Board 8 > The SephG Top 250 [movies] - Topic II: the top 75

(+) Yeah! (+)

What is it about Persona that keeps it from being grouped with the perfect films?
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wallmasterz posted...

What is it about Persona that keeps it from being grouped with the perfect films?

Because I can't fathom anyone picking it over another Ingmar Bergman film that may or may not appear soon ;)

Edit: I'm not necessarily saying Persona isn't perfect. The top 22 are really just the movies that I wouldn't argue with anyone over if they said they were the GOAT. It's totally subjective obviously but that's the delineation.
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Makes sense. Cant be the greatest film of all time if its not even the directors greatest film in your eyes.

Its incredible though
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Persona is my 2nd favorite movie, so it's definitely my favorite Bergman. Interested to see what tops it.
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Up
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Seeing Midsommar tonight!
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Midsommar was FANTASTIC.

Better than Hereditary and my movie of the year so far. Probably would crack the Top 250 but too late!
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Bumpo
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I saw a revival of Persona last year and briefly thought I had gone into the wrong theater when the movie started, lol.

I'll echo the love for it, despite not necesarilly being the kind of film I normally go for.
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My best friend had a strange, strange film nerd phase where he literally couldn't stop watching and ordering movies. And like, I'm talking bizarre artsy shit like Persona.

The only one he tried really hard to get me to watch was Persona coz he said it was that good, but no thanks lol
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Midsommar was FANTASTIC.

Better than Hereditary and my movie of the year so far. Probably would crack the Top 250 but too late!

One of the best movies I've ever seen, but also not better than Hereditary.

Ari Aster has my money forever, no matter what he does. My man could write a one page horror screed on the lid of a McDonald's Sprite and I'm in, FR
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ExTha, was your theater laughing out loud the entire time? The movie was genuinely hilarious at parts, but I can't tell if the laughter was just because I saw it in the second-most hipster movie theater in Brooklyn.
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#22. The Graduate
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/Graduateposter67.jpg
Dir: Mike Nichols
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Year: 1967

SephG Superlative: The greatest comedy ever made

Even though it was released 50+ years ago, no film has better captured that post-graduate, quarter-life-crisis-defining ennui as The Graduate. The entire romance/love affair is really a surrogate for this larger story--one of aimlessness, the struggle to find meaning, the inflection point between youth and maturity. Benjamin Braddock is a character for all of us, someone who realizes that he is at the point where he either has to conform to society or not. It's all very 1960s, but still resonated with me tremendously when I first saw it as a teenager and again when I was Benjamin's age.

This is not to say the surrogate story isn't amazingly fun, humorous, erotic, sexy, and charming all at once. Mrs. Robinson is the OG MILF and defined the cougar fantasy for generations to come (pun intended). The Simon and Garfunkle soundtrack fits the mood perfectly and is undoubtedly the greatest original soundtrack of its type, ever. The ending has been etched into my brain since I first saw it parodied in Wayne's World, and it's still the most emblematic part of the entire film for me. Simply put, it's the best comedy ever created and utter perfection from top to bottom.
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#21. Goodfellas
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Goodfellas.jpg
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Drama, Crime
Year: 1990

I've seen Goodfellas more times than any other movie in this top tier, and I don't think it's particularly close. I can watch it at any point--from the very beginning or any scene thereafter--and get hooked. I can half-watch it while cooking or doing work at home, or I can sit with my wife and a bottle of wine and watch it intently on the couch. It's so incredibly versatile and endlessly fun to watch that I am tempted to throw it on TV as I am typing this.

Goodfellas may seem like your typical epic crime story, just told masterfully well, but it was actually completely groundbreaking when it was released. I can't even begin to count the number of movies, some good and some bad, that completely knocked it off over the next decade+. The pacing, the long shots, the narrative voice were all copied and modified after it, but nothing ever came quite as close to matching the smoothness of Goodfellas.

