tedstrong.com

John Davies on Film!


This list should have gone up over a year ago. There was some confusion and then I put it in a folder, meaning to get to it later. I found it today. So, I am putting it up, with our correspondences, since I'm a little confused about the whole thing. But, it's a nice list of films!

Thanks for writing in. Before commenting, I will remove from your list the films that I haven't yet seen:

  1. The Band Wagon*
  2. El Cid -- I missed my chance in the theatre rerelease, and have been putting off such an epic on video, although I'm a big Anthony Mann fan.
  3. Sansho the Bailiff**
  4. Andrei Rublev**
  5. Alice in the Cities**
  6. The Green Ray/Summer**
  7. Seven Samurai**
  8. Abraham Valley*
  9. Mirror*
  10. The Colour of Pomegranates*
  11. Maborosi*
  12. Tales of the Taira Clan*
  13. Partie de Campagne*
  14. Eternity and a Day
  15. Kings of the Road
  16. Persona
  17. Apu Trilogy
  18. Aguirre Wrath of God
  19. Ugetsu
  20. Celine and Julie go Boating
  21. Orphee
  22. Claire's Knee
  23. The Spirit of the Beehive
  24. Ordet
  25. The Leopard
  26. Rosetta
  27. Close Up
  28. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
  29. Les Enfants du Paradis
  30. Alexander Nevsky
  31. The White Balloon
  32. Chungking Express
  33. Ai No Corrida
  34. Ulysses' Gaze
  35. The Life of Oharu
  36. Red Sorghum
  37. L'Avventura
  38. Sunrise*
  39. Metropolis*
  40. The Gold Rush
  41. The Passion of Joan of Arc
  42. The Chess Player
  43. People on Sunday
  44. Man with a Movie Camera

And I consider myself quite the fan of non-English speaking films! But you have definitely listed some major ones that I need to see.

  1. Paris Texas: we like this one
  2. 2001:A Space Odyssey: we like this one
  3. North by Northwest: we LOVE this one
  4. Some Like it Hot: we like this one
  5. Letter from an Unknown Woman: we vaguely recall this one, but love Ophuls' The Reckless Moment, (1949) and Caught (1949), both with James Mason.
  6. Vertigo*: Hitchcock's the best and with North By, Rear Window and maybe Psycho, this is the best.
  7. The Searchers*: Ford is awesome and this is maybe his best film. Love Liberty Valence.
  8. Casablanca*: we like this one
  9. Singin in the Rain*: classic 50s musical, but not something I feel like I really need to see again.
  10. The Age of Innocence: hmmmm. For the best in Michelle Pfieffer please see Russia House. I love Russia House.
  11. The Shining: Fun, but for Kubrick I prefer The Killing and Lolita!
  12. Night of the Hunter: Awesome!
  13. Top Hat: Classic, the best of Astaire/Rogers musicals.
  14. Citizen Kane: People say this is arguably the greatest film ever made. I see no reason to argue with saying that it's arguably the best film ever made. I didn't know we were speaking. Of course we're speaking, Jedediah, you're fired.
  15. To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch): Great. Two people I LOVE: Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. Are you familiar with his old radio show?
  16. Apocalypse Now, great of course, have you seen the Redux? I think that Coppola's Godfather films are better than this though.
  17. Lawrence of Arabia: Seen this several times. Saw it in the theatre a couple times. It's 4 hours, but never dull. Quite an accomplishment.
  18. Once upon a Time in America: Haven't seen! I LOVE Once upon a Time in the West though. Have you seen that?
  19. Manhattan: great. Love Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery.
  20. Blue Velvet: great, but Lynch's best is Mulholland Drive! Best film of 2001!
  21. The Big Sleep: Assuming you mean the Hawks version. One of my all time favorite films. Have you compared the 1946 version with the newly discovered 1945 version?
  22. Brazil: liked it, but can't really remember. Saw it in 1985, but not again since.
  23. Groundhog Day: LOVE this movie.
  24. The Apartment: like it but I don't like Lemmon-Wilder as much as other people seem to. I like Holden Wilder (Sabrina, Sunset Blvd, Stalag 17...)
  25. Kiss me Deadly: AWESOME.
  26. Duck Soup: Best Marx Bros
  27. Schindler's List: Great
  28. The Thief of Baghdad (Berger, Powell, Whelan): Don't recall. But I really like Powell/Pressburger.
  29. Goodfellas: Great
  30. Dr Strangelove: Great
  31. Miller's Crossing: LOVE -- the best Coen film period.
  32. It's a Wonderful Life: Capra's best film, Christmas classic, great cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Todd Karns, Samuel S. Hinds, Mary Treen, Lillian Randolph, Sheldon Leonard, Charles Lane, Al Bridge, Ellen Corby, Dick Elliott, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer
  33. Raging Bull: good
  34. Marnie: great, underrated
  35. The 39 Steps (Hitchcock): awesome
  36. Deliverance: saw in high school, freaked me out, haven't seen lately (for Boorman see Point Blank!)
  37. Swing Time, can't recall
  38. It Happened One Night, I don't get it. Don't think it's that funny.
  39. King Kong, don't really recall.
  40. The Deer Hunter; haven't seen
  41. Kind Hearts and Coronets, great, but far from my favorite Ealing comedy
  42. The Scarlet Empress; haven't seen
  43. Once upon a Time in the West, YES! See above.

