Susan*

I was glad to hear Amy mention the terrific Thelma Ritter (who steals Rear Window in her few scenes). It's partly Ritter who makes me sure Paul is wrong about Ritter's character having once been like Betty Davis's character. Ritter was vaudeville, not a serious dramatic actress. Also Ritter shows Paul is wrong about Eve not being a total baddie. Ritter is the audience's stand in -- Ritter is the first one to know Eve is no good and we can trust Ritter on that. As for the rear projection, that's only part of the issue. I love the movie like crazy, but I saw it in a theater a year or so ago and I was distracted by being able to see the textures on the fabric of the clothes everyone was wearing. With black and white movies, clothing can take on a beautiful, unreal quality. But up close on the screen you can see that maybe it looks good but it's not a great fabric for real.

The recent string of really good movies is screwing with my list. I've already added Singing in the Rain and Double Indemnity to my list. My top five is a mess--I'm not even sure what my number 1 is at this point.

I've loved this movie forever and have seen it many times. Dated movies don't usually bother me, I just register that it's dated and move on--I love many really old movies. But this part of the movie, where Margo virtually disappears, I've always taken it as statement about what marriage does to women--even career minded one. It's like the articles that would have been in Ladies Home Journal or similar magazines of this era about actresses. It affirms that wife is the most worthy job to aspire to for any woman. So I've seen this movie at least a dozen times but sometimes I don't watch to the very end. :)

I have to see King Kong again before I can rank it on my list. I've seen it on TV but never paid close attention. If you don't know what All About Eve is about, I question why you're listening to this podcast, but welcome anyhow.

I think you're right. And wikipedia says the voters were asked to pick only narrative films so no documentaries.

I've already added Double Indemnity to my list (second from the top so far). I'm going to try and re-watch King Kong before I add it.

I love Spotlight but don't you dare touch French Connection.

1994 was a pretty strong year for films. I browsed through a list and was surprised at how many of the movies I saw in a theater that year. One of those movies was Forrest Gump, which I hated. I think I saw Pulp Fiction about five times -- for some reason, it become the movie we would see after work and after drinks before going home. (??) I remember how fresh Four Weddings seemed and Heavenly Creatures, and frankly Speed. As well as all the art house movies. And Quiz Show is the sort of movie that I adore, even though straight dramas are not my thing. Those Oscars were pretty disappointing, though I love Dianne Wiest for other reasons, so at least there was that. I think Hoop Dreams is the first movie I ever talked my much older brother into seeing in a theater -- he loved it and told all his friends. I recruited people to see that (long) movie like crazy-- people who would never see a documentary or a movie touching on real issues. I was a one-woman PR campaign. I'm still bitter about it not being nominated.

yes, it's a favorite of mine as well. But then film noir is a favorite genre and I love Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson in many films.

By the way, the "making of" stories about Hollywood people doing boot-camp-type preparation always leave me cold. I immediately start rolling my eyes and I'm not sure why. Maybe in my (uneducated) gut I think it gives young Hollywood Bros an opportunity to say they got to be "real men" for a week or so and for me it just drives home how spoiled and disconnected they presumably are? Maybe I'm not convinced that movies are better because it's more "real" for actors? I do tend to like a lot of stage-y old B&W movies with sharp dialogue. I did read a lot of books about movies years ago -- mostly books about clashes of egos, or how things went really wrong on a movie set. Not macho stuff.

I've only seen a few true horror movies, but I really liked Scream. You don't need much exposure to catch the references. In some ways, I like Scream 2 better -- I thought some of the actors were more fun to watch and I enjoyed the sequel references.

I'm not going to watch Shawshank. It's one of the two movies on the list I haven't seen and I'm going to keep it that way. Maybe I'll pull one of the movies that was cut from the original list and put it in my rankings instead.

I didn't like Platoon when it was released and I really didn't like it when I watched it again last week. The voiceover made it nearly unwatchable for me. I can verify that the movie was a gigantic hit and that helped push a national conversation about Vietnam. I remember loads of TV shows about vets talking about their experiences, saying it was the first time they wanted to talk in public; whether they thought the movie was accurate or not, it made some people feel comfortable to talk in public. I wouldn't put it on the list but I can live with it being there because of that impact. I love Hannah and Her Sisters, but that was a decent year for movies all around. I don't like Oliver Stone movies, except that I love the first half of JFK--for cameos and overall style mostly. I didn't like Born on the Fourth of July. I think Coming Home is a much better movie for my money.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I love Faye Dunaway in this, and I absolutely love Gene Hackman and Michael J. Pollard. I was a kid way before there was internet. I used to go to the library and find these coffee-table-style books on true crime, that covered all the gangster stuff, kidnappings, bank robbers, etc. All the stuff that happened from the old west through the 1930s, especially gangs that ran around the midwest. So maybe I was primed for crime movies in general. But most of the movies are crap (and there were so many bad made-for-tv movies in the 1970s that tried to cover similar ground). I also love movies of the late 60s and early to mid 70s, movies that have their own sense of style and unexpected humor, movies that don't have happy endings, actors who chew up scenery . . . this ticks a lot of my boxes. There are some of my other favorite movies on the list but it might be a while before anything knocks this out of first place. I'm delighted that we hit a movie that I flat out love.

