Films Seen: Ranked

Submitted by Kza on Wed, 09/15/2004 - 07:20
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  1. Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) (fv) [100]
  2. Return of the Living Dead (1985, Dan O'Bannon) (fv) [99]
  3. King Kong (1933, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack) (v) [99]
  4. Playtime (1967, Jacques Tati) (fv) [99]
  5. The Last Picture Show (1971, Peter Bogdanovich) (v) [97]
  6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry) (f) [97]
  7. Hero (2004, Zhang Yimou) (f) [97]
  8. Gerry (2003, Gus Van Sant) (f) [94]
  9. Primer (2004, Shane Carruth) (f) [94]
  10. Stagecoach (1939, John Ford) (v) [93]
  11. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993, Steven Zaillian) (v) [93]
  12. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003, Quentin Tarantino) (fv) [93]
  13. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943, William A. Wellman) (v) [93]
  14. Out of the Past (1947, Jacques Tourneur) (v) [92]
  15. Dogville (2004, Lars von Trier) (v)
  16. Holes (2003, Andrew Davis) (v) [92]
  17. The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird) (f) [91]
  18. Last Year at Marienbad (1961, Alain Resnais) (fv) [91]
  19. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler) (v) [90]
  20. 8 1/2 (1963, Federico Fellini) (v) [90]
  21. Thieves Like Us (1974, Robert Altman) (v) [90]
  22. The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges) (v) [89]
  23. Phantom of the Paradise (1974, Brian DePalma) (v) [89]
  24. The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick) (fv) [89]
  25. Dawn of the Dead (2004, Zack Snyder) (f) [89]
  26. Love Me Tonight (1932, Rouben Mamoulian) (v) [89]
  27. Through A Glass Darkly (1961, Ingmar Bergman) (v) [89]
  28. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976, Robert Altman) (v) [89]
  29. Forbidden Planet (1956, Fred McLeod Wilcox) (v) [88]
  30. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2004, Kim Ki-Duk) (f) [86]
  31. The Brood (1979, David Cronenberg) (v) [85]
  32. Spartan (2004, David Mamet) (v) [85]
  33. The War of the Worlds (1953, Byron Haskin) (v) [84]
  34. Cowards Bend The Knee (2003, Guy Maddin) (f) [83]
  35. Detour (1945, Edgar G. Ulmer) (v) [83]
  36. Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock) (v) [83]
  37. Capturing the Friedmans (2003, Andrew Jarecki) (v) [82]
  38. Run of the Arrow (1957, Samuel Fuller) (v) [82]
  39. Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Alfred Hitchcock) (v) [81]
  40. Sideways (2004, Alexander Payne) (f) [80]
  41. Dressed to Kill (1980, Brian DePalma) (v) [80]
  42. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004, Quentin Tarantino) (f) [80]
  43. Mean Creek (2004, Jacob Aaron Estes) (f) [80]
  44. Fixed Bayonets (1951, Samuel Fuller) (v) [80]
  45. The Saddest Music in the World (2004, Guy Maddin) (f) [80]
  46. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper) (fv) [80]
  47. No Highway in the Sky (1951, Henry Koster) (v) [79]
  48. Two for the Road (1967, Stanley Donen) (v) [79]
  49. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, Alfonso Cuarón) (f) [79]
  50. The Tall T (1957, Budd Boetticher) (v) [79]
  51. An American in Paris (1951, Vincente Minnelli) (v) [79]
  52. Brute Force (1947, Jules Dassin) (v) [79]
  53. Spider-Man 2 (2004, Sam Raimi) (f) [79]
  54. Atlantic City (1980, Louis Malle) (v) [78]
  55. Shaun of the Dead (2004, Edgar Wright) (f) [78]
  56. Leave Her To Heaven (1945, John M. Stahl) (v) [78]
  57. Badlands (1973, Terrence Malick) (v) [78]
  58. The Thing From Another World (1951, Christian Nyby) (v) [77]
  59. Great Expectations (1946, David Lean) (v) [77]
  60. Elf (2003, Jon Favreau) (fv) [77]
  61. One Hour Photo (2002, Mark Romanek) (v) [77]
  62. The Thief of Bagdad (1940, Ludwig Berger & Tim Whelan & Michael Powell) (v) [76]
  63. The Naked Spur (1953, Anthony Mann) (v) [76]
  64. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969, Paul Mazursky) (v) [75]
  65. The Best of Youth (2004, Marco Tullio Giordana) (f) [75]
  66. Terror Train (1980, Roger Spottiswoode) (v) [75]
