Sane's Top 100

I thought Taste of Cherry's ending was a bit heavy-handed. It felt way clumsier than the ending of Close-Up, which is similar in intent I think. I think the film is pretty great throughout, but I'm too much of a meta-thinker for the ending to get to me, but in Close-Up it was perfect.

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Mubi

Do you mean the ending showing the film crew? If so, I kind of agree. I actually thought it was just a bit weird and out of place. The ending of Close Up on the other hand tied up the story perfectly.

I loved the ending of the fictional story in Taste of Cherry though.

With quite a degree of arthouse on your list there's quite a lot I've not seen. However there are a few of my own real favourites on there such as Seven Samurai, The Matrix, Empire Strikes Back, Shawshank Redemption and Saving Private Ryan. Also really enjoyed both Four Lions and Monsters. Also recently watched and reviewed Schindler's List for the first time. Great film but really not one I could ever see becoming a favourite.

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75. Life of Pi (2012) - Ang Lee (Taiwan)

I've never really thought of Ang Lee as being one of my favourite directors but as this is his second on my list, maybe I should. This was a great story very well told. I've mentioned in other threads that what I really want out of a movie is for it to make me feel and think. Life of Pi had my wife and I discussing at length which of the stories was true and what it was saying about religion. Then a week later we had the same discussion with my brother. It turned out that the story meant different things to all of us. Can't give much higher praise than that to a movie of this kind.

74. The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Kevin Macdonald (UK)

This was a movie that I avoided when it was first released. I usually have a pretty open mind and will watch most movies but I just tend to get put off by "Oscar buzz". It's not fair on the movies themselves but I have little interest in what films and actors win Oscars and I find that the ones that get the most publicity around Oscar time have a tendency to be mediocre. Anyway, with this I shouldn't have been so narrow minded because it's an excellent movie with a great performance my Whittaker.

73. Juno (2007) - Jason Reitman (Canada)

It seems to be a very polarizing thing, quirkiness. Don't quite understand it myself but nothing seems to generate hate so much as a "quirky" movie. If you read negative opinions of Juno they invariably include words like "quirky", "indie" and "hipster". Personally, I'm not entirely sure what any of those words really mean in relation to a movie and don't get why those things annoy people so much. For me, Juno was just a really funny film with a heart. I'm a fan of Cera and Bateman thanks largely to their ability to play comedic characters with insecurities. Only downside for this movie was Jennifer Garner but probably not her fault - just the character she was given.

72. A Hijacking (2012) - Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)

This movie tells the story of the crew of a Danish cargo ship that gets hijacked by Somali pirates. It is really a character study of two people - the chef on the ship and the CEO of the company in Copenhagen carrying out negotiations. This movie is just brilliantly acted - particularly by Soren Malling who plays the CEO. This is seriously one of my all-time favourite performances. We literally see him change throughout the movie from a self-confident successful businessman to almost a nervous mess as the weight of being responsible for people's lives breaks him down.

71. The Hangover (2009) - Todd Phillips (USA)

Just a really funny film. Also, it's quite well shot for a comedy - some really nice looking scenes. BTW, a word of advice, don't watch the sequel on a first date with a relatively shy girl. Wasn't very romantic

Juno and Hangover were very fun films (specially the second). Juno also felt very realistic in handling it's characters.

You'll be happy to know I watched My Neighbour Totoro last night Great movie - definitely my favourite Miyazaki film. Too late to make this list but will probably include it as a kind of supplementary when I get to where it would have ranked.

As opposed to this one, which was very romantic???

Excellent set, Juno and the Hangover were just a lot of fun, and I've heard only good things about Life of Pi from family and friends.

But I'm still adamant on Ryan Gosling or Will Smith deserving the Oscar that year

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Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake!
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Shawshank andSaving Private Ryan are awesome and should be higher. The Hangover is a comedy classic for me too.

Good point

Apart from the story something I didn't mention is that it's a beautiful movie visually. Basically it's mostly animated of course but created a very nice atmosphere.

The Hangover is my favorite comedy since the 80's.

I do want to see The Last King of Scotland, mainly because I think Forest Whitaker is an incredible actor.

Actually I only now figured how much I like The Last King Of Scotland.It wasn't even in my top 100,now it surely would be.Will rewatch.

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"Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time."

I also liked Juno and Life of Pi. Perfect by no means, but fun films.

The Last King Of Scotland is a very good film. Not exactly entertaining, but good nonetheless. Juno I have, but haven't seen.

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watch it,so we could both dislike it.

