The New AND Improved MoFo Top 100 Films of All-Time

Yes, Netflix has that feature. Actually, their "best guess" for me regarding Naked is 1.4 stars.

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From my observations of your film taste here on this forum, I wouldn't recommend it to you. Still, really good film.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Sarah asked me about Naked and I told her it was certainly Mike Leigh's and David Thewlis's best film. She asked me to put it number one in the queue and it is. We'll watch it together. It's the kind of film which you "get" the more you watch it, even though I "got" it the first time. No, I didn't vote for it regarding this poll, but I could very well add it to my Top 100 after I rewatch it.

Obviously Miss Vicky, if you don't "like" wonderful movies like the 1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Modern Times, you should steer clear of something so in your face as Naked. This is the last post I made about the film.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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Hunchback was a good movie in terms of acting, makeup, cinematograhy, etc, but I just don't like the story itself. Not the fault of the movie, but it still kept me from enjoying it. I do have to say, though I didn't like it either, I prefer the silent version of Hunchback. At least Lon Chaney's Quasimodo was comical.

As for Modern Times, I failed to connect with Tramp this time around. I've never found him funny, but in The Kid and City Lights I was able to at least feel something for him on an emotional level. Not here.

Though given that neither film has (yet) made this list, this really isn't the place to discuss them.

Naked is an astonishingly powerful film and the one which first prompted me to put a 'serious' review down here. Link

As Mark alludes to, Leigh and particularly Thewlis have been nowhere near as good since, but they're falling from a very high peak.

It's #6 on my list and I'd love to know who else ranks it highly.

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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

There were a couple scenes in the theatrical cut the studio butchers so badly, the blocking/line of action/continuity were just trashed. Proyas was able to re-edit the flick so the flow makes a lot more sense. There is more development on the detective and his wife...I forget the rest. Proyas and Sewell both claim this later cut is the definitive cut.

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I won't go on about The Princess Bride too much, and I take solace, certainly, in the fact that nobody seems to really dislike it (which would probably induce me to weep ), but as for why it's so lovable...well, here are a few reasons:

• The Premise
  It's a self-aware fairy tale, for crying out loud. Long before Shrek had a little fun with the idea, The Princess Bride did it far, far better. So many lines start off straight, and then veer off into self-satire.
  
  "This is true love...do you think this happens every day?"
  
• The Dialogue
  All throughout the film, the dialogue absolutely shines. It's got everything. It's dry and witty:

  "Please consider me as an alternative to suicide."
  
  "Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?"
  "Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future."
  
  "She is alive, or was an hour ago. If she is otherwise when I find her I shall be very put out."
  
  "Finish him. Finish him, your way."
  "Oh good, my way. Thank you Vizzini... what's my way?"
  "Pick up one of those rocks, get behind a boulder, in a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend, the minute his head is in view, hit it with the rock!"
  "My way's not very sportsman-like."
  

  It has wonderful wordplay:

  "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
  "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."

  It's downright funny:

  "Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?"
  "Yes."
  "Morons."
  
  "Sleep well...and dream of large women."
  

  It's insightful and quotable:

  "You mock my pain!"
  "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
  

  This is fantastic, varied dialogue that touches every color in the spectrum, from absurdity to insight and back again. I suppose I can see someone not getting caught up in the story itself, since it's almost a parody, but the dialogue is fantastic.
  
• It's Moving
  It's hard for a film to be both funny and sweet, both emotionally compelling and absurd, but The Princess Bride walks that line as well as any film I think I've ever seen. Cary Elwes and Robin Wright-Penn have real chemistry, Fezzik's a lovable character, and Peter Falk's love for his grandson in the frame story makes for a completely perfect end to the tale. I'll never be able to hear the words "As you wish" without thinking of it.
  
• The Swordfight
  How often do you see great sword fights any more? Let alone ones that have verbal fencing to go along with the literal? Let alone ones that have twists and turns and revelations about each person's skill and subterfuge during the fight itself? Not to mention the undercurrent of mutual respect the two swordsmen have for each other throughout, which manages to be both noble and funny at the same time. This scene is a masterpiece.

I could go on. Technically, the world looks pretty fleshed out, and the only times in which we can see the technical seams on things (like the obvious sound stage/tank the boat chase was filmed on/in), it tends to add to the film's charm rather than detract from it.

The film is full to the brim with talented character actors who take a starkly-drawn character and just nail it. The cast is just a list of consummate professionals: Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Robin Wright-Penn, Mandy Patinkin. The people who seem even a little out of place either because they're too famous (Billy Crystal) or not experienced (Andre the Giant) are slotted into just the right roles.

There are films I like, and films I love. Films I respect, and films I feel genuine affection for. The Princess Bride is the latter on both counts. It's a story that works as a story, but also works as a commentary about stories. It suits almost every mood I could possibly be in, whether I feel like watching a comedy, a drama, or just something fun and episodic.

So, naturally, this is all a big, roundabout way of saying that I hope some of you guys will reconsider and, if you haven't already, give it a real open shot. Meet the film on its terms: as a surreal, sweet, but scathing and self-aware fairy tale, and I think it might win you over a bit. I hope so.

Unfortunately, I don't really like fairy tales, self-aware or otherwise. Occassionally they click with me, but not usually.

Before? Yes. Better? No. I found Shrek a lot more charming than this. A charm that has worn thinner with repeated viewings, but I'd still rather watch Shrek now than The Princess Bride.

The Dialogue
Sorry, I won't post the quotes as they're only one post above, but I didn't find any of them funny or cute or anything.

It's Moving
This is the bit that's most baffling to me. I knew a guy who hadn't seen this before and cried like a baby when he saw it... And he's not a crier. Me? I wasn't even sure which bit he could've cried during.

