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

At least in Excel you need to change the cell to text *before* typing "8 1/2". Otherwise, it would interpret that you're writing a number, and its preferred way of showing that number would be "8.5".

I suppose that OpenOffice must have a similar feature as far as formatting cells go.

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Happy to see 8 1/2 on the list. A bit surprised its so very low. It was in my top 5. Butch & Sundance is a great film but not in its league IMO.

I mean the imaginary suicide scene in 8 1/2 is brilliant but I certainly wouldn't have thought of it

Today's movies to make the list:
8 ½
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

I've not seen 8 1/2 but do like Fellini so you know...one of these days

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...I have seen this like 3 times but that's over many decades. Solid film, not on my list but glad to see it here

I've seen all the major Fellini films. 8 1/2 is his greatest achievement. Definitely worth your time.

Also, on the topic of rewatching films, I'm on the boat of enjoying periodic rewatches of films I love. It's similar to listening to an album/song you loved. If you enjoyed watching a certain film, why wouldn't you want to revisit it and relive that experience? Plus, there's also the films that benefit from a second viewing to put its themes and events more in perspective, or films I haven't seen in a long, long time.

That said, I do understand the desire to cover new ground instead of revisiting "old stuff"; like I said in a previous post, I tend to favor new films more often than rewatches, but I do try to make a point of watching an old favorite every now and then.

I never thought it was a real suicide. It seemed like a great joke about the media to me.

It's really interesting to do this. It's not just that you see things you didn't see the first time, although that is a great thing, especially with difficult and complex films. It's also that you are different and have different experience that affects how you take in a film.

Still, it's hard to find time to do this as there are just so many movies to see, so what I do is keep a list of the great films I want my wife to see that she hasn't and then we eventually watch them together; I'm encouraging her to do the same.

Seen: 20/20
Picks: 2/25

8 1/2 is from that 1957-1966 period I watched (Godard,Fellini,Bergman). I remember being bored with a lot of it, might be different this time around.

I want that record for countdown replies.

Carry on...

At this point, the thread is moving faster than I can read along given my schedules so as I do with most all of my list responsibilities (sorry chyp for bailing that last songs for... list midway through!), I'll probably bow out and pop back in as time permits. Probably around the 30s.

So a preemptive Happy Potter's Day, one and all. Geese and crutches and green furry guys and such.

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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

As I was strolling around town on my lunch, I recalled that on first watch, I hated Mulholland Drive, a film that would eventually sit in my MoFo Personal Top 10 on my profile for a multiyear stretch. If I had never gone back and given it another chance (in this case, it was a mere 24 hours later), I would still think I hated it. At this point, I have seen it more than 50 times.

No, that isn't the film I have seen the most. We mustn't speak of such things...

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There's possibly a couple films I've seen about 50 times.

8 1/2 - to throw another adjective, kinda okayish in a good way when i first watched it back then. Not big fan of fellini but i like dolce vita more. And i hate Amarcord.

Butch sundance kid - i didnt get the appeal of this one. This also stand with another newman-redford duet, the sting.

Not the same situation, but if I remember correctly, I saw Mulholland Drive 2 or 3 times back-to-back. And I'm talking Stop/Rewind/Play (those are VHS' for you, kids). I did the same with Memento.

There are also a bunch of films I've seen twice within the same week or couple of days, which in the case of mind-bending, complex films has only helped to appreciate them more (for example, Eraserhead, THX-1138, Persona, and The Lighthouse, to name a few).

Re: the first paragraph, this is particularly true when you rewatch a film after several years/decades. The way you perceived a film back when you were 15 or 19 isn't probably the same way you'll perceive one at 40, 50, or 60. Like you said, a rewatch helps view things from a different perspective.

To be a little more clear. I definitely value rewatches. I like to give most things a second chance and rewatching movies I really enjoy 2,3, 4 times. It's when you start getting towards 10 or above that you lose me.

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Letterboxd

Me too. And it's so weird that I can forget so much of a movie that I've seen only a year ago. Even weirder I then image that film to be very different than it actually was. Last night I watched The Family Man (2000) I had seen it once before last Christmas. I remembered it being this fun, romantic Christmas movie...but this time around it seemed much more somber and poignant. I enjoyed it more this time but it wasn't like I had recalled it.

8 ½ is a film I used to hate when I first got into film. I rewatched it after a couple of years and grew to love it. I'd say it's a masterpiece, but not a "personal masterpiece" to me. Obviously, it's very good technically and the meta and autobiographical-commentary is a strong one. I used to have, and still to some extent have, problem with Fellini's style, and rhythm. He's buoyant in a Dionysian way which sure irritated my then-dead-serious sensibilities. I still prefer Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita over 8 ½.

I'm a little bit surprised Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made it. It's a very good film starring one of my favorite American actors Paul Newman. Both the music, used delightfully in memorable scenes like that of Newman riding a bicycle, and the interactions between the two leads are very memorable. However, the most memorable part of the film is the ending. The final freeze-frame sure leaves a mark imprinted on your mind. Perhaps not as strong as the endings of The 400 Blows or A Moment of Innocence but still. A splendid film. Watch it as a double-bill with Cool Hand Luke for a double doze of Newman's smug.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

In regards to rewatching films, there are a few that I love watching over and over.. some just for fun - The Mummy and some I adore - Agora.

There are many cinematic giants I would love to revisit, but I just can't for some reason. Titanic being one, it was a very good film when it came out but will I feel the same way after the rewatch? I just can't do it.

Well said.


8 1/2 was on my list, but I was later regretful for neglecting so much of the respective European New Wave canons. There are a handful - Contempt, Persona, Blowup, Belle du Jour - that I would consider peers of 8 1/2's revelatory innovations in examining the influence between media perception and psychology, the McLuhan idea of cinema as "collective dream", simultaneously personal and social, apparent and illusive, both exalting and subverting subjectivity in ways that illustrate film as a distinctly unique form of artistic and mythic expression. Unfortunately, I left those other films off my list. One could argue that Fellini kicked the door open for the rest, at least for that specific era representing the sexual and social revolution of that decade. Dolce Vita may deserve credit for inaugurating the era, but it isn't as eloquent as 8 1/2.