Movies My Top Ten Lists of My Favorite Films

[AliShibaz]

MY TOP TEN LISTS OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIES

A list does not have to contain exactly ten and you can have several lists if you like. Such as:
ALMOST MADE THE "GREAT FILMS" LIST (THINK OF THESE AS 11 THRU 20)
GREAT FILM NOIR FILMS

Here are my lists. The numbers to the right of the title is the IMDB rating. 7.0 is average. Usually, most films below 7.0 aren't worth seeing. But, IMO, there are spectacular exceptions to that. Here are my lists. I'd love to see some of yours.

GREAT FILMS (TOP TEN)
1956 The Ten Commandments 7.9
1989 Coming Home 7.4
1996 Fargo 8.2
1964 Dr. Strangelove 8.5
1954 Sabrina (1954) 7.8
2011 George Harrison Living In The Material World 8.2
1993 What's Love Got To Do With It 7.2
2000 Small Time Crooks 6.7
1960 Spartacus 8.0
1961 The Guns of Navarone 7.6
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GREAT FILM NOIR FILMS
1975 Farewell My Lovely 7.1
1944 Murder My Sweet 7.7
1950 Mystery Street 7.1
1942 Saboteur 7.3
1949 The Big Steal 7.1
1948 The Treasure Of Sierra Madre 8.4
1949 White Heat 8.2
1956 The Killing 8.1
1941 The Little Foxes 8.2
1944 Double Indemnity 8.5
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ALMOST MADE THE "GREAT FILMS" LIST (THINK OF THESE AS 11 THRU 20)
1973 Charley Varrick 7.6
1992 One False Move 7.2
1999 Deterrence 6.5
1978 Straight Time 7.4
2010 Unstoppable 6.8
1994 The Shawshank Redemption 9.3
1993 In The Line Of Fire (1993) (7.2)
1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai 8.3
2003 The Last Samurai 7.7
2000 The Patriot 7.1
1972 The Godfather 9.2

"What's Love Got To Do With It" only got 7.2. IMO it got robbed. It deserves at least 8.0. "The Shawshank Redemption" deserves its 9.3. But, WOW! That is the highest rating I've ever seen.

I don't know why so many people seem to turn their noses up at "Small Time Crooks". IMO, it is the funniest film that Woody Allen ever made and may well be his only really funny film. I just don't appreciate him like most people do.

(This post was last modified: 01-15-2015, 03:19 AM by AliShibaz.)

[BrownJenkin]

Awh, I like Woody Allen Small Time Crooks does tend to be listed under "mediocre later work" though. I hadn't heard of Coming Home (the 1978 Jane Fonda film?), Sabrina or George Harrison: Living in the Material World. The bit I always remember from What's Love Got to Do With It? is when Tina Turner checks into a hotel after being beaten by Ike, and she tearfully explains that she doesn't have any money on her, and the hotel clerk takes pity. That scene always gets me in the gut. Fargo is an amazing film. Possibly the best cop film ever made. I love the scene in the police car at the end ("it's a beautiful day...").

Here's my ten greatest list, in no particular order:

Midnight in Paris (2011)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Star Wars (1977)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Craft (1996)
The Thing (1982)
Aliens (1986)
Blood on Satan's Claw (1970)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Devils (1971)

[AliShibaz]

Coming Home (1978) was a fabulous film at the time and I still love to watch it today. You are set for a very enjoyable experience if you see it.

Sabrina is close to a perfect film. Ever second is enjoyable.

George Harrison was the lead guitar player for The Beatles. If you ever took any interest in them, you will enjoy this movie about George. But if you don't know who The Beatles are, you can forget it. It won't please you.

I liked The Thing. Did you ever see the original in B&W? It was pretty good too. I was working at a university in 1973 and no one could talk about anything else besides The Exorcist. Ken Russel's The Devils was an amazing movie. Extremely rare to find someone else who even knows what it is.

I will have to check out Blood on Satan's Claw just to see what it's like.

I hope to let you know in a few days.

Thanks very much.

(This post was last modified: 01-15-2015, 08:15 PM by AliShibaz.)

[LZA]

When you say "films", do you mean anything along he the lines of TV?? Or is this just movies???????... I think I know what you're getting at.

Here are five in no particular order:

Goodfellas
Tombstone
No Country for old men
The Sopranos
Forrest Gump

[AliShibaz]

Hey LZA,

I wouldn't dream of telling you that you couldn't do something.

When The Sopranos was being broadcast, I couldn't get enough. At the time, I found it the most exciting show I'd ever seen.

Now I feel that way about The Americans. But go ahead and enjoy yourself.

[BrownJenkin]

I liked The Thing. Did you ever see the original in B&W? It was pretty good too. I was working at a university in 1973 and no one could talk about anything else besides The Exorcist. Ken Russel's The Devils was an amazing movie. Extremely rare to find someone else who even knows what it is.

I will have to check out Blood on Satan's Claw just to see what it's like.

I hope to let you know in a few days.

Thanks very much.

I've seen the black-and-white Thing, and though I can appreciate it as a piece of filmmaking it doesn't come close to Carpenter's version, in my opinion. But then Carpenter's version is darker, weirder and more pessimistic, whereas the black-and-white one is more a belt-and-braces tub-thumping sc-fi film. Carpenter's is in the tradition of weird fiction, a genre I go nuts for

I'm glad you've seen The Devils! I like learning about religious history, and its take on the infamous story was gorgeously evocative and horrifying. It was like a video nasty with the aesthetic reach of great opera.

