Interesting 'Best' Films List

[AzPaul]

This list come from Martin Scorsese.
His choices for the 15 greatest movies of all time.

To me, the list comes off as a little pretentious, nothing within the last 55 years, but considering the man's credentials, it certainly deserves a look.

This order is alphabetical so I don't think he ranked them numerically.

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951)
Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963)
Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
Paisà (Roberto Rossellini, 1946)
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
The River (Jean Renoir, 1951)
Salvatore Giuliano (Francesco Rosi, 1962)
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
Ugetsu Monogatari (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

[Mifune]

At least he got the first one correct...

[OverGeared]

Every director loves "Vertigo" best, maybe because of its themes of passion and possession/control. It's a great film, but I'd put Hitchcock's "Notorious," "Psycho," and maybe "North by Northwest" above it.

Great list overall (though I haven't seen all of them.)

[Mifune]

Rope rules that roost...

[Rapchiks]

I have watched a lot of films in my life. I rarely went to the cinema, so I had the opportunity to watch a large number of films on soap today. From all that I have seen, I want to recommend you:
Green Mile
1+1
Iron Man (all parts)
Avengers
king kong
Godzilla
Pacific Rim

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Mifune

At least he got the first one correct...

I’d agree on that.

[Blansky]

Film directors are generally part of an era of film making.

Scorsese along with a lot of his compatriots of his era went to film schools and studied the art and history of it. A lot were heavily influenced by the New Wave film makers from Europe..https://screenrant.com/french-new-wa...n-ois-truffaut as well as film makers like Jean Renoir during the period between the world wars.

It would appear that this film school education had a memorable affect on Scorsese's choices. A lot were sort of art house movies, often angst ridden and sometimes unwatchable, even though a lot of their technique and story telling devices were later stolen/borrowed for future films. (Akira Kurasowa's The Seven Samurai became The Magnificent 7.)

But this was the era before the BLOCKBUSTER which could possible be attributed to films like Spielberg's Jaws, and the concept of one day North American release dates, and the evolving global corporate takeover of the industry which gave rise to worldwide distribution and the need for movies to make gigantic profits. And often using mundane action nonsense instead of a great story.

I once studied the movie Chinatown, every Saturday for 9 weeks at the American Film Institute, and it's an amazing to analyze an entire script, every name, every action, every sequence and you get a real look at how great movies are made and the choices and craft that go into them.

I image that going to these film schools and obtaining master degrees give future directors an amazing insight and love of the medium that someone who sits down with their popcorn and watches a movie to be entertained for a couple of hours could possible not appreciate.The goal was not to make a gazillion dollars from the movie but instead to make a great movie.

I'm doubt directors coming out of film schools today have the same ideals as the Scorsese era, where today making blockbuster money is necessary to even get hired to direct in the first place. And its sort of disappointing that a director like Brian Singer who made The Usual Suspects in 1995, and then just took the money and made comic book movies mostly after that.

[White Collar Boy]

Any attempt to nail down a list is going to be problematic, but this one is pretty cool if conservative. My favourite auteur on this list is Robert Bresson, whose beautiful, spare films don’t remind me at all of Scorsese’s, except they both seem hung up on outsiders and Catholicism. Interesting there’s no Tarkovsky, Bergman or Antonioni…

[RichardBartlett]

I was preying we got through this topic without someone mentioning Shawshank ,

[OverGeared]

Originally Posted by RichardBartlett

I was preying we got through this topic without someone mentioning Shawshank ,

Shawshank is a fascinating look into the minds of filmgoers of a certain era. It's a very good movie, but nothing about it really stands out as exceptional. So why is it beloved? My pet theory is similar to something Howard Hawks once said: "a great movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes." He wasn't entirely serious, of course, but he was onto something. And Shawshank is a very good example of a movie with some good scenes and no bad scenes. It does everything right (even while it never does anything great,) and when some people see that level of uniform quality, they respond strongly to it. A similar thing seems to be happening with "Ford vs Ferrari" over the past few years; I wonder if that flick will start making the top ten lists of random guys on the internet a decade from now.

I wouldn't dream of telling someone they're wrong for their choice of favorite movies. Art is subjective by its very nature. Guys who put Shawshank on their top ten list aren't wrong... but I do hope they get to see more movies someday. If they think Shawshank is the best film has to offer, I can't wait to hear what they think when they discover Hawks, Wilder, Ford, Kurosawa, Scorsese, Kubrick, the Coens, Cronenberg, etc etc

[Yobber76]

Everyone has a list of movies that have set them apart. It can be for storyline, cinematography, individual performances, director, etc.
A few that have stayed with me and I never lost a love and appreciation for are:

The Wizard of OZ
The Wild Bunch
Gone with the Wind
It's a Wonderful life
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior (Kurosawa)
Bullitt
The French Connection
Cool Hand Luke
Dr. Strangelove
The Godfather
Shindler's List
Network
Chinatown
Saving Private Ryan
The Searchers
Heat (with Pacino and DeNiro)
Life is Beautiful
West Side Story (The original of course)
My Fair Lady

Plenty more but these were memorable to me.

[OverGeared]

Originally Posted by Yobber76

The Wizard of OZ
The Wild Bunch
Gone with the Wind
It's a Wonderful life
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior (Kurosawa)
Bullitt
The French Connection
Cool Hand Luke
Dr. Strangelove
The Godfather
Shindler's List
Network
Chinatown
Saving Private Ryan
The Searchers
Heat (with Pacino and DeNiro)
Life is Beautiful
West Side Story (The original of course)
My Fair Lady

I almost never say this to strangers on the internet, but here goes:

That's a damned good list.

[BOA]

Originally Posted by OverGeared

I almost never say this to strangers on the internet, but here goes:

That's a damned good list.

Let the alternative listing begin:

Chariots of Fire
The English Patient
Galaxy Quest

[White Collar Boy]

Originally Posted by BOA

Let the alternative listing begin:
Chariots of Fire
The English Patient
Galaxy Quest

The Last Detail
Eyes Without A Face
Dumb And Dumber

[OverGeared]

Originally Posted by BOA

Let the alternative listing begin:

Robocop
Downhill Racer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mulholland Dr.

[Mifune]

Corndog Man
Pink Flamingos
Salo
Suspiria

[warrior]

Viewing the titles on your list, esp. Mulholland Drive, I can tell you are a full blown cinephile. Well done.

Originally Posted by OverGeared

Robocop
Downhill Racer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mulholland Dr.

[OverGeared]

Originally Posted by Mifune

Corndog Man
Pink Flamingos
Salo
Suspiria

This is some good sh*t.

Speaking of which, kinda funny that nowadays, some people would have more of a problem with Divine wearing a wig than with them eating dog poop.

[golftime]

There are so many great movies but here is a quick list of favs:
Casablanca
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Dial M for Murder
Notorious
Citizen Kane
Where Eagles Dare
The Longest Day
Jaws
The Hunt for Red October
Body Heat

[White Collar Boy]

Originally Posted by golftime

There are so many great movies but here is a quick list of favs:
Casablanca
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Dial M for Murder
Notorious
Citizen Kane
Where Eagles Dare
The Longest Day
Jaws
The Hunt for Red October
Body Heat

Nice list. I live near the beach and have to stop watching Jaws every other year, but it’s just too good.

Few more favourites:
Bottle Rocket
Memories of Murder
Hidden
Naked
Lost In Translation.