Justifiably so, I think the first thing that comes to mind for most people about this movie are the soundtrack and the performances. The former needs no further explanation--I defy you to listen to the end of "Layla" and not think of bodies on meat hooks or "Atlantis" and not think of stomping a dude in a bar drenched in red light. DeNiro and Pesci likewise get all the praise they deserve, but I want to specifically shout out Ray Liotta for delivering my favorite of the three main roles in the movie--even though he somehow never really gets recognition for it. His Henry Hill, the sort of outside observer to the madness around him, plays the perfect straight man to DeNiro's boss-like character and Pesci's psychopath.

I personally do not consider this to be the best mob movie of all time, but you know what, I wouldn't really try to argue with you if you said otherwise.
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#20. Lawrence of Arabia
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Lawrence_of_arabia_ver3_xxlg.jpg/800px-Lawrence_of_arabia_ver3_xxlg.jpg
Dir: David Lean
Genre: War, Adventure
Year: 1962

Lawrence of Arabia (along with David Lean's follow-up, Dr. Zhivago) was really the end of epic filmmaking in Hollywood. It's something like 4.5 hours long with a proper intro, intermission, and outro, and just has that gigantic feel about it that we really haven't seen since. It's exactly what I think of when I think of epic films, and it's far and away the peak the genre.

Lawrence of Arabia is a visual and auditory spectacle. It's simply stunning to look at the shots, and paired with an all-time score, it's almost like watching a ballet or an opera on screen. I'll always think of that one shot of a ridiculously blue-eyed Peter O'Toole, standing atop the derailed train with his robe blowing in the desert wind, as he essentially becomes one with the people. Just look at this:

https://cinematicmemory.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/untitled1104am61.jpg

If there was ever an argument for why people should watch movies in theaters, or at least not on their phones, it's this. Like an opera or a ballet, the majesty of Lawrence of Arabia can only properly be experienced in a theater--in front of a wide screen, completely immersed in every frame before you. It will transport you to another world.
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Buppo
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Went to a public screening of Lawrence of Arabia a couple years ago and it blew me away. Excellent start to the top 20.

Nelson_Mandela posted...

ExTha, was your theater laughing out loud the entire time? The movie was genuinely hilarious at parts, but I can't tell if the laughter was just because I saw it in the second-most hipster movie theater in Brooklyn.

I saw it with like eight total people in the theater. There was plenty of laughter tho

You could immediately tell the two of us in the theater that had taken mushrooms though because we laughed the loudest during that scene.
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#19. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/StarWarsMoviePoster1977.jpg
Dir: George Lucas
Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure
Year: 1977

What more is there really to say about the original Star Wars? It's likely the most culturally important mainstream movie ever released. It shattered box office records and completely shaped an entire generation (and more), opened up sci-fi as a genre for millions, popularized nerd culture, and inspired countless filmmakers, writers, and artists who continue to try to replicate that feeling that they had at their first viewing.

The original Star Wars is the simplest, most universal story of the OT--and it's also the best. Luke is the embodiment of the good in the universe. A simple, small-town boy thrust into an intergalactic adventure. It is the movie that most allows you to fantasize about being that character. The music and cinematography complements his journey perfectly, from the pensive moments on Tatooine where Luke has to weigh the challenge before him, to the climax with the Death Star when everything comes together at once and he fully understands his destiny.

The ending of the original Star Wars still gives me chills when I see it, and it's one of the most triumphant moments in all media. And that's pretty much what Star Wars is in a nutshell. A movie fraught with production problems, technical limitations, and setbacks--but also one that was driven forward by a man with a dream, who believed in himself and created the greatest spectacle in cinematic history.
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#18. Taxi Driver
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Taxi_driver_movieposter.jpg/800px-Taxi_driver_movieposter.jpg
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Year: 1976

Taxi Driver is the original character study about the socially awkward loner. In a weird twist of irony, it is also the first movie that these socially awkward loners related to--and what so much continue to base their lives on. Scorsese and De Niro truly created one of the most compelling characters in all of fiction in Travis Bickle, and the specter of this performance still lingers to this day.

