Monday, July 30, 2007

The Online 100

So here's the story. Cinema Fusion asked around and got a bunch of on-line bloggers and editors to contribute their lists of the Top 100 Movies. From there, they narrowed the list of movies down to 502 and sent the list to everyone. The on-line bloggers and editors were then asked to choose from the 502 and put together another list of their Top 100. I put mine together and then submitted it. Just recently, Cinema Fusion published the final list. It's not in response to the AFI's more recent list. It's not trying to be the Slamdance to Sundance. It's just a list. I'm quite surprised about the list, actually. Ghostbusters stuck out like a sore thumb. In my opinion that movie doesn't represent comedy like Caddyshack or Young Frankenstein. And American History X gets included but not All The President's Men? And no Wes Anderson or Steven Soderbergh to be found. And not many foreign films. And a bit too much Sci-fi for my tastes. And the ranking is strange. Dr. Strangelove is a great movie, but to be number 3? But you know what? It's not my list anymore. It's a list of 50 people. I've never subscribed to the concept by committee idea because I can't really support this list anymore. And I doubt anyone is 100% happy with this list. It only represents some of my tastes. But as I said before and I'll say it again, it was a great idea by Cinema Fusion. And it's interesting to see what everyone came up with, even if I don't necessarily agree with it. I was honored to be included.

So here it is. I've highlighted my original picks in red. Check it out and have at it.



The Online Film Community’s Top 100 Movies

100. Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922)
99. Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore, 1988)
98. On the Waterfront (Kazan, 1954)
97. Blue Velvet (Lynch, 1986)
96. Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992)
95. His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
94. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Jackson, 2003)
93. Toy Story (Lasseter, 1995)
92. Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946)
91. The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959)
90. Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984)
89. 8 1⁄2 (Fellini, 1963)
88. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972)
87. Leon (Besson, 1994)
86. Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)
85. Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)
84. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Capra, 1939)
83. To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan, 1962)

82. The Manchurian Candidate (Frankenheimer, 1962)

81. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron, 1992)
80. North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959)
79. King Kong (Cooper/Shoedsack, 1933)
78. Manhattan (Allen, 1979)
77. Ed Wood (Burton, 1994)
76. American History X (Kaye, 1998)
75. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
74. Groundhog Day (Ramis, 1993)
73. The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
72. The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948)
71. The Graduate (Nichols, 1967)
70. Network (Lumet, 1976)
69. Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)
68. The Rules of the Game (Renoir, 1939)
67. Do the Right Thing (S. Lee, 1989)

66. Heat (Mann, 1995)

65. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson, 2001)
64. Aliens (Cameron, 1986)
63. Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991)

62. The Incredibles (Bird, 2004)

61. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971)

60. The Apartment (Wilder, 1960)
59. The General (Keaton/Bruckman, 1927)
58. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
57. Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992)
56. L.A. Confidential (Hanson, 1997)
55. 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957)
54. The Shining (Kubrick, 1980)
53. M (Lang, 1931)
52. Memento (Nolan, 2000)
51. The Bridge on River Kwai (Lean, 1957)
50. Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944)
49. The Big Lebowski (J. Coen, 1998)
48. Sunset Blvd. (Wilder, 1950)
47. This is Spinal Tap (Reiner, 1984)
46. Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998)
45. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)
44. E.T. (Spielberg, 1982)
43. Singin’ in the Rain (Donen/Kelly, 1952)
42. The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
41. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Leone, 1966)
40. Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
39. Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone, 1968)
38. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975)
37. The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987)
36. The Usual Suspects (Singer, 1995)
35. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Gilliam/Jones, 1975)
34. Fight Club (Fincher, 1999)

33. Brazil (Gilliam, 1985)

32. Annie Hall (W. Allen, 1977)
31. Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985)
30. Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988)
29. The Third Man (Reed, 1949)

28. The Matrix (Wachowski/Wachowski, 1999)

27. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
26. Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993)
25. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)
24. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, 1962)
23. Fargo (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1996)
22. It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946)

21. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)

20. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
19. Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
18. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
17. Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
16. The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994)

15. Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976)

14. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
13. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Lucas, 1977)
12. Chinatown (Polanski, 1974)
11. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
10. Alien (R. Scott, 1979)
9. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner, 1980)
8. The Godfather Part II (Coppola, 1974)

7. Jaws (Spielberg, 1975)

6. Blade Runner (R. Scott, 1982)

5. Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942)
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)
3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, 1964)

2. Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)

1. The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)

Contributor’s Websites

Cinema Fusion
Cinemathematics
Coffee Coffee and More Coffee
Combustible Celluloid
Cultural Snow
DVD Panache
Drinking Song
Eddie on Film
Film Babble
Film Experience
Film Grotto
Film Ick
Film Junk
Film Rotation
Film School Rejects
Filmspotting
IGN
JoBlo
Lazy Eye Theatre
Lucid Screening
Mad About Movies
Movie Patron
Movie Picture Film
Obsessed With Film
One-Hundred Films
Rotten Tomatoes
Salon
Screenrant
Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule
Slashfilm
Sophomore Critic
Talking Moviezzz
That Movie Site
The Cinematic Art
The Documentary Blog
The Movie Blog
Thompson on Hollywood
Throwing Things
Twitch
Variety
Windmills of My Mind
Y Kant Goran Rite

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I was kind of baffled by this list. I mean, "Groundhog Day," "Princess Bride," and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" are fine films, but I doubt if they belong here, and especially so damn high.

Funny thing is, when I brought up my concerns about such things on other websites, the webmasters attacked me!! I thought that was hilarious - the reason this list exists is because they didn't agree with the AFI list.

