Board 8 > Presenting: The SephG Top 250 [movies]

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm not ashamed of it but this topic doesn't seem like something that would play into my kinda tastes so far, especially with TDK best movie of all the times already listed

Then again I may apparently be pleasantly surprised so who the hell knows
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#89. Blue Is the Warmest Color
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/La_Vie_d%27Ad%C3%A8le_film_poster.png
Dir: Abdellatif Kechiche
Genre: Drama, Romance, Coming of Age
Year: 2013

Blue Is the Warmest Color is probably most famous for having a ludicrous amount of lesbian sex scenes that may or may not be anatomically "realistic." But it's really more that--and I would argue that not only is the sex not gratuitous, but it's completely essential to the theme of the film.

BITWC captures the essence of sexual awakening so perfectly. Most of us have experienced this--the first time we find someone who we're insanely attracted to and they reciprocate. You fuck like rabbits all the time, sometimes just lying in bed all day and night with that person just bathing in this unconscious bliss. This film perfectly illustrates that feeling in all of its ASMR glory, but it goes beyond that. It also shows the inevitable denouement after that initial period of hedonism--the fighting, the heartbreak, the acceptance, and moving on. It is teenage love printed on 3 hours of film, and it's gorgeous.
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#88. Memento
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Memento_poster.jpg
Dir: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Suspense/Thriller, Mystery
Year: 2000

It is a miracle that Memento works as well as it does. Experimental narratives rarely work for such plot-heavy mysteries, and Nolan's reverse chronological script should open itself up to a number of plotholes, inconsistencies, etc. But I watched this again recently as a more scrupulous viewer--and it really, truly stands its ground.

Memento is Nolan's best film largely because of how technically impressive the plotting is. The feeling of amnesia, paranoia, and distrust completely transfers to the audience, and we soon start to empathize with Guy Pierce in ways few films can accomplish. People talk about The Usual Suspects, Se7en, and other movies as the best modern mysteries, but to me, nothing quite has the same impactful twists as Memento. It's completely mesmerizing.
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#87. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/Twin_Peaks_-_Fire_Walk_with_Me.png
Dir: David Lynch
Genre: Suspense/Thriller, Mystery
Year: 1992

Twin Peaks would be my favorite TV show of all time if David Lynch was able to retain creative control throughout season 2. The amazing Twin Peaks: The Return basically proves this theory, as Lynch is able to create something unique and masterful when left to his own devices. But we should have already known this with Fire Walk with Me.

Famously panned upon release, I think Fire Walk with Me is starting to have a comeback recently. It's very avant garde, stretching out the weirdest moments from the series into a feature-length film. Fire Walk with Me is a lot of things--weird, beautiful, tragic. But most of all it's hopeful. It provides a close to the Laura Palmer mystery from a heavily spiritual perspective, carrying a lot of emotional weight after we watch her descent due to the abuse at the hand of her father. And for what it's worth, Sheryl Lee's performance in this film is the single most underrated performance of all time.

**Please note: I strongly suggest watching the Blu-ray version of this movie. The original DVD release has straight-up erroneous sound mixing and the movie really suffers for it. I'm not sure which version the streaming releases are based on.
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#86. Lost in Translation
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Lost_in_Translation_poster.jpg
Dir: Sofia Coppola
Genre: Drama
Year: 2003

Sofia Coppola sure came a long way from her awkward appearance in The Godfather: Part III. Given her father and her family, she came from an enormous place of privilege, which really shows in her acting ineptitude despite being in a lead role. However, she certainly earned her place in Hollywood behind the camera in the personal and poignant Lost in Translation.

There are three things that make this movie special: peak Scarlett Johansson's boobs and butt. Okay, maybe there are three more besides that: the magnificent script, the perfectly wistful soundtrack (Air and My Bloody Valentine are just so great for this), and Bill Murray. The film exudes so much personality and doesn't pretend to be an everyman kind of story. It's about someone like Coppola adjusting to a strange, bizarre life in entertainment abroad. And I think it somehow can resonate with us all.
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TomNook posted...

Lopen posted...

My top 5 films are like casual central. Cinemasnobs universally turn their nose up at it.

Nothing to be ashamed of. You fit right in with the super casualness of this topic's list, which is a combination of IMDb pre-2008, and reddit.