70. A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Stanley Kubrick (USA)

The first half of this is one of the most brilliantly filmed and written movies of all-time. Unfortunately every time I've seen it I've had trouble staying focussed in the second half. Still, deserves it's place here on the first half alone.

69. Psycho (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock (UK)

Iconic suspense/horror movie from Hitchcock. I've re-watched four of his films lately and to be honest a couple of them left me slightly disappointed but this (and one other that will appear later) seem to have hardly aged at all. Even when you know what is going to happen there is still a great deal of tension. As with all of Hitchcock's films, it is visually great - particularly the use of lighting. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Perkins' acting ability but he did a good job here.

68. Ponyo (2008) - Hayao Miyazaki (Japan)

So, A Clockwork Orange & Psycho followed by a cartoon about a fish that falls in love and turns into a five year old girl!?! I don't like to use this word when discussing animated movies because it seems a bit patronising but with Ponyo it is the best way to describe it - delightful. Was my favourite Miyazaki film up until two days ago and shows his talent for creating engaging stories for and about children that are equally enjoyable for adults. Like most Ghibli films, beautiful to look at.

67. Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975) - Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones (UK)

I can't think of a movie that is as consistently funny as this - even watching it for the 20th time I find myself constantly giggling throughout. By no means a "great" movie as it is really just a collection of skits held together by a loose story line but it is a "great" piece of entertainment.

66. The Grandmaster (2013) - Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong)

The first (and definitely not last) appearance on this list of my favourite director. I'm not sure I can name a more visually stunning movie than this. Creating beauty on screen, often out of relatively ugly urban landscapes, has always been a trademark of Wong but in this film he outdid himself. Some of the fighting scenes are amazing. It's got a great cast with Chang Chen, Zhang Ziyi (who seemed to win the 2046 audition to replace Maggie Cheung as Wong's actress of choice) and the incomparable Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Unfortunately this isn't a perfect movie and has some story issues. It was supposed to be a biographical story about Ip Man but is really just a martial arts movie with him as one of the characters. But, visually, it's a masterpiece.

I can't think of a better one off the top of my head.
I agree completely.
I've only watched it once but seems like a movie that would improve on re-watches due to the performances.

Not a lot of love for that last set. That should have been a crowd pleaser compared to what I've got coming up

65. The Face of Another (1966) - Hiroshi Teshigahara (Japan)

A man has his face disfigured in an industrial accident and has a lifelike mask made for him. The movie is about identity, morality, how our "masks" affect how we act and so on. In addition there is a separate story about a beautiful woman who had half of her face burnt (she was from Nagasaki) and how she reacts to the reactions of others. A fascinating movie.

64. Cries and Whispers (1972) - Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)

My favourite Bergman movie so far. An emotionally draining story of two sisters watching over a third sister as she is dying. There is a lot of distance between the sisters with them unable to really connect or provide comfort. It is the maid who is the only one actually capable of doing so. Lots of common Bergman themes appear again here and like all his movies it is beautifully shot - although perhaps more bright and colourful than many of his other movies.

63. Bicycle Thieves (1948) - Vittorio De Sica (Italy)

Great example of Italian neorealism - yes, I read that on Wikipedia. Had no idea what neorealism actually was before watching this film but now I'm a fan Touching story of a man in post war Italy trying to recover his stolen bike which is needed for his job. Shows a great relationship between father and son and the struggles in Italy at that time. Has one of the more emotional endings in movie history.

62. The Apartment (1960) - Billy Wilder (USA)

Something I've found interesting as I become more interested in movies is just how many of the old favourites I remember watching with my parents when growing up were Billy Wilder films. Unfortunately only one made this list, and I only watched it for the first time recently, but I also have a great fondness for movies like Sabrina and Witness for the Prosecution. The Apartment is simply a great story with fantastic performances - particularly by MacLaine.

61. American History X (1998) - Tony Kaye (USA)

This is a movie that, in the past, would have been very close to my top 10 but a combination of changing tastes and it not being quite as good as I remembered in a recent re-watch have seen it slide down my list of favourites. It's still an excellent movie with great performances - something that Kaye seems to be good at getting out of his actors. Unfortunately another feature of Kaye's movies is sometimes the stories seem a bit contrived in order to say what he wants to say. I don't have a problem with what he wants to say - just sometimes lacks a bit of subtlety when getting his point across.

'Contrived' is a word that should be seldom used to describe cinema or any other creative art for that matter.

Disagree. The greatest movies for me are those where everything appears to come together naturally. An appearance of being artificial limits the effect of a movie. When a character does something that is clearly done to further the director's point, rather than being something that seems to be a natural action of that character, then it's contrived.

Natural actions..? This is cinema, not life.