Greatest movies of all-time. . .what if?

[Dark Donnie]

If people have The Prestige on there list then I would nominate The Illusionist which was alot better of a film IMO.

I also agree with Cyrus...Brick was really good.

 

[The Chairman]

Quite simply the finest film I've ever seen.

Others:

 

[The Chairman]

 

[Carmine Falcone]

 

[Catman]

Pay attention, everyone.

I think Road Warrior approached this thread the wrong way. The following is AFI's list of the 100 greatest movies of all-time. Like, RW, pointed out the list is a reflection of the people who voted. In 20-30 years when we're the old folks voting how will our list look? It's obvious that movies like Godfather will still be on the list, but which movies will be added and which will be dropped?

1. CITIZEN KANE (1941)

2. CASABLANCA (1942)

3. THE GODFATHER (1972)

4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)

5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

7. THE GRADUATE (1967)

8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)

9. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)

10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

12. SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)

14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)

15. STAR WARS (1977)

16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)

18. PSYCHO (1960)

19. CHINATOWN (1974)

20. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)

21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)

22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

24. RAGING BULL (1980)

25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)

26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)

27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)

28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)

30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)

31. ANNIE HALL (1977)

32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)

33. HIGH NOON (1952)

34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)

35. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)

37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

38. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)

39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)

40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

42. REAR WINDOW (1954)

43. KING KONG (1933)

44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)

46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)

47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)

48. JAWS (1975)

49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)

50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)

51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)

52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)

53. AMADEUS (1984)

54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)

55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

56. M*A*S*H (1970)

57. THE THIRD MAN (1949)

58. FANTASIA (1940)

59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)

60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

61. VERTIGO (1958)

62. TOOTSIE (1982)

63. STAGECOACH (1939)

64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)

65. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

66. NETWORK (1976)

67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)

68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)

69. SHANE (1953)

70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)

71. FORREST GUMP (1994)

72. BEN-HUR (1959)

73. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)

74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)

75. DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)

76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)

77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)

78. ROCKY (1976)

79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)

80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)

81. MODERN TIMES (1936)

82. GIANT (1956)

83. PLATOON (1986)

84. FARGO (1996)

85. DUCK SOUP (1933)

86. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)

87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)

88. EASY RIDER (1969)

89. PATTON (1970)

90. THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)

91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)

92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)

93. THE APARTMENT (1960)

94. GOODFELLAS (1990)

95. PULP FICTION (1994)

96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)

97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

98. UNFORGIVEN (1992)

99. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)

100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)

 

[Cyrusbales]

What time frame are we looking at? I thought you said modern? people are mentioning films from the seventies, that are already classics etc? Give me a time frame please

 

[WorthyStevens]

 

[Road Warrior]

What time frame are we looking at? I thought you said modern? people are mentioning films from the seventies, that are already classics etc? Give me a time frame please

Just pick any movie, which hasn't been acknowledged as one of the greats by important lists, that will be in the list our generation will make 20-30 years from now.

 

[Sports_3057]

Sports hopes you are kidding with the first one. It is entertaining, but not a classic movie.

From what he knows, Steel proved why NBA players shouldn't be in movies.

 

[The Dark Defender]

 

[Road Warrior]

Doubt it. Most people hate this movie.

 

[BloodyWolverine]

I had me a bit of a rethink and here are a few more that should be the next wave of classics.

1 V For Vendetta.
2 Casino Royale.
3 Blood Diamond.
4 Rocky Balboa .
5 Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.
6 Pirates Of The Caribbean C.O.T.B.P.
7 The Missing.
8 Shrek.
9 Harry Potter and The Sorcerors Stone.
10 40 Year Old Virgin.
11 Bruce Almighty.
12 Big Daddy.
13 Batman Begins.
14 X-Men 2 X-Men United.
15 The Rock.

 

[Spoon Tang]

Here's what Brian K Vaughan wrote about Million Dollar Baby. and I agree 100%. What tripe.

I know Gert hates when we complain about crap like every other board on the web (instead of celebrating the few good things out there actually worth paying attention to), but I think our mod is away on a mission today, and this movie was too ****ing wretched (and too adored!) for me not to **** all over it.

I'm pretty sure that Million Dollar Baby is the worst movie I've ever seen. I love Clint, and Unforgiven is one of my favorite films ever, but this goddamn movie was so bad, it made me retroactively hate everything he's ever been involved with, including The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

(SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE TWO OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THIS TURD YET)

Here are a handful of the many reasons I despised this movie:

1. The cartoonishly evil trailer trash family waddling into the hospital wearing their Disney shirts. These people weren't characters, they were refugees from a bad MAD TV sketch.

2. The cartoonishly adorable mildly ******ed character, who didn't know how you get ice inside a bottle of water. Are you ****ing kidding me that this movie won the Oscar?

3. Morgan Freeman being forced to play the most patently offensive "Magical Negro" in the history of cinema. If you've never heard of that term, there's more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro

4. The horrible fight scenes. Clint is the world's best cut man, and he gently dabs at his fighter with a DRY SPONGE, like she's getting a last-minute touchup from make-up? Jesus, Hilary had more convincing fights when she was The Next Karate Kid.

