A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

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Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 - On some level, I have to respect the audacity of following up a groundbreaking film with an aggressively conventional sequel, but that doesn't mean it's good.
This remains one of the worst films I've ever seen. I mean, I'm a fan of the original, but I doubt that I'd think any different even if I wasn't.

The Descent - On the one hand, effective use of claustrophobia and monsters. On the other, pretty unsatisfying on a plot/character level. I'm calling it a wash.
I'm a fan of this. To me, it's one of the best horror films of the last 20 years.


Evil Dead II - "Groovy."
*sigh* This, and the couple of responses you got for this, is what makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me. Didn't like it, didn't like the first one, and didn't like Drag Me to Hell. What can I say?


Saw II - An excellent reminder why I wasn't bothering to keep up with this franchise.
This is another one we agree. I have some respect for the first one, and I think it's pretty solid. Even if the premise doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, it did caught me by surprise. But everything went downhill after that. I quit after the third one.

Shadow of the Vampire - Huh, turns out that high concept isn't that interesting. Still gets by on performances, though.
I agree, but like you say, it's worth a watch just for the crazy premise and Malkovich/Dafoe.


The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Hooper was always the best with the saw.


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Maybe one of the best "part two" movies in horror. Also has a chainsaw duel 32 years before Mandy.
Agree on both. TCM is my favorite horror film.
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I am happy to report that I saved the Rotten Tomatoes 100 Greatest Films list. I even saved the days on which they were posted! Thankfully, I didn't save my odd and pretentious thoughts on Apocalypse Now, which make mention of the Blue-Footed booby for some reason (don't ask).

While this is off-topic, here's the list anyway:

~~ DAY THREE ~~

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
4. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
5. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
7. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
8. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
9. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
10. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

11. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
12. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
13. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
14. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
15. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
16. The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
17. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
18. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
19. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
20. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

~~ DAY TWO ~~

21. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
22. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
23. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
24. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
25. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
26. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
27. Fargo (The Coen Brothers, 1996)
28. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
29. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
30. The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

31. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
32. No Country for Old Men (The Coen Brothers, 2007)
33. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
34. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
35. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
36. The Big Lebowski (The Coen Brothers, 1997)
37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
38. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
39. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
40. The Assassination of Jesse James... (Andrew Dominik, 2007)

41. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
42. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
43. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
44. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Jones & Gilliam, 1975)
45. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
46. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
47. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
48. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
49. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
50. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)

~~ DAY ONE ~~

51. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
52. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
53. L. A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
54. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
55. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
56. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
57. Seven (David Fincher, 1995)
58. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
59. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

61. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
62. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
63. Aguirre the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
64. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
65. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
66. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
67. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)
68. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
69. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
70. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)

71. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
72. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
73. F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973)
74. The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999)
75. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1975)

76. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
77. Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
78. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
79. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
80. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)

81. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
82. Sunrise (F. W. Murnau, 1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
84. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
85. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
86. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978))
87. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1984)
88. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
89. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
90. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

91. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
92. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
93. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
94a. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
94b. Spirited Away (Hiyao Miyazaki, 2001)
96. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
97. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
98. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
99. Three Colors: Red (Kyrzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
100. The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger, 1948)
78/100 seen.
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100/100

*takes self satisfied bite out of apple*

*spits out apple because apples are awful*
First, you dislike James Wan and now you dislike applies? You're cancelled for sure now!



*sigh* This, and the couple of responses you got for this, is what makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me. Didn't like it, didn't like the first one, and didn't like Drag Me to Hell. What can I say?
I don't like Evil Dead 2 either (or Drag Me to Hell) so it's not only you. Though I must admit that I still like the first Evil Dead.
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Like the line goes, you can be the tastiest peach in the world and there will always be people who hate peaches.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



A system of cells interlinked
RE: The greatest films list above:

89/100 Seen

That said, That list has some seriously odd stuff going on. Unforgiven all the way up at 97, with chaff like Refn's Drive ahead of it. Also, Chinatown all the way down at 41? That a serious violation. Towne's script is pretty much perfect, the performances are all legendary, and the twist and ending don't even think about copping out. I would complain if Chinatown didn't make the Top 10, but man, down in the 40s???

Back to Unforgiven for a second... 97th? I demand an explanation immediately!

Either there was a targeted conspiracy against Westerns in general, or a serious deficit in the taste of the voting group for that film to place that low. Again, one of the best scripts ever written, IMO. Top notch performances from screen legends like Gene Hackman, stellar cinematography, a memorable score...

Meanwhile, Anderson's Boogie Nights is 30 slots ahead of it. Shameful!

Anyway, if you haven't already, make sure to check out the Lists section here on the site.
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Let the record show that I did not participate in any of those lists, mostly because my brain is incapable of ranking more than 5 items at a time. Anything over 3 is a struggle.
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That RT All-Time 100 list was assembled in 2013. 15 to 30 of us sent lists of at least 25 of our favorite movies to the guy running the project, he did some complex mathematics and there you have it.

As for Drive's high placement, it's likely a combination of it having come out a couple years earlier and the hype being fresh; also, a sub-group in the forum really, really liked that movie to a disturbing, cult following level.





Christine is a movie about a car that hardly asks you to think further than a souped-up car analogy when talking about it. It just sits there gleaming a fab cherry-red under the show lights, leaving even those not so car inclined to remark—”Oooh, shiny”. A quick look under the hood may reveal its engine to be nothing but a possum nest, but that’s okay. It doesn’t actually have to go anywhere special. You know its destination so well, you may as well just walk to it yourself.

