What are you favorite Top 5 Movies of all time?

Started by Thecowgoooesmooo, January 23, 2003, 05:03:10 PM

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modage

Quote from: children with angelsThis was a 'favourite top five movies' list not a 'best top five'. I find the two things very rarely coincide. I'm certainly not saying that my top five represents the greatest achievements in cinema ever - I couldn't possibly argue that.

I can completely see how someone could put Almost Famous in their top five: Cameron Crowe is a very honest, heartfelt director (whether you agree with this or not is really only based on whether you relate) - if Crowe is one of your favourite directors (not best), you feel a connection to his work and his philosophy, then I can totally see that Almost Famous would be his opus.

'Favourite' will always interest me more than 'Best' because, of course, there's no way to ever say about any movies 'these are the best films ever made' (i.e: the films that best achieve cinematic excellence) because each movie has a different intention. Even movies with the same intention will speak to some more than others: therefore - who's to say which is more effective. Then I suppose we ask ourselves: 'what should cinema be trying to achieve?'. We would all have a slightly different take, but what would remain the same is the fact that we must love them. In that way, I guess, a 'favourites' list kind of is a 'best' one too.

Sorry for going off on one a little there - but this idea of the different between 'best' and 'best-loved' really interests me...

i agree. movies you respect for their artistry and place in history and movies that you watch with a smile on your face from beginning to end can be two completely different kinds of movies.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Just Withnail

Quote from: godardianWithnail makes a great screen name.

Thanks  :-D

And I completely agree with you both, themodernage02 and children with angels, my favorite films aren't necessarily the one's I think (or "know") are the best. Or you could say I know there are better ones than those I listed. That make sense?
Anyway, didn't need to, children with angels you said it better  :P

ono

Quote from: Mesh
Quote from: OnomatopoeiaSure, you can.  It just might be in poor taste.

Why is this in poor taste?  Are we allowed to discuss and argue these lists or are we just supposed to type 'em up, read 'em, and forget about them?

Let's say my list went like this:

1. Citizen Kane
2. 8 1/2
3. The Hot Chick
4. Rashomon
5. Taxi Driver

Wouldn't you find at least one of those somewhat odd?  That's more or less how I feel about Almost Famous.  I can't imagine it even coming close to being in my Top 100 American Films of the Last 10 Years.  And not because I find it Bad, exactly.  I don't think it's bad; I also don't find it outstanding in terms of direction, acting, writing, storytelling...It's barely important even from a "music journalism" standpoint, and is based almost entirely on cultural cliches, save for the character of real life Rock Writer Lester Bangs.

Sounds crass, but when someone places Almost Famous that high on their list, I have to ask them and/or myself "How many movies can this person possibly have seen?"  That's all I'm saying.

So I'm elitist about films, shoot me.
Oh, no, no I totally agree with you.  But my top five films of all time have to be my top favorites and simply good films as far as the craft goes.  There are a bunch of quality films that I just don't enjoy, but for me, Magnolia, American Beauty, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, and Amelie are the pinnacle of cinema.  They're movies that I love, and they represent filmmaking at its finest.

And I agree with you.  Almost Famous may be a sentimental film, and therefore a favorite among many people, but it's not great filmmaking in my opinion.  I was just playing devil's advocate there, a bit.  It takes a special touch to make a film that is both sentimental or otherwise moving, and fine craftsmanship.

I find that list I compiled a couple pages back not only represents people's favorites, but also the best films of all time as voted by Xixax members, because of the quality represented in that list.  At the very least, it makes more sense than any other lists I've seen, which seem to be made by people who are either uninformed, out of touch, or insistent that good filmmaking died in the 70s.  1999 was the best year in film in a LONG time, and with Paul Thomas Anderson warming up, at the very least, along with a whole bunch of other promising young talent, the best is yet to come.

dufresne

Metropolis
Amadeus
Goodfellas
Miller's Crossing
The Thin Red Line
There are shadows in life, baby.

Lucinda Bryte

Well I haven't seen many movies (compared to a lot of you)... But I will post my favorites:

A Clockwork Orange
Memento
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List
Mulholland Dr.

samsong

Sunrise
Raging Bull
They Live By Night
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Days of Heaven

Pas

Quote from: Lucinda BryteWell I haven't seen many movies (compared to a lot of you)... But I will post my favorites:

A Clockwork Orange
Memento
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List
Mulholland Dr.

omg this girl is so cool, what do you think SoNowThen ? Isn't she cool ?

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ

Top five...

Punch Drunk Love
Requiem For A Dream
Amelie
Princess Bride
Pulp Fiction
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye

Ernie

Quote from: Pas Rapport
Quote from: Lucinda BryteWell I haven't seen many movies (compared to a lot of you)... But I will post my favorites:

A Clockwork Orange
Memento
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List
Mulholland Dr.

omg this girl is so cool, what do you think SoNowThen ? Isn't she cool ?

I love two of those movies to death, hate one of them, and have no desire at all to see two of them. So yea, she's ok  :wink:

Here, I made a very CURRENT top 5 of my own finally....

1. Boogie Nights
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. Raging Bull
4. The Elephant Man
5. Body and Soul

Gamblour.

Top five: Magnolia, Requiem for a Dream, Bringing Out the Dead, Memento, Swingers

It looks like I'm a man of my generation. Oh well, I hate my generation.
WWPTAD?

Pas

Quote from: ebeaman
Quote from: Pas Rapport
Quote from: Lucinda BryteWell I haven't seen many movies (compared to a lot of you)... But I will post my favorites:

A Clockwork Orange
Memento
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List
Mulholland Dr.

omg this girl is so cool, what do you think SoNowThen ? Isn't she cool ?

I love two of those movies to death, hate one of them, and have no desire at all to see two of them. So yea, she's ok  :wink:

Here, I made a very CURRENT top 5 of my own finally....

1. Boogie Nights
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. Raging Bull
4. The Elephant Man
5. Body and Soul

What do you mean she's ok ? She's cool as ice, ask SoNowThen and JJ if you don't believe me

Ernie

Quote from: Pas RapportShe's cool as ice

Yes, but is she willing to sacrifice your love?

Ok, that was lame. Nobody knows that song.

Alethia

vertigo
close encounters
dr. strangelove
raging bull
hannah and her sisters


god, only five sux tho

cine

At this moment...

-Nashville
-Sherlock Jr.
-Casablanca
-Breathless
-2001

CCBaxter

New to posting here, so thought this would be a good first thread.  These are just favorites, not what I consider the most historically important films or anything like that.

1.  Before Sunrise-Richard Linklater
2.  Metropolitan-Whit Stillman
3.  The Apartment-Billy Wilder
4.  Rushmore-Wes Anderson
5.  Magnolia-Paul Thomas Anderson