thing to say

[The Panda]

Number 98

 

 

"You claim that I am sent by the Devil. It's not true. To make me suffer, the Devil has sent you..."

 

Synopsis

 

"A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom."

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"The Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer presents a powerful image of the medieval martyr Joan of Arc in his 1928 classic silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.2 Dreyer's film is about Joan's trial and execution exclusively, with no reference to her life prior to that. The focal question of the trial is whether Joan's revelations are true: is she really the daughter of God she claims to be? Despite her young age, Joan clearly poses a threat to spiritual and worldly authorities, particularly when she doubts that the church has a monopoly on salvation. When she refuses to recant and stop dressing as a man (which she claims to do in obedience to God's will), her destiny is set. The soldiers mock her and put a crown on her head before she is sent to be burned. Nailed to the stake, directly above her head, is a sign bearing the words “idolater, heretic, and apostate.”

 

In his account of Joan's trial and execution, Dreyer draws a clear analogy between the passion of Joan of Arc and that of Jesus Christ, providing numerous reasons why Dreyer's Joan should be considered a Christ-figure. I suggest that Dreyer's Joan offers a unique example of Christ, God incarnate: the ultimate “gender-bender” who challenges our stereotypical ideas of what it means to be human and divine, female and male. My aim in this article is to explore Dreyer's portrayal of Joan of Arc as a female Christ-figure, while the underlying contention is to show how images of Jesus Christ in film, here as a female Christ-figure, can “provide helpful insights and observations for our ongoing christological discourse.”3 Let me emphasize before I go any further that Dreyer does not portray Joan of Arc as a soldier or a political figure, nor does he interpret her destiny as a political act. Instead, he focuses on her as a young woman, showing how she challenges a whole crowd of spiritual and worldly powers of her time."

- Guðmundsdóttir, A. (2016), Joan as Jesus: A Feminist Theological Analysis of Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc†. Dialog, 55: 372-378. 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Far and away the greatest cinematic meditation on the Christ-like French heroine to date, Dreyer’s emotionally tempestuous chamber piece charts the final few hours of the fabled Maid of Orléans’ life, leading up to her brutal execution at the stake at the hands of the English invaders and their French collaborators. Shot mostly in extreme close-up, we watch on as Joan is teased and tortured by her most unholy of captors, enduring throughout with the glassy-eyed stoicism of one of God’s true believers and most beloved children. A parable not just of cultural and religious persecution but also of rank misogyny, Dreyer’s ode to humanity’s second greatest martyr can often feel like a tough and bruising watch.

 

So solemn and serious is the Dane’s Passion in its overall construction, that even the strictest of atheists may well feel the smallest twinge of divine longing, holding their collective breathes until the saintly Joan is able to taste the sweet release from her mortal bonds and into the life hereafter. A great deal has rightly been made through the decades of French stage and screen star Maria Falconetti, whose turn as the besieged peasant girl is nothing short of revelatory. Every single nuanced expression of anguish or solitary, rolling tear has far more emotive power than many a performer has managed to muster in an entire career, with neither prosecutors nor innocent onlooker comfortably able to hold Joan’s gaze at certain points in the film."  - Daniel Green, CineVue

 

 

From the Public

 

"Astonishing to witness something made 100 years ago and marvel at cinema that feels so vital and alive in its composition and mise-en-scène and then juxtapose that with the utter slop that’s put out today. Guys, they already cracked how to make some of the most breathtaking shit you’ve ever seen, why aren’t you trying to emulate that every single day? It truly boggles the mind." - Mitchell Beaupre, Letterboxd

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 -Unranked , 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

 

Director Count

M. Kobayashi (1), M. Forman (1), C.T. Dreyer (1)

 

Decade Count

1920s (1), 1960s (1), 1980s (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Quiche Lorraine for St. Joan of Arc

 

Ingredients:

2 premade pie crusts

1 medium to large onion

3 cups diced ham

1/4 cup butter

Swiss cheese (2 8oz. pkg of sliced cheese)

8 eggs

3-4 cups milk or half and half

1/2 tsp. of nutmeg

 

Directions:

Saute diced ham and chopped onion in 1/4 cup butter till onion is transparent. While ham and onion saute, press pie crust into pie pan and dock the bottom with a fork.