John Carpenter is all too aware of this. Seeming to know that his audience is likely to be a few interstate turnoffs ahead of the plotting of Stephen King’s demon car fable, he will only bother to point out a few things of note as we quickly roll past. He assumes we can recognize them, even from a distance. Look, a Nerd! He’s buying a car! But it’s an evil car! Watch as their fates becomes intertwined, and he gets the girl and all of his enemies get chased through the street. Carpenter seems to know there is little need to get too much into Arnie Cunningham’s transition from lunch bag dork into evil Danny Zuko greaser. It is made clear the moment his eyes locked on Christines smashed headlights he was done for. As soon as Arnie pops his jacket collar and curls his lip, the audience knows he is gone for good.

While the film treats many of its plot points as little more than landmarks to show its audience we are still on the road to the expected conclusion, these fleeting glimpses we get of Arnie’s world are still vivid enough to work their spell. When bullying is required, all manner of local toughs have a shop class to shake their unkempt locks and practice their switchblading in. When we need to get a sense that home is no salvation, a chain-smoking mother is there to kick Arnie out for daring to have a teenage attitude. And when Arnie’s behavior becomes legally questionable, Harry Dean Stanton offers himself up to shamble around for a few scenes and pretend he’s investigating something. He’s got a rumpled suit and a cigarette, and this is all we will need to know that he means business. Appearances are, after all, everything in Christine.

It really will hardly matter that none of these subplots are ever dealt with much beyond the most surface details. And do they really need to be?. While much of the film may ring emotionally hollow, we always have a gleaming red Plymouth Fury sitting in the center of the film, engine purring and indestructible. Who needs to see the home lives of bullies, or the fall out of domestic battles or whether or not the detectives actually have anything on Arnie beyond goofy speculation of where he buys his car paint? These serious matters are not the kind of youthful currency this film is peddling. Christine only ever promises that Arnie will be seen. And we, as an audience complete this pact by watching him. Who cares if nothing here surprises us. Christine makes a great case for indefinite idling. For looking good while going nowhere.




A system of cells interlinked
That RT All-Time 100 list was assembled in 2013. 15 to 30 of us sent lists of at least 25 of our favorite movies to the guy running the project, he did some complex mathematics and there you have it.
Sounds very similar to the process we use here for our Top 100s. I presume it is fairly similar on various forums around the 'net, however few of those there may be left at this point.



Re: The RT 100 List, I've seen 87, so yay!

These are the ones I haven't seen, so let's see who can sell them to me

37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
46. City Lights (1931)
61. Paris, Texas (1984)
73. F for Fake (1973)
81. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (1960)
84. Touch of Evil (1958)
86. Days of Heaven (1978)
87. Brazil (1984)
93. Ikiru (1952)
99. Three Colors: Red (1994)
100. The Red Shoes (1948)


Seriously speaking, most of them are on my watchlists, but I just haven't gotten to them for whatever reasons. Joan of Arc in particular is one that I'm looking forward to.



Woah, there's a new Tremors movie out? I'm like you, I've seen every single one. Even the Jamie Kennedy ones. As long as Michael Gross is in it I'll keep watching.
Yeah I had no idea either until someone posted a review in a Facebook group yesterday. That’s not how I like learning about new Tremors movies Anyway this one has Jon Heder instead of Jamie Kennedy. It’s on Netflix.



Re: The RT 100 List, I've seen 87, so yay!

These are the ones I haven't seen, so let's see who can sell them to me

37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
46. City Lights (1931)
61. Paris, Texas (1984)
73. F for Fake (1973)

81. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (1960)
84. Touch of Evil (1958)
86. Days of Heaven (1978)
87. Brazil (1984)
93. Ikiru (1952)

99. Three Colors: Red (1994)
100. The Red Shoes (1948)


Seriously speaking, most of them are on my watchlists, but I just haven't gotten to them for whatever reasons. Joan of Arc in particular is one that I'm looking forward to.
I've seen the bolded ones. Honestly, I think all of those are essential watches. City Lights and Touch of Evil are my favorites from that bunch.



A system of cells interlinked
Re: The RT 100 List, I've seen 87, so yay!

These are the ones I haven't seen, so let's see who can sell them to me

37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
46. City Lights (1931)
61. Paris, Texas (1984)
73. F for Fake (1973)
81. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (1960)
84. Touch of Evil (1958)
86. Days of Heaven (1978)
87. Brazil (1984)
93. Ikiru (1952)
99. Three Colors: Red (1994)
100. The Red Shoes (1948)


Seriously speaking, most of them are on my watchlists, but I just haven't gotten to them for whatever reasons. Joan of Arc in particular is one that I'm looking forward to.
Run, don't walk to see Brazil. Make sure it's the directors cut, and not the garbage theatrical cut.



A system of cells interlinked
Just quickly, folks:

To add a popcorn box rating to a review/mini-review etc.

Use the following Code, but remove the asterisks:

[rating*]3_5[/rating*]

That would assign a three and a half box rating out of 5. Simply alter the number in the middle to adjust your rating.

Carry on!



Run, don't walk to see Brazil. Make sure it's the directors cut, and not the garbage theatrical cut.
If I were to rank those I haven't seen in order of how much I want to see them, it would be...

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
2. Sunrise (1927)
3. Touch of Evil (1958)
4. Brazil (1984)
5. Ikiru (1952)

So yeah, I need to get on that. I think there are several cuts, right? I know the TC is a no-no, but the DC should be the one?