  67. The Far Country (1955, Anthony Mann) (v) [75]
  68. The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Denys Arcand) (f) [75]
  69. Cuba (1979, Richard Lester) (v) [74]
  70. Night Tide (1963, Curtis Harrington) (v) [73]
  71. Hellboy (2004, Guillermo Del Toro) (v) [73]
  72. Blade II (2002, Guillermo Del Toro) (v) [72]
  73. The Winslow Boy (1999, David Mamet) (v) [72]
  74. Marathon Man (1976, John Schlesinger) (v) [72]
  75. The Crimson Pirate (1952, Robert Siodmak) (v) [70]
  76. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, Robert Benton) (v) [70]
  77. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967, Roger Corman) (v) [70]
  78. Ride the High Country (1962, Sam Peckinpah) (fv) [70]
  79. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter) (v) [69]
  80. Manhattan (1979, Woody Allen) (v) [69]
  81. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill) (v) [69]
  82. Hatchet For The Honeymoon (1969, Mario Bava) (v) [69]
  83. On Dangerous Ground (1951, Nicholas Ray) (v) [69]
  84. The Stranger (1946, Orson Welles) (v) [69]
  85. Images (1972, Robert Altman) (v) [68]
  86. Squirm (1976, Jeff Lieberman) (v) [68]
  87. Jack's Back (1988, Rowdy Herrington) (v) [68]
  88. All The Real Girls (2003, David Gordon Green) (v) [67]
  89. Super Size Me (2004, Morgan Spurlock) (v) [67]
  90. The Girl Can't Help It (1956, Frank Tashlin) (v) [67]
  91. Blow-Up (1966, Michelangelo Antonioni) (v) [66]
  92. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004, Wes Anderson) (f) [66]
  93. The Butterfly Effect (2004, Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber) (f) [66]
  94. The Women (1939, George Cukor) (v) [65]
  95. Phenomena (1984, Dario Argento) (v) [65]
  96. All The President’s Men (1976, Alan J. Pakula) (v) [65]
  97. The Big Red One (1980, Samuel Fuller) (v) [65]
  98. The Dirty Dozen (1967, Robert Aldrich) (v) [65]
  99. The Bad Sleep Well (1960, Akira Kurosawa) (v) [65]
  100. demonlover (2003, Olivier Assayas) (v) [64]
  101. Garden State (2004, Zach Braff) (f) [64]
  102. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957, David Lean) (v) [63]
  103. Rope (1948, Alfred Hitchcock) (v) [63]
  104. Five Deadly Venoms (1978, Chang Cheh) (v) [63]
  105. Cries and Whispers (1972, Ingmar Bergman) (v) [63]
  106. The Company (2003, Robert Altman) (f) [63]
  107. The River (1997, Tsai Ming-liang) (v) [63]
  108. The Man With A Movie Camera (1929, Dziga Vertov) (v) [62]
  109. Heavy Metal (1981, Gerald Potterton) (v) [62]
  110. Shattered Glass (2004, Billy Ray) (v) [62]
  111. Flash Gordon (1980, Mike Hodges) (fv) [62]
  112. Saboteur (1942, Alfred Hitchcock) (v) [62]
  113. Desperate (1947, Anthony Mann) (v) [61]
  114. Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1968, Kim Ki-Duk) (v) [61]
  115. Buchanan Rides Alone (1958, Budd Boetticher) (v) [61]
  116. Tokyo Godfathers (2004, Satoshi Kon) (f) [60]
  117. Bluebeard (1944, Edgar G. Ulmer) (v) [60]
  118. Sleuth (1972, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) (v) [60]
  119. The Station Agent (2003, Tom McCarthy) (f) [60]
  120. Alone in the Dark (1982, Jack Sholder) (v) [60]
  121. Father Goose (1964, Ralph Nelson) (v) [60]
  122. Head-On (2004, Fatih Akin) (f) [59]
  123. The Rundown (2003, Peter Berg) (v) [59]
  124. The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin) (v) [59]
  125. The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci) (v) [58]
  126. The Day After Tomorrow (2004, Roland Emmerich) (f) [58]
  127. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933, Michael Curtiz) (v) [58]
  128. All About My Mother (1999, Pedro Almodóvar) (v) [58]
  129. A Name For Evil (1973, Bernard Girard) (v) [58]
  130. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, Robert Wise) (v) [57]
  131. Shenandoah (1965, Andrew V. McLaglen) (v) [57]
  132. Twentynine Palms (2004, Bruno Dumont) (v) [57]
  133. The Blob (1958, Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.) [57]
  134. Tender Mercies (1983, Bruce Beresford) (v) [57]
  135. Death Hunt (1981, Peter Hunt) (v) [57]
  136. The Fly (1958, Kurt Neumann) (v) [57]
