[Mercury]

[AfterHours]

[AfterHours]

EXPLANATION: WHAT IS THIS LOG??? Go here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=571094#571094

For my criteria page, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503

To visit my Main lists, go here:
Greatest Classical Music Works: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15098
Greatest Albums (Rock & Jazz): https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15276
Greatest Films: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15558
Greatest Paintings: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15560
Greatest Works of Art: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16117

Bold = Newly added
Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded

Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 12-19-2022 - 12-31-2022
Geek the Girl - Lisa Germano (1994) ... 😲 ❗ 😲 ❗ 😲 ❗ ...
Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
Lorca - Tim Buckley (1969)
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
Mirror Man - Captain Beefheart (1971)
Piazza dei Miracoli: Pisa Cathedral - Buscheto (Architect, 1064 - 1092) and Rainaldo (Facade, circa 1100); Pisa Baptistery of St. John - Diotisalvi (1152 - 1353, Pulpit: Nicolas Pisano, 1255 - 1260); Campinile (aka, "Leaning Tower of Pisa", 1173 - 1372) - Diotisalvi, then Benenato (1233 - 1259), Guido Speziale (1260 - 1272), Giovanni di Simone (1272 - 1284), Tommaso di Andrea Pisano (Bell Chamber, 1372); Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa - Giovanni di Simone (1278 - 1284, completed posthumously, 1464) [Architecture]
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle (2014)
Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010)
David - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1504) [Sculpture]
Pieta - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1499) [Sculpture]
City - Michael Heizer (1970 - 2022) [Land Art: Sculpture/Architecture]
Safe as Milk - Captain Beefheart (1967)
Forever Changes - Love (1967)
Good - Morphine (1992)

FAMILIAR ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RE-RATED:
Geek the Girl - Lisa Germano (1994) 8.4/10 to 8.8/10
Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010) 8.8/10 to 8.7/10
Mirror Man - Captain Beefheart (1971) 7.7/10 to 8.1/10

FAMILIAR SONGS/TRACKS/MOVEMENTS - RE-RATED:
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands - Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde - Track #14 (1966) 7.6/10 to 7.8/10

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle (2014) 7.0/10 to 7.2/10

FAMILIAR PAINTINGS/VISUAL ART - RE-RATED:
Piazza dei Miracoli: Pisa Cathedral - Buscheto (Architect, 1064 - 1092) and Rainaldo (Facade, circa 1100); Pisa Baptistery of St. John - Diotisalvi (1152 - 1353, Pulpit: Nicolas Pisano, 1255 - 1260); Campinile (aka, "Leaning Tower of Pisa", 1173 - 1372) - Diotisalvi, then Benenato (1233 - 1259), Guido Speziale (1260 - 1272), Giovanni di Simone (1272 - 1284), Tommaso di Andrea Pisano (Bell Chamber, 1372); Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa - Giovanni di Simone (1278 - 1284, completed posthumously, 1464) [Architecture] [b]Not Rated to 8.1/10

NEWLY VIEWED PAINTINGS/VISUAL ART - RATED:
City - Michael Heizer (1970 - 2022) [Land Art: Sculpture/Architecture] Not Rated to 7.5/10

TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2022)
Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966)
Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974)
Lorca - Tim Buckley (1970)
Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937)
Spiderland - Slint (1991)
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1997)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes]
St. Peter's Basilica - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1626) [Architecture]
The Beethoven Frieze - Gustav Klimt (1902)
Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth (1988)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Desertshore - Nico (1970)
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
Possession - Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
Improvisie - Paul Bley (1971)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
Neu! - Neu! (1972)
North by Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Medici Chapel: The Sagrestia Nuova - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1555) [Sculpture and Architecture]
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa - Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1652) [Sculpture and Architecture]
Angkor Wat - Started by Suryavarman II; Completed by Jayavarman VII (circa 1122 - 1150; Note: there are various anomalies that may suggest an earlier date of construction -- perhaps even much earlier) [Architecture]
Monreale Cathedral - Begun by William II of Sicily in 1174; various modifications thereafter (1267) [Architecture]
Taj Mahal - Ustad Ahmad Lahauri (1653) [Architecture]
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major - Franz Schubert (1828)
Isenheim Altarpiece - Matthias Grunewald [includes sculpture by Nikolaus Hagenauer] (circa 1512-1516)
Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) - Salvador Dali (1954)
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso (1907)
David - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1504) [Sculpture]
Sydney Opera House - Jørn Utzon (1973) [Architecture]
Fallingwater - Frank Lloyd Wright (1939) [Architecture]
The Gates of Hell - Auguste Rodin (1889 "Expressionist" Version) [Sculpture]
Laughing Stock - Talk Talk (1991)
Marquee Moon - Television (1977)
Blue - Joni Mitchell (1971)
Music For Airports - Brian Eno (1978)
Pieta - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1499) [Sculpture]
Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969)
Third - Soft Machine (1970)
Y - Pop Group (1979)
Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World" - Antonin Dvorak (1893)
Symphonie Fantastique - Hector Berlioz (1830)
Sagrada Família - Antoni Gaudí (Gaudi: 1883 - 1926, unfinished; Still under construction as of 2022) [Architecture]
The Doors - The Doors (1966)
The Pantheon - Apollodorus of Damascus (circa 113-125 AD) [Architecture]
Florence Cathedral - Arnolfo di Cambio (1294-1302); Giotto (Bell Tower: 1334-1337); Filippo Brunelleschi (Dome: 1420-1436) (Completed 1436; Emilio De Fabris, Marble Facade: 1887) [Architecture]
The Parthenon - Iktinos and Callicrates (Architecture); Phidias (Sculpture) (432 BC) [Architecture and Sculpture]
Symphony No. 6 in A minor "Tragic" - Gustav Mahler (1904; 1906)
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Just some miscellaneous notes, upcoming ideas, and/or EASILY MISSED updates that may be of interest to art nerds THE WORLD OVER (also known as: "probably more like 10 people" 🤣 🤣 🤣 )...