Martin Scorsese is on this list more than any other director, and Taxi Driver is perfectly indicative of why. It's simultaneously hyper-realistic and abstractly experimental, as Scorsese is able to balance the character study with a nightmarish representation of the social rot of 1970s New York City. He really captures not only a time and place, but a feeling of the social unrest of this time--the crime, the sex, the powderkeg ready to explode to create the bizarre alt-reality of the 80s. The irony of the hero-worship of Travis Bickle is rightfully predicted in the ending of the film itself, which just gets where society was headed. Taxi Driver is a momentous achievement and Scorsese's magnum opus.
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The Taxi Driver theme might be my favorite piece of music in any film.

#17. There Will Be Blood
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/There_Will_Be_Blood_Poster.jpg
Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
Genre: Drama
Year: 2007

There was a heated debate toward the end of 2007 that perhaps still rages on to this day: No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood. No Country ultimately won in the short term, having received the Best Picture Oscar over its competitor. But I think (and hope) that history has been more kind to There Will Be Blood, as people are beginning to realize what an incredible achievement it was and continues to be.

Daniel Day-Lewis is often cited along with Pacino and De Niro as the best actor in the post-Brando years. His godly performances as Daniel Plainview should blow that discussion away. There is no debate: he is the greatest non-Brando actor ever. There's a reason why the poster is just his face--he is iconic of everything that makes this movie so great. The grittiness of it, the attention to detail, the sweat, blood, and oil--he is a symbol of the unfettered American Dream, the manifest destiny that drove so many like him at the turn of the 20th century. And that is all captured in the brilliant script, the amazing performances, and the gorgeous design of There Will Be Blood.
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#16. The Godfather: Part II
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Godfather_part_ii.jpg
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Genre: Drama, Crime
Year: 1974

SephG Superlative: The greatest sequel ever made

In many ways, The Godfather Part II outclasses the original--which is, of course, widely considered to be the greatest movie ever made. It's more epic in scope, spanning two separate time periods as we watch Michael's struggles with his family and business juxtaposed to younger Vito's beginnings. The locations are more impressive, as Coppola skillfully recreates the Sicilian countryside, turn-of-the-century Manhattan, early Las Vegas, and Cuba at the time of Castro. And I would argue that it's even deeper and more complex thematically, as we see Michael's true loneliness transpire throughout the course of the film.

This is the kind of sequel every filmmaker wishes they could make. Something that carries on the impossible legacy of its predecessor while also building and growing the characters and the drama that it started. It can be a little slow at times; and I think to the casual moviegoer, even a bit "boring," but the drama is still just as riveting as the first part. And maybe that's the only thing that keeps it from surpassing the original for me--that it's a little less quotable, a little less iconic, and requires more attention to truly appreciate. And if that's the worst thing that you can say about a film, well then you have one of the greatest movies ever made at hand.
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#15. Casablanca
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/CasablancaPoster-Gold.jpg/375px-CasablancaPoster-Gold.jpg
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Genre: Drama, Romance
Year: 1942

Casablanca probably contains the greatest screenplay ever written. Everything about the dialogue in this film is so crisp--not a single word is taken for granted. It's what drives this movie and lets it be as special as it is--remaining as timeless as an Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams play, only captured on film.

It's quite amazing that this movie was produced at all. It was filmed right before the United States entered World War II, and it certainly doesn't shy away from taking a side. The French had just been taken over by Nazi Germany, so the poignancy of the French national anthem scene is just unbelievable. To put this in perspective, it would be like a movie about Pearl Harbor being released in 1943 and capturing American patriotism without coming off as insincere or shoehorned. It's magic, really.

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman also of course give respective GOAT-worthy performances and are exactly what I picture when I think of Golden Age Hollywood acting. However, they do not fall into the typical Hollywood arc for the time, of course, as their love remains unfulfilled by the end. And that ending certainly packs a punch--with the famous "We'll always have Paris" speech being one of the best bits of dialogue ever put to screen, and a perfect tone for the bitter realism of the wartime era.
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Mythiot posted...

