MY TOP 100 FAVORITE FILMS: PART ONE

This is the first part of my list of 100 favorite films. Thanks so much for tuning in to watch. All comments are welcome! And please consider subscribing to my channel. The rest of my list will be posted in the next four weeks.

CORRECTION: When discussing the movie SHADOWS, I said that Charles Mingus was a saxaphone player, when, in fact, he is a bass player. I am thoroughly embarrassed and humbly await the much deserved ridicule from my friends in the Vinyl Community.

Here is a link to my review of FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (1967) on my Letterboxd page:

[GregMadeaVideo]

I had to start this series from the beginning. No spoilers! I remember you showed Something Wild a while back and I made a mental note to watch it. I need to bump that up on the priority list. As always, I love the way you describe movies, and your enthusiasm is infectious.

[rafrodr]

Glad I found your channel. Very similar to my viewing tastes so very, very helpful. Lots of good info. Plus we’re probably all hypnotized to wait for the clock to chime. I see what you did there. ; )

[dannydontgoin]

Eclectic! 8 1/2, Incredibly Strange Creatures etc, Citizen Kane, all fascinating films in their own right. Great list so far, can't wait to see what's coming up! Happy New Year!

[PSYCHOTRONICbrdcst]

Excellent video, Mike. Someone gave me "Kairo" (Pulse) shortly after it came out on HK dvd and I loved it right away. Good stuff. I wanna track down some of those films you talk about. Ralph Meeker! I think the only film of his that I've seen is "Kiss Me Deadly" (and an episode of one of the Hitchcock tv shows).

[BlueElectricBunny]

Hi Mike, great list of movies. I always enjoy these types of videos because its interesting to find out what other movies fans enjoy. Shadows sounds really good I will check that one out.

[maplestreetmovies]

Just watched Another Earth based of your recommendation! Thanks for recommending it! I really liked it, especially the ambiguous ending!

[leocoh]

Great picks sir, going to have to check some of these titles out especially another earth which sounds interesting. You can’t beat some billy wilder. Exterminating angel might be my favourite bunuel film. I’ve never seen strange creatures but I remember seeing a doc about it. Leave no trace is an excellent film that needs to be seen by more people.

[JustJohnForNow]

Never before have I seen such an unexpected selection of favorite movies. So many of them I need to see. But I know I can trust your taste if for no other reason that you included the Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!

[robsmoviecollection]

Love Bogie. I believe I watched it but only once and it was at a time when I was watching nothing but Bogart films so I don't remember it too well, Time for a re viewing! Always wanted to see Far from a maddening crowd. Mostly because General Zod is in it but i wanted to see what other work he had done. I need to see more Billy Wilder films! Never heard of The Exterminating Angel Mike. You always have so many films I've never heard of-The Incredibly Strange creatures...? SOunds great! Of course Bride is a classic and will probably be on my 31 days of Halloween later this year. Couldn't get into 8 and a half. I'd have to watch it again. You could really tell that you take a lot of film classes. A lot of your list reads like the film class syllabus I had in college, lol. But that's ok since it gives me more to look up. Looking forward to the next part Mike!

[TomCwimpRock]

I’ve always loved “Petrified Forest”, ever since I was a kid actually - I remember it being on late night TV on weekend nights a lot. It brings back good memories - definitely would be on my list..

[floridafyme]

Fine selections. I love The Petrified Forest and Red Dust.

[Kubricklover]

Hey Mike! Love your commentary as to why you like the films you chose. I have Petrified Forest in my Warner Bros. Gangsters box set but I probably enjoyed Public Enemy, White Heat and Little Caesar more. I think I saw the remake of Far From the Madding Crowd with I think it was Carey Mulligan and really enjoyed. If you really like John Schlesinger's films, check out his film out called A Kind Of Loving which is about two working class people that fall in love with each other in urban Britain. Also, he made Midnight Cowboy that I have seen but haven't seen the whole movie in quite a while. I've got to watch Roma on Netflix. I think Alfonso Cuaron is a fantastic director. Check out some of his other films such as The Revenant, Y Tu Mama Tambian and Children of Men. They are really good. Probably the Revenant I enjoy the most. Leonard DiCaprio really deserved his Oscar for it and Tom Hardy was very good in it too. I love the fact that the Witch is more atmosphere rather than all out gore even though you can make a good horror film with gore. It's more a case of how you construct the movie rather than what you put in just because you think it would be cool. Another Earth is at the library where I work. I ought to check it out sometime.