It should be obvious but I am mainly focused on Architecture at the moment... My ratings/rankings for these are a bit less "official" than other arts ("official" in relation to my own list, ratings/rankings, I don't mean official "objectively" in the purest sense). Sometimes by a lot, particularly with structures that are in a state of deterioration/ruin, these are very much "rough estimates" (ex: Angkor Wat, Parthenon). Otherwise, the estimates are still very much "ESTIMATES" and in an early stage of assessment with (potentially) more wiggle room for upgrades/downgrades. In other words, don't take the Architecture ratings/rankings as "officially" as my others. ALL of them are still under consistent assessment/re-assessment, in comparison to all others I add as well. As more and more get added, and more assessed in detail, and my criteria (for Architecture particularly) more precise, the ratings (presumably) should get more and more "official" relative to Paintings (according to me at least hehe). As a note, the Sculpture that is currently featured on my list so far is probably closer to "official" than any of the Architecture (that doesn't mean they won't change at all, just that my confidence is better with those and they're less likely to undergo major leaps or drops in rating/ranking). Also, see my "Greatest Paintings" list thread (conversation with EyeKanFly) which discusses the difficulties in ratings/rankings of Architecture that I am in-progress with working out as I go. Fine-tuning that criteria may of course bring about further upgrades/downgrades in the near future. We'll see... In the meantime, the current ratings/rankings main purpose is to get a group of my favorites (and perhaps some new ones too) on my list so to give myself some good parameters of comparison to work with and get my feet wet with regards to rating/ranking them, so future evaluations, ratings and rankings (in comparison to those) are made easier.

For Michelangelo's Laurentian Library, I have added pics of the rotunda (that was added to the work much later) including a link to "gallery of images" (that also includes some details on the whole work). Here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=611914#611914

For St. Peter's Basilica, I added an HQ 360 degree panorama shot of Michelangelo's Dome from its interior balcony. I also added a 360 panorama from the main floor/central/altar area. Both are exceptional views. I strongly recommend (btw) noting for oneself how miraculously "unreal" the interior dome looks, due to its color combination, design, lighting (etc). It can be seen as among a culmination of efforts to express "heaven" or "God" (or the like) through the ascendancy and expanse of a dome in architecture. It fuses an expression of the ecstatic Baroque and the more considered, inward, "humanist" Renaissance (in that it looks both expressive and ecstatic, while also intellectually refined, polished "not excessively magniloquent as is sometimes the case with the Baroque" -- its fusion of Michelangelo and later design artists, combines both eras). These days we might say it looks so removed from a "real physicality" that it almost looks like CGI to one's eyes (especially from below, floor level). Here, I mean "CGI" as a compliment because it's incredible that hundreds of years ago this "unreal", pure, "ethereal" visual effect could be made with only physical tools/design/architecture/space. Here, as well: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=611914#611914

For Michelangelo's Medici Chapel: The Sagrestia Nuova, I added a 360 panorama of the whole interior space. This is ideal to have available because before it was hard to get as good of an idea of the whole space in one rotating/three-dimensional shot (beyond the videos, it was broken up in lots of separate images). This gives one a better idea of the whole composition and each of its sculptures and walls in relation to each other, in 3D space. The added bonus is that one has control over what he views and when, whereas in the videos (though they are of higher image quality), one is left to the whims of the camera person (who rarely sits on an image as much as one wants, and doesn't always look at everything that one wants to see and focus on, or all the angles one wants). Here, as well: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=611914#611914

For Picasso's Guernica, I added a 360 panorama in the actual room in its museum in front of the work (as opposed to a picture of it removed from its actual space, in a black backdrop). Because these panoramas also move with one's point of view (on a phone, if one moves the phone up/down/left/right the view moves with the space as if one is "filming" the work or its space) or with the cursor/finger, it gives a bit better sense of "3D" plus the size of Guernica in relation to one's position in front of the actual painting. Here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=651219#651219

________________________________________

For the Velvet Underground and Nico, I am aiming to put together a decent review/analysis in the coming days to a week (or so, rough estimate ... shooting for before or after Christmas, just depends... ). I just need to find the extra time. Written analysis is very time consuming because it's not just jotting down some thoughts on a work, but usually involves re-listening a few times and jotting down specific notes that are in a more understandable form (beyond my "thoughts" which may be more abstract, understandable to me, but not necessarily ideal for written words), so that what I write demonstrates some key points about the work that, if noticed by the listener, hopefully (ideally) leads to a cognitive agreement with what I am observing. This is easier with some works than others. But with a staggering masterpiece like VU and Nico it usually means multiple "parallel" meanings/expressive facets are taking place at once (or rapidly, successively) and this takes a lot of work to write up in coherent, organized form. This has been my hesitation to do so in the past. Talking about any one of its facets could be done without too much work, but most or all of them in one, is a lot more difficult and I've, for a long time, only felt that was worthwhile because it is doing one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century a bit of a disservice to write anything less. So it will probably touch on most or all of the main points expressed across the album, MAYBE even song by song (or most of them) so that the listener can easily take it from there if he/she hasn't already realized the points I take up beforehand. This is also to answer (or reassure) TiggaTrigga from earlier that, yes, I will be taking up I'm Waiting For the Man, but I am also aiming to take up the rest of the album too, all in one, with that track just a part of that. This would also finally answer RoundTheBend from ages ago about the album, which I never seem to get around to, so hopefully too, this is the last promise (or stated inclination) that doesn't materialize 🙄 🤣 🙄