The Taxi Driver theme might be my favorite piece of music in any film.

It's up there for me. Of non-John Williams stuff, it might be "Amy's Theme" from The Conversation.
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People in the incel topic should watch taxi driver
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4 more and then a recap and then you mfers better get guessin
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I will love for my favorite movie (The Princess Bride) to be there but I doubt it is.
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Inconceivable!
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#14. The Seventh Seal
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Seventhsealposter.jpg
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Year: 1957

SephG Superlative: The greatest fantasy movie ever made; the greatest Swedish movie ever made

The Seventh Seal is the closest cinema has ever come to capturing a medieval/Renaissance allegory--the type of art that, until this movie, had only ever really been achieved through verse and through painting. But Ingmar Bergman's mind (and eye) was able to pull off the seemingly impossible and translate that religious and spiritual experience onto screen.

The Seventh Seal is a period piece that makes no pretenses about realism. The entire movie has this surreal quality to it--almost as if Max von Sydow's entire journey is really just some kind of purgatory before he moves on to his inevitable death. And that nihilistic inevitability is omnipresent throughout the film, imbuing a fatalism only matched perhaps by Melancholia 50 years later.

Despite the futility of the themes, the movie itself is one of the most beautiful things ever filmed. The figures set along the gloomy Northern European backdrop almost create a painting in each frame, capped off by one of the shots that will stick with me most for the rest of my life--the creepy and climatic "Dance of Death" in the final scene.
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#13. Seven Samurai
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Seven_Samurai_movie_poster.jpg
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Year: 1954

SephG Superlative: The greatest adventure movie ever made; the greatest Japanese movie ever made; the greatest movie of the 1950s

Seven Samurai puts all other ensemble action/adventure movies to shame. You could point to something like Ocean's 11, The Fast and the Furious franchise, Star Wars, et al. as examples of how the cast's great chemistry can elevate any story. But none of those casts come close to matching the ronin hired to defend the mountain village in Seven Samurai.

It's not just the ensemble template that makes Seven Samurai so entertaining. Kurosawa is obviously one of the greatest directors ever, so the bucolic Japanese setting is just damn pretty too look at and gives me personal satisfaction as someone with an unexplained love of that medieval samurai setting. The action also holds up insanely well given the age of the film, which just feels more intense than 90% of modern war/fighting movies. Finally, I think what really brings Seven Samurai to the top of the heap of these kinds of films is the heavy themes involved with it. This is ultimately a movie about war and killing. Yet the takeaway by the end is the Pyrrhic nature of combat. This isn't the happy celebration at the end of Star Wars, but it's also not a solemn reflection on the brutality of war. Like real life, the emotions are very mixed--and if anything, Seven Samurai best captures that sense of regret that this is the way humanity has to be.
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#12. It's a Wonderful Life
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Its_A_Wonderful_Life_Movie_Poster.jpg
Dir: Frank Capra
Genre: Drama
Year: 1946

Everyone loves this charming Christmas tale about bankruptcy and suicide! It's a Wonderful Life is a classic for its whimsical parts and uplifting theme, but I think I love it as much as I do because it isn't afraid to touch on real personal drama the way it does. And that's what makes the climax as wonderful as it is. Frank Capra composes this movie like a symphony--taking us on an emotional ride from start to finish to make the story as impactful as it could possibly be.

Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey is perhaps the single-most sympathetic character ever brought to screen. He's a guy who has really worked to just be decent in his life; but, as life often goes, this doesn't necessarily mean things will turn out perfectly for him, to say the least. What follows is a genuinely touching lesson on what truly matters in life--an affirmation for anyone who may feel like they don't matter or shouldn't continue on. This ripple effect has been emulated so many times thereafter, but there is a purity to this original execution that makes this film so resonant. It's one of the few movies that can warm old SephG's cold heart--a massive achievement in itself.

