Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Not that I have anything better to do--in fact I do--but since Mr. Last posed the question, herewith my list:

(1) Goodfellas

(2) The Godfather Part 2

(3) The Godfather

(4) Almost Famous - Isn't this how every writer wishes he got his start?

(5) When Harry Met Sally - It's the story of me and my wife. I play the role of Sally.

(6) Raiders of the Lost Ark

(7) Jaws

(8) Ferris Bueller's Day Off

(9) The Empire Strikes Back

(10) As Good As It Gets - "What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good." That about sums up my attitude on life.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the old black-and-whites, but they just don't do it for me. It's hazy, gray, and worst of all, if there are any children in the picture, they usually can't act to save their life. (Case in point, the daughter in Gone With The Wind.) As for honorable mentions, I'll throw in Any Given Sunday, Shawshank Redemption, Big Night, Heat, and Schindler's List.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's see:

Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Godfather
Godfather II
LOTR I, II & III (really all one film)
A Night at the Opera
Psycho
Schindler's List
Modern Times
To Kill a Mockingbird

Anonymous said...

Sunset Boulevard anyone?

Anonymous said...

C'mon. Empire Strikes Back makes the top 10? Best of the Star Wars trilogy, which makes it the tallest midget. How about Lawrence of Arabia instead? Or if sci-fi is your thing, what about 2001: A Space Oddessey? Or, as Anon 5:22 points out, Sunset Boulevard? Or Dial M for Murder? From Here to Eternity? Ran? Raffifi? The Wild Bunch? Or hundreds of other movies that are significantly better than the cool but childish Star Wars franchise?

Anonymous said...

Gee-wiz 5:43, chill dude (or dudette) - Who'll want to share their opinion when you've got such an abrasive corner on good taste. Star Wars was a blast - Can't movies be fun?

Jenny said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jenny said...

^ Oops.

No mention of Heat? Pacino, De Niro, Kilmer, Voight ... Michael Mann nailed that one. That one's in m top 5.

Anonymous said...

CMON people, how does The Conversation not make anyone's list? My 10, in no particular order:

The Conversation
Godfather
Rushmore
Fargo
Fellowship of the Ring
Heat (Jenny is right)
Citizen Kane
The Shining
The Sweet Hereafter (painfully beautiful)
Henry V
The Lion in Winter

Anonymous said...

To echo a few other comments, I'm not sure if JVL was focusing on Hollywood movies or not. If not, he and Senor Matus need to get out more. For crying out loud, if we're going to have movies like Jaws, Star Wars, LOTR, and Almost Famoust(!) on the list, we might as well throw in Shaft (original... or remake, what the hell) and Meet the Feebles. If we're talkin' Hollywood, Orson Welles should have at least 2 selections (Kane, Ambersons) before any of the woofers on Matus' list, as should Hitchcock (take your pick).

Top 10, all-time, anywhere -- no one's mentioned Renoir, another 2-fer (Grand Illusion and Rules of the Game). Or Kieslowski (take your pick; I'd pick Red). Or Truffaut (Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player...). Or Rohmer (Percival). How 'bout Wings of Desire? L'Avventura?

For gangster flicks, I'd take
Once Upon a Time in America before any of the Godfathers, and definitely before Goodfellas. Miller's Crossing gets an honorable mention behind America and the first couple Godfathers.

For sci-fi, it's hard to beat 2001, but I also like Blade Runner. I'll rewatch Star Trek II long before any of the Star Wars flicks.

The lists read more like flicks that have tickled us, rather than THE BEST MOVIES EVER. PERIOD. Movies I smile at are Rushmore, Last Days of Disco, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dreamlife of Angels, My Favorite Year, 8 1/2, Heartbreak Ridge, After Hours, Patton, The Shop Around the Corner, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (yes, really)... none of which I'd try to convince you are top 10.

Ok, maybe a few of them.

Anonymous said...

Mulholland Dr., anyone? Powerful indictment of Hollywood? Love, loss, truth, superficiality? The sensation of waking?

