Working Towards a Top 10: Part 1

This right here is, as always, simply a list of my FAVORITE films of all time. Trying to list the best films is such a boring and pointless task that says very little about the author. Besides, who can argue with what I say is my favorite? You could, I guess, but you'd just be an asshole. As I briefly mentioned, what someone deems their favorite says a little something about the person doing that there deeming. If one wants to have a conversation about that, I'm more than happy to have that conversation. The other reason I don't bother with "bests" is basically for two reasons... 1) who the fuck am I (and in many cases, you)? 2) there are plenty of things I haven't seen for no reason other than time and access. As one should probably know, a list of favorites is a living document.

Life changes us over time. It beats us down and makes us cynical. Later we find hope and happiness. Then turns us into a quivering ninny over a girl that we loved. And so on. We all (or at least I) have experienced this world through many phases, like the moon, but without the cyclical repetition. There may be certain phases that are similar, but as I age, the previous experiences have altered the phases in subtle, yet noticeable ways. As a result, my taste changes at a rapid pace. So of course (prepare yourself for one of my many "no shit" statements), through time I have found that my appreciation of art changes as I change. My aesthetic preferences change. My sense of humor evolves. What I find meaningful changes. What makes my heart go all pitter patter changes. My values change. What I find comforting changes. What I find thrilling changes. What offends me changes. What annoys me changes. And on and on and on. We grow older; we grow wiser. And blah blah blah.

I gave myself a few rules when I made this list. First, I could use no references (not even glancing at my DVD shelves), it had to strictly be from my head. This is of course slightly problematic as I do not have the memory of an elephant; I more so have the memory of a peanut... consumed by an elephant and shat out... baking in the hot LA Zoo sun. Second, once I hit 70 films, I had to stop. I wanted to keep going and there are some great films that I adore that I just couldn't put down, because rules are rules (I made this rule while making the list because, frankly, there had to be an endpoint). Third, I only had 3 days to think about this and there could never be a brainstorming session. This had to be stuff I thought about at random moments and jotted down in my little Evernote ap. Fourth, Oh, fuck it. No more rules to be mentioned.

This list is 70 films long. I am going to force myself to cut 10 films every few days until I get down to 10. I will post the new list each time I chop 10. Below is the raw 70. They are in no particular order. In fact, if you think they are in an order of how I thought of them, you'd be wrong. Although, the top few will probably hang around for quite a while.

Shit. Three final notes: 1) I was generally mindful of filmmakers when I made my selections. What I mean is that although some filmmakers have more than one film, I stopped myself with others when there was one (semi-)clear standout in my mind. I am going to try to end the top 20-30 by making sure only one film by a filmmaker is represented. 2) As I didn't use any references when writing these down, there may be some errors in the spelling or titles. I'm sure you can figure out what films I mean. 3) I DID NOT PROOFREAD ANY OF THE TEXT ABOVE. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT CAME OUT AND MAY BE NONSENSICAL OR REPETITIVE. OH WELL. I AIN'T GETTING PAID FOR THIS SHIT.

Feel free to tell me what you would have added that I left off. I find that shit fascinating.
CASABLANCA
BREATHLESS
IN A LONELY PLACE
CERTIFIED COPY
JOHNNY GUITAR
THE DEVIL, PROBABLY
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER
ZERO DE CONDUITE
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?
IRMA VEP
THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE
MY NIGHT AT MAUDE'S
CLAIRE'S KNEES
DOGVILLE
ANTICHRIST
CITY LIGHTS
HIS GIRL FRIDAY
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
THIS IS ENGLAND
THE PIANO TEACHER
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
IKIRU
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP
RED DESERT
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
LE SAMOURAI
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD
HUSBANDS
FITZCARALDO
PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC
SUNRISE
GILDA
FAT CITY
ANNIE HALL
MANHATTAN
NIGHT MOVES
ALL THE REAL GIRLS
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
NINOTCHKA
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
THE NAKED KISS
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES
F FOR FAKE
THE BIG LEBOWSKI
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED
PANDORA'S BOX
TAXI DRIVER
MORVERN CALLAR
SABRINA
VERTIGO
CHINATOWN
THE CONVERSATION
APOCALYPSE NOW
THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
POETRY
SANSHO THE BAILIFF
STALKER
SANS SOLEIL
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE...
WINGS OF DESIRE
KINGS OF THE ROAD
BADLANDS
THE THIN RED LINE