Yearly First Viewing Top Tens

106 here!

Hope Sean is alright with me bumping this coz it is a great thread. It randomly popped up in my head and i doubt i'll be here much over the next few weeks so i decided to post here now.

Top 25 of the year after going through my Movie Tab posts; pay no attention to the order and i didn't post from January to April there so i'm not sure which ones i've missed:

01.The 400 Blows (1959, Truffat)
02.Rebecca (1940, Hitchcock)
03.The Shop Around The Corner (1940, Lubitsch)
04.A Place in the Sun (1951, Stevens)
05.Talk To Her (2002, Almodovar)
06.Night and Fog (1955, Resnais)
07.In The Mood For Love (2000, Kar-Wai)
08.American Honey (2016, Arnold)
09 .The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957, Lean)
10.Anomalisa (2015, Kaufmann)
11.How Green Was My Valley (1941, Ford)
12.Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring (2003, Ki-Duk)
13.The Fly (1986, Cronenberg)
14.Carol (2015, Haynes)
15.Ratcatcher (1999, Ramsay)
16.Wild Strawberries (1957, Bergman)
17.Laura (1944, Preminger)
18,Everybody Wants Some (2016, Linklater)
19,Mommy (2014, Noe)
20,Missing (1982, Costas-Garvas)
21.Capturing The Friedmans (2003, Jarecki)
22.Pickpocket (1959, Bresson)
23.Maniac (1980, Lustig)
24.Krisha (2016. Shultz)
25.Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (1974, Fassbinder)

Hard to believe this is my third year doing this as a Mofo. This place has made me a much more well rounded film viewer. I discover multiple new favorites every year. Thanks for being the best place to talk movies on the interwebs. Maybe someday I will even feel well rounded and confident enough to call myself a cinephile. Until that day I will be content with calling myself a Mofo.

I was thinking about doing a new 100 this year, but I think I will wait a bit longer for that. I do have a new overall top ten you can check out which includes a new favorite movie that was a second viewing this year. I ranked 20 first time watches either a 4.5 or 5 this year. Here are my top ten of that lot. I don't include any films that were released in 2016. I will do a end of year list in my review thread closer to Oscar time.


10 Scenes From a Marriage

One of two Bergman's, the other Smiles Of A Summers Night, that were in contention for this. As always the dialogue is spot on and as engaging as anything I have watched.


9 The Look Of Silence

Two documentaries made my list this year. This was absolutely emotionally devastating for me in the way The Act Of Killing was for everyone else. You just have to watch it to understand what is going on here.


8 Shoah

The way Lanzmann uses the words of survivors and footage of the camps as they are now instead of then to evoke emotion is absolutely astounding. I couldn't respect this movie any more then I do. If someone calls this the greatest achievement in the history of film they will get no argument from me.


7 Stroszek

Probably my biggest surprise of the year. I have been wanting to see Some Herzog films and a bunch showed up for free on VUDU. This movie is funny, looks great, and is such a great look into humanity. I absolutely love it and can't wait to see it again.


6 The Little Foxes

A movie I hadn't even heard of till Cricket watched it a couple months ago. Biting dialogue that I couldn't get enough of. Should be talked about among the greatest films of all time.


5 The Conformist

This film could end up in my top ten one day. Just putting this list together made me order the Blu-ray because I can't wait to see it again. This film oozes style. It is cool as hell.


4 A Streetcar Named Desire

I should have saw this years ago. One of the greatest scripts ever. Pair that with one of the greatest performances and you have a movie that is an all timer for very good reason.


3 Dead Man

I was expecting to like this but wasn't expecting to be blown away and find a new favorite. So perfect in every way.


2 Solaris

Film doesn't get more poignant than this. I love the themes and that ending is among the best ever. Through the first half I seriously thought this might be my favorite movie ever on a first watch. As it is I put it in my top ten.


1 Le Cercle Rouge

Might be the only film cooler than The Conformist. I said when I watched it that it has the best escape scene ever and the best heist scene ever. I loved how much I could see that this film influenced the great crime films of the last few decades. Automatic top ten addition. Melville is the master.

