Friday, September 14, 2012

The Greatest Films of All Time (one Hillbily's opinion)

 I reckon I done talked bout movin pitchers enough to make me one of dem "Greatest of All Time" lists. so here we go!

(and this don't mean Favorite, it means Best (the difference being that Favorite means personal, based on emotion and such, but Best ,to me anyway, means it was superior in all facets, technically, emotionally, script, performances...etc.)

In other words, these are the movies I'd put in a time capsule if I could only save 20 (and my list is 20 instead of 10, cuz 10 ain't enuff!)

If I think it might be a little obscure, I'll put up a you tube trailer


In no particular order:


 The Godfather/Godfather part 2-

 These count as one , as they are purty much one 7 hr movie really.  I can't really find a durn thang wrong with anything, in either one of em.


Apocalypse Now


It's powerful, surreal, impacting and the acting and writing is just stellar


Jaws

 My favorite Spielberg movie and it just might be a perfect thriller, this movie may have been ripped off more than any other one in history


Lawrence of Arabia

 One of the great performances in history,  the landscapes, the scope, the beauty of the cinematography...


The Searchers

 The greatest of all the John Wayne Movies,  and maybe the best John Ford movie ever,  I could watch it every day and marvel at it's technique



Taxi Driver

 If you've seen it ,you know why,  amazing combination of score and film, the best movie about a city ever made

The Third Man

 The second best film about a city ever made,  it's vivid depiction of Vienna in stark B&W is divine


The Seven Samurai

 Kurosawa's best film IMO, a nearly 4 hr masterstroke of adventure that never feels long

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

 Leone' changed the way we think of cinema, from his ability to turn a landscape to a closeup, to his use of score and long takes.


The Red Shoes

Powell and Pressburger at their finest,  and it's just a story about ballet! but oh what a story!




Star Wars

It's here  due to it's innovation and amazing storytelling, we all love it, but it's also an important film


Rear Window

I still don't know how Hitchcock pulled this off, one set, one POV, very few characters, but it's riveting and thrilling!

Schindler's List

 very few people put this on their lists, and I frankly don't know why, name a more harrowing realistic glimpse of the holocaust that isn't a documentary?


2001

Kubrick blowing our minds, nuff said

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

 another Powell and Pressburger film that is near perfect, it's light and airy, yet riveting and beautiful to look at


The Exorcist

 so scary that some people have to shut down and laugh because they can't handle it,  a perfect mix of mood, atmosphere and dread

Dr Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb)

black comedy has never been this on point, it's a fantastic film that get's overlooked I think

Casablanca

 Bogie is awesome, Ingrid is beautiful, Claude Rains is gayer than ever, lol, no, it's just amazing it is!!


Rashomon

 a film so important they named a condition for it, it's so good that I often think it's Kurosawa's best film instead of seven samurai

The African Queen

2 actors in a boat for 2 hrs, and you will want to watch it over and over



Honorable mention:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
8 1/2
La Dolce Vita
Blade Runner
Alien
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Ikiru
Raging Bull
Goodfellas
Millers Crossing
Fargo
The Wild Bunch
Once Upon a Time in the West
North by Northwest
Psycho
Dead Man
Black Narcissus
Pulp Fiction
The General


next will be a list of my favorite movies!
enjoy!


and see ya at the fishin hole!





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