Explain Why Your Top 10 Movies ARE Your Top 10 Movies

[Bytor2112]

How about explaining why your top 10 fav's are what they are?

1- JAWS - I find this to be the perfect movie, fake shark and all, lol. It has a bit of everything, horror, thriller, suspense, comedy, adventure, action, drama, the list goes on. You grow with and understand the characters as they seem more believable than just regular movie characters. The acting is top notch and the music suits the movie. Well paced too! The movie just trucks along. A movie I never get tired of watching and I am glue to the tv like its the first time I have seen it during every re-watch.

2- Dawn of the Dead (78) - Another movie where you grow with the characters, and all the characters are likeable. No big name actors to draw your attention from the other characters, all of them are equally important, and the story is about them, not just focusing on one person. Sure some of the effects seem a little dated now, and everybody asks "why is that zombie grey?", but it's not about the zombies. They are the back story. Any zombie movie that can make you forget about zombies in the middle of it before snapping you out of it toward the end with full out carnage and making you go, oh shit, that's right....ZOMBIES!!!!...has something special about it.

3 - The Ninth Configuration - I like to call this "the thinking man's movie". There is so much story here, you can keep picking up new things with each viewing. Also, might be one of the most quotable movies I have ever watched. Great acting, story and atmosphere. It makes you laugh so much yet gets so deep and serious within the realm of creation and life after death. Open doors everywhere.

4 - Assault on Precinct 13 (76) - I'm not sure what it is about this movie, but I find this movie so easy to watch. No over thinking, just sit back, put your feet up and next thing you know, it's over. Great action, some great dialogue and Carpenter's music is simple and sets the mood. Just remember, if someone gives you vanilla ice cream, never go back and complain.

5 - Lone Wolf and Cub (complete series) - the sword play and action within this set plays like fine music. Now in the days of extreme editing during fight sequences, watching the choreography in this is truly something to behold.

6 - Das Boot - Ever feel like a sardine packed into a can? If not, this movie will definitely make you feel it. Not too often a movie can make you hold your breath for 3+ hours. Beautifully shot and makes you feel like you are part of the crew aboard the U-boat. Another movie where you feel for the sailors on the sub, you feel like you are working and suffering with them. Then after the movie is over, you will realize that you have just been rooting for the German's during WW2.

7 - Halloween (78) - My ultimate horror movie. "The Shape" is just that, it's anything and everything. This movie has tension to spare. The use of shadows and the music really make this movie for me. It's not gory and shows that it does not need to be.

8 - Blazing Saddles - It's rude, crude and hilarious all at the same time. Great writing that makes funny, not fun of what it takes aim at.

9 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - My western epic. Gold, greed, adventure, action and the wild west. Awesome wide shots of the expanse and epic close-ups. Beautifully shot with awesome music to back it up. Plus it's Eastwood!

10 - 12 Angry Men (57) - 96 mins long and only approx. 3-5 mins outside of that single room, yet still riveting. Acting at it's finest. Great story with great arguments between it's characters. Just simply a joy to watch over and over.

[Mahatma]

Nice try.I find my top ten is personal taste,and what gives me the best experience,and hard to quantify.But kudos for trying.

[Batmon77]

Hasnt this been done before?

[Bytor2112]

Originally Posted by Batmon77

Hasnt this been done before?

top 10 lists? yeah, for sure. lots on here.

reasoning? not sure. delete the thread if you want then.

[bferr1972]

It's hard for me to be analytical about typically emotional responses.

[jlk5844]

Well, I for one think it's a great idea for a thread. You should be able to explain why a movie is one of your favorites ever.

[Coenskubrick]

Ugh does everyone have to question the thread's existence? Just play it or don't play it.

[Chiefy]

Originally Posted by Bytor2112

[Show spoiler]How about explaining why your top 10 fav's are what they are?

1- JAWS - I find this to be the perfect movie, fake shark and all, lol. It has a bit of everything, horror, thriller, suspense, comedy, adventure, action, drama, the list goes on. You grow with and understand the characters as they seem more believable than just regular movie characters. The acting is top notch and the music suits the movie. Well paced too! The movie just trucks along. A movie I never get tired of watching and I am glue to the tv like its the first time I have seen it during every re-watch.

2- Dawn of the Dead (78) - Another movie where you grow with the characters, and all the characters are likeable. No big name actors to draw your attention from the other characters, all of them are equally important, and the story is about them, not just focusing on one person. Sure some of the effects seem a little dated now, and everybody asks "why is that zombie grey?", but it's not about the zombies. They are the back story. Any zombie movie that can make you forget about zombies in the middle of it before snapping you out of it toward the end with full out carnage and making you go, oh shit, that's right....ZOMBIES!!!!...has something special about it.