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Letterboxd

Loosely ordered:

1. East of Eden
2. Zootopia
3. Wild Strawberries
4. Smiles of a Summer Night
5. The Nice Guys
6. Room
7. Samurai Rebellion
8. Good Bye Lenin
9. Locke
10. Sweet Sixteen

Honorable Mentions:

Anomalisa, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Brink of Life, The Hateful 8, The Revenant, Love and Mercy, Wrinkles, The Third Man, Legend.

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Edit: added some additional thoughts the list.

Went through a Kurosawa craze at the beginning of the year so the list is made up of mostly his work.

1. Throne of Blood

Spellbinding. First Kurosawa I saw in 2016 and my favorite of all his films.

2. The Graduate

I really thought I'd seen this before. Caught it at the perfect moment since I was in a similar place as Ben. Drifting. Felt nice to know there were others.

3. Wings of Desire

Now my favorite Wim Wenders. Similar to Tree of Life in the way it changes the way you see the world after watching. If only briefly.

4. The Imposter

If you haven't seen this, do it now. Leaves you feeling so incredulous.

5. Seven Samurai

Not sure what I can add to this one. I think every action oriented filmmaker ought to watch this once a year, at least.

6. The Witch

The 2010s have been a kind of Renaissance fir horror and this gets my vote for the very best (so far). The passion for the genre is palpable.

7. The Look of Silence

The Act of Killing didn't hit me quite as closely as this one. Watching a woman listening to the atrocities her father committed agains supposed communist is the most affecting moment I had all year with a movie.

8. The Bad Sleep Well

Structurally perfect drama. Mifune (again) runs ways with it.

9. High and Low

Perfect crime thriller. Looking toward to re-watching this. There's so much subtext I was blind to.

10. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Poetic, visually and narratively with a soundtrack that the powers through you. Another in need of re-watch. Too much for just one viewing. Or two.

Honorable mentions: Rogue One (really liked this), The Duke of Burgundy, Victoria, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight.

1. full metal jacket
2. green room
3. remember the night
4. certified copy
5. anomalisa
6. moonlight
7. othello
8. murmur of the heart
9. the bridge on the river kwai
10. purple rain
11. a face in the crowd
12. elevator to the gallows
13. a man and a woman
14. james white
15. i am cuba

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criticker

There are still lots of this year's movies I haven't seen, but since this list is for first-time watches during the calendar year of 2016, I suppose I can do a list now.

O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman, 2016)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J.J. Abrams, 2015)
Son of Saul (Nemes László, 2015)
They Fought for Their Country (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1975)
Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore & Jared Bush, 2016)
Captain America: Civil War (Russo Bros., 2016)
Wit (Mike Nichols, 2001)
Finding Dory (Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane, 2016)
13TH (Ava DuVernay, 2016)
The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016)
De Palma (Noah Baumbach & Jake Paltrow, 2016)
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (Ron Howard, 2016)
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (Robert Trachtenberg, 2013)
The Band Concert (Wilfred Jackson, 1935)
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses (Rüdiger Suchsland, 2015)
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies (Nicholas Eliopoulos, 2008)
Partly Cloudly (Peter Sohn, 2009)
Thru the Mirror (David Hand, 1936)

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I can't cut it down to 10, but I would consider all of these new favorites-

How Green Was My Valley
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
Sunrise
The Little Foxes
An Affair to Remember
The Big Country
Diary of a Lost Girl
Brief Encounter
Written on the Wind
Scarlet Street
The Grapes of Wrath
The Crowd
The Idiot (1951)
The Revenant
Ghost World
Everybody Wants Some
Bad Boy Bubby
Wings

Never knew you put Le Cercle Rouge in your Top 10 Sean, that's one more reason why you're awesome.

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My Top 10 Favorite Films I've seen for the very first time in 2016:

10) Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)



Except for one possible exception (it depends on my mood), this is my favorite 2016-released film so far. It's a rich piece of cinema about the romanticism of college life. The characters are a lot of fun, the 80s atmosphere is perfect and it's simply a great movie to "hang out with". Everybody Wants Some!! charmed me immensely!

9) Sanjuro (1962)



Yojimbo could've been on the list as well, but somehow I connected a little more with this Kurosawa samurai film. It's a little more relaxing to watch than Yojimbo as it never takes itself too seriously, but it's still an immensely engaging adventure film as well. Good stuff!

