Top 50 Fav
 

I decided to post my top 50 movies list, after filtering through all my previous favorite lists. I also decided to not separate animation and live action because they are all movies (just made using different methods).

After several years watching movies one can make a top 50 list that is truly a personal list, not a list made up by other's people's favorites in the sense that one does understand their own taste better and hence knows how to find movies that fit well into one own's aesthetic preferences. Mine are of dark/serious films that are often powerful, with several exceptions of course.

The list so far:

50. A Man Escaped (1956) (Bresson, France)
49. The Apu Triology (1955-59) (Ray, India)
48. Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) (Tahataka, Japan)
47. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966) (Leone, Italy)
46. Schindler's List (1993) (Spielberg, US)
45. Ghost in the Shell (1995) (Oshii, Japan)
44. The Human Condition (1959-1961) (Kobayashi, Japan)
43. Fanny and Alexander (1983) (Bergman, Sweden)
42. Back to the Future (1985) (Zemekis, US)
41. Gunbuster (1988) (Anno, Japan)
40. Taxi Driver (1975) (Scorsese, US)
39. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) (Tarr, Hungary)
38. The Road Warrior (1982) (Miller, Australia)
37. Ping Pong (2014) (Yuasa, Japan)
36. The Terminator (1984) (Cameron, US)
35. The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) (Jackson, US)
34. Whisper of the Heart (1995) (Kondo, Japan)
33. Shoah (1985) (Lanzmann, France)
32. Andrei Rublev (1966) (Tarkovsky, Russia)
31. Serial Experiments Lain (1998) (ABe, Japan)
30. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) (Miyazaki, Japan)
29. Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986) (Beizai, Iran)
28. All Quiet in the Western Front (1930) (Milestone, US)
27. Late Spring (1949) (Ozu, Japan)
26. Star Wars & Empire (1977-1980) (Lucas, US)
25. Only Yesterday (1991) (Takahata, Japan)
24. Ugetsu (1953) (Mizoguchi, Japan)
23. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) (Herzog, Germany)
22. Eraserhead (1979) (Lynch, US)
21. Seven Samurai (1954) (Kurosawa, Japan)
20. Castle in the Sky (1986) (Miyazaki, Japan)
19. Porco Rosso (1992) (Miyazaki, Japan)
18. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) (Takahata, Japan)
17. 8 1/2 (1963) (Fellini, Italy)
16. Apocalypse Now (1979) (Coppola, US)
15. Now then Here and There (1999) (Daichi, Japan)
14. Bicycle Thieves (1948) (De Sica, Italy)
13. The Mirror (1975) (Tarvosky, Russia)
12. 300 (2007) (Snyder, US)
11. Spirited Away (2001) (Miazaki, Japan)
10. Kaiba (2008) (Yuasa, Japan)
9. Blade Runner (1982) (Scott, US)
8. Tokyo Story (1953) (Ozu, Japan)
7. Maho Shojo Madoka Magica (2011) (Shimbo, Japan)
6. 2001 (1968) (Kubrick, UK)
5. Stalker (1979) (Tarkovsky, Russia)
4. Ikiru (1952) (Kurosawa, Japan)
3. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) (Miyazaki, Japan)
2. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (Miyazaki, Japan)
1. Haibane Renmei (2002) (ABe, Japan)

.................................................................................................... ................................................................

50. A Man Escaped (1956) (Bresson, France)

http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/u...-escaped-3.jpg

While I watched about a dozen Bresson movies the one that I decided to include in this list is the one that I felt the stronger visceral connection with. A Man Escaped is such a great movie thanks to it's minimalism that grounds it very strongly on the fictional reality being depicted as the lack of all the hollywood tropes and everything else makes it feel so close to reality. It reminded me of the time I spend in the Brazilian army (because I was there involuntarily, since Brazil still drafts people even though the last time we went to a serious war effort was in 1864 :rolleyes:), since the feel of physical conditions there and in a Brazilian army barracks are not that different (though our food was better and the mattresses had decent bed sheets and blankets).

http://wehaveembarked.com/wp-content..._1956_4702.jpg

Although the main character looks kinda like an idiot, I strongly identified with his struggle. And the minimalist feel good ending was so rewarding.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qT5lpj2n6W...B9+il+veut.png

The tension:
https://michaelgloversmith.files.wor...12/escaped.jpg

The boredom:
http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...r5lo1_1280.jpg

The direction and cinematography are first class as well, monochrome movies are rarely as beautiful as this one (in it's own way, thanks to it's minimalist elegance). So now I can also claim to have a French film in my top 50. :sick:

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Good start. A Man Escaped is my favorite film from Bresson. It's the only one I feel I've really connected with, whereas the other ones struck me as a bit "cold".

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Glad you started your top list! I haven't seen A Man Escaped. It sounds like I'll have to watch it.

I've heard nothing but great things about A Man Escaped, definitely a must see for me.

Looking forward to this, Guap!

