Posted on 06/11/2005 8:50:34 AM PDT by voletti
The All-TIME 100 Movies feature—compiled by Richard Schickel and me, and handsomely packaged by Josh Macht, Mark Coatney and all the smart folks at TIME.com—attracted a record-busting 7.8 million page views in its first week, including 3.5 million on May 23rd, its opening day. Thousands of readers have written in to cheer or challenge our selections, and thousands more have voted for their own favorites. The response simply underscores Richard's and my long-held belief that everybody has two jobs: his own and movie critic.
The idea was to assemble 100 estimable films since TIME began, with the March 3, 1923 issue. Later, each of us was asked to contribute five items in sidebars called Great Performances (acting), Guilty Pleasures (trash treasures) and Top Scores (soundtracks). Essentially, though, a century of movies from 82 years. That shouldn't be hard: pick a picture for each year, with 18 slots left for honorable mentions.
Not so simple, in fact, for we faced a couple of complications. The first was that two of us were to agree on the selections; and, though my admiration for Schickel is hardly bounded, and he probably doesn't mind me, no two critics will agree on all, or even most, great films. The other is the onus of the list-making process. It's a truism that a list like this takes either an hour (go with your initial inspirations) or a month (weigh every film with Solomonic probity). Our effort clocked in at about four months, off and on. And the clock is still running.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
I take it back. I just got to the "U"s. Unforgiven was a good movie.
The only lists worth reading are the highly individualized ones, which don't make any pretense of really being the best, but show you how a critic's mind works and indicate that if you liked most of the movies they liked, you might be interested in seeing the others. If you sat through 3 hours of "Ulysses Gaze" or all 15 1/2 hours of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" would you really be able to take "Star Wars" or "E.T"? Or vice versa?
And for heaven's sake, if you put "Star Wars" on the list, you can't keep "Gone With the Wind" off. For who's to say that "Goodfellas" or "Pulp Fiction" will hold up as well 65 years on as GWTW does today? It was largely political concerns that kept it off, of course. Dittos for BONA ("Birth of a Nation").
But one curious note: the old Soviet warhorses: "Potemkin," "October," "Nevsky," "Ivan," "Gorky" aren't on the list, either, or even more recent Russian films by Tarkovsky and others. Is that politics also? Or Russophobia? Or were they just no good? They could make a case for booting out totalitarian or racist films, but it does mean that some really important films aren't mentioned.
But they did get Dr Strangelove, ET, The Godfather I & 2, Blade Runner, Goodfellas, Double Indemnity, and Lawrence of Arabia.
You, too? I usually have a pretty open mind with it comes to film, but I hated that movie!
That was the first Tarantino movie I ever saw or tried to see I should say. He is one wierd SOB. I somehow made it through Reservoir Dogs on DVD but I don't think I'll be wasting my my money on him again.
yup , and no Saps At Sea[Laurel & Hardy] or Debbie Does Dallas ,... I'm crushed
I walked out on Monty Python's 'the Meaning of Life'.
Heck our favorite movies mean more to me than what those Mizzzzzzzzz Burleigh tpyes at Time think about what influenced the US.
My all-time favorites [not in particular order]:
1. Braveheart
2. The Passion
3. The Patriot
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. Pearl Harbor
6. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
7. Monty Python's The Holy Grail [so unlike Monty Python]
8. Both 'The Gods Must be Crazy' movies.
9. What About Bob?
10. Dragonheart
11. Tomorrow Never Dies [Bond]
12. Golden Eye [Bond]
13. Die Another Day [Bond]
14. Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
15. Air Force One
16. Red Dawn
17. All five Rocky movies
18. Excalibur
19. The first two Home Alone movies
20. National Lampoon's American and Christmas Vacation
21. Mr. Bean
22. Johnny English
23. High Noon [Jackie Chan]
24. The Drunken Master [Jackie Chan]
25. The Gladiator
26. Dumb and Dumber [and the sequel]
27. Major Paine
28. The Last Castle
29. Both Men in Black movies
30. Modern Problems
31. All the Lethal Weapon movies
32. Bowfinger
33. Jabberwocky
34. The Naked Gun movies [I like Safety Patrol too]
35. Conan the Barbarian [and the Destroyer]
37. Beastmaster
38. The Thirteenth Warrior
39. Willow
40. All the Indiana Jones movies, although I'm ticked at Lucas
41. [I'm sure I'm missing some.]
[Not even considering Star Wars at the moment. Formerly on the list. Still honoring my boycott of the last one.]
Cinema Paradiso is a monumentally epic motion picture.
“Blade Runner” was voted on some list the best SciFi flick of all time.
The list is pretty shallow.
No “Defiant Ones”
No “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
No “All About Eve” or “Midnight Cowboy”
and no matter what, I’d have to have “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe” on any list of 100 greatest just for the sheer power of Liz and Dick working together...
At least they spared us “West Side Story”. the gayest movie ever made..
Might include “Chicago”. Even though the genre is more of a 40-50s musical type flick, it’s really pretty good.
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