8) The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)



This one grabbed me by the throat at the end and that's always a good sign. It's a wonderfully cool western adventure film with a tortured soul at its center. I rewatched scenes from this film for weeks. Clint Eastwood at the top of his game.

7) Memories of Murder (2003)



A hilarious and thrilling detective film that also has a certain profoundness to it. Fantastic cinema!

6) The Last Days of Disco (1998)



I've seen four Whit Stillman films this year (also watched Metropolitan, Barcelona and Love & Friendship) and this was my favorite one! This movie is just full of great moments and its overarching nostalgic throwback to the disco era truly connected with me, because it was transferred so well. Extremely well written characters as well. Loved this!

5) Murmur of the Heart (1971)



An extremely well made film by Louis Malle that still feels as provocative today as it (probably) ever was. It captured me from start to finish. A very understanding portrait of a not so innocent boy's adventures. Wild and interesting!

4) Tokyo Story (1953)



Ozu is a master and this is one of his many masterpieces. It's a perfectly balanced and captivating observation of the clash of generations. I could've had Late Spring on this list as well, but I decided to only put one Ozu film on it.

3) Crumb (1994)



A mindblowing documentary about a controversial artist and both his internal experiences and his external environment. This film truly made me look at humanity in a different way. One of the most fascinating and horrifying films I've ever seen. Brilliant!

2) Tokyo Drifter (1966)



I'd never seen anything like this before and I loved the hell out of it! This fantastic piece of pure entertainment is full of gorgeous weird action scenes and eye-popping visuals, but the real reason I loved it so extremely much is because of the idealistic old-fashioned morale this movie and its main character seem to stand for. It's quite refreshing to see these kinds of ideas told in the cinematic way they are in this film.

1) Tampopo (1985)



This is my absolute favorite film of the year and I didn't really have to think about it for too long. A highly intelligent and extremely original film about food and life. The film tells a larger story that is very interestingly told, but it gets constantly interrupted by funny/cool/poignant little sketches. This film truly is one of a kind and I can't see any cinephile not enjoying this lovely piece of extraordinary cinema.

I also have to mention five other films (in no particular order) that could be on this list on any other day.

Five Honorable Mentions:

The Handmaiden (2016)

Both pleasantly and disturbingly erotic, memorable and beautiful. Somehow I wasn't completely convinced by some of the plot developments, but I hardly noticed it because I was so enamored with the filmmaking and the atmosphere of this whole piece.

Late Spring (1949)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

The first thing I thought after this film was over was: "this is the Goodfellas of the 30s." A huge compliment!

Yojimbo (1961)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

I still can't get over the fact that this film had even more potential than what has been preserved. The butchering by the studio makes this film a bit uneven at times (especially towards the end), but nevertheless it contains plenty of breathtaking moments and it still kind of works as a solid whole anyway. I just can't help being a little disappointed when I see something that is this close to perfection. That's why I can't put it on my top 10 of this year's first viewings.


P.S. Apparently I've seen The Hateful Eight for the first time in 2015, so that's why it's not on this list.

@Seanc: Your top 5 are all favorites of mine. Great list!

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

My Top 10:

1. Withnail & I
2. How Green was my valley
3. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
4. Caged
5. Ace in the Hole
6. The Rules of the Game
7. Adaptation
8. Touch of Evil
9. High Noon
10. Amour

10.
The Mummy (1932)

9.
Hidden Fortress (1958)

8.
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

7.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

6.
Ace in the Hole (1951)

5.
The Thing (1982)

4.
La La Land (2016)

3.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)

2.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

1.
Seven Samurai (1954)

Some really great lists here. I think the two things i'm most happy about are Sweet Sixteen in MV's top ten (really didn't expect that) and Crumb so high up Cob's.

I like the list Nope. You get to see a lot of cool flicks in the theater.

They were all at the IFC Center in NYC. They had a Kurosawa/Mifune marathon going on through November and December

I envy whoever gets to see A Clockwork Orange for the first time!

Only pre-2015 releases considered. I envy those who got to see all-time classics like Seven Samurai, 400 Blows, Conformist, or Stroszek for the first time.

