Cynema De Bergerac's Top 10 Greatest Films Ever Made

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Gave it some thought, decided to go ahead and update it. Your thoughts?

DISCLAIMER:
I STILL have honestly no f**king clue where to put ‘The Godfather,’ ‘2001 A Space Odyssey,’ 'The Wizard of Oz,' and ‘Pulp Fiction.’ They'll probably be in my Top 20 or maybe even Top 30.

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This might just do nobody any good.
Thoughts / Criticisms:

Interstellar is a good movie but, like I said in the discussion you made for it, it's a mismatch of director and material.

Well, not even that. Nolan handles the spectacle like nobody else but the emotions at the film's center are half baked. I think it could have been the perfect project for someone like Jeff Nichols to have broken into blockbusters. His work shines when it focuses on family dynamics.

I'm a schmuck so I haven't seen Citizen Kane. This makes all other points made in this post invalid.

Haven't seen Inland but I'll get on it soon.

Clockwork is wonderfully grim. Not a movie I generally think of a rewatch-able but one I usually finish from beginning to end if given the option. Not my favorite Kubrick, though. That title goes to Strangelove - the funniest horror movie.

Mulholland - the scariest comedy.

Eraserhead is good but vastly overshadowed by Lynch's future work. Fun watch, though. Albeit, one that requires more prep from me than Clockwork. That probably says something about me.

Amélie: I was thinking about this movie the other day. I haven't seen it in a few years and I almost don't want to revisit. I feel like preserving it as a memory is the perfect way for it to end.

Dark Knight: still the best superhero movie. Anyone who puts The Avengers over it is crazy (ha ha ha).

American Psycho: don't love it. Bale really powers the whole movie, though, and he's delightful to watch despite his kinda dull surroundings. At least Batman kill The Joker in it.



I think this is a very interesting selection of films because they're all quite different so one is tempted to ask is there some common theme in all these films that connects with you. Here's just a quick review of what these films seem to be about -

1) Interstellar - A sci-fi epic about love transcending space and time.

2) Citizen Kane - A political thriller about a man longing for a childhood that he was robbed off.

3) The Big Lebowski - A comedy about a man hilariously responding against the excesses of civilisation.

4) Inland Empire - A psychological thriller that (I think) seems to be about enlightenment and awakening from a dream, where the dream of life is equated to cinema.

5) A Clockwork Orange - A crime film about the absolute impenetrability of a horrid and archaic soul.

6) Mulholland Drive - A psychological thriller that stands as a metaphor for hollywood as a factory of dreams.

7) Eraserhead - (see Inland Empire and Mulholland Drive) Once again Lynch is equating watching a film with entering a dream state but this one is more aptly described as a waking nightmare about Lynch's own obsessions, in particular his fear and anxiety at being a father.

8) Amelie - A sort of coming of age story about a girl who learns what it means to live in this world.

9) The Dark Knight - A comic book epic on America's "War on terror" that asks the question of whether sometimes, in order to preserve democratic values in the face of blind terror, you have to betray them.

10) American Psycho - An obsessive compulsive character trying to make sense of his meaningless existence.


There is clearly a trend from films 2) to 7) and 9) to 10) in that they involve somewhat obsessive broken characters (mostly male) who're channelling their paranoia in some form or another. The 2 seemingly "out of place" films here are Amelie and Interstellar.
I'd be interested to know what it is that you really enjoyed about them.
But besides that I like the majority of the films on your list, some more so than others.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I think the only one I could agree with being a top 10 contender would be Mullholland Drive. Maybe Interstellar, but I would have to see it again.



Mulholland Drive and Citizen Kane are worthy of top 10 places in my opinion. But for the life of me I don't understand how anyone can put 'Interstellar' so highly. It's a mish mash of other sci-fi films and isn't fit to lace '2001's boots.

The Dark Knight was good. But we all know what happens in super hero stories. Top 10 greatest film slots should be reserved for films that are truly masterful, original and knock your socks off. This is where the old "favourite" versus "greatest" comes in. I have' Amelie' in my top 10 favourite films, but is it one of the "greatest" ever made? Probably not. It's all subjective and this list is better than the average person's top 10.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Mulholland Drive and Citizen Kane are worthy of top 10 places in my opinion. But for the life of me I don't understand how anyone can put 'Interstellar' so highly. It's a mish mash of other sci-fi films and isn't fit to lace '2001's boots.

