| Veknoid_Outcast said: My list has been set for a long time now. I feel like I need something to shake it up :P 6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) |
Haters would say it challenges their ability to stay awake.
Anyways top 10, roughly ordered, with #1 being fairly definitive, compared to the other movies on the list at least. I feel the need to state that, with a lot of these movies, I'd probably rank them a bit differently when I last watched them than I do now, because some of them are slightly more experiential than contemplative. I.E., while I still think of all these films very fondly, some of them have concepts and ideas that stick in my mind more often, so I tend to rank those a little hire in the her and now than films that otherwise might be better viewing experiences at the time I watched them. Example: Putting Pan's Labyrinth below Paris, Texas, that's almost entirely because I think of Paris more. Also if it sounds like I'm deflating the value of my favorites by bringing up negative qualities, including certainly elements growing on me over time, it's only because I feel a need to contextualize everything, all of these movies are pretty close to perfect in my opinion.
#1. No Country For Old Men (2007):
There's not much I can say about this film other than it's absolutely the tightest, most well-constructed movie I've ever seen. The first few times I saw it, I didn't get everything. The first time it was mostly because it was a kid, but the second time was due mainly to the some of the more subtle moments. I remember being very frustrated with certain portions of the film: not knowing how characters got from place A to place B, not understanding how the Sheriff's story fit thematically, and oddly enough, interpreting the ending of the movie as some admission that the entire event was a dream, which felt like a big fuck you to the audience.
Luckily, even with those gripes, I was intrigued by the movie enough to watch it a third time (my second time as an attentive viewer), and I realized it was a masterpiece. Yea that's corny but it's the fucking truth. Everything about it fits like a glove. The framing device is brilliant and contextualizes the whole movie in a different light once you realize what it's actually about, it almost makes the event mere metaphorical but the fact that it all actually happened within the story keeps that sense of importance intact for future rewatches. The small details are subtle and easily missed, and connections between certain events are trusted to be picked up on by the audience. Coen movies are generally always good at taking a simple plot and adding an incredible amount of "intangible" depth to it, if you will. None of their movies are terribly complex, but they usually have more meaning than their contemporaries because of the places where they go the extra mile. In something like Fargo, where the film is mostly a crime-drama with a big emphasis on humor and a bit of a character-study backdrop, most of that depth comes from the acting (mainly from Joel Coen's own wife, Frances McDormand). That's certainly true of No Country For Old Men as well, which features the most stunning performances of any Coen production, but I think the main takeaway here is really the abstraction. No other Coen movie feels as abstract in it's presentation of it's plot and themes relative to it's on-paper simplicity.
It's the most novelseque movie I've ever seen, and yea I realize it's based on a novel, but so are many movies and they never come close to capturing this kind of spirit. The best movie about the American dream ever? Well, maybe not the most literal one, but yea, probably.
#2. Schindler's List (1994):
The people who criticize this film for being too "light-hearted" because of a few sparse moments where you get a glimpse of humanity in an otherwise dark depressing journey have no fucking soul (okay, they do, they are just wrong). A newer favorite, as I only rewatched it recently as an adult after seeing it originally as a kid, so I'm not sure if it would hold up, but I have a feeling it would. Never felt like it wasted my time, despite being quite long, which is a huge accomplishment. And the use of black and white is breathtaking.
There's only one piece of entertainment as important as this, but I'm pretty sure Neil Druckmann would be offended if I called it a movie, so I will refrain from listing it.
#3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969):
Admittedly a little slow at times, which makes it a tad better as a contemplative piece than an experiential one, but it's also nearly perfect during it's entire run time despite being pretty long, so that isn't saying much. What is saying much, is that I can confidently say I've seen a movie - a major motion-picture nonetheless - that captures almost the entire existence of man: both in past, present, and future. There might be one or two pieces of the puzzle missing - no cancel culture or racist washed up Seinfeld actors, but the important bits are covered I'd say. We live, we die, we get reborn as a giant fetus outside of Earth. Answers as many questions about ourselves as it simultaneously raises about ourselves, but it's so perfectly human, and what's so great about it is that it accomplishes that whilst also being incredibly dry. Much like HAL himself I guess, robotic and stiff as it is ... it's undoubtedly something we made and undoubtedly a reflection of us as a species.