Brush pie crust with a little melted butter.

Beat eggs, milk and nutmeg together in large bowl and set aside.

Layer cheese, covering the bottom of the pie crust. 

Add a layer of sautéed onions and ham covering the layer of cheese. Add another layer of cheese to cover the ham and onion. Pour egg mixture over all layers in pie dish.

Place in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees or until center of pie is firm. The surface should be slightly browned.

Allow to cool for ten minutes and enjoy!

From "Catholic Cuisine": https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2011/05/quiche-lorraine-for-st-joan-of-arc.html

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Text for if the image breaks:

 

241.    Call Me By Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
242.    Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder,  1944)
243.    Persepolis (dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parnnaud, 2007)
244.    Notorious (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
245.    The Night of the Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)

 

Edited July 23 by The Panda

[The Panda]

Number 97

 

 

"How tragic that man can never realize how beautiful life is until he is face to face with death."

 

Synopsis

 

"Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Upon hearing news of death approaching, he sits and sings under the pulse of falling snow. He doesn’t think of papers stacked on his desk at his government job, the window behind the chair at his desk; the presence of no one listening to pleas from citizens; the eight-hour-work-day eyes through which the citizens glare to fill out forms; snowflakes building on the sill of the window with the patience of government workers; the workers without the patience of snow, refusing to help the citizens they serve. Today, he takes apart the story of his life, which is to say, he accepts any mistakes he’s made; they were on impulse at the moment. But his God made excuses for him, said, Well,you know, he was young. But, No, God, he replied, I woke just yesterday eager to attack my To Do List of mistakes. It’s the news he read on the doctor’s face, this news brought him to act so beautifully today. It’s just now that all the words the world tried to say, make so much sense to him, now when the face on the clock looks at him with such pity. He forces a smile, tries to make the seconds hand jump a bit. For years he said, I’m too old to learn something new, which meant, too old to master a hand of cards, or to capture a queen on a chess board, or even the heart of a young woman from his office. A man must be willing to look like a child, who has yet to believe in death, to accomplish any of these tasks. Yet he believed if he kept repeating what he would never master— making love, making money, making happiness—if, through the failures, he kept nodding his head, he thought this would make him appear mature. Once when he was a child, drowning in a pond, he had a chance to decipher the mystery of living. As he drowned, [End Page 105] he kept grasping at life, but there was nothing to hold; suddenly, he gave up fighting, giving himself over to water, and he popped to the top, floating, believing he had pulled himself to the surface. But surviving is not the same as living, is it? Why not buy a hat, cock the brim to the side? Why not buy a young woman silk stockings, which she’ll only wear to his funeral? Why not clear off his desk, push a form through the system to build a playground with a swing that he’s too old to enjoy fully? His dilemma is either an opportunity or a final prayer, and he realizes there’s no choice there at all. Why not sit on the swing under falling snow and sing a song about the brevity of life for the children making footprints behind him, though the footprints will melt with the morning sun? [End Page 106]"

- Jordan, A.Van. "Ikiru: (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)." New England Review, vol. 32 no. 4, 2011, p. 105-106. Project MUSE

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Akira Kurosawa’s greatest film (1952) tells of a man (Takashi Shimura) who finds that he has terminal cancer and spends his remaining months building a playground in a poor section of the city. It avoids all the maudlin cliches and blind alleys of examining the “meaning of life,” giving us instead a rare portrait of a man experiencing a genuine insight into what his wasted years have been leading to"  - Don Drucker, The Chicago Reader

 

 

From the Public

 

"Not the funniest, but definitely the most emotionally affecting episode of Parks and Recreation I've ever seen." - Chris, Letterboxd

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unrankeed, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), M. Forman (1)

 

Decade Count

1920s (1), 1950s (1), 1960s (1), 1980s (1)

 

 

