The 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made, compiled by the NY Times
The 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made, compiled by the NY Times. I’ve seen 201 of these, which is impressive considering I generally don’t like films made before 1970.
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Reader comments
jkottkeJun 23, 2004 at 4:31PM
I found this link on Alison's site, who has seen 123 of the movies on the list.
JeremiahJun 23, 2004 at 4:47PM
I agree with most of them, but Gangs of New York and Shrek over the LOTR films? Blasphemy! Heh. At least Berardinelli lists them collectively in the top 50.
Nice list, though. I'd say I've seen about 200 or so myself. I'll probably use it as a handy guide for finding the good stuff--I've done the same with books.
JeffJun 23, 2004 at 5:05PM
201?? Did you count by hand??
Kip IngramJun 23, 2004 at 5:40PM
You edged me out, Jason. 197. Nice list; thanks for the link.
jojoJun 23, 2004 at 6:23PM
hmmm - definitely some great films missing from the list - notably those in multiple series-type films (where was alien, dr. no, empire strikes back, etc). I stopped counting the ones I'd seen when I got past 300 in the p's. Does that mean I watch too many movies? Damn my netflix and unlimited blockbuster accounts!
Good to see 4 david lynch films on there, though, which I would agree are his four best.
Buck TurgidsonJun 23, 2004 at 6:34PM
No "Life of Brian"? No "Holy Grail"? You call this the BEST movies ever made?
samJun 23, 2004 at 6:47PM
i think i've seen about 230, but i'm not sure how movies like donnie darko, braveheart, bottle rocket, memento, glengarry glen ross, lotr (1, 2 or 3) and coyote ugly (kidding) got left off the list.
markJun 23, 2004 at 6:50PM
First, Die Hard in the best 1000 films ever? Yippie-ki-aye indeed...
Second, you generally don't like films before 1970? That's probably why Die Hard is on the list.
philJun 23, 2004 at 7:15PM
i didn't get to play outside much as a kid, i've seen at least 360 that i recognize.
julieJun 23, 2004 at 7:42PM
damn. only seen 198, but own 30 on DVD alone (not counting the old VHS's I've got stacked up). Looks like I'll have to stop wasting my time watching the Punky Brewster series and AbFab on DVD and update my Netflix queue with more "quality" titles to get up to speed.
TomJun 23, 2004 at 10:28PM
It would be good if they provided a checkbox next to each entry that would tally the # of movies you have seen.
Hitchcock's thirty-nine steps is a great one.
Kip IngramJun 23, 2004 at 10:30PM
Well, since Die Hard seems to be getting peoples attention let me wade right in and say yes, it was a great movie. One of the best action movies ever. And remember, this is a list of the top *1000* movies, not the top *100*. And Aliens was much, *much* better than Alien (and the rest of the series sucked).
Julie, no doubt. I'm a Netflix member and suddenly there's more grist for the mill.
finnJun 23, 2004 at 11:07PM
considering I generally don't like films made before 1970.
Philistine!
279 for me.
there are a number of dubious choices which seem to have been made because of the impact, cultural resonance, or wide popularity of the film rather than the fact that it's one of the "best", but still a pretty good list.
Stefan JonesJun 24, 2004 at 12:23AM
Heh. I'm still working on a Ten Best list I clipped out of the SF Chron a few years back. It's taken me two years to see all but 7.
Working through this list would take decades unless I seriously change my habits.
karenJun 24, 2004 at 12:34AM
They put the Flamingo Kid twice. It wasn't THAT good!
markJun 24, 2004 at 5:21AM
Shawshank Redemption - THAT was a good film. No mention. Boo.
barnesJun 24, 2004 at 9:22AM
Adjusting for the duplication of the Flamingo Kid and Ashes and Diamonds, the list actually has 1,004 entries.
nkwJun 24, 2004 at 10:16AM
263 for me. When I saw "Total Recall" on the list, I was very surprised. If you're going to include *one* Schwarzenegger film on this list, make it "The Terminator". Putting more than one Paul Verhoeven film (Total Recall, Robocop) smacks of Dutch director bias ;-)
JulieJun 24, 2004 at 2:02PM
263 for me too. My mother and I used to watch a lot of old movies when I was young, and now I watch on average about four or five movies a week. Most of my favourites aren't on that list, although I was pleased to see Ponette on there - highly recommended.
JohnJun 24, 2004 at 5:28PM
Definitely missing:
1. The Lord of the Rings
2. The Life of Brian
3. Matrix
4. Metropolis
5. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
6. Ghostbusters
7. Zardoz
8. Ali
Well, my taste...
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.