#85. Holy Motors
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Holy_Motors_poster.png
Dir: Leos Carax
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Year: 2012

Holy Motors is not for everyone by any means. It's layered in abstract symbolism, has no real plot, and shifts narratives every ten minutes or so. It's a film that warrants deep evaluation, but when you do, it's one of the most rewarding experiences you'll ever have.

Holy Motors follows Denis Lavant in the role of a lifetime, as he is chauffeured around Paris while putting on costumes/makeup and taking on different characters throughout the day and night. Each of these little segments are amusing in their own right, but taken holistically, Holy Motors eventually reveals itself to be a movie about cinema--and an aging actor who is growing tired of having to wear a new mask every day, with little recognition of who he really is. That's my takeaway, anyway. It's a REALLY fucking weird movie.

But, still, if you're not the analysis type, you can at least watch this to enjoy the greatest accordion breakdown ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR9ktdI4LFM" data-time="
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My top 5 is:

Shawshank Redemption
Dumb and Dumber
Anchorman
LotR: RotK
Revenge of the Sith

It's a weird list
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My Top 5:

Psycho
The Lord of the Rings
The Wizard of Oz
It's a Wonderful Life
The Sixth Sense

Pretty basic list for someone that's a film snob like myself, lol. Not a big fan of "modernist mumbo jumbo" like Godard or the aforementioned "Holy Motors."
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My top 5:
Mulholland Drive
Persona
Spirited Away
The Rules of the Game
Moonlight

And the rest of my top 1000, from January (I tend to update yearly):
https://letterboxd.com/foolfantastic/list/top-1000-films-january-2019-edition/
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I think my all-time ranking has drifted apart, and all I can do is conjure up the movies that have been my top:

Star Wars RotJ
Transformers
Back to the Future
The Great Outdoors
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Terminator 2
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Aladdin
A Clockwork Orange
Natural Born Killers
The Crow
Bravehart
Gladiator
Fellowship

that doesn't really cover the scope of a top list, but to the best of my recollection that's what my #1 has been over time. My 80s list is probably more like "whatever the last good movie I watched was because we then put the VHS in over and over for 2 weeks".
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CasanovaZelos posted...

The Rules of the Game

I wish I could sit through this movie, but I just can't do it (tried twice). I think the references/humor/wit are just too foreign for me.
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Well since everyone is doing it!

Pontypool
Reservoir Dogs
American Psycho
V for Vendetta
Jarhead
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Pontypool, really? I guess I should check that out!
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Twin Peaks was great because I had a threesome instead of watching the movie. We went out to see City of Angels, it was sold out so we rented Twin Peaks, put it on and didn't really watch it. I really don't like David Lynch movies at all.

Memento is pretty good. I generally like Nolan's movies. His best is The Prestige - that might make my top 10 all time.
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the rules of the game is good.

perhaps my french is off but i think the literal translation would be "the rule of the game," btw.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Pontypool, really? I guess I should check that out!

Fantastic concept, atmospheric masterpiece, it's absolutely hypnotizing!
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neonreaper posted...

Twin Peaks was great because I had a threesome instead of watching the movie.

Threesomes are probably the only thing better than Twin Peaks FWWM (unless it was 2 dudes)
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i guess i should do this too...

pulp fiction
mulholland drive
breathless
annie hall
goodfellas

i suck at ranking stuff so this may or may not be my top 5.
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Good taste ITT. I think a lot of you might be happy.
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Secret of Kells
Mulholland Drive
Fellowship of the Ring
Spirited Away
Rashomon

Really enjoying your list, btw.

Well, if this is a "Top 5 Movies Lists" topic now, I guess I could post mine...

Hoop Dreams
It's Such a Beautiful Day
There Will Be Blood
WALL-E
The Princess Bride
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Vertigo
Citizen Kane
Playtime
Bicycle Thieves
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

It hurts to leave off Shoot the Piano Player, The Godfather, Duck Soup and Modern Times, but there ya go.
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Raiders of the Lost Ark
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2001: A Space Odyssey
Shaun of the Dead
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

There's a few other movies closely in contention for that final spot; Cuckoo is just my current choice.
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Awesome to see Mulholland Drive so well represented
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I guess I'll throw mine in too. You may or may not be able to tell I'm the furthest thing from a movie buff. No particular order.

Logan
Warrior
True Grit (2010)
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Take Shelter
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oh Monty Python is probably my #6

timeless comedy
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I'm also not particularly big on movies, but...