A Recipe

U-don Kake (ie. The Plain Noodle Soup our Ikiru protagonist sips on throughout his life)

 

Ingredients

For the Homemade Broth
▢2⅓ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, a dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
▢1 Tbsp mirin
▢1 tsp sugar
▢1½ Tbsp soy sauce
▢⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (plus more, to taste)

For the Quick Broth (optional)
▢⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base) (or enough to make 2½ cups, 600 ml of soup; each brand is different, so follow your bottle‘s instructions for hot udon soup (うどん or めんのかけつゆ); I used Kikkoman Koidashi Hontsuyu; you can make my Homemade Mentsuyu)
▢2⅓ cups water (for my bottle‘s mentsuyu-to-water ratio of 1 to 7; please adjust the water based on your bottle‘s dilution ratio for hot udon soup)
▢1 Tbsp mirin

For the Udon Noodle Soup
▢2 servings udon noodles (1.1 lb, 500 g frozen or parboiled udon noodles; 6.3 oz, 180 g dry udon noodles; or 10.6 oz, 300 g Homemade Udon Noodles)
▢toppings of your choice (thinly sliced green onion/scallion, shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice), and more options in the blog post)

 

From: https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodle-soup/

 

 

 

[4815162342]

6 hours ago, The Panda said:

 

Text for if the image breaks:

 

241.    Call Me By Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
242.    Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder,  1944)
243.    Persepolis (dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parnnaud, 2007)
244.    Notorious (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
245.    The Night of the Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)

 

 

 

You have the wrong year for Notorious. It came out 1946. Also your image has Notorious listed twice instead of Double Indemnity 

Edited July 23 by 4815162342

[The Panda]

1 hour ago, 4815162342 said:

 

 

You have the wrong year for Notorious. It came out 1946. Also your image has Notorious listed twice instead of Double Indemnity 

Thanks! I can correct that later

[DAR]

Once again our honorable mentions will be better than some of the films in the actual 100.

[wildphantom]

I didn’t get my list in to Panda in time. Sigh

 

regardless, this is going to be excellent. Loving it so far. 

[The Panda]

Number 96

 

 

"Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot."

 

Synopsis

 

"Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"It would be wrong to give all the credit for the success of DUCK SOUP to Leo McCarey. Only by the wildest flight of auteurist obscurantism could it be considered mainstream McCarey thematically. Indeed, much of the film's anarchism would seem to be antithetical to his personality. What McCarey brought to DUCK SOUP was a superior craftsmanship and antic skill, a sense of timing and Tightness. In his book on the Marx Brothers, Roy Armes says of Groucho's dialogue in THE COCOANUTS: "It is the fleeting impressions made on the mind that count." I think this statement can be broadened to include the entire Marxian canon-except for DUCK SOUP. None of the other films seem of a piece. They are clever bits of business, cuts, twists of language, tasty morsels of madness-all strung together by a tenuous filament that occasionally generates enough current to heat up, but often leaves the viewer with long, quiescently stagnating passages. It's McCarey who makes this DUCK SOUP effervesce. His tureen runneth over." - Silver, Charles.  Film Comment; New York Vol. 9, Iss. 5,  (Sep/Oct 1973): 8-11

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"A classic of aggressive nonsense. Also, there is something tighter about Duck Soup as compared with their later efforts. It isn't just the absence of an extraneous love story, or the fact that Harpo doesn't play the harp and Chico doesn't "shoot the keys." Nor is it that much of the comedy crosses the magic line from parody into satire. It's a glistening patina of whimsy that rushes through the work, a heightened effervescence. In addition, the film is only 68 minutes long." - Crosby Day, The Orlando Sentinel

 

From the Public

 

"Just simply one of the funniest things ever." - @cannastop

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Forman (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), L. McCarey (1)

 

Decade Count

1920s (1), 1930s (1), 1950s (1), 1960s (1), 1980s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (2), France (1)

 

A Recipe

 

Alfred Portale cooking 'Duck Soup' in Julia Child's kitchen

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 95

 

 

"If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?"