#4. Barton Fink (1991):
Lynch done better than Lynch. I'm sorry David, but when your best work is the first few episodes of Twin Peaks' 2nd Season, and that also happens to be the worst season of Twin Peaks, I have to call you out. Much like No Country, this is also one of the more abstract Coen works thematically, only here I think it's matched with just generally having a more complex and actually-at-times non-literal plot. Barton Fink is one of the most fun to watch main characters in a film, John Turturro easily ties with Frances McDormand in having the best main character role in any Coen movie, his performance is so good and to see how he's not really utilized very well in just about any other movie in his filmography is very saddening based on this one role alone. Deals with interesting ideas I had never even really considered before, like the inherent contradiction between trying to be a writer observing the common man whilst also inherently separating yourself from them by trying to create a fiction detached story out of their plights. Being inside your head separates you from everyone else, and the way John Goodman bounces off Barton
is beyond fantastic. Speaking of John Goodman's role in this is just as good as his role in The Big Lebowski, and saying a lot considering how legendary Walter is. Honestly, this might even be higher on the list with more watches. I think No Country being just that bit tighter, and also being another Coen work, puts this one or two spots below what it deserves, and I know that doesn't really make sense and isn't rational. Only with the Coens can I actually say #4th best movie ever is underrating them, that's how good they are.
#5. Alien (1979):
Can't really say much on this, was kind of out of it last time I watched it since I was pretty tired. Every other time I've watched it it's basically been the perfect horror movie, but I don't want to say much on it when I don't have a good recent frame of reference.
#6. Fargo (1996):
The most flawless crime movie ever made, because it's not really about the criminals. That final driving scene, where the criminal is caught and Frances gives a speech about not understanding why he did what he did, so simple yet really heartbreaking in a beautiful kind of way. And the irony of the Paul Bunyan statue ... That being said, knowing there are more complex and thematically interesting Coen movies, and the fact that I've seen this a lot does put it a little lower on the list.
#7. Casino (1995):
Fuck Goodfellas. Overrated boring ass movie. Can't believe the movie that fixed the formula of it just gets remembered as a lesser, largely-skippable spiritual remake. Took out a boring ass lead and replaced them with Robert DeNiro, actually made the characters not complete obnoxious assholes that you have no reason to care about from the start (and yea I realize that's the point, but you could at least make them entertaining and not bland pieces of shit), and introduced a pretty intriguing if flawed love story angle. Maybe could be trimmed in a few places, but overall a very consistently amazing movie. Especially when you consider that it has possibly the most horrifying and memorable death scene in a gangster movie, despite barely qualifying as a gangster movie.
#8. Paris, Texas (1984):
The most recent and untested favorite, only seen it once and even then it was only in June of last year, but man is it somewhat profound. All about life, but presented in a somewhat mysterious and odd way. This scene alone puts it very high up, one of my favorite scenes ever. The storytelling ... (actually feel the need to clarify, yea this scene is awkward as fuck by itself and you shouldn't watch it anyways if you haven't seen the movie since it has spoilers, it's supposed to be awkward right down to the weirdly impersonal pornographic-like acting and isolation from the female actress, it's very Lynchian in a way).
However, it's ending might be a little outdated conceptually by today's standards, even if I think it mostly works from a non-literal standpoint, I think the point is maybe tangled a bit in the culture legality of things like separation. It's amazing though, and Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire which is often brought up as his other magnum opus is definitely worth a watch too, if only for the fact that it's the only film I've seen that has the weird accolade of being the closest to a poem a film could ever be (in a cool way of course).
#9. Pan's Labyrinth (2006):
Pretty great war movie with a focus on a cute innocent child going through scary fairy tale trials and tribulations. Never a dull moment and the acting is great, but not much to say otherwise when it's point kind of speaks for itself.
#10. The Big Lebowski (1998):
I think I'm actually underrating this, because it is the perfect comedy movie, again just because there are already other better Coen movies on the list. Not fair to be sure! So hilarious and quotable.
Also, if we're including anime films, End of Evangelion would certainly be here, possibly even being my #1, at least somewhere in the top 4. But I haven't seen it in more than four years when I initially watched it, so I won't include it.
Last edited by AngryLittleAlchemist - on 04 September 2020