I have been slowly piecing together a Guernica "notes/analysis", as well as Les Demoisselles, for Picasso. In doing so, I have added a bit to the previous notes for Les Demoisselles. Theyre still very unfinished (need editing/polishing up of how its worded and explained) and I haven't yet included some key points that I will in the near future for Les Demoisselles. But it might be of interest in even its current form. Guernica is much more in a (very) rough draft form and I haven't added it to the page yet, but hope to do so sooner or later (maybe over the holidays, though it depends on how consumed I still am with Architecture in the coming week or two). Same story (as Guernica) and potential time line for "notes/analysis" on Michelangelo's David.
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2022)
1. Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966)
3. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974)
4. Lorca - Tim Buckley (1970)
5. Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937)
6. Spiderland - Slint (1991)
7. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1997)
8. Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes]
9. St. Peter's Basilica - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1626) [Architecture]
10. The Beethoven Frieze - Gustav Klimt (1902)
11. Geek the Girl - Lisa Germano (1994)
12. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth (1988)
13. Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
14. Desertshore - Nico (1970)
15. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
16. Possession - Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
17. Improvisie - Paul Bley (1971)
18. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
19. Neu! - Neu! (1972)
20. North by Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
21. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
22. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
23. Medici Chapel: The Sagrestia Nuova - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1555) [Sculpture and Architecture]
24. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa - Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1652) [Sculpture and Architecture]
25. Angkor Wat - Started by Suryavarman II; Completed by Jayavarman VII (circa 1122 - 1150; Note: there are various anomalies that may suggest an earlier date of construction -- perhaps even much earlier) [Architecture]
26. Monreale Cathedral - Begun by William II of Sicily in 1174; various modifications thereafter (1267) [Architecture]
27. Taj Mahal - Ustad Ahmad Lahauri (1653) [Architecture]
28. Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major - Franz Schubert (1828)
29. Isenheim Altarpiece - Matthias Grunewald [includes sculpture by Nikolaus Hagenauer] (circa 1512-1516)
30. Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) - Salvador Dali (1954)
31. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso (1907)
32. David - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1504) [Sculpture]
33. Sydney Opera House - Jørn Utzon (1973) [Architecture]
34. Fallingwater - Frank Lloyd Wright (1939) [Architecture]
35. The Gates of Hell - Auguste Rodin (1889 "Expressionist" Version) [Sculpture]
36. Laughing Stock - Talk Talk (1991)
37. Marquee Moon - Television (1977)
38. Blue - Joni Mitchell (1971)
39. Music For Airports - Brian Eno (1978)
40. Pieta - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1499) [Sculpture]
41. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969)
42. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
43. Third - Soft Machine (1970)
44. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World" - Antonin Dvorak (1893)
45. Symphonie Fantastique - Hector Berlioz (1830)
46. Sagrada Família - Antoni Gaudí (Gaudi: 1883 - 1926, unfinished; Still under construction as of 2022) [Architecture]
47. The Doors - The Doors (1966)
48. The Pantheon - Apollodorus of Damascus (circa 113-125 AD) [Architecture]
49. Florence Cathedral - Arnolfo di Cambio (1294-1302); Giotto (Bell Tower: 1334-1337); Filippo Brunelleschi (Dome: 1420-1436) (Completed 1436; Emilio De Fabris, Marble Facade: 1887) [Architecture]
50. The Parthenon - Iktinos and Callicrates (Architecture); Phidias (Sculpture) (432 BC) [Architecture and Sculpture]


PAST WINNERS: 1995 - 2021

(NOTE: My series of "Top 10 of the Week" lists only actually goes back to 2008. Prior to that are simply my noted favorite works of each given year without any attempt to keep further record)

2021: Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2020: Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2019: Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974)
2018: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824)
2017: Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2016: Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2015: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
2014: Sistine Chapel: Ceiling and The Last Judgment - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
2013: Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi (1874)
2012: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
2011: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
2010: Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910)
2009: Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
2008: The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963)
2007: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1968)
2006: Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974)
2005: A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964)
2004: Kid A - Radiohead (2000)
2003: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2002)
2002: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)
2001: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
2000: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824)
1999: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor - J.S. Bach (1723)
1998: OK Computer - Radiohead (1997)
1997: The Bends - Radiohead (1995)
1996: 2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968)
1995: Throwing Copper - Live (1995)
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

EXPLANATION: WHAT IS THIS LOG??? Go here: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=571094#571094

For my criteria page, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503

To visit my Main lists, go here:
Greatest Classical Music Works: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15098
Greatest Albums (Rock & Jazz): https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15276
Greatest Films: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15558
Greatest Paintings: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15560
Greatest Works of Art: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16117

Bold = Newly added
Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded

Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 1-1-2023 - 1-29-2023
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Blow-Up - Michelangelo Antonioni (1966)
Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000)
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Alien - Ridley Scott (1979)
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
Violin Concertos Nos. 1-4, "The Four Seasons" - Antonio Vivaldi (1723)
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Repeater - Fugazi (1990)
Fire of Love - Gun Club (1981)
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994)
The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)
Medici Chapel: The Sagrestia Nuova - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1555) [Sculpture and Architecture]
David - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1504) [Sculpture]
The Band - The Band (1969)
The Game - David Fincher (1997)
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994)
The Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir (1939)
Yerself is Steam - Mercury Rev (1991)
Geek the Girl - Lisa Germano (1994)
Images and Words - Dream Theater (1992)
Zen Arcade - Husker DU (1984)
Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables - Dead Kennedy's (1980)
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Spiderland - Slint (1991)
Dolmen Music - Meredith Monk (1981)
Laurentian Library - Michelangelo Buonarroti (Begun 1525, completed posthumously, 1571; Tribune of Elci rotunda added by Pasquale Poccianti in 1841) [Architecture]
Dummy - Portishead (1994)
Frigid Stars - Codeine (1990)
The Lion and the Cobra - Sinead O'Connor (1987)
Fallingwater - Frank Lloyd Wright (1939) [Architecture]
The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos (2015)
The Power of the Dog - Jane Campion (2021)
Moses - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1515) [Sculpture]
Spleen & Ideal - Dead Can Dance (1985)
So Tonight That I Might See - Mazzy Star (1993)
Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi (1953)
Andrei Rublev - Andrei Tarkovsky (1966)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles - Chantal Akerman (1975)
Seven - David Fincher (1995)
Tuvalu - Veit Helmer (1999)
Children of Men - Alfonso Cauron (2006)
Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman (1984)
Thelma and Louise - Ridley Scott (1991) (7.2/10)
Timecrimes - Nacho Vigalondo (2007)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick (1964)
Hiroshima, Mon Amour - Alain Resnais (1959)
The Trial - Orson Welles (1962) (7.1/10)
Wages of Fear - Henri Clouzot (1953)
Soylent Green - Richard Fleischer (1973)
Riders of Justice - Anders Thomas Jensen (2020)
Ivan's Childhood - Andrei Tarkovsky (1962) (7.0/10)
La Jetee - Chris Marker (1962) (7.2/10)
City of Lost Children - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1995)
The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick (1998)