It's an easy yes because it's a documentary you have to see if you are into documentaries. I'm a huge fan of documentaries, but I don't like Grey Gardens. I sought it out for a while before I could find it and felt let down. I enjoyed the podcast much more than I thought I would because Alissa and Amy dealt with a lot of what I don't like about the movie. It was thought provoking and made me think about why I like what I like. I'm uncomfortable with watching people who might be mentally ill being exploited even if they're happy to be exploited. (I was glad Alissa brought up Titicut Follies) I remember liking Crumb and Brother's Keeper more than Grey Gardens but it's been a while since I saw either of them. As for the Maysles brothers, I'll take Gimme Shelter over Grey Gardens. There's not a lot to it, but it's a good time capsule movie. Among other things, when I think of the Zodiac killer, I picture Melvin Belli on the phone in Gimme Shelter. I've read a good deal about the Rolling Stones over the years and (don't know whether it's true but) I heard that the Maysleses weren't familiar with the Stones and couldn't tell them apart.

Platoon is on Starz edit: I'm having a really tough time making it through Platoon. I forgot about the voiceover.

Any idea why the waltzes were so prevalent on the soundtrack? It's the most accessible classical music -- classical music for people who don't like classical music. (I say that as someone who loves waltzes. )

I don't know about a Facebook group, and I'm not a hater, but I'm sort of in this camp. I'm going to struggle with where this movie winds up on my list. Similar to Citizen Kane, I've read a lot about it over the years, I have always understood its importance, but it's not a favorite movie of mine. The first time I saw it, I was a teenager, and I was totally hooked. The next couple of times I saw it in a theater as an adult and I was analyzing it rather than enjoying it. I watched it again last week on my TV because of the podcast and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's more important than most of the movies on the AFI list, but it's not one of the ones I enjoy the most. I can only imagine what a trip it would have been if I had seen it when it was released. All things being equal, I'm more about dialogue than visuals. And I never like Kubrick movies as much as other film fans.

I agree with a lot of what Johnny Pomatto said above. I'm not voting unless I decide to re-watch the movie, because it's been more than 10 years since I last saw it. I loved The Who in my teenage years and young adulthood. I grew out of straight up rock music, but I have a lot of residual affection for them. Still Tommy was never one of my favorite albums (concept albums are not to my taste) and I really disliked the movie. In my teenage and young adulthood years, I was duped by movie and music critics to waste my time and money tracking down movies--especially rock movies--which I almost never enjoyed. Rock music movies are the toughest genre I can think of. The movie usually damages the music. Maybe music movies attract the wrong sort of money and creative people? (Robert Stigwood, I'm looking at you.) Too much money thrown around? Too self-indulgent? People not understanding what made the music good? Maybe I just love music too much and I'm a pain in the ass? Sometimes you hear about a movie and you're dying to see it and then you can't believe how awful it is. I saw The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover with a friend after seeing rave reviews. I thought it was painful to sit through, and then afterward had my friend telling me how I just didn't understand the symbolism of the colors . . . . I dragged some friends to see Tommy in a theater but at least that time none of my friends tried to tell me I was too stupid to appreciate it. :/

I'm already reconsidering. I don't have to watch Gump again to know why i hated it and I can easily rank it on my list when the time comes. I realize that there are other movies I really need to re-watch, like 2001 (which I just re-watched) and Platoon. Those are movies I saw a long time ago and I know why they were significant when they were released but I'm not certain what their value is now.

It's Young Frankenstein that should be on the list. Though Madeline Kahn's I'm Tired would be on my list of all time funniest movie scenes.

I am not a fan of the Exorcist, so I wouldn't swap that out for French Connection. I legitimately love the French Connection, though I tend to be a sucker for the darker 70s movies and cop movies. But also French Connection made Gene Hackman a movie star, and then he went on to be one of the biggest stars of the 70s (and beyond). I'm so glad that we get Bonnie and Clyde soon because he's one of the best things in that movie and he's so different there.

I am constantly trying to counter my instinct to come from a negative place, and I have limited success with that. But I also think that it's boring when everyone is being positive. :/ I love The French Connection and it's currently my #1 movie on my list but I will be giving my honest opinion when we get to movies I think are bad or overrated. I'm promising myself to re-watch any movies I haven't seen in the last six months before being negative though. I'll have to sit through Forrest Gump again or remain silent. I'm still enjoying making all these dumb rules for myself, as if this exercise matters.

Yeah, I get it, and I like having the joke descriptor for shorthand, I just think it needs a better second word. I think you're really close to something and I like it and want to steal it. Not related to age, but I often see a movie or TV show that I love and I realize that there's no one I can recommend it to because it just ticks all my particular boxes but it's not objectively great.

Re Goonies Conundrum -- the word "Conundrum" seems wrong -- it needs another word there. It's not puzzling that people like some movies as a kid and feel lasting affection for them, even though they aren't good movies. Or maybe I'm not understanding the meaning. I don't know if I have movies in my past that can compare to what some people have for Goonies. I must, but I can't think of any. My mom indoctrinated me on classic movies at a young age. But I have a similar experience with music in a huge way. I guess I hold on to beloved bands or albums more than movies.