Greatest Films of All Time (Mid-Revision) - Movies & TV

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Recent updates...

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
Spellbound - Alfred Hitchcock (1945) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock (1940) 7.3/10 to 7.1/10
Married to the Mob - Jonathan Demme (1988) 6.0/10 to 5.0/10

NEWLY ASSIMILATED FILMS - RATED:
Torn Curtain - Alfred Hitchcock (1966) 7.0/10
The Witch - Richard Eggers (2015) 7.0/10 ...An expertly paced, creepy supernatural horror film with methodical and elliptical editing and stunning visuals that are a cross between Tarkovsky's Nostalghia and Caravaggio's paintings, but with the content of Goya's black period. Cinematically, it is fairly reminiscent of Von Trier's Antichrist, and in various ways, Dreyer's Ordet and the religious conviction of his works, Freidkin's The Exorcist, Bergman's Hour of the Wolf, and other folklore/films of supernatural horror.

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Torn Curtain is a Hitchcock film that I hadnt seen in its entirety. I got back to revisiting Hitchcock in part because I was (a) already doing so in my last, most recent, round of film viewing and thats one of the main points I left off at; (b) Scaruffi just posted his rankings of Hitchcock's best films and I am curious how my opinions stack up with his:

Scaruffi: (Ratings are my predictions, and are rounded off to 1/2 or full point)
North By Northwest (1959) (9/10)
Vertigo (1958) (9/10)
Rear Window (1954) (8.5/10, or high-8/10)
Psycho (1960) (8.5/10, or high-8/10)
To Catch a Thief (1955) (8/10)
Spellbound (1945) (8/10)
Marnie (1964) (8/10)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) (7.5/10 or 8/10)
Torn Curtain (1966) (7.5/10)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) (7.5/10)
The Lady Vanishes (1938) (7.5/10)
Notorious (1946) (7.5/10)
Suspicion (1941) (7.5/10)
The Birds (1963) (7.5/10)
Dial M for Murder (1954) (7/10)
Stage Fright (1950) (7/10)
Strangers on a Train (1951) (7/10)
Wrong Man (1956) (7/10)
Rebecca (1940) (7/10)
Blackmail (1929) (7/10)

Me:
Vertigo (1958) (9/10, maybe 8.5/10)
North By Northwest (1959) (8.5/10, maybe 9/10)
Psycho (1960) (8.5/10, maybe 8/10)
The Birds (1963) (8.5/10, maybe 8/10)
Marnie (1964) (8/10, maybe 8.5/10)
Rear Window (1954) (8/10, maybe 8.5/10)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) (7.5/10, maybe 8/10)
To Catch a Thief (1955) (7.5/10)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) (7.5/10)
The Lady Vanishes (1938) (Not Rated, probably 7.5/10)
Notorious (1946) (7.5/10)
Suspicion (1941) (Not Rated, probably 7.5/10)
Spellbound (1945) (7/10)
Strangers on a Train (1951) (Not Rated, probably 7/10)
Wrong Man (1956) (Not Rated, probably 7/10)
Rebecca (1940) (7/10)
Dial M for Murder (1954) (7/10)
Stage Fright (1950) (7/10)
Torn Curtain (1966) (7/10)
Blackmail (1929) (Not Rated, probably 7/10)

It looks like he just dropped The Birds from (what seemed like) an 8 or 8.5/10 to (what seems like) a 7.5/10 ("seems like" because no numerical ratings given yet, an educated guess on my part) ... I can't say that I see the same developmental flaws he now seems to ... as the film is much about inexplicability and irresolution (so I'm not sure the "lack of development" is a flaw, but just part of this intended theme), plus much of the character development is metaphorical. The bird attacks are not just physical but are metaphors for the anxieties and the psychological afflictions of and between the characters, projected upon them (literally, with process shots too) as an unconquerable apocalypse (Hitchcock giving up on solving, analyzing psychological afflictions of humanity? Giving up on his understanding/solving himself, his own past?) continuously "breaking up" the characters' attempts at connection, understanding, love; from "mother to 'daughter'", "mother to son", "'husband' to 'wife'", etc ... and perhaps especially the director taking out a psychic and sadistic violence upon all of them from his own past, including his upbringing and his "perfect blonde" in Hedren, all hell breaking loose and a paranoia of mayhem, perhaps a monumental catharsis or frustration of the director, finally throwing his hands up in the air averse to his heretofore meticulous and perfectly solved and explained mysteries, motives and psychologies. Maybe Ill ask Scaruffi about this... maybe he missed this or considers it a flawed analysis, or maybe its depth waned with revisits...

I also understand his views on Torn Curtain and Spellbound -- both profoundly strange and "brilliant messes", really good examples at just how unusual Hitchcock's artistry was (though usually veiled by his assured hand and how entertaining they are) -- but Im not quite sure how he rates them as highly as he does.