Top 10+ Albums/Movies/Visual Art for the Week(s) - Rated 2.8/10 to 6.7/10
Miami Vice - Michael Mann (2006)
The Batman - Matt Reeves (2022)
The Duchess of Langeais - Jacques Rivette (2007)

FAMILIAR ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RE-RATED:
Repeater - Fugazi (1990) 7.6/10 to 8.0/10
Fire of Love - Gun Club (1981) 7.7/10 to 7.9/10
The Band - The Band (1969) 7.6/10 to 7.8/10

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 8.6/10 to 8.7/10
Blow-Up - Michelangelo Antonioni (1966) 8.3/10 to 8.5/10
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979) 8.1/10 to 8.3/10; 8.3/10 to 8.4/10
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994) 8.0/10 to 8.3/10
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974) 8.1/10 to 8.2/10
Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa (1952) 7.7/10 to 8.1/10
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986) 7.9/10 to 8.0/10
Greed - Erich von Stroheim (1924) [Studio Cut, 140 minutes] 8.0/10 to 7.9/10
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994) 7.6/10 to 7.8/10
The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman (1957) 7.9/10 to 7.8/10
La Haine - Mathieu Kassovitz (1996) 7.7/10 to 7.8/10
The Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir (1939) 7.6/10 to 7.7/10
Veronika Voss - Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1982) Not Rated to 7.7/10
Umberto D - Vittorio De Sica (1952) Not Rated to 7.7/10
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972) 7.6/10 to 7.7/10
Alien - Ridley Scott (1979) 7.4/10 to 7.5/10; 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah (1974) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick (1964) 7.8/10 to 7.6/10
The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1978) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Bad Education - Pedro Almodovar (2004) Not Rated to 7.5/10
The Turin Horse - Bela Tarr (2011) Not Rated to 7.5/10
Paris, Texas - Wim Wenders (1983) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Hiroshima, Mon Amour - Alain Resnais (1959) 7.7/10 to 7.4/10
The Game - David Fincher (1997) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
The Mirror - Jafar Panahi (1997) Not Rated to 7.4/10
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Robert Wiene (1920) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
El Topo - Alejandro Jodorowsky (1970) Not Rated to 7.4/10
All About My Mother - Pedro Almodovar (1999) Not Rated to 7.4/10
Intolerance - D.W. Griffith (1916) Not Rated to 7.4/10
Alphaville - Jean Luc-Godard (1965) Not Rated to 7.4/10
Key Largo - John Huston (1948) Not Rated to 7.4/10
Talk to Her - Pedro Almodovar (2002) Not Rated to 7.3/10
They Live By Night - Nicholas Ray (1948) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Le Samourai - Jean-Pierre Melville (1967) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Rebels of the Neon God - Tsai Ming-liang (1992) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Sonatine - Tikashi Kitano (1993) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Opening Night - John Cassavetes (1977) Not Rated to 7.3/10
What Time is it There? - Tsai Ming-liang (2001) Not Rated to 7.3/10
The River - Tsai Ming-liang (1997) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Central Station - Walter Salles (1998) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Red River - Howard Hawks (1948) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Tuvalu - Veit Helmer (1999) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles - Chantal Akerman (1975) Not Rated to 7.3/10
Children of Men - Alfonso Cauron (2006) 7.2/10 to 7.1/10
City of Lost Children - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1995) 7.8/10 to 7.1/10
The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick (1998) 7.3/10 to 7.1/10
Wages of Fear - Henri Clouzot (1953) Not Rated to 7.1/10
Spring Breakers - Harmony Korine (2012) 6.6/10 to 7.0/10
Soylent Green - Richard Fleischer (1973) 6.8/10 to 7.0/10
The Batman - Matt Reeves (2022) 7.0/10 to 6.1/10
The Duchess of Langeais - Jacques Rivette (2007) 7.4/10 to 6.0/10

NEWLY WATCHED FILMS - RATED:
The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos (2015) 7.3/10
The Power of the Dog - Jane Campion (2021) 7.3/10
Timecrimes - Nacho Vigalondo (2007) 7.0/10
Riders of Justice - Anders Thomas Jensen (2020) 7.0/10
Miami Vice - Michael Mann (2006) 6.5/10 ... The visual aesthetic, its tactility, sensuality, allure, decadence (especially its city-scapes and seas and skies as immersive or reflective settings and backdrops to the scenes) is the best part, while its plot is pretty much recycled themes/plot lines from lots of crime thrillers (TV and Cinema). However, it is edited in an allusive, semi-abstract style that lends the content perhaps more interest (and sometimes unnecessary confusion, perhaps to its detriment) than usual. There are some pretty stunning shots throughout (that might add to the interpretation, more psychological depth and character interest, on future revisits), as noted many of the city shots and skies (etc) as is often the case with Mann (lending the film an impressionistic, sometimes metaphysical, at times almost surreal, tone), but perhaps above all the explosion that launches the woman from the house into the pavement (intentionally written without spoilers). These aspects give it a shot at a higher rating, but at least for now it didn't seem like it could quite overcome its limitations to become a more fully satisfying and compelling whole (too much of a standard crime thriller beyond these points). Plus even its visual aesthetic isn't necessarily more impressive than Mann's prior works (Heat is probably as subtle, allusive, suggestive, poetic, impressionistic, while featuring far stronger writing, characters, drama, thematic development), and much of this work possibly owes a bit to Soderbergh (rhythmically, visually), or maybe its the other way around between them...? As a plus, it does seem to have been a positive influence on the aesthetic of Korine's bonkers Spring Breakers (which I upgraded) and was probably influential on the aesthetic of (especially TV) crime/thrillers post-2006 (though that could maybe just as easily be chalked up to Heat long before this Miami Vice).
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Working on this at the moment...

(NOTE: VU Nico review still in the cards, just focused on cinema for the time being and will return to it...)