 

Synopsis

 

"While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Especially in the ‘dollars’ trilogy, Leone distilled Hollywood Western mythology down to its most base and alluring elements, taking the promise of total untrammelled freedom to its logical extreme. The West in his hands became a mythical landscape where a man could reach beyond the pall of civilisation to a fantastical space where enrichment depended on one’s skill with a gun and ability to deceive an opponent. Hollywood Westerns had always invoked this dream of pure freedom only to subsume it by film’s end under the sheen of domestic white ‘civilisation’. Leone, in contrast, dared to embrace the dream wholeheartedly, and in doing so reached into the dark heart of the American capitalist ethos, constructing a savage vision of the West that American critics found largely unpalatable. Not because it was false, but because it spoke a certain truth about American mythology undiluted by the rhetorical tropes of ‘civilisation’, ‘justice’ and ‘manifest destiny’. Leone portrayed an America stripped of all rhetoric beyond that of burning self-interest and murderous individualism. For all their historical liberties, Leone’s films seem to embody certain essential truths regarding the illicit appeal of American foundational mythology in a way that few, if any, American movies have ever done. As Christopher Frayling noted in his ground-breaking study of the Spaghetti Western phenomenon, “Leone’s films contain no universal moral messages (as many Hollywood Westerns have claimed to), and his heroes are not intended to set an example for today.” (21) Instead, Leone’s camera celebrates the visceral energy of America’s mythology of violent individualism while remaining coolly ambivalent about its morality. His West is the savagery of the frontier without the posthumous, self-justifying liberal veneer with which American films of the classic era liked to coat it."

- Dog, L. (2024). Great Directors: Leone, Sergio. Book Reviews.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"There are two kinds of people, my friend. Those who love Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," and those who resist the machismo and gallows humor of what is arguably the definitive spaghetti western. Leone's first real attempt at mythologizing his vision of the American West (shot, of course, in the barren Spanish desert) is a cynical, mercenary "Odyssey" of con men and opportunists who make and break volatile alliances as they race to find stolen Yankee gold and the Civil War blasts around them." - Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

 

 

From the Public

 

"this movie is cinematic sex" - #1 gizmo fan, Letterboxd

 

"Anyway, this is pretty great. The soundtrack is literally the best. It's so fucking good. I could sit here and rave about it all day. The movie itself is pretty damn excellent. The story is engrossing and the long runtime feels like a breeze. Clint Eastwood is super badass. The film is gorgeous; the European vistas are an absolute delight to look at." - @aabattery

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #69, 2013 - #40, 2014 - #28, 2016 - #23, 2018 - #27, 2020 - #39, 2022 - #53

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Forman (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), S. Leone (1), L. McCarey (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (2), 1920s (1), 1930s (1), 1950s (1), 1980s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (2), France (1), Italy (1)

 

Franchise Count

Man Without a Name (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Calabacitas

 

Ingredients
1.5 lbs. zucchini or squash (I used 2 larger zucchinis)
1 small onion
3 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
3 plum tomatoes
2 cups corn kernels (I used a single can)
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
freshly cracked black pepper
Cotija cheese (optional)
freshly chopped cilantro (optional)
olive oil

Instructions
Give the tomatoes a good rinse and let them roast in a 400F oven for 20 minutes or until you need them.  I usually de-stem the tomatoes knowing that any juices leftover in the roasting pan will be used. 

Finely chop a small onion and get it cooking in some oil over medium heat.  Let it cook until it's starting to brown, approx. 7-10 minutes.  Add three minced garlic cloves and cook for 30-60 seconds. 

Take a couple spoonfuls of the onion-garlic mixture from the pan and add it to the blender -- this will eventually be combined with the roasted tomatoes.

Give the zucchinis a good rinse and cut them up into 1/4" sized pieces -- be sure to cut off the ends of the zucchinis and discard.  Add the chopped zucchini to the onion-garlic mixture in the pan, along with 3/4 teaspoon salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano. Stir well and let it saute for a couple minutes as you put the tomato mixture together.
Rinse the jalapeno and chop it up into quarters, discarding the stem.  Add the roasted tomatoes to the blender along with 1/4 of the jalapeno.  (There should also be a couple spoonfuls of the onion-garlic mixture in the blender.)  Combine well and take a taste.  Add additional slivers of the jalapeno until the heat tastes right to you.   I used a larger jalapeno for this batch and only needed about half of it.  

