The MoFo Top 100 of the 60s: Countdown

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The Wild Bunch was number 8 for me, and I now have 10 films from my list that has appeared on the countdown.

Have to say I'm real glad that it made it this high. Definitely one of my favorite westerns along with Butch Cassidy.



The Wild Bunch is great, and what a finale it has. I didn't vote for it, but may have if I had seen it more recently.

I enjoyed 8 1/2, much more than I ever expected to.



Fellini is hit and miss for me traditionally, La Dolce Vita made my list. 8 1/2 was never in contention. I don't hate it, but at the same time I appreciate nothing outside of the technical aspects. The cinematography is amazing. But this is Fellini at his most pretentious, so many will love this more than his other more meaningful works.
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The People's Republic of Clogher
The Wild Bunch was my #2.

Dad's Army gone rogue, basically. Pike is Mainwaring, Dutch is Wilson, Lyle is Walker, Angel is Pike (which is where things get confusing), Thornton is Hodges etc etc.

A superlative elegy to youth, friendship and the West itself.

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Mapache?
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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



My list so far:

3. The Swimmer (19686) (#68)
4. 8 1/2 (1963) (#16)
5. Red Desert (1964) (#82)
6. Elmer Gantry (1960) (#48)
7. L'avventura (1960) (#63)
8. Z (1969) (#44)
10. Contempt (1963) (#65)
16. Lolita (1962) (#56)
17. Onibaba (1964) (#62)
25. I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967) (one pointer)
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Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
The Wild Bunch was okay, but I wasn't amazed.


I hope I don't have to comment on 8 1/2.

Not my set. ;(
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Today, two films I didn't like.



101. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (4)
97. Seconds

93. Fail Safe

88. Jungle Book

87. From Russia With Love (11)
86. Blow Up

85. Italian Job (19)
84. Cape Fear

77. The Lion in Winter (3)
72. True Grit (23)
66. In the Heat of the Night (21)
57. Charade

53. A Hard Day's Night (25)
52. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance

51. A Fistful of Dollars

49. Mary Poppins (15)
47. Spartacus (9)
46. Goldfinger

45. Bonnie and Clyde (22)
42. The Haunting (17)
41. Pierrot le Fou

40. My Fair Lady

39. Breakfast at Tiffany's

38. Easy Rider

36. Umbrellas of Cherbourg (5)
34. Manchurian Candidate

28. Westside Story

26. The Hustler (8)
22. For a Few Dollars More

21. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

20. Night of the Living Dead

19. Woman in the Dunes (13)
18. The Birds (10)
16. 8 1/2

15. The Wild Bunch


13//25 of my films

34/86 Overal

Well at least 8 1/2 isn't 8.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Higher? The 60s might be the decade of foreign and arthouse but let's not get carried away. The top ten will be Kubrick and cowboys all the way

Visually, 8 1/2 is amazing. However, if you were to describe it as pretentious and self-indulgent I wouldn't disagree. The Wild Bunch didn't really do anything for me, I'm afraid.



I had The Wild Bunch at #10.

My List:

3. A Hard Day’s Night (#53)
5. Playtime (#31)
7. High and Low (#23)
9. Bonnie and Clyde (#45)
10. The Wild Bunch (#15)
16. The Hustler (#26)
18. Peeping Tom (#33)
19. Woman in the Dunes (#19)
20. Night of the Living Dead (#20)
21. Andrei Rublev (#55)
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The Wild Bunch was my #2.

Dad's Army gone rogue, basically. Pike is Mainwaring, Dutch is Wilson, Lyle is Walker, Angel is Pike (which is where things get confusing), Thornton is Hodges etc etc.

A superlative elegy to youth, friendship and the West itself.

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Mapache?
Haha! I love that thought!



Dammit, I hoped 8 1/2 would crack the top 10 at least, it was #2 on my list and it could have just as easily had the number one spot. I think it's definitely Fellini's masterpiece, and quite possibly the greatest b&w film that I've seen. Pretentious is the last thing I'd call it.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
When I first watched , I thought the film was an incomprehensible mess. It was only after I thought about it and I rewatched it that I realized that it was anything but without form or unstructured. is basically Fellini laying out all his insecurities on film and showing you exactly why he's having a difficult time making his next film. Fellini had already made seven-and-one-half films, and his previous film, La Dolce Vita was his biggest hit and made him an even bigger cause celebre. is certainly a personal film for Fellini, where he not only bears his soul as a human and a filmmaker, but where he gleefully accepts surrealism as a new road to travel down. Marcello Mastroianni titanically plays the alter ego of Fellini and certainly paints him in a less-than-flattering light. Actually, Fellini provides a lot of comedy to go along with the more-somber parts of the film, and he also has the most-attractive female cast he ever had. Most people cite the opening dream sequence as a highlight and an inviting entryway into the film.