Recommendations welcome... Keep in mind that at/near the top of these lists are not just impressive or powerful or beautiful visuals ("on their own", more or less) but the visual language is (additional to that) very meaningful and particularly aligned and insightful to the emotions/themes of the film (while of course being quite creative/unique). So there are "levels" or "echelons" to the rankings (as always with my lists), where it's not just an increase in the "immediate" or "surface" impression/impact, but above that, also the depth of impression/impact -- how meaningful, profound, insightful -- as well. So in most cases the higher the ranking the more it is a combination of sheer impact or impression of the visual style with the meaning of the shots/framing/camera movement and how extraordinary the alignment of the visual language to the themes/emotions of the film. Any selection has all of these factors going for it to greater or lesser degree, the highest ones just much more so than the lower ones (while being more extraordinary in their creativity, more singular in their visual language, more uniquely the auteur's own visual language...).

INCOMPLETE / IN-PROGRESS...

Best Visuals (Color)

2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR2r-A9H3Kg
Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982) [The Final Cut, 117 minutes] / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_9rhPDLHWk
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfdX7o-nW6A
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIfWXqeOrJ4
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes] / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVDOrlugfBI
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1975) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXDwkdTyFv8
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - Peter Greenaway (1989) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP-VumkuYHY
Medea - Lars Von Trier (1988) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQwNcvLTwQ&t=10s (Sorry, could not find a free excerpt video with better picture quality)
The Holy Mountain - Alejandro Jodorowsky (1973) / Trailer/Tribute: https://youtu.be/avTOLTUqf1w
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - Jaromil Jires (1970) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yDDvOJpaQ0
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95o-QM-lz8g
Blow-Up - Michelangelo Antonioni (1966) Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCNTLWCFcQs
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15l2C3TGIdg&t=112s
Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick (1978) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCCy8mRqF8c
Alien - Ridley Scott (1979) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_5shs8SwEo
Enter The Void - Gaspar Noe (2009) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJkPLYmUyzg
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODJb2-PLu7Y
Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJyLi-3qsDs
Playtime - Jacques Tati (1967) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYB8hgyq4s
Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford Coppola (1979) [Original Theatrical Release, 153 minutes] / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-ViOOFH-s (Note: Even though this video is presenting the "Final Cut", this does not mean I am recommending that as the best version. The original theatrical release is the best cut of the film. This is simply the highest quality trailer I could find both picture quality and the images selected plus I don't think there are any shots in it that aren't from the original theatrical release)
In the Mood For Love - Wong Kar-Wai (2000) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8GuedsQnWQ
Suspiria - Dario Argento (1977) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-IEUz3Kqpw
Antichrist - Lars Von Trier (2009) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lnzoZBC3ug
Blow Out - Brian De Palma (1981) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egvlvWvpzRE
City of Lost Children - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1995) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLxmZuG1Hgs
Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky (1972) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBYJH6UAAfw
Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrAlM6T6Qg&t=148s
A Zed & Two Noughts - Peter Greenaway (1985) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_yia2nqt6U
Underground - Emir Kusturica (1995) Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYTvmLvLchs
The Dance of Reality - Alejandro Jodorowsky (2013) Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKxv0ygW_o
Conspirators of Pleasure - Jan Svankmajer (1996)
Amelie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgD31RXoj4c
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8NU3EYTbFg&t=9s
Hero - Zhang Yimou (2002) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7fXWeN_3Ro
The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick (2011) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrAz1YLh8nY
Delicatessen - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_C6OvHh22w
Holy Motors - Leos Carax (2012) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWu9WjEcdbk
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? - Bae Yong-kyun (1989)
Waltz With Bashir - Ari Folman (2008) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjgJGpxstHs
The Conformist - Bernardo Bertolucci (1970) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syep_0DgI8
Dark City - Alex Proyas (1998)
The Red Shoes - Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (1948)
Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzjtMzmos0c
Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman (1973)
The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Dressed to Kill - Brian De Palma (1980)
The Witch: A New-England Folktale - Robert Eggers (2015) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXmlf3Sefg
Strange Days - Kathryn Bigelow (1995)
A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick (1971)
The Searchers - John Ford (1956)
Melancholia - Lars Von Trier (2011)
Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg (1971)
Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski (1968)
Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - George Lucas (1977)
Mother! - Darren Aronofsky (2017)
Come and See - Elem Klimov (1985)
2046 - Wong Kar-wai (2004)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Edgar Wright (2010)
Annihilation - Alex Garland (2018)
Minority Report - Steven Spielberg (2002)
Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve (2017)
Thelma - Joachim Trier (2017)
Zardoz - John Boorman (1972)
Dick Tracy - Warren Beatty (1990) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhCNCKw2zps
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
It's Such a Beautiful Day - Don Hertzfeldt (2012)
Peeping Tom - Michael Powell (1960)
Twelve Monkeys - Terry Gilliam (1995)
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Marnie - Alfred Hitchcock (1964)
Candyman - Bernard Rose (1992)
Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner (1980)
Black Narcissus - Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (1947)
Eyes Wide Shut - Stanley Kubrick (1999)
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki (2001)
The Fifth Element - Luc Besson (1997)
The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
Written on the Wind - Douglas Sirk (1956)
Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - Richard Marquand (1983)
Far From Heaven - Todd Haynes (2002)
Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)
Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994)
Seven - David Fincher (1995)
Being John Malkovich - Spike Jonze (1999)
Badlands - Terrence Malick (1973)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog (1972)
The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick (1998)
Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese (1973)
Beetlejuice - Tim Burton (1988)
Children of Men - Alfonso Cauron (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro (2002)
The Shining - Stanley Kubrick (1980)
The Tenant - Roman Polanski (1976)
Blue Velvet - David Lynch (1986)
Maborosi - Hirokazu Kore-eda (1995)
The Power of the Dog - Jane Campion (2021)
Weekend - Jean-Luc Godard (1967)
Straw Dogs - Sam Peckinpah (1971)
Face/Off - John Woo (1997)
The Matrix - Lana and Lilly Wachowski (1999)
The Abyss - James Cameron (1989)
Edward Scissorhands - Tim Burton (1990)
The Graduate - Mike Nichols (1967)
Batman Forever - Joel Schumacher (1995)
Judge Dredd - Danny Cannon (1995)
Fight Club - David Fincher (1999)
Miami Vice - Michael Mann (2006)
Saving Private Ryan - Steven Spielberg (1998)
WALL-E - Andrew Stanton (2008)
Titanic - James Cameron (1997)
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Irma La Douce - Billy Wilder (1963)
The Terminator - James Cameron (1984)
Grave of the Fireflies - Isao Takahata (1988)
Videodrome - David Cronenberg (1983)
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1978)
Bonnie & Clyde - Arthur Penn (1967)
Interstellar - Christopher Nolan (2014)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day - James Cameron (1992)
Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman (1984)
Robocop - Paul Verhoeven (1987)
Predator - John McTiernan (1987) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFnGsUMmwfc
Soylent Green - Richard Fleischer (1973)
<<>>


