A Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#50-1)

This is the final grouping of 50 to count down the 1000 Greatest Films of the first Century of Film (1912-2011).

The original introduction can be found here.  Other parts can be found here.

The films in this portion rate at a 98 down through Modern Times and a 99 after that.

After some other posts, there will be an update that covers the years 2012-2016.  Then after some other posts, there will be another update that will cover the years 2017-2021.

 

A Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#100-51)

The penultimate grouping of 50 has films that earn a 97 down through 2001.  After that, they are a 98.  The intro is here.  Other parts can be found here.

 

A Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#150-101)

Three parts left in the first 1000 (before the updates).  The introduction can be found here.  The preceding parts of the list can be found here.

 

A Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#300-251)

Another part of my countdown of the 1000 greatest films through 2011.  Through Pinocchio, these are all a 94 and after that, they are all a 95.  So, high ****.  The introduction can be found here.  Previous entries can be found here.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 2000

“I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul, than enter heaven without you.” Because the book has never been translated, I have no idea if that brilliant line exists there in any way.

My Top 10

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Traffic
3. Wonder Boys
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5. High Fidelity
6. Thirteen Days
7. The Virgin Suicides
8. Quills
9. The Claim
10. Aimee and Jaguar

note:  A truly fantastic Top 7 though it drops a bit after that.  My list continues down below though my #18 (Chocolat) and #19 (All the Pretty Horses) aren’t on that list because they’re reviewed as nominees.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1990

“And now all that is over, and that’s the hardest part.  Today everything is very different.  No more action.  I have to wait around like everyone else.  I’m an average nobody.  I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.”  (p 284)

My Top 10

1. GoodFellas
2. The Grifters
3. Dances with Wolves
4. Presumed Innocent
5. The Hunt for Red October
6. Reversal of Fortune
7. White Hunter Black Heart
8. Misery
9. Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
10. Awakenings

note:  Once you get past the top two, it’s not nearly as strong as 1989 but it would hard to be that good.  There is, however, a large number of films on my list outside of the Top 10 (barely making the list but making it nonetheless) which are all listed down at the bottom.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1979

“It was Sunday. Chance was in the garden. He moved slowly, dragging the green hose from one path to the next, carefully watching the flow of the water. Very gently he let the stream touch every plant, every flower, every branch of the garden. Plants were like people; they needed care to live, to survive their diseases, and to die peacefully.” (first lines)

My Top 10

1. Being There
2. Kramer vs. Kramer
3. Apocalypse Now
4. Picnic at Hanging Rock
5. Love on the Run
6. The Muppet Movie
7. Nosferatu the Vampyre
8. La Cage Aux Folles
9. Starting Over
10. Wise Blood
11. Woyzeck

Note:  So why are there eleven films?  Well, because the more I thought about it, the more I realized The Muppet Movie has characters who were created for The Muppet Show and that by the current rules of the Academy, that means its an adapted script.  Yet, I had already gone through the effort of writing the review of Woyzeck and I didn’t want to eliminate it.  So this list goes to 11.  Too bad it’s not 1984, but that script is original anyway.

 

A Century of Film: War Films

A Century of Film

War

The Genre

Though there are those who consider a less stringent definition, for me, a War film is one that actually depicts what is going on during the war.  By that, I generally mean the combat field, though it can also mean those fighting the war who aren’t in actual combat.  I don’t, for the most part, mean things that are happening due to effects of the war (for instance, Holocaust films or other films about civilians during the war), though those do sometimes get war sub-genres.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1974

This scene isn’t in the original novel even though it comes during the period of time covered by the novel. Nor is it ever mentioned in the novel that the Don’s birthday is December 7. This is pure Coppola.

My Top 10

1. The Godfather Part II
2. Young Frankenstein
3. The Parallax View
4. Murder on the Orient Express
5. Lenny
6. The Front Page
7. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
8. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
9. Thieves Like Us
10. Sanshiro Sugata

Note:  If you look at my original Nighthawk Awards you will only see nine films listed.  But, re-watching The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which I needed to review anyway because it was a WGA nominee, I was reminded that it should have been on my list in the first place because the script really is quite good.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1972

“Kay could see how Michael stood to receive their homage.  He reminded her of statues in Rome, statues of those Roman emperors of antiquity, who, by divine right, held the power of life and death over their fellow men.  One hand was on his hip, the profile of his face showed a cold proud power, his body was carelessly, arrogantly at ease, weight resting on one foot slightly behind the other.  The caporegimes stood before him.  In that moment Kay knew that everything Connie had accused Michael of was true.” (p 419)

My Top 10

1. The Godfather
2. Sleuth
3. Play It Again Sam
4. Cabaret
5. Deliverance
6. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
7. The Heartbreak Kid
8. Fat City
9. Travels with My Aunt
10. Avanti

Note:  My full list is fourteen films long but three of the of the other four are reviewed below because of award nominations (The Emigrants, Sounder, Frenzy) leaving just one for the list down at the bottom.