Best films of all time....ever!!!!

[chrisS]

Hi! I'm new round these parts, so if you've done this before, ignore me. Have you done a poll thingy of everyone's top five films?

1. Kind Hearts and Coronets
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Fight Club
4. The Maltese Falcon
5. Twelve Angry Men

If anyone gives a toss, i'll compile them in a bit a make a top twenty/fifty/whatever.
Trying too hard....
Nil thread.

[Purves Grundy]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

We've been around for anywhere between 4 months and 14 years, depending on how you're counting, so naturally we've done this before.

Still, I shan't wish a nil thread on someone with such good taste in films.

Thing is, mine is emphatically a Favourite rather than best. I know TonTon denies the distinction, but he's wrong.

1 - School for Scoundrels
2 - The Lady Vanishes
3 - The Big Lebowski
4 - Taxi Driver
5 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Ginger Yellow]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

I remember when this were all five best films of all time lists.

[Disco Child Ballads]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Yes, we have done this before and I doubt mine has changed since last time.

1. A Matter of Life and Death
2. The Apartment
3. Crimes and Misdemeanors
4. The Band Wagon
5. Withnail & I

[Heliotrope]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Favorites:
1. Black Orpheus
2. Ballad of a Soldier (beat you to it, evilC)
3. The Family Way
4. I Walked with a Zombie
5. Marie Antoinette

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Favourites, not best, for me too. Not only is it impossible to quantify what makes a film great, but I also like flaws in most things ...plus I'm a soft bastard, too!

1. Eraserhead
2. The Elephant Man
3. Paris, Texas
4. Exotica
5. Ballad of a Soldier

This list is also liable to shuffle and sometimes entirely change at a moment's notice, though.

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

(Bastard, Heliotrope! ;-> )

[Guest]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

1. Magnolia
2. The Apartment
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
5. Fight Club

[Ginger Yellow]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Perhaps to mix it up a bit, we could instead (or as well) riff off the BFI's question: what one film would you bequeath to posterity?

I'm tempted to say one of my favourites (which I also think are very, very good films (eg Lebowski or The Good, The Bad And The Ugly), but taking the premise of the quesiton seriously, I think I'm forced to say Koyaanisqatsi. A glorious demonstration of both the possibilities of the medium of film itself and of nature of the world and humanity.

[chrisS]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Cheers for not making this a nil thread, all. To be honest, I meant more favourite than best. My top 3 or 4 are fairly set in stone, but my last couple of places are always subject to my latest whim. That tends to mean a back-up list of about 15 which tend to swap places depending on what I've seen/rewatched most recently.

[My Name Is Ian]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Favourites for me, too, because I don't accept that my critical faculties are up to much.

1. Back To The Future
2. The Taking Of Pelham 123
3. Midnight Cowboy
4. Threads (Can I have Threads? It was made for TV, but it's feature length - if not, then "The War Game". That was shown in cinemas after the BBC banned it, and it won an Oscar, so it qualifies as a film in my book)
5. Amelie

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Ginger Yellow wrote:

Perhaps to mix it up a bit, we could instead (or as well) riff off the BFI's question: what one film would you bequeath to posterity?

I'm tempted to say one of my favourites (which I also think are very, very good films (eg Lebowski or The Good, The Bad And The Ugly), but taking the premise of the quesiton seriously, I think I'm forced to say Koyaanisqatsi. A glorious demonstration of both the possibilities of the medium of film itself and of nature of the world and humanity.

Personally, I find that quite a different question, as you're then forced to judge the film by more than your own personal whims/preoccupations. However, it would quite possibly be one that isn't even on my list there, having just missed the cut: 'La Jetee'. I think that serves the same purpose as your choice, GY, only with a bleakly pessimistic viewpoint. If I wanted to dedicate a film that is positive about the human spirit, then it would probably be either 'Paris, Texas' or 'Ballad of a Soldier'.

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

(Damn! Forgot 'Amelie'! I love that film. That possibly pushes 'Ballad...' out of my top 5.)

