Aki’s Top 100 Movies 2015, Epilogue

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A bunch of stuff out of interest and convenience.

First of all here’s the complete list:

  1. Snowpiercer
  2. Gosford Park
  3. Kontroll
  4. Incendies
  5. JCVD
  6. Ladri di biciclette
  7. Batman Returns
  8. Festen
  9. Platoon
  10. Per qualche dollaro in più
  11. Inception
  12. Bridge on the River Kwai
  13. Paths of Glory
  14. Evil Dead
  15. The Ox-Bow Incident
  16. Inherit the Wind
  17. District 9
  18. Der Himmel über Berlin
  19. Per un pugno di dollari
  20. Little Miss Sunshine
  21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
  22. The Big Lebowski
  23. Die Hard
  24. The Great Dictator
  25. Ying xiong
  26. The Wild Bunch
  27. Twelve Monkeys
  28. To Kill a Mockingbird
  29. 3 idiots
  30. There Will Be Blood
  31. Sunset Blvd.
  32. La Strada
  33. Stalag 17
  34. The Grapes of Wrath
  35. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
  36. Se7en
  37. Ed Wood
  38. No Man’s Land
  39. Network
  40. Miller’s Crossing
  41. Leon
  42. Das Leben der Anderen
  43. Kind Hearts and Coronets
  44. Kill List
  45. The Kid
  46. Gran Torino
  47. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  48. Drive
  49. Full Metal Jacket
  50. Four Lions
  51. Harvey
  52. La Haine
  53. Yojimbo
  54. Cool Hand Luke
  55. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
  56. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
  57. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  58. Life of Brian
  59. Mononoke-hime
  60. In the Loop
  61. Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain
  62. In Bruges
  63. 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile
  64. A torinoi lo
  65. Les Diaboliques
  66. 24 Hour Party People
  67. M
  68. Salaire de la peur, Le
  69. Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  70. Rashômon
  71. Blade Runner
  72. The General
  73. Saving Private Ryan
  74. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  75. Schindler’s List
  76. Metropolis
  77. Det sjunde inseglet
  78. C’era una volta il West
  79. Das Boot
  80. La passion de Jeanne d’Arc
  81. Children of Men
  82. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  83. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
  84. Batoru Rowaiaru
  85. Rear Window
  86. The Nightmare Before Christmas
  87. A Clockwork Orange
  88. Citizen Kane
  89. 12 Angry Men
  90. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  91. The Unforgiven
  92. Shichinin no samurai
  93. Pulp Fiction
  94. Full Monty
  95. The Princess Bride
  96. Reservoir Dogs
  97. The Usual Suspects
  98. Trainspotting
  99. Fight Club
  100. Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo

Second, here’s a list of handy links for each part:

Introduction
Part 1 (82-100)
Part 2 (65-81)
Part 3 (50-64)
Part 4 (37-49)
Part 5 (26-36)
Part 6 (17-25)
Part 7 (10-16)
Part 8 (5-9)
Part 9 (2-4)
Part 10 (1)

Next, something some more stats out of interest. All the directors with two or more movies on the list:

  • Stanley Kubrick: 4
  • Sergio Leone: 4
  • Akira Kurosawa: 3
  • Clint Eastwood: 2
  • Henri-Georges Clouzot: 2
  • Joel Coen, Ethan Coen: 2
  • Quentin Tarantino: 2
  • Charlie Chaplin: 2
  • John Ford: 2
  • Steven Spielberg: 2
  • Fritz Lang: 2
  • Billy Wilder: 2
  • Tim Burton: 2
  • Sidney Lumet: 2
  • David Fincher: 2

Next, number of movies by decade:

  • 1920s: 6
  • 1930s: 1
  • 1940s: 6
  • 1950s: 13
  • 1960s: 11
  • 1970s: 4
  • 1980s: 9
  • 1990s: 21
  • 2000s: 19
  • 2010s: 10

My interest in the German expressionism shows in the number of movies from 1920s. Even the only movie from the 1930s is at least tangentially related to the genre. In general 1970s are thought of as a renaissance of movies, when the auteurs, such as Spielberg and Coppola, rose to the forefront, but while I do respect their work in the period, they are not my personal favorites. Otherwise, the movies do tend to gravitate towards the time I’ve actually been interested in movies.

Years with most entries:

  1. 2010: 4
  2. 1957: 4
  3. 2011: 4
  4. 1995: 4
  5. 1994: 3
  6. 1998: 3
  7. 1954: 3
  8. 1950: 3
  9. 2006: 3
  10. 2008: 3
  11. 2001: 3
  12. 2009: 3
  13. 1992: 3
  14. 1987: 3
  15. 1988: 2
  16. 1997: 2
  17. 1964: 2
  18. 1962: 2
  19. 1993: 2
  20. 1953: 2

I feel like I should find something insightful to say about this, but I don’t have anything right now.

