The Silver Screen Oasis

At least that's where I'd like this thread to head. I've had an idea kicking around in my noggin for quite some time and just haven't had the patience to enact it. I've even discussed this idea somewhere on the boards, but for the life of me I don't remember where I was rambling on about it.

I would like to come up with what everyone on this board would vote to be the best movie ever. I hope to create some additional activity around the boards and maybe even draw out some of our shy members that we don't hear from very often. This could lead to some creative debate if done properly.

My proposal:
Any active member that would like to participate please submit a list of what you consider to be the best 25 films of all time. There is no criteria to base your choices on other than your personal taste. If you honestly believe that Plan 9 From Outer Space is one of your top 25, then by all means include it. You can choose to number them #1-25 or not, it's up to you. For this to work, for more participants the better.

After accepting everyone's list that chooses to join (let's set a November 30th deadline for submissions) I will take all of them and come up with a list of 64 films that will compete for the title. At that point, if we have several submissions, I would happily accept any help to narrow the choices down to 64. Those 64 films will then be seeded 1-64, just like College Basketball's March Madness tournament. The seedings will be based on which films get the most votes and management discretion (meaning I, or whoever would like to help may have to make some arbitrary choices). Then the films will be matched up against each other (the #1 seed vs. #64, #2 vs. #63, etc...) and each would have a thread to vote on which film survives until the next round. The brackets continue until there's only one film standing.

I'm hoping that this is something that will be fun for this group and will generate some interest and additional posts. It would be nice to crown a winner by the New Year.

So, I'll made my pitch and spoke my piece. The rest is up to you.

Please submit your 25 films on this thread to get us started. I will post mine soon, just as soon as I figure out how to limit it to 25.

Chris, you ask hard questions.

Right now, I can't even think of 25 movies I think are the best - I can think of hundreds of movies, but that doesn't mean I particularly like any of them. I suppose for us cinephiles who don't ordinarly make lists of things, this will be a good exercise in self-realization (not the Hare Krishna kind).

Incidentally - your little motto at the bottom of your posts kind of bothers me. I don't think I agree with it, just as I don't agree that "them as can't do, teach." As a former teacher I can attest that you can't teach anything effectively unless you have a pretty good handle on it yourself, and those who aren't very competent in their fields are usually pretty lousy teachers as well. Similarly, I think a truly good reviewer/critic has a very broad spectrum of knowledge in his/her field, sometimes far greater than those who "do" it. There are certainly cases where one skill cancels out the other, but there are plenty of people who can handily do both.

I don't think it's a question of not doing something, therefore you aren't able. Sometimes it's just a case of you don't want to do it, you'd rather think and analyze. If this world were all action and no thought, it would be even more chaotic than it now is. And that is my homily for today.

Hoo Boy!

Give me a week and i'll come up with somethng.

Hi Judith,
My little motto is only intended as a jab at myself, no one else. And I would never besmirch teachers. My career is built around training and coaching so I'm deeply invested in the concept. Just like I coach sports now because I've lost a step and can't compete at the level that my mind tells me I should still be able to. Anyway, certainly didn't intend to offend anyone.

Bogie,
Okay, you can have one week, but that's it! And I'll expect it to be neat and double-spaced!

While I'm thinking of it, for those who do submit a list you will be able to go back in and alter it all the way through the deadline of November 30th. I just know that as soon as I post my selections I'll remember a film or two that I can't imagine how I was dumb enough to leave off.

I agree with Judith that it's difficult thing to do, especially because tastes change and newly discovered films are constantly entering our "lists" but I'll try to do my best as for the moment being...