Blood on Satan's Claw is one of three horror films sometimes defined as "folk horror", meaning horrors which take place in idyllic British countrysides. The other two are Witchfinder General, another favourite of mine which just missed the list, and The Wicker Man.

[LZA]

Hey LZA,

How I feel that way about The Americans. But go ahead and enjoy yourself.

I've never seen The Americans... Maybe a show I should check out?

Oh, how could I forget to add this to my list???

Star Trek - TNG Have all Series in my harddrive and watch ocasionally...

(This post was last modified: 01-17-2015, 03:28 PM by LZA.)

[AliShibaz]

Hey LZA,

How I feel that way about The Americans. But go ahead and enjoy yourself.

I've never seen The Americans... Maybe a show I should check out?

Oh, how could I forget to add this to my list???

Star Trek - TNG Have all Series in my harddrive and watch ocasionally...

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The Americans is a wonderful show and you have two complete seasons that you can enjoy.

It's about some Soviet sleeper cells of agents that get called to action in the 1980's during Regan's presidency.

But it really doesn't matter what it's about because it is the tremendous quality of the acting, directing, etc. that makes this show a smash.

I envy you in that you can now watch two complete seasons of this masterpiece.

Seems like every year, a new show appears that becomes "The Best Show Ever".

Have a good time. If you want to see what others have to say, there are many good forums you can read. But if you do that, beware of getting spoilers.

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I liked The Thing. Did you ever see the original in B&W? It was pretty good too. I was working at a university in 1973 and no one could talk about anything else besides The Exorcist. Ken Russel's The Devils was an amazing movie. Extremely rare to find someone else who even knows what it is.

I will have to check out Blood on Satan's Claw just to see what it's like.

I hope to let you know in a few days.

Thanks very much.

I've seen the black-and-white Thing, and though I can appreciate it as a piece of filmmaking it doesn't come close to Carpenter's version, in my opinion. But then Carpenter's version is darker, weirder and more pessimistic, whereas the black-and-white one is more a belt-and-braces tub-thumping sc-fi film. Carpenter's is in the tradition of weird fiction, a genre I go nuts for

I'm glad you've seen The Devils! I like learning about religious history, and its take on the infamous story was gorgeously evocative and horrifying. It was like a video nasty with the aesthetic reach of great opera.

Blood on Satan's Claw is one of three horror films sometimes defined as "folk horror", meaning horrors which take place in idyllic British countrysides. The other two are Witchfinder General, another favourite of mine which just missed the list, and The Wicker Man.

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The "look and feel" of Blood on Satan's Claw was very similar to the 1971 version of "Straw Dogs". It was directed by Sam Peckinpaw and starred Dustin Hoffman.

There were two versions of this film. The later one was released in 2011.

I don't know why. But I never enjoyed this movie very much. Sam Peckinpaw is very skilled in movies where everyone shoots everyone else and they all get blown to bits and then everybody dies. No one does that better than Sam. He is a master.

But this movie moves very slowly. Most everyone dies all right. But it just doesn't feel like a Peckinpaw movie.

Want to see a great Peckinpaw movie? Try "The Wild Bunch" from 1969. It's not necessarily a great film. But it sure is a great Peckinpaw film.

Happy Movies to You!

(This post was last modified: 01-17-2015, 09:33 PM by AliShibaz.)

[BrownJenkin]

The "look and feel" of Blood on Satan's Claw was very similar to the 1971 version of "Straw Dogs". It was directed by Sam Peckinpaw and starred Dustin Hoffman.

There were two versions of this film. The later one was released in 2011.

I don't know why. But I never enjoyed this movie very much. Sam Peckinpaw is very skilled in movies where everyone shoots everyone else and they all get blown to bits and then everybody dies. No one does that better than Sam. He is a master.

But this movie moves very slowly. Most everyone dies all right. But it just doesn't feel like a Peckinpaw movie.

Want to see a great Peckinpaw movie? Try "The Wild Bunch" from 1969. It's not necessarily a great film. But it sure is a great Peckinpaw film.

Happy Movies to You!

I remember seeing the rape scene in Straw Dogs at somebody's house, and I also remember something about a mental defective strangling a girl in a barn, but I don't think I've seen the film all the way through. I do recall, however, not caring much for the scenes I saw. I think they struck me as being part of a fairly pretentious and narrow-minded pseudo-shocker. I normally like 60s/70s shockers though, so maybe if I watched it again I'd think differently.

Dirty Harry, for instance, is a pretty amazing film, even if its politics are extremely murky. I think the only Dirty Harry film I disliked was Sudden Impact, which was like a really bad James Bond film with amped-up sex and violence. I did like a scene where Sondra Locke shot a sunbather in the nuts, though

[LZA]

When you say "films", do you mean anything along he the lines of TV?? Or is this just movies???????... I think I know what you're getting at.

Here are five in no particular order:

Goodfellas
Tombstone
No Country for old men
The Sopranos
Forrest Gump

Must have been high when I wrote this first list...

Superman I & II (tie)
Good fellas
Tombstone
No Country for old men
Heat
Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan
4 Brothers
The Godfather part 2 (then part 1)
Copland (YES THE one where Stallone was a fat Sheriff)
A Bronx Tale

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting about.. Star Trek TNG and Sopranos rank among my favorite TELEVISION shows, Along With Law and Order-SVU

(This post was last modified: 08-09-2015, 04:03 PM by LZA.)