Greatest movie of alltime???

So the other day, I picked up a copy of one of my favorite magazines.....Empire. Its a magazine from England that is dedicated primarily to new DVD and movie releases...and also to movie history. Its a little pricey (around $9 or $10 an issue), but I almost always get something out of it. This issue they took on a pretty heavy issue, which was:

What were the 500 greatest movies of alltime. Empire: Features

Wow, that's a pretty daunting task. Its also one that you just know will be ripe for discussion and debate. I've been a film buff since I was in college and took a class in Film as Literature.
Its one of those classes that really had a pretty profound impact on my life, because I went from just being a movie fan to becoming a film buff. What's the difference? Actually I think quite a bit. A movie fan enjoys all the latest stuff that comes out into the theatre or on DVD, and can enjoy a movie for what it is---whether its a serious story or something silly that you'll forget about 30 minutes after its over. A film buff is someone who can appreciate a movie for its art form, for its content, for its acting and can go back and watch something again and again. Its someone who can watch a movie with subtitles, that can enjoy a foreign film, that can enjoy a classic from the 30's or 40's as much as something that was released the previous weekend.

And a film buff has a personal top 10 list in his head....and is flexible enough to change it whenever needed. Here's mine:

10) Rear Window
9) The Shawshank Redemption
8) The Outlaw Josey Wales
7) The Godfather I & II
6) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5) Unforgiven
4) The Deerhunter
3) Jaws
2) The Road Warrior
1) Blade Runner

I'm happy to say that all ten of my own selections were included in EMPIRE's list. And yes, I realized that I cheated just a little bit by making two of my selections either a trilogy and a part 1 & 2. I just feel you sort of have to in those instances. Now, quite frankly, do I think that The Road Warrior or Blade Runner is a better film than The Godfather? Well, actually no. But my own list works on two levels---personal enjoyment and appreciation of film. The Godfather is an incredible piece of art that also happens to be a great enough movie that you can enjoy it on both levels. The Road Warrior is a tremendous "movie", but even I understand that its not the "film" that The Godfather is. I just happen to enjoy it that much....I suppose that's the best explaination I can offer up.

I looked at the EMPIRE list a little bit closer than your average fan. I started breaking it down into certain catergories.....like which decade was featured most prominently. The decade of 2008 back to 2000 featured 102 movies. 1990 to 1999 was next with 92 films. The 80's were next with 89, and then the 70's had 70 (sort of ironic, huh?). The 60's had 50 films and the 50's had 38 (are you noticing a trend here?). The 40's had 35 & the 30's had 14. Films before 1930's were mentioned 7 times. That sure seemed like some classic movies were forgotten about.
It also seemed like the 2000's were probably given a lot more credit than they might have deserved. Then I looked at some of the movies that just looked like they didn't belong.
Ones that stood out immediately were:
499) Saw--this was a troubling beginning to the list, I gotta be honest with you.
459) Top Gun--I know it was incredibly popular, but it never struck me as one of the greatest movies ever made.
453) Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull---just because the rest of a franchise is great doesn't mean that all the sequels belong. I'm talking to you Godfather III.
449) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace--amazing. When this movie came out everyone I know talked about what a horrible movie it was. All of a sudden its an alltime classic?
445) Dumb & Dumber---did I laugh? Yes I did. But an alltime classic? Nope.
405) Dirty Dancing--someone should have left this movie in the corner with Baby.
401) Batman Returns--okay, now you're just being ridiculous.
378) The Goonies--seriously, THE GOONIES????
337) 300--another one that sort of had me question the validity of the entire list.
284) Scarface--the original with Paul Muni, yep. The remake with the alltime overacting job by Al Pacino? Ugh. I hated it.
282) The Godfather III--ahem, I think I've made my point earlier.
281) Interview with a Vampire--Tom Cruise with blond hair. This made the list and Mission: Impossible didn't???
253) First Blood--that it's on the list is pretty amazing. That its this high is absurd.
240) Forrest Gump--I know some people that think its a really fine movie....and then there are some people that its a great soundtrack surrounding one really lousy movie.
162) Nightmare on Elm Street--hey, its not because its a horror movie. I like horror movies.
But this makes the list and The Omen doesn't???


Those are just a few examples of movies that made the list that didn't belong, in my opinion.
Then there are the films that somehow did NOT make the list. Movies such as:

Dark City--one of the alltime great sci/fi futurisitc films.
White Heat--they did not have a single James Cagney movie on the list. Enough said.
Hard Boiled--not only the best John Woo film ever, quite possibly the greatest action film ever.
Red River--John Wayne & Montgomery Clift go on a cattle drive that is a cinema classic.
Thunderball & From Russia with Love--there were only two James Bond movies on the list.

More to come later.

Later,
Jeff