Does your top 10/20 accurately reflect your movie tastes? (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

This is not a poll.

Just off the top of my head, a rough sample of movies I love that would probably end up in my top 20 if I ever compiled one.

100% certain
LOTR (#1 no question. The rest is in no particular order).
SPR
Magnolia
Braveheart
LA Confidential
The Shawshank Redemption
T2
Aliens
Apollo 13

Probably...
Vertigo
Trois Couleurs: Bleu or Rouge, probably both
Seven Samurai
Traffic
Fight Club
Unbreakable
American Beauty
One of more of the Indiana Jones
BTTF
Casablanca


These are movies that have deeply touched me one way or the other, movies I have an emotional attachement to. Those I can watch over and over... That said, at least 12 movies off this list are less than 10 years old. Which in the eyes of your average movie buff is a red flag as to the tastes of the list's author. Not is matters much, but it's a little unsettling that my list of favorites should not reflect the fact that I actively seek out and enjoy independent, older and/or foreign movies (heck, I AM a foreigner...), and have an avid interest in film history. Consequently, while I wouldn't give these up for the world, I feel they do not accurately reflect my interest in movies.

Does that make any sense? Is anyone in the same situation?

--
Holadem

 

[Adam_S]

I completely understand. I've carefuly constructed my top twenty to create the best balance between my favorite movies to watch, my favorite directors and some films that just floored me on many levels (Grand Illusion, Godfather). The tradeoff is a handful of films that I watch more often and perhaps enjoy more (than some of the films on the list) don't make the top twenty cut. Films like Magnolia, Lord of the Rings (actually that title will go in the top five once the trilogy is complete ) Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones, ET, a bunch of classic disney films etc.

Adam

 

[george kaplan]

Well my top 20 sums up my taste pretty well, although not as well as my top 100.

 

[OcieB]

personally, i think my top20 is very rounded; and reflects my taste in film very good.

 

[Holadem]

Yep, well rounded is the term I was looking for. OK! Time to retoll the list to best reflect my viewing habits and tastes - which is what it seems most do, rather than simply dump their personal intimate favorites. Should be fun

--
Holadem

 

[Lew Crippen]

I don’t have a top 20 (or a formal top 100), but if I did I agree with George. No doubt that a top 250 would be most accurate.

The problem with any very limited list, is all of the things that you have to leave out.

 

[Brook K]

I love making these sorts of lists, but Lew's right, the more movie's I see, the harder it gets to put them together. I have a top 10, but never tried a top 20. A top 20 would be easier, but I try to build my lists around selecting one film per director to make them more well-rounded and I have a heck of a time picking only one film from certain directors. (Joan of Arc or Ordet?)

My list includes a few movies I've only seen 1 time. I would say that still reflects my taste but if we're referring to movies you love to watch over and over or pull out on any given Saturday night, I guess my list wouldn't qualify since they're movies I'm still waiting on an adequate DVD release before purchasing.

 

[Arman]

Like Brook, I love making lists (& showing off mine) .

"Does your top 10/20 accurately reflect your movie tastes?"

Yes and no.

By looking at my Top 20 list, you could tell that I love (& have bias for) classic foreign & 'perennial greatest' films made by some great directors (mostly pre-70s Italian & French films). But then it would seem like I have no love for Hitchcock (if I would extend it to Top 100, there is no doubt Hitchcock will have the most films in it). Like Lew & Brook said, the more movies you see, it is getting harder & harder to make just a Top 10 or 20.

