What is your favorite movie?

Along with all those here I have to agree this should be on the top 100. The acting, casting, and directing were superb. Even if not on the list it will always be in my top 100.

The smartest script, the strongest performance(s), and the most creative directing ever…There has never been a movie like that. And there never will be…

The acting, the direction, the script, the sets, the costumes, and the music, the MAGNIFICENT MUSIC . . . WOW!

Best use of the tools of the cinema to tell a fascinating story through visual and aural means with a minimum of dialogue.

I think that A Clockwork Orange is the most picturesque movie I’ve ever seen. It gives off so much energy, adrenaline and glamour. Is obsessing, thrilling, brainwashing, convincing, bizzare, harsh and you can’t compare it with any other movie from this category. It totally different. Above all, all the technical elements are very well combined: the music, the costumes, the montage, the image, the backgrounds…
Malcolm McDowell plays terrific… I really can’t understand why he wasn’t nominated for Oscars… He definetly deserved that.
About Kubrick… he is a master! He proved again what art means…

First part is an exquisite rendition of the very important theme in the book “African Genesis”, an underappreciated non-fiction book.
The movie contains the greatest visual metaphor ever portrayed: the transition from the whirling femur bone, realized by the ape to be a great weapon, into the turning space station. The space parogram was launched after Sputnik because of its national defense (weaponry) important. D. K. Heffner

The best science-fiction movie.

Outperforms all vietnam era movies as you are actually travelling along with Martin Sheen on his “Assignment”. You visually experience vietnam
firsthand and become mesmerized and feel as if you are the one going down the river. I have watched this movie once per year for past 5 or 6 years and find something new and different each time. Should have won for best picture, but we cant have everything. Redux version adds even more detail, like 45 more minutes. Even though Brando has a minimal role, he still steals the show with his presence. For those who have never seen Martin Sheen in action, this role couldnt have been played by anyone else which is a great compliment to him.

It is such a great drama with anger and personalities pitted against each other. The part that impresses me the most is that with all the anger in the movie, there is no vile language. It should be an inspiration to modern film makers that a great movie can be made without sex, violence, filthy language and car crashes. I am no prude; I do my share of cussing. I just think that we should have more movies like this with a lot of emotion shown without stooping to the stock attractions.
I see it again and again and never tire of it. I am sorry that with all the great acting Henry Fonda did that he never won an acedemy award except for the fake one for “On Golden Pond” just given to him out of guilt.

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey
2) Au Hasard Balthazar
3) Seven Samurai
4) Seconds
5) 8 1/2
6) The Shining
7) The Conformist
Tokyo Story
9) Les Enfants Du Paradis
10) The Man Who Shot Libert Valance
11) The Silence
12) Umberto D
13) La Regle Du Jeu
14) Jules At Jim
15) Wild Strawberries
16) Lawrence of Arabia
17) Spellbound
18) The Hours
19) The Double Life of Veronique
20) The Best Years of Our Lives

This is the best written, dialogue driven film ever made. I depends entirely on smart dialogue and nothing else. No trick etc.

I’ll definetly go for it. Is the most fulminant piece of cinema I’ve ever seen. Is full of energy and originality. Also, it perfectly combines different faces of art. You can see it 30 times and not get bored at all… Is a lot to talk about ACO. The point is that it made history.

Kubrick’s movie is a real masterpiece!

First of all is very original and is brilliantly done: the image, the costumes, the MUSIC, the montage… all the technical elements are incredible.
The actor Malcolm McDowell is charming. He plays with so much passion, he fits so great on the character, that he makes you being
fascinated by Alex De Large… He can become obsessing…
The action is so vivid, energic, powerfull that makes your blood run faster trough your veins. It gives you a lot of adrenaline just looking at it…
Is amusing, thrilling, brainwashing, obsessing, counterculture, artistic, dynamic, political. It has all the elements for being the finest piece of cinema ever made…
Also, A Clockwork Orange imposed new fashions and influenced a lot of generations of teenagers…
What can I say more… This movie is a real recipe of art.

Highly controversial when originally released in 1971, A Clockwork Orange is most definitely Film genius Stanley Kubrick’s greatest work. The film shadows around a great plot which is this: A young teenaged gang member (droog) in futuristic Britain goes about at night raping, beating mugging, etc. with his other uniformed friends until he is turned in for the accidental killing of a woman. In jail he hears about a special treatment that can get anyone out of prison fast. Her tries it out and it turns out that the treatment is where Alex (the main character), must sit strapped into a chair and be forced to watch explicit films focusing on extreme sex and violence.

I am very disappointed that Amadeus is not on the AFI top 100 list. In 1985 it was the most popular film in history of the world. Sadly, people today are not connecting with the genius of this film.

One of the brilliant scenes occurs at the beginning when the young priest visits Solieri in the asylum and says, “all men are created equal in the eyes of God.” And Solieri replys, “Are they?” with subtle contempt for the lack of understanding this young priest has for reality. This example of sublime foreshadowing demonstrates the subtle beauty of this film. This understated elegance melds with the glorious music.

