movies in the 90`s >>movies in the 00`s

[leo_d]

There are good movies in the 00`s, but the are a lot of really great ones in the 90`s. I mean legendary movies

some of them:

Terminator 2
Matrix
Forrest Gump
Jurassic Park
Titanic
Schlinder`s list
Saving private Ryan

[mookie2001]

Uhh...

[IronMexican]

titanic? rofl

[midnightpulp]

Has to be a troll thread.

[Medvedenko]

The OP missed a ton of great movies in the 90's.

Fight Club
Shawshank Redemption
Seven
Silence of the Lambs
Resevoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Dark City
Natural Born Killers

A ton more....however the 00's had some great movies as well.

[LoneStarState'sPride]

As much as I liked Jurassic Park, even I can admit that was some campy shit lol.

Hell, the Disney/Pixar movies alone are higher quality than a lot of 90s movies (I'm biased, though--I've got a soft spot for kids movies. At least D/P's are well-done, for the most part).

EDIT: Oh, and add Avatar to the list of good 00's films.

[leo_d]

titanic? rofl

I`m not a super fan of titanic. I think is a good movie, but when a movie makes over 1000 millions dollars and wins 11 oscars, is hard not to put it in the list

[monosylab1k]

EDIT: Oh, and add Avatar to the list of good 00's films.

or not.

[JoeChalupa]

Old movie classics are the best. I liked both Titanic and Jurassic Park but just watched Jaws again a few days ago and remember when that movie was the shit. I still have the t-shirt I bought back in the day.

[TE]

the only thing that is better in the 90's than this decade is the music.

[LoneStarState'sPride]

or not.

Or so. If Titanic makes the 90s list, Avatar makes the 00s list by default, if nothing else.

[JoeChalupa]

avatar story and movie itself suck ass. Its visuals however, are fucking amazing.

+1

[LoneStarState'sPride]

Avatar story and movie itself suck ass. Its visuals however, are fucking amazing.

Agreed.

[Strike]

Avatar story and movie itself suck ass. Its visuals however, are fucking amazing.

Agreed. It's Dances With Wolves in the future with a bigger budget.

[mrsmaalox]

Terminator 2
Matrix
Forrest Gump
Jurassic Park
Titanic
Schlinder`s list
Saving private Ryan

3 of the movies on this list I've never seen, and of the others only Schindler's List interested me enough to see more than once.




Fight Club
Shawshank Redemption
Seven
Silence of the Lambs
Resevoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Dark City
Natural Born Killers



I like this list better. But I can't imagine any list of great 90's movies that doesn't include The Big Lebowski, American Beauty, Cinema Paradiso, Braveheart, Toy Story or The Lion King. And there are so many others.

[TDMVPDPOY]

1980s hong kong kungfu/wuxia movies > any era of that genre...

actors back then were focus acting and bringing out the characters, it had a story plot true to some story novels....

[Xolotl]

Don't forget Kazaam, Godzilla, and Tomb Raider... all legendary

[TheLakaluvaLibrary]

1980s hong kong kungfu/wuxia movies > any era of that genre...

actors back then were focus acting and bringing out the characters, it had a story plot true to some story novels....

The 90s was the strongest era in Hong Kong cinema. The greatest Gung-fu (Hardboiled), Wuxia (Once Upon a Time in China), and Jackie Chan movie (The Legend of the Drunken Master) were made during the decade.

Not to mention the countless other great films like The Killer, Fist of Legend, Iron Monkey, Full Contact, The Swordsman 2, etc, etc.

80s were great, too. Jackie/Sammo/Yuen Biao were all at their peaks and could do no wrong, putting out one Martial Arts classic after another.

[leo_d]

3 of the movies on this list I've never seen, and of the others only Schindler's List interested me enough to see more than once.


Except jurassic park, wich may no be so good now because it relayed on special effects that are common in these days, i think all the others are really worth watching them.

[redzero]

Avatar story and movie itself suck ass. Its visuals however, are fucking amazing.

Yep, pretty much.

Also, I don't know which category to put Memento in, since it came out in 2000.

