Greatest Films Of All Time Lists

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 2:54pm

SIGHT AND SOUND magazine posted the results of their latest Greatest Films Of All Times polls. The big news is that CITIZEN KANE has been knocked from the top spot. Any comments?

From the critics:
1. "Vertigo"
2. "Citizen Kane"
3. "Tokyo Story"
4. "The Rules of the Game"
5. "Sunrise"
6. "2001: A Space Odyssey"
7. "The Searchers"
8. "Man With a Movie Camera"
9. "The Passion of Joan of Arc"
10. "8 1/2"

From the directors:
1. "Tokyo Story"
2. "2001: A Space Odyssey"
2. "Citizen Kane"
4. "8 1/2"
5. "Taxi Driver"
6. "Apocalypse Now"
7. "The Godfather"
7. "Vertigo"
9. "The Mirror"
10. "Bicycle Thieves"

[landryjames2]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 2:58pm

Any Top Ten that does not list The Wizard of Oz, I dismiss immediately and with prejudice.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:01pm

These "greatest films" lists are always the same, for the most part. For the most part anything after 1970 is never on the lists and while the movies they list are amazing films, there IS room for a couple "modern day" titles on the "best of all time" list.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:05pm

And every 10 years or so, some obscure film that flew under the radar for decades is suddenly added as a new revelation in film.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:05pm

I got the Top 50
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2012/08/01/sight-sound-poll-2012-top-10-films-of-all-time/

Close-Up (by the director who did more recently Certified Copy), In the Mood for Love, Histoires du Cinema (and does that really count?), Satantango, and Mulholland Drive appear to be the only films made after 1990 on the list.

1. Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock, 1958 (191 votes)

2. Citizen Kane
Orson Welles, 1941 (157 votes)

3. Tokyo Story
Ozu Yasujiro, 1953 (107 votes)

4. La Règle du jeu
Jean Renoir, 1939 (100 votes)

5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
FW Murnau, 1927 (93 votes)

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick, 1968 (90 votes)

7. The Searchers
John Ford, 1956 (78 votes)

8. Man with a Movie Camera
Dziga Vertov, 1939 (68 votes)

9. The Passion of Joan of Arc
Carl Dreyer, 1927 (65 votes)

10. 8½
Federico Fellini, 1963 (64 votes)

11. Battleship Potemkin
Sergei Eisenstein, 1925 (63 votes)

12. L’Atalante
Jean Vigo, 1934 (58 votes)

13. Breathless
Jean-Luc Godard, 1960 (57 votes)

14. Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola, 1979 (53 votes)

15. Late Spring
Ozu Yasujiro, 1949 (50 votes)

16. Au hasard Balthazar
Robert Bresson, 1966 (49 votes)

17= Seven Samurai
Kurosawa Akira, 1954 (48 votes)

17= Persona
Ingmar Bergman, 1966 (48 votes)

19. Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974 (47 votes)

20. Singin’ in the Rain
Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1951 (46 votes)

21= L’avventura
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960 (43 votes)

21= Le Mépris
Jean-Luc Godard, 1963 (43 votes)

21= The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 (43 votes)

24= Ordet
Carl Dreyer, 1955 (42 votes)

24= In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar-Wai, 2000 (42 votes)

26= Rashomon
Kurosawa Akira, 1950 (41 votes)

26= Andrei Rublev
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966 (41 votes)

28. Mulholland Dr.
David Lynch, 2001 (40 votes)

29= Stalker
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979 (39 votes)

29= Shoah
Claude Lanzmann, 1985 (39 votes)

31= The Godfather Part II
Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (38 votes)

31= Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese, 1976 (38 votes)

33. Bicycle Thieves
Vittoria De Sica, 1948 (37 votes)

34. The General
Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926 (35 votes)

35= Metropolis
Fritz Lang, 1927 (34 votes)

35= Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 (34 votes)

35= Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles
Chantal Akerman, 1975 (34 votes)

35= Sátántangó
Béla Tarr, 1994 (34 votes)

39= The 400 Blows
François Truffaut, 1959 (33 votes)

39= La dolce vita
Federico Fellini, 1960 (33 votes)