Add the tomato mixture back to the saucepan and let the zucchini simmer in it for a couple more minutes or until the zucchini is tender but still a little firm -- this batch cooked for a total of 7-8 minutes.  If using canned corn you can add it in now as it doesn't need much time to heat up.   If using fresh corn kernels you can add them in when you add the zucchini.  (I usually drain and rinse canned corn but this is optional.)   

Take a final taste for seasoning.  I added another generous pinch of salt to this batch. 

Serve immediately with your choice of garnish.  Cotija cheese and freshly chopped cilantro are good options. 

From: https://www.mexicanplease.com/easy-calabacitas-recipe/

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

236.    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2019)
237.    Batman Begins (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2005)
238.    Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle, 2008)
239.    Monsters, Inc (dir. Pete Docter, 2002)
240.    Rocky (dir. John G. Avildsen, 1976)
 

[The Panda]

Number 94

 

 

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

 

Synopsis

 

"The Exorcist (1973) was Friedkin’s greatest commercial success, a lines-around-the-block sensation that wound up scoring ten Oscar nominations. William Peter Blatty wrote the adaptation of his 1971 novel, and Friedkin cast Linda Blair as a demon-possessed twelve-year-old, Regan; Ellen Burstyn as Chris, her distraught mother; and Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin, who is called upon to perform the exorcism.

 

“I remember being afraid, genuinely afraid, at what I was going to experience in Regan’s bedroom,” writes the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, “and it never occurred to me then to dismiss it all as an allegory for anxious sexual awakening. The evil spirit in The Exorcist is not a metaphor; it is an evil spirit.” Justin Chang agrees, suggesting that “one of the reasons that 1973 landmark lives on so forcefully—the reason it’s outlived all the half-hearted horror homages, the pea-soup parodies, and the (still-ongoing) chain of sequels and prequels—is that it treats the reality of the demonic with a deadly serious, utterly unfakable conviction.”"

- The Criterion Collection, Remembering William Friedkin

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Unfortunately, most criticism of The Exorcist ignores, misreads, or glosses
over the film’s revaluation of ‘good and evil’ nomenclature. In fact, most criticism sees the film as a reaffirmation of these dichotomous terms: a development indicative of and responsible for our culture’s 1980 and 2000 oscillation
to conservatism, which reduces the complexities of two wartime eras, the sexual revolution, and the emergence of new wave feminism to a more accessible formula (one with a causative scapegoat in the Devil’s influence on our
children). As Mark Kermode argues,

[The] solutions The Exorcist appeared to offer were oddly reassuring for
those who longed for a return to an absolute moral order. For here on
screen was a clear-cut struggle between good and evil in which priests,
policemen, good mothers, and devoted sons fought a righteous battle to
release rebellious, parent-hating children from the grip of a lustful, allconsuming devil.
(Kermode 2003: 9–10)" 

- Dudenhoeffer, L. (2010). Evil against Evil: The Parabolic Structure and Thematics of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Horror Studies, 1(1), 73-88.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"For half a century the head-swivelling and the bright green projectile vomiting have dominated discussion of the film – but Friedkin and Blatty’s structural and rhetorical masterstroke is surely the obscenely explicit section before any satanic stuff has happened – and it really does horrify. This is the “rational” investigation of Regan’s body, positioned in parallel with the church’s “irrational” catharsis: her spinal tap angiogram in hospital, which stricken Chris is effectively forced to watch, like Malcolm McDowell with his eyelids clipped open in A Clockwork Orange, that other great fear-of-the-young chiller. Regan’s neck is injected after some hideously brown liquid is painted on to the skin and a very scary and entirely real metal contraption surrounds her head and body. (Modern day MRIs make this look like an ancient torture device.) The spinal tap moment flavours the entire film with its own clinical trauma; our defences are already broken down before the possession commences."  - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