The Wild Bunch is one of Holden's faves, so I'll just say that it's a different film now than when I first watched it. Apparently it was cut by Warner Brothers shortly after release in the U.S. although it was untouched in Europe. When I went to the Filmex 50-hour Western Marathon, I was finally able to see the restored film with the Pancho Villa train attack and a few other character scenes restored. It made some of the midsection of the film clearer, but if you've seen the film, the highlight remains the violent finale where oodles of bullets are fired as the old west and western slips away into the dust.



I didn't vote for these two, but there will be eight more of mine coming.
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Another from my list. The Wild Bunch is one of my father's favorite films of all time. Right up there with The Searchers, Gunga Din, The Bridge On the River Kwai, and The Quiet Man. He first exposed this film to me by showing me the ending first. He said, "Hey watch this." I see Pike and company say they want Angel back, and then the lead flies. Saw the movie in full after that, and it is one of my favorite westerns. For whatever that is worth, since I am not a huge fan of westerns. But it was my number #19.

Did not like 8 1/2.

1. Will show. Top 10 probably
2. Unsure now
3. Le Samourai (1967) #24
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968) #20
5. A Fistful of Dollars (1964) #51
6. Pretty sure will show
7. High and Low (1963) #23
8. The Hustler (1961) #26
9. Will show. Top 10 easy.
10. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) #34
11. The Battle of Algiers (1966) # 69
12. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) #73
13. Red Beard (1965) #60
14. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) #29
15. More then likely will show
16. True Grit (1969) #72
17. Doubt it
18. Could be Number 1
19. The Wild Bunch (1969) #15
20. The Great Escape (1963) #30
21. Yojimbo (1961) #17
22. Easy top 10
23. Easy top 10
24. Peeping Tom (1960) #33
25. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) (1 Pointer)

My List:
Seen: 44/86



Had The Wild Bunch at #13.
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A little bit like Mark, I think that 8½ is the kind of film that will grow on me. I had a hard time understand it when I watched it, but I think I'd like it more if I tried to watch it again

As for The Wild Bunch I watched it recently for the list and it kind of disappointed me, I found it to be inferrior to most other 60's western I've seen. Including The Magnificient Seven, The Professionals, Butch Cassidy, Leone films, Corbucci films, etc.
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Master of My Domain


8 1/2 was my #3

I had a feeling that 8 1/2 wouldn't crack the top ten, despite people who love this film really loving, so I'm not even slightly disappointed

When it comes to favorites I tend to write an extra paragraph explaining why I think it's brilliant, but in the case of 8 1/2, sometimes imagery bursting with inspiration and creativity is a bit hard to put into words, so I'll keep it simple.

Our hero is Guido (Marcello Mastroianni), a director who is struggling to create a new film as he has hit a major filmmaker's block. All he does is either wander, go around problems instead of facing them directly, or going into one of his dreams. Mastrioianni was born to play the role, the way he naturally looks at something in an uncaring, calm mood can't help but make you realize troubles are deep inside. Or maybe it's the subtle acting, perfectly playing a director who is out of ideas yet still wants to be in a superior position. Probably both.

Surreal imagery-based movies can get boring quickly, but Fellini keeps hitting you consecutively with precisely constructed worlds that never go out of hand, they simple remind you of another dream, with a bit of wackiness ans beauty. The surrealism is not from a psychedelic roots - that's for other films. Guido is never under the influence of drugs or anything similar, he is constantly getting dragged and figuratively molested by groups of people who are trying to get him over with, and Guido helplessly flails trying to find even the smallest reason to continue within chaos. His wife he can not connect with and his mistress is no help either. The people he visits, to seek help, are interested on what's in for them.

This feeling is contrasted with the movement of other characters, which are pretty much up-beat and dancing in a pleasant way. The music was not post-recorded but played on set, and doing that quiet likely helped Mastrioianni get into his character. Not only that, but there are bands circling around in front of him. Most of the time though, this is part of bone-crushing reality.

8 1/2 isn't much different from other films that study a single character and his surroundings, it's the way Fellini presents the study to the audience that annoys and bores a lot, including a few here on MoFo. Personally for me every single moment is a masterpiece of it's own and you know what I'm gonna replace Oldboy with 8 1/2 in my Top 10 just because I can.

Edit - About Wild Bunch - a deliciously fun Western that used to be in my Top 100 and adored by me but not anymore because, well, I simply realized that there are better films. But it still remains in my heart, I treasure all the character, the insults, and the climatic battle scene is badass.