The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

I did not vote for The Lives of Others but I easily could have. An amazing film as I remember it. Been a very long time though so it wasn’t fresh enough in my mind to justify a vote, but I remember really enjoying it - even back when I had a harder time with foreign cinema than I do now.

I love the Before-trilogy and I’ve seen it multiple times, but Before Sunset is not my favorite of the bunch. It might actually be my least favorite, but that’s almost unfair to say since all of them are extremely high quality cinema and all cover different times and periods for our characters. So it’s almost unfair to compare them. Last time I checked I really had a soft spot for Midnight though.

So no votes, but two more than worthy entries on the list.

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Haven't seen either film.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

The only "Before" film I saw was whatever one was nominated in a Hall of Fame awhile back. Pretty sure it was just the first one


Lives of Others I could never see again and be perfectly content with that. Seemed a chore to get through.

Seen both, voted for ONE...

Before Sunset was my #21. One of the best romantic films I've seen anchored in two great performances from Hawke and Delpy. Obviously built upon the foundation of the first part, this one got to me more. Not sure if that's because I am (was?) closer to Hawke's age and mindset than I was when I saw Before Sunrise, but I still found myself more drawn to it. As much as I loved the first one, I thought the script, dialogue, and overall craft here were slightly better.

As for The Lives of Others, it's a great film and I almost voted for it. But I really haven't seen it in a very long time, so I decided to skip it.



So what now?...

Seen: 44/60

I don't think I've seen Before Sunset. I didn't like Before Sunrise or any other Linklater film I've seen so I have no desire to watch it.

I definitely haven't seen The Lives of Others.

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No rush for that.

There's my favorite talkative screen couple. I'll probably check out The Lives of Others this weekend.

Leggo my fist, plz n thx.

I don't love the Before films like some others but do think they are good movies, preference to the original. The Lives of Others got a good rating from me initially but haven't seen it since its release. I expected both to place on this list.

I like looking at the batches of ten on the main page's full list. It's interesting.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Before Sunset may be one of the most romantic films ever made and the best of the trilogy, but i'm not a big fan of the trilogy. I found it to be more entertaining, profound and romantic than the first part. Sunset's ending is definitely the best part. I can still understand if someone is a bit underwhelmed, but I also believe that anyone in the right frame of mind could swoon over this flick.

The Lives of Others is about someone who undergoes a crisis of conscience in 1980s East Germany. What he does is suspenseful and shattering in many ways. Ulrich Mühe's face is often really affecting. Excellent film that still didn't make my list.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

The Lives of Others
I found the first act totally fascinating: the Stasi secret police headquarters and the interrogation of a suspect who's being grilled because his friend had escaped to the west. Even better was the scene of the interrogator teaching a class of Stasi candidates the finer points on how to break a person over hours of sleep deprivation and how the innocent person acts under duress vs how differently the guilty act....Powerfully stuff! I had this film pegged at a 5/5.

But then the film shifts gears and becomes an introspective look at a lonely Stasi police officer and how the lives of a writer and his actresses girlfriend changes his outlook on life. That part was well done, but it was so not want I wanted to see. I wanted to see a film more like the first act. Overall rating 3.5/5

Before Sunset
I've not seen it, but I did see Before Sunrise and thought it so poorly acted and directed that I didn't bother watching anymore in the series, though if Linklater improved as he made more of these then I just might love Before Sunset.

My streak of barely seeing any of these films continues

Didn't care for Synecdoche, New York when I watched, funnily seems like something right up my ally

Finding Nemo is great but Ratatouille is the GOAT pixar film

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That's the whole point of the film though. Humanity. The ending is one of THE great endings to a film I've ever seen. Just thinking about it makes me want to watch it right now.

• Before Sunset is a film which I like and it was in my list of consideration. Normally, I'd place it between #20 and #30. I didn't include it this time because I knew it will be well supported. Ethan Hawke is magnificent.



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• I know that The Lives of Others is usually ranked high in lists like this but I still haven't seen it.

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my stats
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Top 100 seen 30/60.
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My list:
4. Snatch [#71.]
9. Amores perros [#81.]
10. The Wrestler [#54.]
14. The Man Who Wasn't There [#84.]

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(other seen: one pointers 3/38 • 101-110: 5/10)

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Gran Torino is my #9 , and while it may feel a bit aged already, I think for the time it was a truly great and relevant piece, Eastwood is a legend.

Everything Will Be Ok
Michael Clayton -
A Beautiful Mind

The Lives of Others was #5 on my list. The first act of the film is phenomenal, and there's just something strangely compelling about Ulrich Mühe's performance, even when he's just silently listening. It's a shame he died not long after the film's release.

While the later parts of the film did grow on me over time, this is definitely how I felt when I first saw it. I've always liked the ending though.

Seen: 32/60

My List:
05. The Lives of Others (2006) - #41
06. Millennium Actress (2001) - DNP
08. Mother (2009) - #96
10. Iron Man (2008) - #83
11. Paprika (2006) - #64
16. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #76
20. Moon (2009) - #48
25. Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) - 1-pointer

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Before Sunset, the second film in what would become the Linklater/Delpy/Hawke trilogy, did not make the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium List. However Before Sunrise was #70 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1990s List and Before Midnight will be eligible for the 2010s List. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's Das Leben der Anderen was on the Millennium List at #34. It also made the MoFo Top 100 Foreign Films List at #38.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

So I was wrong when I said 28 Days Later may be the last film that didn't make the millennium list to appear here.

I've somehow saw The Life of Others and I didn't care for it? It's been a long while so it's possible that maybe another watch might clarify it.

Hadn't gotten around to the Before trilogy even though I did like Before Sunrise.