I've currently seen 63/90 (63/91 if you count the honorable mention).
Since this list started, I've watched several films from this list and, since we have a couple days before the list resumes, I might as well share my thoughts on them:
Nights of Cabiria: Before watching this film, I had yet to rate any of Fellini's films higher than an 8/10 (I've also seen La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8½, and Amarcord). Upon going into it, I was curious if this would be the first 9/10 or 10/10 rating I'd give to Fellini, but unfortunately, I ended up giving this one an 8/10. With that being said though, it's definitely my favorite of Fellini's films (I plan to revisit 8½ this year though, so that may change). While you obviously sympathize with Cabiria and root for her to find happiness, I liked how the film simultaneously recognized that her loneliness was partly her own doing. While she got along with some people in the film, she also acted argumentative with some of the other people she met, causing her to come off as cold, distant, and unappealing. While this isn't to say she deserved what happened to her in the film, there was definitely an implication that her behavior might have been a reason for her loneliness. Overall, I found her plight compelling and, even though I was able to predict the outcome of the final act, the last scene won me over and made for a rather oblique culmination to the film.
Rififi: This would make for a great introduction to foreign and classic film since it feels both classic (the first act) and modern (the last act), so it contains enough to give newcomers a sense of what classic film feels like while simultaneously displaying some modern sensibilities which may appeal to them (and, of course, the dialogue-free jewelry heist in the middle is nothing short of excellent). Overall, the jewelry heist was the only part of the film which dipped into favorite territory for me (the rest of the film ranges from really good to great), so it wouldn't have made my ballot, but I still enjoyed my time with it and I could see myself watching it again. As an aside, Kubrick's The Killing is my favorite heist film. It's also, arguably, Kubrick's first great film.
The Celebration: When I watched this, it didn't seem like the kind of film which would have any chance of making this list, so I found myself pleasantly surprised when I saw it here. Decently high, no less. I was impressed at the emotional appeal and the mystery of the family, but even more so at the terrific style and the cinematic technique Vinterberg employed throughout the film. Initially, the rough and unpolished camera shots (which I don't consider to be a flaw, btw) and unorthodox camera angles and shooting positions mildly impressed me. As the film went on though, my admiration over those aspects grew more profound. As more revelations about the family were revealed and as the siblings kept turning on each other, the bizarre camerawork resonated with me in the best way possible as it matched the craziness of the situation at the birthday party. Also, I briefly mentioned this film in the low budget film thread I started a few days ago, but I think the grainy feel of the camerawork makes the cinematography look even more stylish and crazy. I can't imagine the film giving off the same effect with a high budget. At times, I struggled with the film as it hit a bit too close to home for reasons I'd rather not get into, but I'm sure I'll like it more when I revisit it since I'll know what to expect. If I had to nitpick something though, I think it would be better to build to the unorthodox cinematography as opposed to utilizing it right at the start of the film. This isn't to say I disliked the unorthodox cinematography in the first act per se, but since it worked best for me when paired with the family conflict, it might have been cool to have the camerawork escalate in weirdness, with it growing more unorthodox and dreamlike as the film went on. This minor issue though was ultimately lost in the grand scheme of everything I loved about the film, so I don't mean to imply this matters much. Just some food for thought. But yeah, this film would've surely made my ballot had I seen it prior to this list.
High and Low: Didn't like this one as much as I hoped I would; sorry, y'all! It got its hooks in me at first, but it lost some steam after the first hour. Gondo's moral dilemma was my favorite thing about the film (in addition to the slow-burning suspense of how they had to prevent the kidnapper from finding out about the police). After this segment ended, Gondo mostly disappeared from the film in place of the less interesting police officers and the film turned into an entertaining and well-detailed, albeit far less emotionally engaging police procedural. The final scene is really chilling though. I'll give the film credit for that. Overall, it has a handful of good ideas and some great ideas here and there. It wouldn't crack my top 5 Kurosawa's though.
Also, when I watched this film, I found out that you can buy the Criterion version of this film on Amazon Prime for 4-5 dollars (the digital version though). Or, at least, you could do this when I watched it a few weeks ago. Since I already bought it, I can't see the price anymore, but hopefully it hasn't changed since then:
https://www.amazon.com/High-English-...o%2C737&sr=1-1
Harakiri: I gave this film an 8/10, so it wouldn't have made my ballot, but it's still a great demythization and deconstruction of the customs and practices of samurai, specifically the code of honor which existed amongst them. I'm not a historian or anything, but from what I know, honor was really important for samurai and those who broke this code could face death. Given both this and how themes of honor were present in many other classic samurai films, I can only imagine how shocking this film was when it was released. Also, in regards to a statement someone made earlier in this thread on how Tatsuya Nakadai is a better actor than Toshiro Mifune (Mr Minio, I think), yeah, I can see that argument. I'd have to watch more of Nakadai's films though to decide whether I completely agree or not.
Woman in the Dunes: I watched this film a week or so before it was revealed in this list, so I'll just copy/paste what I wrote on it upthread as I've already written a lot in this post:
Woman in the Dunes is great, but it didn't make my list. It's the kind of film where I enjoyed thinking about it later more than actually watching it. However, I found its premise to be a thought provoking and deceptively simple adaptation of Sisyphus.