[vinylrichie]

I have never seen Petrified Forest. Shadows sounds fantastic. I will certainly check it out. I bought The Killing a few years ago. I was watching it for the first time and the guy from the phone company showed up to install our internet. As he walked through the living room he asked "Is that The Killing." I answered yes but was amazed. I'm a big Kubrick fan but had never seen his films before Spartacus. I could not believe that this random dude in his 20's knew the film within 30 seconds. Chinatown is a great movie and would be much higher in my list. Definitely higher than any dance and song movie. I still have not seen Citizen Kane.
I enjoy these type of videos. I did a video on the 100 best Punk albums. I found that the top 10 or 20 were easy but where to put the others was harder.
I will be back. I have thought about doing a film channel.

[WolfGratz]

Another really interesting list. I now feel kind of bad for Far From the Madding Crowd cos despite my loving it for over 50 years and bigging it up on a semi regular basis it only teeters on the edge of almost making my favourite 250 with a rating of four stars on Letterboxd. Mind you four is an extremely good score from me! Perhaps it's the memory of talking to my friend about the great love story on the assumption we were both touched by the devotion, honesty, patience and sheer goodness of Gabriel Oak when all the time she had a thing for Sgt blooming Troy and was gushing over him (and Terence Stamp) instead. It also didn't help that Schlesinger obviously shared her feelings. I do think the film needs bumping up though - I'll give it yet another watch.

[shaunboden]

Yes Mike I agree with you on the asphalt jungle being a great film, its a very realistic film as well, and Sterling Hayden was great as as a villain who has is own code and is very loyal in getting the job, the other cast members were also great though and I think the film still stands up very well today.

[dixielandfarm]

I still need to see The Witch (I have it, just haven't watched it). The Killing - awesome choice.

[Kubricklover]

I have yet to see Shadows. I do have the Killing of a Chinese Bookie but I have yet to watch it all the way through. I think Mingus played the bass, not the saxophone. I love Bunuel. My two favorite Bunuel films are Belle De Jour with Catherine DeNeuve and Viridiana with Sylvia Pinal and Fernando Rey. If you like Bunuel, check those ones out and also another one that I like too called The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouisee. I hear the Bride of Frankenstein is really good. I've got to see if I can grab a copy of it or find it online. 8 1/2 is one of my favorite Fellini films. My personal favorite of his is La Dolce Vita which I can sort of relate to. 8 1/2 has more optimistic ending and La Dolce Vita not as optimistic but still just as good. La Strada is not bad as well. Kubrick's The Killing is good but I'm not sure. Maybe it doesn't match up to most of his films such as 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Paths of Glory. My personal favorite of Polanski's is Knife in the Water which I think, along with Eraserhead and Citizen Kane, as some of the best debut films ever made. Repulsion is just as good as well.

[NoirFan]

Loved Roma. I'd actually put it much higher on my list.

[WolfGratz]

Oddly enough although I have a Kiyoshi Kurosawa in my top 250 it isn't one of his horrors at all but rather a pretty low key domestic story in Tokyo Sonata. I keep meaning to look into more of his work but then I'm not really a horror guy.

[Kubricklover]

I think I can get Pulse off of my streaming platform Shudder. I think I saw it there. Glad to see that you are watching some Japanese cinema. I love Citizen Kane too. It is an artistic masterpiece but still it is also just a good story with good actors, good cinematography and good music. A friend of mine gave me a duplicate he mistakenly bought of the Asphalt Jungle. I have yet to watch it. Orson Welles has made some other good films too such as Touch of Evil. And the other ones he's made are quite interesting like The Trial and Othello for example. I have yet to watch F For Fake, Chimes At Midnight and I think Netflix still has on their website, The Other Side of the Wind which is is a film Orson Welles was working on before his death. Not too long ago, I did something like 6 or 7 streams with my favorite films of all time and guilty pleasures on my channel. Check them out. Thanks for sharing!