NOT IN ENGLISH

  1. La Regle du Jeu*; recollections -- vague
  2. Tokyo Story*; recollections -- vague
  3. L'Atalante; recollections -- vague
  4. Pierrot le Fou, like this
  5. Madame de; recollections -- vague
  6. Hidden Fortress; recollections -- vague
  7. 8 1/2; GREAT film
  8. The Double Life of Veronique; Great film, but love the Blue, White, Red films also the DECALOG!
  9. Hiroshima mon Amour; recollections -- vague
  10. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I felt was overrated.

SILENTS

  1. The General -- GREAT!
  2. Battleship Potemkin; recollections -- vague
  3. Pandora's Box; recollections -- vague

***

***

These are notes, I can't figure out the order, and I don't know why I'm including them. And I'm really upset right now about an unrelated issue.

From: Ted Strong
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:57 AM
Subject: Re: 100 Favourite films

Hi, I know I worked on a reply to your list, but can't recall if I sent it... let me know....

Ted

***

From: John Davies
To: Ted Strong
Subject: Re: 100 Favourite films
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002

No, i can't see a reply, or my list on your website.I intended to give Sunrise **(i.e.in my top 10),gave it only * by mistake,thus leaving only 9 in my top 10.Could you possibly correct this?Films like The Red Shoes,The Wild Bunch,Pulp Fiction, The Godfather2 came close to my 100, might have been included if i'd not wanted as many as 10 silents.I see by your list you're NOT one of the numerous self-proclaimed internet "experts" who actually know and understand little about cinema;noone can ever fully (or even nearly fully)agree with another's list,but yours is sound and informed.Thanks,John.

***

From: John Davies
To: Ted Strong
Subject: my list
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002

Thanks for your replies;i'm confused now as to how my list will look with the omissions.I had been hoping to promote directors like Kenji Mizoguchi, and some (relatively unknown)world cinema The aterisks i put now make less sense(and some seem to be missing),might be better left off if only a partial list is shown.I'm glad,though you seem to approve of most of my choices!

***

From: Ted Strong
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: my list

i will post your list with all your films.  i only removed first the ones i hadn't seen so that i could comment on the others more easily.

Ted Strong
http://www.tedstrong.com
"Hey, you find semen in the vagina, you don't call us?"
-- Paul Sorvino, "Law & Order"

***

From: John Davies
To: Ted Strong
Subject: Re: my list
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002

Thanks very much; i do appreciate it.John.

***

From: John Davies
To: Ted Strong
Subject: Re: 100 Favourite films
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002

Here's the list and correspondence again.Thanks, John.

From: John  Davies
Subject: 100 Favourite films
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002

100 FAVOURITE FILMS

I've divided the selection into 3 sections,with my favourites first.My overall Top 10**.My Overall Top 25*.I hope this is clear: i wanted to draw attention to international and silent cinema.I'm aware i've omitted many popular recent Hollywood films and some established masterpieces,but this is a subjective,personal list not the "100 Greatest".My favourite director is Kenji Mizoguchi(Sansho the Bailiff etc);his films deserve to be much better known in the English-speaking World.I'd also like to recommend the American silent masterpiece,Sunrise,which isn't sufficiently appreciated in its own country,yet still features very strongly in international critics' polls.

