Ensemble Films

[hereforashortime]

Just saw Sally Potter's the party, It's totally an ensemble. It reminded me that movies that typically take place in one location tend to be ensembles. The Big Chill, Rope, and the aforementioned Breakfast Club and 12 Angry Men.
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[bobbyb5]

Yes, I love that style of film ever since I was little. And I know where it started: when I saw my first disaster films like Poseidon Adventure and Earthquake when I was really young. These movies were really exciting to a kid. And ever since I've always liked movies with a lot of people running around all doing different things..

These are my very favorite ones. I like a lot of the ones that people have mentioned so far, but many of them I don't think really qualify. But like you said, I don't think there's really a strict definition of what it is.
I know I've got a lot of Robert Altman films here, but theyre just the best (and the funniest). To me, they were in a different League than any of the others. They're practically their own genre because they're so different from the rest.

Gosford Park
Nashville
Grand Hotel
A Wedding
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
H.E.A.L.T.H.
The Exterminating Angel
Best in Show
Traffic
Smile. (1975)
Welcome to LA
L' Argent (1983)
Boogie Nights
After Hours
The VIPs. (1963)
Separate Tables
Once Upon a Time in America
Kansas City
It's a Mad Mad Mad World
Death on the Nile
And then there were none. (1945)
Godfather Part 2
Bugsy Malone (1974)
American Graffiti
The Poseidon Adventure (1973)
Dinner at Eight
MASH
Trouble in Mind
Pret a Porter
Wonderland. (1999)
Catch-22
What's Up, Doc?
The Chase (1966)
The Towering Inferno
The Long Riders
Platoon
Voyage of the Damned
The Last Picture Show
The Player
Earthquake
The Moderns

[badseed]

Nice list. Totally forgot about some of those, like the 30s melodramas and the 70s disaster flicks.

Also, Murder on the Orient Express. Actually found it for cheap on DVD and have it sitting in front of the TV. Probably haven't seen it in 12-15 years or so but I remember loving it and, after seeing Big Fish it was my first exposure to a young(er) Albert Finney and he was stellar. Not that the whole cast wasn't great, particularly Bergman and Redgrave (keep in mind this is coming from teenage memory), but he stood out in a cast that I was generally more familiar with.

[bobbyb5]

[bobbyb5]

I just realized that there are about 7 movies named Smile. The one I listed is the one from 1975. And it's fantastic.

[badseed]

Oh yes, Dinner at Eight is fantastic (Grand Hotel is also really good but kind of drags). The comedic aspect is what puts Dinner in the upper echelon of not just classic ensembles, but classic comedies in general. Highly recommended to anyone.

[9999]

Most Wes Anderson movies are ensemble pieces, especially The royal Tenenbaums. I would also count The lord of the rings trilogy. Even though Frodo is supposed to be the protagonist in the first one, this is way less so in the last two. Sin City and Amores perros are other two good examples.