MoFo Lists

I'm still a little torn as to which films I ought to mark, as there are quite a few I've seen most of.

In the case of Dr. Strangelove, I've pretty much seen the whole thing, but there are several scenes I don't remember, leading me to wonder if I sat down and watched it 'properly.' I've generally erred on the side of leaving such films unchecked, but I'm not sure...

A shedload of people love the film. I, however, just like it.

Hope that helps.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

With good reason, I don't think comedy dates very well, in general. A lot of the funniest stuff on tv is topical comedy, and topical comedy doesn't date well from one week to the next, let alone years later.

Of course there are films like Some Like It Hot or Withnail and I which have a kind of timeless humour, but these are the rare gems.

I admit I wasn't bowled over by Dr.Strangelove, but like Yoda, there are whole bits that I just don't remember, so to do it justice I will need to rewatch it some day.

The other thing about comedy is that while some films are hilarious at the time, but lose their impact a second time around, others don't seem funny at all at the time, it is only afterwards when you find yourself quoting lines that you realise their worth, and they are funnier on subsequent viewings (for me, this was what happened with Dark Star and Napoleon Dynamite among others). What impact this has on longevity, I'm not sure.

"The Mofo's Movie List!"

I dunno!

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I am finding myself slightly obsessed with these lists...So what's next? We need some non-English language films on there badly. I'm surprised adidasss hasn't lobbied for this already.

Mwahahahaha!



I'm all for it, but it does involve a bit of doing. Here's the deal:

So far, we've got six "official" lists compiled by two prominent film institutes. There are obviously many other lists we could add to the system, like Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Movies" list.

But, given that these are a little less formal than the ones we have now, we'll want to seperate them somehow. In other words, lists will have to be divided up into categories. And whaddya know, I've already laid a bit of the groundwork for that. As I said earlier in the thread, I'm sure some of you MoFos can imagine where we're inevitably headed with this feature...

In the meantime, though, if anyone sees a list they think might make a nice addition, please post it here! Especially lists compromised by film institutes, or of some other similar distinction.

I've found two lists, both very different. The first one is from Time Out magazine and lists one-hundred, many of which are forgein...

Here's the link.



The secound is not a list by critics, but a list from fans. The films listed on this one are a lot more accessible for the more casual film fan. And it lists two-hundred and one...

Here's the link.

Now some of you may think there are a lot of bad movies on there. But at the same time there are probably people who don't like a lot of movies on the AFI lists too.

Even though I disagree with many of the titles listed, I thought it would be good to have a list from movie fans like ourselves.

What do you think?

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TOP 100 | "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"

I thimk it's a pretty cool idea!

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You haven't seen the remakes to Psycho, or Halloween, have you? That would be a crime.

I've decided to mark what I like. Yeah, I'm moody! Especially today.

How about the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die

Wha?

I've been thinking about the longer lists, and whether or not we should have some sort of unofficial limit. 100 seems like a pretty good high-end (though we'd bend the rule for 101 lists, I'm sure).

You said . . . I'm still a little torn as to which films I ought to mark, as there are quite a few I've seen most of.

and I said . . . I've decided to mark what I like.

As in I don't want to mark it, just because I've seen it. I want to mark what I like.

You missed the other question. The Psycho, and Halloween question . . . You haven't seen the remakes to Psycho, or Halloween, have you? I ask because you don't have the originals marked.

Well, that's your call, but it is, basically, a list of films we've seen, so I think it'd be okay to mark them based on that.

But do as you wish

Nope, I haven't. I think I saw a scene or two of the new Pyscho flipping around, but that's about it.

Don't like that 'Empire' list, for me these lists are a good incentive to see more films and that list isn't very inspiring, though interesting. Do like the other list a lot though, the one thing i hate about these lists is the national specifity (thinking of another word, can't think of it though).

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Yeah, the Empire list is a waste of time and space. I think.


The Time Out poll is OK. There's also a 2002 Sight & Sound poll (Sight & Sound is the magazine of the British Film Institute) that included world directors making their picks. In addition to the American titles that I believe are all on the various AFI lists you also get some of the classics from the likes of Kurosawa, Fellini, Renoir, Bergman, Bertolucci, Tarkovsky, Ozu, Antonioni, Dreyer, Truffaut, De Sica, Leone, Bresson, etc. They only have fifty movies listed, but it does add an international flavor.



That list can be found HERE. Sight & Sound also polled a bunch of prominent critics at the same time, and their list is HERE. I think they had sixty films on their list, though obviously there is lots of crossover with the director-chosen list. I think if you took the ranking out of it and just alphabetically combined the two lists into one, you'd have a very good mix of truly world cinema to gage MoFo members viewing history.

The list of directors who participated in the poll is HERE. It includes a very good cross section of auteurs, from Bernardo Bertolucci, Theo Angelopoulos, Sidney Lumet, Paul Schrader and Norman Jewison to Quentin Tarantino, Michael Haneke, Cameron Crowe, Roger Corman and John Waters. If you click on each director's name you'll find their top ten picks (check out Joel Schumacher's eye for world cinema vs. the crap he makes on his own).


So...yeah.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Damnit Holden, i was going to look for the Sight and Sound lists after finishing what i was watching. It's a great journal though, and agree with Holden about taking ranking out of it for an alphabetical list to give an international element.

Lord no! Not bloody 'There were no films before Star Wars' Empire!

Time Out's list also has international films.

And I look at the Empire list as giving us an "alternative" selection of movies. Yes, the majority are from the 1990s and onwards, but so what? It includes films you don't see on any others, like The Big Lebowski and Memento, Evil Dead II and The Thing, even Shaun of the Dead and Anchorman! A lot of the films from Empire's list are probably the favourites of many MoFos. Like it or not.

It's not a question of snobbery, but what is the point? It's not supposed to be a favorites list. To find out most MoFos have seen The Big Lebowski and the Evil Dead movies is something you can file under DUH! But I find it fascinating (and a little sad) that so many members haven't gotten around to classics from the '20s through the '70s. I'm sure the list will be even more interesting/disheartening if it includes Kurosawa, Tarkovsky and Ozu. Plus these lists will, hopefully, serve as an encouragement and reminder that, oh yeah, the next time I'm at the video store or on NetFlix I should see if they have To Kill a Mockingbird or Bringing Up Baby or The Bridge on the River Kwai and not go straight to the new release wall and rent Blades of Glory.

Dig?

Already saw To Kill a Mockingbird, but I took your recommendation to see Bringing Up Baby! I really liked it. I was shocked because I found out that the Madonna movie, Who's That Girl?, which I love, is loosely based on it, so I noticed all of these similarities in Bringing Up Baby.