 

From the Public

 

"Owning those snowflake demons with faith and religion." - @Rorschach

 

"I love the that their strat to get the demon out was have boring old men come talk to it about religion... I would leave too" - Dan, Letterboxd

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - 94

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), S. Leone (1), L. McCarey (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (2), 1920s (1), 1930s (1), 1950s (1), 1970s (1), 1980s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (2), France (1), Italy (1)

 

Franchise Count

Exorcist (1), Man With No Name (1)

 

 

A Recipe

The Holy Water, Flagship Cocktail at "Seaworthy"

 

Ingredients
1 ounce infused Hamilton Jamaican gold rum or El Dorado five-year-old rum*
1 ounce  Maison rouge cognac
3/4 ounce orgeat
1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 ounce grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
3 dashes Angostura bitters, to float
Garnish: 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
Garnish: lime half
Garnish: sugar cube

Steps
Add the infused rum, cognac, orgeat, lemon juice, lime juice and grapefruit juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

Strain into a highball glass over crushed ice.

Float the bitters over the top of the drink.

Juice half a lime and place the empty lime shell on top of the drink.

Pour the Chartreuse into the lime shell. Place a sugar cube in the lime and ignite with a match or lighter.

 

From: https://www.liquor.com/recipes/holy-water/

 

 

 

 

[SchumacherFTW]

7 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 94

 

 

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

 

Synopsis

 

"The Exorcist (1973) was Friedkin’s greatest commercial success, a lines-around-the-block sensation that wound up scoring ten Oscar nominations. William Peter Blatty wrote the adaptation of his 1971 novel, and Friedkin cast Linda Blair as a demon-possessed twelve-year-old, Regan; Ellen Burstyn as Chris, her distraught mother; and Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin, who is called upon to perform the exorcism.

 

“I remember being afraid, genuinely afraid, at what I was going to experience in Regan’s bedroom,” writes the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, “and it never occurred to me then to dismiss it all as an allegory for anxious sexual awakening. The evil spirit in The Exorcist is not a metaphor; it is an evil spirit.” Justin Chang agrees, suggesting that “one of the reasons that 1973 landmark lives on so forcefully—the reason it’s outlived all the half-hearted horror homages, the pea-soup parodies, and the (still-ongoing) chain of sequels and prequels—is that it treats the reality of the demonic with a deadly serious, utterly unfakable conviction.”"

- The Criterion Collection, Remembering William Friedkin

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Unfortunately, most criticism of The Exorcist ignores, misreads, or glosses
over the film’s revaluation of ‘good and evil’ nomenclature. In fact, most criticism sees the film as a reaffirmation of these dichotomous terms: a development indicative of and responsible for our culture’s 1980 and 2000 oscillation
to conservatism, which reduces the complexities of two wartime eras, the sexual revolution, and the emergence of new wave feminism to a more accessible formula (one with a causative scapegoat in the Devil’s influence on our
children). As Mark Kermode argues,

[The] solutions The Exorcist appeared to offer were oddly reassuring for
those who longed for a return to an absolute moral order. For here on
screen was a clear-cut struggle between good and evil in which priests,
policemen, good mothers, and devoted sons fought a righteous battle to
release rebellious, parent-hating children from the grip of a lustful, allconsuming devil.
(Kermode 2003: 9–10)" 

- Dudenhoeffer, L. (2010). Evil against Evil: The Parabolic Structure and Thematics of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Horror Studies, 1(1), 73-88.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"For half a century the head-swivelling and the bright green projectile vomiting have dominated discussion of the film – but Friedkin and Blatty’s structural and rhetorical masterstroke is surely the obscenely explicit section before any satanic stuff has happened – and it really does horrify. This is the “rational” investigation of Regan’s body, positioned in parallel with the church’s “irrational” catharsis: her spinal tap angiogram in hospital, which stricken Chris is effectively forced to watch, like Malcolm McDowell with his eyelids clipped open in A Clockwork Orange, that other great fear-of-the-young chiller. Regan’s neck is injected after some hideously brown liquid is painted on to the skin and a very scary and entirely real metal contraption surrounds her head and body. (Modern day MRIs make this look like an ancient torture device.) The spinal tap moment flavours the entire film with its own clinical trauma; our defences are already broken down before the possession commences."  - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

