Damn, I forgot how much you talk about that movie.

I enjoyed it, but I found it a little overrated. I should probably check it out again. I definitely preferred Sunset Blvd.

And American Beauty is soooo #1.

One thing I forgot to mention in that brief by the way, is that Eve really for me made nearly all other 'classics' seem vastly dated by comparison, it's B&W and from 1950 but the screenplay is so vivid that it destroys all of the old vibe most others in that timeframe give, it rises above and becomes something so much more... Blanca would be top 30 or 20 if Eve didn't make it look dated by comparison, which it did.

Grr... thankkkk you Jon for totally killing my suspense.

1.


American Beauty

If only the poster didn't suck, sigh.

American Beauty is in my mind the best film ever made. Here's why.

I like to consider myself someone who looks at film through I wide lense(I like to call it... diverse, not schitzo and bizarre!), but if I am choosing one aspect of film that is more important to me than any other, it's characters. American Beauty is all its brilliance, is an ultimate character creation. It dives more into these people than what had seemed humanly possible. It goes deeper than what you could imagine. It puts us into the lives of these characters, and puts us into their minds. Kevin Spacey is a man who is not quite a man, he masterbates, he has a crush on a teenage girl, he decides to start lifting weights one day. He doesn't know the meaning of his life, he one day wakes up and is confused about it all. Annette Bening is surrounded by people who don't really like her, she somewhat wants to try something new, she doesn't know what. Ricky Fitts finds pleasure in a bag blowing in the wind, he isn't really a loser, but he is just getting by. Suvari has the image of a slut but she is nervous and virginal, she doesn't want to be ordinary but she is. It takes these people, and it creates life out of them, beauty out of them, and no-one gets the short stick... Mendes has created a masterpiece diving deep into the lives of these people.

But there's more. There's the messages and themes, what does it mean to be happy, what does your life account to, what is it worth, what is the beauty in it all, in what way does it all matter. Then the movie is also technically flawless, from Spacey giving one of the best internal performances ever, with Bening, Birch, Bentley, Suvari, Cooper, all top notch and just living this movie. Script is of course one of the best, cinematography and direction is perfect, the arc is pulled together masterfully. American Beauty is humourous, it's dark, it's subversive, it's tragic, it's enlightening, it's deep, it's everything all at once, a introspective look into life and the beauty of it all, it is emotional and grabbing, it is suspensful, all at once. As a cinematic creation it is flawless and with its message and character depth it is the best film that has ever been made. The word masterpiece doesn't come close enough, the title best film ever made does. My #1 all-time! And if I do recall, on my August 2005 as a 14 year old list, it topped it as well. I eagerly await the film that topples American Beauty.

Hm. I've come to the conclusion that you like good films. But...I dunno. I mean, I dunno. I guess I just wasn't expecting such a top five (despite liking all of them and loving to some degree, most of em.)

Do you have a text only list I can skim? tx.

Ps, I still think if anyone else is going to do a list one at a time with writeups they should just make their own thread. When it was ten at a time with a page or so of posts commenting on those ten films its cool, but if its one at a time with a post or five commenting on each, thats anywhere from like 5 -20 pages at least.

Full recap:

1. American Beauty
2. All About Eve
3. Garden State
4. The Usual Suspects
5. Moulin Rouge
6. The Princess Bride
7. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
8. City of God
9. Zoolander
10. Nightmare Before Christmas
11. Mulholland Drive
12. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
14. The Untouchables
15. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
16. Se7en
17. Taxi Driver
18. Gladiator
19. Pirates of the Caribbean
20. Groundhog Day
21. Shadow of a Doubt
22. The Shawshank Redemption
23. Rear Window
24. Team America: World Police
25. The Sound of Music
26. The Big Lebowski
27. The Ring
28. Reservoir Dogs
29. Fargo
30. The Godfather Part 2
31. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
32. Halloween
33. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
34. Toy Story
35. Tombstone
36. The Lion King
37. Memento
38. Platoon
39. Super Troopers
40. The Truman Show
41. LA Confidential
42. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
43. Clerks 2
44. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
45. Vertigo
46. X2
47. Jackass: Number 2
48. Wedding Crashers
49. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
50. Big Fish
51. Boogie Nights
52. The Remains of the Day
53. Star Wars
54. Catch Me If You Can
55. About A Boy
56. American Psycho
57. Pulp Fiction
58. The Matrix
59. Finding Nemo
60. True Romance
61. Little Miss Sunshine
62. Almost Famous
63. Titanic
64. Overboard
65. Casino Royale
66. Back to the Future
67. Casablanca
68. Midnight Express
69. Goldeneye
70. Forrest Gump
71. Grease
72. Clue
73. Freddy VS Jason
74. The Terminator
75. American History X
76. The Pianist
77. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
78. Chasing Amy
79. Toy Story 2
80. Cinderella Man
81. Running Scared
82. A Simple Plan
83. Hustle and Flow
84. The Departed
85. The Notebook
86. The Lonely Guy
87. The Legend of Baggar Vance
88. Face/Off
89. The Family Stone
90. Million Dollar Baby
91. Seabiscuit
92. Unbreakable
93. There’s Something About Mary
94. Castaway
95. Freddy Got Fingered
96. Minority Report
97. Beauty and the Beast
98. Scream
99. Aladdin
100. Austin Powers in Goldmember