3 - The Ninth Configuration - I like to call this "the thinking man's movie". There is so much story here, you can keep picking up new things with each viewing. Also, might be one of the most quotable movies I have ever watched. Great acting, story and atmosphere. It makes you laugh so much yet gets so deep and serious within the realm of creation and life after death. Open doors everywhere.

4 - Assault on Precinct 13 (76) - I'm not sure what it is about this movie, but I find this movie so easy to watch. No over thinking, just sit back, put your feet up and next thing you know, it's over. Great action, some great dialogue and Carpenter's music is simple and sets the mood. Just remember, if someone gives you vanilla ice cream, never go back and complain.

5 - Lone Wolf and Cub (complete series) - the sword play and action within this set plays like fine music. Now in the days of extreme editing during fight sequences, watching the choreography in this is truly something to behold.

6 - Das Boot - Ever feel like a sardine packed into a can? If not, this movie will definitely make you feel it. Not too often a movie can make you hold your breath for 3+ hours. Beautifully shot and makes you feel like you are part of the crew aboard the U-boat. Another movie where you feel for the sailors on the sub, you feel like you are working and suffering with them. Then after the movie is over, you will realize that you have just been rooting for the German's during WW2.

7 - Halloween (78) - My ultimate horror movie. "The Shape" is just that, it's anything and everything. This movie has tension to spare. The use of shadows and the music really make this movie for me. It's not gory and shows that it does not need to be.

8 - Blazing Saddles - It's rude, crude and hilarious all at the same time. Great writing that makes funny, not fun of what it takes aim at.

9 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - My western epic. Gold, greed, adventure, action and the wild west. Awesome wide shots of the expanse and epic close-ups. Beautifully shot with awesome music to back it up. Plus it's Eastwood!

10 - 12 Angry Men (57) - 96 mins long and only approx. 3-5 mins outside of that single room, yet still riveting. Acting at it's finest. Great story with great arguments between it's characters. Just simply a joy to watch over and over.

Awesome choices. I agree 100% with 8/10 of them. Not familiar with The Ninth Configuration. I will have to rectify that sometime. I just watched Blazing Saddles again a few months ago, and while a great movie, it's not quite up there for me. Nevertheless, we have very similar taste in movies.

[Just Jimmy]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Well, I for one think it's a great idea for a thread. You should be able to explain why a movie is one of your favorites ever.

I do too, however some people just want to be lazy and rattle off a list and move on....the purpose of lists like this is to garnish interest in a favourite movie and maybe someone can discover something that they weren't aware of. If you dont wanna participate, why even bother commenting that you dont wanna participate....that's like making a global announcement that you've left Facebook.

sigh...people...what a bunch of basterds.

[Moviefan2k4]

One of my top faves is the Back to the Future trilogy. There's some minor things I'd have done differently, but all told it really deserves recognition as a classic film. The characters are memorable, most performances are completely believable, and the whole design aspect - costumes, sets, music, sound effects - remains phenomenal. Michael J. Fox did a great job as Marty, but I think Chris Lloyd's work was the pinnacle of the series. Tom Wilson deserves major respect too, for making Biff into a very real threat, not just a stereotype.

Another film I deem vastly underrated is The Rocketeer. Joe Johnston hadn't directed much in 1991, beyond Honey, I Shrunk the Kids...but he captured the "old Hollywood" feel of the 1930s very well. Bill Campbell made a great hero, both brave and vulnerable with a fairly sarcastic sense of humor. Alan Arkin took a similar approach as Cliff's associate Peavy, and Timothy Dalton was both cheesy yet menacing as Neville Sinclair. So many love to talk about Jennifer Connelly in terms of her body...and as a man, I won't deny she had a great figure. But she also gave empathy and heart to Jenny, with some bold determination as well. Those contributions kept the character from being just some "pin-up girl" with no other value. I adore James Horner's score for the film, and it had some good actors as supporting roles, too. Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn, Jon Polito, Eddie Jones, Margo Martindale...all of them did a great job with characters who could've been stale and one-note, but turned out otherwise.

[Foggy]

Probably won't rattle through an entire top 10 since I've stopped chronicling what are my favourite films for a while now. But I will go through a few of my favourite films.

Reservoir Dogs - This is a pretty easy one to explain away. It's really the film that began broadening my horizons in terms of film viewing. I was pretty young when I first watched it and at the time, between the usual blockbuster stuff, animated films and comedies. Something so stripped back and relied purely on the writing and performances for the most part was a real shock to me, but it began making me believe that films are actually more than just pulp entertainment, which is quite ironic since that's now how I look at Reservoir Dogs.

Apocalypse Now - War films are probably my least favourite genre. I don't really find war heroic and conflict necessary, and I tend to find majority of war films to be more like war porn, with a lot of focus on immersion in conflict and grisly details. And people tend to refer to scenes in war films by their graphic descriptions, like I've already read the best scene in Hacksaw Ridge involves a mangled body being used a shield. Apocalypse Now isn't like that, it's far more exploratory on the psychological aspects, actual conflict is few and far between and actually quite distancing to the viewer. It makes sense of something that I can't make sense of in the real world, and isn't that the pure power of cinema?