IN ENGLISH

(Top 25)

  1. Paris Texas**
  2. 2001:A Space Odyssey**
  3. North by North West**
  4. Some Like it Hot**
  5. Letter from an Unknown Woman*
  6. Vertigo*
  7. The Searchers*
  8. Casablanca*
  9. The Band Wagon*
  10. Singin in the Rain*
  11. El Cid
  12. The Age of Innocence
  13. The Shining
  14. Night of the Hunter
  15. Top Hat
  16. Citizen Kane
  17. To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch)
  18. Apocalypse Now
  19. Lawrence of Arabia
  20. Once upon a Time in America
  21. Manhattan
  22. Blue Velvet
  23. The Big Sleep
  24. Brazil
  25. Groundhog Day

(The next 20)

  1. The Apartment
  2. Kiss me Deadly
  3. Duck Soup
  4. Schindler's List
  5. The Thief of Baghdad (Berger, Powell, Whelan)
  6. Goodfellas
  7. Dr Strangelove
  8. Miller's Crossimg
  9. It's a Wonderful Life
  10. Raging Bull
  11. Marnie
  12. The 39 Steps(Hitchcock)
  13. Deliverance
  14. Swing Time
  15. It Happened One Night
  16. King Kong
  17. The Deer Hunter
  18. Kind Hearts and Coronets
  19. The Scarlet Empress
  20. Once upon a Time in the West

NOT IN ENGLISH/"WORLD CINEMA"

(Top 25)

  1. Sansho the Bailiff**
  2. Andrei Rublev**
  3. Alice in the Cities**
  4. The Green Ray/Summer**
  5. Seven Samurai**
  6. Abraham Valley*
  7. Mirror*
  8. The Colour of Pomegranates*
  9. La Regle du Jeu*
  10. Tokyo Story*
  11. Maborosi*
  12. Tales of the Taira Clan*
  13. Partie de Campagne*
  14. Eternity and a Day
  15. Kings of the Road
  16. Persona
  17. L'Atalante
  18. Apu Trilogy
  19. Aguirre Wrath of God
  20. Pierrot le Fou
  21. Ugetsu
  22. Celine and Julie go Boating
  23. Orphee
  24. Claire's Knee
  25. The Spirit of the Beehive

(Next 20)

  1. Ordet
  2. The Leopard
  3. Rosetta
  4. Close Up
  5. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
  6. Madame de
  7. Hidden Fortress
  8. Les Enfants du Paradis
  9. 8 1/2
  10. Alexander Nevsky
  11. The Double Life of Veronique
  12. The White Balloon
  13. Hiroshima mon Amour
  14. Chungking Express
  15. Ai No Corrida
  16. Ulysses' Gaze
  17. The Life of Oharu
  18. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
  19. Red Sorghum
  20. L'Avventura

SILENTS(10)

  1. Sunrise*
  2. Metropolis*
  3. The General
  4. The Gold Rush
  5. Man with a Movie Camera
  6. Battleship Potemkin
  7. The Passion of Joan of Arc
  8. The Chess Player
  9. People on Sunday
  10. Pandora's Box

***

From: Ted Strong
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 7:49 AM
Subject: Re: 100 Favourite films

Okay, so we are assuming I still haven't replied.  First let me say this:

Thanks for writing in.  Before commenting, I will remove from your list the films that I haven't yet seen:

  1. The Band Wagon*
  2. El Cid -- I missed my chance in the theatre rerelease, and have been putting off such an epic on video, although I'm a big
  3. Anthony Mann fan.
  4. Sansho the Bailiff**
  5. Andrei Rublev**
  6. Alice in the Cities**
  7. The Green Ray/Summer**
  8. Seven Samurai**
  9. Abraham Valley*
  10. Mirror*
  11. The Colour of Pomegranates*
  12. Maborosi*
  13. Tales of the Taira Clan*
  14. Partie de Campagne*
  15. Eternity and a Day
  16. Kings of the Road
  17. Persona
  18. Apu Trilogy
  19. Aguirre Wrath of God
  20. Ugetsu
  21. Celine and Julie go Boating
  22. Orphee
  23. Claire's Knee
  24. The Spirit of the Beehive
  25. Ordet
  26. The Leopard
  27. Rosetta
  28. Close Up
  29. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
  30. Les Enfants du Paradis
  31. Alexander Nevsky
  32. The White Balloon
  33. Chungking Express
  34. Ai No Corrida
  35. Ulysses' Gaze
  36. The Life of Oharu
  37. Red Sorghum
  38. L'Avventura
  39. Sunrise*
  40. Metropolis*
  41. The Gold Rush
  42. The Passion of Joan of Arc
  43. The Chess Player
  44. People on Sunday
  45. Man with a Movie Camera (really want to see this one!)

Ted Strong
http://www.tedstrong.com
"He's always been lacking in moral fiber."
"He knows a lot about Sean Connery."
"That's hardly a substitute."
-- Trainspotting, 1996.

Home