#21 on my list “Watch the top 10 films of all time” isn’t going to be an easy one for me as most of them are well out with my enjoyable range of films but I’m going to do it! Dean is always amazed at how few films that he views as “must sees” I have actually watched. I’m much more into Love Actually type films.
The list is from Channel 4′s “100 Greatest Films” list. I have already watched Shawshank Redemption but for the benefit of 101 Things, I will watch again but I can’t bring myself to watch Schindler’s List again as I’m still haunted from the images from last time.
1. STAR WARS (1977), STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
Unable to procure the rights to Flash Gordon, George Lucas serves up his own homage to the Saturday-morning adventure serials he loved as a kid; somehow managing to create possibly the most revered and successful film series ever in the process.
2. GODFATHER (1972), THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
Coppola’s epic, operatic, bullet-ridden saga of a Mafia family at war with itself and its rivals. Murder, betrayal, ambition: it’s all here, and utterly compelling, with Brando at his scene-stealing best.
Watched 8th March 2009
3. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
Mugged at the Oscars by Forrest Gump, this irresistible prison drama promotes the unquenchable human spirit with an intelligence that the gooey Gump readily sacrificed.
4. PULP FICTION (1994)
Tarantino, the boy wonder pushed his storytelling powers to their limits to make this film every bit as BIG as the widescreen 70s hits that inspired him. An instant classic.
Watched 24th January 2009.
5. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
Wilder and Diamond’s script crackles with ideas and gags, and the performances are uniformly assured, with Curtis’s triple characterization in particular a revelation. Monroe was reputedly at her worst on set, fluffing take after take, but whatever was necessary to achieve this brilliantly sustained gem was worth it.
Watched (and given up on, it’s awful!) 29th March 2009.
6. GLADIATOR (2000)
Ridley Scott revives the Roman epic with computer generated imagery and a mighty performance from Russell Crowe. Not to mention the last stand of the late Oliver Reed.
7. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
Capra’s Christmas perennial is a lot darker than its status as prime festive schedule-filler would suggest. That’s not to say it will have you hiding behind the sofa but, for a film that deals with missed opportunities and one man’s dark night of the soul, it is all the more impressive it has garnered a feel-good reputation.
8. BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Dystopian thriller Blade Runner remains the most influential sci-fi masterpiece of modern cinema, notably for its immaculate visualisations of retro-futuristic urban decay.
9. SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
A heart-rending and redemptive Holocaust story, this Oscar-grabbing epic added to Spielberg’s directorial credibility, showing he could handle controversial, sophisticated stories with real sensitivity.
Watched in 1995.
10. GOODFELLAS (1990)
“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster,” Henry Hill opens his true story of 30 years in the mob in Scorsese’s epic.
Watched 17th January 2009.
Apart from number 7, I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the most enjoyable of my 101 Things!
Anne xx