Evil Dead II - It's simply a film that shares my sense of humour, where purely anything can be made out into a joke through stretching to it's most extreme. Elaborate and laborious camera movements, heightened performances and simply silly ideas thrown into a mix. I believe genuinely silly film is a very particular and difficult thing to get right, to create just enough illusion of reality to create events to be outlandish yet not run riot to the bizarre to fall into unfiltered randomness. I also believe Evil Dead II highlights the importance of how cinema, particularly horror cinema can be so hostile and assaultive. If you aren't bombarding your audiences, what's the point in making the film?

[zorbonaut]

I will list a few of mine:

The Usual Suspects-1995

This was the first film that made me see the art of film. I was 19 at the time and before this was released, I didn't see movies as anything other than entertainment.

Amélie- 2001

There is something magical about this film. The subtle nuances, unique story, visuals and vibrancy all together are just something that I haven't seen before and haven't seen since.

Magnolia- 1999

This film has it all. I consider it near perfect.

12 Angry Men- 1957

Shows the power of cinema better than any other film. This film primarily comes down to an great story and amazing acting. Shot in primarily just one room and still is engrossing every time I see it.

Psycho- 1960

Never feels dated.

Beautiful cinematography and music. Love the opening scene.

The Game- 1997

This one is hard to put a finger on but it comes down to just a general melancholy mood that Fincher invokes better than any other film I have ever seen.

There Will Be Blood- 2007

One name.... Daniel Day Lewis

[Ray Jackson]

Far too lazy for this.

...sorry.

[BD-T]

I really like reading why people chose those 10 movies out of many personal favorites. There's always a story behind a certain movie. Posting a list of ten titles is just posting another list.

Watching movies is different for everyone. You can't tell someone what they should like. There is no such thing as a bad movie or a good movie. It's all about YOUR feelings towards a movie. You can look at it objectively, but it will always be your experience. And that's what makes watching movies so much fun.

So here's my story to my top 10 and why I chose those movies. It's a bit long, but it was just impossible to describe it in two or three sentences.


01. Spring Breakers
I had the pleasure seeing this twice in cinema's and many times on Blu-ray. A movie that gets better with every viewing. More a audio/visual narrative than a story driven movie. That is what appeals to me. Fantastic images, great use of color. Sound and music are top notch. Spring Breakers has everything I look for in cinema these days. And it may seem a bit odd, Spring Breakers gives me a wonderful feeling in the end scenes. Especially the last dialogue accompanied by Scary Monsters on String is beautiful. "Spring Break forever B*tches".

02. Kelly + Victor
This movie made such a huge impact on me. The love story that is being told comes across so sincere. It feels very real. That in combination with the beautiful photography, amazing music and intense acting makes this magic. Kelly + Victor features some very explicit sex scenes, but fit perfectly here. The love just leaps off the screen. And then there's that amazing last scene accompanied by Viking Moses' Dancing by the Water Day. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

03. Mulholland Drive
A fantastic atmospheric David Lynch movie. The story is told in a brilliant way and leaves a lot to the viewer's own interpretation. Magnificent acting, wonderful music and a great sound design. A movie that drives more on creating a certain mood than fully understanding the story. After many times I still don't understand what the hell is going on. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. What Lynch does here, is bringing the medium film to such a high level, which makes it nearly impossible not to like it. One of the most intense movie experiences I ever had.

04. La Double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Veronique)
You know those movies where you feel like they were made for you? This is one of them. t's really difficult to explain what makes this movie so good. Technically, this is masterful. The acting is so good, especially Jacob. It's the little moments La Double Vie that makes this a masterpiece. The distorted image through the bouncing ball, the puppet theatre, the feeling Véronique gets right after the Weronika moment, the music. Everything falls into place here.

05. Boogie Nights
Together with 2001 and Mulholland Dr. a movie that was at the base of my love for cinema. Ever since I have a top 10, this one is in it. At times it may end up a bit higher at other times a bit lower. It will always be a good movie to me. There is so much more in this than you would think in reading the synopsis. PTA doesn't p*ssy out in showing us the darker side of the story and its characters. Also the first movie I saw made by favorite director. It's such a swinging movie. It sucks you into the story and mood. There are so many fun characters. Smaller parts or bigger roles. Everyone has something special. The photography and music are out of this world good. PTA's masterpiece.

06. Miami Vice
Like Spring Breakers, a movie where it's really hard to explain what makes it so good. Many find this a bad movie and it may seem like an odd choice in my list. But, boy, how i enjoy this every time I see it. I love everything Mann shows and lets us hear in MV. Foxx and Farrell are perfectly cast and the same goes for Li Gong. A movie where there is so much beauty to be found. The mood, the colors, the sounds, Miami as a setting, the music. I'm really in love with this.

