The films I'm studying...titles within dividers are tied in my scoring system
Tier One Films - *my favoritesVertigo (1958) Hitchcock - Critics #1
*Tokyo Story (1953) Ozu - Directors #1 ============ 3. *Citizen Kane (1941) Welles 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Kubrick Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola ============ 6. Persona (1966) Bergman *The Rules of the Game (1939) Renoir Sunrise (1927) Murnau *Rashomon (1950) Kurosawa Au Hasard, Balthazar (1966) Bresson ============ 11. La Dolce Vita (1960) Fellini Raging Bull (1980) Scorcese *The Searchers (1956) Ford 8 1/2 (1963) Fellini *Breathless (1960) Godard 16. Godfather I (1972) Coppola *L’Atalante (1934) Vigo *Seven Samurai (1954) Kurosawa Ordet (1955) Dreyer ============ 20. The General (1926) Keaton *Ugetsu (1953) Mizoguchi Singin’ in the Rain (1951) Donen/Kelly Battleship Potemkin (1925) Eisenstein *Apu Trilogy/Pather Panchali (1955) Ray The 400 Blows (1959) Truffaut Le Mepris (1963) Godard Taxi Driver (1976) Scorcese The Bicycle Thieves (1948) de Sica *Man With a Movie Camera (1929) Vertov The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927) Dreyer L’Avventura (1960) Antonioni Tier Two Films33. Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) Herzog
City Lights (1931) Chaplin Psycho (1960) Hitchcock Some Like It Hot (1959) Wilder Playtime (1967) Tati Godfather II (1974) Coppola Battle of Algiers (1966) Pontecorvo *The Night of the Hunter (1955) Laughton Fanny and Alexander (1984) Bergman Barry Lyndon (1975) Kubrick Shoah (1985) Lanzman ============ 44. Mirror (1974) Tarkovsky Touch of Evil (1958) Welles *Rear Window (1954) Hitchcock Mulholland Drive (2001) Lynch A Man Escaped (1956) Bresson Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Lean Pickpocket (1959) Bresson ============ 51. Andrei Rublev (1966) Tarkovsky *La Grand Illusion (1937) Renoir The Seventh Seal (1957) Bergman Amarcord (1972) Fellini Viridiana (1961) Brunel Come and See (1985) Klimov Goodfellas (1991) Scorcese The Apartment (1960) Wilder *Sunset Boulevard (1950) Wilder Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1997) Fassbinder *Blade Runner (1982) Scott The Wild Bunch (1969) Peckinpah ============ 63. *Late Spring (1949) Ozu M (1931) Lang Chinatown (1974) Polanski *Un Chien Andalou (1929) Brunel In the Mood For Love (2000) Wong Kar-Wei Blow-Up (1966) Antonioni A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Cassavetes The Shining (1980) Kubrick Badlands (1973) Malick Close-Up (1989) Kiarostami Stalker (1979) Tarkovsky The Gospel Acc. to St. Matthew (1964) Pasolini Modern Times (1936) Charlie Chaplin ============ 76. Metropolis (1927) Lang The Tree of Life (2011) Malick *Children of Paradise (1945) Carne *Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red (1993-1994) Kieslowski *The Leopard (1963) Visconti La Maman...Putain (1973) Eustache Journey to Italy (1954) Rossellini Gertrude (1964) Dreyer L'Eclisse (1962) Antonioni Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Leone One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest (1975) Forman ============ 89. *Ikiru (1952) Kurosawa *Sansho the Bailiff (1954) Mizoguchi Rio Bravo (1959) Hawks The Third Man (1949) Reed Nashville (1975) Altman *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) Powell & Pressburger The Earrings of Madame D' (1953) Ophuls 96. Last Year at Marienbad (1961) Resnais Pierrot le Fou (1965) Godard Blue Velvet (1986) Lynch The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) Leone Jaws (1975) Spielberg *Casablanca (1942) Curtiz +Jules et Jim (1962) Truffaut Mouchette (1967) Bresson 103. Notorious (1946) Hitchcock |
My responses...updated as I progress through the listSometimes I want to watch a simple, fun, entertaining movie—I think we all have our cinematic guilty pleasures. However, I find my enjoyment of the "artistic" cinema included in this project is based on a combination of emotional connection and filmmaking excellence. I consider all the films in each group essentially as equals; they are simply listed in the order I studied them.
The Greatest Movies: A+ These films made a deep impression on me - both emotionally and cinematically. I will return to them again and again for inspiration. Tokyo Story Citizen Kane The Rules of the Game Rashomon The Searchers Breathless L'Atalante Seven Samurai Ugetsu Man With a Movie Camera Pather Panchali The Night of the Hunter Rear Window Grand Illusion Sunset Boulevard Blade Runner Late Spring Un Chien Andalou Children of Paradise Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red Ikiru Sansho the Bailiff The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Casablanca Notorious Great Movies: A/A- These are also tremendous films that I highly recommend and feel the need to rewatch over the years. I like them almost as much as the first list, but they just did not overwhelm as totally as that group did. Vertigo 2001: A Space Odyssey Apocalypse Now Persona Sunrise 8 1/2 Godfather I The General The 400 Blows Taxi Driver The Bicycle Thieves City Lights Psycho Playtime The Battle of Algiers Touch of Evil A Man Escaped Lawrence of Arabia The Seventh Seal Come and See Goodfellas The Apartment Ali: Fear Eats the Soul The Wild Bunch M Chinatown In the Mood For Love The Shining Stalker Modern Times Metropolis The Tree of Life Journey to Italy Gertrud Nashville The Earrings of Madame de... Jaws Very Good Movies: B+/B/B- These are really good films, and I can understand why they are revered. Any cinema fan needs to see all of these. However, this group did not connect as strongly emotionally for me as the first two categories above. Each one of these had artistic dealbreakers of either a magnitude and/or frequency that made me merely like rather than love them. La Dolce Vita Ordet Singin' in the Rain Contempt (Le Mepris) The Passion of Joan of Arc L'Avventura - the more I reflect on this the more I feel the need to re-watch it. I just got the Criterion Blu-ray and upon further viewing this one may move up to my "Great" category. Aguirre, Wrath of God Some Like It Hot The Godfather Part II Fanny and Alexander Barry Lyndon The Mirror Mulholland Drive Pickpocket Amarcord Viridiana Blow-Up L'eclisse Once Upon A Time in the West One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Rio Bravo Last Year at Marienbad (I'm not sure this is a "Very Good" movie, but I've placed it here because it was merely somewhat interesting but not as much a "miss" for me as the C/D films) Pierrot le Fou (another interesting intellectual experiment, but no more than that) Blue Velvet The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Mouchette Least favorite films: C/D Sadly, these did not connect for me. Au Hasard Balthazar - Perhaps I hit this universally acclaimed film too early in my self-education journey, but I just saw no greatness here. Raging Bull - I don't usually have a problem with violence, but I found this to be a technically masterful film that was painful to watch. Andrei Rublev - Did not connect for me, despite some visually beautiful moments A Woman Under the Influence - Great acting that I couldn't stand to watch. Badlands - the few beautiful moments were not enough to draw me in. Close-Up - dreary, tedious, and uninteresting The Gospel According to St. Matthew - again, tedious and uninteresting Le Maman et la Putain - I felt no connection, and found it a slog to even finish. Jules et Jim - I was let down by this, did not see the greatness and felt no admiration for it. |