Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The whole world's movie meme

You can see lists at Tracey's, and at Sheila's, and at Cullen's, and probably forty-seven other spots too. The rules are simple: go down the list, bold everything you loved and italicize everything you hated. Leave as is stuff you've never seen.

Some people have been taking to outlining the Best of the Best in red or in really huge font to specify more than a mere thumbs-up or down. It's a good idea and I'll follow this convention by highlighting in red my all-time top faves. (In short, do I just stop and stare at it when it comes on the TV?)

One note before we begin - I copied and pasted the list, of course... but when I did, Blogger decided to remove all the line breaks. I am now not only highlighting, bolding, and what-not-ing, but I have to make sure I don't accidentally erase something by hitting "return" while it's still highlighted. If there's anything missing folks, that's why. And if I have any comments, they follow the selection.

The Godfather (1972)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - honorable mention, since I have and love the soundtrack
Pulp Fiction (1994) - but surprisingly, my favorite of Tarantino's movies is not on this list at all, Jackie Brown (1997)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - George Lucas should have re-watched this about twenty times before writing the prequels
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Casablanca (1942)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Star Wars (1977) - I still probably know about 75% of the dialogue by heart. And HAN SHOT FIRST.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Rear Window (1954)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Goodfellas (1990) - I've actually played on a hockey team named after this movie, but still haven't seen it
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - think about Harrison Ford... in the space of five years he got to be Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard. And can you think of anyone else in any of those roles? Look at Kurt Russell's line reads for Han or Tom Selleck's promo pics as Indy. Those guys are good actors, too, but neither movie would have been as good.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
City of God (2002)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Psycho (1960)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - been a long time, so though I have seen it, I can't remember if I enjoyed it or not
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - eh. I don't hate it out loud or anything, but I don't see the huge Oscar-winning deal about it
North by Northwest (1959)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Fight Club (1999)
Memento (2000)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Matrix (1999) - if only the Wachoskis had stopped here
Taxi Driver (1976)
Se7en (1995)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
American Beauty (1999)
Vertigo (1958)
Amélie (2001)
The Departed (2006)
Paths of Glory (1957)
American History X (1998)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Gregory Peck is wonderful in this
Chinatown (1974)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Third Man (1949)
A Clockwork Orange (1971) - enjoyed? No. But it's a hell of a movie
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Alien (1979)
The Pianist (2002)
The Shining (1980)
Double Indemnity (1944)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Leben der Anderen, Das [The Lives of Others] (2006)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - it's embarassing how many of these I've always meant to see and didn't
Boot, Das (1981)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Metropolis (1927)
Aliens (1986)
Raging Bull (1980)
Rashômon (1950)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Rebecca (1940)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Sin City (2005)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
All About Eve (1950)
Modern Times (1936)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - I sort of kind of liked it, but boy is it dull. Needs more Roy Scheider
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Great Escape (1963)
Amadeus (1984)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Prestige (2006)
Vita è bella, La [Life Is Beautiful] (1997) - I don't hold Roberto Bellini's insanity against the film
Jaws (1975) - bonus points for being one of the better "As Told By Bunnies" spoofs
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) -
The Sting (1973)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The Apartment (1960)
City Lights (1931)
Braveheart (1995)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Blade Runner (1982) - only bits and pieces. I am lame
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Notorious (1946)
Salaire de la peur, Le [The Wages of Fear](1953)
High Noon (1952)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Fargo (1996)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Unforgiven (1992)
Back to the Future (1985)
Ran (1985)
Oldboy (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The Green Mile (1999)
Annie Hall (1977)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Gladiator (2000)
The Sixth Sense (1999) - unfortunately
Diaboliques, Les [The Devils] (1955)
Ben-Hur (1959) - again bonus points for the third-grade version from that commercial a few years back. No, that's not rational at all, but it's my list. So there.
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Life of Brian (1979)
Die Hard (1988)
The General (1927) - the Inspector General, with Danny Kaye? Oh? Well, then, no.
American Gangster (2007)
Platoon (1986)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Graduate (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Crash (2004/I)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Heat (1995)
Gandhi (1982)
Harvey (1950)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The African Queen (1951)
Stand by Me (1986)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) - but not as much as the first one
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - I've read the play, it was great
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Conversation (1974)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Wo hu cang long [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ] (2000)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Cabinet des Dr. Caligari., Das [The Cabinet of Dr Caligari] (1920)
The Thing (1982)
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Sleuth (1972)
Patton (1970)
Toy Story (1995)
Glory (1989)
Out of the Past (1947)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Ed Wood (1994)
Spartacus (1960)
The Terminator (1984)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Exorcist (1973)
Frankenstein (1931)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Hustler (1961)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
The Lion King (1994) - negative points for the voice of Whoopi Goldberg
Big Fish (2003) - the movie that made me forgive Tim Burton for "Sleepy Hollow"
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - eh. Nice to see very early Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder roles, though.
Young Frankenstein (1974) - ha, I just noticed, that's back-to-back for Gene Squared!
Magnolia (1999)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Roman Holiday (1953)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Casino (1995)
Manhattan (1979)
Ying xiong [Hero] (2002)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - again, they should have just quit here. I will never be convinced that either this or the Matrix had any planned sequels until the originals became big successes.
Rope (1948)
Cinderella Man (2005)
The Searchers (1956)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
His Girl Friday (1940)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - if I ever owned a curtain shop I'd name it "Liberty Valance."

And that's it. A lot of movies I've seen aren't on here. I may follow up next week with a list of some of those, for everyone else to label accordingly.

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