My top 10 movies

**stevetseitz** · 11-25-2002, 02:13 AM

I can appreciate an aesthetic piece of artwork without it speaking to me or being a favorite of mine. For instance, "The Cry" by Edvard Munch is an amazing painting but I am not likely to hang it in my living room, the same goes for "Decapitated Heads" by Gericault. I admire the genius of Stravinsky in "Night on Bare Mountain" and "The Firebird" but I can think of any number of pieces of music I relate to and enjoy more.

I think what distiguishes "favorites" from "best" is that the films tend to be less serious or technically banal. A movie I watched numerous times as a child like "The Great Race" isn't great cinema but I enjoy it every time I see it.

**oscar jubis** · 11-25-2002, 11:44 AM

Originally posted by docraven I wonder how many of those who use this forum have seen many foreign films.Have people just not seen foreign films, or do they not like them enough to consider them favorites? If the former, I suggest there is a vast untapped resource.

More likely the former but many people simply won't read subtitles. Does it have to do with the cultural hegemony of the english language? Lack of exposure to foreign film during formative years?
The potential audience is there but it needs to be nurtured and sustained. The poor distribution and marketing of foreign film is the major problem. Regional differences are relevant. Clearly, it's advantageous to live in NYC or Toronto. Here in Miami, we get all the spanish language and "gay interest" films available, not enough Asian or East European cinema. I am lucky to have a video store that buys dvd from Canada, U.K. and Hong Kong, not available in the U.S., and transfers them to compatible formats. The U. of Miami's film school shows films to which I wouldn't otherwise have access. I imagine there are similar options for the film lover in other cities. Still, I have seen little of the vast output of important filmakers like Bela Tarr, Alexander Sokurov, Arturo Ripstein, De Oliveira and many others.
As far as information, I read the Village Voice and Chicago Reader on line, and Cineaste and Film Comment magazines.
Given the current conditions, it takes a lot of effort to learn about and watch some of the best films being made in the world.

**oscar jubis** · 11-25-2002, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by stevetseitz
[B]I can appreciate an aesthetic piece of artwork without it speaking to me or being a favorite of mine. A movie I watched numerous times as a child like "The Great Race" isn't great cinema but I enjoy it every time I see it.

I maintain a deep affection for movies I watched as a kid. Some I thought then as masterpieces: Oliver!, Zefirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Allen's Stardust Memories. Others felt as if made for ME and nobody else: De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, Hussein's Melody and yes, Rock 'n Roll High School. You won't find these in my top 10 but I'd postpone brain surgery to catch any of them on TV.

**cinemabon** · 11-26-2002, 03:04 AM

I am suddenly surrounded by friends and my first response is to get naked. Here then is my most revealing list of my favorite films to watch on any day of the week...some are sentimental, some are intellectual, some are just plain fluff...

Roger Ebert (a matter of taste) once said that he didn't collect films because he had to have them. He collected them because he couldn't bear the thought of NOT being able to see certain films again. These are films I couldn't live without...

Hobson's Choice

O Henry's Full House

Wild Strawberries

Blow Up

The Song of Bernadette

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Lost Horizon (original)

The Quiet Man

How Green Was My Valley

Psycho

Annie Hall

Oliver!

Brief Encounter

The Big Country

Silverado

La Strada

Bringing Up Baby

The Philadelphia Story

Palm Beach Story ("...chivilary's not only dead, it's decomposing")

Sullivan's Travels ("What this film needs is some heart." "...and a little sex!")

and last, but not least, Duck Soup

I fell in love with these movies, not when I was growing up, but going through the film archives at UCLA, watching them on a Steenbeck horizontal film editor. These beauties were just gathering dust, while the rest of my collegues were rushing out to see the latest shoot 'em up. Our film heritage is filled with priceless moments of writing, music, acting, and marvelous productions that transcend time. Each one of these and many other films are reaching out to every generation to discover the gold laying in some dusty vault. Someday, all these films will be on DVD. Until then, I'm not parting with my VHS just yet.