King of New York - Abel Ferrara (1990)
Get Out - Jordan Peele (2017)


TO BE INCLUDED - RANKING UNDECIDED:
The Wizard of Oz - Victor Fleming (1939)
Gone With the Wind - Victor Fleming (1939)
Shane - George Stevens (1953)
North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Belle de Jour - Luis Bunuel (1967)
The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969) [Director's Cut, 145 minutes]
The Ballad of Cable Hogue - Sam Peckinpah (1970)
World on a Wire - Rainer Fassbinder (1973)
A Woman Under the Influence - John Cassavetes (1974)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah (1974)
The Phantom of Liberty - Luis Bunuel (1974)
The Traveling Players - Theo Angelopoulos (1975)
Possession - Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
Landscape in the Mist - Theo Angelopoulos (1988)
Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990)
The Double Life of Veronique - Krzysztov Kieslowski (1991)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Ulysses' Gaze - Theo Angelopoulos (1995)
The Kingdom - Lars Von Trier (1995)
Fargo - Joel Coen (1996)
Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon (1997)
Lost Highway - David Lynch (1997)
Black Cat, White Cat - Emir Kusturica (1998)
Dr. Akagi - Shohei Imamura (1998)
Eternity and a Day - Theo Angelopoulos (1998)
The Color of Paradise - Mahid Majidi (1998)
Old Boy - Chan-wook Park (2003)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring - Kim ki-duk (2003)
The Weeping Meadow - Theo Angelopoulos (2004)
Head On - Fatih Akin (2004)
Cache - Michael Haneke (2005)
Inland Empire - David Lynch (2006)
Love Exposure - Sion Sono (2008)

...more...

MAYBE:
Rio Bravo - Howard Hawks (1959)
Splendor in the Grass - Elia Kazan (1961)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Tootsie - Sydney Pollack (1982)
Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino (1992)
Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis (1995)
Funny Games - Michael Haneke (1997)
After Life - Hirokazu Kore-eda (1998)
Dogma - Kevin Smith (1999)
Peppermint Candy - Lee Chang-dong (1999)
Memento - Christopher Nolan (2001)
21 Grams - Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (2003)
The Willow Tree - Mahid Majidi (2005)
My Joy - Sergei Loznitsa (2010)


Best Visuals (Black & White)

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-CdMOK6AwI
Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) ["The Complete Metropolis", 147 minutes] / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHPCXuTP0DY
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) [1998 Restored "Welles' Memo" Cut, 111 minutes] / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1rnPfXnYc8
Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais (1961) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Tvl1Fuxt8
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1DF6WDvoX8
Europa - Lars Von Trier (1991) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAe5jV9I_wU
Eraserhead - David Lynch (1978) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK-2_OsBe0s
Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gEG3HQtQcw
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFcOb9VcAY
The Tragedy of Macbeth - Joel Coen (2021) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEjdZsPMd64
Marketa Lazarova - Frantisek Vlacil (1967) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFhjkyjlpHA
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders (1987)
8 ½ - Federico Fellini (1963)
Andrei Rublev - Andrei Tarkovsky (1966)
Sin City - Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (2005)
Sunrise - F.W. Murnau (1927)
La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini (1960) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BeWEPXWDX4&t=1s
The Trial - Orson Welles (1962) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plJtyZtEdvk
The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYd4X4yYhMI
Tuvalu - Veit Helmer (1999)
Othello - Orson Welles (1955)
The Magnificent Ambersons - Orson Welles (1942)
L’Avventura – Michelangelo Antonioni (1960)
La Haine - Mathieu Kassovitz (1996)
Woman in the Dunes - Hiroshi Teshigahara (1964)
The Turin Horse - Bela Tarr (2011)
Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes]
Sansho the Bailiff - Kenji Mizoguchi (1954)
Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
Repulsion - Roman Polanski (1965)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Robert Wiene (1920)
Late Spring – Yasujiro Ozu (1949)
Ordet - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1955)
Hiroshima, Mon Amour - Alain Resnais (1959)
M - Fritz Lang (1931)
Manhattan - Woody Allen (1979)
The Blue Angel - Josef von Sternberg (1930)
Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa (1952)
Pi - Darren Aronofsky (1998)
Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg (1993)
Wild Strawberries - Ingmar Bergman (1957)
Jules et Jim - Francois Truffaut (1961)
Chimes at Midnight - Orson Welles (1966)
Macbeth - Orson Welles (1948)
Ivan's Childhood - Andrei Tarkovsky (1962)
Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte - Robert Aldrich (1965)
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick (1964)
Black Rain - Shohei Imamura (1988)
On the Waterfront - Elia Kazan (1954)
L'Age D'Or - Luis Bunuel (1930)
The Last Laugh - F.W. Murnau (1924)
Casablanca - Michael Curtiz (1942)
The Manchurian Candidate - John Frankenheimer (1962)
Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi (1953)
Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch (1995)
Scarface - Howard Hawks (1932)
Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950)
Viridiana - Luis Bunuel (1961)
The Last Picture Show - Peter Bogdanovich (1971)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Robert Aldrich (1962)
The Stranger - Orson Welles (1946)
Kiss Me Deadly - Robert Aldrich (1955)
The White Ribbon - Michael Haneke (2009)
Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard (1960)
The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)
They Live By Night - Nicholas Ray (1948)
The Apartment - Billy Wilder (1960)
The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin (1940)
Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock (1943)
Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder (1944)
My Darling Clementine - John Ford (1946)