5. Clint's pants.

6. The idiotic WWF-style referees. Even if the dopey ref missed Swank getting elbowed by her cartoonishly sinister opponent, she still got hit after the bell, which would have meant a D.Q. and an automatic win for Swank. Trying to pile onto her tragedy by suggesting that she lost this fight is both unnecessary and totally false.

7. The horrible narration which told you how you were supposed to feel at every turn, which eventually became the hackneyed it's-not-really-narration-it's-a-letter-to-an-unseen-character device.

8. "My Darling, My Blood." Holy puke-fest.

9. The straw-man assisted-suicide argument. I'm sorry, but by the time Swank is a legless, disease-infested vegetable who bit off her own tongue, even the Pope would have pulled the plug on her. By turning her into this subhuman mute unable to express herself, Clint's decision becomes incredibly easy, instead of incredibly complex (which it should have been). And once again, this major turning point of the film is based on complete bull****. Every patient has the right to refuse treatment, so all Swank would have to do is ask the staff to turn off her ventilator, and they would have no choice but to let her die.

10. The lighting, which wants you to believe that this is An Important Film, instead of a schlocky, low-budget after-school-special.

If you want to see a GOOD, schlocky low-budget sports movie, check out this year's Friday Night Lights, which blows Baby out of the bathwater.

This was a pretty good year for film. Eternal Sunshine is one of the great movies of all time, I loved The Aviator, Kill Bill 2 was spectacular, as was Ghost in the Shell 2, Shaun of the Dead, etc.

Saying that Million Dollar Baby is better than any of those movies is insane. Saying that it's the best movie of the year is obscene.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

 

[Spoon Tang]

How many people have even seen all of the movies on AFI's 100 years 100 movies? How about 1/2? My guess is that the average person on these boards has only seen about a dozen.

After spending about 5 years watching and crossing off every movie on the list, I have my own list of movies that should get the heave ho and let some fresher flicks in.

16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) - Did nothing for me.


44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) - It may be the 21st century perspective I brought with me, but I was bored out of my skull. Every film historian I've ever talked to agrees that it is "important". When I ask them if they liked it, all of them say that they can barely get through it without falling asleep.

45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) - It's OK but I can think of 100 films that I like better.

49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) - Did audiences in 1937 cringe when they heard Snow White's voice? Nails on a caulk board. Another one of those important movies that is unwatchable by modern standards. Replace it with the far superior Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.

52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) - Atrocious acting and boring, unconvincing love story. Yeah, you banged on the beach. Big whoop.

58. FANTASIA (1940) - This isn't a movie. this is an experiment.

63. STAGECOACH (1939) - Replace this one with the far superior Destry Rides Again which came out the same year.

89. PATTON (1970) - Overblown and jingoistic.

90. THE JAZZ SINGER (1927) - So do we put every first movie in here? Might be the first movie with sound, but it is a poor movie.

91. MY FAIR LADY (1964) - yawn.

92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951) Snooze-arama.

96. THE SEARCHERS (1956) I guess I just hate John Wayne. Clint Eastwood would have handed him his ass in a MCDonalds bag --

98. UNFORGIVEN (1992) Until he jumped the shark with Unforgiven.

100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) - who let the homos vote?

 

[WorthyStevens]

Here's what Brian K Vaughan wrote about Million Dollar Baby. and I agree 100%. What tripe.

1. The cartoonishly evil trailer trash family waddling into the hospital wearing their Disney shirts. These people weren't characters, they were refugees from a bad MAD TV sketch.

I take it he's never been to Disneyworld or Disneyland. These people DO exist. Believe me.

2. The cartoonishly adorable mildly ******ed character, who didn't know how you get ice inside a bottle of water. Are you ****ing kidding me that this movie won the Oscar?

I bet he hated Forrest Gump.

3. Morgan Freeman being forced to play the most patently offensive "Magical Negro" in the history of cinema. If you've never heard of that term, there's more about it here: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro[/URL]

I bet this guy also hated Shawshank Redemption.

4. The horrible fight scenes. Clint is the world's best cut man, and he gently dabs at his fighter with a DRY SPONGE, like she's getting a last-minute touchup from make-up? Jesus, Hilary had more convincing fights when she was The Next Karate Kid.

Women's boxing is ALOT different from men's boxing. And Jesus, is this guy really complaining about how Clint cleans up his fighter?

5. Clint's pants.

I'm not even touching that asinine complaint.

6. The idiotic WWF-style referees. Even if the dopey ref missed Swank getting elbowed by her cartoonishly sinister opponent, she still got hit after the bell, which would have meant a D.Q. and an automatic win for Swank. Trying to pile onto her tragedy by suggesting that she lost this fight is both unnecessary and totally false.

WWF-style? Earl Hebner was referreeing?

And she did lose. She never finished the fight.

7. The horrible narration which told you how you were supposed to feel at every turn, which eventually became the hackneyed it's-not-really-narration-it's-a-letter-to-an-unseen-character device.