**oscar jubis** · 11-26-2002, 07:25 PM

Mmm Charles Laughton in Hobson's Choice...Preston Sturges comedies...I am impressed by the variety of quality films on your list.Drama, westerns, thrillers, foreign films, literary adaptations, a musical, even a Victorian comedy. Now, lemme throw you a curve. Do you have any favorite silents, docs, and/or animated films?

**cinemabon** · 11-27-2002, 11:21 AM

I took my clothes off, but that wasn't enough to gross somebody out (actually, I'm in pretty good... oh, who am I kidding?)

Documentaries:

Hearts and Minds is my favorite, because of all the anger and strong feelings attached to it. I love the genre. Unfortunately, it seems only Bravo and HBO are willing to show the "true" nature of man (PBS now and then, but they've become spineless).

Silents:

Anything by Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. I also manage to catch TCM on (I think) late Sat or Sun which runs a different silent feature every week. Whether we realise it or not, most movies are still silent...they just added sound effects and music. Most dialogue is a bore.

Animation:

Old versus New style - Old stuff first - Well of course all the old Disney and Fleisher Brothers features, the shorts from Warner Brothers (who couldn't love a wise crackin bunny from the Bronx) are all great and its hard to pick favorites.

The new stuff out of Japan in the last decade has literally changed the face of animation. They tell adult stories with adult themes. This animation is strictly for teens and above. No punches pulled here. While most of the stuff is rather crude compared to say, Pixar or Disney, the dialogue, music, and subject matter are miles above what is being done in the states, where we treat ALL viewers like children. I have to admit, I really like some of the stuff I've seen.

So there...happy? I don't mind talking about the films I love because all my life, since I was able to open the wooden doors on the front of our little screen TV, it was the movies that facinated me the most. Saturdays, a kid could go to the movies and spend all day there for less than a buck. I wouldn't give up those memories for all the money in Las Vegas. Every time a cartoon came on the big screen that featured Bugs Bunny, all the kids stood up on their seats and cheered! How's that for audience reaction? It was the only way we could see cartoons. Everything else was in black and white and saturday morning cartoons were never really that good. These days, I couldn't get my son to "cheer" about anything unless I was pulling the plug on his PS2, and that reaction wouldn't be cheering!

**stevetseitz** · 11-27-2002, 01:23 PM

Favorite Silent Film? Buster Keaton's "The General"
runner ups: F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu"
Chaplin's "Modern Times"

Favorite Documentary: "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmaker's Apocalypse"
runner up: Capra's "Why We Fight"

Favorite animated film: "Fantasia"
runner up: "Ghost in the Shell"

**docraven** · 11-28-2002, 05:35 PM

I liked stevetseitz’s list. Here’s mine:

Favorite Silent Film? Able Gance’s “Napoleon” -- I saw it with Carmine Coppola conducting his own score to the movie. Wow!
Runners up: Chaplin’s “Gold Rush”; F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu"; Robert Weine’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”; Buster Keaton’s “The General”; D.W. Griffith’s “Way Down East” (The ice rescue scene can no longer be seen with the same sense of awe when originally released, but it certainly was a seminal work.); and, for its impact and importance to film history, Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” (abominable themes, amazing use of film--important also to give an historical sense of what was “acceptable” in the second decade of the 1900s); Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin”.

Favorite Documentary: Michael Apted’s "28 Up" (and the others in this brilliant series)
Runners up: Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will” (The message is hypnotic. The filmmaking is amazing. Even though the goal is propaganda, it is clearly a superior film to any of Capra’s films in the “Why We Fight” series. If we think only the Nazis distorted, check out phrases like “our slant eyed friends” in “Prelude to War” in that series. Watch ten minutes of each, and you can see which was the superior filmmaker.); Steve James’ “Hoop Dreams”.

Favorite animated film: Disney’s “Jungle Book”
Runners up: Disney’s "Fantasia"; Adamson’s “Shrek”; Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”; Docter’s “Monsters, Inc.” -- One great thing about being a granddad is that you can pretend you’re only there to take your grand kids, but you secretly love it.