The Swordfight
I don't care for swordfights. I don't hate them or dislike them, they just do nothing for me. I didn't give a monkey's about them in Star Wars and I still don't. Again, this isn't a funny scene to me.

I don't really care for any of the cast. Billy Crystal's ok in general, but I'm not a fan of his. The rest I don't really care for and I've never understood the appeal of RWP or Mady Patinkin.

I am glad that you obviously love it so and that it's something you're passionate about. I'm afraid I'll just have to stand on the dockside and wish you "Bon Voyage" as you set sail on the SS The Princess Bride.

I'm a bit confused by this response. For example, you say you "don't care for swordfighting." But, to me, this is like saying you "don't care for action" or "don't care for music." Surely, it would have to depend on how it was done, yeah? Do you not care for gunplay, either, or anything else in a film which tries to generate excitement, or is this just arbitrarily limited to swordplay?

In other words, saying "I don't find this particular fight interesting, and here's why" is one thing, but discounting the entire notion seems strange, because there's nothing specific to swordfighting that would make it inherently less interesting or less peril-filled than any other fight with any other weapon.

As for the dialogue...well, you're not giving me a lot to work with. But I'll note that a lot of it doesn't have to be "funny or cute" to be enjoyed. Some of it's just downright clever, which is something a bit more objective than "funny," I think. Not liking the dialogue is probably the most perplexing aspect to me, because it's clearly very well-written. Is this one of those instances where you (or whoever) might see that something is good even if it doesn't strike you personally, or do you read those quotes and honestly not understand why someone else would find it great? What dialogue do you think is great, for comparison's sake?

I won't try much to convince you that the film is moving. This is the part I expect to vary the most from person to person. I don't think I've cried during it, but how can you not see why someone might? It's a sweet story about two people in love who almost die trying to be with each other. It's not a stretch to think that anyone who's in love, has been in love, or even expects to one day be in love, might find it moving. For some people, that's going to strike a chord.

Anyway, you see what I'm on about. I like the reasons behind the opinions, because I think they're almost always based in something else, if not always an overarching attitude towards films in general -- though I have to admit, I do tend to think of The Princess Bride as a semi-decent litmus test for how someone approaches movies as a whole.

'ello chap

64. All About Eve (1950, Mankiewicz)





Total Points Earned: 46
Compared to Previous List: NEW

I guess those would be the exceptions that prove the rule. But no, I don't really care for action. A series of explosions rarely does anything for me, so it's probably one of the reasons I like so few action/war/Western films. Can those things be good? Of course, but I can't think of one I liked in a film I, otherwise, didn't.

Maybe if you had swordplay in a film it didn't seem to belong there'd be something. But swordplay usually appears in films you'd expect it to and I don't usually like those films. Errol Flynn fannying about with a sword in his films does as little for me as the scene in this film. Actually, that's not really true, I prefered this film to anything I've ever seen starring Errol Flynn. BTW, I know that Flynn did a lot of other films where there weren't any swords, before someone chips in and this film is still better than any of the ones I've seen.

As for gunplay? I guess you'd have to give an example. Do I think "Oh good! The guns are coming out!" No. Do I think "Oooh, that's a cool gun!" Hardly ever. I can't actually think of a specific time I've done that, but I feel like I have sometime. Put it this way, I was bored by the end of Terminator 2. I'd known nothing about it (I didn't even know that Arnie was the good guy in this one, so I was as confused as John Connor) I'd gone to a sneak preview of it, I was incredibly excited to see it as I'd liked The Terminator so much... And yet, by the end of the film I was bored. I just wanted it to finish and go home. To this day, I'm still bored by the end of that film when I watch it.

I agree that there's some nicely written lines, clever line, well written, but I'd have rather written them than heard them. I'd have been fairly pleased to have written them, but often writing something dry or clever is more amusing than hearing it. In my experience, anyway. It has, for me, likeable lines, but few funny ones. I'm sure I chuckled a few times, but I can't remember when.

The film above this post has some lines that I really like, but I love All About Eve, so even the clever but unfunny (to me) lines are more enjoyed in this by me than in The Princess Bride. I smile or smuckle a lot more in All About Eve than I did with The Princess Bride. Of couse, I've also seen it alot more than TPB.

Naked is really the only true surprise. Thank goodness Psycho made it though. Still yet to see Princess Bride or All About Eve.

I wonder who submitted Naked. It's a great film that is easily likeable if you're "used" to somewhat intense films, but kinda obscure.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

There's two for starters.

Being 'kinda obscure' negates its position on the list? Here was me thinking that we're taking MoFo's collective 2010 pulse.

Obscure? A 90's Mike Leigh film is "obscure"? After the crap you gave me about the films I listed in another thread, I would've thought you'd use the word with more care than that.

Playing devil's advocate here - I'd never heard of it before I got on this site. Haven't heard much about it outside of here either.

Did you see the list I posted, though?

Devil's advocate implies maybe you honestly don't think it's obscure?

And I've never heard anyone talk about it or list it besides for one blog I read that caused me to see it.

Also, it was posted on the obscure thread as being obscure.

Also, I used the word "kinda".

And when did I say that being obscure (if it indeed is) negates it for being on the list? When the **** did I say that? Holy Christ. Here I was thinking that it's written write there on the page.

Also, just stop calling me out, I'll edit and put the word "lesser known". Any talk about the film going on here?

If something is 'great but...' it usually signifies a fly in the ointment, something less than positive. Forgive me if I took 'kinda obscure' as the insect in question but what else am I meant to infer?

'Lesser known' would have drawn the same response.