Overall, terrific list, and I'm excited to see which films make the top 10
Since this list started, I've watched several films from this list and, since we have a couple days before the list resumes, I might as well share my thoughts on them:
Nights of Cabiria: Before watching this film, I had yet to rate any of Fellini's films higher than an 8/10 (I've also seen La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8½, and Amarcord). Upon going into it, I was curious if this would be the first 9/10 or 10/10 rating I'd give to Fellini, but unfortunately, I ended up giving this one an 8/10. With that being said though, it's definitely my favorite of Fellini's films (I plan to revisit 8½ this year though, so that may change). While you obviously sympathize with Cabiria and root for her to find happiness, I liked how the film simultaneously recognized that her loneliness was partly her own doing. While she got along with some people in the film, she also acted argumentative with some of the other people she met, causing her to come off as cold, distant, and unappealing. While this isn't to say she deserved what happened to her in the film, there was definitely an implication that her behavior might have been a reason for her loneliness. Overall, I found her plight compelling and, even though I was able to predict the outcome of the final act, the last scene won me over and made for a rather oblique culmination to the film.
Rififi: This would make for a great introduction to foreign and classic film since it feels both classic (the first act) and modern (the last act), so it contains enough to give newcomers a sense of what classic film feels like while simultaneously displaying some modern sensibilities which may appeal to them (and, of course, the dialogue-free jewelry heist in the middle is nothing short of excellent). Overall, the jewelry heist was the only part of the film which dipped into favorite territory for me (the rest of the film ranges from really good to great), so it wouldn't have made my ballot, but I still enjoyed my time with it and I could see myself watching it again. As an aside, Kubrick's The Killing is my favorite heist film. It's also, arguably, Kubrick's first great film.
The Celebration: When I watched this, it didn't seem like the kind of film which would have any chance of making this list, so I found myself pleasantly surprised when I saw it here. Decently high, no less. I was impressed at the emotional appeal and the mystery of the family, but even more so at the terrific style and the cinematic technique Vinterberg employed throughout the film. Initially, the rough and unpolished camera shots (which I don't consider to be a flaw, btw) and unorthodox camera angles and shooting positions mildly impressed me. As the film went on though, my admiration over those aspects grew more profound. As more revelations about the family were revealed and as the siblings kept turning on each other, the bizarre camerawork resonated with me in the best way possible as it matched the craziness of the situation at the birthday party. Also, I briefly mentioned this film in the low budget film thread I started a few days ago, but I think the grainy feel of the camerawork makes the cinematography look even more stylish and crazy. I can't imagine the film giving off the same effect with a high budget. At times, I struggled with the film as it hit a bit too close to home for reasons I'd rather not get into, but I'm sure I'll like it more when I revisit it since I'll know what to expect. If I had to nitpick something though, I think it would be better to build to the unorthodox cinematography as opposed to utilizing it right at the start of the film. This isn't to say I disliked the unorthodox cinematography in the first act per se, but since it worked best for me when paired with the family conflict, it might have been cool to have the camerawork escalate in weirdness, with it growing more unorthodox and dreamlike as the film went on. This minor issue though was ultimately lost in the grand scheme of everything I loved about the film, so I don't mean to imply this matters much. Just some food for thought. But yeah, this film would've surely made my ballot had I seen it prior to this list.
High and Low: Didn't like this one as much as I hoped I would; sorry, y'all! It got its hooks in me at first, but it lost some steam after the first hour. Gondo's moral dilemma was my favorite thing about the film (in addition to the slow-burning suspense of how they had to prevent the kidnapper from finding out about the police). After this segment ended, Gondo mostly disappeared from the film in place of the less interesting police officers and the film turned into an entertaining and well-detailed, albeit far less emotionally engaging police procedural. The final scene is really chilling though. I'll give the film credit for that. Overall, it has a handful of good ideas and some great ideas here and there. It wouldn't crack my top 5 Kurosawa's though.
Also, when I watched this film, I found out that you can buy the Criterion version of this film on Amazon Prime for 4-5 dollars (the digital version though). Or, at least, you could do this when I watched it a few weeks ago. Since I already bought it, I can't see the price anymore, but hopefully it hasn't changed since then:
https://www.amazon.com/High-English-...o%2C737&sr=1-1
Harakiri: I gave this film an 8/10, so it wouldn't have made my ballot, but it's still a great demythization and deconstruction of the customs and practices of samurai, specifically the code of honor which existed amongst them. I'm not a historian or anything, but from what I know, honor was really important for samurai and those who broke this code could face death. Given both this and how themes of honor were present in many other classic samurai films, I can only imagine how shocking this film was when it was released. Also, in regards to a statement someone made earlier in this thread on how Tatsuya Nakadai is a better actor than Toshiro Mifune (Mr Minio, I think), yeah, I can see that argument. I'd have to watch more of Nakadai's films though to decide whether I completely agree or not.
Woman in the Dunes: I watched this film a week or so before it was revealed in this list, so I'll just copy/paste what I wrote on it upthread as I've already written a lot in this post:
Woman in the Dunes is great, but it didn't make my list. It's the kind of film where I enjoyed thinking about it later more than actually watching it. However, I found its premise to be a thought provoking and deceptively simple adaptation of Sisyphus.
Overall, terrific list, and I'm excited to see which films make the top 10