1.) The Georgetown Loop (Ken Jacobs, 1996)
2.) La Chant du Styrene (Alain Resnais, 1959)
3.) In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2001)
4.) Devils on the Doorstep (Wen Jiang, 2002)
5.) Mix-Up ou meli-melo (Francoise Romand, 1986)
6.) The Great White Silence (Herbert Ponting, 1924)
7.) 21-87 (Arthur Lipsett, 1963)
8.) Light is Calling (Bill Morrison, 2004)
9.) Report from Millbrook (Jonas Mekas, 1967)
10.) Thunder (Takashi Ito, 1982)
11.) The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1969)
12.) State of Siege (Costa Gavras, 1972)
13.) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
14.) It Felt Like A Kiss (Adam Curtis, 2009)
15.) Single Stream (Ernst Karel, 2014)
16.) The Girl Chewing Gum (John Smith, 1976)
17.) Breakaway (Bruce Conner, 1966)
18.) A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2009)
19.) Samadhi (Jordan Belson, 1967)
20.) Dossier 51 (Michel Deville)
21.) Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
22.) Seeking the Monkey King (Ken Jacobs, 2011)
23.) The Ear (Karel Kachyna, 1990)
24.) The Fool (Yury Bykov, 2014)
25.) The Target Shoots First (Christopher Wilcha, 2000)

I know this is an old post but i was going through this thread and i was really surprised that you just saw Porky in Wackyland for the first time in 2014, Mark. Excellent short. The reason i started the Animated Shorts HOF was actually because i've been going through Bob Clampett's stuff for the first time in ages and i think he might be my favourite Animation Director. The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (which i nominated) is my personal favourite of his but Porky in Wackyland is also great.

1. Kwaidan
2. Samurai Rebellion
3. Fanny and Alexander
4. The Human Condition Parts I-III
5. Chimes at Midnight
6. The Twilight Samurai
7. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
8. Ernest and Celestine
9. Late Spring
10. Night and Fog

Honourable mentions: Black Narcissus, When A Woman Ascends the Stairs, The Duke of Burgundy, Late Autumn, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Jeanne Dielman, Whisper of the Heart, Safe, The Piano Teacher, Song of the Sea, Planes Trains & Automobiles, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Cleo from 5 to 7, The Life of Oharu, Only Yesterday, Capturing the Friedmans, Opening Night, Instrument, Titus, Russian Ark, The Travelling Players, Cloud Atlas, Sling Blade, Paper Moon, The Driver, Streets of Fire, Phantom of the Paradise, Contact, Once, Witness for the Prosecution, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Inn of Evil, ParaNorman, White Heat, Creepshow, The Arrival, Citizenfour, Jean de Florette.

Probably not going to do too many in-depth comments on my picks here (and, as usual, this deliberately excludes "new" films), but here's some quick comments...

As you can probably tell, I really got into the films of Masaki Kobayashi (the only film of his I'd seen before this year was Harakiri, which cracked last year's list at #2). I feel like the ones I nominated could be interchangeable (and that's without my decision to include all three Human Condition films in the same slot), but I gave the edge to Kwaidan because it saw Kobayashi do something very different not only with an anthology of ghost stories but also seeing him work in colour was a treat (as of writing, it's the only colour film of his I've seen). That, and the stories themselves were remarkable to watch. Samurai Rebellion was much like Harakiri in that it effectively crafted a slow-burning feudal drama, and as for the Human Condition films...I'm not sure I have the words right now.

Most of the list are well-venerated classics that I only just got around to watching like Fanny and Alexander or Chimes at Midnight so I figure they can go without much in the way of extended compliments. The exceptions in this regard are a few modern films. Ernest and Celestine is a well-above-average tale of two animated critters fighting back against their respective societies that goes well beyond what you'd expect from your average odd-couple family film. Hedwig and the Angry Inch took an outwardly absurd tale of a transgender glam-rock singer from East Berlin and used it as the foundation for what may very well be the best musical I've seen all year. The Twilight Samurai works in the same vein as Kobayashi's films with its tale of a samurai being forced into a difficult situation due to the whims of detached lords, but it's strong enough to stand on its own.

As for the honourable mentions - you know what? It has been a good year for movie-watching, for whatever that's worth.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

In no order:

- Night and Fog
- Das Boot
- Wings
- The Godfather
- Sunrise
- Metropolis
- Barry Lyndon
- Fail-Safe
- Take Shelter
- Autumn Sonata

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