Top 10 movies of all time

Animal House.
😑
True story... I saw this movie at a Drive-In that was about a mile from our neighborhood.
ALl the neighborhood kids "snuck" in all the time. The owner didn't mind because we bought popcorn etc.
Anyway... I was 13 years old.
The ladder scene... where the girls tits fills the whole screen. This was the first time in my life I saw live...moving boobs.
I remember it like it was yesterday. One of the defining moments of my life. On that night... I began my quest.
 
Neither list has one of my favorites, “Dr. Zhivago”, despite it being one of the highest grossing pictures of all time, adjusted for inflation.
Critics don’t look at box office. Best Picture is more about the direction. Generally, the director has artistic control of a production. He is responsible for getting required performances from the actors, the scenes, the camera work, editing, music mix, etc. If the movie fails, it is the director who is most often held responsible. Since the public doesn’t see the director they tend to praise or condemn the actors failing to realize that good actors delivery the performance the director wants.
 
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I appreciate being entertained vs emotionally scarred when I go to the movies. I like a good drama but I’m not rewatching most of them so Schindlers list, Shawshank and all those are out.

Finally although I loved Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Aliens, Jurassic Park series they were more monumental in aggregate so not many in my top 10 due to space.

Therefore:
  1. Avengers Endgame
  2. Avengers: Infinity War
  3. Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat
  4. Gladiator
  5. Spirited Away
  6. It’s a Wonderful Life
  7. Casablanca
  8. His Girl Friday
  9. The Apartment
  10. Groundhog Day
 
This is an interesting set of lists. One is according to critics, before the internet this is who got to say what is and what isn't a good movie.
The second is audience only. No critics.

According to critics:
1 - Citizen Kane 1941
2 - The Godfather 1972
3 - Rear Window 1954
4 - Casablanca 1943
5 - Boyhood 2014
6 - Three Colors Red 1994
7 - Vertigo 1958
8 - Notorious 1946
9 - Singing in the Rain 1952
10 - City Lights. 1930

As rated by audiences:
1 - Shawshank Redemption 1994
2 - The Godfather 1972
3 - The Dark Knight 2008
4 - Godfather II 1976
5 - 12 Angry Men 1957
6 - Schindler's List 1993
7 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 2003
8 - Pulp Fiction 1994
9 - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings 2001
10 - Good, Bad and the Ugly 1966

The critics list leaves a lot to be desired. Two of them I had never even heard of before.
The audience lists, not surprisingly, has newer films. But I have heard and seen every one of them.
Who got it right the most?
Both. I say this because these list are very different with far different purposes.

The first list, the critics list, are not necessarily favorite movies. It covers a period of 84 years encompassing silent, sound, color, and color+cgi. This list is about the quality of the production, not movie popularity. For example "Citizen Kane" which was a critic's favorite when it was released and has been widely recognized as one of the finest movies of all times was a complete failure at the box office. . Although reviews were favorable, and it was nominated for nine Academy Awards, Welles was booed at that year's Oscar ceremony, and RKO quietly archived the film. It was years before the film was shown again publicly.

The second list is a list of favorite movies, heavy on action adventure and based mostly on box office. This list ignores the first half of the 20th century and is all about movies the public likes.

Your mistake is making an Apples and Oranges comparison.

A critic’s analysis of a movie involves looking at structure and style, making a judgement of its worth by comparison with other films, and an estimation of its likely effect on viewers. A good critic will be able ignore his own preferences in movies and concentrate on the theme, the story, and how well the director tells that story. Do the performances of actors support the theme and storyline or are they just delivering lines and going through the motions? Does the music, visual effects, and camera work to enhance the movie or is it a distraction. In short, the critic is looking for the quality of the production, not whether it will be popular with audiences.

Movie Reviewers are not interested in quality the production but whether audiences will like and pay money to see the movie. The movie reviewer will typically summarize the story and give an opinion often based on the kind movies he likes. His goal is to recommend movies that will be very popular with the public. Unfortunately, many movie reviewers call themselves movie critics.
 
