Bluemoon's Official Top 100 Films

City Hobgoblin said:
Army of Shadows and Cercle Rouge by Melville are two other classics... I had one of them in my top 20
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I have only just discovered Melville. The first one I watched was Un Flic, which I thought was wonderful.

Bob Le Flambeur is also terrific.

I haven’t seen a bad Melville movie so far.

Watched his first one, Le Silence de la Mer, a couple of days ago, and that was impressive too. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s also about the French Resistance.

An old guy and his niece are compelled to accommodate a Nazi officer. So they respond by giving him the silent treatment, and he responds by treating them to fireplace monologues in their living room that are not quite what they were anticipating.

It is a dated film and not as good as Army of Shadows but the premise is intriguing and it plays out well.

I would also have one or two Iranian films in my top 100. The last one I saw was A Separation. Starts out like an ‘Ee, it’s grim oop in Tehran’ kitchen-sink type drama but then morphs into a cross between Rashomon and Tokyo Story.
 
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Caught the end of it the other day (last hour) on TV.

SPR is a great movie. I'm biased as it's from my favourite director but it didn't quite make my 20: I kept to a maximum of three films from any single director and the other guy who I chose three films by won out in the war movie stakes, although that had as much to do with having at least for Spielberg movies I prefer to SPR, one of which I expect to appear further into the top 20.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
19. Saving Private Ryan 7/87

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Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war and for the intensity of its second scene of 23 minutes, a depiction of the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings. The film follows United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), the last surviving brother of a family of four, with his three other brothers having been killed in action. The film was a co-production between DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and Mutual Film Company, with DreamWorks distributing the film in North America while Paramount released the film internationally.

In 1996, producer Mark Gordon pitched Rodat's idea, which was inspired by the Niland brothers, to Paramount, which eventually began development on the project. Spielberg, who at the time was forming DreamWorks, came on board to direct the project, and Hanks joined the cast. After the cast went through training supervised by Marine veteran Dale Dye, the film's principal photography started in June 1997 and lasted two months. The film's D-Day scenes were shot in Ballinesker Beach, Curracloe Strand, Ballinesker, just east of Curracloe, County Wexford, Ireland and used members of the Irish Army as infantry for the D-Day landing.

Released on July 24, 1998, Saving Private Ryan received acclaim from critics and audiences for its performances (particularly from Hanks), realism, cinematography, score, screenplay, and Spielberg's direction, and was placed on many film critics' 1998 top ten lists. It was also a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1998 in the United States with $216.8 million domestically and the second-highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide with $481.8 million worldwide.

Since its release, Saving Private Ryan has been considered one of the greatest films ever made and has been lauded as influential on the war film genre.



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Sagged a bit in the middle but undeniably brilliant.
For that opening scene alone.
 
18. Back To The Future 8/88

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Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, Fox portrays Marty McFly, a teenager accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown. Trapped in the past, Marty inadvertently prevents his future parents' meeting— threatening his very existence—and is forced to reconcile the pair and somehow get back to the future.

The outline of Back to the Future originated in 1980 after Gale found his father's school yearbook; he wondered if he and his father would have been friends as youths. Gale and Zemeckis realized that time travel could answer the question. Desperate for a successful film after numerous collaborative failures, they pitched their script but were rejected by over 40 studios. It was not considered raunchy enough to compete with the successful comedies of the era. Zemeckis moved on to directing Romancing the Stone (1984). The success of that film gave Zemeckis the credibility to revisit Back to the Future. He secured a development deal at Amblin Entertainment under his mentor Steven Spielberg. Fox was the first choice to portray Marty, but his working schedule on the sitcom Family Ties prevented his involvement; Eric Stoltz was cast instead. Shortly after commencing principal photography in November 1984, it was determined that Stoltz was not right for the part and Zemeckis made any concessions necessary to hire Fox. This included re-filming scenes already shot with Stoltz, and added $4 million to the budget. Back to the Future was filmed in and around California and on sets at Universal Studios.

Re-casting Stoltz delayed production and pushed back the film's release date. Following highly successful test screenings the date was moved forward to July 3, 1985, to give Back to the Future more time in theaters. This resulted in a limited post-production schedule for editing and special effects; some effects were incomplete on release. Back to the Future was a critical and commercial success, earning $381.1 million to become the highest-grossing film of 1985 worldwide. Critics praised the story, comedy, and the cast—particularly Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, and Glover. It received multiple award nominations and won an Academy Award, Saturn Awards, and a Hugo Award. Its theme song, "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News was a significant success globally, and also earned an Academy Award nomination.