The point of the list was to see how my taste has changed over the years, so for that purpose, here’s a comparison with the other two lists from five and ten years ago:

change from 2010 change from 2005
1 Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo 0 Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo 0 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
2 Fight Club 1 Trainspotting 7 Usual Suspects (1995)
3 Trainspotting -1 Fight Club 8 Pulp Fiction (1994)
4 The Usual Suspects 0 The Usual Suspects -2 Citizen Kane (1941)
5 Reservoir Dogs 7 Pulp Fiction -2 Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
6 The Princess Bride 0 The Princess Bride 2 Full Monty (1997)
7 Full Monty 0 Full Monty -1 Dr. Strangelove (1964)
8 Pulp Fiction -3 Citizen Kane -4 Princess Bride (1987)
9 Shichinin no samurai 7 Rear Window 3 Trainspotting (1996)
10 The Unforgiven 0 The Unforgiven 8 Boondock Saints (1999)
11 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 0 Doctor Strangelove -4 Fight Club (1999)
12 12 Angry Men 6 Reservoir Dogs 8 Rear Window (1954)
13 Citizen Kane -5 A Clockwork Orange 13 Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
14 A Clockwork Orange -1 The Nightmare Before Christmas -9 Seven Samurai (1954)
15 The Nightmare Before Christmas -1 C’era una volta il West -2 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
16 Rear Window -7 Shichinin no samurai -2 Rashomon (1950)
17 Batoru Rowaiaru 2 Rashômon -1 The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
18 Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari 18 12 Angry Men 28 Unforgiven (1992)
19 Monty Python and the Holy Grail -2 Batoru Rowaiaru 4 Blade Runner (1982)
20 Children of Men 9 Sjunde inseglet 59 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
21 La passion de Jeanne d’Arc 44 Monty Python’s Holy Grail -6 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
22 Das Boot 4 Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain 6 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
23 C’era una volta il West -8 The Dark Knight new Battle Royale (2000)
24 Det sjunde inseglet -4 24 Hour Party People 60 Das Boot (1981)
25 Metropolis 28 Blade Runner -6 Wild Bunch (1969)
26 Schindler’s List 43 Das Boot -2 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
27 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 21 Stalag 17 15 Donnie Darko (2001)
28 Saving Private Ryan 6 Sunset Blvd. new Amelie (2001)
29 The General 17 Children of Men new Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1989)
30 Blade Runner -5 Boondock Saints -20 Ed Wood (1994)
31 Rashômon -14 Cool Hand Luke new Full Metal Jacket (1987)
32 Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) new District 9 new Leon (1994)
33 Le Salaire de la peur 35 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -12 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
34 M 17 Saving Private Ryan 41 High Noon (1952)
35 24 Hour Party People -11 Leon -3 Memento (2000)
36 Les Diaboliques 45 Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari 3 Shawshank Redemption (1994)
37 A torinoi lo new Full Metal Jacket -6 Silence of the Lambs (1991)
38 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile new Der Himmel über Berlin new Big Fish (2003)
39 In Bruges new Network 54 Das Kabinett Des Doktor Caligari (1920)
40 Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain -18 Hotaru no haka new Fistful of Dollars (1964)
41 In the Loop 0 In the Loop new South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)
42 Mononoke-hime 10 The Great Dictator 9 Stalag 17 (1953)
43 Life of Brian 4 The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara -26 Hero (2002)
44 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy new Kind Hearts and Coronets new Twelve Monkeys (1995)
45 Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens new Das Leben der Anderen new Yojimbo (1961)
46 Nuovo Cinema Paradiso 24 The General 45 12 Angry Men (1957)
47 Cool Hand Luke -16 Monty Python’s Life of Brian new Amadeus (1984)
48 Yojimbo return The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -15 Animal House (1978)
49 La Haine 11 Little Miss Sunshine new Throne of Blood (1957)
50 Harvey 11 Faust new BASEketball (1998)
51 Four Lions 49 M new The Great Dictator (1940)
52 Full Metal Jacket -15 Mononoke-hime new Million Dollar Baby (2004)
53 Drive new Metropolis 15 For a Few Dollars More (1965)
54 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -21 No Man’s Land 18 Batman Returns (1992)
55 Gran Torino 4 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest -33 Orgazmo (1997)
56 The Kid 32 Batman Begins new Army of Darkness (1993)
57 Kill List new Big Fish -19 Big Lebowski (1998)
58 Kind Hearts and Coronets -14 The Big Lebowski -1 Magnolia (1999)
59 Das Leben der Anderen -14 Gran Torino new American History X (1998)
60 Leon -25 La Haine new Die Hard (1988)
61 Miller’s Crossing 15 Harvey new Platoon (1986)
62 Network -23 Orgazmo -7 The Crow (1994)
63 No Man’s Land -9 El Laberinto del fauno new Blues Brothers (1980)
64 Ed Wood return The Outlaw Josey Wales new Dogma (1999)
65 Se7en return La passion de Jeanne d’Arc new Full Tilt Boogie (1997)
66 South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut 20 Paths of Glory 7 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
67 The Grapes of Wrath 18 Ying xiong -24 Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)
68 Stalag 17 -41 Salaire de la peur, Le new Metropolis (1927)
69 La Strada new Schindler’s List new Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
70 Sunset Blvd. -42 Nuovo Cinema Paradiso -41 Batman (1989)
71 There Will Be Blood new Shaun of the Dead new Mystic River (2003)
72 3 idiots new The Wild Bunch -47 No Man’s Land (2001)
73 To Kill a Mockingbird 18 Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels -4 Paths of Glory (1957)
74 Twelve Monkeys 15 Inherit the Wind new Rope (1948)
75 The Wild Bunch -3 Shawshank Redemption -39 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
76 Ying xiong -9 Miller’s Crossing 12 Se7en (1995)
77 The Great Dictator -35 All About Eve new The Shining (1980)
78 Die Hard return Silence of the Lambs -41 Shrek (2001)
79 The Big Lebowski -21 Sin City 19 Det sjunde inseglet (1957)
80 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World new Team America: World Police new The Birds (1963)
81 Little Miss Sunshine -32 Les Diaboliques new Aliens (1986)
82 Per un pugno di dollari return Platoon -21 Blazing Saddles (1974)
83 Der Himmel über Berlin -45 Adventures of Baron Munchausen new Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972)
84 District 9 -52 Sneakers new 24 Hour Party People (2002)
85 Inherit the Wind -11 The Grapes of Wrath new American Beauty (1999)
86 The Ox-Bow Incident 12 South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut -45 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
87 Evil Dead new Christmas Story new The City of Lost Children (1995)
88 Paths of Glory -22 The Kid 9 Miller’s Crossing (1990)
89 Bridge on the River Kwai new Twelve Monkeys -45 Apocalypse Now! (1979)
90 Inception new Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn new Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
91 Per qualche dollaro in più new To Kill a Mockingbird new The General (1927)
92 Platoon -10 This Is Spinal Tap new Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
93 Festen new Blazing Saddles -11 Network (1976)
94 Batman Returns return Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead new In America (2002)
95 Ladri di biciclette new Duck Soup new Glory (1989)
96 JCVD new Snatch. new The Exorcist (1973)
97 Incendies new 300 new The Kid (1921)
98 Kontroll new The Ox-Bow Incident new Sin City (2005)
99 Gosford Park new Love Actually new Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
100 Snowpiercer new Four Lions new The Last Boy Scout (1991)