  137. The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ulmer) (v) [56]
  138. The Tomb of Ligeia (1965, Roger Corman) (v) [56]
  139. The Big Country (1958, William Wyler) (v) [55]
  140. To Have and Have Not (1944, Howard Hawks) (v) [55]
  141. Two Rode Together (1961, John Ford) (v) [54]
  142. Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters) (v) [54]
  143. The Last Samurai (2003, Edward Zwick) (f) [53]
  144. Fire Sale (1977, Alan Arkin) (v) [53]
  145. Two Evil Eyes (1990, Dario Argento & George Romero) (v) [52; The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar (Romero, 42), The Black Cat (Argento, 62)]
  146. Forbidden Zone (1980, Richard Elfman) (v) [52]
  147. Ministry of Fear (1944, Fritz Lang) (v) [51]
  148. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987, Sui-Tung Ching) (v) [51]
  149. Along Came A Spider (2001, Lee Tamahori) (v) [50]
  150. Knife in the Water (1962, Roman Polanski) (v) [50]
  151. Scary Movie 3 (2003, David Zucker) (v) [50]
  152. Opera (1987, Dario Argento) (v) [49]
  153. Strange Illusion (1945, Edgar G. Ulmer) (v) [49]
  154. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, Vincente Minnelli) (v) [48]
  155. The Last House on the Left (1972, Wes Craven) (v) [48]
  156. Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler) (v) [48]
  157. The Dunwich Horror (1970, Daniel Haller) (v) [47]
  158. The Woodsman (2004, Nicole Kassel) (f) [47]
  159. The Battle of Shaker Heights (Kyle Rankin & Efrem Potelle) (v) [47]
  160. She Hate Me (2004, Spike Lee) (f) [46]
  161. Dementia 13 (Francis Coppola) (v) [46]
  162. The Band Wagon (1953, Vincente Minnelli) (v) [45]
  163. Eyes of Laura Mars (1978, Irvin Kershner) (v) [45]
  164. The Last Frontier (1956, Anthony Mann) (v) [45]
  165. Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973, Bob Kelljan) (v) [43]
  166. Secret Window (2004, David Koepp) (v) [42]
  167. House of Wax (1953, Andre De Toth) (v) [41]
  168. Stolen Summer (2002, Pete Jones) (v) [41]
  169. Elephant (2003, Gus Van Sant) (v) [40]
  170. Monster (2003, Patty Jenkins) (v) [40]
  171. Dead or Alive: Final (2002, Takashi Miike) (v) [40]
  172. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004, Kerry Conran) (f) [40]
  173. The Eye (2003, The Pang Brothers) (f) [39]
  174. Mrs. Miniver (1942, William Wyler) (v) [39]
  175. The Mountain Road (1960, Daniel Mann) (v) [39]
  176. High Anxiety (1977, Mel Brooks) (v) [39]
  177. The Norliss Tapes (1973, Dan Curtis) (v) [38]
  178. Foul Play (1978, Colin Higgins) (v) [38]
  179. Charlotte Sometimes (2002, Eric Byler) (v) [37]
  180. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003, Jonathan Mostow) (v) [35]
  181. Freaky Friday (2003, Mark Waters) (v) [35]
  182. Irma La Douce (1963, Billy Wilder) (v) [34]
  183. Perfect Blue (1999, Satoshi Kon) (v) [34]
  184. Nattevagten (1994, Ole Bornedal) (v) [33]
  185. Alice Adams (1935, George Stevens) (v) [32]
  186. The Last Broadcast (1998, Stefan Avalo & Lance Weiler) (v) [32]
  187. Run Ronnie Run (2003, Troy Miller) (v) [31]
  188. The Terminal (2004, Steven Spielberg) (f) [30]
  189. City of God (2003, Fernando Meirelles) (f) [30]
  190. The Devil's Rain (1975, Robert Fuest) (v) [28]
  191. The House By The Cemetery (1981, Lucio Fulci) (v) [28]
  192. Seabiscuit (2003, Gary Ross) (v) [25]
  193. Pit & The Pendulum (1961, Roger Corman) (v) [25]
  194. Spider (2003, David Cronenberg) (v) [23]
  195. Anatomy of a Psycho (1961, Brooke L. Peters) (v) [23]
  196. Cold Mountain (2003, Anthony Minghella) (v) [22]
  197. The Late Show (1976, Robert Benton) (v) [21]
  198. The Fury (1978, Brian DePalma) (v) [19]
  199. The Village (2004, M. Night Shyamalan) (f) [17]
  200. Abandon (2002, Stephen Gaghan) (v) [17]
  201. They Drive By Night (1946, Raoul Walsh) (v) [16]
  202. Japanese Story (2003, Sue Brooks) (f) [15]
  203. Japón (2002, Carlos Reygadas) (v) [10]
  204. From Hell (2001, The Hughes Brothers) (v) [8]
  205. The Devil Bat (1941, Jean Yarborough) (v) [2]
  206. May (2002, Lucky McKee) (v) [1]
  207. The House of the Dead (2003, Uwe Boll) (f) [0]
  208. Paycheck (2003, John Woo) (v) [t/o]
Author Comments: 

