Skepsis' 100

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Give me all of your candy!
I need to see it, also. I have really enjoyed following your list, although I still need to see quite a bit of them. Great work!



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Lawrence of Arabia flies by, although I've heard some people complain that it and 2001 are both boring. 2001 has maybe seven or eight minutes of females on screen while Lawrence has none!
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I need to see it, also. I have really enjoyed following your list, although I still need to see quite a bit of them. Great work!
Thank you very much.

Lawrence of Arabia flies by, although I've heard some people complain that it and 2001 are both boring. 2001 has maybe seven or eight minutes of females on screen while Lawrence has none!
2001 is pretty boring is a lot of senses. Not sure how anyone could justify calling LoA boring, though.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
2001 is pretty boring is a lot of senses. Not sure how anyone could justify calling LoA boring, though.
Did you not have 2001 on your old list? So it's safe to assume that's one that's dropped out. And if so, on behalf of myself and honeykid may I say well done.





7. Before Sunrise & Before Sunset
Richard Linklater, 1995/2004
Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan (Sunrise) / Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke (Sunset)
Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy


"But then the morning comes, and we turn back into pumpkins, right?"

Here's what I wrote about Before Sunrise in the movie tab back on April 8th of last year:

I'll labour through the fiddliness of writing a short review on my phone (only source of internet at the moment) because I felt like I needed to share some thoughts on this absolute gem. Without a supreme level of both dialogue scripting and chemistry between the leads, this film falls flat on its face. It's stunning to me how they managed to make it so enrapturing with such dialogue-heavy sequences but I found myself literally hanging on to every word, and what beautiful words they were. It walks a very thin line between actual intellectual and faux-intellectual, but at worst it's always believable and at its best, it borders on prophetic, commenting subtly on love and life itself. The atmosphere is palpable, the emotional impact enormous, and the 90 minutes flew by, just as Jesse and Celine's fleeting romance did. The sequel is on its way to me as we speak, I can only hope I enjoy it as much.
And about Before Sunset on the 12th:

Like the first installment, Before Sunset absolutely works as a standalone film, with all the charm, humour and emotional power of its predecessor. The chemistry between Hawke and Delpy seamlessly carries over even though the two films were made 9 years apart, and the superb script with Linklater's stream-of-consciousness dialogue and the subtle camera and editing techniques combine once again to produce a hyper-realistic experience.

It's not so much a follow up as a completion, as I realised part way through how incomplete Before Sunrise now feels with the addition of a second meeting. The same would be true, I think, had I only seen this one. There's something tiny lacking from both, and the simplest way I can put it is that they lack each other. Together they're the closest to a perfect romantic tale that I've seen.

As Jesse remarks at the start of the film, in the context of his book, ambiguity is a good test of whether a person is a romantic or a cynic. The film ends so suddenly that for a while I felt taken aback, but realised that the conclusion was simply echoing Jesse's sentiments from the very start. It's a perfect note to end on, really, as the utterance of those words, "I know", could mean so many things. For the cynics among us, the final moments must be strikingly similar to the first film. To the idealists and those with a more romantic view of the world, it's starkly different.



"Memories are wonderful things, if you don't have to deal with the past."

My view of these films is no different now than it was back then. As romance, as drama, as deep meditations on the facets of existence, they're an absolute knockout - films that touch the heart and the mind. I love these films separately, but as a pair I adore them like few others, which is why they're the only "cheat" on my list. They work best together. Whether that changes with the addition of Before Midnight this year remains to be seen, but I do know I'm looking forward to it immensely.



Did you not have 2001 on your old list? So it's safe to assume that's one that's dropped out. And if so, on behalf of myself and honeykid may I say well done.
I did. I think I've said a few times around here I don't think anywhere near as much of it as I did at first, though. I appreciate its artistry, but it's not something that inspires me to see it over and over.



Love Sunrise and Sunset. Both are absolutely mesmerizing.

Boo on no 2001 though.



Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are very special movies. It's quite an experience when you're into the story. I'm looking forward to Before Midnight, where they are actually a couple after their last meeting in Paris and that GORGEOUS final scene in the second movie!

+1



You know you're getting + rep from me for Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Of course, I prefer them the other way around, but I honestly think that's because I had to wait 9 years for the sequel and now another 9 years for the next.
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We've gone on holiday by mistake
I always think that it's a bit of a cheat to list 2 entries in 1 slot.





6. Lost in Translation
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola, 2003
Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson & Giovanni Ribisi


"Let's never come here again because it would never be as much fun."

The focus on atmosphere and self-contained observational vignettes worked around a fleeting platonic relationship make its plotlessness completely irrelevant.

Coppola shows remarkable confidence in a mellow, subtle yet beautifully artistic visual style, the cold technical prowess underlying a sharp eye for colour and detail recalling both representations of Japan itself and the nature of Bob and Charlotte's unlikely friendship.



"You're probably just having a mid-life crisis. Did you buy a Porsche yet?"

And it's said friendship that drives the film along its melancholic, funny, and touching path. There's an surprisingly strong chemistry between Murray and Johansson that allows for a dynamic between the characters that reveals itself to be incredibly complex, thought-provoking, and meaningful. They are seemingly at almost opposite ends of the spectrum in everything surface-level - financially, physically, career-wise - but crucially, they are both found in the right place at the right time in the same lonely, misanthropic place emotionally and that allows them to connect on the deeper level than anything else.

Simply put, an incredibly heartfelt, impeccably acted and directed, bittersweet yet uplifting film that blows me away every time I see it.



I think some films are meant to be experienced that way. I put star wars and lord of the rings in this category. Depending on what day you catch me any of the three could be my fave in the trilogy.



I think some films are meant to be experienced that way. I put star wars and lord of the rings in this category. Depending on what day you catch me any of the three could be my fave in the trilogy.
You're referring to Sunrise/Sunset? Yeah, I agree. They're great separate but together, they're just perfect. I considered putting LOTR into one entry too, not sure why but I was able to separate them fairly distinctly. If I was forced to split up Sunrise & Sunset they would go one after the other, and I couldn't tell you in what order.



I enjoyed Back To The Future but I haven't seen it in a long time.Lost In Translation impressed me a lot.
I don't think I would like the other films from your top ten but you never know.



I don't think I would like the other films from your top ten but you never know.
Give them a try. If you like Lost in Translation, there's good chance you like Sunrise/Sunset because it depicts a similar sort of relationship in a similar way, and everyone should like Lawrence of Arabia and Singin' in the Rain.



Lost in Translation is very well made. I'm a big fan of atmospheric movies, so you can imagine how much I liked this one! It's also my favorite movie from a female director. Great choice!



You're referring to Sunrise/Sunset? Yeah, I agree. They're great separate but together, they're just perfect. I considered putting LOTR into one entry too, not sure why but I was able to separate them fairly distinctly. If I was forced to split up Sunrise & Sunset they would go one after the other, and I couldn't tell you in what order.
I was. Have not seen them so I was pointing out movies I experience that way. I am looking forward to seeing these, should be on the way this week.



Chappie doesn't like the real world
You know I love Lost in Translation. I've seen Before Sunrise, but I have to see it again. Unless I see movies multiple times, I don't remember them very well.