**Johann** · 11-29-2002, 12:14 AM

Wow is right- I love Gance's Napoleon. Lucky guy, docraven.

My favorite silent is probably Greed, but there are so many greats: Pandora's Box, Die Niebelungen, Intolerance, Strike, etc..

My favorite documentary is My Best Fiend. Herzog's tribute to Klaus Kinski is pure poetic justice. I can't recommend it enough. Almost had me crying at the final images.... ALMOST!

My favorite animated film is Yellow Submarine. Hands down.

**stevetseitz** · 11-29-2002, 10:20 PM

Man, I almost forgot about that one. It's so entertaining that it doesn't live in my memory as a documentary! Saw it at a film festival and I was amazed. "Little Dieter needs to Fly" was also excellent.

**oscar jubis** · 11-30-2002, 09:48 AM

I made a list of a dozen favorites. All have already been mentioned... except my top 2:
SUNRISE has been called "the most completely poetic film Hollywood ever made". I'll call it the best American film not available on DVD. A farmer redeems himself after being seduced and corrupted by a city girl in this gorgeous Murnau film.
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC(1928) was made in Paris by dane Carl Dreyer. The 4th of a dozen films on Joan. The most cinematic object of all: Renee Falconetti's face.

Besides the ones listed by Docraven and Stevetseitz, I favor these docs:
NIGHT AND FOG by Alain Resnais
THE SORROW AND THE PITY by Marcel Ophuls
SHOAH by Claude Lanzmann
MAN WITH A MOVING CAMERA by Vertov

More recently: CRUMB, THE WONDERFUL,HORRIBLE LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL, VISIONS OF LIGHT:The art of cinematography, JAZZ, THE GLEANERS AND I, PARADISE LOST:The child murders at Robin Hood Hill, and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.

**Johann** · 11-30-2002, 10:37 AM

The Gleaners and I- incredible film by Agnes Varda. I saw it twice!

**cinemabon** · 11-30-2002, 12:05 PM

All of the films you guys have mentioned reminded me of the movies I studied in college while I was in film school. "Potemkim" was standard viewing in editing class. Other titles we studied were: "The Cabinet of Dr. Kilgary", "Broken Blossoms", "Intolerance", "Ben-Hur" (with Francis X. Bushman), "Cleopatra", even "Napolean", of which I, too, was privileged enough to see performed live in Hollywood, directed by Francis Ford's father, Carmine Coppolla. I only wished I'd been there earlier this year when John Williams conducted the L.A. Philharmonic with his score from E.T., a first in motion picture history.

I am a huge fan of Hitchcock. I have an autographed copy of Spoto's book and had the great privilege of actually saying hello to him once at Universal. He made many silent films, including "The Lodger", which catapulted him to "star" status in his own country, England.

No one has mentioned Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast) or Jean Renoir (son of the famous painter, responsible for "The Grand Illusion" and "Rules of the Game"), or Michael Powell's powerful haunting film, "Black Narcissus", with the incredible technicolor photography of Jack Cardiff, who won the Oscar that year.

**oscar jubis** · 12-01-2002, 10:44 PM

For comments re:Renoir go to the foreign favorites thread. I am quite ticked off that most of his vast,rich output is not available on DVD. Have you seen his American film THE SOUTHERNER?

I purchased BLACK NARCISSUS because I love its images. On the other hand, I hate to admit, the way the "natives' are portrayed smacks me as racist. The nuns' spiritual weakness a tad too convenient and over-simplified. I prefer Renoir's first color film:THE RIVER, about India, from the perspective of a british family.

**Johann** · 12-05-2002, 01:01 AM

I've got The Southerner on VHS. (A great Sunday afternoon movie!)

P.S. Don't do what I did once and watch it stoned. You will think it's a comedy. I thought the grandmother was funnier than Jerry Lewis... YOU MUST RESPECT RENOIR!

Black Narcissus is wonderful (even if it looks and feels like it was shot on a stage on a mountain :)