[Purves Grundy]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Now, if it's one film to show the potential of the medium then for me it'd have to be Taxi Driver which is, for me, the closest cinema has come to Hamlet in terms of giving you a window on the soul of a tortured individual in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Except that Travis isn't as much of a cissy as Hamlet, obviously.

[Bored Of Education]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Star Wars

[Ginger Yellow]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Oh yes, it's definitely a different question. I'm not saying that everyone's choice needs to "show the potential of the medium", either. I just think Koyaanisqatsi is more of a "posterity" film for me than any of my absolute favourites (not that I don't adore the film), for the reasons I gave. Different people may want to bequeath different things, like humour, or pathos or whatever.

[Incandenza]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

1. Contempt
2. Rear Window
3. Some Like It Hot
4. Annie Hall
5. Y Tu Mama Tambien

[chrisS]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Yikes! As far as posterity goes, it's a tricky one. I'm already aware that any list that has an x number of favourite films usually has a bit of tokenism (unconsciously). Must pick modern classic, must pick 1940s era film etc. That probably makes me look really low-brow. As far as a film for posterity goes, can I nominate 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' as a monument of a type of humour at it's best of an era. It's better than Life of Brian, anyway, in terms of set pieces.
Anyway, my lovely girlfriend wanted to nominate her five as follows

1. Thief of Baghdad
2. The Crimson Pirate
3. Delicatessen
4. The Amazing Mr Blunden
5. Le Diabolique

Do two votes from one name count? I'm such a newbie!!

[E10 Rifle]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

At the moment

1 Casablanca (which none of you have nominated yet, you freaks)
2 A matter of life and death
3 Withnail and I
4 The Battle of Algiers
5 Taxi Driver

[amp]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

I thought I'd reply to this with 5 films that have strong memories attached to them for me. Not all favourites and certainly not a list of the 5 best. Here goes and in no particular order

Star Wars.
It all began with Star Wars. Just old enough, 7, to see this in the cinema on its original release. It was mind blowing. I still vividly recall thinking to myself about the final assault on the Death Star. Wow...all these actors are giving their lives to make this film. Bless.

There's something about Mary.
We were in Texas. We'd got fucked up on Vodka Martinis. We we forced to check into a posh hotel cos neither of us could drive. Watched this via the on demand room service thing. I laughed so hard at the "We've got a bleeder" bit I fell off the bed.

Naked.
Saw this at the Bfi (Southbank as it was then) on release. Perfectly captured the sense of isolation and hopelessness I felt during this period of my life.

Porky's.
For the shower scene.

American Werewolf in London.
For the shower scene.

[Ginger Yellow]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

There are no newbies on OTF. Only people who aren't members of the clique(s).

[amp]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

I don't want to sidetrack this thread but there's a good few films mentioned already that I've not seen all the way through.

Casablanca
Exotica
Ballad of a Soldier
A Matter of Life and Death
The Taking Of Pelham 123

You can add in Sound of Music too. Oh and What's up Doc? and probably countless others. Am I a complete philistine? If I had to pick one to see this w/e which should it be?

I'm even more of a newbie and greatly intimidated by the wit and intelligence of everyone that seems to post here so please be gentle with me.

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

We may even be able to make an 'OTF's favourite films' list after this - I see some emerging already with multiple votes:

A Matter of Life and Death
Withnail & I
Casablanca
Ballad of a Soldier
Exotica

...and possibly some others.

Could be interesting.

[Ginger Yellow]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

"If I had to pick one to see this w/e which should it be?"

A Matter Of Life And Death. No question.

[evilC]

Best films of all time....ever!!!!

Ginger Yellow wrote:

"If I had to pick one to see this w/e which should it be?"

A Matter Of Life And Death. No question.

I would have to agree. I haven't seen it either, though I really want to. I agree with that choice because 'Exotica' would make your brain hurt (it did with me, anyway!), 'Ballad of a Soldier' would make your heart hurt and... well, that just leaves 'A Matter of Life and Death' as the default first choice, really.