Hot lesbian sex scene?

Anyone?

Anonymous said...

Laura Harring AND Naomi Watts!

HYE-OOOOHHHHHH!!!

Victorino Matus said...

Just to clarify: My list is definitely my own personal favorite top 10, not the Ten Greatest Films Ever Made. Hence, I appreciate Citizen Kane, but if it's on TV, I'm not going to sit and watch it. Props to Jean (from France) for boldly picking It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World--the original Cannonball Run! As for Sunset Boulevard, I actually enjoyed it. I recently saw a woman wearing one of those funny out-of-date turbans and said, "Why, it's Norma Desmond!" Sadly, few got the joke. Jenny, Heat was a close call and probably makes #11. Nixon might be 12. Props also go to the Anonymous who mentioned The Conversation. I've only seen it once and probably should see it again. Quite timely, wouldn't you say? As for Once Upon a Time in America, you can keep it. I really wasn't impressed and I thought it ran way too long. (But a great cast!) Finally, in re "hot lesbian sex," I think that merits a whole other special list. And I'd add Bound to it too.

Anonymous said...

Movies that I like:

The Great Escape
The Magnificent Seven
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Jaws
Seven Samurai
Rashomon
Wizard of Oz
The Godfather I & II
Stop Making Sense (at least the best concert movie along with the Last Waltz)
To Have and Have Not

Anonymous said...

"Hence, I appreciate Citizen Kane, but if it's on TV, I'm not going to sit and watch it."

Oh, it's supposed to be the 10 movies we're most likely to sit down and watch if on TV?

Then add Real Genius to my list.

Anonymous said...

Ten I enjoy, I'm not sure it's possible to actually have a static top ten:

- Bullitt
- The Misfits
- The Getaway (both)
- Heat
- Almost Famous
- Blow
- Day of the Jackal (both)
- Training Day
- Long Kiss Goodnight
- Sea of Love (for Barkin)

Anonymous said...

Coming up with 10 is tough. After the first 5 or so, they all fall off into a 20 way tie for 6th, really. But you pressed me:

1-The Graduate (I can't believe no one's put this in, and for that, I put it first)

2-Kicking and Screaming (one of those post-collegiate 'talkies.' We've all been there.)

3-Full Metal Jacket (The second half falls off, but R. Lee Ermey steals the show. I learned how esoteric cussing could get with this movie.)

4-Slap Shot (Guilty pleasure. 2nd half falls apart. But the first wins you. It could definetly move down in this list.)

5-Raising Arizona (I could put a number of Coen Bros. movies here, but this was their first for me. Honorable mentions: Lebowski, Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo)

Hell, I'll go with the last 5:
6-Godfather

7-Godfather II (Both are interchangeble in these places.)

8-Shawshank Redemption (TNT might have destroyed this movie by running it more than A Christmas Story)

9-Bottle Rocket (before the Wilson bros. got overused. Some filmmakers--Wes Anderson comes to mind here, of course--get better critical responses with later films. I've always cottoned to the less refined earlier works. They require you to bring more to the table than the easier, later stuff.

10-Quick Change (Before there was that ass-cringing feeling while watching things just getting worse and worse on Curb Your Enthusiasm, there was the ass-cringing feeling of watching Bill Murray and Geena Davis continually being 5 seconds late.)

No room for:
Better Off Dead
Swingers
Stripes
M*A*S*H
Ghostbusters (for its time... c'mon!)

Anonymous said...

Okay, what we need is a top ten hot lesbian sex movie list. My votes:

- Mulholland Drive (Naomi Watts and Laura Harring)
- Bound (Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon)
- The Hunger (Susan Saradon and Catherine Denueve)
- Personal Best (Mariel Hemingway and ... that other girl)
- Foxfire (Angelina Jolie and that Asian chick)
- Wild Side (Anne Heche and Joan Chen)
- Desert Hearts
- Lianna
- Becoming Colette (Virgina Madsen and Mathilda May)
- Henry and June (Maria de Medieros and Uma Thurman)