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I appreciate being entertained vs emotionally scarred when I go to the movies. I like a good drama but I’m not rewatching most of them so Schindlers list, Shawshank and all those are out.

Finally although I loved Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Aliens, Jurassic Park series they were more monumental in aggregate so not many in my top 10 due to space.

Therefore:
  1. Avengers Endgame
  2. Avengers: Infinity War
  3. Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat
  4. Gladiator
  5. Spirited Away
  6. It’s a Wonderful Life
  7. Casablanca
  8. His Girl Friday
  9. The Apartment
  10. Groundhog Day
I saw all those movies with exception of Gladiator and liked all of them. The one's I watched over again are It's Wonderful Life because it's a family tradition, The Apartment and Casablanca because I like them too much to just watch them once.

Speaking of watching movies over again, I saw the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof" and hated it. Saw the movie because my girl friend drug me to it and I hated. Years later after reading a synopsis of the play and I decided I would watch the move again. I did and I hated it. However the difference is I came away realizing how good the acting and camera was in the movie. However, I won't see again. It was just too unpleasant to watch.
 
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I saw all those movies with exception of Gladiator and liked all of them. The one's I watched over again are It's Wonderful Life because it's a family tradition, The Apartment and Casablanca because I like them too much to just watch them once.

Speaking of watching movies over again, I saw the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof" and hated it. Saw the movie because my girl friend drug me to it and I hated. Years later after reading a synopsis of the play and I decided I would watch the move again. I did and I hated it. However the difference is I came away realizing how good the acting and camera was in the movie. However, I won't see again. It was just too unpleasant to watch.
That movie reminds me of one of the worst I’ve ever seen, Kramer vs. Kramer.
 
That movie reminds me of one of the worst I’ve ever seen, Kramer vs. Kramer.
If didn't think it was bad movie, just a very unpleasant one. It brought back way too many bad memories. I though Kramer vs Kramer was an excellent movie. Again, it was just unpleasant.
 
If didn't think it was bad movie, just a very unpleasant one. It brought back way too many bad memories. I though Kramer vs Kramer was an excellent movie. Again, it was just unpleasant.
Good actors, lousy story. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe by comparison has it beat on all counts. It’s not nearly as difficult to watch as KvK.
 
I agree. And it shows the problem of critics, they tend to rate movies for the idea of it, or artistic flare.

I have a friend who has run the gauntlet in entertainment writing. Started off doing music reviews which then became film reviews then television reviews and now does the celebrity interviews flotsam and jetsam. I have told him quite unapologetically that I never read his crap because in all the years he has done it, I have never once seen him say anything even remotely resembling "This album/movie/TV show/performer sucks. Don't waste your time!!!!" or ask people a single tough question. His claim is that his time is so valuable that he just doesn't bother wasting it writing about things that suck and he doesn't "ambush" people. I tell him my time is so valuable, I don't waste it reading reviews of someone who doesn't really review anything and is so afraid of offending someone he interviews that they are fluffier than marshmallow cream. Everything he writes is some crap New Journalism me me me piece interlaced with obscure knowledge/references about crap nobody cares about or even remembers.

Anyway, I suppose things that are new or different requires "critics" to actually have to think about something for five seconds and that makes them all warm and tingly inside.
 
I have a friend who has run the gauntlet in entertainment writing. Started off doing music reviews which then became film reviews then television reviews and now does the celebrity interviews flotsam and jetsam. I have told him quite unapologetically that I never read his crap because in all the years he has done it, I have never once seen him say anything even remotely resembling "This album/movie/TV show/performer sucks. Don't waste your time!!!!" or ask people a single tough question. His claim is that his time is so valuable that he just doesn't bother wasting it writing about things that suck and he doesn't "ambush" people. I tell him my time is so valuable, I don't waste it reading reviews of someone who doesn't really review anything and is so afraid of offending someone he interviews that they are fluffier than marshmallow cream. Everything he writes is some crap New Journalism me me me piece interlaced with obscure knowledge/references about crap nobody cares about or even remembers.

