Daniel M's Top 100 - 2014

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Not seen The Man Who Fell To Earth, but some really good choices there.

It's a Wonderful Life is a good film, though I'm not a big fan of the ending.
The ending IS the film

Awesome set, I've seen all but It's a Wonderful Life, and I appreciate all the other four except The Man Who Fell From Earth, which I found weird, just weird not surreal. Actually had a very similar reaction as I did to Under the Skin. I adore Touch of Evil and Elephant Man, T.O.E is by far my favorite Welles film actually. Breathless is my favorite Godard, and from what I've seen the only one I truly like, and honestly doubt there will be any more.
Yeah. I mentioned before how TMWFTO and UTS are very thematically similar, both deal with the same issues and seem to be commentating on human life.

Great picks. I love Breathless but have yet to watch The Man Who Fell From Earth.
Thanks, always good to see more people enjoying Godard

And once again you illustrate your impeccable taste with five more excellent films.

It's a Wonderful Life isn't a personal favorite, but it's a great film. James Stewart is up there with Bogart as one of my favorite actors from the classic era, so it's cool to hear that you like him too.

If Breathless isn't your favorite Godard, I'll be curious to see what ranks higher. It's easily my favorite from the director, who tends to make films I either love or loathe, with seemingly very little in between.

Touch of Evil would rank inside my own top 100. Amazing film. It's too bad a lot of people nowadays can't look past the whole Charlton Heston as a Mexican thing.

I wanted to like The Man Who Fell to Earth more than I did. Bowie is one of my favorite musical artists, and his screen presence kept me interested, but despite a few interesting scenes and visual flourishes, I found the film way too long and too meandering. I still enjoyed it, but I had higher expectations. Check out Performance, if you haven't seen it, also directed by Roeg and starring another iconic rock star: Mick Jagger. It was on my 70' list.

You're spot on with your write-up about The Elephant Man. It's not my personal favorite from Lynch, but I might consider it his best. I watched it again a few weeks ago and once again found myself struggling not to cry. The Romeo & Juliet scene gets me every time.
Me and you have quite a lot in common. I would see Bogart and Stewart are my top two actors from the classic era, and two of my favourites period, actually.

I watched Performance for the Seventies list too, it didn't make my list, but I liked it a lot. Very weird film and I loved the strange ending, mysterious and offbeat like all of Roeg's work that I have seen so far, it's an interesting piece on identity that I would want to watch again

Touch Of Evil, The Elephant Man and The Man Who Fell To Earth?
Honeykid, being positive? What is this? But thank you I thought you might like a couple in this set, I think I recall you saying that Touch of Evil was just on the outskirts of your own top 100, so you must like it a lot.



Picky, I know, but you've put a double 'n' in elephant.

Apart from that, nice selection. I've seen It's a Wonderful Life a few times as it's my mum's favourite film. Tried watching The Man Who Fell to Earth the other day then fell asleep. I'm a huge Bowie fan so I need to give it a proper watch.



Honeykid, being positive? What is this? But thank you I thought you might like a couple in this set, I think I recall you saying that Touch of Evil was just on the outskirts of your own top 100, so you must like it a lot.
Yeah, y'see what happens when you post decent films. And, you're right, Touch Of Evil was one of the last cuts for my 100. I even rewatched it, just to make sure.



Nice to see It's a Wonderful life make your list; it's such a great film. I also really liked The Elephant Man and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

I might have been too hard on Breathless when I watched it recently because it did have good qualities. I just didn't like that main character at all.

Touch of Evil-on the watchlist.



Ugh. This list is awesome. Not that I'm surprised
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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Ugh. This list is awesome. Not that I'm surprised
Although me to paraphrase and correct that Hitch.

"Ugh. This list is awful. Not that I'm surprised."



Got to admit Danny boy that there are lots I've not seen, many of which I don't have a great desire to watch either! You have managed to somehow stumble upon a few decent ones though - Con Air, Bridge on River Kwai, Sunset Blvd, Double Indemnity, Rashomon, Unforgiven and Boyz n the Hood.

Though you've also included one of my least favourite entries I've ever seen on one of these lists - Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I watched that a couple of years ago (my first bit of Python whatsoever) and god I hated it! Found it just brutally unfunny. It's just about the only DVD I've ever given away. Even blind buy films I've bought and disliked I've kept because I don't like getting rid of them (my OCD/hoarder mentality kicking in! ) and to give them another chance someday. But that one....just no. I looked at it, thought I'm never going to want to subject myself to you ever again and gave it to the charity shop.