 

From the Public

 

"Owning those snowflake demons with faith and religion." - @Rorschach

 

"I love the that their strat to get the demon out was have boring old men come talk to it about religion... I would leave too" - Dan, Letterboxd

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - 94

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), S. Leone (1), L. McCarey (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (2), 1920s (1), 1930s (1), 1950s (1), 1970s (1), 1980s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (2), France (1), Italy (1)

 

Franchise Count

Exorcist (1), Man With No Name (1)

 

 

A Recipe

The Holy Water, Flagship Cocktail at "Seaworthy"

 

Ingredients
1 ounce infused Hamilton Jamaican gold rum or El Dorado five-year-old rum*
1 ounce  Maison rouge cognac
3/4 ounce orgeat
1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 ounce grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
3 dashes Angostura bitters, to float
Garnish: 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
Garnish: lime half
Garnish: sugar cube

Steps
Add the infused rum, cognac, orgeat, lemon juice, lime juice and grapefruit juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

Strain into a highball glass over crushed ice.

Float the bitters over the top of the drink.

Juice half a lime and place the empty lime shell on top of the drink.

Pour the Chartreuse into the lime shell. Place a sugar cube in the lime and ignite with a match or lighter.

 

From: https://www.liquor.com/recipes/holy-water/

 

 

 

 

So low 😞

[Ethan Hunt]

Rip Rocky

[The Panda]

Number 93

 

 

"I see dead people."

 

Synopsis and From the Scholar

 

"For the initiated, the basic plot is unforgettable: A dashing young psychoanalyst (let’s call him M) is reaching the height of his career. Recognized for his brilliance and dedication, M receives adoration verging on celebrity—not least by an important woman in his life (let’s call her Anna). But then the doctor discovers a shocking surprise just outside Anna’s bedroom. M’s life now comes crashing down around him as he sacrifices everything, including his relationship with Anna, to seek the truth: What did plague severely disturbed patients seeking psychoanalytic help? After poring over cases from the archive, M has an astonishing revelation: suffering neurotic patients, with their ghastly tales of violence and abuse, had been haunted not by mere fantasies but by real people. Worse, the devoted doctor famous for healing troubled patients had in fact failed them utterly. The story, notoriously, ends with the abrupt termination of the analyst.

 

The above sketches the dramatic rise and precipitous fall of Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, the rebel psychoanalyst who in the 1970s had assumed the prestigious directorship of the Sigmund Freud Archives, a priceless collection of documents related to the founding of psychoanalysis. Freud’s daughter, Anna, had given the charming Masson unprecedented access to her father’s correspondence. “In a large black cupboard outside Anna Freud’s bedroom” (xiv), Masson reports, he found letters indicating that Freud’s early patients had been sexually abused as children. This revelation flew in the face of Freudian dogma—unquestioningly supported by Anna Freud and the psychoanalytic establishment—that neurotic patients did not remember childhood sexual abuse but merely fantasized such encounters. Psychoanalysis, Masson maintained, was built on this false foundation, including key concepts such as the psychical
importance of fantasy, infantile sexuality, and the Oedipus complex. Masson published The Assault on Truth: Freud’s Suppression of the Seduction Theory, which argued that Freud’s early patients were actually abused in childhood; not surprisingly, he was fired from the Archives, shunned by Anna Freud, and reviled by the psychoanalytic establishment

 

The plot sketched above also presents a fair précis of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense (1999), suggesting a deep plausibility in critics’ tendency to read the film in psychoanalytic terms.1  The film, after all, centers on a psychoanalyst, who (like the viewer) initially traces a young boy’s psychic troubles to his father’s desertion. Yet critics have tended to use psychoanalytic theory as an interpretive key, rather than examining how The Sixth Sense both invokes and offers a highly contemporary corrective to Freud’s psychic system. The film, as I discuss in this chapter, echoes the crusade of Jeffrey M. Masson to bring to light the actual sexual abuse suffered by Freud’s early patients. When Cole (Haley Joel Osment) says “I see dead people,” it is neither fantasy nor mere metaphor. The movie’s essential plot point turns on the boy’s convincing his therapist
that he means literally what he says."