Thin-skinned, egotistical pussies.

The list is just far too geeked out .. half of the top twenty films are sci-fi/horror/fantasy. Most of these films are ones that these "webmasters" watched on cable while eating their Lucky Charms during the eighties.

www.therecshow.com

PIPER said...

Ray,

I agree there are lots of strange picks. Not awful movies, but I don't know that I would say they should be in a Top 100. But oh well, it was an interesting experiment and a great idea, no matter how it turned out.

But you'll get no fight from me. Even if it was all mine because it's everyone's opinion.

Charlie said...

I agree with Ray. Kind of a wierd list. I think Dances with Wolves was overlooked. Empire Strikes Back? Please, Star Wars ....Yes, Empire...No. The Godfather is nice at number one, but I would rather see something like Titantic up there. I would also say American History X should have been higher. Violent, but great. I also think Back to the Future was left off.

PIPER said...

Elijah,

You know I feel about Dances With Wolves and especially Titanic. To me, that would have made it a much stranger list.

And I thought American History X was way to self-serving. It wasn't the violence that bothered me, it was how preachy and heavy-handed it was. I prefer my messages a bit softer.

J.D. said...

#94. #9... 4. I've given up faith in humanity. That's it. It's gone.

Charlie said...

Piper,

I know how you feel about Dances, I also know how you feel about John Carpenter and the piece of crap Fandango, but I digress. The reason you said you didn't like American History X is the exact reason it should be ranked higher. Although we disagree on movies, directors and actors, I do think you are a worthy advisory and an intelligent individual (most of the times) our society, however, I do not have nearly the same regard for. Most have drunk the koolade of the democrats or the republicans. Most people don't have an individual thought in their pea sized fucking head and need to have things spoon fed to them. For that reason, American History X, as well as Fight Club is brilliant. Rate them both as #1.

EP

brian said...

Pat,

You know I hold you in high regard. May i respectfully suggest this list captures some movies you might have missed.

Cinema Paradiso
Manhattan
Ed Wood
Groundhog Day
The Conversation
Halloween
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Alien
Raging Bull
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Annie Hall
Wizard of Oz
Schindler's List

WTF is up with Back to The Future

brian said...

Elijah,

You like Dances with Wolves, Titantic and Back to the Future?

I assume you are being tongue-in-cheek...

Brian

If not, then I concur.

PIPER said...

Like usual J.D., I have no idea how to take your comment. Does this make you happy or sad?

The fact that Star Wars is #9 on the Top 100 Movies is ridiculous. It has no business being that high.

It's interesting, when you put together your own list, you can do whatever the hell you want because it's just you, and who the hell are you. But when you set something up and get 50 people to participate then it feels like it should be more official. And things like Star Wars at #9 should not happen.

Elijah,

so American History X should be ranked higher because it treated me like an idiot and hit me over the head with the message over and over again? I don't follow.

Brian,

Those are some great movies that got listed. I agree. WTF is up with Back To The Future? WTF is up with Ghosbusters? And Elijah is not joking when he says Titanic should be up towards the beginning. That's how he roles.

Anonymous said...

Piper,

I think JD is upset that Lord of the Rings is so low on that list. He was expressing disgust at the fact that it was #94.

I think.

www.therecshow.com

Lucas said...

And Elijah is not joking when he says Titanic should be up towards the beginning. That's how he roles.

is Elijah a 12 year old girl?

(sorry, i couldn't help it)

J.D. said...

That's a very, very, very, very, very, very sad thing. And I was talking about #94. I... I... I just give up.

(And how is T2 two slots better than To Kill a Mockingbird? What?)

Charlie said...

Lucas...

Uh, no, I'm not a 12 year old girl. Why, if I was would you want to date me? Save it for Chris Hansen!

Piper...

Once again, you didn't read my post. If you read it I gave you a compliment. I said I hold you in high regard and find you very intelligent. Even though I do not agree with your movie picks, that doesn't mean I find you an idiot. There have been many people through out history who I do not agree with, but I find intelligent. Please Piper, read before you insult. I said I like it because MOST of the movie goers out there do not have the brain power or a gnat and sometimes they just need to be hit over their heads with a two by four. Does that make you and idiot? Only if you allow it to. Sometimes Piper I wonder about you. Often things that are so obvious escape you. But again, I digress.

You are correct with the fact that it is your list and you can rank them however you'd like. That is the beautiful thing about America. I like Dances with Wolves. I like Titanic. You don’t. You like John Carpenter, I don’t. We can debate the quality of these movies all day long but you know what, at the end of the day, we’re both right….and we’re both wrong. We are right in our minds, but wrong in the others. That, right there, is my problem with society today. It is ok to stand up and beat your chest about what you believe in. However, if someone, just as loud, beats their chest about a differing opinion, they are yelled down for being wrong. WTF. Impossible.

SO great job with the list….and even more fun to debate. Perhaps one day you will be able to convince me that Fandango is more than something to wipe my ass with and John Carpenter should be directing more that 30 second television spots.

EP

BTW....It's how I "roll" not "role"

PIPER said...

Elijah,

You are correct. I meant to say 'roll'.

I guess I still don't understand you statement reading it again. We should reward movies for being heavy-handed because audience members are stupid? And so you put Fight Club in the same category as American History X? I don't see those two in the same category at all.

And reading you bag on Carpenter and Fandango is like watching a violent film one too many times. I am unaffected by it anymore.

Blim said...

It's a pretty conservative list but I guess that's to be expected when you have so many people contributing to a list. It's no longer a curated list but an average of a large group of people and of course the usual suspects will rise to top.