The Ten Best Films of All Time
 

In the Inception thread, an interesting discussion about favorite/best movies has sprung up.

What do you think the Ten Best Films of All Time are?

This is more than just your favorite movies, as it is hard to discuss and argue simply about a person's opinion. Think of what you think the Ten Best Movies are. How you define "best" can be up to you, but you should be able to formulate a reason why for any movie is on your list that isn't personal (like, "that was the first movie I saw with my girlfriend".)

Personally, they would be movies I enjoyed, but are also influential in the film world and/or society as a whole. Chances are that they are movies that are borrowed from quite a bit in whatever genre they reside.

There is also a poll, which is separate. These are some films which often appear on varieties of "Top Ten Film" lists. Would you include any of these films on your list?

This is the same list I posted in the Inception thread. After reading through it again, though, I found that I can't really stand behind the ranking I gave them. With the exception of Goodfellas (which simply does a tired theme more justice than most of its peers can), the common thing that links all these movies is the stark and unglamorous look at human nature. Most movies would have us believe that we're all "good guys" and the line between good and ill intent is well defined. I think all the films included here point out the human condition beautifully, and without counting out man's ability to change for the better. Maybe that's just what i took from them, but that is the basis of this list nonetheless.

Moon
Brothers
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Friday Night Lights
Jarhead
Mononoke Hime
Goodfellas
Kids
Taxi Driver
Platoon

You have to realize most of the people here have not seen enough movies to be able to answer this question. I find it really hard to make a list of what I consider to be the 10 best films of all time (personal taste aside), and I am soon to be a graduate in Film Studies and have seen about every movie that gets mentioned in any Film History book, so no offense but I don't think the people who'll be voting in the poll and posting in this thread have enough criteria to make this list.

With that said, here's a few I believe should be pretty high on that list:

the Godfather (I and II), Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Vertigo, Citizen Kane, Fellini 8 1/2, E.T., Battleship Potemkin, Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Lion King, Il Grido, Goodfellas, Psycho, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, City Lights.

From what you've listed definitely Shawshank Redemption, though i do not recollect Citizen Kane. On a side note, LOTR was a one long-ass boring movie. Gone With The Wind, boring as well, and I am glad it's gone and the wind as well.

My fav. movie must be Hero, and that is for few reasons. Amazing imagery, symbolic meaning of many scenes, and had a brilliant reference to calligraphy, plus i loved the guqin soundtrack. But what i was completely mesmerised with were vast sceneries and the undefinable feeling of peace, lurking quietly in the "emptiness" of nature. Great movie, especially when watched in Chinese.

Another one must be Some Like it Hot, How to Murder Your Wife (favoirite movie of Basil Fawlty lol), and The Great Race with Jack Lemon. I love that guy.

From fantasy movies I think it will be the Avatar, even though the story line had no fireworks in it, i loved the world that was created, especially the flying dragons. :D Ah, well, you know, the kid inside me has won. But he is my favourite kid so thats quite all right ;-p

From action movies, bah not easy, maybe Heat, from older ones - Dog Day Afternoon was all right, Casino and Good Fellas were great too, Pulp Fiction as well. I really like Private Ryan. Too hard to decide.

Horrors and Thrillers, well thats my wife's department really, she can watch Saw and eat raw fish at the same time, but i remember that the exorcist scared the hell out of me. Also Shining. Nicholson is one of my favourite actors. That insanity and unstable nature of his is brilliant.

From TV series definitely Allo Allo, Fawlty Towers, i am sorry, Fawlty Titties, and Only Fools and Horses.

Recently, there are no good movies being made...sadly. There were so many good movies made before, Patch Adams, Wag the Dog, Spirited Away, nearly any Pixar creation, The Game,etc., simply too many to list.

I need to watch Moon, i ve heard it's pretty good. I can see it on your list as well.

Was it the movie about 13 yo in US, where one of the girls loses her virginity and get AIDS? I watched it so long ago that I can barely remeber, but it was a good movie. Disturbing, but good.

Yeah that's the one. It's very disturbing, but not so hard to believe.

well it depends on what environment you grew up in. for me it was shocking.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - that movie was recommended to me, and i wish i did not waste my time on it. Complete rubish.

You suggest that I'm "a hater" for saying the obvious which is that most of the people from this forum have not seen a 10th of the films that made history in one way or another and so -if they can't base their list on opinion- will have it hard to name 10 movies they think are the best of all time? How can someone make a list of the 10 best movies of all time when they have not even seen a single one of them?

I was just f-in' around :mtongue:
You seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to movies, and I respect what you have to say about them, but I don't think you should discourage people from doing the very thing this thread was created for.