[Johnny RIngo]

There are 39 films from the 90s(1990-1999) on IMDB's Top 250 Film list. The same list has 61 films from the 2000s(2000-2009). Here's the movies, in the order they appeared on both lists(i.e. Dark Knight was the highest ranked 2000 film so it appears highest, Shawshank was the highest rank 90s film so it appears at the top). I don't necessarily agree with some of the choices on either list but you have to remember that this is based on user votes:

1990s
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Schindler's List (1993)
Goodfellas (1990)
Fight Club (1999)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Matrix (1999)
Se7en (1995)
Leon (1994)
Forest Gump (1994)
American Beauty (1999)
American History X (1998)
Terminator 2 (1991)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Braveheart (1995)
The Green Mile (1999)
Unforgiven (1992)
Fargo (1996)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Heat (1995)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Lion Ling (1994)
Toy Story (1994)
Trainspotting (1996)
Groundhog Day(1993)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Casino (1995)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Ed Wood(1994)
Magnolia (1994)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
The Truman Show (1998)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

2000s
Dark Knight (2008)
LotR - Return of the King (2003)
City of God (2002)
LotR - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Memento (2000)
LotR - The Two Towers (2002)
Amelie (2001)
WALL-E (2008)
The Departed (2006)
The Pianist (2002)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Lives of Others (2006)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Prestige (2006)
Inglourious Bastards (2009)
Downfall (2004)
Up (2009)
Gran Torino (2008)
Sin City (2005)
Gladiator (2000)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Batman Begins (2005)
Avatar (2009)
Oldboy (2003)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
District 9 (2009)
Donnie Darko (2001)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Snatch (2000)
Kill Bill - Vol 1 (2003)
Into the Wild (2007)
The Wrestler (2008)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Ammores Perros (2000)
Star Trek (2009)
Ratatouille (2007)
V for Vendetta (2005)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
The Incredibles (2004)
Children of Men (2006)
In Bruges (2009)
Big Fish (2003)
Let the Right One In (2008)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Mystic River (2008)
Pirate of the caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (2008)
Crash (2004)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Changeling (2008)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)

[IronMexican]

TDK sucked.

[hitmanyr2k]

TDK sucked.

Nah, I would say Batman Begins sucked. TDK at least had Heath Ledger carrying the film on his shoulders. Other than that I agree the movie isn't much to write home about. Batman was boring and Bale was nonsensical with his growling. Maggie G should never, EVER be cast as a love interest and the action, while being improved over Batman Begins, still was kind of choppy.

[IronMexican]

Exactly. It sucked.

[monosylab1k]

TDK sucked.

Did your indie hipster website tell you that?

tbh what do you call a Mexican who wants to be white? An eclair maybe? Brown on the outside, cream on the inside?

[Viva Las Espuelas]

1990s
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Schindler's List (1993)
Goodfellas (1990)
Fight Club (1999)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Matrix (1999)
Se7en (1995)
Leon (1994)
Forest Gump (1994)
American Beauty (1999)
American History X (1998)
Terminator 2 (1991)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Braveheart (1995)
The Green Mile (1999)
Unforgiven (1992)
Fargo (1996)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Heat (1995)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Lion Ling (1994)
Toy Story (1994)
Trainspotting (1996)
Groundhog Day(1993)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Casino (1995)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Ed Wood(1994)
Magnolia (1994)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
The Truman Show (1998)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)



what?!?!?!

no Jacob's Ladder? that movie is way better than a handful of those listed. i hate saying it, but it's a very under rated movie. twelve monkeys? what a snorefest.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

3 of the movies on this list I've never seen, and of the others only Schindler's List interested me enough to see more than once.
let me guess. terminator, matrix and i'll take........titanic for $500, alex!

[Nathan Explosion]

Rarely does an actor or a movie live up to the hype when it gets tons of buzz, but Heath Ledger in Dark Knight was amazing. I saw it because it was Batman but I thought, "No way is Heath Ledger that good."

I'm glad to say I was wrong.

My personal fav on that whole list is Figth Club but all I have to say is this: Leon (aka The Professional), FTW.

Movie was fucking awesome.

[Nathan Explosion]

I can tell you one thing about the 90s, definitely the decade of Tom Hanks. I mean, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan. What a lineup.

[Nathan Explosion]

I've tried to watch Fight Club 3 times, and cannot finish it

Brad Pitt's jawline too strong?