Anyway, I suppose things that are new or different requires "critics" to actually have to think about something for five seconds and that makes them all warm and tingly inside.
Most so called movie critics today write articles directing people toward movies that have wide audience appeal because they want to keep their job. Not many have the guts to praise a movie that they know most people will not see.
 
Most so called movie critics today write articles directing people toward movies that have wide audience appeal because they want to keep their job. Not many have the guts to praise a movie that they know most people will not see.

Well in my friend's case it is so the studios will keep sending him screeners, arranging for cast interviews, and occasionally flying him somewhere noteworthy for premier. There is nothing wrong in theory with selling out when the prices is good or the alternatives are bad, but that doesn't mean I have any desire to hear his opinions on any of it.
 
Well in my friend's case it is so the studios will keep sending him screeners, arranging for cast interviews, and occasionally flying him somewhere noteworthy for premier. There is nothing wrong in theory with selling out when the prices is good or the alternatives are bad, but that doesn't mean I have any desire to hear his opinions on any of it.
There's an artist side to movie making and there's the money side. Only in rare cases does the artistic side win the battle. Although the director is suppose to have artistic control, it is often eaten way with artistic control clauses in the contracts of big name stars and much sought after books end with the authors controlling the screen play. An then there're the backers who know more about making successfully movies than the people making it.
 
I miss Siskel & Ebert... they could be funny.
"I love this film, it was awesome!"... "No Roger you dumb clod,,, it was terrible"
 
I miss Siskel & Ebert... they could be funny.
"I love this film, it was awesome!"... "No Roger you dumb clod,,, it was terrible"
I agree they were fun to watch. I think of them as half critic and half film reviewer. They based their opinions on what they liked and disliked and what they thought audiences would like.

Really good critics are able to set aside their prejudges and analyze a film beginning with the theme of the movie, the artistic purpose and how well the film fulfilled that purpose. That entails looking at the performances, the script, cinematography and sound. So even if the critic hates war movies, he is able analysis the movie pointing out strengths and weaknesses and make a recommendation. The critic is more interested in quality of the production than whether audiences will like or dislike the film.

For example the critics loved "Citizen Kane" when it came out in 1941 and it was nominated for 9 academy awards. However, audience hated it. They even booed it at the award ceremony. In fact, it was such a bomb at the box office that RKO withdrew it from distribution and buried it. It was over 10 years before it was shown to the public again. As one critic said, audience were not prepared for this type of film in 1941. People then went to movies to laugh, to cry, to screak in terror, not to think. As one person said about the movie, "what in the world does this Rosebud have to do with the movie. It's just garbage". There were just so many things that audiences had never seen before in movies that became common place in years to come.
 
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Star Wars didn't make the cut and neither did Jaws so the profit motive and the popularity isn't a concern for the alleged "critics". So what's the deal?
 
This is an interesting set of lists. One is according to critics, before the internet this is who got to say what is and what isn't a good movie.
The second is audience only. No critics.

According to critics:
1 - Citizen Kane 1941
2 - The Godfather 1972
3 - Rear Window 1954
4 - Casablanca 1943
5 - Boyhood 2014
6 - Three Colors Red 1994
7 - Vertigo 1958
8 - Notorious 1946
9 - Singing in the Rain 1952
10 - City Lights. 1930

As rated by audiences:
1 - Shawshank Redemption 1994
2 - The Godfather 1972
3 - The Dark Knight 2008
4 - Godfather II 1976
5 - 12 Angry Men 1957
6 - Schindler's List 1993
7 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 2003
8 - Pulp Fiction 1994
9 - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings 2001
10 - Good, Bad and the Ugly 1966

The critics list leaves a lot to be desired. Two of them I had never even heard of before.
The audience lists, not surprisingly, has newer films. But I have heard and seen every one of them.
Who got it right the most?
Godfather I agree with, but that might be it.

Saving Private Ryan should be on all lists. It was so good and realistic it was said to give WW II vets PTSD! Another great fictional movie was Braveheart! Regardless of how inaccurate it was, the story, acting and fighting scenes were amazing. I would also go with Good Will Hunting… love that movie.
 

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