Diehl40's Top 100 Films (Favorites)

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I am listing my top 100 and invite comment.


Favorite directors"
Woody Allen 7
Robert Altman 3
Francis Ford Copola- 3
Ingmar Bergman 3

David Lynch- 3
Sidney Lumet- 2

Stanley Kubrik- 2
Terry Gilliam- 2
Claude Berri 2
Christopher Nolan 2
Jim Jarmusch 2
Wim Wenders 2
Giuseppe Tornatore- 2
Orson Welles 2
Fredrico Fellini-2
Alan Parker- 2
Lasse hallstrom 2
Bob Fosse- 2
Monty Python- 2






100. Star Wars: A New Hope/George Lucas



I know this would be higher on other people's list, but it is on my list primarily because it was a watershed film in terms of production quality and scope.it also was a watershed for the movie business. After the first Star Wars all the studios began shooting for the stars in terms of profits. Lucas's own company, although now it belongs to others, is still the trend setter for special effects.






99. I only have two or three documentaries on this list. I enjoy documentaries very much and feel that they are an excellent medium to teach; either through story or presentation of facts. This is an excellent documentary because it introduces you to a way of life that many of use will never see firsthand. Most of the kids in this film are between 11 and 16 with some exceptions. While their peers are in school, they are attending the school of hard knocks on the street.by learning to hustle, con, or prostitute themselves, etc. While the kids are aware they are being filmed, and ham it up sometimes; the film is still a powerful piece of work. One of the young men in the film does something he probably would not do if we were not being filmed. (You have to watch it to see how tragic this young man's life is) There was a follow up documentary several years after this film was made (1985) It is available on you tube. I saw this film for the first time in New York City when I was interning at a city mission in Time Square. We took several of the teens that the church was trying to reach out to in order to to see this movie. A good film for those who enjoy documentary films



Streetwise

Martin Bell United States, 1984



Seattle, 1983. Taking their camera to the streets of what was supposedly America’s most livable city, filmmaker Martin Bell, photographer Mary Ellen Mark, and journalist Cheryl McCall set out to tell the stories of those society had left behind: homeless and runaway teenagers living on the city’s margins. Born from a Life magazine exposé by Mark and McCall, Streetwise follows an unforgettable group of at-risk children—including iron-willed fourteen-year-old Tiny, who would become the project’s most haunting and enduring face, along with the pugnacious yet resourceful Rat and the affable drifter DeWayne—who, driven from their broken homes, survive by hustling, panhandling, and dumpster diving. Granted remarkable access to their world, the filmmakers craft a devastatingly frank, nonjudgmental portrait of lost youth growing up far too soon in a world that has failed them.


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  • 91 min
  • Color
  • 1.37:1

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98. Moonstruck-1987
Director: Norman Jewison
Screenplay:John Patrick Shanley

Principal Actors: Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, Julie Bavosso, Louis Guss, and John Mahoney. :


Set in Brooklyn New York



The film was nominated for six Oscars and Cher, Olympia Dukkakis and John Patrick Shanley took home one a-piece. Shanley, who wrote the screenplay is also known for his writing of "Doubt" and "Five Corners".

The film involves at least five couples with a three characters participating n more than one couple. The father is having an affair, Loretta is torn between two brothers, and Olympia Dukakis has an opportunity to start an extra-marital affair.

The writing is quiet good and gets complex at some points in the story.which Shanley handles masterfully. It is a very good story, and like many good stories balances comedy with the more serious aspects of the story. Recommended for fans of Romantic comedy.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.



100. Star Wars: A New Hope/George Lucas



I know this would be higher on other people's list, but it is on my list primarily because it was a watershed film in terms of production quality and scope.it also was a watershed for the movie business. After the first Star Wars all the studios began shooting for the stars in terms of profits. Lucas's own company, although now it belongs to others, is still the trend setter for special effects.

Since George Lucas is not on the list of your favorite directors in your first post, does that mean that he only has one movie on your Top 100 list?
__________________
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.



98. Moonstruck-1987
Director: Norman Jewison
Screenplay:John Patrick Shanley

Principal Actors: Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, Julie Bavosso, Louis Guss, and John Mahoney. :


Set in Brooklyn New York



The film was nominated for six Oscars and Cher, Olympia Dukkakis and John Patrick Shanley took home one a-piece. Shanley, who wrote the screenplay is also known for his writing of "Doubt" and "Five Corners".

The film involves at least five couples with a three characters participating in more than one couple. The father is having an affair, Loretta is torn between two brothers, and Olympia Dukakis has an opportunity to start an extra-marital affair.

The writing is quiet good and gets complex at some points in the story.which Shanley handles masterfully. It is a very good story, and like many good stories balances comedy with the more serious aspects of the story. Recommended for fans of Romantic comedy.

I'm not a fan of Nicholas Cage, but I liked Moonstruck. It's far from my favorite rom-com, but it's a good movie.



The trick is not minding
I'm not a fan of Nicholas Cage, but I liked Moonstruck. It's far from my favorite rom-com, but it's a good movie.
Same. Although I like far more, it’s mostly has to do with how well Cher acts in this.



Yes. I included the first STar WArs movie because it was a watershed moment in film history.

Since George Lucas is not on the list of your favorite directors in your first post, does that mean that he only has one movie on your Top 100 list?