07. The Rover
A movie where i fell in love with instantly. In love with the mood, the acting, the music, direction, the landscape, the cinematography, the pepper and salt color of Pearce's beard, Pattinson cutting himself loose from Edward by playing a very interesting role, the weird relationship between both, intense scenes followed by calm moments, using few words to communicate. Typing this, i want to watch it again.

08. Noruwei no Mori (Norwegian Wood)
A movie where we get a beautiful, but doomed relationship. You kind of know how it's going to end, still you remain hopeful. Told in a wonderful way by Tran Ahn Hung. Noruwei no Mori features some amazing images, but it's mainly the story and acting that draw all the attention. A scarf playing an important role in the movie is a fantastic addition. And the song will linger for days and days after you've seen this.

09. The Thin Red Line
Was released around the same time as Saving Private Ryan. Back then I had no idea who Terrence Malick was and what kind of movies he made. I was expecting a full blown war movie. But Thin Red Line is nothing like that. I absolutely hated it. Now many years later is starting to appreciate the movie more and more and came to love it. For a long time I couldn't decide if I loved this more or Tree of Life. After the last time I watched it, it won my heart over The Tree of Life. A beautiful poetic telling of war, which comes back in the images. Never had grass been shot so wonderfully. And not even after this has it ever been shot like in The Thin Red Line. The horrific stuff the men had to endure and which is tearing them apart really gets to you. Amazing and powerful piece of cinema.

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Although 2001 was very important to me in showing that there was more to cinema than I thought, it was still a hard choice between this and another movie I love. Apocalypse Now. 2001: A Space Odyssey gets to me more, I think. It's hard to explain why. I think it has to do with Kubrick not telling us what this is about. A great mystery within the world of cinema. You have to figure stuff out for yourself. 2001 for me is one of the purest movies I know. A movie you have to experience.

[Astro Zombie]

I like them

[headphones]

Originally Posted by Coenskubrick

Ugh does everyone have to question the thread's existence? Just play it or don't play it.

on this site, sadly yes. we have lots of "that guy" on this site.

[Just Jimmy]

Originally Posted by BD-T

I really like reading why people chose those 10 movies out of many personal favorites. There's always a story behind a certain movie. Posting a list of ten titles is just posting another list.


01. Spring Breakers
I had the pleasure seeing this twice in cinema's and many times on Blu-ray. A movie that gets better with every viewing. More a audio/visual narrative than a story driven movie. That is what appeals to me. Fantastic images, great use of color. Sound and music are top notch. Spring Breakers has everything I look for in cinema these days. And it may seem a bit odd, Spring Breakers gives me a wonderful feeling in the end scenes. Especially the last dialogue accompanied by Scary Monsters on String is beautiful. "Spring Break forever B*tches".

see...now if you just listed the movies i wouldve totally just passed over this post and kept reading to see if there was something of substance in another persons offering....however...as you took the time to talk about these films, this is a movie that ive past over so many times thinking eh its just T&A and Franco, why bother....but based on this i think im going to add it to my list....and for that i thankyou.

[Nuck Horris]

Originally Posted by BD-T

01. Spring Breakers

You are banned.

[Packerfan75]

I won't do all 10 but here's a few.
The Empire Strikes Back:Everything that makes Star Wars great is contained in this film. It's dark, bleak and every actor gives their strongest performance of the series. The Darth Vader reveal is one of the biggest surprises in movies. The force, lightsabers and space battles are all here. It's my definitive sci-fi film.
Jaws: considering the shark isn't seen all that much, we believe he's everywhere. Humans are so helpless in the water and Jaws exposes that better than any other film I've seen. Because of this film, many didn't go swimming in the ocean and that's incredible considering this is fiction.
Tombstone: Great cast and performances. It's serious but fun at the same time. It has everything western fans wants but you don't need to like westerns to enjoy it. It's the perfect length and pace as to not get bored or feel like anything was unfinished. So easy to watch.

[sandman slim]

I'll keep it short. My favorite movie is L.A. Confidential, as perfect a movie as I've ever seen. I remember sitting in the theater opening weekend as the credits rolled, completely amazed by what I'd just seen. Those 140 minutes fly by, not a single one wasted. Every role is perfectly cast, the music always spot on, the period costumes always appropriate. And the story! Drugs, guns, police corruption, rich people, Hollywood, movie stars... awesome. There just isn't a single frame of this movie that I'd change. Should have won every Oscar imaginable... and then three months later, Titanic arrived. I love Titanic, but being "the biggest movie of all time" would have been reward enough. Like Goodfellas before it, L.A. Confidential shoulda won.