TO BE INCLUDED - RANKING UNDECIDED:
Birth of a Nation - D.W. Griffith (1915)
Intolerance - D.W. Griffith (1916)
Nosferatu - F.W. Murnau (1922)
Greed - Erich von Stroheim (1924) [Studio Cut, 140 minutes]
The Crowd - King Vidor (1928)
Crime of Dr. Mabuse - Fritz Lang (1933)
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin (1936)
Grand Illusion - Jean Renoir (1937)
The Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir (1939)
The Shanghai Gesture – Josef von Sternberg (1941)
Sullivan's Travels - Preston Sturges (1941)
To Be or Not To Be - Ernst Lubitsch (1942)
Children of Paradise - Marcel Carne (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives - William Wyler (1946)
The Lady from Shanghai - Orson Welles (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)
Bicycle Thieves - Vittorio De Sica (1948)
Miracle in Milan - Vittorio De Sica (1951)
Limelight - Charlie Chaplin (1952)
Tokyo Monogatari - Yasujiro Ozu (1953)
La Strada - Federico Fellini (1954)
The Seven Samurai - Akira Kurosawa (1954)
Rififi - Jules Dassin (1954)
Smiles of a Summer Night - Ingmar Bergman (1955)
Pather Panchali – Satyajit Ray (1955)
While the City Sleeps - Fritz Lang (1956)
The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman (1957)
Nights of Cabiria - Federico Fellini (1957)
Curse of the Demon - Jacques Tourneur (1957) [aka, "Night of the Demon"]
The Magician - Ingmar Bergman (1958)
Some Like it Hot - Billy Wilder (1959)
The Misfits - John Huston (1961)
Harakiri - Masaki Kobayashi (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - John Ford (1962)
The Exterminating Angel - Luis Bunuel (1962)
Shock Corridor - Sam Fuller (1963)
Alphaville - Jean Luc-Godard (1965)
Veronika Voss - Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1982)
Damnation - Bela Tarr (1989)
Hard to Be a God - Aleksei German (2013) (Note: I haven't actually seen this yet, but based on trailers/footage it is virtually guaranteed to be added once I do) / Trailer/Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11sMDQIgggA


MAYBE:
Bringing Up Baby - Howard Hawks (1938)
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Frank Capra (1939)
Meet John Doe – Frank Capra (1941)
The Lost Weekend - Billy Wilder (1945)
It's a Wonderful Life - Frank Capra (1946)
Key Largo - John Huston (1948)
Ace in the Hole - Billy Wilder (1951) [aka, "The Big Carnival"]
Umberto D - Vittorio De Sica (1952)
A Face in the Crowd - Elia Kazan (1957)
The Hustler - Robert Rossen (1961)
Prefab People - Bela Tarr (1987)


Best Editing/Structure

In essence this is "efficiency" (basically, percentage of essential or worthwhile scenes vs superfluous scenes; not to be confused with "only fast-paced" films), and/or how compelling the "structural composition" of the film. A film can specialize in one or the other and rank well, but (usually) needs to excel or at least be good at both (efficiency and structure), and usually very compelling in at least one, to rank among the best.

NOTE that essential or worthwhile scenes would be primarily determined by how expressively and developmentally contributory they are to the emotional or thematic or conceptual expression the film is aiming for, composing, conveying. NOT by how immediately or easily entertaining they are, or the like (though, in a film aiming for such, that might be a key factor). The point is, a focus on entertaining the audience, a divertissement, is only one form of expression in film (or any art), and usually a "less meaningful form of entertainment", not the ultimate goal of most great art which is (in my opinion) a higher or more meaningful form of "entertainment" (infact "above" mere entertainment) that tends to deal with more profound or immersive, more deeply stimulating concepts, themes or emotions, than merely trying to entertain the audience in what is often a superficial, fleeting and forgettable, escape from reality (and too often the art form is brought to the lowest common denominator in order to appease as many as possible, which almost by rule, would mean it has limited the individuality or singularity of its aesthetic
and communicative potential in order to do so).

I would also probably add, for this list, that I usually find a film whose structure is extraordinary and unique yet also has an impressive internal logic to it, brilliantly composed, to be of higher value than, for instance, a film that is highly unique structurally but is yet (more or less) randomly composed (or might as well have been) and didn't require as brilliant composing to put together like that of the former. One could compare, for instance, the extraordinary structural composition of Nolan's Memento with an early surrealist film such as Bunuel's Un Chein Andalou, to consider the difference. This doesn't mean Un Chein Andalou should rank particularly low but just to point to why I would consider Memento a more impressive achievement in editing/structure despite Un Chein Andalou being among the most formally radical films ever made and certainly for its time. The essence being, that usually a film that is both radical or very inventive structurally and masterfully, intricately composed, will out-rank one that is mostly just a radical structural break from tradition.

VERY INCOMPLETE / IN PROGRESS

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Memento - Christopher Nolan (2001)
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)
8 ½ - Federico Fellini (1963)
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1975)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) [1998 Restored "Welles' Memo" Cut, 111 minutes]
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994)
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino (1992)
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[AfterHours]

Some visual symbolism/subtext to consider when watching Scott's Sci-Fi/Horror Alien (1979)...

In the opening shot, the massive planet is framed in such a way (filling the screen, cutting the top and bottom off) that it could also be an oval-shaped egg and is likely alluding to such. And the "mist" surrounding it, foreshadows the mist the crew will find hovering over and around the eggs in the Alien lair. This is met with the emerging title "Alien" as if to further (subliminally) tell you what's inside the egg and what is hidden in the darkness of space.

This is also the beginning of the theme of "cosmic horror" (fear of the unknown or incomprehensible, more so than gore, violence, shock, or the usual horror tropes) that will be a subtext throughout (such as that brought to fruition by Kubrick's 2001, ex: the moon monolith scene, and especially the whole "stargate/Jupiter and the Infinite Beyond" finale).

The crew's massive space ship is then shown as a dominant inhuman entity, nightmarishly shadowed and in cold gloomy metal, traveling through infinite uninviting space (no bright stars or vibrant planets to frame it, etc ... all very cold and deathly ... A far cry from the vibrant space scenes of, say, Star Wars). This is the beginning of a subtext that will be developed throughout that is (for a while, until plot revelations later in the film) very subtly expressing the cold, inhuman corporation that dictates the crew's directives (and later we learn, considers them expendable, secondary to bringing back the alien species for scientific purposes).