96. The Player


Dir Robert Altman
Featured Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacci, Peter Gallaghar, Fred Ward, Whoopie Goldberg,and a couple dozen cameos from the Hollywood big hitters.
If you devoted a movie to explaining what makes a good movie and then demonstrating what that good movie might look like, you get the "Player". You also get a good look as Altman sort of teases the Hollywood establishment throughout. He demonstrates how silly movie pitches can be like (Its like the Gods must be crazy meets so and so). There is also a running joke about everybody wanting to cast Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts in every movie pitch. (Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts must have a good sense of humor because they appear in the movie after they have been roasted repeatedly.)

The movie follows the life of a big shot Hollywood producer as he moves through his day-to-day routine. There are numerous cameo's in the movie. (Altman called in a lot of favors). In many cases Altman gave the actors an opportunity to say what they would like to have said to some of their producers. See the scene where Malcom McDowell says exactly what he wants to Griffin (Tim Robbins character). There is a plot that involves a murder and its coverup, but it was fun to see the stars coming out of the woodwork. This is the first Altman film I have included, I will review two others by him. The film is not for everybody (thus the 4 rating), but for those who enjoy Comedy/Drama there is a lot to like about this one. Recommended for those who would like a good laugh at the Hollywood while enjoying a good drama as well.



Me and you might be the only two Mofos who actually like Shakespeare in Love. I enjoyed it but I don't recall many fans of it. Reps for having in your list

it was not at the top of my list, but I have always appreciated how accessible the movie communicated the poetry to Shakespeare's works






97. Shakespeare in Love

Dir John Madden
featured cast:
Gweneth Pawltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Tom Wilkenson, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Geoffrey Rush, Martin Clunes,



Previously reviewed.
Me and you might be the only two Mofos who actually like Shakespeare in Love. I enjoyed it but I don't recall many fans of it. Reps for having in your list
I love Shakespeare in Love! Love it, I say!
Shakespeare in Love is a great one within the rom-com genre!
Mentioned it in the The Most Romantic Movie of All Time thread; https://www.movieforums.com/communit...78#post2116378.



The Shawshank Redemption



Now streaming on:

95. The Shawshank Redemption

I find that this film has had a strange reception among movie fans. When it was first released it did not break even; however, since it’s video release it has achieved cult like status. I remember when it was rated number one on the IMDB site. Although I enjoyed the movie very much (It is on my top 100 after all), I did not think it was worthy of a number 1 ranking, although it did win seven Oscar nominations including best picture.
What I did like was the fact that a movie that took it’s time to develop characters, and allowed the story to unfold from Reds (Morgan Freeman’s character) perspective instead of Andy’s own. This allowed Andy’s character to sort of remain, if not hidden, guarded. We don’t know a lot about Andy’s character. We do not even know for sure if he committed the murders that he was accused of. It is not Andy’s redemption that we are witnessing throughout the movie, it is Red’s and perhaps others who have been close to Andy. It is Andy who tells Red to get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. That is the message the movie sends to its audience.







Dir. Lucy Walker


This is an excellent documentary on a little known facet of Amish life known as rumspringa. When teens in the Amish community reach the age of 16 they are allowed to live as "english" (non Amish). They can return to the church, but once they return they are bound by the Amish way of life. If they break that code they are shunned from the church for life.

The film follows four or five teens who are going trough the Rumspringa ritual. Among these teens is the ministers son, who just happens to be as wild as they come. He is involved in a sexual relationship outside of marriage, he does drugs (not just pot, but methamphetamine among others.) Some of these kids get a little taste of freedom and go of the deep end. In fact, almost everybody I have shown the film to thinks the whole idea of Rumspringa is crazy. In the state where the film was filmed it is widely believed that the Amish parties are the wildest. Amazingly the Amish claim that they do not lose as many kids as you would think through Rumsringa. The movie mainly focuses on the kids with some interviews with a few adults

There are a lot of fascinating tidbits in this documentary that I do not to reveal (watch the film). I only have three documentaries on this list and I believe all three stand out as good examples of what documentaries can do. Reccommended for those who like good documentaries, or interested in religion, especially the Amish way of life.







I nearly choked on my water when I read Ebert's review of this film. He described this film as a cross between the Marx Brothers and Tarantino if, "Groucho had been into chopping off fingers" That seems about right given that this group of kids in their twenties are flirting with life on the fringe of crime, save for the chef, who prides himself that his money is clean. One is a professional card player (Eddy), one runs whatever hustle's he can , and the other is something of an entrepreneur in crime, selling a little of this and that of whatever he can lay his hands on.

The first sign of trouble comes when they pool their life savings for a high-stakes poker game organized by Hatchet Harry (a mid level organizer of illegal gambling and operator of porn shops.) Harry cheats, the group looses all of their money and then some, and Harry demands that they hand over the Eddy's fathers bar in place of payment. They are given a short time to raise the money before Hatchet harry take the fathers bar.

In phase two of the movie the kids try to figure out what they can do to raise money fast. They eavesdrop on their criminal neighbors who are going to steal a load of Ganja from a group of seemingly innocuous horticulturalist, who are really backed by another hard hitting criminal. So group one steals from the horticulturalist and Eddy and his group steal from the next door neighbors. They have pre-arranged to sell the ganja through an intermediary. What they don't know is they are selling the pot back to the original owner. The last two sentences are a little confusing as at this point everybody is gunning for everybody else.

The movie has violent moments, and their is some language, but overall it is an amusing movie. Sting plays eddie's father, and this was an early movie for Jason straitham.