Film Four Goes Free-to-air

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50 Films To See Before You Die
Channel 4's film channel, Film4, has produced a list of 50 Films To See Before You Die, as follows:

1. Apocalypse Now
2. The Apartment
3. City Of God
4. Chinatown
5. Sexy Beast
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
7. North By Northwest
8. Breathless
9. Donnie Darko
10. Manhattan
11. Alien
12. Lost In Translation
13. The Shawshank Redemption
14. Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India
15. Pulp Fiction
16. Touch Of Evil
17. Walkabout
18. Black Narcissus
19. Boyz 'n The Hood
20. The Player
21. Come & See
22. Heavenly Creatures
23. A Night At The Opera
24. Erin Brockovich
25. Trainspotting
26. The Breakfast Club
27. Hero
28. Fanny & Alexander
29. Pink Flamingos
30. All About Eve
31. Scarface
32. Terminator II
33. Three Colours: Blue
34. The Royal Tenenbaums
35. The Ladykillers
36. Fight Club
37. The Searchers
38. Mulholland Drive
39. The Ipcress File
40. The King of Comedy
41. Manhunter
42. Dawn Of The Dead
43. Princess Mononoke
44. Raising Arizona
45. Cabaret
46. This Sporting Life
47. Brazil
48. Aguirre: The Wrath Of God
49. Secrets & Lies
50. Badlands

This list was selected by a committee including David Puttnam, Jason Solomons, Karen Krizanovich, Tessa Ross, and Menhaj Huda. Puttnam is a key figure in the British film industry, though his is the only worthy name on the committee.
 
Overall i thought it was a sound list, however presumably the remit was for a list of films the casual film-goer may otherwise miss....explaining the omission of he Godfather, Jaws and Goodfellas amongst others...so the inclusion of Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a tad strange imo.

Also, no Leone (Once Upon A Time In The West should have been in the top ten) and no Kurosawa were glaring mistakes, as was the inclusion of Raising Arizona over the Coen Bros true masterpiece The Big Lebowski.
 
Sexy Beast was rubbish. I would have though Election and Momento would be close to the top 50.
 
Fight Club is dreadful. An interesting film ruined completely by the final twist which takes it into the realms of idiocy.
 
1. Apocalypse Now ( overrated )
2. The Apartment ( so so )
3. City Of God (excellent )
4. Chinatown
5. Sexy Beast ( tosh but enjoyable tosh )
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (nerdy yawns )
7. North By Northwest (fab )
8. Breathless ( also fab )
9. Donnie Darko ( good but not as good as people say )
10. Manhattan ( give me strength )
11. Alien ( good )
12. Lost In Translation (g00d)
13. The Shawshank Redemption ( very overrated )
14. Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India
15. Pulp Fiction ( good but top 50 no chance)
16. Touch Of Evil
17. Walkabout ( sorry but Jenny Agutter 's body has led this to dizzy heights )
18. Black Narcissus
19. Boyz 'n The Hood
20. The Player ( oh please )
21. Come & See
22. Heavenly Creatures ( you are joking )
23. A Night At The Opera ( very very fab )
24. Erin Brockovich ( absolutely absurd )
25. Trainspotting ( fab )
26. The Breakfast Club ( come off it )
27. Hero
28. Fanny & Alexander ( I will go for a nap )
29. Pink Flamingos
30. All About Eve
31. Scarface
32. Terminator II ( fun but top 50 ??)
33. Three Colours: Blue ( pretentious )
34. The Royal Tenenbaums( bilge)
35. The Ladykillers ( excellent but a bit overrated )
36. Fight Club ( utter crap )
37. The Searchers
38. Mulholland Drive
39. The Ipcress File
40. The King of Comedy
41. Manhunter
42. Dawn Of The Dead
43. Princess Mononoke
44. Raising Arizona( so so )
45. Cabaret
46. This Sporting Life ( OK but preferred Saturday Night and Sunday Morning)
47. Brazil ( excellent )
48. Aguirre: The Wrath Of God
49. Secrets & Lies ( very good )
50. Badlands ( good )
 
The Royal Tenenbaums - two hours of your life wasted.
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I love it, its hilarious, touching and Gene Hackman has the time of his life. Whatever you do don't watch The Life Aquatic, if you didn't get TRT you'll end up kicking your TV in :lol:

Sexy Beast was rubbish.
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NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! CU*T! CU*T! CU*T! CU*T! CU*T!

It is a tad over-rated (FilmFour produced it, quelle surprise!), but Kingsley is just unbelievable. Scariest man ever.

Fight Club is dreadful.
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A work of genius. The twist is the only sensible outcome. I saw it three times in the cinema - counting the walkouts during the fight scenes was great fun.
 
But, Gareth, how many people would be interested in going to a club to watch someone batter himself? It was good until then but at that point it became nonsense.
 
As I remember it, it was only the first fight where they fought each other - you see a flashback where two guys walking along join in. From then on, I don't think they ever fought each in the club itself.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@Jul 25 2006, 08:27 PM
Sexy Beast was rubbish.
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:o clueless, i`d stick to the West Wing if i were you, clearly appreciating quality film isn`t a strong point of yours.
 
That`s me :ph34r: but come on dude, Fight Club and Sexy Beast are superb films.
And if you have to suspend a bit of belief towards the end of Fight Club so be it.
 
Memento I agree shouldbe there. Hate Fight Club. Donnie Darko probably the most overrated film ever. I could see why people like fight club,but DD is utter rubbish other than the Cure and Joy Division tunes. Others that could be in there are Oldboy, Lebowski (mentioned), American Beauty, Usual Suspects, Aliens.

In terms of the sort of criteria that seem to make something suit this list I would probably have Trainspotting as No.1.
 
Yeah, American Beauty was a class film and Aliens was better than the original.

Also, Erin Brockovitch?? Julia Roberts is so bland i missed it first time. Utter shit.
 
Originally posted by Euronymous@Jul 25 2006, 09:25 PM


Also, Erin Brockovitch?? Julia Roberts is so bland i missed it first time. Utter shit.
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Seldom has there been a more accurate posting !
 
CHINATOWN - wonderful. The characters are so fully realized, the plot's labrynthine but all makes terrible sense by the end. It's a superb film because it has so many elements going for it, and so many rich themes - greed, incest, power and control, murder, and tragedy.

I thought the KING OF COMEDY one of the unfunnier films I've seen, and de Niro seemed to oddly wrong - Pupkin is a clown in a terrible shiny suit, filled with a screaming ambition, but I couldn't take to him as played by Bobby.

PRINCESS MONONOKE? Never 'eard of the lady!

MEMENTO is clever, but confusing, and just a teeny bit pleased with the fact.

AMERICAN BEAUTY not nominated for viewing?
 
CHINATOWN - wonderful. The characters are so fully realized, the plot's labrynthine but all makes terrible sense by the end. It's a superb film because it has so many elements going for it, and so many rich themes - greed, incest, power and control, murder, and tragedy.
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Couldn't have said it better. The sequel - "The Two Jakes" - is worth a watch for interest's sake, if you ever spot it on the box.
 
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