Cool list. Before Sunset, LotR, and Woman in the Dunes are all great.

Fine choices Gabe. Love the Linklaters, Balthazar and Sunset Blvd. And great to see Sweet Smell of Succes! Marvellous entertainment. BTW, I enjoy reading your logs!

We have a good 0% affinity.

I'm seeing Before Sunset in the next couple of days!

Wow, number one was a bit of a surprise. I also loved the movie--I've seen it twice, and both times, I just completely forgot I was watching a movie. And the ending... my god, the ending! At first it seemed a little abrupt, but then as my own ideas started to take shape, the film resonated even more deeply with me, just because I was so torn between what I think happens and what I want to happen. (It's been a long time since a movie gave me this much to think about.) Is it better than the original?... Give me some time to think it over.

How is the quality on the new Persona DVD by the way?

Word. Except FREAKS - what were you thinking with that?

Persona #1? Spirited Away booted down to 4? Freaks? Time of the Gypsies? Forbidden Games?...I didn't know you liked those that much. Cool - nice list.

Oh yeah? Who'd watch a movie about a music room? And isn't that Sen to Chihiro movie animated? Animated films can't be art, though at least there are no action films here!

Spirited Away! Playtime!
I was lucky enough to see the latter in a restored 70mm print recently (without subtitles), and it's a truly wonderful film. Almost every time I think about it, it moves up my list.

All three of the films are visually incredible, and some of PLAYTIME's imagery is just sublime: the rows of cubicles as Hulot descends on the escalator, the full-blown chaos of the restaurant, the reflection of the Eiffel Tower in the glass door. It gives you this incredible feeling of peace by the finale. Odd that you watched them out of order. Part of the fun is seeing Hulot go from countryside to suburbs to city as Tati's social commentary becomes more and more relevant.

If you enjoyed THE THIRD MAN, check out THE QUIET AMERICAN if you have yet to see it. This summer I've started to read some Greene (THE POWER AND THE GLORY and THE HONORARY CONSUL), and it's as great as I thought it would be.

Just watched PLAYTIME a little while ago. I think it's a step down from M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY and MON ONCLE, but that's not really a bad thing.

Fantastic list!!! I see you're a Miyazaki fan... M is absolutely amazing as well.

Well now that you have Contempt back in the top 10 I can talk to you;) I'll be rewatching Woman in the Dunes this week - it was actually in my original list until I removed it a couple months ago. Now you just need to get All About my Mamma off there to make room for a real film!

Miyazaki! Spirited Away and Nausicaa are also my favourites of his. Woman of the Dunes, Persona, The Exterminating Angel, Ugetsu and Barry Lyndon are some of my favourites as well. Great list - though I still have to see Pixote and Lancelot du Lac. BTW, this is Nostalghic from RT.

You have no idea how awesome it is to see M so high up. It really is a great film -I love the ending especially. Actually your list is great (of course you don't need anyone else to tell you that)

I guess I should probably see Barry Lyndon and Psycho again though, because I merely liked them. Psycho especially because I didn't think much of it when I saw it. I'm looking forward to Lancelot of the Lake...

Hello ! This is Franc28 from the RT forum. The Seventh Seal definitively belongs on a top 20 list. Same for Spirited Away and Ran, although they will probably be dropped off my list in a while. I prefer Princess Mononoke and Rashomon honestly, I didn't think Ran was all that engaging.

I'll give AAmM another look then, but I'd rather see some other Almo films first since I've only seen the 2. There are a few other Mouchette fans at RT. I know Lazslo put it on his last R&R list and I think Jiggy loves it as well. It's a good sign that Criterion released Les Dames... so hopefully they'll get to his later work ASAP.
The only Altman that I previously loved was The Player - I really disliked both Gosford Park and Nashville although MASH was pretty good. But I was shocked at how perfect McCabe was. Everything Altman was trying to do just came together perfectly. I was in awe throughout most of the film.

Balthazar is incredible, but I love Mouchette almost as much so that vote pretty much stands for both films. I never understood all the praise for All About... It's a good little film but I like Talk to Her much more. Throne of Blood is magnificent...it's actually my fav Kurosawa even though Rashomon is a few spots higher. My top 4 are rock solid and the next 16 are pretty interchangeable with about 30 or 40 that I couldn't fit on there. Just added McCabe & Mrs. Miller after watching it tonight - best western I've ever seen. I'm not a big Altman fan, but damn it was good!

Delightful- you are a fine, thoughtful film critic and your wide range of carefully considered opinions appeals to me immensely. Wonderfully done.

Oh, and it's nice to see Mulholland Dr. up there since it's the best film in the last 10 or 15 years!
If you haven't seen them, I'd also recommend Yi Yi and Code Unknown. Knowing your taste a bit, I think you'd like them both...