i already commented on your list and i need to watch half of these but i’m familiar with everyone,even if availability is killing me too here in Greece…
don’t trust all tops though Edwin,as i’ve told you,i don’t even have myself a personal top 10 or 20 because it’s impossible to put many films i love in a numerical order…
and believe me,many have the same trouble as i have…
What a great list. Nice to see there are still people that have extremely good taste on this site.
“i need to watch half of these but i’m familiar with everyone”
just thought he’d make it clear that he’s heard of them.
“just thought he’d make it clear that he’s heard of them.”
i refuse to discuss with one-dimensional people,you haven’t even replied to me which Greek film directors and movies you know,sod off…
Great list Edwin N! I haven’t seen Parsifal, Sauve Qui Peut or Society of the Spectacle yet.
Thank you very much, Dimitirs, Grey Daisies and 秋刀魚の味! I would love to see your Top 25s!
And Dimitris, I get your excuse :P
This is my Top 25 at the moment, always keep it posted on my profile. Believe me, yours is no where near as amateurish as mine. BTW, I assumed you wanted top favorites so I hope mine’s alright. :)
1. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Coen Brothers, 2000)
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989)
3. There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007)
4. Gosford Park (Altman, 2001)
5. Trois Couleurs: Bleu (Kieslowski, 1993)
6. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (Sturges, 1944)
7. The Insider (Mann, 1999)
8. The Trial (Welles, 1962)
9. Suspicion (Hitchcock, 1941)
10. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, 1964)
11. Les Vacances de M. Hulot (Tati, 1953)
12. Play Time (Tati, 1967)
13. Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)
14. Public Enemies (Mann, 2009)
15. Hannah and Her Sisters (Allen, 1986)
16. Chinatown (Polanski, 1974)
17. Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
18. Masculin feminin: 15 faits precis (Godard, 1966)
19. Rhapsody Rabbit (Freleng, 1946)
20. Fargo (Coen Brothers, 1996)
21. Le Mepris (Godard, 1963)
22. Nickelodeon (Bogdanovich, 1976)
23. Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Grey (Dreyer, 1932)
24. Un condamne a mort s’est echappe ou Le vent souffle ou il veut (Bresson, 1956)
25. Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993)
Glad to see the love for Tarkovsky’s Mirror, such an incredible film, same with Werckmeister Harmonies, possibly has my favorite opening and ending scenes out of all the films i’ve watched.
Here my Top 25:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey / Kubrick
2. Mirror / Tarkovsky
3. Andrei Rublev / Tarkovsky
4. Stalker / Tarkovsky
5. Decalogue / Kieslowski
6. Ordet / Dreyer
7. Vertigo / Hitchcock
8. Diary of a Country Priest / Bresson
9. Aguirre, the Wrath of God / Herzog
10. The Seventh Seal / Bergman
11. Solaris / Tarkovsky
12. Apocalypse Now / Coppola
13. Once Upon a Time in America / Leone
14. M / Lang
15. The Passion of Joan of Arc / Dreyer
16. Beauty and the Beast / Cocteau
17. The Thin Red Line / Malick
18. Three Colors: Red / Kieslowski
19. La Haine / Kassovitz
20. Wings of Desire / Wenders
21. Seven Samurai / Kurosawa
22. The Godfather / Coppola
23. The Sacrifice / Tarkovsky
24. 8 1/2 / Fellini
25. Viridiana / Bunuel
Honorable Mentions: The Searchers, Werckmeister Harmonies, Touch of Evil, Day of Wrath, Fellowship of the Ring, Pickpocket, Psycho, The Last Picture Show, Le Samourai
Edwin – Not only have I not seen any of the films on your list, I’ve barely heard of any of them (maybe three or four)! lol. If you’re only 15, please tell me you’re not an American 15 year old or I’m going to feel REALLY ignorant.
