THEIR FAVOURITE FILM

That was a huge surprise, right? Rong. The results of the ABC's My Favourite Film are in, and the top 10 weren't very hard to pick. Last night before the show went to air, I cobbled together 10 movies I thought might make the list, and picked 8. The Princess Bride was a stab in the dark, I'm no great fan, but a lot of my less discerning friends give it a big thumbs up, and the two missing were Donny Darko, which I haven't seen, and Amelie, which is so fucking awful I didn't even consider it.

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Amelie
3. Blade Runner
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Donnie Darko
6. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
7. Pulp Fiction
8. The Princess Bride
9. Gone With The Wind
10. Fight Club

To be fair the show wasn't an utter fuck-up, in fact I rather enjoyed it. Between them the panel seemed to have most angles covered, so if one panelist thought one way their opinion was countered by a contrary set of ideas from another panelist. The result was a reasonable all-round assessment of each movie, and not a bandwagoning suck-fest. Judith Lucy's drawl can be a bit much, but by and large I agreed with her summations, and she had a good thing happening with Stewart MacGill. Indeed Stewie worked rather well. Dick Roxburgh was fine, if a bit wussy. I want less kissy-face "I like Amelie" and more in your face "You want the green light, Margaret?" Siggy tends to the affected, but her opinions weren't to be immediately discredited. Even Madge was bearable. Dunno who that Chris bloke was, but he looks like he needs a good smack in the teeth. And as for the alleged comedians summarizing each film, well, no show's perfect. Apart from the psycho Fat-Cat gang who gave me a bit of a chuckle, they can all get well and truly fucked. Unfunny, hamfisted, typical ABC self-indulgence, but most of all pointless tripe. In a word, padding.

For an idea as to what I might have included, look no further than November last year to see where I'm at fillum-wise. Or read Nabakov's top-shelf reviews to find out where he's at. Come to think of it, WHERE exactly is Nabakov at?

Comments

[vague]

Fight Club was fucking awful. I have said it before and I'll say it again. God. Damn. By the end of it I wanted to brutally murder Helena Bonham Carter. So much so, in fact, that I didn't even care about the infinitive I had just split.

Amélie, on the other hand, I really like. But my favorite movie, always and forever, is Harold and Maude, so there you go. My taste is perhaps not the finest.

[Tony.T]

Well, you'll be interested to know then, V, that the reason Amelie rated so high was because of the huge number of 20-something women who voted for it.

They also interviewed a hair-dresser (stylist, I believe you call them) who said that after Amelie was released every second teen and aforesaid 20-something woman who saw it, got their hair changed to copy Amelie. No mention of whether they also had plastic surgery to increase the head-tilting cuteness factor.

Harold and Maude is excellent - it came in at Number 43.

[Tony.T]

Not that we condone gender/age stereotyping at this blog.

[Steve]

Blade Runner's a pretty decent film, but is it really the third best film ever? Of course not. It's not the third best sci-fi film ever, come to that.

Donnie Darko? Don't make me laugh. A reasonable film, well scripted, people just love it because it actually makes them think for a change. If people watched a few more films that engaged the brain, they'd see that DD is not so very special.

What you are wrong about is Amelie. Yes, it is so awfully cute it probably comes in a pink, heart-shaped DVD case, but still, I liked it. I can't say I find Audrey Tautou so great-looking I'd want anyone to copy her, however. Am I missing something?

[Tony.T]

I enjoyed BR better the second time around. When it comes to Sci-Fi I enjoyed 2001, Quatermass & The Pit, Dark Star, Robocop, Terminator, Plant O' the Apes, Silent Running, Westworld and recently Solaris to name a few. Not sure I like any more than the others, though.

I've crossed DD off the list.

You're not missing anything with Amelie. It just a case that over here lots of girls copied her hairstyle. Apparently. I'd just do what Judith Lucy wanted to do - I'd slap her.

By way of pigeon holes, I'm a spaghetti western devotee with a bent to westerns in general. Also Japanese and French gangster films from the sixties and seventies.

[DJ]

Star Wars is light years better than Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.

[Tony.T]

If by that you mean Star Wars was better when you saw it as a kid than it is now it's a fully worked-up franchise, I agree. The same applies to other 'classics' - Are You Being Served (The Director's Cut) , for instance.

[Yobbo]

DJ: Episode IV is the original Star Wars. I'm also a bit confused about Blade Runner - it was an ok film but to be ranked at #3 is a bit off. And Gone With The Wind is terrible.

And where is The Godfather? #30 is way too low.

[Tony.T]

I can vouch that he knew that, Yob. He was just being miss-cheev-ee-ous.

The point made last night about GWTW, that it was "a massive technical achievement for the time" is valid. Doesn't make me enjoy it any more, though. It's still soap.