Scott Pilgrim
Empire Strikes Back
Hot Fuzz
Return of the King

Is my top 4. Everything that could potentially take 5th either doesn't quite live up to the other four, or I've watched too recently to be sure about. Other things that almost made it include A New Hope, The Last Crusade, WALL-E, The World's End, Spiderverse, The Goonies and Liz and the Blue Bird.

I'd like to point out Hot Fuzz in particular, which might not necessarily be one of the best things on here to many, but I find absolutely hilarious, probably due to spending a fair bit of my childhood in the exact type of place it was parodying. I just think it's never going to be half as funny if you can't relate to the feel of that environment on some level.

Another thing which is kind of neat, I used to live a few miles away from a small town called Pontypool in the UK, a long time ago. I'd never heard of the film before this thread and had to do a triple take, and googled it only to find out it's apparently set in Canada. I was very disappointed.
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Oh, we're doing top 5 lists in here now? My movie favorites have always been pretty fluid. I think my top 5/10/whatever could vary by quite a bit from year to year. I think this might be my current top 5, not in a particular order, though there are other movies I'd rate just as high as these ones.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Children of Men
No Country for Old Men
LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Dumb and Dumber

Also, I really should find time to watch Twin Peaks: FWWM. That's good to know about the Blu-Ray vs. DVD version. I hadn't heard that before, so I'll make sure to get the better one when I do watch it.
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man, i never knew dumb and dumber was held in such high regard.
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#84. Moonlight
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Moonlight_%282016_film%29.png
Dir: Barry Jenkins
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age
Year: 2016

Moonlight is a gorgeous film. I am only guessing at to what Barry Jenkins' influences were, but it really feels like two parts of the best of French New Wave mixed some Terence Malick and ambient dreamscape cinematography that has been en vogue throughout the 2010s. If you wanted a prime example of top-tier style and substance of this decade, look no further.

I fully expected the hackneyed and self-[ironic censor bypass]aggrandizing La La Land to win Best Picture of 2016 despite the fact that Moonlight was clearly something special. So when Moonlight (eventually) won, I was very pleased yet oddly angry at the same time. Barry Jenkins's direction here was stuff of legends but he still somehow was not recognized for it. Hopefully history will be kind to him and people will start to realize that this was a seminal film for this new generation of filmmakers.
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I haven't seen Moonlight so I can't compare the two, but La La Land was a great movie that was definitely Best Picture quality.
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#83. Fallen Angels
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Fallen-Angels-Poster.jpg
Dir: Wong Kar-wai
Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance
Year: 1995

There are a few films that define "cool" for their particular generation. The Silent Generation had Rebel without a Cause. The Boomers had Breathless and Bonnie & Clyde. Generation X has Fallen Angels--the coolest movie you've probably seen without knowing it.

I think by now you probably get that I love the style of the early/mid-90s that bled into the late 90s JRPGs of my childhood. Well, here is another film that helped mold what those games looked like, and you can probably recognize its fingerprints all over them if you watch Fallen Angels now. I won't get too into it because I want to write about the movie itself, but I'll just say that you can actually hear the main theme of the film in the Wall Market theme of Final Fantasy VII, which gives you a sense of how much the developers wanted Midgar to feel like this movie.

Anyway, Fallen Angels is probably WKW's most stylish film. It was originally conceived as a third story for Chungking Express, but I am glad he kept the movies separate. Fallen Angels is much darker, much broodier, and much more experimental--all making it feel like a completely new film. The characters, music, Doyle's incredible camera work all work together to create a truly mesmerizing experience that stands alone as the single coolest piece of Hong Kong cinema of all time.
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#82. Melancholia
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Melancholia_%282011_film_poster%29.png
Dir: Lars von Trier
Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
Year: 2011

Yeesh. I urge anyone who may be slipping into a depressive state to not watch this movie. To me, it is the ultimate representation of how depression feels--the imminence of the end, the futility to stop it, and the hopelessness you feel about existence itself. It's really dark shit, but it is damn effective at being an allegory for that condition.

Melancholia is essentially a film about the end of the world. A renegade planet called Melancholia is on a collision course with earth and everyone is preparing for potential end to life itself. But in the midst of all this gloom, Lars von Trier actually makes something that's visually stunning to look at (and ponder about), creating this uncanny contradiction on screen. It's really a feeling to behold--just don't do it from a place of sadness.
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Melancholia is definitely the most depressing film I've ever seen.