:downspin:

[IronMexican]

Did your indie hipster website tell you that?

tbh what do you call a Mexican who wants to be white? An eclair maybe? Brown on the outside, cream on the inside?

It just sucked.

[CuckingFunt]

Brad Pitt's jawline too strong?

:downspin:

I chortled.

[CuckingFunt]

This is one of the most ridiculous arguments I think I've ever seen here. Every single decade since the invention of motion pictures, every single one, has had both amazing and horrible movies.

[monosylab1k]

It just sucked.

Did Thom Yorke not enjoy it?

[IronMexican]

I guess not.


I did enjoy other mainstream movies, though. I didn't go in expecting to hate it, or love it. I just left extremely underwhelmed. Maybe I just have to watch it again,. Maybe it was 2deep4me. But the one time I watched it, I fucking hated it.

[CuckingFunt]

Have you seen Rec? Or anyone for that matter?

I heard it is possibly the best horror movie of the decade.

I'm not a horror person, generally, but I've heard nothing but good about it.

[midnightpulp]

This is one of the most ridiculous arguments I think I've ever seen here. Every single decade since the invention of motion pictures, every single one, has had both amazing and horrible movies.

This discussion has merit. I think it's possible to determine if a specific decade was better than another.

I think the 90s was clearly stronger for American Cinema, on both the Hollywood and Independent fronts, than the 00s.

Foreign Cinema is much harder to determine since there's so many, but my instincts are leaning toward the 00s being the stronger decade.

[CuckingFunt]

This discussion has merit. I think it's possible to determine if a specific decade was better than another.

Possibly, but... to what end?

And we certainly can't do it here. To definitively determine which decade was better, it would require a specific list of criteria as well as that those of us debating had a working knowledge of every film released within each decade. But, we don't. So this topic can't be anything more than idle musings and arguing tastes.

[monosylab1k]

using decades as markers for eras in film is retarded tbh.

French New Wave is one of the most influential eras of moviemaking, but you couldn't classify that as 50's or 60's cuz it bled into both decades.

[CuckingFunt]

using decades as markers for eras in film is retarded tbh.

French New Wave is one of the most influential eras of moviemaking, but you couldn't classify that as 50's or 60's cuz it bled into both decades.

I would agree with that. Would also suggest that decades are too broad for such a conversation. Dramas, thrillers, and comedies may have all had their strongest moments within different decades, for instance.

[midnightpulp]

There are 39 films from the 90s(1990-1999) on IMDB's Top 250 Film list. The same list has 61 films from the 2000s(2000-2009). Here's the movies, in the order they appeared on both lists(i.e. Dark Knight was the highest ranked 2000 film so it appears highest, Shawshank was the highest rank 90s film so it appears at the top). I don't necessarily agree with some of the choices on either list but you have to remember that this is based on user votes:

1990s
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Schindler's List (1993)
Goodfellas (1990)
Fight Club (1999)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Matrix (1999)
Se7en (1995)
Leon (1994)
Forest Gump (1994)
American Beauty (1999)
American History X (1998)
Terminator 2 (1991)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Braveheart (1995)
The Green Mile (1999)
Unforgiven (1992)
Fargo (1996)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Heat (1995)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Lion Ling (1994)
Toy Story (1994)
Trainspotting (1996)
Groundhog Day(1993)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Casino (1995)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Ed Wood(1994)
Magnolia (1994)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
The Truman Show (1998)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

2000s
Dark Knight (2008)
LotR - Return of the King (2003)
City of God (2002)
LotR - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Memento (2000)
LotR - The Two Towers (2002)
Amelie (2001)
WALL-E (2008)
The Departed (2006)
The Pianist (2002)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Lives of Others (2006)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Prestige (2006)
Inglourious Bastards (2009)
Downfall (2004)
Up (2009)
Gran Torino (2008)
Sin City (2005)
Gladiator (2000)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Batman Begins (2005)
Avatar (2009)
Oldboy (2003)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
District 9 (2009)
Donnie Darko (2001)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Snatch (2000)
Kill Bill - Vol 1 (2003)
Into the Wild (2007)
The Wrestler (2008)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Ammores Perros (2000)
Star Trek (2009)
Ratatouille (2007)
V for Vendetta (2005)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
The Incredibles (2004)
Children of Men (2006)
In Bruges (2009)
Big Fish (2003)
Let the Right One In (2008)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Mystic River (2008)
Pirate of the caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (2008)
Crash (2004)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Changeling (2008)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)

The public tend to be ignorant when it comes to judging really great cinema, so the IMDb Top 250 is invalid. The fact that Kick-Ass ranks higher than Ikiru proves this. If it entertains them, chances are it will be rated high.