Narration was used to move the story. It did it's job.

Whether this guy thought it was necessary or not, that's his opinion.

8. "My Darling, My Blood." Holy puke-fest.

Holy complaint-fest.

 

[Spoon Tang]

I take it he's never been to Disneyworld or Disneyland. These people DO exist. Believe me.

Those were not characters. They were plot devices created to manipulate the audience's emotions. It's lazy writing. Even if people like that do exist, which I seriously doubt, no need to populate your movie with them.

Women's boxing is ALOT different from men's boxing. And Jesus, is this guy really complaining about how Clint cleans up his fighter?

Under section 5.3a of the the World Boxing Association, it states that the perpetrator of an intentional and unfair blow that results in the inability of the fouled fighter to continue will be deemed the loser of the contest by disqualification.

Even I knew she'd be disqualified and I know nothing about boxing.

Narration was used to move the story. It did it's job.

You know little about writing. The narration was too on the nose and told the audience how to react and how to feel. That is a cardinal no-no of writing.

Time will show that the movie was over-hyped and won based on a popularity contest not because the movie itself was great.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Doubt it. Most people hate this movie.

It's actually becoming increasingly more well received as time goes on. Just the fact that it was the sequel to SOTL practically automatically meant it would lambasted in the wake of its release since most were comparing it to a film they found to be near perfect.

 

[Tojo]

Wow, with the exception of probably 3-5 films, most of the ones listed by people in this thread are so terrible that, if they were to make any list of ''classic movies'', i'm pretty sure the world would implode.

Pirates of the Carribean, 40 yr old virgin, Spiderman, Batman Begins and so on......

 

[Spoon Tang]

Wow, with the exception of probably 3-5 films, most of the ones listed by people in this thread are so terrible that, if they were to make any list of ''classic movies'', i'm pretty sure the world would implode.

Now that would be a classic movie.

 

[The Chairman]

It's actually becoming increasingly more well received as time goes on. Just the fact that it was the sequel to SOTL practically automatically meant it would lambasted in the wake of its release since most were comparing it to a film they found to be near perfect.

Actually most people I talk to, be it on the internert or out in the real wordl, still hate it six years later. I personally enjoyed it quite a bit, but noway is it as good as Silence.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Actually most people I talk to, be it on the internert or out in the real wordl, still hate it six years later. I personally enjoyed it quite a bit, but noway is it as good as Silence.

Hannibal is the most underrated film ever made imo, I love Silence but it blows it away.
It's rating on IMDB was in low 5 range when it came out, now it's 6.3
It seems to have found a significantly larger fanbase now then it had several years ago from what I've seen.

 

[The Chairman]

Hannibal is the most underrated film ever made imo, I love Silence but it blows it away.
It's rating on IMDB was in low 5 range when it came out, now it's 6.3
It seems to have found a significantly larger fanbase now then it had several years ago from what I've seen.

Eh, 6.3 is still kind of low. And on websites like amazon.com as well as among general critics, it's still very much mixed in its reception.

As I said, I myself loved it, and I gave it a 5 star review on amazon.com, but Silence is its superior. The tension is more tighter, the pacing is better, and the overall storyline seems to flow more smoothly than in Hannibal, which is nonetheless a very entertaining movie.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Eh, 6.3 is still kind of low. And on websites like amazon.com as well as among general critics, it's still very much mixed in its reception.

As I said, I myself loved it, and I gave it a 5 star review on amazon.com, but Silence is its superior. The tension is more tighter, the pacing is better, and the overall storyline seems to flow more smoothly than in Hannibal, which is nonetheless a very entertaining movie.

It's a significant improvement, and critics don't mean much. There are plenty of movies that people love and make a ton of money that critics pan into oblivison. Most critics would say an artsy foreign drama is a better movie than Star Wars, most fans clearly wouldn't.
Hannibal has a better ensamble, Clarice is a much stronger character, it has one of the best scores ever, it was paced perfectly, the storytelling was nigh perfect, and it was more a character drama than a suspense piece.

 

[The Chairman]

It's a significant improvement, and critics don't mean much. There are plenty of movies that people love and make a ton of money that critics pan into oblivison. Most critics would say an artsy foreign drama is a better movie than Star Wars, most fans clearly wouldn't.
Hannibal has a better ensamble, Clarice is a much stronger character, it has one of the best scores ever, it was paced perfectly, the storytelling was nigh perfect, and it was more a character drama than a suspense piece.

Well, most sites that offer opinion from the public share the same view as most critics. When disucussed at this website, Hannibal often gets a very negative response.

Hannibal may have a more prestigious cast, but that's about ut. Clarice is awful and is the worst part of the movie. Moore's performance is dirt poor compared to Foster. Jodie won an Oscar for a reason, and Julianne didn't have it. She had zero chemistry woith Hopkins (whose performance more often than not bordered on campy rather than creepy), and her performance overall was incredibly weak. The pacing was meh, it really felt like it wouldn't end at times. The film could've been streamlined with little loss. And the storyline was well written but poorly executed. 50 years from now, SOTL will still be regarded as superior by both critics and audiences the world over.