The Dark Knight was good. But we all know what happens in super hero stories. Top 10 greatest film slots should be reserved for films that are truly masterful, original and knock your socks off. This is where the old "favourite" versus "greatest" comes in. I have' Amelie' in my top 10 favourite films, but is it one of the "greatest" ever made? Probably not. It's all subjective and this list is better than the average person's top 10.
I have that problem too, when making my top 10. Should I put my top 10 best, or top 10 favorites? My #1 movie of all time is For A Few Dollars More for example, but is that a true great, really, or just a personal favorite?



I think this is a very interesting selection of films because they're all quite different so one is tempted to ask is there some common theme in all these films that connects with you. There is clearly a trend from films 2) to 7) and 8) to 10) in that they involve somewhat obsessive broken characters (mostly male) who're channeling their paranoia in some form or another.
To be rather honest, I never knew this trend until I read your comment. I've always dealt with my own personal issues, (Ala; Anxiety and Stress) and was always stuck in a hollow state of depression in a world that always seem centered around me. My brain might be gravitating towards certain films that I can identify with. That in no way means I'm biased in regards to what a great film is, It might be just something in the back of my head that I wasn't aware of. Also, the 2 Films I cut were 'American Beauty' and 'There Will Be Blood.' That just proves your point even further.

Thank you for trying to figure me out



To be rather honest, I never knew this trend until I read your comment. I've always dealt with my own personal issues, (Ala; Anxiety and Stress) and was always stuck in a hollow state of depression in a world that always seem centered around me. My brain might be gravitating towards certain films that I can identify with. That in know way means I'm biased in regards to what a great film is, It might be just something in the back of my head that I wasn't aware of. Also, the 2 Films I cut were 'American Beauty' and 'There Will Be Blood.' That just proves your point even further.

Thank you for trying to figure me out
It's great to hear that reply and I think it's important to realise that there is no such thing as being biased when one chooses the films that one is most inspired by. All of art is intrinsically subjective and after having read your reply it's clear to me that there is definitely a reason (that you may not be consciously aware of) for why you've picked every single one of those 10 films. And I'm glad you've found those films and those films have found you.



The sole fact 2001's there gets my immidiate sympathies. I'm obsessed with it, and really think it's the beswt movie ever maade. (even though I know I'm goin into a war zone here).

I just saw Interstellar recently, and it has a great climax.

Stillhaven't seen Kane.

Lebowski is one of my favorites, Jeff should've won an oscar. The hell's that around his hips?

Mullholand drive, Dark Knight and American Psycho's are all grweat. Bale also should've won.



Someone above mentioned the distinction between our favorite ten movies vs the top ten movies ever made. i always had problems with my top ten movie list for this site because I was not sure how to distinguish between the two. the site asks for my favorites so I finally created my list with that criteria. I am also a big Lynvh fan. My favorite Lynch films are:
1. Lost Highway
2. Blue Velvet
3. Mullholland Drive

However, I would not list these as the greatest films, because although the criterea for the greatest film might vary, there must be some criterea.One criterea that Halliwell used to list, which I agree with, is a universal appeal. A film that many can relate to. Something like I'ts a Wonderful life", or "Casablanca". Other criterea might be "movies that hold up over time"," technical aspects" (Citizen Kane). I've made peace with the fact that my top ten is mine and when I disagree with the critics i can acknowledge that their opinions are more educated, but I still have my opinion. If your list is your favorites I can certainly respect that and acknowledge why you made the choices that you did. If it is truly a top ten movies of all time, I would point out that too many of these films are to current and would need to be compared to many earlier films. Just my opiniion.



Should I put my top 10 best, or top 10 favorites?
Favourites no question. A list of films that mean alot to someone regardless of quality is always going to be more interesting than a list of films someone thinks is expertly made, of course these aren't mutually exclusive but i always find it suspect when someone doesn't have some dumb film they recognize isn't objectively 'good' but they love it anyway, not necessarily in their top ten just as a favourite.

Then there's also the fact that there's no real way to measure a film as 'best', don't want to get into that debate though as that's one of the dullest arguments on this site everytime it comes up.



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