DRG

I actually like the IMDB list because it's such a unique blend of genuine classics, critical/unheralded films, popular blockbusters, flavors-of-the-month, and cult/fanboy flicks.

My top unseen is Schindler, but I have both 2001 and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington on tapes I need to watch, so I may go with those first.

DRG

For the record, Turner Classic Movies is showing the following movies from the list this week (times are Eastern):

46 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 7 Wednesday 9:30 AM
68 Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) 10 Saturday 2:00 PM
84 High Noon (1952) 10 Saturday 8:00 PM
84 High Noon (1952) 11 Sunday 6:00 PM
37 C'era una volta il West (1968) 12 Monday 11:30 PM
63 Sting, The (1973) 13 Tuesday 8:00 PM
138 Gone with the Wind (1939) 14 Wednesday 8:00 PM

karnblack

I finally watched Dr. Strangelove yesterday. #13 on the IMDB top 250 and an average rating of 8.6.

This film is a classic. I love Peter Sellers, and he does a great job in all of his roles in this film. Very funny. Very Kubrick. I would rate it at about an 8.5. This is a film that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime. I know I'll be revisiting this film from time to time.

MrN

The fact that its by Billy Wilder should trump your aversions to those genres. Let us know what you thought after you've seen it.

For myself - my choices are: 12 Angry Men, Das Boot or Midnight Cowboy. There are others but these are the easiest.

Giles

I just saw this after the fact, even though I have seen this numerous times, I just bought the DVD which I have read has an amazing video transfer -with eye assaulting colour and clarity. Looking forward to watching (and listening to) the extras and commentary.

Bill Geiger

I watched Schindler's List and wasn't too impressed. I'll also be checking out LOA SB this weekend.

talemyn

How sad . . . that means that you don't get to watch The Birdcage . . .

littlefuzzy

My choice will be either Casablanca or Citizen Kane, as I am ashamed to say I haven't seen either, and the DVDs are sitting in my shelf... I haven't seen anything else above those titles, or below to about 23 (Lawrence of Arabia,) except for the LOTR and Star Wars films, Rear Window, and Raiders. I do have DVDs of Pulp Fiction and Lawrence of Arabia.

EDIT: Actually, I think I will give Pulp Fiction a spin today, and save Casablanca or Citizen Kane for the weekend (or for the classic movie challenge...)

Edit again: I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time, it was pretty good, although I probably wouldn't consider it one of the greatest of all time.

jdpatri

Hmm. Looks like my choice is #37: Once Upon a Time in the West.

I actually picked up the DVD last month so that's pretty convenient.

outcastja

Had to do some clean up on the DVR so I watched #14: Rear Window

Corvin

I had never seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Bonnie & Clyde.

I liked Bonnie & Clyde, and I really dug Crouching Tiger.

FantasticVSDoom

So its Casablanca for me...ashamed to admit I havent seen it but now I know how good it is and knowing is half the battle right?? I truly enjoyed this film a great deal. Bergman's performance was terrific and was my favorite part of this movie. I never realized how beautiful she was. I would agree with the score it got on the imdb list (8.7 out of 10). I would place it over the LOTR movies ahead of it, but Im not as big of a fan of the Ring movies as most are. I saw a huge boxset of Casablanca for sale a few months ago, and now I think I may go and pick it up.

Rypro 525

don't pick that one up, its just some additional crap, like a film cell and some book, and its not the 2 disc se.

I watched lawrence of arabia yesterday in one sitting (superbit version) very impressed with that movie.

Quake1028

I will be watching Treasure of the Sierra Madre tomorrow, finishing up Winged Migration, and watching The Day the Earth Stood Still. Then I just need to watch Sunrise and El Mariachi on Sunday and I will finally be caught up .

jough

Easy one for me this week:

136 Grapes of Wrath, The (1940) 8.0/10 (6122 votes)

Just got it this week - can't wait to watch it. I was a bit shocked to find that it was also the first film on the list that I haven't seen.

wmansir

Well, I watched The Searchers last night. It was very good, although a little dated in it's style. I wish we had a little more insight into Wayne's character near the end when That was a pivotal moment for his character and the film, yet I didn't get any sense of his struggle with it. Wayne's best scene was near the beginning when he rejoins the other two after they split up on the chase. That, and the next scene, were excellent.