41. Journey to Italy
Roberto Rossellini, 1954 (32 votes)

42= Pather Panchali
Satyajit Ray, 1955 (31 votes)

42= Some Like It Hot
Billy Wilder, 1959 (31 votes)

42= Gertrud
Carl Dreyer, 1964 (31 votes)

42= Pierrot le fou
Jean-Luc Godard, 1965 (31 votes)

42= Play Time
Jacques Tati, 1967 (31 votes)

42= Close-Up
Abbas Kiarostami, 1990 (31 votes)

48= The Battle of Algiers
Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966 (30 votes)

48= Histoire(s) du cinéma
Jean-Luc Godard, 1998 (30 votes)

50= City Lights
Charlie Chaplin, 1931 (29 votes)

50= Ugetsu monogatari
Mizoguchi Kenji, 1953 (29 votes)

50= La Jetée
Chris Marker, 1962 (29 votes)

I do like the list. I am always surprised Vertigo has emerged as Hitchcock's magnum opus like Citizen Kane obviously does for Welles or 2001 for Kubrick. I love it to pieces, it is my favorite work of his, but that is because I always found it a little unusual from the rest. Then again, Apocalypse Now has become that film for Coppola, and it was never the most beloved, based on the lists.

Sight & Sound's website is down but I am assuming like in 2002 there will be breakdowns of Top Tens by each participating critic and director, which I always find interesting.

Updated On: 8/1/12 at 03:05 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:07pm

Forgive me for being ignorant - what is Tokyo Story? I've never even heard of that one.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:09pm

They should rename these lists "Movies Film Students Beat Off To".

[jv92]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:32pm

TAXI DRIVER? Of every Scorsese film, they pick TAXI DRIVER? I'm not saying all movies should be cheery and good natured, but that is absolutely one of the most unpleasant and irritating films of all time.

My personal Scorsese favorite is THE AVIATOR, but I think RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS are even far superior to TAXI DRIVER.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:34pm

"They should rename these lists "Movies Film Students Beat Off To"."

Guilty as charged. I wrote my senior thesis on The Battle of Algiers, the 48th film on the list.

Close-Up is probably going to get a bump in Criterion sales. I am just imagining some of my film professors putting in an order for the library to get it now.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:36pm

At least that inane SINGIN' IN THE RAIN got kicked out of the Top Ten. Surprising that RAGING BULL isn't in the Top 50, and that Scorsese is only represented by TAXI DRIVER. And I'd replace THE SEARCHERS with STAGECOACH, an infinitely better film in pretty much every way.

MULHOLLAND DR's appearance on this list is just bizarre.

Updated On: 8/1/12 at 03:36 PM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:40pm

"My personal Scorsese favorite is THE AVIATOR, but I think RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS are even far superior to TAXI DRIVER."

Mean Streets is my personal favorite (Catholic guilt and THAT soundtrack? Nothing better.) and I have my issues with Scorsese post-Goodfellas, but I think Taxi Driver is a masterful film in direction, action, cinematography, and script (does the irritation come from the ending for you by any chance?). Raging Bull is superior to some but also indulgent to others, I remember it being a love it or hate it film reading the reaction to it. There always seems to be weird critical consensus that happens over the years, just as I mention how Vertigo is at the top for Hitchcock's oeuvre over time.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:44pm

Gah, what am I missing about "Vertigo"?! It's been creeping up and around there for years now, and I just -- *shakes head* -- I just don't understand it.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:52pm

stummergirl, I will agree that the direction, cinematography, acting and all that are great. It's just not a personal favorite. And yes, I really hate the ending.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:54pm

In re: VERTIGO -- I like the film very much, but I can see that it isn't everybody's cup o'tea. I remember when a big fuss was made over the re-release, it got a whole lot of acclaim and it has only gotten more as the years have passed, especially with that really gorgeous restoration they did in the mid-90s. A friend of mine is very fond of saying that the film is now as over-rated as it was once underrated.

I like the performances very much, and always find myself getting involved in the story, to the extent that if I'm really paying attention to the film I find that I don't know what's going to happen when James Stewart heads back into that tower at the end. That said, there's a certain slackness to some of the production that always annoys: some of those sets are just plain CHEESY, especially the one for Stewart's apartment -- I never believe that anyone actually lives in that place. And some of that rear projection is pretty fatally obvious.