My Top 20 (I can't resist ) -
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
2. Baisers volés (1968)
3. À bout de souffle (1960)
4. Smultronstället (1957)
5. Belle de jour (1967)
6. Ladri di biciclette (1948)
7. Blowup (1966)
8. Grande illusion, La (1937)
9. Magnificent Ambersons, The (1942)
10. Enfants du paradis, Les (1945)
11. Remains of the Day, The (1993)
12. Atalante, L' (1934)
13. Avventura, L' (1960)
14. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
15. City Lights (1931)
16. Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)
17. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
18. Umberto D (1952)
19. Madadayo (1993)
20. Touch of Evil (1958)

 

[JohnRice]

I'm basically opposed to making list habitually, but decided to do a Top 20 for ymdb.com out of curiosity. The one thing I can say Holadem, is that even though I own at least 10 of the movies you listed, Magnolia is the only one that even has a prayer of reaching my Top 20. So, I like a lot of the ones you listed, just not that much.

I know my list shows that I am fond of more modern movies, though it does have movies dating back to 1927. I think there are only 3 or 4 before 1980. It does have a pretty wide variety in some ways, and I think it reflects my general taste in movies, except it doesn't show how much I like fun and campy stuff. I think The Messenger, one of HTF's most slammed movies, is an absolute blast and rather brilliant to boot. I'm not going to include it in my Top 20, though. :p)

 

[Matt Stone]

When constructing my list for YMDB, I decided to go the route of selecting films that match my personal taste. There are many films that I can easily aknowledge has having great importants to film-making, etc...but didn't include them on my list due to the fact that I don't enjoy watching them over and over. For example, I would say Grand Illusion is an amazing masterpiece, and on film-making merit I would rate it above most of the films in my list...but it's not a film that I pop in that often.

1. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
2. L.A. Confidential (1997)
3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. Godfather, The (1972)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
6. Star Wars (1977)
7. Pulp Fiction (1994)
8. Halloween (1978)
9. Goodfellas (1990)
10. Jaws (1975)
11. Do the Right Thing (1989)
12. Fargo (1996)
13. High Noon (1952)
14. Fight Club (1999)
15. Blue Velvet (1986)
16. Rushmore (1998)
17. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
18. Magnolia (1999)
19. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
20. Donnie Darko (2001)

 

[Walter Kittel]

Here's a real rough idea of a top twenty for myself. The list is mostly based upon favorite films and number of viewings, and certainly is not a twenty 'greatest' films which would be an entirely different list. The top ten films are pretty solid, but the others could be swapped out fairly easily with other selections.

To the question of 'Does my top twenty reflect my film tastes?' Ummm, partly - I'm a bigger fan of older cinema these days which really isn't reflected strongly in this list -


Chariots of Fire
2001: A Space Odyssey
Once Upon A Time In The West
Harvey
Blade Runner

The English Patient
It's A Wonderful Life
A Clockwork Orange
The Right Stuff
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Sweet Hereafter
Dr. Strangelove
Last of the Mohicans
Miller's Crossing
Taxi Driver

The Matrix
A Walk In The Clouds
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Blue Velvet
Pulp Fiction

- Walter.

 

[Robbie_P]

My top 20 would be a bit biased towards sci-fi/fantasy films (aliens, terminator, blade runner etc), although my tastes are spread around - just this week I've watched and loved castle in the sky, amelie, and even managed to sit through ahem...pride and prejudice.

 

[DonRoeber]

I've got a top 50 favorite movies list, and I think it adequately covers my movie tastes. I mean, it's got both Master of the Universe and Citizen Kane on it!

 

[Jon_Are]

I made a top-100 list a while ago and this thread prompted me to re-visit it. I believe it most definitely reflects my tastes/interests. Here are the top 20 (to which I've made a few changes):

1. The Godfather
2. My Dinner with Andre
3. Pulp Fiction
4. This Is Spinal Tap
5. The Straight Story
6. A Hard Day’s Night
7. Schindler's List
8. It's a Wonderful Life
9. The Bridge on the River Kwai
10. The Seven Samurai
11. Singin' in the Rain
12. Manhattan
13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
14. The Commitments
15. Dr. Strangelove
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark
17. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
18. Double Indemnity
19. Citizen Kane
20. Saving Private Ryan

Jon

 

[PS Nystrom]

When my wife asked me to explain my top 20 list to her I found myself beginning each with the phrase, "This movie is the most..." So I think I picked a variety (or well-rounded if you will) of films to show my differing tastes.

