I've never seen Casablanca. Aside from westerns and a few sci-fi and war movies, I'm not a big fan of old films.

I'd say the best movies of all time would be The Searchers, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Usual Suspects and The Big Lebowski.

I dont know if I'd rate it as the best, top 5 for sure, but of course what I say is the best changes about every 20 minutes...

"Two shot twist ending" - That's a good way to describe those movies. :) You're absolutely right about being able to connect to the main idea. I think that goes for a lot of media. People need to be able to relate to begin to enjoy it. For me, Fight Club describes my perspective well. This exchange of dialogue has always struck me.
The Big Lebowski is an interesting movie. People either love it or hate it.

I resolve to get a copy of Casablanca and watch it and make an assessment. :)

Something's wrong with my poll. It doesn't have any correct answers :P

But I would probably say Chinatown, Network, The Godfather, Scarface, The Graduate, or That Obscure Object of Desire.

But honestly, there's even more I could throw on that list. I find it very hard to limit the choice to one, a lot depends on what mood I'm in as to what movie I think is currently "best". And if I was forced upon penalty of death to choose one, I would probably wouldn't pick any movie, because I don't know if any great movie is undoubtedly better than others.

Gilda,

You mean to tell me that when The Dude is driving home and rocking out to "Looking Out My Back Door" by Credence after getting the anal exam, you didn't find that funny?

That entire movie is a glimpse into the mind of comic genius.

Big Trouble in Little China is the best movie ever made.

Yes Moulin Rouge was more classic than contemporary.

I appreciate that.

It started to change my life on the 7th or 8th time I watched it.

I find it soothing and very poetic, with the most perfect blend of humour and drama. It is off the wall, and makes no appologies.

I didn't get it the first time either. My buddy actually talked about it being the coolest movie ever, and I disagreed, citing your exact quoted statements. He then forced me to watch it again.

I liked it.

I went over to his house one night, and he was watching it AGAIN. So I sat down and chilled with him.

Then I rented it again, when I walked past it in the video store.

Then I bought it when I saw it on sale.

Then I fell in love with it.

shawshank redemption for me.

[Makes note on calendar: Agreed with alansmithee] I like to make note when something freakish like this happens :).

I love every one of those. Have them all on DVD. Will be getting them on HDDVD when bluray finally gets to consumer level. I've seen Network a good dozen times, and it keeps getting funnier and funnier every time I see it.

Gilda

Hey Gilda

I agree with you the The Usual Suspects is a "two shot twist ending movie"... I don't agree with you in including Fight Club in that group. This could be because I saw the twist ending coming but I found it to be an amazing critique of counter culture. It just works for me on many levels... the twist is sort of besides the point.

As for Lebowski... I think Big Ben has managed to define the undefinable.

Nope. Not a single laugh. I think I was so numb by then that even "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" couldn't have made me laugh.

The Big Lebowski is one of those movies that I've been told requires multiple viewings to really get it. I've been told the same thing about Showgirls, that it's really a work of genius that has to be seen many times before it clicks exactly what's going on and one can really appreciate it.

I grant that as a possibility, and I have a movie or two on my list of personal favorites that work on that level, such as Last Year at Marienbad and Gates of Heaven. The difference between those and Lebowski or Showgirls is that I saw something in them the first time through that invited me back to find out what it is. I saw something that said the investment of time and effort would pay off. I don't see that in Lebowski, though I do certainly appreciate the idea of movies that require more investment than a single viewing.

Gilda

Wow. Well I am "shocked, stunned, flabbergasted" that you don't even know the proper name of your favourite movie, "C'era una volta il West", which is listed at number 22 on IMDB's top 250 of all time. ;)

And yes it's a fantastic film.

Upon further reflection, I have decided that Le Samourai directed by Jean-Pierre Melville is the greatest movie of all time. Well, maybe not the greatest, but my favorite.

Wow, lots o' great movies listed here, and Casabanca surely ranks high on my list. It's really hard for me to not pick the greatest movie of all time and not have it be a Coen brother, or a Kevin Smith movie, but those are some of my favorites, and probably not the 'greatest' movie ever made.

Nice to see everyones opinion here, so I'll throw in 'Glory' as my choice as greatest. Enduringly topical theme, plus very well acted by a great cast.

Given that people bring their own experiences, biases, expectations, and so forth to a film, I can say only what is the greatest movie(s) for me. I have seen Casablanca. Even for the genre and the time, I don't think it's the greatest movie ever. I like Waking Life for it's philosophy and art style, but I don't think it the greatest ever either. Unless you can tolerate seemingly endless monologues, it will bore you. I like Annie Hall as a romantic comedy, Memento for it's mystery/thriller quality, the original Manchurian Candidate (with Sinatra) for it's political satire, The Lord of the Rings series for its fantasy, Taxi Driver because it was just so raw and visceral for its time, and Office Space because is was so darn funny and hauntingly real for me.

To all of you who voted that you have never seen Casablanca... do yourself a favour and seek it out.

While you are at it, find a whole pile of films from the 30s and 40s... rent them, buy them, steal them... JUST WATCH THEM.

Some of the greatest films of all time (or at least the grandfathers of the greatest films of all time) were made in this era. What are you waiting for?

If you want PM me and I will give you a list of some excellent films.

Post 'em here... let the rest of us in on 'em... though I'd love to add some to the list... :)

Let me just list a few to get things rolling:

Double Indemnity
The Maltese Falcon
Notorious

And there's a really good one starring Rita Hayworth as a nightclub singer who gets involved in a love triangle with thugs who run a casino in South America. I forget the name.

Gilda

Gee, Gilda, I wonder whatever the name of that movie could be Gilda, I know I've seen it Gilda, I just can't quite remember the name of that movie, Gilda, but I know it will come to me... :lol:

it's a great movie and Rita hayworth is so beautiful...

I'd add in All About Eve (Marilyn Monroe in her first role)
Mr Smith goes to washington
It happened one night... funny funny movie
North by Northwest
to Catch a Thief
Breakfast at Tiffanys (a little newer than some of the others but always rates a high mention on my lists)
Now Voyager (everytime I see this movie, I wished I still smoked and that Paul Henreid was always around to light cigarettes)
The Philadephia Story....


I can't remember the name of the movie.. I think it was a Place in the sun, but I'm not sure.. it was the movie version of theodore dreiser's An American tragedy - and Elizabeth taylor looking so young and so incredibly beautiful was in it...

There are just so many great movies...

...now that is a good film and one of the best film noir releases (of its time, if not ever)).

I found an old list I made for a friend... I have whittled it down a bit.

That's a great list...

If I get around to posting my list from the 50s I will definately leave those films on the list.

Awesome list Charlatan...

Gaslight (1944) George Cuckor - Ingrid Bergman was so fragile in this movie and i adored Angela Lansbury -- it's hard to beleive she was ever so young... :)

Rebecca (1940) Alfred Hitchcock - Judith Anderson is so evil inthis movie... I worship her :) Though it always bugs me that they didn't follow the book because they couldn't have Laurence olivier portray the character as written.. :)

Laura (1944) Otto Preminger Didn't like this the first time i saw it - it took me two or three times before I enjoyed it..

The Red Shoes (1948) I've seen this movie at least 4o times.. and I love it every single time.. it's so full of passion and emotion, whcih I normally wouldn't like.. but it's so beautifully filmed... and moira shearer dances so beautifully...

Pygmalion (1938) Leslie Howard - I've seen My Fair Lady so many times --I should have seen this movie firstr.. because all thru this movie, I expect them to break out into song.... Pygmalion, in my mind, worked better as a play rather than a movie... but its still enjoyable. Wendy Hiller, who played Eliza, was in Major Barbara a few years later... that's a fun movie..

Good to see that this lesser known, chaotic Welles production in there. While it falls well short of Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Amberson and A Touch of Evil, I still think it is well and truly above the bar. The final scene in the house of mirrors is great, I think Bruce Lee must have watched it too :)

Letter from an Unknown Woman is such a great great film. Like M by Fritz Lang, a movie that really had no right to be made in that time and place, a tragedy, a stirring indictment of our pretensions and relationships in a time when the standard fare was an affirmation. Ophuls is also a lost treasure of directing talent I think, often overlooked in favour of other German contemporaries like King Vidor, Fritz Lang or F. W. Murnau, I still rate him amongst them.

Sorry to be a bit of a wanker, but that's one of the two most misquoted lines in the history of film. The other being 'Play it again Sam' a line which Bogart never utters in Casblanca. Funny that both films star old Bogie actually.

The actual exchange goes:

'Oh yeah, show me your badges!'

'Badges? We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you anystinking badges!'

Still, what a triumph of misanthropic sentiment this classic film is.

I'm gonna go with Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." I've seen it 100 times or more. A movie that never gets old to me. The acting and dialogue is so great. I've never seen Casablanca. I'll have to check it out.

I would add Splendor in the Grass (1961) and A Streetcar named Desire (1951) to a must watch list.

For me personally ... My current Best Movie would be a River Runs Through It. I have read and love the book, and I love how the movie captures the essence and the spirit the author intended, and yet still stands alone in its own right. I never fail to get goosebumps from watching that movie.

I haven't seen too many older films, but the ones I've seen I liked. Gone With the Wind is my all time favorite movie, I never get sick of watching it, but I know it's not the best movie ever made. A Streetcar Named Desire is excellent (as amonkie noted :) ), and All Quiet On the Western Front is good. I also watched Harvey and found it pretty entertaining.

I actually like The Maltese Falcon better than Casablanca... Tho not by much.

Hands Down The Last Samurai. Definitly top of my list. Not into artsy films that have very little if any enteratinment value. Examples might be Sideways, Lost In Translation, Talented Mr. Ripley. American Beauty was good only because of the Boobies. other than that Last Samurai takes the cake.

LOL nice!!!
but yea ive never seen Casablanca either but I really like Mr. Smith goes to Washington and Some like it Hot.. those are good movies but a movie that i really liked would be Shawshank Redemption.

I saw a few folks mention The Philadelphia Story...what completely wonderful and amazing dialogue. Witty banter taken to the highest level. Sit down, mix a martini, pop this one in and enjoy.

I can't get into Shawshank Redemption...maybe I need to watch it again. I was bored about halfway through.

We could use a bit more Tarantino in this list too.

Forbidden Planet!

Want to try by genre? How about the flawed hero flick? I'm thinking along the lines of Rebel Without a Cause, Papillon, Cool Hand Luke. Self-made tragedies. A couple ounces of reality separate these from Commando, Dirty Harry, et al. Big slushy, happy endings immediately disqualify a film from this one.

I would rather spend a year in Abu Graib than have to watch Showgirls again! :lol:


My 3 favorite comedies of Hollywood's Golden Era:

1) Romance on the High Seas (Doris Day's first film. Only available on VHS. :( )
2) Pocket Full of Miracles (Betty Davis)
3) Harvey (James Stewart)

Casablanca gets better every time I watch it. Keeping in mind that when the movie was filmed the war was still going on must have made the "Le Marseillaise" scene that much more poweful. Rick's dialogue only seems cliched if you don't realise that HE is where that cliche comes from. Along with Han Solo, Buckaroo Banzai, Silent Bob and Van Wilder, Rick is one of the "coolest" characters on film. Very quotable lines that show up everywhere nowadays. Not the ending you expect but the only one that works.

Don't know if it's the GREATEST movie ever made, but it's right up there.

-Mikey

I agree with an earlier (long time ago) post that it's nearly impossible to pick a 'best' movie- there are just too many good movies around, but I'm actually a little bit surprised that no one brought up any of my favourites...

Anyone would consider movies like 'trainspotting', 'the dreamers' or 'lost in translation' to be one of the best?

There are also some decent movies from Hong Kong- say, 'Happy together' or '2046' or any of the masterpieces from a director named Wong Kar Wai. Any of the movie lovers here should have a look at his movies.

But inevitably the wisdom and atmosphere created by the lines in Cantonese won't be delivered and built as effectively with subtitles translated into other languages. Or in some cases one wouldn't even understand what the director (and the screenplay writer at the same time) is trying to say... *sigh*

Honestly? Superman. Hands down. I've never had so much fun watching a movie.

Casablanca was really, really good, but not even it can live up to it's own legend. It is an exceptional movie, easily one of the best, but it is overrated.

Agreed. Asoka, Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart and Fight Club round out the top 5.