Fun fact: I wrote my college admissions essay on this movie (a real tearjerker), so I will forever be indebted to it!
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#11. Boyhood
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/Boyhood_%282014%29.png
Dir: Richard Linklater
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age
Year: 2014

SephG Superlative: The greatest movie of the 2010s

Boyhood absolutely destroyed me when it came out--to the point where I am not sure if I can ever watch it again. It's not a sad or tragic film, nor is it particularly emotional from a character or story perspective. What really made this movie shake me to the core is how real it felt. It was almost as if someone showed me a condensed film of my own adolescence, and nothing moved me in the same way as my first viewing.

I am a few years older than the main subject in Boyhood (I think I would actually be just above his sister's age), but the zeitgeist captured in each year throughout his youth was still just about the same as it was for me. Everything from the music and the cultural events to the life events (friendships, moving houses, getting a job, etc.) made me flash back to my own recollections and memories of those things that I lived through. The way this movie was filmed over the course of 12 years has been beaten to death, but it's truly what gives Boyhood this uncanny ability to capture those moments in life and the world. Major props to Linklater and his editor on this one, because they were remarkably able to keep in those scenes that became even more relevant today (Ethan Hawke talking about Clemens and Pettitte going to the HOF years before they were busted for PEDs is a priceless example).

Some criticisms of Boyhood have emerged recently that I'd like to put to rest. The first being that there's no real "story" to it, to which I will roll my eyes and ask if they have ever even seen a Linklater film. There doesn't need to be a plot. Life doesn't have a story most of the time, and the expressed point of this movie was to show a slice of someone's life. And that leads to the second critique, which is that the protagonist grew up to be an awful pretentious douche. But isn't every college freshman a pretentious douche? Were we supposed to believe that he grew up and learned everything there was to learn and is now a dude you'd want to hang out with? It's indicative of the realism once again--and I frankly love the choice.

Maybe I will watch this movie again one day. Maybe I can look back on it and just enjoy it as a movie and that's all. But as it stands right now, Boyhood was more than a movie. It was a powerful reflection of my own life--and an experience that I've never had with a film before.
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Since we are at the end of the decade...

Top 10 movies of the 2010s
1. Boyhood (2014)
2. The Social Network (2010)
3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
4. Whiplash (2014)
5. The Tree of Life (2011)
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
7. Toy Story 3 (2010)
8. Melancholia (2011)
9. Moonlight (2016)
10. Holy Motors (2012)

That's a very weird top 10 now that I look at it holistically!
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Will repost #250-#11 at the 200 post mark

Then you can guess away! I'll Venmo anyone who properly guesses the movies in the top 10 $100.
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Love Boyhood. Probably my favorite movie of the decade as well.

I also watch IaWL almost every year around Christmas. Great film, and probably my favorite movie of that era (not that Ive watched a ton of them).
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The order of the top 10 or just the movies?
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KingButz posted...

The order of the top 10 or just the movies?

Just the movies
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I'll post my predictions tonight
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I'll recap at the top of the next page!
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very much enjoying this and realizing I have not seen a great many movies
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Yay thanks nick
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Im looking forward to the recap. Im pretty sure I can at least get 5/10 when I guess.
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I just spent the last hour and a half looking at this damn list and Ive got 9/10 guesses. The 10th film is a toss up between two options, one is definitely in your top 10 and one isnt on the list -_-
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Good luck brah
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Christmas Story top ten. Here we go lads
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Boyhood was great. There were so many moments that allowed me to reflect on my own childhood and the emotion on screen resonated with what I felt. I also saw some of my parents in the parent figures in the film. It's rare that a film can just feel so real.
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Would you say this top 10 contains more films from 1971, or 1975? >_>

Christmas Story would be a fun, personal choice. Not what I expected for sure. Is Seph on the record as liking it?
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wallmasterz posted...

Would you say this top 10 contains more films from 1971, or 1975? >_>

I think I know the exact question you're asking you sly dog
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Hooray its recap time
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