Other than that, we seem to agree very closely for the most part. There are some I simply need to revisit (To Catch a Thief perhaps most notably ... I almost moved Rear Window to 8.5 on last viewing...).
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Last edited by AfterHours on 04/28/2019 20:06; edited 1 time in total

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Recent updates below. I finally got back around to updates I was in the middle of Fall-Winter 2018, and had been considering for several months prior to that. I am still tinkering with a number of them, but this list is probably the closest it's been in a long time to aligning to my Rock ratings (and to a somewhat lesser extent, Jazz) in terms of my own sense of their accuracy in relation to my criteria.

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 9.3/10 to 9.1/10
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes] 9.1/10 to 9.0/10
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) [Restored Welles' Cut, 108 minutes] 9.0/10 to 8.9/10
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975) 8.9/10 to 8.8/10
Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) ["The Complete Metropolis", 147 minutes] 9.1/10 to 8.8/10
The Kingdom - Lars Von Trier (1995) 8.9/10 to 8.7/10
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966) 8.8/10 to 8.6/10
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958) 8.8/10 to 8.6/10
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 8.9/10 to 8.6/10
Underground - Emir Kusturica (1995) 8.9/10 to 8.5/10
The Lady from Shanghai - Orson Welles (1948) 8.7/10 to 8.5/10
The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969) [Director's Cut, 145 minutes] 8.6/10 to 8.5/10
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1974) 8.6/10 to 8.4/10
The Traveling Players - Theo Angelopoulos (1975) 8.5/10 to 8.4/10
Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes] 8.7/10 to 8.4/10
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972) 8.4/10 to 8.3/10
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976) 8.4/10 to 8.3/10
Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950) 8.4/10 to 8.3/10
Andrei Rublev - Andrei Tarkovsky (1966) 8.4/10 to 8.2/10
La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini (1960) 8.3/10 to 8.2/10
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? - Robert Aldrich (1962) 8.3/10 to 8.2/10
Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960) 8.3/10 to 8.2/10
Marketa Lazarova - Frantisek Vlacil (1967) 8.3/10 to 8.1/10
Viridiana - Luis Bunuel (1961) 8.3/10 to 8.1/10
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967) 8.3/10 to 8.1/10
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Facetious

Gender: Male
Age: 24
Location: Somewhere you've never been

What do you think of Mean Streets vs Goodfellas?

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Facetious wrote:

What do you think of Mean Streets vs Goodfellas?

Mean Streets is anywhere between 7.5-7.8 and Goodfellas probably 7.1-7.2 (with a chance at 7.3+).

Mean Streets has an amazing sense of its moments happening and being lived in viscerality and the spontaneity of impulse. The structure seems loose, vibrant, almost operatic or dreamlike at times, but also with a purposeful developmental logic. Meanwhile its scenes are shot and edited with a stunning and fresh cinematic grasp and vigor, a ferocious delight and discovery in the medium, a palpable sense of both improvisation and absolute command (recalling Welles' Touch of Evil, Godard's Breathless).

Mean Streets seems to bridge the gap between films like New Wave/Crime Thrillers Touch of Evil/Breathless and Tarantino circa Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

Although I think Goodfellas is great (and I may even be underrating it and Scorsese in general) Ive long thought that it loses a little something from its voice-over narration leading so many of its montages, which seems to disassociate whats happening from happening (maybe the narration isnt the true issue, it could simply be the neverending novelty of the technique which doesnt seem nearly as personal/psychological or deft, even poetic, as his very best) ... Outside of "that" scene with Pesci and probably some others, there is rarely a sense of suspense or true immersion, but a (highly impressive) technical showcase for Scorsese, the actors, the editing, etc.

I do think the film has amazing technique and an interesting fold of emotions/themes, from the general cocaine addled comedic spirit of its montages, to the nightmarish/horror sequences of chopping up and disposing of the body, to the suspense of Pesci's scenes where he could crack at any moment, to the later-in-the-film drama of getting caught and their marriage breakdown (etc)...

Goodfellas' cinema, main themes and characters (besides being based on a true story) may be informed by not just prior gangster films (perhaps Hawks' Scarface, perhaps Public Enemy, all the way to Coppola and Scorsese's own) and its montage and dynamic scenographic collage in part by French New Wave and Peckinpah's action/nihilism. But also perhaps (directly or indirectly) by the Welles of Mr Arkadin, which employs a similar array of orgiastic timeline, montage and narration but makes it quite a bit more meaningful/profound/emotional/involving/immersive behind the intense and ever-changing psychological cinematography, poetic and vigorous camera movement: by distorted lenses and precarious, dutch or surreal angles, delusional/fantastical scenes and lighting, the vast multiplicity of visual styles ... by the ambiguous, grotesque, offbeat characterizations of its cast ... all of this conflated to a highly adventurous, massive network and cumulative development of its themes/main character (from Welles behind and in front of the camera: Who is Arkadin? Who am I? What is the nature of identity? What is truth but the eye of the beholder, a house of cards, an illusion?).
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homelessking

AfterHours wrote:

Facetious wrote:

Some anime recommendations:

My Neighbour Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki (1988): Ostensibly a children's film, this is actually quite sensitive and beautifully made, with memorable dream-like imagery.
Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988): A cyberpunk masterpiece that builds to a batshit insane second half.
Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon (1997): As suspenseful and frenetic as a Hitchcock thriller, as surreal and mind-bending as Lynch's best; the direction is brilliant and tightly controlled even as it feels like the film is flying off the rails.