I'm not trying to be a snob, I just simply don't believe in the concept that all opinions are created equal. Sure, you can't empirically prove that one work of art is better than another, so it would seem that someone's opinion is just as valid as the next person's, but I never bought that idea.

A film critic who's spent his career watching, studying, and writing about film will have a far more informed and intelligent opinion about cinema than a soccer mom who takes her kids to go see Toy Story 3, or a frat boy who thinks The Hangover, Superbad, and The Pineapple Express should be canonized as some kind of cinematic holy trilogy, so I don't understand why I should consider their opinion on the same level as an Ebert, Pauline Kael, or Dwight Macdonald.

[midnightpulp]

using decades as markers for eras in film is retarded tbh.

French New Wave is one of the most influential eras of moviemaking, but you couldn't classify that as 50's or 60's cuz it bled into both decades.

Even though the French New Wave "officially" started in 1958, its best films came in the 60s, and many of the films had a distinct 60s/Hipster (the real hipsters, not the fags we were talking about the other day) counterculture atmosphere to them.

I partially agree that trying to pigeonhole eras into decades is a useless endeavor, but setting parameters makes these discussions a bit easier to approach. After all, film critics do put out their best decade lists at the end of a decade.

[midnightpulp]

Possibly, but... to what end?

And we certainly can't do it here. To definitively determine which decade was better, it would require a specific list of criteria as well as that those of us debating had a working knowledge of every film released within each decade. But, we don't. So this topic can't be anything more than idle musings and arguing tastes.

I would guess only about 1000-2000 films (from Hollywood, Indie, B movies, and foreign) worth watching are released any given decade, so for someone who watches a lot of film, it's possible to have knowledge of the kind of films that were produced during a certain decade, maybe not complete knowledge, but enough to make an educated judgement.

[CuckingFunt]

The public tend to be ignorant when it comes to judging really great cinema, so the IMDb Top 250 is invalid. The fact that Kick-Ass ranks higher than Ikiru proves this. If it entertains them, chances are it will be rated high.

I'm not trying to be a snob, I just simply don't believe in the concept that all opinions are created equal. Sure, you can't empirically prove that one work of art is better than another, so it would seem that someone's opinion is just as valid as the next person's, but I never bought that idea.

A film critic whose spent his career watching, studying, and writing about film will have a far more informed and intelligent opinion about cinema than a soccer mom who takes her kids to go see Toy Story 3, or a frat boy who thinks The Hangover, Superbad, and The Pineapple Express should be canonized as some kind of cinematic holy trilogy, so I don't understand why I should consider their opinion on the same level as an Ebert, Pauline Kael, or Dwight Macdonald.

Depends on what is being discussed.

A critic, film historian, or dedicated fan may have a deeper well to draw from in terms of reference or comparison. Or may be educated in concepts of film theory. Or perhaps even be educated in concepts of film technique and the technical aspects of composition and cinematography. All of which may lead to a deeper understanding of a film being definitively good or important. Sure.

But everyone is an expert of their own opinion and tastes. If someone tells you they enjoyed the hell out of Sahara, or that it was legitimately one of their favorite films, you'd have no basis to call them wrong. Crazy, maybe, but not wrong. That's what imdb rankings are all about. More than likely, people give something 10/10 stars because that's how much they enjoyed it, rather than as a suggestion that _________ is really one of the best films ever made. Dubious as an indication of quality, but impossible to argue as an indication of popularity (amongst those who saw the film and took the time to vote, of course).

[CuckingFunt]

I would guess only about 1000-2000 films (from Hollywood, Indie, B movies, and foreign) worth watching are released any given decade, so for someone who watches a lot of film, it's possible to have knowledge of the kind of films that were produced during a certain decade, maybe not complete knowledge, but enough to make an educated judgement.

