There are a lot of interesting background stories to both The Princess Bride and Casablanca. Elwes and Patinkin practiced for weeks for their epic sword fight and with the exception of the gymnastic giant swing, neither actor used a stuntman. Many of Billy Crystal's lines were improv and the actors just followed along.
In Casablanca, several endings were filmed and the actors didn't know at the time which one would be used. There's also the great scene where the Germans are singing and Victor tells the band, "Play the Marseillaise!" That immediately preceeds the iconic "I'm shocked..." from Louie. Casablanca is another movie that has stood the test of time.
While I would consider each of these (or at least one of the LOTRs) 5/5 movies, their gaps in narrative logic are big negatives for me if considering them for a "greatest" title, particularly because they all rely so much on the narrative. Terminator 2 is a lesser offender of the three though. That movie is almost perfect.
Caring about "narrative logic" is such a lame and boring way to assess movies, like some weird CinemaSins way of approaching movies where every plot point has to make perfect sense.
Lucio Fulci's The Beyond is arguably to greatest horror movie ever made, and it makes absolutely zero sense narratively. Because people who enjoy movies know plot is maybe the least important part of the process.
I mean the plot and narrative matter if you want to actually tell a story and have more people enjoy the movie than a few dozen esoteric film nerds.
Not sure. I liked different movies at different ages for different reasons. Goonies, Back to the Future, Superman, Big Trouble in Little China, The Matrix, Truman Show, Inception, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Carribean, Burn after reading, Edge of Tommorow, Ad Astra. Some I can still watch over and over, others no longer entertaining.
I just read the thread and only one person (Arete) bothered to ask about or define "Greatest." Everyone else just went with their favorite movie? That wasn't the question.
We are trying to find the "Greatest" but the OP didn't tell us the criteria nor did anyone else ask...
Greatest joy/pleasure to the viewers?
Greatest acting?
Greatest success in the box-office?
Greatest reputation among critics and reviewers?
Greatest amount of respect by the industry and actors?
Greatest impact on our culture and society (outside the movies)?
Greatest work of art and cinema?
Each of those areas has a different "greatest film" but nobody ever bothers to tell us which "greatest" they are talking about.
Wittgenstein would be spinning in his grave because nobody ever starts with a definition, and as such, we all argue our opinion without anyone really knowing what criteria we are using. It is one of the reasons we are so bad (as a species) at settling debates. We don't define our terms.
This post was edited 10 minutes after it was posted.
Which genre? Action, animated, western, horror, drama, comedy, sci-fi, documentary, etc.
How is this guy getting downvoted? He is the only one who took the time to ask "what are we talking about" without just blurting out either a) his favorite movie from high school (Caddy Shack, Jaws, etc.) or some movie that is old and famous (Casablanca, Citzen Kane, etc).
Nobody every bothers to tell us why they think Caddyshack is the "greatest film of all time." It isn't. You just like it.
The question wasn't "what movie to do you remember liking a lot in high school?" Nor was it, "what slow-ass, black & white movie from the olden times is a fave among art-house snobs?"
This post was edited 7 minutes after it was posted.
How is this guy getting downvoted? He is the only one who took the time to ask "what are we talking about" without just blurting out either a) his favorite movie from high school (Caddy Shack, Jaws, etc.) or some movie that is old and famous (Casablanca, Citzen Kane, etc).
Nobody every bothers to tell us why they think Caddyshack is the "greatest film of all time." It isn't. You just like it.
The question wasn't "what movie to do you remember liking a lot in high school?" Nor was it, "what slow-ass, black & white movie from the olden times is a fave among art-house snobs?"
Yes, we are not having a substantive discussion. Art is subjective, but can be analyzed. The mods are squeamish about intimacy and are deleting a number of nominations, which is censorship, the antithesis of art.
How is this guy getting downvoted? He is the only one who took the time to ask "what are we talking about" without just blurting out either a) his favorite movie from high school (Caddy Shack, Jaws, etc.) or some movie that is old and famous (Casablanca, Citzen Kane, etc).
Nobody every bothers to tell us why they think Caddyshack is the "greatest film of all time." It isn't. You just like it.
The question wasn't "what movie to do you remember liking a lot in high school?" Nor was it, "what slow-ass, black & white movie from the olden times is a fave among art-house snobs?"
Unless anyone here is a film student, working in Hollywood, or a movie critic, then it seems fine to put your own favorites. I saw Big Trouble in Little China mentioned twice. I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, but I wouldn't call it the best movie of all time or even in my top 20. I also typically don't care for the CGI Marvel type movies of the last 10 years, though I did enjoy the original Star Wars trilogy.
I like a good story and interesting dialogue, and good acting goes a long way for me. I put movies that are also rewatchable. I really enjoyed "Requiem for a Dream", but it's a pretty tough watch and not something I want to turn on to relax.
My list got 4 downvotes, so I guess I'm in the minority. Which is obvious as I typically have 0 interest in the top 10 movies on Netflix. A few more I didn't put in my original list:
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