- Thrailkill, J.F. (2010). Sigmund Freud, Pedophile Priests, and Shyamalan’s Filmic Fairy Tale (The Sixth Sense). In: Weinstock, J.A. (eds) Critical Approaches to the Films of M. Night Shyamalan. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"This is an entrancing film, which dabbles in profound character revelation and the paranormal – something you don't often see in a movie. And the 11-year-old Osment evokes the boy's terror and awful predicament so memorably, you'll never forget him. It's a great pleasure, too, to watch Willis playing a restrained role, without the usual torn T-shirt, smirky quips and battery of firearms. Heroism in this story takes an entirely different set of reflexes.

 

Ultimately, my greatest praise goes to Shyamalan, whose previous credits include his low-budget 1992 debut, "Praying With Anger" and the 1997 "Wide Awake." His direction is superb, and the writing wonderfully mystical. And just when you're feeling spooked, there's always a little room for passing humor. At one point, Cole explains to Malcolm that his teachers at school became aware that he was a special child when he drew a picture of a man being stabbed in the neck by a screwdriver. "Everyone got upset. They had a meeting," says the boy. "I don't draw like that anymore.""

- Desson Howe, The Washington Post

 

From the Public

 

"Shyamalan made a horrifying film about death. But not because of the concept itself, but rather the repercussions death could have at the wrong circumstances. This man is asking people to improve themselves, fight for what they believe in and fix the problems caused by them and others surrounding them. All the while, tied into a film that's chilling, adventurous, methodical, breakneck, funny, scary, and heartfelt. I considered The Sixth Sense my favorite movie of all time about a year or so ago, and this rewatch has more than solidified that fact. There's really nothing else like it in terms of direction, story, and especially themes for me, and it will be something I will forever cherish." - @Eric

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - Unranked, 2022 - Unranked

 

Director Count

C.T. Dreyer (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), M. Kobayashi (1), A. Kurosawa (1), S. Leone (1), L. McCarey (1), M. N. Shyamalan (1)

 

Decade Count

1960s (2), 1920s (1), 1930s (1), 1950s (1), 1970s (1), 1980s (1), 1990s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (2), France (1), Italy (1)

 

Franchise Count

Exorcist (1), Man With No Name (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Zombie Eye Meatballs (for seeing dead people)

 

Ingredientns

1 (8-oz) package Spaghetti
½ cup Parmesan cheese 
⅓ cup Panko bread crumbs
1 Large eggs
2 cloves Garlic 
1 tsp Parsley 
1 tsp Dried basil
1 tsp Dried oregano
1 lb Lean ground beef
1 tbsp Olive oil
8 Black olives 
1 (1-oz) stick String cheese 
1 (16-oz) jar Spaghetti sauce
 

Steps

1. Cook Spaghetti

2. Heat Oven to 400

3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs, 1 large egg, 2 minced cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon dried basil, and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Fold in 1 pound ground beef and mix with hands until blended.

4. Using a cookie scoop, form 16 equal-sized meatballs.

5. Place the meatballs in an even layer on a baking sheet.

6. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool until safe to handle.

7. Meanwhile, use a straw to punch a hole through each olive half and the center of each string cheese slice. Insert the round olive piece inside the hole in the string cheese slice for the eyes.

8. Twirl a few strands of cooked spaghetti around each of 16 forks and spear a meatball onto each fork. Arrange on a serving platter. Spoon some spaghetti sauce onto the center of each meatball. Place the olive-cheese eye over the sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce over the spaghetti.

9. Serve

 

 

From: https://cook.me/recipe/zombie-eyes-halloween-meatballs/