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Something tells me I'm not going to like any of these....but it's your list, bring it on:)

I just saw this for the first a week ago... Loved it. Reminds me of "Pickpocket"

49. The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) (Ray, India)

http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d...56c488f970c-pi

India is the world's largest producer of films, it's also the world's largest market for films measured in terms of number of tickets sold. However, despite these obvious facts, very few western film buffs watch Indian movies at all, indeed, I personally have watched only half a dozen, however, one is already strong enough to sit among my top 50.

http://filmforum.org/do-not-enter-or...U_MAIN1520.jpg

No other film I have ever watched has a stronger feeling of third world reality than this one. Brazilian movies that also depict the suffering of the poorest in Brazilian society (which are among the poorest people in the world, due to Brazil's extreme income inequality) do not share the greatness of this film, depicting a village boy who lives through the death of all his immediate family during the trilogy .

http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0038.jpg

It's also a very poetic film, Ray makes visual poetry with his camera and combined with this cool exotic Indian music, it's a brilliant and very simple film trilogy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWMTCuYcWPU

Kurosawa was a great admirer of Ray's films and he often associated Ray's films with Kiarostami (I don't though) because both directors make simple and poetic films.

https://cinemawriter.files.wordpress...nchali_pic.jpg

It's also very accessible IMO, you just sit down and watch the life of Apu (not very easy :D, but still full of happy moments) unfolds.

http://img.veehd.com/4635770_l2.jpg

It's noticeable how much it influenced other Indian films. For instance, I watched a 2009 Indian film and the life of the main character follows a similar trajectory to Apu, rising for rural poverty to get into college. It's the aspiration of most people in India, given it had more extreme poverty (people living near minimum subsistence) than any other region of the world during the 20th century.

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

The Apu Trillogy looks awesome! I have only seen a few Indian films and I didn't like them. That one certainly looks like it's got a lot of potential.

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Sorry. I was confused, point is that he managed to get into college, which was a big feat in India at the time. Already edited it.

Yes, what works outside India in the name of Indian Cinema is third grade Bollywood spicy flicks...

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Thanks for the clarification. Same applies to the US, Hollywood studios only make 150-160 movies a year, the US makes 800, the other are called "indie films", which are actually the majority of US films.

Yes, you said, Apu rose from rural poverty to urban wealth. I asked "when did that happen?" And you meant by "urban wealth" that he managed to get into college! That's it! I thought urban wealth meant must have meant more than that...

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Now it looks fine...I couldn't associate the word "wealth" with Apu...if you meant the "wealth of knowledge" that's altogether a different thing then... :)

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Moved this to the Reviews section. That's where the other Top ## lists reside. :)

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

2 (or 4) movies that I really want to see. Looking forward to the rest Guap :)

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Great start, I liked A Man Escaped very much a realistic look at the life of a prisoner. As for The apu trilogy, I watched Pather Panchali a month or 2 ago and it kind of bored me :S (not a criticism at all just how I felt)

Like A Man Escaped, I probably won't watch The Apu Trilogy until it's time for the 50's list, but I do want to see them. I am planning on watching Ray's The Big City fairly soon.

48. The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) (Takahata, Japan)

http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-conte...0131122a3a.jpg

Takahata is certainly one of the greatest animation directors and film directors of all time. His latest work, which he made between the ages of 69 and 77, since it took 8 years to complete. It's among the most expensive non-Hollywood films ever made and to be produced it required the effort of 8 different animation studios. A massive blockbuster for Japanese standards and it's incredible to much effort when to produce an artistic film that is almost like a 130 minutes long Yuri Norstein film, since the narrative only plays a limited role in the film, but it's more grounded on reality and does not lose itself in pure symbolism (unlike Norstein).

http://www.geekadelphia.com/wp-conte...ess-kaguya.jpg

It's basically the type of film Takahata always wanted to make in visual terms it's certainly his best, in fact, perhaps the most visually impressive animation ever made. Takahata always complained that relatively small budgets of his earlier films forced him to make films in the usual Japanese manga style which is the standard in the anime industry which means that to make visually distinct films require a larger budget and finally he got all the money and time he wanted to make a perfectly animated animation with very distinct art style (though still inspired by manga).

http://media.aintitcool.com/media/up...ing/kaguya.jpg

The plot of this film is very simple and minimalistic, I find it almost irrelevant to talk about it relative to the film as a whole but it stresses out the usual themes of Ghibli's films such as the ecological and social alienation caused by urban life and material wealth.

https://snapthirty.files.wordpress.c...eenshot-05.png

It's a work of such beauty and elegance, very slow paced and subtle. It's very different from the work of other main animation directors in Japan who make aggressive films and animations aimed at young males full of hormones. This is certainly an animation that incorporates influences such as Ozu and Italian neorealism, besides French film and literature, Takahata himself graduated in French literature and he doesn't know how to drawn. He is not a manga artist (like Miyazaki and most other people involved in anime) and his work is very distinct and influential as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFgah9Kb4mo

It's probably the best animated film of the past decade.

Re: Top 50 Favorite Movies
 

Only watched Grave of the Fireflies from Takahata so far and sadly i 'm not a fan. Still i'm looking forward to Kaguya.

I'm wondering will this be over 50% Animated Films Guap?

47. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (1966) (Leone, Italy)
http://nathanleclaire.com/images/sai...-eastwood.jpeg

The uber masterpiece of the Spaguetti Western subgenre. Always in the knive's edge between being a serious film or a comedy. It's the epitome of movie cool.

http://www.fmvmagazine.com/wp-conten...12/12/GBU4.jpg

One of the movie's most notable characteristics is the extremely memorable characters. The faces of the actors were perfect fits for each of the characters and their role in the plot. Even though one could claim that the film's characters are rather "cartoonish" it fits the film's style and plot perfectly.

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...ugly-noose.jpg

He is bad!
http://cdn.entertainmentfuse.com/med...d-the-Ugly.jpg

The film's soundtrack is also magnificent and complements the film perfectly. It exudes a cool felling and plays a very different role than most film soundtracks (which usually serve to increase the emotional intensity of key scenes).

Some parts of the film reach a certain "tension" that it's unbelievable cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVH7rxl6So

It's a very iconic film, among the most popular entries in this top 50.