The Semi-Annual Top 25

[jetpack_monkey]

Every six months, I put together a list of the Top 25 Films of This Time, i.e the movies that I currently think are the swellest of the swell. Some films haven't left the list since I started keeping it in the Fall of 2001. Others have come and gone...


Format:
Rank) Title (Director, Year) [# - Rank Last Time]

1) Brazil (Gilliam, 1985) [1]
2) Harold and Maude (Ashby, 1971) [2]
3) Amelie (Jeunet, 2001) [3]
4) Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942) [7]
5) Singin' in the Rain (Kelly/Donen, 1952) [N/A]
6) North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959) [6]
7) The Apartment (Wilder, 1960) [5]
8) Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1978) [15]
9) Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) [18]
10) His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940) [20]
11) Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950) [11]
12) When Harry Met Sally (Reiner, 1989) [14]
13) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Powell/Pressburger, 1943) [10]
14) The Big Lebowski (Coen, 1998) [16]
15) The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1986) [N/A]
16) My Man Godfrey (La Cava, 1936) [N/A]
17) Almost Famous (Crowe, 2000) [4]
18) Manhattan (Allen, 1979) [13]
19) Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996) [17]
20) Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1996) [12]
21) A Face in the Crowd (Kazan, 1957) [N/A]
22) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Gilliam/Jones, 1975) [21]
23) High Fidelity (Frears, 2000) [24]
24) Heavenly Creatures (Jackson, 1994) [19]
25) Re-Animator (Gordon, 1985) [N/A]

Returning after an absence: Singin' in the Rain, The Princess Bride, My Man Godfrey, A Face in the Crowd, Re-Animator

Dropped since August: M (Lang, 1931), The Graduate (Nichols, 1967), Halloween (Carpenter, 1978), Boogie Nights (Anderson, 1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)

Biggest Gain: His Girl Friday
Biggest Loss: Almost Famous

Comments

Number 19

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

Trainspotting. A film everyone should see once, but I don't actually know if I would ever actually want to watch it again or rate it on a list such as this.

It is good, great in parts, uncomfortable in oh-so-many ways, memorable sure, but it has problems which in my mind ultimately outweigh the good points.

Still - to each their own! Very interesting list it has to be said!

Re: Number 19

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

As for myself, Trainspotting is a film I used to watch nearly compulsively. Not so much anymore, but I give it a whirl about once a year.

Re: Number 19

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

I kinda know a couple of people who ended up in the film - I worked with "Diane"'s best friend for a few years and the annoying guy with the whistle in the London club Renton goes to was in my Uni class. I think knowing them might ne coloring my opinions of the film a little.

Re: Number 19

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Could be. I know there's a bevy of films out there that I don't care for that other people love. Take The Shining or The Exorcist -- I don't get it why they're frequently cited as the best horror films of all time, but they are. *shrugs*

Re: Number 19

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

Heh! Two films I really like but also wouldn't say they're the best horror films ever.

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Whoa... Almost Famous dropped that much? Wow. That's quite a shock, coming from you.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I think we're growing apart. I also haven't seen it recently. I expect it to shoot back up when I expose my girlfriend to it.

[booster17.livejournal.com]

I am a very strange person in that I don't tend to watch many movies at all. Indeed, I think I've only seen 6 of those in total.

That said, if you hadn't included Princess Bride, I'd had had to hurt you.