There's another film from the same year called Another Earth that works as a great companion piece to it. But that might be too much depression to go through back-to-back.
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#81. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Lifeaquaticposter.jpg
Dir: Wes Anderson
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Year: 2004

The Life Aquatic is Wes Anderson's best film. I think that's the best way to frame my little write-up too. I could go into detail about what makes this great, but it'll probably be redundant with his other 3 movies on the list. So let's just get into the reasons why I consider it his magnum opus.

1). The soundtrack: acoustic covers of David Bowie? Inject it into my veeeeins!!
2). Bill Murray: Bill Murray appears in something like 7 movies in my Top 250. And I fully believe that this is the role he was born to play. He gives the character a sense of weirdness and positivity that no one else in the world could deliver.
3). The theme: many of Wes Anderson's films leave you wondering what the point was. Even his best ones don't really have a "theme" per se; but rather, they leave it kind of up to your vague interpretation. However, the end of Life Aquatic leaves no ambiguities: "Life's an adventure." It's delivered with such poignancy in the context of the events of the film that it almost seems like that very moment is the apex of Anderson's screenwriting career.

For whatever reason, I rarely see this at the top of everyone's Wes Anderson filmography. But to me, it's a no-brainer.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

Melancholia is definitely the most depressing film I've ever seen.

There's another film from the same year called Another Earth that works as a great companion piece to it. But that might be too much depression to go through back-to-back.

Yeah, for sure.

I think Grave of Fireflies is the saddest movie I've ever seen and Melancholia is the most depressing (if that makes sense). I'll probably never watch either of them again lol.
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#80. Die Hard
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Die_hard.jpg
Dir: John McTiernan
Genre: Action
Year: 1988

Is Die Hard the best pure action movie of all time? Not quite, in my opinion, but you could certainly make the argument. Is it the best Christmas movie ever? No, but it's fun to say! What Die Hard is is an excellent film that basically taught the world what an action movie should be like--and changed movie making forever.

What else can we say here? Bruce Willis is the perfect John McClane--the guy who showed us why a blue-collar hero can be more impactful than the hulked out Schwarzenegger/Stallones that came before him. The movie is all about McClane using his wit and his grit to defeat Hans Gruber (another iconic character) and his henchmen. It's basically why Batman surpassed Superman as the most popular superhero. People want to see someone they can imagine themselves as, not a superhuman who was born with muscles to their ears. Die Hard did this first and we never looked back.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Is it the best Christmas movie ever? No, but it's fun to say!

Maybe 10 years ago, but that line has been completely run into the ground at this point. Most people who still insist on bringing Die Hard in Christmas movie discussions just seem like they don't know much about movies but think they're experts. It's a shame such a great movie has so many irritating fans.
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I can buy it being a Christmas movie, but the best Christmas Movie is It's a Wonderful Life anyway...!
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LordoftheMorons posted...

I can buy it being a Christmas movie, but the best Christmas Movie is It's a Wonderful Life anyway...!

I agree with both of these statements
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#79. Psycho
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Psycho_%281960%29.jpg
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Genre: Horror
Year: 1960

How often is it that a great director's most famous movie that permeates pop culture is also their best film? E.T. for Spielberg? No. Titanic for James Cameron? Nope. The Dark Knight Trilogy for Nolan? We already know my answer to that one!

As much as I've tried to find ways around it, I have to call Psycho Hitchcock's greatest work and one of the best horror movies of all time. Psycho is why he's the master of suspense. Psycho is why he's known for elevating horror into art. It's a magnificently crafted film. Everyone always remembers Janet Leigh's shower scene as the scariest part of the movie; however, I would argue that the revelation of Norman Bates dressed as Mother is far more disturbing and important to movie history. That scene still creeps me out to this day, and it's the perfect embodiment of what makes Psycho so timeless.
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#78. The Departed
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Departed234.jpg
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Drama, Crime, Action
Year: 2006

SephG Superlative: The greatest remake ever made

The Departed gets my fucking blood flowing. From the opening note of "Shipping Up to Boston," you just know you're gonna be in for a kick-ass time. I remember leaving the theater after watching this my freshman year of college wanting to drop out and live a life of crime. Then I remembered that I was a coward, but still, it left me fucking pumped.