Decade count:
2000s - 41
1990s - 33
1980s - 12
1970s - 7
1960s - 2
1950s - 3
1940s - 2

If I ever made one of these again (I think I did in this thread, but it was rushed and would look much different today), these films could very well be on it.

1. American Beauty
5. Moulin Rouge
6. The Princess Bride
8. City of God
11. Mulholland Drive
12. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
17. Taxi Driver
22. The Shawshank Redemption
33. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
36. The Lion King
37. Memento
45. Vertigo
53. Star Wars
55. About A Boy
58. The Matrix
67. Casablanca
77. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

There's another twenty or so I really like, and probably thirty more that I like. So probably like 2/3rds good or better. The rest 'meh' or worse.
Can't really complain about that.

Well it was an.... interesting list. Very diverse, with a lot of choices not to be found on a typical internet geek's top 100. I'm currently in the process of redoing my list, but the choices of mine that overlap with yours:

1. American Beauty
4. The Usual Suspects
6. The Princess Bride
12. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
16. Se7en
19. Pirates of the Caribbean
22. The Shawshank Redemption
23. Rear Window
31. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
34. Toy Story
36. The Lion King
37. Memento
40. The Truman Show
41. LA Confidential
42. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
46. X2
49. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
53. Star Wars
56. American Psycho
57. Pulp Fiction
58. The Matrix
65. Casino Royale
66. Back to the Future
67. Casablanca
74. The Terminator
77. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
84. The Departed
92. Unbreakable
96. Minority Report

Wow, that's actually quite a bit...

I just looked at my list and only 13 of the movies Shack selected are also in my top 100, so expect movies that haven't showed up in lists from my list.

Great list overall, Shack.

Interesting choices there. Zoolander, Monty Python and Team America all sucked. Horribly.

The Ring was good...not sure I'd put it that high...

American Psycho was the most pointless movie ever. I hate "pushing the envelope" movies, they exist solely to see how much gore and nudity they can shove into a 90-minute running time while forsaking plot, character development, and in this case, entertainment.

Pulp Fiction is way overrated.

Freddy vs. Jason was funny...I wouldn't put it on my list...I don't think.

Titanic eh? Heh. Nice choice.

Good to see Beauty and the Beast on there...best Disney animated film in my opinion. And you go the Star Wars films all out of order.

Oh. And Scream should be much, much higher.

Good Stuff Shack overall.

Nice list. Good stuff.

The following are ones that would make it in my top 100 (well most likely anyay).

Good start Magnus! I will keep my comments also very short when it's my turn. And so far only 1 of those 3 is in my top 100 too.

wow great reasoning there Magnus

Good start. Jaws is classic, though. Not overrated at all.

field of dreams should be top 50 in my opinion but its good to see it on the list. i dont have an issue, i just felt like bitching at you

Field of Dreams and Jaws are in my top 100. History of Violence. Not my cup of tea.

yeah, i wish my rents had got me into hockey. in hs, hocker>football, basketball.

Are. You. Retarded?

Btw, great picks Magnus. Both in my top 100.

two very good picks.

nope. hockey looks like itd be sick to play

So far no matches between you and I. Dogma and BHC would be top 130 though, probably.

Jaws, Ferris Bueller, Apollo 13 and True Lies are all definitely in my top 100. Good calls.

Hmmm... I wonder if I have even seen 100 movies that I like.