Third Eye Film Society ~ View topic - Specialty Forums

Author

Message

< Third Eye Archives - Specialty Forums ~ Specialty Forums - Westerns Through the Decades

Ghulam

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:08 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY

Goodfellas
Fargo
Flirting with Disaster
The Unforgiven
Hamlet (Branagh)
Thelma and Louise
Husbands and Wives
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Sense and Sensibility
Boys Don't Cry

Marc

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:22 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

I'm making a change to my top ten. Replacing TITANIC with THELMA AND LOUISE (thanks Ghulam for reminding of that film).

FIGHT CLUB
FEARLESS
NAKED
PULP FICTION
SECRETS AND LIES
BAD LIEUTENANT
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
ONCE WERE WARRIORS
THELMA AND LOUISE

Earl

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:34 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

Marc wrote:

I was going to raise that topic eventually in the discussion, but since you brought it up...

Can you call a movie "great" if you need to be reminded of it? Or should it always be swimming around in the forefront of one's mind, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice when discussions like these come along? I don't pretend to know the answer to that. I suppose it depends on how we define "greatness" in a film and there may be as many definitions as there are people. My own list, after all, contained only eight entries and I said it would be subject to change. Those were just the first eight I could think of right away.

_________________
"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship."

Earl

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:37 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

As an example, I saw the title The Silence of the Lambs and thought, "Geez, how did I omit that one from my list?" But maybe the fact that I did says something.

_________________
"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship."

Marc

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 4:27 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Earl,

when you've seen thousands and thousands of films, as many of us have, it is sometimes easy to forget even the great ones. Also, I don't always associate great films with when they are made, though some are definitely a
product of their time. I had to make sure that some of my favorite nineties films were actually made in the nineties. And greatness doesn't always equate with emotional impact. Certain films on my nineties list may not be great, but they had a powerful emotional effect on me. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is flawed, but there are scenes in the film that totally blew me away. SECRETS AND LIES may be too modest to be considred "great", but the film is filled with deeply moving performances that broke my heart. TITANIC is one of my favorite films of the nineties and its also one that many people loathe. But, I'm a sucker for spectacle and tearjerking and TITANIC had plenty of both. Of my choices, I would rate NAKED, FIGHT CLUB, FEARLESS and ONCE WERE WARRIORS as truly "great" films.

Marc

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 4:33 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

For the sake of limiting my list to just 10 films, I deliberately kept my list to films that were English speaking.

Marc

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 4:39 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Here's a terrific "best of" list resource.

http://www.listsofbests.com/lists/home/movies/definitive

Marc

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 4:45 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

One of the good things about a 90s forum is the films should be easy for everyone to get their hands on.

Earl

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 5:15 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

Marc wrote:

For the sake of limiting my list to just 10 films, I deliberately kept my list to films that were English speaking.

That's a good idea. It's been noted already that "Films of the 90's" is a broad category. Perhaps we should all make a similar limitation when compiling our lists. Non-English films could still enter the discussion when the subject turns to the influence certain films have had.

_________________
"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship."

Earl

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 5:42 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

Marc wrote:

Well, I wasn't referring to every great film made in the nineties, but rather those few which had the biggest impact on each of us. Sometimes works of art get to us in a deeply personal way and affect us profoundly. Those are the ones which (it seems) we shouldn't hesitate to remember. And yet...but still...however, a little while ago Emma Thompson was on Oprah's show and I saw her and thought, "Now how did I forget Remains of the Day, a movie that had me in tears after I saw it?", so what the hell do I know? Again, it depends heavily on how we define the term "greatness."

I know what you mean about not being sure of the date. I wasn't sure about the release year of Mo' Better Blues and had to look it up to be sure.

Quote:

TITANIC is one of my favorite films of the nineties and its also one that many people loathe. But, I'm a sucker for spectacle and tearjerking and TITANIC had plenty of both.

It also was a watershed moment (pardon) in the world of special effects. Not even Jurassic Park, for all its publicity at the time, managed to meld realistic special effects seamlessly into the story, so that the effects enhanced the story, rather than overwhelmed it. James Cameron is pretty good at that. He did it with Abyss, too.

_________________
"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship."

Earl

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 6:29 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

So then, I guess I have my list of ten now that I've added two to my original eight. Here are my submissions:

Pulp Fiction

Goodfellas

Hamlet (the version directed by Kenneth Branagh)

Mo' Better Blues

Fargo

JFK

Shakespeare In Love

Schindler's List

The Silence of the Lambs

Remains of the Day

_________________
"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship."

Jynx

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 8:51 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 750 Location: Nowheresville

American Beauty

Twelve Monkeys

Boogie Nights

Pulp Fiction

Braveheart

Forrest Gump

Pleasantville

Goodfellas

and the best ... Magnolia

_________________
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass ... and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Jynx

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 8:53 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 750 Location: Nowheresville

The worst ... hands down ... Eyes Wide Shut (except Pollack's role) and it's not b/c of Kidman. The movie just sucked sucked sucked.

_________________
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass ... and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Syd

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 9:02 pm

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12940 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

Schindler's List
Princess Mononoke
The Sweet Hereafter
Crumb
Secrets and Lies
The Silence of the Lambs
Fargo
The Crying Game
Jerry Maguire
Pulp Fiction

_________________
Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter!

mo_flixx

Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 9:18 pm

Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 12533

Did someone forget BOOTY CALL?

Wink

All times are GMT - 5 Hours

View next topic View previous topic Page 25 of 27 Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 ... 24, 25, 26, 27 Next Third Eye Film Society Forum Index ~ Third Eye Archives - Specialty Forums

This forum is locked: you cannot post, reply to, or edit topics.

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum