Sight and Sound Top Ten

PostSight and Sound Top Ten by **Drunken_Master** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:42 am

1. Vertigo (1958)

2. Citizen Kane (1941)

3. Tokyo Story (1953)

4. La Règle du Jeu (1939)

5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

7. The Searchers (1956)

8. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

10. 8½ (1963)

And the rest..........

11. Battleship Potemkin

Sergei Eisenstein, 1925 (63 votes)

12. L’Atalante

Jean Vigo, 1934 (58 votes)

13. Breathless

Jean-Luc Godard, 1960 (57 votes)

14. Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola, 1979 (53 votes)

15. Late Spring

Ozu Yasujiro, 1949 (50 votes)

16. Au hasard Balthazar

Robert Bresson, 1966 (49 votes)

17= Seven Samurai

Kurosawa Akira, 1954 (48 votes)

17= Persona

Ingmar Bergman, 1966 (48 votes)

19. Mirror

Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974 (47 votes)

20. Singin’ in the Rain

Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1951 (46 votes)

21= L’avventura

Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960 (43 votes)

21= Le Mépris

Jean-Luc Godard, 1963 (43 votes)

21= The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 (43 votes)

24= Ordet

Carl Dreyer, 1955 (42 votes)

24= In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-Wai, 2000 (42 votes)

26= Rashomon

Kurosawa Akira, 1950 (41 votes)

26= Andrei Rublev

Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966 (41 votes)

28. Mulholland Dr.

David Lynch, 2001 (40 votes)

29= Stalker

Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979 (39 votes)

29= Shoah

Claude Lanzmann, 1985 (39 votes)

31= The Godfather Part II

Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (38 votes)

31= Taxi Driver

Martin Scorsese, 1976 (38 votes)

33. Bicycle Thieves

Vittoria De Sica, 1948 (37 votes)

34. The General

Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926 (35 votes)

35= Metropolis

Fritz Lang, 1927 (34 votes)

35= Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 (34 votes)

35= Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles

Chantal Akerman, 1975 (34 votes)

35= Sátántangó

Béla Tarr, 1994 (34 votes)

39= The 400 Blows

François Truffaut, 1959 (33 votes)

39= La dolce vita

Federico Fellini, 1960 (33 votes)

41. Journey to Italy

Roberto Rossellini, 1954 (32 votes)

42= Pather Panchali

Satyajit Ray, 1955 (31 votes)

42= Some Like It Hot

Billy Wilder, 1959 (31 votes)

42= Gertrud

Carl Dreyer, 1964 (31 votes)

42= Pierrot le fou

Jean-Luc Godard, 1965 (31 votes)

42= Play Time

Jacques Tati, 1967 (31 votes)

42= Close-Up

Abbas Kiarostami, 1990 (31 votes)

48= The Battle of Algiers

Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966 (30 votes)

48= Histoire(s) du cinéma

Jean-Luc Godard, 1998 (30 votes)

50= City Lights

Charlie Chaplin, 1931 (29 votes)

50= Ugetsu monogatari

Mizoguchi Kenji, 1953 (29 votes)

50= La Jetée

No Dark Knight! It's an outrage.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Poncho** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:24 am

I think in light of it topping the director's poll, I'm going to give Tokyo Story another chance some time soon.

I had the misfortune of watching Godard's Histoire du Cinema. It's godawful, especially in comparison to Scorcese's documentaries on film. The whole thing just consists of film clips with the words 'Histoire du cinema' being repeated.

A case of the emperor's new clothes methinks.

Agreed. Scorsese's A Personal Journey Through American Movies is a far more interesting documentary. I guess Histoire du cinema gets such attention due to its innovative editing whereas Scorsese's film is much more traditional.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Banjo** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:06 pm

As I was expecting, the list is fairly predictable but simultaneously is hard to properly disagree with. I suppose on a personal note I'd ~~ban Jean-Luc Godard from ever being considered for anything~~ swap Man With A Movie Camera for Battleship Potemkin.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **tomvek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:52 pm

Thanks for posting the list DM

Predictable but decent list as Banjo said.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Preezy** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:20 pm

No Die Hard or Predator

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Poncho** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:57 pm

01. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
02. 8½ (1963)
03. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
04. Citizen Kane (1941)
05. Vertigo (1958)
06. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
07. The Searchers (1956)
08. Tokyo Story (1953)
09. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
10. La Règle du Jeu (1939)

That's how I'd order the top 10.

It's an okay list. As a reference to anyone wanting to get into films it's fine, just a little cold but then that's to be expected, I suppose. I dunno, when I see so many Godard films but not a single entry for Michael Powell, it's hard not to be a little irked by the list. Running through the whole thing, I'd say maybe only 15 of those films would get in my top 50.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Squinty** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:05 pm

I love Vertigo but it's not the best movie of all time.

Which is clearly The Matrix Reloaded.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Ironhide** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:15 pm

I've only seen one of the top 10 (2001) and one of the rest (The Godfather)

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **tomvek** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:03 am

Preezy wrote:No Die Hard or Predator

Maybe next time

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Igor** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:56 am

Have there really been so few films from the last 35-40 years that are worthy of being in the top 50 of all time?

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **chalkitdown** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:09 am

My top 10 list would be full of Arnold Schwarzenegger films and 80's actioners.

I always hate these expert 'top whatever' lists. Same movies every time.

chalkitdown wrote:My top 10 list would be full of Arnold Schwarzenegger films and 80's actioners.

I always hate these expert 'top whatever' lists. Same movies every time.

To be fair, this list is from the elite. Namely, those people who write about films or make films or teach film. This is the directors list.

Directors list wrote:1. Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)

=2 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)

=2 Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)

4. 8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)

5. Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1980)

6. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)

=7 The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)

=7 Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)

9. Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1974)

10. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Dual** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:32 am

What was the best decade for film according to their list?

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Cuttooth** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:59 am

I've never quite understood why Citizen Kane is regarded as high as the second best film ever ever ever on these lists.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **abcd** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:06 am

It's safe to say that they don't make 'em like they used to.

Cuttooth wrote:I've never quite understood why Citizen Kane is regarded as high as the second best film ever ever ever on these lists.

Welles was 26 at the time and had never made a film and had never been to film school. For his first film he dream contract where he had full control. What he did was tear up the rule book, and invent a gooseberry fool load of cinematic techniques unheard of before then.

Overlapping dialogue
Deep focus photography
His camera angles and the use of low angles.

His innovative shots. Look at this scene where the camera goes through the sign. Doesn't look special today, but it's amazing how it was accomplished.

His use of flashback and starting the film from the end.
Fake newsreels.

and loads of other stuff.

PostRe: Sight and Sound Top Ten by **Cuttooth** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:39 am

Yeah it's a staggeringly groundbreaking, magnificent piece of cinema. I just don't get why it's an automatic choice for the second greatest film of all time with everything that has come since. Unless these types of polls are designed in a 'most important' kind of way.

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