HitchFan97's Top 50: 2012 Update

I love Taxi Driver. A truly brilliant film.

Have you really put Casino above it?

I do like Casino too. Better than Taxi Driver or Raging Bull in my quite crazy opinion. Though not as good as Goodfellas or The Departed.

No, Casino is #23, which you'll notice if you go back in the first page. I just had to rearrange some rankings to account for this. Taxi Driver is my favorite Scorsese, but that and Goodfellas are the only films of his I prefer to Casino.

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

Yeah, but your opinion is top rated crazy, rauldc. Still love ya, though.

Casino is indeed a very good film. Not Scorsese's finest or anything, but I love that movie. I also love quite a few films on your list so far, especially GoodFellas. That movie never gets any less exhilarating or interesting, no matter how many times you watch it.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

I love casino

but, taxi driver is also a very good film

The last time I made my list, I hailed "Vertigo" as my favorite film of all time. Today, it's still not far off- getting this far up into the list means each and every movie is plenty worthy for the title of "favorite"- but it's interesting to note that Hitchcock's greatest technical and artistic achievement is one of his least accessible films. The tale of a man plunged into a dark mystery before falling in love with the image of a dead lover is perhaps the Master's most preposterous story, and he makes it believable all the way through. If "Vertigo" lacks the nail-biting suspense of other masterpieces like "Rear Window", "Psycho", or "Rope", then it is made up for in full by pure cinematic perfection.




I found it difficult to select the perfect screenshot to go along with this write-up; after all, "Vertigo" is one of the most purely visual films I've ever seen. Like all films this high on the list, everything works perfectly. The story is hypnotizing once you surrender to it, Bernard Herrmann's score is absolutely haunting, Hitchcock's direction- as previously mentioned- may never have been better. And the last five minutes of the film are probably the best film acting I've ever seen. But "Vertigo", ultimately, is about Hitchcock and his obsessions: his obsession with control, his obsession with voyeurism, his obsession with women, and most of all his obsession with the longing to find human transcendence through passion, be it love or art. Jimmy Stewart is clearly Hitch's alter ego. It can be seen in the little things; Hitchcock was raised Catholic, so note how Stewart's character walks through a church as he follows Kim Novak.




A common criticism of this film is its apparently pessimistic view of human love. I disagree with this interpretation. In "Vertigo" Hitchcock was not showing the destructive qualities of love- but rather its power. It is in fact his most tender film, and perhaps the only movie in the history of cinema that I have analyzed or studied more is my new selection for #1 (thus the rather extensive write-up). Though "Vertigo" no longer holds that crown, I am sure that it will continue to enthrall and puzzle me for years to come.

Your top 3:
3. Godfather 1
2. 2001
1. Psycho

So predicatable. Haha.

Good guesses

I figured the list would get pretty predictable at this point- all the new films have made their appearance. But I do feel that I have new things to say about the Top 3.

Taxi Driver is another of those films that I 'admire' the quality of without particularly liking. Vertigo however I think is fantastic.

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#3: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

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Never in the history of cinema has a film worked so well from each and every aspect of production. "The Godfather", directed by Hollywood newcomer Francis Ford Coppola and based off of a best-selling novel, is a cinematic miracle because everything clicks perfectly together. The ensemble cast (Brando, Pacino, Duvall, Keaton, Caan) is perhaps the best in any motion picture. The directing is fantastic, the cinematography gorgeous with its omnipresent shadows and darkness. Nino Rota's score is haunting and beautiful as well.




The cinematic geniuses at work here make the story of a New York crime family's rise and near fall in the 1940's the best drama ever put on celluloid. This film is three hours long but never feels that way; the endlessly quotable script is totally engrossing and chock-full of unforgettable scenes. It's a conventional film, but an essentially simple format has never been done better, and probably never will be. For a few hours, "The Godfather" takes us to another place and time, and we are a part of the Corleone family. No other film better expresses why people enjoy the movies.

Such a great movie

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Yeah, The Godfather is just bloody brilliant.

I know it's pretty much sacrilege to say it, especially on a movie forum from someone who likes to think of themselves as a big film fan, but I've still not seen The Godfather.

No, that's not sacrilegious, JD. Now, if you'd said you hadn't seen Charlie's Angels...

Take a look as soon as you get the chance, though. The Godfather is a truly great film. Even I think so.

Oh don't worry I have seen Charlie's Angels! Although not the sequel.

I did finally tape it a few weeks back but knowing me it could lie there for years before I get to it. I just don't see it as my type of film which is why I've never gotten round to it. Although if you think it's great....wow!

#2: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

+1

Evolution. The Universe. Science. Religion. Man's Existence In The Cosmos. These are the themes tackled by "2001: A Space Odyssey", a film of such grand and vast ambition that it attempts to cover no less that humanity's entire history in just 2 1/2 hours. The plot doesn't matter, nor does its outcome. It is, in this sense, a metaphor for life itself: the end result isn't important, but the journey is.