The poll obviously needs sharper differentiation between FAVOURITE and BEST. I'm thinking the title My Favourite Film isn't clear enough.

[TimT]

My favourite film is Excalibur, by John Boorman, although I forget why (and I don't think I knew why in the first place). So, yeah. Any list of best films that doesn't have Excalibur on it is a pile of poo, if you ask me.

[Tony.T]

I saw Excalibur at the flicks when it first came out and really enjoyed it. Especially Nicol Williamson as Merlin. However, I saw it recently and thought it was a bit of a balls-up. If you want to see the best John Boorman, see Point Blank.

[boynton]

Soap? So is Hamlet I guess.
Last time I saw GWTW I thought it was a musical. It works.
But if I had to think about appreciating it for its massive technical achievements for the time I'd worry.

I don't think I'd like Amelie even if I were in my twenties. Almost walked out of the Astor it was so bad.

My favourite film - isn't even in the top 100.

[Tony.T]

If Hamlet is soap, it's Cussons Imperial Leather. GWTW is Solvol.

The day I watch ANY fillum for the techo achievements is the day I give it away. There's no doubt GWTW can be applauded on that level, but like I say, it doesn't make me want to watch it.

My favourite film isn't in the Top 100 either.

[Russell Allen]

Don't mind the list as most of the usual wanky chinstroker movies are omitted.

Though Numbers 11-20 actually make up a better Top 10 in my 'umble opinion (except J. Andrews can blow it out of her arse).

11-20
11. The Sound of Music
12. To Kill A Mockingbird
13. 2001: A Space Odyssey
14. Casablanca
15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
16. American Beauty
17. Doctor Strangelove
18. Monty Python's Life of Brian
19. Lawrence Of Arabia
20. Apocalypse Now

[Tony.T]

I haven't seen 15, but most of the rest range from OK (12, 16) to good (13, 17, 20) to very good (14, 19).

(A word in your shell-like, Russ: Don't diss SOM around Boynton.)

I recently saw LOB and am sad to report it hasn't held up all that well. Holy Grail is the one for me.

[Russell Allen]

Eternal Sunshine is excellent purely for the fact you don't want to jam a knife into Jim Carrey's heart.

Agreed on the Holy Grail point.

I notice you didn't fit SOM into your range of OK to Very Good. Is it exceptional dya think?

Anyways I wasn't referring to SOM in my comment. Julie Andrews is in the People's Front of Judea - clearly.

[Tony.T]

Is she the splitter or the wanker?

[vague]

Sound of Music might be the only musical I like. And Tony, you should see Eternal Sunshine--I am in love with it (taught it in class last year, too).

(Not that my being in love with it constitutes a reason for people to see a film. Also, teaching it in class does not evidently constitute such a reason, either, judging by the number of kiddos who bothered to see it.)

[Tony.T]

Weeellllll, I dunno:

This is not the film you go to see if you want to take a break from thinking, which may be its best trait.

I'm not exactly a 'thinking movie' kind of guy. Not a total palestine, mind, but, you know ...

[James Russell]

That list was depressingly predictable (I don't necessarily disagree with the choices as such—well, not most of them—but they were pretty dull and conventional). The rest of the top 100 was much more interesting. The show itself was OK. It's all meaningless anyway.

[hungbunny]

I liked Donnie Darko. But then Fight Club is one of my favourite films EVER, so that probably disqualifies me from this whole discussion.

[Clem Snide]

These sorts of lists are pretty pointless, tending towards the conventional lists of films everyone has seen. What would really be a useful service is if a bunch of complete film anoraks made up lists of the greatest overlooked films, with the fewest votes winning. Then the ABC could spin this out into a whole series, with each program tackling a different genre - westerns, comedy, historical, sci fi etc. That way, "Guest House Paradiso" might have got a mention, and my quip in the comments of Tony's previous post would have been understood.

I did appreciate having SCG Macgill in on the program, though. I'd like to see future programs staffed entirely by cricketers. It would be great if the makers of Lagaan could make an epic movie in three parts about a young Sri Lankan boy who, against all odds, triumphs in achieving his dream of being allowed to chuck at the batsman in Test matches. They could call it "Lord of the Flings", and get a panel consisting of Bishan Bedi, Greg Matthews and Darrell Hair to review it. That would be worth 8 kopeks a day.

[Paul B]

The Sound of Music is the only film I've ever seen where I've actually been cheering on the Nazis. The film would have been far superior if that whole irritating family were shot in the opening credits.

I agree about Life of Brian too: it's dated very badly, whereas Holy Grail's incredibly low budget means that it looked dated as soon as it came out, and as such remains timeless.

Personally, I'd vote The Shawshank Redemption as the best one out of that particular top ten. But then I like all three of Amélie, Donnie Darko and Fight Club...