This isn’t my top 25 of all time (that list can be found on my profile page) but here are some films I’ve seen recently that I really loved:
1. La Cienega – Lucrecia Martel
2. Ballast – Lance Hammer
3. Clous Tous Risques – Claude Sautet
4. 3 Women – Robert Altman
5. Still Walking – Hirokazu Koreeda
6. Taxidermia – György Pálfi
7. Tetro – Francis Ford Coppola
8. Punishment Park – Peter Watkins
9. This is England -Shane Meadows
10. Three Monkeys – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
11. The Man From London – Bela Tarr
12. The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) – Ellen Kuras
Fredo: I think I saw Man From London listed on one of the ‘On Demand’ channels, hopefully it’s still there. Though oddly it listed the language as ‘French’. :\
I’m not an American 15 year-old, I’m Lebanese lol
In a Lonely Place (nicholas ray)
Days of Being Wild (wong kar wai)
The Ear (karel kachyna)
Platform (jia zhangke)
A Man Escaped (robert bresson)
A Brighter Summer Day (edward yang)
Greed (erich von stroheim)
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (rw fassbinder)
Once Upon A Time in America (sergio leone)
Street Angel (yuan muzhi)
five and the skin (pierre rissient)
Instrument (jem cohen)
Life and death of colonel blimp (powell and pressburger)
Liebelei (Max Ophuls)
Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (Hong Sang-soo)
le cercle rouge (jean pierre melville)
One hour with you (ernst lubitsch/george cukor)
The Big Red One (Sam Fuller)
The FAr Country (anthony mann)
Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong)
A top 20 because I have to run.
I love your list Ben!
Especially the Weerastakhul,Sang-Soo,Ray,Zhangke,Fassbinder and Rissient
Somewhat fluid. Once you get to the cream of the crop, it’s always hard to distinguish. I usually overhaul my personal top 100 every couple years (for nothing else but to give me an excuse to watch my favorite movies all at once again). Here’s what it looks like now.
1. The Thin Red Line (Malick)
2. The Passenger (Antonioni)
3. Persona (Bergman)
4. City Lights (Chaplin)
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer)
6. Nashville (Altman)
7. Rashomon (Kurosawa)
8. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick)
9. The Merchant of Four Seasons (Fassbinder)
10. Manhattan (Allen)
11. Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone)
12. Do the Right Thing (Lee)
13. Jules et Jim (Truffaut)
14. Breathless (Godard)
15. Heat (Mann)
16. Jaws (Spielberg)
17. Night of the Living Dead (Romero)
18. White Heat (Walsh)
19. Blue Velvet (Lynch)
20. Lost and Delirious (Pool)
21. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
22. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Fassbinder)
23. Dead Man (Jarmusch)
24. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
25. Kiss Me Deadly (Aldrich)
@Johnny – curious as to your ranking of Rashomon as Kurosawa’s highest – is this your favorites list or best or mix? I certainly enjoyed Rashomon, but found the film lacking in departments in regards to his other films in: entertainment (as compared to Yojimbo), depth (compared to Ran- although I feel Rashomon certainly has a piercing eye for human nature), emotion (compared to Ikiru) and action (compared to Seven Samurai).
I might get killed for this, but I hate Akira Kurosawa.
His films are of no interest to me.At all.
Josh S. – Yes, Man from London was playing ON DEMAND. It might still be playing and I highly recommend you watch it soon if it is (I saw it on demand months ago so it may not be available for very long). But be prepared – it’s two and half hours of very slow, deliberate camera movement with minimal cuts and sparse plot. But I found it fascinating and look forward to seeing more of Tarr’s films.
Edwin – Thank God you’re in Lebanon. I think I would shit my pants if a teenager from the US had a list like yours. Very diverse!
Edwin N, I feel the same way about Kurosawa. I don’t see the appeal. I find a lot of Kurosawa films very boring.
However, I really enjoyed Ran and One Wonderful Sunday.
Fredo: It’d be my first Tarr, but I’ve seen his style. There’s actually a clip of MfL on YouTube, I thought it looked great. The almost painfully slow camera movement [and I mean this as a compliment], the low murmur of the music, and the graveness of the actor’s voice. :)
@Fredo – have you seen Werckmeister Harmonies ? It’s Tarr’s last film before MfL, contains all the elements you have just listed, with an profoundly deep story. Here is the amazing opening sequence on youtube that sets it all up, if you’re curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFmu7BYbthY
Werckmeister Harmonies is to me the greatest film of the 21st century so far.
I have not seen Werckmeister. I have been wanting to see it forever and have just been procrastinating about ordering it off Amazon. But I probably will order it this weekend or next (when I get paid). I want to see Tarr’s other films as well but I’m waiting for Werckmeister first.