01 Se7en (most perfect)
02 Talented Mr Ripley (most ambiguous)
03 The Road Home (most sad tears)
04 The Empire Strikes Back (most fantastical)
05 Great Expectations (most romantic)
06 Heat (most epic)
07 The Beach (most personal)
08 Eyes Wide Shut (most mature)
09 Christmas Vacation (most laughs)
10 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (most admired hero)
11 Top Gun (most influencial)
12 Bottle Rocket (most creative humor)
13 Forrest Gump (most sentimental - adult)
14 Saving Private Ryan (most honorable)
15 The Little Mermaid (most sentimental - child)
16 Titanic (most impressive)
17 The Iron Giant (most inspirational)
18 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (most bizarre humor)
19 Brazil (most difficult)
20 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (most happy tears)

OK, so some of the adjectives are a stretch, but you see the pattern.

Pieter

 

[PaulP]

Here's my Top-20 list. It doesn't include The Godfather or Citizen Kane, because while I like them and do think they are great films and I have the DVDs, I'd rather watch any of the 20 below than them. Also, I had to go alphabetical, since placing them one above the other is impossible. Well, flame away :

1. 12 Angry Men
2. 12 Monkeys
3. Abyss, The
4. Amelie
5. American Beauty
6. Andrei Rublev
7. Batman
8. Black Hawk Down
9. Dark City
10. Donnie Darko
11. Eyes Wide Shut
12. Grave of the Fireflies
13. Jurassic Park
14. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
15. Psycho
16. RoboCop
17. Se7en
18. Shawshank Redemption, The
19. Singin’ in the Rain
20. Usual Suspects, The

So who else can claim a Top-20 list with 2 films that have "12" in their title

As far as it reflecting my tastes, yeah I think it does. I like visually standout films most of all. Cinematography and direction are my foremost criteria. Of course without story none would be any good, but thankfully all are superbly written, in my humblest of opinions... :b

 

[Chris_Richard]

I think my top 20 list reflects my tastes. The films I enjoy usually hit me on a very emotional level the films I constantly return to are on this list. It includes stuff like:

Once Upon a Time in America
Lawrence of Arabia
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Aguirre Wrath of God

 

[Scott Weinberg]

My Top 20:

Young Frankenstein
Alien
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jaws
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Godfather
Star Wars
Airplane!
The Thing
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Dark City
Halloween
The Princess Bride
Miller's Crossing
Fight Club
Raising Arizona
Seven
The Empire Strikes Back
Moulin Rouge!

 

[Rob P S]

The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Rudy
Memento
Spirited Away
Road to Perdition
Dominick & Eugene
Field of Dreams
A Midnight Clear
October Sky
Searching for Bobby Fischer
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
L.A. Confidential
King of the Hill
Saving Private Ryan
Mr. Holland's Opus
Forrest Gump
A Simple Plan
Apollo 13
Smoke

A mix of gloomy and uplifting films - not a lot of laughs, but if I took it down to 50, there would be more comedies and action films. But it reflects my tastes - I like to see real people dealing with real problems.

 

[Cary T]

My top 20 pretty much sums up my taste in movies. The only genre it doesn't reflect on for my liking is horror...but I do have Psycho on the list. The list is a compilation of my personal favorites.

1. The Breakfast Club
2. Amelie
3. Rear Window
4. Talk To Her
5. The Graduate
6. Kiki's Delivery Service
7. Say Anything...
8. Psycho
9. Singin' In The Rain
10. Heathers
11. Annie Hall
12. Cinema Paradiso
13. Seven Samuria
14. Ratcatcher
15. In The Mood For Love
16. High Fidelity
17. Three Colors: Blue
18. Being John Malkovich
19. Manhattan
20. May