Here's a list of all the movies I've given a 1-100 grade, ranked in preference.

(f) seen on film
(v) seen on video
[t/o] Turned it off

Cloned From: 
Films Seen: In 2004
lukeprog09/15/2004

Wow. A terribly dubious list, which only makes me all the more assured of its honesty! Have you seen common favorites like Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Casablanca, etc.?

Kza09/15/2004

Oh, heck yeah. This is only the stuff I've given numbers to. I only recently started the whole 1-100 thing, and I've only been giving a number rating after a fresh viewing. I've got a lot of rewatching to do!

But, to give approximations...

Citizen Kane: 95+
The Godfather I & II: 97+
Casablanca: 60+

pherber09/15/2004

Have you seen "Songs From the Second Floor"? It sounds like something you might like. I think it won a prize at Cannes or something. I thought it was very funny, and that's coming from someone who thinks comedy today is in a rut.

lukeprog09/15/2004

Thanks, I'll look it up!!

Kza09/16/2004

I saw it a few years ago (in a theater, amazingly) and thought it was fantastic. The DVD's been out for a little bit, and I've been meaning to pick it up and watch it again, but I intend to do a lot of things that don't seem to happen. But yeah, great movie. It'd probably score in the high 80s.

lukeprog09/15/2004

Oh, okay, I see.

lukeprog09/29/2004

I'd be very interested to see a review/explanation of Jaws as to how it could score 100 (though, I could say that for Return of the Living Dead and Playtime, as well).

Kza10/01/2004

It's a pretty simple explanation: It's the Best Movie Evar.

Okay, that's probably not what you were looking for. But that's all I really got for ya right now.

Here are some notes towards an appreciation of Return of the Living Dead that will probably never be written into a proper essay.

AJDaGreat10/04/2004

I'd really like to read your comments on Last Year at Marienbad, if you're up for posting them. The critical reception for the film is uniform acclaim, but I've heard mixed reviews as far as a normal viewer trying to enjoy and appreciate the film.

Kza10/05/2004

Last Year at Marienbad...whew, that really is a tough one to talk about. It's not a standard Hollywood narrative film by any means; even by European standards, I imagine it's a tough nut. (Fellini's 8 1/2 is pretty odd by Hollywood standards, but it's Spielberg compared to Marienbad.)

On one level, it's pretty simple: there's a giant, spooky hotel (I imagine this influenced Kubrick in terms of The Shining: lots of tracking shots, and this was before the Steadicam), and inside is a guy who is sure he had a fling last year with a woman that's there, but she claims not to remember, and he spends the entirety of the movie trying to get her to remember and run away with him, and away from her husband/lover/guardian/somebody.

But on top of that relatively simple narrative, Resnais piles on as many crazy stylistic choices as he can get away with, mostly through editing (both visual and sound). That, combined with very, very French and poetic (some may say pretentious) dialogue and narration, and you got a combination that can easily push away the casual viewer.

I find it gorgeous and even occasionally scary. I'm hesitant to say what it's about, if anything (if forced, I'd say it's about how memories are more created than remembered, kinda like Memento in that sense), but in a lot of ways it defies interpretation. It just kinda is. But I'm sure somebody has an explanation published on the web somewhere.

If you decide to watch it, I'd say enter into it not with the idea that it's some monolithic piece of "art" that laughs at you for not "getting it", but as a playful piece of cinema. Resnais isn't some stern, Godardian theorist; he just likes to have fun.

