The Movie Forums Top 100 of All-Time Refresh: Countdown

Every countdown thread is a group exercise where people try to find as many different ways as possible to say "well, I wouldn't have voted for that."

Wayyy behind so here goes. The list essentially ended for me at #19 and everything above it is a travesty, but I'll do my best to stay neutral.

I've never even heard of The Thing, much less seen it, so I have no comment other than there appears to be a huge horror contingent on this Board, so the list is making more sense now.

Vertigo is far and away my favorite film of all time and the unqualified best film ever made. As mentioned above, I am now disappointed with every pick above it. Be that was it may..

I first saw Vertigo in a small room in my college library 25 years ago. I'd never seen a single Hitch film or been to San Francisco. My only exposure to Jimmy Stewart was Capra films. I decided it was time to check out Hitch and thought this one sounded interesting. I was gobsmacked to say the least. My brain was reprogrammed forever by the insane tone, twisted psychology, suspense, psychedelia, direction, music, and mesmerizing opening title sequence. It was like an acid trip. Nothing was ever the same again. Five or six years later I moved out to the SF Bay Area.

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Vertigo day in San Juan Bautista, where the Mission scenes were shot. In addition to seeing shooting locations, there was a screening of the film on a giant lawn. That giant lawn was in the film. There is actually a scene in the film where Kim Novak runs across that lawn. We watched it happening ON that lawn. It was surreal, to say the least.

To me, this isn't a Hitchcock film. It's just not like any of the others. It lacks his humor and while it shares some of his perversity, the sheer intensity of the feeling far exceeds anything else he ever did. Hitch was possessed. This is why I believe Rear Window is the best Hitchcock film but not the best film Hitch ever made.

OK, enough about that, I'll try to be kind to the rest of the films, but it's tough, as there are unlikely to be any in the same universe of quality for me.

The Big Lebowski is terrific of course, and I'm glad another comedy - a really hysterical one in this case - made the list. I'll never forget watching the trailer in a theater all those years ago and falling in love with it. I still listen to the soundtrack. Didn't make my list.

Chinatown did make my list, however. It was my #18. I've always loved this film, the best neo-noir ever made for my money. I love everything about it.

The Shawshank Redemption is fine. I've never understood why it has the reputation it does though. I've never been tempted to rewatch it.

I saw Lawrence of Arabia so long ago it's tough to comment on it. I just remember it was long and I wasn't super into it. But this was 20+ years ago so take that with a grain of salt. I intend to rewatch at some point.

Taxi Driver is a surprise. Of course it's a great film, but it wouldn't be in my top 3 Scorsese. Raging Bull, which I've always felt was farther along the evolutionary narrative/filmmaking ladder made my list but Taxi Driver didn't.

Alien isn't even the best movie in the franchise. I'm stunned it's this high. It's dark, creepy, and great, but Aliens was much better. Neither came close to making my list.

Not on my list, I swear nothing much from my list has made it....Alien is one of the all time great sci fis, very deserving to be on the countdown!

Taxi Driver...should I be concerned so many MoFos say they relate to this film

You haven't lived until you have taken a date to the local porn theater.

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I think I might have missed out on that life experience

Why?

The key ones for me are Braveheart and American Beauty, both of which I consider inferior to The Departed.

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Because it's a great movie that imo deserves to be high on the list that's why

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Nah. Not Top 100 material, at least.

I think The Departed missed that train a while ago.

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in your opinion of course

I could probably find 20 movies or more on here that I prefer The Departed over. Yet The Departed wasn't anywhere near my 25, or my 100. Maybe wouldn't make my 200. That doesn't mean I find them laughable. I love talking about movies but the from the hip dismissal of others tastes baffles me. Especially from someone who knows how to articulate their opinion intellectually.

I guess my sort response would be I find it laughable that you find two very popular movies laughable on a group list.

But those were #93 and #79. It's expected that the farther you go down the list, the more scattered the choices will be in terms of acceptance. I think if you read the posts when those were announced, you'll find several people that think they're "worthy of the list" (hence their inclusion, of course). No list will be 100% agreeable with all.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!! AH-wwwooooooo-wooooo!!!!! GET THE TEACHER!!!

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I'm sitting here smug that I predicted the Departed to be the highest film from 2010 to not make this one.

It's really good but was probably riding that recency wave, only being a few years old last time.

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I had Taxi Driver ranked low because I haven't seen it in a while now, but I've seen it enough times to not rank it too low.

Alien is brilliant but wasn't a contender for my ballot.

6. American Beauty
8. Taxi Driver
9. A Clockwork Orange
11. The Seven Samourai
13. Chinatown
18. City of God
19. The Apartment
21. Die Hard

I think The Departed holds up pretty well, personally, but yeah, hopefully it won't make this list (fortunately, it probably won't).

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Another pair of great films.

Taxi Driver is great and is probably my favorite Scorsese. Initially, I wasn't a big fan of it, but it grew on me by quite a lot. In a cinematic sense, it's excellent. Not only is the camerawork and direction excellent, but many of these scenes are so expressive towards Bickle that it's difficult not to be swept up in the gravitas of the film since its atmosphere is so strong. Behind the technical aspects also lies a complex film on vigilantes and the ways these people can be misconstrued and falsely supported by the public. While many other vigilante films have been made since then, I've yet to see a single one as complex and with the same level of craft as this film. Glad to see it on here.

With Alien, it's certainly great. While I think the second half is too "by the numbers" for it to cross the line from great to personal favorite with me (which isn't to say I don't care for the second half; I just find it to be a lesser shade of great than what comes before it), I think that everything up to the chestburster is as great as any move can be. There's a lot to love about it, like the bizarre interior of the Nostromo which feels "alien" in and of itself, how often silence dominates the film, how (putting behind what you know about Ripley) the film doesn't make it clear who the main character is or who will survive to the end (there are a couple surprising kills in the film), or, of course, the rape undertones which are disturbing in every sense of the word. It's a great film, and it definitely deserves to be on this list. I'm also happy to see it above Aliens, which is also great, but not nearly on the same level.

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TAXI DRIVER: Never have I so instictively pushed back against a movie on first viewing. I had wanted to see it for ages, and when I finally did, it had a griminess and a lethargy in purpose that I wasn't expecting. I had heard about its controversial violence, and had been expecting some kind of slickly paced, exciting, surreal urban nightmare. Instead, I found a film that, while I certainly didn't identify with the behavior or morality of its title character, I recognized his world much too well. It felt aimless. Boring. Lonely. Frustrated. And, once again, aimless. The only things that seemed to anchor him to the planet were awkward attempts at socializing, and ultimately, acts of empty vigilantism. I hated it. I think subconsciously I felt the film was accusing me, as well as a number of my friends, of being destined to fall into the same trap of reaching out for some kind of, any kind of purpose, even if it was no good for anybody. I didn't even want to be associated with such a thing.

It was only years later, that I was long enough removed from directly relating (and being terrified) of relating to such a man, that I could see how observantly human Scorsese was with this film. The film is a poem to all of the souls who become lost in urban sprawl. That can't keep up and drown. Who probably never had much to offer in the first place, but to just keep on plugging away and living for some...reason. It's a terribly despairing film. It's unbearably lonely. Few moments in cinema have so perfectly captured an empty life as Travis Bickle using his foot to slowly tilt his television stand further and further back until it eventually hits the floor and explodes. Because a day has to be filled up with something, after all. So why not that.

Why not, is of course the dangerous question that lurks in the movies underbelly. What is there to lose. This film give us a vantage point of a headspace none of us want to stay in for long. I know I sure didn't. And ultimately offers both an empathetic lifeline to these similarly miserable souls of the world, and a warning to any of us who encounter them one evening on a darkened street. It's an extraordinary complicated film, both morally and empathetically, and challenges us to watch the kind of story that is playing out in many dimly lit windows all over the world. Some might say such lives are not deserving of having such a cinematic masterpiece devoted to them, and there are fair arguments to think so. But as a person who believes as much of the world needs to be documented through the arts as possible, from humanities greatest triumphs to the least inspiring of do-nothing lives, Taxi Driver is essential.



ALIEN perfectly understands space, both the infinite space that surrounds, and the interior space dangerous things can hide away in, and knows how to utilize the terror to be found in both. There is also something beautiful about the contrast between how simple the premise of it is, little more than an endurance test for the characters to see who will still be standing by the films end, and how elaborate the film looks, with its cavernous rooms and hallways dwarfing its characters, making their struggle for survival something otherworldly. And, of course, the complex articulation of a multijawed beast hiding in the shadows. Baroque design meets minimalist intent. A marriage made in space heaven. A film you would never want to add or subtract a single thing to.

Anyway,

I think I've spoken at large at RT/Corrie about my overall struggles with Scorsese, and how he's a filmmaker I fail to connect with (sans Hugo, which I love and had at #59). That said, I like Taxi Driver quite a bit and it would probably be my #2 Scorsese. Didn't get close to my list, though.

Alien, on the other hand, was my #14. It's a film I've been watching and rewatching since I was a kid or pre-teen. I love it from start to finish. I think Scott does a wonderful job of creating dread and fear out of "nothing", at least visually. For example, take the Brett in that creepy, drippy room... or Dallas in the air ducts... think of how much you actually see and yet how much tension there is. Great addition!

You forgot Inception.

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