Very inkteresting choices.

Rudy Rules: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Pulp Fiction, Shaun of the Dead, The Big Lebowski, Punch Drunk Love, The Matrix, Kill Bill Vol.1, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, School of Rock, In Bruges, Wall-E.

Way updated.

I can't identify with my current list at all. Let's move on...

New list:
Wings of Desire, Wild Strawberries, Dead Man, The Seventh Seal, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, To Kill a Mockingbird, Brazil, Days of Heaven, To Be or Not to Be, Ran

Hey, Dreww, please give me an unvarnished critique of my top ten favorite movies.

EDIT: I mean critique my tastes, not the actual movies. Although you can do that, too, if you want.

Edit: Just saw your edit. I'm having a trouble picking up on any consistent theme or stylistic approach across the films, other than that you seem to mostly favor films that have strong dramatic arcs and reversals (basically all but The Kids Are Alright and possibly Blade Runner, where the narrative force takes a back seat to the way every moment looks and sounds and feels) as well as films that ask questions about the nature of justice.

What I wrote before your edit:

Films I know well enough to defend my assessments of in detail: Blade Runner and The Graduate. I think they are both great with Blade Runner being basically my idea of the perfect Hollywood science fiction movie; I'm a huge fan of its cinematography, production design, editorial restraint, and god, really just everything about it. I think the first half of The Graduate is one of the most second-by-second entertaining things I have ever witnessed, but I think it seriously loses steam around the time Benjamin drives off to get Elaine at college.

Films I know well enough to give an impression of without being able to defend them with specifics: Jaws is probably the most "efficient" movie I've ever seen, keeping the entertainment level at a remarkable high boil, and the scene when Schneider plays that gestural game with his kid is the height of Spielberg's career imo. The Good the Bad and the Ugly is one of the most stylish westerns I've ever seen with one of the most stirring scores ever, but I have to admit I often find myself looking at the clock whenever I watch it. The scenes in Close Encounters that have to do with family and Richard Dreyfuss are incredible; I love his descent into obsession and all the child actors. On the other hand, the scenes with the scientists mumbling over things bore me to death. The final scene gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and the call-and-response is just really pleasurable to watch. I am puzzled, however, by how Spielberg does an emotional climax with what amounts to a man abandoning his family seeing as he's usually a more family-values oriented sort of director and seems to be against that kind of thing; but this doesn't really deter my enjoyment of the film.

Films I have seen but don't remember well enough to do anything other than say what I will: High Noon (enjoyed), Shane (enjoyed), L.A. Confidential (enjoyed), The Empire Strikes Back (boring), The Kids Are Alright (enjoyed).

Have you seen Memories of Murder, Children of Men, City of God, or Straw Dogs? You might like these.

I'm pretty sure Clash is talking about The Who version of The Kids Are All Right.

Yeah that's what I was talking about.

Also if anyone is up there I would like to reduce mine down to this for the time being.

Dreww: The Rules of the Game, It's a Wonderful Life, Stalker

These are the only movies I feel completely 100% attached to. These three movies (along with Freaks & Geeks) are works of art which most capture the contradictions of how I see my own place in the world and which can consistently move me to an intense state of feeling alive no matter what my mood is. Anyone who cares to know my preferences after these three is welcome to look at my RYM.

Not liking Safe as much anymore?

I think I like it about the same amount. It's just not nearly as powerful a film as these three.

Indeed. Thank you, Dreww. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly why certain movies move me so much, so I wanted to get an outside perspective on my top ten. I'm noticing that most of them feature male lead characters who refuse to be swayed, no matter what the obstacle: Roy Neary, Benjamin Braddock, Roy Batty, Will Kane, Shane, Joe Starrett, Blondie, Bud White, Edmund Exley, etc. And I don't think it's a coincidence that three of my movies feature trios of male lead characters who are frequently at odds with each other, but are forced to work together in some way in order to accomplish their goals: Jaws (Martin Brody, Quint, Matt Hooper), The Good the Bad and the Ugly (Blondie, Tuco, Angel Eyes), and L.A. Confidential (Edmund Exley, Jack Vincennes, Bud White). Most of these movies also have striking musical scores, which I know is a huge factor for me.



I've seen Straw Dogs and Children of Men and enjoyed them both. I'll definitely check out the other two.

Yep. The Who version spells it "Alright".

Not sure about the order, but my next ten would be:

Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Wild Bunch
The Night of the Hunter
Unforgiven
Rocky
The Magnificent Seven
Ride the High Country
Seven Men from Now

And the remaining movies that get a 10 from me on IMDB:

Pulp Fiction
The Godfather
Red River
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Wizard of Oz
It's a Wonderful Life
The Bridge on the River Kwai
All Quiet on the Western Front

I'm obviously a big fan of gunplay. But only if the story is strong. Mindless action flicks irritate me.

Surprised that you don't give any Coen Brothers movies 10s cause I know you like them. Maybe for you as for me they are a group that never seem to make an absolute greatest of all time movie, but make an impossible amount of movies that fall just short.