Yesterday, Nick came into my office with a question. I was reading an article about nine great movies from nine decades. I was flabbergasted by the film listed for the current decade: Talk to Her.

"Talk to Her?" I said, before Nick could ask his question. "Give me a break. That movie wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great, either."

"You saw it?" asked Nick, forgetting that we'd already spent a long time discussing it once before.

"What movie would you pick from this decade?" he asked.

My gut answer, without hesitation: "City of God." Further reflection only solidifies this opinion. I think City of God is the best film I've seen that was produced this decade. (Amelie is my favorite, and I love Spirited Away, but City of God is a truly great film.)

This discussion led us to the Internet Movie Database for the umpteenth time where we once again perused the lists of highest-rated and top-grossing films.

I bemoaned the presence of the three Lord of the Rings films in the top ten of the highest-rated list. "They won't be there in similar surveys twenty years from now," I said. "City of God may be. I mean, who can possibly argue that Peter Jackson's Helms Deep is better than Citizen Kane or even Raiders of the Lost Ark. These lists are stacked by votes from the fanboys."

Nick argued that because the Lord of the Rings films had grossed so much money, this was proof that they were good. This made me rant and rave. "That's absurd!" I said. "By that logic, Titanic is the best film ever made. Independence Day is a masterpiece!" I hate Independence Day; it's a turd of a film.

I know that we've discussed the AFI 100 Years - 100 Films list here before, but I cannot find the entry. (Too many entries, poor site search.) Time Magazine has just published its complete list of "All Time 100 Movies", whatever that means.

Top 20 Grossing Films (US Revenue only)
1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
3. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $434,949,459
5. The Phantom Menace (1999) $431,065,444
6. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
7. The Return of the King (2003) $377,019,252
8. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $373,377,893
9. The Passion of the Christ (2004) $370,270,943
10. Jurassic Park (1993) $356,784,000
11. Peter Jackson's Helms Deep (2002) $340,478,898
12. Finding Nemo (2003) $339,714,367
13. Forrest Gump (1994) $329,691,196
14. The Lion King (1994) $328,423,001
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $317,557,891
16. The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $313,837,577
17. Attack of the Clones (2002) $310,675,583
18. Return of the Jedi (1983) $309,125,409
19. Independence Day (1996) $306,124,059
20. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) $305,388,685
note: of the films on this list, I've not seen The Passion of the Christ

Top 20 Grossing Films (adjusted for inflation)
1. Gone with the Wind $1,293,085,600 (1939)
2. Star Wars $1,139,965,400 (1977)
3. The Sound of Music $911,458,400 (1965)
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial $907,867,700 (1982)
5. The Ten Commandments $838,400,000 (1956)
6. Titanic $821,413,700 (1997)
7. Jaws $819,704,400 (1975)
8. Doctor Zhivago $794,466,900 (1965)
9. The Exorcist $707,639,500 (1973)
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs $697,600,000 (1937)
11. 101 Dalmatians $639,470,400 (1961)
12. The Empire Strikes Back $628,356,100 (1980)
13. Ben-Hur $627,200,000 (1959)
14. Return of the Jedi $601,980,200 (1983)
15. The Sting $570,514,300 (1973)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark $564,107,900 (1981)
17. Jurassic Park $551,717,400 (1993)
18. The Graduate $547,295,400 (1967)
19. The Phantom Menace $542,861,700 (1999)
20. Fantasia $531,478,300 (1941)
note: of the films on this list, I've not seen The Exorcist or The Sting

Top 20 Films as rated by IMDB users
1. 9.0 The Godfather (1972)
2. 9.0 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. 8.9 The Return of the King (2003)
4. 8.9 The Godfather: Part II (1974)
5. 8.8 Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) (1954)
6. 8.8 Schindler's List (1993)
7. 8.8 Casablanca (1942)
8. 8.7 Star Wars (1977)
9. 8.7 The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
10. 8.7 The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
11. 8.7 Pulp Fiction (1994)
12. 8.7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
13. 8.7 Peter Jackson's Helms Deep (2002)
14. 8.7 Citizen Kane (1941)
15. 8.7 Rear Window (1954)
16. 8.6 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly) (1966)
17. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove (1964)
18. 8.6 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
19. 8.6 The Usual Suspects (1995)
20. 8.6 12 Angry Men (1957)
note: of the films on this list, I've not seen 12 Angry Men

AFI's 100 Years - 100 Movies list
1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Gone With the Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
7. The Graduate (1967)
8. On the Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
11. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
14. Some Like it Hot (1959)
15. Star Wars (1977)
16. All About Eve (1950)
17. The African Queen (1951)
18. Psycho (1960)
19. Chinatown (1974)
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
note: I've seen all the films on this list

Time Magazine's best film from each decade
1920s: Metropolis (1927)
1930s: Dodsworth (1936)
1940s: Citizen Kane (1941)
1950s: Ikiru (1952)
1960s: Persona (1966)
1970s: Chinatown (1974)
1980s: Decalogue (1988)
1990s: Pulp Fiction (1994)
2000s: Talk to Her (2002)
note: of the films on this list, I've not seen Dodsworth (I've never even heard of it), Ikiru, Persona, or Decalogue

It's that list that really gets me riled up. "Best lists" are subjective, of course, but a couple of the choices on this one make me cranky. I've already commented that I only find Talk to Her good, not great. I feel the same about Pulp Fiction (though I know many people think it's wonderful). And while Chinatown is surely outstanding, is it really better than The Godfather?

I love film. Someday I hope to have seen all the films on the AFI 100 Years list. (I've seen all but two of the top fifty. I need to see seventeen overall.)

On this day at foldedspace.org

2004 — Breaking and Entering   For a couple of summers, I picked strawberries with Chris Watson, a friend from the Mormon church. One day we broke into someone's house and stole some books, only I thought we were borrowing them.

2003 — More Drug Induced Rambling   Tiffany points out that my recent posts are amusing because they are the obvious drug-induced ramblings of an insomniac. It's true.

— Flash!   In which I archive links to my favorite flash-based games and animations.