But how would you be able to determine what was "worth watching" if you hadn't also sat through those that weren't?

[midnightpulp]

But how would you be able to determine what was "worth watching" if you hadn't also sat through those that weren't?

This is where I value common sense and even IMDb ratings. It would be pointless to watch all the straight-to-video horror and erotic thriller releases from the 90s and the straight-to-DVD releases of the same genres from the 00s just for the sake of comparison. I don't think determining which decade was better or worse in the C-movie Horror/Erotic Thriller genres goes very far in "proving" if a certain decade had better cinema than another.

[midnightpulp]

Depends on what is being discussed.

A critic, film historian, or dedicated fan may have a deeper well to draw from in terms of reference or comparison. Or may be educated in concepts of film theory. Or perhaps even be educated in concepts of film technique and the technical aspects of composition and cinematography. All of which may lead to a deeper understanding of a film being definitively good or important. Sure.

But everyone is an expert of their own opinion and tastes. If someone tells you they enjoyed the hell out of Sahara, or that it was legitimately one of their favorite films, you'd have no basis to call them wrong. Crazy, maybe, but not wrong. That's what imdb rankings are all about. More than likely, people give something 10/10 stars because that's how much they enjoyed it, rather than as a suggestion that _________ is really one of the best films ever made. Dubious as an indication of quality, but impossible to argue as an indication of popularity (amongst those who saw the film and took the time to vote, of course).

Of course I wouldn't. Stating something is their "favorite," which implies subjectivity, is much different than stating something is the "greatest of all-time," which implies objectivity, and if they stated the latter, I would be justified in calling them wrong.

[CuckingFunt]

This is where I value common sense and even IMDb ratings. It would be pointless to watch all the straight-to-video horror and erotic thriller releases from the 90s and the straight-to-DVD releases of the same genres from the 00s just for the sake of comparison. I don't think determining which decade was better or worse in the C-movie Horror/Erotic Thriller genres goes very far in "proving" if a certain decade had better cinema than another.

Great.

But then that's not determining, definitively, which decade had better movies across the board, as you claimed to be possible. That's merely deciding which decade was more in line with your own personal tastes.

[Jacob1983]

I would say that The Edge is an underrated movie from the 1990s. Anthony Hopkins saying "mothafucka" in the movie makes the movie a classic in my opinion. Equilibrium was an underrated movie from the 2000s. A bad thing about the 2000s is the decrease and decline of quality action movies. A lot of people think it's because of 9/11 and I think that has a lot to do with it. The 1990s had a ton of great action movies. Action movies weren't that abundant during the last decade.

[midnightpulp]

Great.

But then that's not determining, definitively, which decade had better movies across the board, as you claimed to be possible. That's merely deciding which decade was more in line with your own personal tastes.

It's possible. But it would be something that would take a large team of informed critics/moviegoers to accomplish.

That said, I still think a single person can make an educated decision by watching anywhere from 25% to 50% of the movies produced during any given decade, and reading about, researching the others.

I just don't see the point in comparing the bottom feeding, low-budget genre releases, which probably account for 50% of movies produced in the industry. They're pretty much all the same with similar artistic quality, and I've seen thousands of those movies. And if 90s camp fare and midnight movies are better than their 00s counterparts, I just don't see the end result having that big of sway toward a decision one way or the other.

It's kind of like trying to determine which city has the best dining. You're not going to waste your time sampling every Jack-N-The-Box, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Del Taco, etc.

[JoeChalupa]

The public tend to be ignorant when it comes to judging really great cinema, so the IMDb Top 250 is invalid. The fact that Kick-Ass ranks higher than Ikiru proves this. If it entertains them, chances are it will be rated high.

I'm not trying to be a snob, I just simply don't believe in the concept that all opinions are created equal. Sure, you can't empirically prove that one work of art is better than another, so it would seem that someone's opinion is just as valid as the next person's, but I never bought that idea.

A film critic who's spent his career watching, studying, and writing about film will have a far more informed and intelligent opinion about cinema than a soccer mom who takes her kids to go see Toy Story 3, or a frat boy who thinks The Hangover, Superbad, and The Pineapple Express should be canonized as some kind of cinematic holy trilogy, so I don't understand why I should consider their opinion on the same level as an Ebert, Pauline Kael, or Dwight Macdonald.