Here I go:

1. Portrait of Jennie (1948)
2. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
3. Dodsworth (1936)
4. Love Me Tonight (1932)
5. Love Letters (1945)
6. Kiss Me Kate (1953)
7. Lost Horizon (1937)
8. The Constant Nymph (1943)
Evangeline (1929)
The Searchers (1956)
Midnight (1939)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Penny Serenade (1941)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The More the Merrier (1943)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Anna Karenina (1935)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Alice Adams (1935)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Aguirre the Wrath of God (1972)

feaito,
Congratulations on being the first to boldly step into the spotlight. You've got some wonderful choices on there. And the best part is that very few of them will be on my list so we will have many to choose from and debate over, which is kind of the whole purpose! Thanks for participating. Feel free to go back in and edit them if you think of any that you missed and wanted to include.

Right now I've got 38 films on my list and am trying to whittle them down.

It was difficult to narrow them down to 25! But there are films that will always be on my list, like "Dodsworth" or "Letter from an Unknown Woman".

Hey Chris: although I generally tend to avoid lists that proclaim things to be the BEST (I prefer "Favorite") this one is too tempting to resist, so here goes:

1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
2. Out of the Past (1947)
3. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
4. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
5. North By Northwest (1959)
6. Them! (1954)
7. Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
8. Psycho (1960)
9. Citizen Kane (1941)
10. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
11. Black Angel (1946)
12. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
13. Detour (1945)
14. The Big Sleep (1946)
15. Touch of Evil (1958)
16. The Big Heat (1953)
17. Try And Get Me! (1950)
18. Decoy (1946)
19. Nightmare Alley (1947)
20. On Dangerous Ground (1951)
21. American Hot Wax (1978)
22. The Leopard Man (1943)
23. Nightfall (1957)
24. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
25. The Killers (Don Siegel's version; 1964)

Feaito. You picked some very good ones. 'Brief Encounter' has to be on my list, too. I liked. 'Dodsworth', 'Sierra Madre', 'Lady Killers' and 'Alice Adams' I, also, like your taste in movies, It's going to be very difficult paring down to 25. ......mel

Great, Chris. This is the topic I've been waiting for.

# 1 On the Avenue 1937
# 2 It's Love, Again 1936
# 3 Brief Encounter 1945
# 4 Sullivan's Travels 1941
# 5 the Uninvited 1944
# 6 His Girl, Friday 1940
# 7 Oklahoma 1955
# 8 the Haunting ( the one with Julie Harris ) 1963
# 9 Seance on a wet Afternoon 1964
# 10 Slightly Honorable 1940
# 11 Enter Laughing 1967
# 12 Citizen Kane 1940
# 13 the Trouble With Harry 1955
# 14 the Busy Body 1967
# 15 Till We Meet Again 1940
# 16 the Member of the Wedding 1952
# 17 the Earl of Chicago 1940
# 18 the Day of the Jackal 1973
# 19 D O A 1950
# 20 Rehearsal for Murder ( this, too, might've been a tv pgm. 1982
# 21 Family Plot 1976
# 22 City Lights 1931
# 23 My Fair Lady 1964
# 24 Dial M for Murder 1954
# 25 the Gold Diggers of 1935 1935


I'm ready for when the limit is increased.

melwalton wrote:Feaito. You picked some very good ones. 'Brief Encounter' has to be on my list, too. I liked. 'Dodsworth', 'Sierra Madre', 'Lady Killers' and 'Alice Adams' I, also, like your taste in movies, It's going to be very difficult paring down to 25. ......mel

Thanks Mel. You picked some very good films too.

Dewey,
We can see your dark side coming out....most exxxxxxcelllleennnnnttttt!

American Hot Wax. I assume your avatar has voting privileges!

Great selections.

Mel,
Very nice group of movies. I never thought I'd see Oklahoma on the same list as The Uninvited, good job! If you have a chance could you please add the years, just in case there is any confusion on the movie (remakes, knock-offs, etc...). Thanks for participating.

Three sets of entries in already is fantastic. I'll get mine posted sometime today.

Thanks everyone for playing our game.

I've got my list down to 30. Now I just need to vote 5 more off the island and I'll be set!