In the years since its release, Back to the Future has grown in esteem and is now considered to be among the greatest films of the 1980s, one of the best science-fiction films ever made, and one of the greatest films of all time.


 
ZenHalfTimeCrock said:
I have only just discovered Melville. The first one I watched was Un Flic, which I thought was wonderful.

Bob Le Flambeur is also terrific.

I haven’t seen a bad Melville movie so far.

Watched his first one, Le Silence de la Mer, a couple of days ago, and that was impressive too. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s also about the French Resistance.

An old guy and his niece are compelled to accommodate a Nazi officer. So they respond by giving him the silent treatment, and he responds by treating them to fireplace monologues in their living room that are not quite what they were anticipating.

It is a dated film and not as good as Army of Shadows but the premise is intriguing and it plays out well.

I would also have one or two Iranian films in my top 100. The last one I saw was A Separation. Starts out like an ‘Ee, it’s grim oop in Tehran’ kitchen-sink type drama but then morphs into a cross between Rashomon and Tokyo Story.
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Love Melville. He's my favorite European director bar none. (Well maybe Tati or Tarkovsky some days.) But what I love about Melville is he's completely lost his own sensibility. He shoots films as if there is only his visual sense in the world. And there is nothing about his films that would date them with other cinema movements at the time. He's kind of like Tarantino in that way.

And he had very American sensibilities but they were completely with a new post war French cinematic gaze. "I want big cars. I want handsome raifs. I want elaborate chase scenes. I want beautiful women that give way the hero." You can be watching Alain Delon or Lino Ventura and never forget that Jean-Pierre Melville is there. I can't really think of another director whose own shadow is so specific to his own work.

Army of Shadows is his masterpiece. There is no hot rod there. No elaborate getaway. Just that brutal ending.
 
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BlueHammer85 said:
18. Back To The Future 8/88

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Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, Fox portrays Marty McFly, a teenager accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown. Trapped in the past, Marty inadvertently prevents his future parents' meeting— threatening his very existence—and is forced to reconcile the pair and somehow get back to the future.

The outline of Back to the Future originated in 1980 after Gale found his father's school yearbook; he wondered if he and his father would have been friends as youths. Gale and Zemeckis realized that time travel could answer the question. Desperate for a successful film after numerous collaborative failures, they pitched their script but were rejected by over 40 studios. It was not considered raunchy enough to compete with the successful comedies of the era. Zemeckis moved on to directing Romancing the Stone (1984). The success of that film gave Zemeckis the credibility to revisit Back to the Future. He secured a development deal at Amblin Entertainment under his mentor Steven Spielberg. Fox was the first choice to portray Marty, but his working schedule on the sitcom Family Ties prevented his involvement; Eric Stoltz was cast instead. Shortly after commencing principal photography in November 1984, it was determined that Stoltz was not right for the part and Zemeckis made any concessions necessary to hire Fox. This included re-filming scenes already shot with Stoltz, and added $4 million to the budget. Back to the Future was filmed in and around California and on sets at Universal Studios.

Re-casting Stoltz delayed production and pushed back the film's release date. Following highly successful test screenings the date was moved forward to July 3, 1985, to give Back to the Future more time in theaters. This resulted in a limited post-production schedule for editing and special effects; some effects were incomplete on release. Back to the Future was a critical and commercial success, earning $381.1 million to become the highest-grossing film of 1985 worldwide. Critics praised the story, comedy, and the cast—particularly Fox, Lloyd, Thompson, and Glover. It received multiple award nominations and won an Academy Award, Saturn Awards, and a Hugo Award. Its theme song, "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News was a significant success globally, and also earned an Academy Award nomination.

In the years since its release, Back to the Future has grown in esteem and is now considered to be among the greatest films of the 1980s, one of the best science-fiction films ever made, and one of the greatest films of all time.


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Absolute classic shame what happened to Michael j fox. Saw him in curb your enthusiasm and although he has kept his sense of humour it was hard to watch at first.
 
hilts said:
Absolute classic shame what happened to Michael j fox. Saw him in curb your enthusiasm and although he has kept his sense of humour it was hard to watch at first.
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I've read his autobiography, it's a really good book.
he talks about hiding his condition during film rehearsals etc
 
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