Last two are probably more likely to make it to 7.3+/10; first one might be 7/10 at least for you although I myself consider it an 8.

Thank you, I was recently considering going through the key works of Anime!

You may also want to check out Mamoru Oshii's Angel's Egg (1985), a film packed with Christian symbolism and allegories that was terrifically inspired by Oshii's lost of faith in Christianity prior to the production of the film.

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

homelessking wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Facetious wrote:

Some anime recommendations:

My Neighbour Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki (1988): Ostensibly a children's film, this is actually quite sensitive and beautifully made, with memorable dream-like imagery.
Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988): A cyberpunk masterpiece that builds to a batshit insane second half.
Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon (1997): As suspenseful and frenetic as a Hitchcock thriller, as surreal and mind-bending as Lynch's best; the direction is brilliant and tightly controlled even as it feels like the film is flying off the rails.

Last two are probably more likely to make it to 7.3+/10; first one might be 7/10 at least for you although I myself consider it an 8.

Thank you, I was recently considering going through the key works of Anime!

You may also want to check out Mamoru Oshii's Angel's Egg (1985), a film packed with Christian symbolism and allegories that was terrifically inspired by Oshii's lost of faith in Christianity prior to the production of the film.

Right on - thank you. Havent ever come across that one
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Hayden

Location: CDMX

Speaking of Angel's Egg —

No Yoshishige Yoshida? Seijun Suzuki? Shūji Terayama? Where's the love for Japan? Sad

(Gonna throw Diaz, Cocteau, Aleksey German and Rohmer in the ring too).

And The Dance of Reality, My Joy and and Holy Motors sure would look good on a decade list Wink

. Looking forward to that. Also going to rec you check out An Elephant Sitting Still whenever you have the time. Zama too.

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Hayden wrote:

Speaking of Angel's Egg —

No Yoshishige Yoshida? Seijun Suzuki? Shūji Terayama? Where's the love for Japan? Sad

(Gonna throw Diaz, Cocteau, Aleksey German and Rohmer in the ring too).

And The Dance of Reality, My Joy and and Holy Motors sure would look good on a decade list Wink

. Looking forward to that. Also going to rec you check out An Elephant Sitting Still whenever you have the time. Zama too.

Thank you, hopefully I can get to some more cinema during this lockdown! All of those recs look interesting.
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homelessking

What do you think about Scaruffi's recent additions to the cinema page? Metropolis only getting an 8 is an especially odd one for me.

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

homelessking wrote:

What do you think about Scaruffi's recent additions to the cinema page? Metropolis only getting an 8 is an especially odd one for me.

Very cool to see him putting these together. Almost none of them surprised me. Ill have to look them over more closely but I think my ratings aligned to virtually all of them either exactly or within 0.3/0.4 which would be "very closely" (in other terms, less than 1/2 point). And/or I rated some differently by more than +/- 0.4 but also noted correctly (or very close) what I estimated Scaruffi would give it (to the right of the rating).

That said, Metropolis was a little surprising. I expected it to get 8.5/8.6 from him so 8/10 was a little low. However, two things kept it from really jumping out for me: first, that it has been declining for me in rating (by 0.1-0.3) each of my last few viewings (was once as high as 9.5). Second, that he intuited this by ranking it below 2001 and Stalker (both I expected as 8's) on his "best sci-fi" list. So half of me thought to take that with a grain of salt as his genre lists rarely align perfectly to his actual ratings/rankings (presumably compiled from different time periods that he hasnt taken the time to align to all else?) ... The other half mentally noted that I wouldnt be surprised if he rates it an 8 ... Plus his Metropolis review notes precarious flaws of the work that I agreed with (not necessarily significant flaws, especially in the context of expressionist/silent cinema, but probably are enough to diminsh it from "all time masterpiece)

Perhaps most surprising to me was The Big Heat. Not because of my own thoughts about it. Ive long rated it between 7.5-8 and while I long thought it was quite extraordinary, I remained befuddled that Scaruffi appeared to think of it as a 9 (ranked #4 on his decade list above other 9s, calls it "the masterpiece of the genre"...), and he probably did but changed his mind this go around. So I simply didnt expect that due to his ranking, not my actual estimation of it.

Lang in general was something of a surprise (with no films above 8/10 ) because he has long ranked him # 2 greatest director which will surely change now (probably 1. Welles, 2. Hitchock or Bergman, 3. Hitchcock or Bergman).
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