The Departed is another one of those hyperbolic-on-purpose-that's-the-point-you-dummy Scorsese action flicks. There are a million twists throughout the film, and the ending is basically just double-cross after double-cross until you're left not knowing what the hell is going on. It's riveting, it's dramatic, and it's fucking fun--just like the 2000s. When I think of this decade as a whole, I think of this movie (and the next one coming up) more than anything else.
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The toilet flushing is probably even more important! The protagonist switch has always been my favorite part of Psycho though.

I still think Vertigo is Hitchcock's best!
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#77. Slumdog Millionaire
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Slumdog_Millionaire_poster.png
Dir: Danny Boyle
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age
Year: 2008

I think the revisionists have been attacking this one a lot lately for reasons that are not quite so clear to me, but let me tell you something about when Slumdog Millionaire first came out. People went fucking apeshit for it. I remember watching it after my friend said it was the best movie she'd ever seen. And you know what? I left feeling kind of the same way.

Slumdog is a fairly standard bildungsroman, except for the fact that it is set among the most abject impoverished conditions on the planet. But that's sort of emblematic of the film. Danny Boyle builds up the single-most vertical rags to riches story I can remember--from the bottom of the literal shit pile to a chance to be a millionaire. The sensation fades a little bit as you watch this a second time, but I tell you--few movies have brought an audience to a standing ovation as this.
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#76. The Shining
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ea/The_Shining_%281980%29.png
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Genre: Horror
Year: 1980

SephG Superlative: The greatest horror movie ever made

The first of our genre awards! You've seen a range of horror movies on the list--some traditional slashers, some groundbreaking thrillers, some with the supernatural. The Shining has all of these elements, and employs them with a deftness that only Stanley Kubrick could deliver.

The Shining is of course a deeply symbolic film and if you want to go down a rabbit hole, you can read (or watch) more about it in countless sources. But the most overt symbolism is that of abuse--a father driven to madness and attacking his family. The abstractions and ghosts are all wonderfully macabre and terrifying, but I think this element is why it is the G.O.A.T. It's scary because it feels like this could happen to any family--and Nicholson's haunting performance sticks with me most for that reason.

But aside from the horror elements, The Shining also has a rightful place amongst movies of any genre. Kubrick shot this thing superbly, and all elements from the framing to the colors to the lighting make this one of the most visually satisfying films of all time.
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#75. On the Waterfront
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/On_the_Waterfront_original_poster.jpg
Dir: Elia Kazan
Genre: Drama, Crime
Year: 1954

All things just coalesced for On the Waterfront to become as legendary as it is. It has one of the ten or so greatest original screenplays of all time. It has Marlon Brando during part 1 of his acting apex (part 2 is obviously The Godfather). And it gives us a snapshot into a time and place in America that we'll never see again.

I love the arc of Brando's character in this film. Many have tried to replicate it, but none really come close. He's a down-and-out has-been who seeks redemption in a new way--by being a fighter for the common man instead of a fighter in the ring. The ending is worthy of all the praise it gets, and I highly suggest watching it if you need some real-life inspiration of your own.
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Might just let this topic fill up with discussion and finish out the top 75 in the next one!
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SephG's best horror movies ever
1. The Shining (1980)
2. Psycho (1960)
3. Alien (1979)
4. The Exorcist (1973)
5. Get Out (2017)
6. Halloween (1978)
7. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
8. The Sixth Sense (1999)
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

How's that for a top 10 @Snake5555555555 ?
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Here's all the movies in my own top 250 that would qualify as...horror? I'm not sure what exactly the limit of this genre is so I guess I'll just go off what Letterboxd has:
1. Eraserhead (1977)
2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
3. Videodrome (1983)
4. Alien (1979)
5. Psycho (1960)
6. House (1977)
7. The Shining (1980)
8. Possession (1981)
9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
10. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
11. Get Out (2017)
12. The Thing (1982)
13. Suspiria (1977)
14. Jaws (1975)
15. Hereditary (2018)
16. Carrie (1976)
17. Carnival of Souls (1962)
18. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
19. Pulse (2001)
20. Halloween (1978)
21. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
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CasanovaZelos posted...

1. Eraserhead (1977)

I didn't count this primarily as horror because it... just doesn't really fit. It doesn't fit into any genre, but it still felt wrong to count it!

Obviously if I did then it would rank as #5
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