But you know, other than that monstrosity keep up the good work.



Peter Greenaway's experimental film won't be for everyone, but I love his attempt in challenging the formal construction of a film as he creates fascinating images as he mixes the various elements within the frame, focusing - as the title suggests - on numbers and patterns.
The first horror film to appear on my list, and it definitely won't be the last. Like many great horrors, Polanski focusses on suspense and the unseen in order to build up atmosphere and make the ending truly frightening. Fantastic performances by a paranoid Mia Farrow and a slightly insane and very creepy Ruth Gordon make Rosemary's struggle seem all the more terrifying.
Taking aim at Hollywood, the film looks at a fading silent film star, Gloria Swanson, who gives a towering performance as a desperate and intimidating character. Mixed in with usual noir conventions with the story starting with our dead narrator, Wilder pulls no punches in getting his acerbic message across.
"Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?"

Unlike Sunset Boulevard, this is pure film noir, focusing on a complex plot to gain money, with a scheming femme fatale at the centre of it all. Fred MacMurray is great as the salesmen who tragically falls into the plot. The film has everything you could ever want from a noir, with another delicious Wilder script. It is very similar to Sunset Boulevard in terms of narrative, starting at the end in order for us to develop more sympathy for the main character that succumbs to something greater than him.
Never seen Drowning by Numbers, but love the other three films mentioned here.



That's an interesting point about The King of Comedy actually, reading Roger Ebert's review and what he writes about it in his book, he feels similarly to you about Taxi Driver, he finds TKOC to be uncomfortable and disturbing, and can't find humor or likability at all in De Niro's character. I have seen Taxi Driver a few times and I do find it very creepy, disturbing and at times unsettling, but on more recent viewings I have found it more funny, and I think it's brilliant how Travis's character is written so seriously.

And nope I haven't seen any other full features by Bunuel, I certainly need to as I think I would enjoy them.
Have never really looked at all these similarities between Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. Personally, I didn't find anything funny about Travis Bickle, but that's just me. There are amusing moments in The King of Comedy, but there is a nervousness and discomfort about the humor. The scene where Jerry Langford arrives at his country home to find Rupert and Rita there is one of the most squirm-worthy moments in cinema, yet I did find myself grinning during the scenes where Masha is trying on the sweater she's making for Jerry. Both characters are deluded, but it's hard to say that there's anything really amusing about either one, especially Travis Bickle.



One of the funniest movies ever made, there is not much I can say about this film in terms of actually analysing it, it's just so funny. The documentary, improvisational style with the actors works extremely well, every character adds something funny and there are many great moments throughout. I remember I watched this, loved it, so watched it again the next day with my brother and he also loved it.
Another great comedy that I have similar thoughts on. My step-dad's a big fan of this and the 'Naked Gun' films, but I never watched this properly until late last year. I think I recorded it and watched it a few times in a few days, another one that me and my brother both love and find hilarious. Loads of great characters with their different sub plots adding their own different comedic touches.
Read this post.
I like pretty much everything I have seen from Terrence Malick, but I think this war epic might just be my favourite, a fantastic philosophical look at war and life/humans in general, it sounds cliché to say that it succeeds as a war film because of the way it deals with great themes so well, but it really is true of this beautiful film. A shame it had so many problems in the editing room too, it's a long film, but I would love to see an extended five hour epic with all the other great actors in their cut parts too.
Read this post.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I don't like Airplane. The rest is from decent to great.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Not a fan of Airplane either. I like Spinal Tap and I think the other three are great.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Despite my mum's telling me every year that I need to watch this for Christmas, and my love for James Stewart, it was not until late last year that I finally got around to watching this film. I twas everything that I expected it to be, one of the greatest feel good happy films I have seen, a real heartful human film that I do not see how anyone can dislike.

A very different noir from the the titles that have already made my list, Touch of Evil is a much more darker 'sleazier' style of film, it's gritty and it's messy in a B film type way, it is about corruption and true evil. Beauitfully shot with deep composition and one of the greatest tracking shots of all time, Orson Welles is brilliant both in front and behind the camera.

+ rep for It's a Wonderful Life and Touch of Evil. Two great classic movies.