I understand that argument but I've never depended or relied on a so called "professional" film critic to determine whether or not I like a movie. I don't understand why their opinion should be on a higher level as mine since in the end it only really matters what I like. Hell, you'll even find different opinions amongst the so called experts.

[JoeChalupa]

depends on what is being discussed.

A critic, film historian, or dedicated fan may have a deeper well to draw from in terms of reference or comparison. Or may be educated in concepts of film theory. Or perhaps even be educated in concepts of film technique and the technical aspects of composition and cinematography. All of which may lead to a deeper understanding of a film being definitively good or important. Sure.

but everyone is an expert of their own opinion and tastes. If someone tells you they enjoyed the hell out of sahara, or that it was legitimately one of their favorite films, you'd have no basis to call them wrong. Crazy, maybe, but not wrong. That's what imdb rankings are all about. More than likely, people give something 10/10 stars because that's how much they enjoyed it, rather than as a suggestion that _________ is really one of the best films ever made. Dubious as an indication of quality, but impossible to argue as an indication of popularity (amongst those who saw the film and took the time to vote, of course).

+1

[midnightpulp]

I understand that argument but I've never depended or relied on a so called "professional" film critic to determine whether or not I like a movie. I don't understand why their opinion should be on a higher level as mine since in the end it only really matters what I like. Hell, you'll even find different opinions amongst the so called experts.

I'm in no way suggesting you rely on a film critic to determine what you like. That wasn't even close to the point I was trying to make.

Obviously their opinion matters not when it comes to your personal tastes and preferences, but once you enter the realm of public discourse, things change. You're no longer alone with your opinion. Simply by stating your opinion publicly, you're essentially trying to convince others of your position. And in the realm of public discourse where everyone's a salesmen of their own opinion, I'm going to "buy" the review of a film critic, historian, or even a knowledgeable moviegoer more often than not over that of a casual moviegoer.

Let's say I take a random 19 year kid off the street and tell him to review Seven Samurai. His review boils down to a poorly written essay on how the film was "boring" and he didn't like the way it was in black and white.

Why should his review be accepted with equal validity as an informed and intelligent review written by someone vastly more knowledgeable about cinema than him?

[JoeChalupa]

I'm in no way suggesting you rely on a film critic to determine what you like. That wasn't even close to the point I was trying to make.

Obviously their opinion matters not when it comes to your personal tastes and preferences, but once you enter the realm of public discourse, things change. You're no longer alone with your opinion. Simply by stating your opinion publicly, you're essentially trying to convince others of your position. And in the realm of public discourse where everyone's a salesmen of their own opinion, I'm going to "buy" the review of a film critic, historian, or even a knowledgeable moviegoer more often than not over that of a casual moviegoer.

Let's say I take a random 19 year kid off the street and tell him to review Seven Samurai. His review boils down to a poorly written essay on how the film was "boring" and he didn't like the way it was in black and white.

Why should his review be accepted with equal validity as an informed and intelligent review written by someone vastly more knowledgeable about cinema than him?

Because it is still an opinion and, IMO, being vastly more knowledgeable about cinema doesn't automatically make their opinion more right or wrong. It is still just their opinion and for some all the cinematic BS doesn't mean anything or make the movie any better simply because they say so.

[Medvedenko]

The Crow

I forgot this one in my initial post....

Usual Suspects
Goodfellas
Etc....too many to mention.

[hater]

80s movies:
Raging Bull
ET
Star Wars
Die hard
Terminator
Blade runner
Platoon
Amadeus
Indiana Jones
aliens
back to the future

[IronMexican]

Still haven't watched Raging Bull. Need to so bad.

[The Gemini Method]

One of those discussions where you don't and cannot have a true answer. However, with the logistics of the debate--you can have so much fun when you involve the factors like era, techonology, styles and such. I mean, if you go on some of the lists provided, you can make a strong case for either the '90s or '00s. One of my favorite movies of all-time is Brick. How many have seen that one? Definitely noteworthy if you're into the indie noir stories.

[Blake]

Waynes World 2 ftw