The space ship exterior and interior throughout will be expressing through its art direction, noir lighting and camera work, this theme (among others).

Following the prior shot of the Alien "egg" (planet) overwhelming space, with the symbolization of the inhumane corporation by way of the gloomy, dominant, nightmarish space ship, is also a very early development of this key theme of these enemies (the Alien, the corporation) being equal, juxtaposed, paralleled. This will be extensively developed throughout (but mostly subtextually, by visual cues and visual artistry such as this).

Then the early shots of just silent camera movement through the interior of the space ship are not merely establishing the space or working environment, but infact furthering these themes and laying the seeds for others. The cold metallic fixtures throughout, of which very little is lit so it can be made sense of, of which no space exists (in the entire film, throughout all such shots) that is inviting, comfortable, humane, welcoming, homely. It's all cold, inhumane, dark/gloomy or (when bright) nevertheless uninviting, un-homely, sterile. The obscured, confusing machinery, corridors, walls (etc) also subtly alludes to the confusion the crew will meet with when their mission directives are interrupted for evil ends and the distress and confusion that will ensue in relation to how to deal with the Alien. The camera work making its way through the lifeless, mechanistic, inhumane interiors of course alludes to the corporation (the camera movement and view + the visualization of the interior, and always of course, the massive, dominant, nightmarish exterior of their space ship). The "life-like" movement and subjective view of the camera work is not that of any of the crew (they're all hibernating) but probably the surveillance of the ship's "Mother" computer (which is of course an extension of the insensitive, uncaring corporation that considers them expendable, and so the interior camera work and that of the ship itself is further introducing this theme in subtle variants from the beginning of the film). It is interesting that Scott includes a moment where the moving camera causes some items to rustle as it moves by them (instead of editing it out) as if to slyly allude to another presence among them. This soon leads to the crew waking up from their hibernation pods. These interiors are, crucially, deftly foreshadowing the interiors of the crashed Alien craft they will explore a bit later (and vice versa). The noir, mechanical, un-homely, interiors of the human spaceship are foreshadowing the dark, grotesque and inhumane, tunnel-like, birth canal-like halls of the crashed Alien craft. In the human spaceship the interiors are all closer to the "mechanistic", while the Alien interiors are closer to the interior of the "human body" (carcass, rib cages, birth canal, womb-like), but each are also subtly alluding to the other (the interior to the human ship subtly evokes birth canals in its tunnels and doors, the endless assortment of tubes and wires like that of rib cages or the Alien head, spines, the "mother" room is shaped like the womb...). The alien ship gleams metallic with spines and boney structures that are impenetrable to acid. In the lair they will find eggs with aliens beginning to wake up; in their spaceship the camera eventually led to the crew slowly waking up from their hibernation pods. They will also encounter the dead giant human-like-alien hybrid that is merged into the controls and machinations of the space craft. Surrounding him is also mechanistic "spines" interspersed with the more carcass-like walls/"spines". It is that scene in the alien space craft that first more clearly establishes this idea of body and machine merged but it has been foreshadowed from the very beginning. Even from the very start by following the "egg" (planet) with the massive inhuman machine of the space ship, then with introducing the interior and the humans. This progression of imagery and scenes is developing this theme subtly before it's more clear arrival in the crashed Alien craft/lair.

There is also the very subtle point that Ash, who is an android, wakes up (or pretends to) with the humans in their hibernation pods, which is a small point but nevertheless, also subtly conveying this theme. Ash will of course become a central point of this theme as the film progresses, but it is being slyly hinted at from the very beginning (even if that hint would only be realized in retrospect, or upon revisit; it makes his development as a character, the more we learn about him and his true intentions, even more compelling and in alignment with the subtle progression of development of thematic material from the very start of the film).

I shouldn't forget to point out that the way the camera moves through the interiors of the crew's spaceship is additionally foreshadowing the Alien hunting the crew later in the film (naturally it ends with finding them in their pods). It is paralleling the inhuman corporation overseeing them (including "Mother") as just as evil as the Alien, and infact the Alien will essentially become a tool and symbolization of that corporation and all the themes being developed.

It is probably not by accident that these themes are being foreshadowed before the crew starts waking up, while they were asleep, as an allusion to a nightmare that was being had, and one that will continue to escalate thereafter.

The landing on the Alien planet and the way it is visualized in extremely dark, expressionist, noir lighting, obscured misty vision, is straight out of a nightmare.

The Alien is a grotesque synthesis of multiple horrors, psychological, fears: as a baby, when it attaches itself to the host's face and then when it is caught on the floor (after projecting another Alien into the host's body), when Ash is prying at it, it is clearly referencing a spread open vagina. It's head (as the second one grows) is a giant phallus that, in essence, rapes its victims by thrusting into them violently, orally or otherwise. Its mouth has a second "phallus" that projects from the larger one that is yet "mechancial". Its blood is acid. It's teeth are silver metal. Its bones and insides must be a very strong metal (or similar) to hold blood that is acid and can burn through most metallic structures (but not itself). The alien looks both carcass-like and metallic. It is essentially a hybrid of android like features and human-like anatomical features.
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[theredkrayola]

Perhaps this is somewhat off topic, and perhaps you don't want to talk about religion on here. If that's the case, I'll ask a similar question on the politics/religion forum and see what responses I can get there.

However, I'm curious if, due to your "objective" approach to art (i.e; you're not a "fan" of Rock Bottom - it's merely that Rock Bottom is a great work of art and anyone who doesn't appreciate it hasn't gotten it yet) - you might have similarly objective opinions about religion. I'd particularly like to know how likely it is that you think God exists, and your interpretation of various events in the Bible - particularly the alleged miraculous occurrences. Were they pure myths written years later by people with no knowledge of whether they occurred or not? Or do you think they really occurred (as historical events) but the people who saw them mistakenly thought they were miracles when in fact there's a natural explanation?

[AfterHours]