[Steve]

I've just read the rest of the list, and my God does it make for depressing reading. How has Sin City got into the top 100? Boring, overlong drivel.

Napoleon Dynamite? Wasn't even funny. I gave up after about fifteen minutes.

On Gone With The Wind being a great technical achievement, yes it was, but A Matter Of Life And Death was a better film, a greater technical achievemnt, AND on a smaller budget, juts seven years later.

Finally, has anyone else noticed that there isn't a single horror film in this list? That's just the most stunning oversight ever.

[vague]

Napoleon Dynamyte? Oh my god. Awful. And people will just Not! Stop! Quoting it!
If I hear another person say "GOSH!" Or tell Tina to come eat some ham, I will not be held responsible for my actions.

[Brownie]

I knew the whole think would be populist crap and upset me so I did not even watch, yar boo sucks to them.
Monogamy is ridiculous and so is ONE favourite film.
Just reeling off what comes into my head right now: CHINATOWN, anything with Strother Martin in it and no he is not Steve Martins dad, 3 Days Of The Condor, What's Up Doc? Help! any Marx brothers movie and bugga technical achievement, What's New Pussycat? The Desk Set written by Norah Ephrons parents and the first film about computers...and Alex Jodorowki's EL TOPO. Stuff Amalie

[James Dudek]

My top ten begins with Police Acadamies 1 through 7 and ends with the classic "Revenge of the Nerds" triology.

My personal favourite PA: Mission to Moss-cow comes in at #1.

Some many unanswered questions from the PA series:

How did that bloke who made the great noises get overlooked come Oscar(R) time?

How did the genius of Bobcat whathisname get overlooked?

Who made Steve Guttenberg a star? *Answer in next post

[James Dudek]

* The Stonecutters. A little known fratenal society that would later go on to become "The No Homers Club".........

[Adam 1.0]

How come the Lord of the Rings Trilogy can go in as one film? In that case your Police Academy/Revenge Of The Nerds megamix should only take up 1st and 2nd place, allowing you to slide the Carry On movies in at 3, James Bond series at 4 and AssCrackers at #5

And re: the first post. I did not want to murder Helena Bonham Carter/Marla, I wanted to touch her. Therefore Fight Club is worthy of it's position.

[Adam 1.0]

P.S - This Is Spinal Tap ROBBED

[carneagles]

I think Audrey Tautou is really quite superb.

Judith Lucy, on the other hand, can fuck herself. The scene in Crackerjack where she and Mick Molloy kiss was not only a suspension of disbelief too far, it made me genuinely queasy.

[beck]

Chris Taylor is awesome! Do you remember 'CNNNN' or 'The Chaser'? He's part of that group. Also does a show on triple j.

Overall, I didn't think the picks were so bad. I hate Amelie and LOTR, though.

[Tony.T]

Well, I haven't seen those shows and I don't listen to Twipple Jay, so I can't judge him on that. But his name is stupid.

[Tony.T]

You people all make depressingly good points. Someone has to say something daft so an argument will get started. Oh well, I'll have to settle for:

The Sound of Music is the only film I've ever seen where I've actually been cheering on the Nazis.

That can't be right.

PS: Should the Predator and Alien films now be classed as one film in the same way as the Rings, PA, Bonds, etc?

[Steve]

Ah, Ilsa. The wonders of the constant fight against political correctness. There should have been a few exploitation films in the list, shouldn't there? I vote in Re-Animator.

[Tony.T]

There's not enough proper exploitation movies these days. They are nearly ALL exploitation. But crap.

[PB]

What a pack of tossers on the panel, particularly the fuckhead from JJJ/Chaser and that actor git who started blathering about global warming during a spray about "Bladerunner". And what about "Apocoylpse Now"? It merely revealed what a paucity of demographics the ABC broadcasts to these days.
Re the comment about "The Sound Of Music", I fully concur- I would've cheered like billy-o if the Eizatzgruppen had've rounded up the Von Trapps and that silly bint, and carted them off to somewhere nasty.
(We had a musical in Brisbane a few years ago called "The Hound of Music", where Maria was a werewolf.

[Tony.T]

Well, whaddaya know. I thought Paul B was you PB. I should have realised he was far too civilized, you rugby-loving, XXXX-glugging swine, you.

Not that I disagree with you, mind.

[TimT]

XXXX-glugging?

Real men glug 5x.

[Tony.T]

Real men say XXXXX.

[TimT]

FXXXXXXk you!

[Tony.T]

I'm putting a stop to this, right XXX.

[Andrew]

The movies selected were not best movies just peoples favourites - I think people forget that.

[Tony.T]

Some people, Andrew, they are gooses. (You know who you aaarrreee!) Not me.

The poll obviously needs sharper differentiation between FAVOURITE and BEST. I'm thinking the title My Favourite Film isn't clear enough.