Corvin

Really? If nothing else, the photography in the film always amazes me.

HistoryProf

Well I finally watched Citizen Kane....which conveniently arrived from CH on Wednesday. To be honest, I liked the 2 hour "battle over Citizen Kane" documentary more than the actual movie....not to say it wasn't good, but I don't think i'd call it the greatest movie ever made. It's certainly right up there, and for it to be Orson Welle's first film is quite amazing. he certainly has that certain something.....

I'll give it an 8.5/10 - well worth viewing and owning....

wmansir

I think if you watch it again with the Ebert commentary it will increase your opinion of the film. It should at the very least allow you to fully appreciate the film's technical achievements.

NavinJohnson

My choice was 12 angry men. Now, why couldn't my personal civic duty be as tense or interesting as this film?

$tarr

I was going to watch Schindler's List for this challenge, but thanks to how slow the mail has been lately I won't get it from Netflix in the mail on time.

I did just happen to watch Once Upon a Time in the West for the first time this week though and it is #37 on the IMDB list. I wasn't too impressed with the "Dollars Trilogy" from Director Sergio Leone and when OUATITW was released on DVD I passed on it because it was from the same director and I assumed i'd be getting more of the same. However, the amount of people on here that regard it so highly convinced me that I should at least give it a shot so I added it to my Netflix queue.

I really didn't see anything special about the movie. I did think it was better than any of the movies in the "Dollars Trilogy," but was it better than Westerns such as High Noon or Rio Bravo? Not even close IMO. The problem for me with all of the "Spaghetti Westerns" i've seen so far is that no matter how hard they try, it never feels like a western. Maybe that is exactly why so many people find them enjoyable.

The IMDB rating is 8.4 out of 10 and I gave it a 7 out of 10.

Quake1028

I chose The Big Lebowski (#222) for my movie. I have seen it before, but it has been a few years. I just recently picked it up again and I really didn't like it the first time, so I was anxious to see how it worked this time. I don't know what the difference was, but I absolutely loved it this time. Hilarious stuff. IMDB users rated it 7.9, while I would give it a 9.0.

funstan

I picked #202 to watch, The Right Stuff, one of the fastest 3 hours I have ever spent.

drjay

I watched Seven Samurai, since I just got the Kurosawa CC box, and that closed out my seeing the top 10. I thought it was quite good, but a little long. I plan on watching it w/ the commentary sometime soon.

Damfino

Chinatown (1974)

Producer: Robert Evans (The Kid Stays in the Picture)
Director: Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby, Repulsion, The Pianist)
Screenplay: Robert Towne (won Oscar for Best Original Screenplay)
Cast:
Jack Nicholson
Faye Dunaway
John Huston

"Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

Like most DVDTalkers I've seen a lot of movies I also love film noir and I've seen most of the output from all of these people, so I can't begin to explain why I had never seen Chinatown before. I'm glad I finally did. The movie is about as perfect as film-making gets.

Chinatown begins like a Bogart-Bacall movie with Jack Nicholson as a private eye and Faye Dunaway as the femme fatale. But what begins as a late 1930s case of infidelity quickly turns into murder, a battle for water rights and both are connected to a sinsiter scheme to cheat San Fernando Valley land owners out of their land so that it can be redevelped into Los Angeles suburbs. Nicholson is perfect as Jake Gittes and the story follows him as he uncovers each layer of the deception.

Roger Ebert reported that the Oscar winning screenplay is used as a textbook in screen writing classes and it's easy to see why: There isn't a single wasted moment in the whole movie.