But those are quibbles, I think. When it works, few movies have the punch that VERTIGO has.

[Jane2]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:56pm

My favorite director is Fellini, so I'm glad a couple of his are on the list. Interesting, Fellini's films, Vertigo, Mullholland Drive, et al, all have a surrealistic bent.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 3:59pm

No REAR WINDOW? HALLOWEEN? THE COLOR PURPLE? Not one single Disney movie? These lists are so pretentious it almost makes me hate movies.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:00pm

I will never understand the inclusion of Signin' in the Rain on these types of lists, even though it wasn't in the Top 10. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy and appreciate the dance sequences and think they're pretty spectacular, but I think the film overall is wildly overrated.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:03pm

Obsession, guilt, and tragic irony are pretty much the staples of Vertigo. I think some people cannot get past the Jimmy Stewart exterior for Scottie Ferguson because I remember going from my first viewing at 12, being very sympathetic to him, to outright hating the character's growing obsession and smothering guilt throughout the whole film. It makes the casting brilliant in that you are made to love him immediately to wanting some distance from the character but that never seemed to click for other people. I have heard some people just not liking the film because they have felt Scottie's suffering was a turn-off.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:04pm

Good God, wonderfulwizard11. I thought I was the only one who felt that way about SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. I think I dislike it more than you, though. I just hate the film. Pretty much all of it, especially the big numbers. Everytime Kelly appears in that Broadway Ballet monstrosity, screaming "GOTTA DANCE!" I just pray for him to break both legs.

Updated On: 8/1/12 at 04:04 PM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:09pm

Strummer, yeah, that can be difficult, and the whole extra device of the switch from Stewart's point of view to Kim Novak's point of view can be even more off-putting.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:13pm

Roscoe, in re: your re: "Vertigo."

Your post illustrates my fundamental frustrations with the picture. I agree it hasn't aged well, aesthetically, but that's something I'm willing to look past in movies that remain effective. The first time I saw it was during that much-ballyhooed re-release, which was coincidentally a time when I was working my way through the Hitchcock canon. And its Technicolor was -- and is -- gorgeous, indeed.

What I've never gotten from it -- and I've seen it three times since -- is any level of involvement, of surrender. I hear and feel AH behind the camera or in the editing bay in every single scene, which lends the movie a manipulative, distancing, strile quality that I don't think was intended. Its style always strikes me as more jumping jacks than fireworks -- effortful, not explosive, and other mixed metaphors. And neither Jimmy or Kimmy can crawl out from under that rock

Ironically, though, it's for these very reasons that I periodically return to it, hoping to discover something I've missed or that may make it jell. Also, my faith in Hitchcock generally is strong, and I'm usually willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. That all being said, however, even if I learn to love it someday, it's possible I'll never understand a number-one ranking for it on any list.

Updated On: 8/1/12 at 04:13 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:17pm

Sorry guys, but I love SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Is it mildly cheesy? Sure. Do some of the numbers come out of nowhere? Absolutely. But it's damn funny and those numbers are brilliant and iconic.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:17pm

I love Singin' in the Rain, but mostly for personal reasons, so I'm sort of surprised to see it on this particular list, which makes me happy. But I'm even more surprised to see Some Like It Hot. Sort of makes me wonder what the criteria are for these films to be included.

Interesting, Fellini's films, Vertigo, Mullholland Drive, et al, all have a surrealistic bent.

Surrealism is a favorite among film critics, historians and academics. There are many on this list. Mulholland Drive is not the Lynch film I expected, though.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:18pm

I couldn't say I hate the film, largely because I've only seen the whole thing once. But I just think it's a boring story with some good numbers; though I do like most of the numbers (Good Morning has always been a favorite, and I am a sucker for tap dancing in general) I will absolutely agree that the Broadway Melody sequence is the absolute worst. Yes, the dancing is impressive, but it's pointless and far too long.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 4:27pm

I enjoy "Singin' in the Rain." It's good, maybe even very good, but it belongs nowhere near an all-inclusive list. I wouldn't quibble with it being in a Top 20 Best Movie Musicals, maybe.