The movies dropped from the list are therefore:

The Dark Knight
Boondock Saints
Hotaru no haka
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Faust
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Batman Begins
Big Fish
Orgazmo
El Laberinto del fauno
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Shaun of the Dead
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
Shawshank Redemption
All About Eve
Silence of the Lambs
Sin City
Team America: World Police
Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Sneakers
Christmas Story
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
This Is Spinal Tap
Blazing Saddles
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Duck Soup
Snatch.
300
Love Actually

Obviously, it doesn’t mean I don’t like the movies anymore. It just means I like something else more now. Hundred is still a hundred and even though there’s plenty of movies I’d like to see in such a list, the point is to make the hard choices. So, 29 movies had to make room for other movies.

Although, Fog of War was dropped from the list, because I decided not to include documentaries. If I still had allowed them, Fog of War would surely have been on the list.

Final words:

There’s a few times every week when I catch myself just staring at my DVD collection. I just like to take a good, long look at all those movies. I have over 2000 of them. Think about how much money, time and creativity is in that collection. I’m not talking about my money or time either, but all the manhours and dollars spent to make those movies, which I have stored in my apartment on simple plastic disks. I have all this right there.

I understand that I have even more available to me through the Internet, but that doesn’t have the same visceral feel as all those shelves full of DVDs. Each is full of emotion. Sometimes unwanted emotion, but nonetheless, emotion. With the amount of money put into this collection I could have easily bought a good car or paid a fair amount of my mortgage, but do I have regrets? No.

I enjoy movies and the simple fact that I have those movies within arms reach is great. I know this isn’t really sustainable as DVDs and BluRays will probably become obsolete pretty soon, but until then, I can enjoy this very expensive and very bulky interior decoration.

So, with the immortal words of Daniel Plainview, “I’m finished”.

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