Josh S. – For me, watching London was like Jeanne Dielman in that I had to psyche myself up for it and be in a certain mood. But it was well worth it.
Fredo: Great. If it’s still on demand, I’ll try to watch it this weekend.
Tonight is Bergmanight. ;)
@Edwin, I think I’d have to agree with you. I’d place Children of Men up there as well.
Id say the best film of the 21st century is Pan’s Labyrinth. Although I havent Werckmeister Harmonies :)
“I might get killed for this, but I hate Akira Kurosawa.
His films are of no interest to me.At all.”
no Edwin,you won’t…and that comes from a weirdo who kinda loves many directors at the same time :P
the fact you love Robbe-Grillet,Borowczyk and Zhangke to name a few erases your hatred for Kurosawa,Fellini,Yimou and Truffaut ;)
by the way,Werckmeister is one of the 21st century achievements as well as Pan’s Labyrinth but hey,why can’t we fit Still Life on that list too?
that would also include a whole lot more…
You’re only 15, Edwin? That’s some intellect and knowledge already! Special brain food in Lebanon? A fascinating selection you’ve made.
mine
Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi)
Mirror (Tarkovsky)
The Green Ray (Rohmer)
Alice in the Cities (Wenders)
Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)
North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
Maborosi (Koreeda)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Sunrise (Murnau)
Rules of the Game (Renoir)
Celine and Julie go Boating (Rivette)
Paris Texas (Wnders)
Abraham Valley (Oliveira)
Some Like it Hot (Wilder)
Pather Panchali (Ray)
Seven Samurai (Kurosawa)
Mulholland Dr (Lynch)
Hiroshima mon Amour (Resnais)
Vertigo (Hitchcock)
Tale of Tales (Norstein)
Eternity and a Day (Angelopoulos)
Casablanca (Curtiz)
Pierrot le Fou (Godard)
The Band Wagon (Minnelli)
I’ve basically just added every film on this thread I haven’t seen to my netflix queue. God, I love this site.
@Poopbut: I’ve been asked this question before. I understand completely, being that other Kurosawa movies such as ‘Seven Samurai’, ‘Kagemusha’, ‘Hidden Fortress’, and ‘Yojimbo’ hold a higher standard entertainment value. However, Rashomon holds a special personal place for me, being it was the first of his I saw way back when I was getting seriously into international cinema, and it’s also the first Kurosawa film I saw in a theatre. It holds up just as well for me with each subsequent viewing. There are others of his that continue to rise in estimation (especially ‘Throne of Blood’), but ‘Rashomon’ is still my personal favorite.
Edwin N
I know there’s been hundreds of topics about a Top 10 or a Top 25, but I can’t seem to find ‘em and I’v ebeen dying to see some of you people’s tastes.
Mine would go something like this, forgive me if I’m amateurish, I’m only 15:
1.Les Hautes Solitudes−Philippe Garrel
2.Alice−Jan Svanjmaker
3.Mirror−Andrei Tarkovsky
4.Purgatory Eroica−Yoshihige Yoshida
5.Sauve Qui Peut(La Vie)−Jean-Luc Godard
6.The Third Part of the Night−Andrzej Zulawski
7.Innocence Unprotected−Dusan Makavejev
8.The Chelsea Girls−Andy Warhol and Paul Morissey
9.Death in the Country−Shuji Terayama
10.The Holy Mountain−Alejandro Jodorowsky
11.Vive L’Amour−Tsai Ming-Liang
12.Eden and After−Alain Robbe-Grillet
13.Symbiopsychotaxiplasm−William Greaves
14.Crisis−Ingmar Bergman
15.The Beast−Walerian Borowczyk
16.Landscape Suicide−James Benning
17.The Red Desert−Michelangelo Antonioni
18.Woman in Dunes−Hiroshi Teshigahara
19.Werckmeister Harmonies−Bela Tarr
20.Jubilee−Derek Jarman
21.The Color of Pomegranates−Sergei Paradjanov
22.Parsifal−Hans-Jurgen Syberberg
23.Society of the Spectacle−Guy Debord
24.The World−Jia-Zhangke
25.India Song−Margeurite Duras