This movie isn't quite like any film I've ever seen, but perhaps "movie" is the wrong word. Kubrick's trippy masterpiece is an experience, and totally different from almost all other science fiction films. Unlike the action-packed blockbusters it inspired, "2001" is a poetic, bold meditation on man's place in the universe, where he once was, and where he will eventually be. It was a milestone for my love of film as well; this was the first time I ever accepted the possibility of a film being great even if it wasn't always fast-paced or entertaining.




Certainly, "2001" is the most visually mesmerizing film I've ever seen, and objectively, this is probably the greatest film ever made; Kubrick pushed the limits of the cinematic art form to heights that have yet to be equaled or surpassed. It is #2 not because it fails at anything, but because my selection for #1 (if you haven't guessed it yet) holds an even greater significance to my love of cinema.

And to conclude things...

#1: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

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Here it is, folks, my favorite film of all time: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. There is no other movie that has entered my daily thought in quite a way, and I have certainly analyzed and studied it more than any other motion picture. I hope that I can properly articulate my love for it in this write-up.




I mentioned when I began this list that I wanted it to be a blend of objectivity and subjectivity; it is appropriate, then, that “Psycho” would take the top spot. It is not only one of the most influential and artistically accomplished films ever made, but also the movie that holds the greatest significance to my personal adoration for cinema. It was the first film I ever truly loved, and when I discovered “Psycho”, I began to realize that the movies were a serious art form- and the greatest one ever conceived.




The plot concerns Marion Crane, a young secretary who steals $40,000 from her employer in order to pay for her boyfriend’s alimony payments and their marriage. On the run from the police, Marion hastily checks into the Bates Motel and meets its proprietor, Norman. Following their dinner conversation, Marion retires to her room for a sin-cleansing shower, and the twist that follows is well-known even to those who have never seen the film. This first act is perhaps the finest 40 minutes of Hitchcock’s career.




After Marion’s grisly demise, her boyfriend and sister are tasked with unraveling Hitchcock’s greatest and most chilling mystery. Of course, it is the film’s shocking Shower Scene that preserves its legend; “Psycho” single-handedly birthed the entire slasher genre and changed cinema forever. A significant turning point in the director’s career, its black-and-white cinematography (shot by the camera crew of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”) was a far cry from the showy, bold Technicolor spectacles that Hitch was directing throughout the 1950s. But “Psycho” was also a milestone for its filmmaker in another, more rarely noted way: this is the ultimate thriller. Hitchcock always flirted with the perverse in his films; in “Psycho”, he cuts deeper than he ever had before or ever would again.




Obviously, I find “Psycho” to be perfectly crafted as well. Its greatest strength may lie in the screenplay; the Shower Scene changed film story arc forever, but the dialogue is also filled with quirks and nuances that are simply unforgettable. Much of this is acted out by Anthony Perkins, whose performance is arguably the best in film history. He is a tortured soul the likes of which the movies had never seen before. The rest of the cast is stellar as well, particularly Janet Leigh, who evokes audience sympathy wonderfully before she is hacked to death a third of the way in. The black-and-white cinematography fits the film like a glove; it exudes just the kind of B-movie ambience that Hitchcock wanted. Bernard Herrmann’s score is my favorite of all time, and even Saul Bass’ title sequence is stunning. I knew right from the opening credits that I was in the presence of greatness.




No director was better (or had more fun) at manipulating audiences than Hitchcock, and no film he ever made displays this better than “Psycho”. His camera builds such a great deal of suspense in this film that in the hands of a lesser director, it almost certainly would have become a cheap exploitation flick. But it also may be the Master’s most thematically rich film- the only one that challenges it for that title is “Vertigo”. No other film is more successful at providing such a disturbing mental profile; “Psycho” is, after all, the ultimate Freudian nightmare. Once we begin to identify with Norman Bates, the movie evolves from simple yet masterful chiller to a portrait of a hideously diseased mind.




“Psycho” could also be seen as a powerful indictment of Eisenhower-era America, pulling back the curtains on Small Town, U.S.A. more cruelly than any of Hitchcock’s other films. The conclusion of the movie, leaving its heroes in the aftermath of witnessing such a disturbing sequence of events, even dares to suggest that good may not always triumph over evil. Perhaps saying that in a 1960 mainstream Hollywood film was more groundbreaking than any knife murder.




I have had a lot to say about “Psycho”, but revisiting it from time to time, I have found that there is a lot to love. Still, mere words cannot describe my admiration for this masterpiece, so perhaps I should just let the film speak for itself. I would not be a member of this site had it not been for Hitchcock’s industry-shattering classic, and now that I’ve completed my Top 50, I’d like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and comments. I hope that this list will serve you if you’re ever in need of a great movie.

Great choice for #1, Hitch.