AJDaGreat10/05/2004

That actually sounds pretty interesting to me. I think I will watch it, keeping your advice in mind, instead of being scared off by the people who say it's too pretentious to be accessible, and just see the film as it is. Thanks very much for the comments!

Kza10/05/2004

No prob! Let me know what you think after you see it!

allegheny10/18/2004

Was Jaws made in 1975? I thought it was made in 1977. Glad the Ox-Bow Incident made the list. One of the Best westerns ever, and it had little gunplay. I like Holes, shows Disney is getting a little edgier with its live action movies. I mean Patricia Arquette walking up to a sheriff and shooting him point blank in the head is kind of violent. But The Rocketeer was probably Disney's closest visit into the ultra-violent. I mean Timothy Dalton gets blown-up in a ball of flames and crashes like a comet into the Hollywoodland sign? Gangsters and FBI agents spraying Nazis with Tommy Guns. The big giant dude gets incinerated when the Nazi Derrigible blows up. Did Spielberg have something to do with The Rocketeer? Seems like the formula for some of his movies: Nazis get killed in numerous quantities. Can't believe new Dawn of The Dead beat out the original Romero version, but to each his or her own. You have a lot of interesting films on here, many of which I have never seen.

Kza10/18/2004

Ah ah ah! Who said the new Dawn of the Dead beat out the Romero version? Truth is, I haven't watched the old version since I started doing numerical ratings. I hope to see it again on or around Halloween, and I expect to give it a 95+.

Oh, and Jaws is indeed 1975. Close Encounters is 1977.

lukeprog10/20/2004

The Devil Bat gets a '2'? I figured it'd be at least worth a 15-20 - it wasn't a TOTALLY incompetant piece of garbage like half the stuff mocked on MST3K.

Kza10/20/2004

All I can say is I strongly disagree. Frankly, I think Manos, the Hands of Fate is a better movie.

bertie10/22/2004

Playtime at 99%, but nothing else of Tati's on the list. Does that mean you haven't seen any others? - if you haven't, you must see M.Hulot's Holiday and Mon Oncle, his next best.

Kza10/22/2004

Yeah, I haven't re-watched any of Tati's other films, but I've seen all of them, except the one he shot on video, of the circus... Parade I think it's called (too lazy to look right now!)

Hulot probably gets 90+, Mon Oncle, which I thought was just okay, would be in the high 60s. Traffic is probably low 70s. Oh, and Jour de Fete is in the high 70s, most likely. Of course, I won't really know until I see them again.

bertie10/22/2004

Ah, good, glad you've seen them - but then after seeing one of Tati's you'd be determined to see the rest, I know I was.

RosieCotton11/01/2004

I've heard that Dogville puts people to sleep. How did you stay awake, assuming you did? I haven't seen it. I'm trying to decide why I should.

Kza11/04/2004

Hey Rosie!

Good thing I scanned my responses; usually, responses get emailed to me, but for some reason, yours didn't.

Anyway, I can't imagine Dogville putting anyone to sleep, anyone who's interested in a gripping, well-told story at least. I've heard that some people had problems with the set painted out on the stage floor, but watching it in practice, that complaint seems silly, as it creates some truly awesome sequences, as well as working as metaphor for how no one in the village can really keep secrets from each other. I have some comments on it on my "Films Seen: In 2004" list, near the bottom of the response posts, but there's some spoilers.

So, in summation, I think it's one of the best movies of 2004.

RosieCotton11/04/2004

I finally saw Dogville yesterday, and I surprised myself, by having no trouble staying awake. It did take a while for me to adapt to the style and pace of the movie. I think it was chapter 3 or 4 before I saw where it was going. I thought of it like a stage play, which helped, because I've seen some absurd stuff on stage. I kept thinking of all the possible allegorical meanings it could have. Fascinating.

Kza11/04/2004

Glad you liked it! It is a lot like a theater piece, both in the staging and the construction of the story; probably should have said as much earlier :-) And yet of course, it's not a theater piece -- at least in the sense that Busby Berkeley dance numbers aren't really theater, IMO.

RosieCotton11/04/2004

The camera's POV is the chief difference, I think, between film and stage. Both Busby Berkeley and LvT use an omniscient POV to give us "the big picture".

jim11/04/2004

My ISP had a bottleneck in the e-mail server that kept messages from going out for about 24 hours. I thought they were all ultimately delivered, but it looks like perhaps not.

Kza11/04/2004

Ah! Figured it was something fluky. No prob.