Another example of this subtle direction is during the gate scene. Near the end of the story, the funeral of Mozart begins with his Lacrymosa from the death Mass. As this music is playing in the background you see all of the characters walk to the gate of the city and stop, in the rain, as Mozart’s coffin rides on to the graveyard. This highly symbolic moment makes me cry everytime. This scene forces us all, as the mourners in the film, to stop at the gates of our own mediocry as true genius passes on to eternity. This is the message of the whole film told in a chilling, sad moment. As the mourners cry, and me too, we don’t cry for Mozart. We cry over the subliminal knowledge that we have been touched by greatness and we can never measure up to it.

A truly moving and humbling story. A lesson for us all. Put this film back on the Top 100 list.

I saw it in its first release in the 60s and several times in all its re-releases. It’s a movie that must be experienced on the biggest screen with the best print and sound to be fully appreciated. It was way ahead of its time. Unfortunately, audiences today have been de-intellectualized by Hollywood which thinks everything has to be fully explained by the narrative. 2001’s ambiguity was central to the appreciation of the film as a piece of art. It compels you to challenge your mind and your perceptions. If that is too much for the viewer, just kick back and enjoy the special effects which have been rarely equaled.

The best movie in cinematic history? Hardly. I have always had a problem with this film’s ending — which makes absolutely no sense at all — and why HAL would want to murder the crew in the first place. Both of these elements of the film are not adequately addressed or resolved.

It was never adequately explained what went wrong with HAL that he wanted to murder the entire crew. What was he going to do when he got to Jupiter? He has no physical body to leave the ship, so what was he going to do when he got there? Even if it was a malfunction in his “reason” circuits, why was this never addressed and pointed out as the plot went along? All that the two crewmen intimated was that they thought HAL was malfunctioning, but they never addressed or resolved exactly what it was in HAL’s circuitry that was going wrong. They left it up in the air and unresolved.

The ending was ridiculous and made absolutely no sense at all and looks as though it was lifted from an entirely different movie. What did it all mean? The “star” trails that streak by inside the black monolith in orbit around Jupiter, the strange psychedelic lights whizzing by as Bowman flies over some weird landscape, Bowman in his spacesuit entering the dining room seeing himself as an old man, Bowman on his death bed and finally Bowman as an embryo floating in space. It all seems to be so odd and disjointed from the rest of the movie that was so realistic and of the “hard” science fiction genre in tone and plot. The ending, on the other hand, was so abstract and “Twilight Zone-esque” that it really doesn’t fit. From all I have read and seen about this vague, open-ended ending of the movie, the filmmakers (Kubrick and Clarke) deliberately left the ending unresolved. To me, this is a major cop-out. Why make a movie where you leave the ending to be a mish-mash that makes no specific point? In the end, the movie says NOTHING. It leaves it to the viewer to fill in an ending that he THINKS it was about. No, this movie falls apart in the end and all that beautiful mystery leading up to the climax, falls apart and falls flat. A totally dissatisfying way to end an otherwise interesting movie.

I can’t understand why this not in the top 100 anymore… I have gone through 2 VHS tapes and scratched up a DVD with this movie. I was the weird kid who was in love with Mozart. Although very little of movie is true, being able to enter into minds that are artistically and dramatically different from others is outstanding. I’m mad it has been taken off the best films, it just proving to society that music and the arts are falling- and that can’t happen! What’s next in the artistic world to fall, motion pictures?!

This is my personal favourite for two main reasons: the perfect acting of Bette Davis (I can’t believe she didn’t get the Oscar for this one!!!) and Anne Baxter and the fact that you can’t get your eyes off the screen, not even for one moment - the script is so gooooood!!!! Thank God there are talented people on this Earth who produce this kind of movies.

It gave me my first glance at what trial by jury meant. A room full of men ready to condenm, save one. I will always remember “INNOCENT until proven guilty”

Barbara Lloyd
Quitman,Tx.

It’s impossible to pick one; tomorrow I could have chosen Jaws or Godfather, Raging Bull.

But this movie for me was a film that simply was brilliant, in every aspect a a film: writing, acting, directing, costumes and on and on. The story is a universal one; in that it entails mediocrity v.s. genius. Of course this opens up jealousy, revenge, and plotting. All of them executed to perfection. How this film missed the AFI 100’s and a film like Six Sense made it, is beyond me.

It also made me a fan of heir Mozart

A Clockwork Orange has been overlooked many times in the past. This movie, directed by a film genius, is one of only a few that have made my perspective on movies change. The storyline had me sitting through this with a huge smile on my face. The music, charcters, and language really kept me in awe. If a 24hr marathon was on of just this movie, I would watch it without a moments thought. It is the best movie that has ever been made.

I believe the list 10 years ago had ‘Amadeus’ at around 50something so when the latest list completely omitted the movie altogether I was outraged. It is my all time favorite movie and I guess due to the fact that it isnt very popular anymore, lesser films made the list this year while this gem is now endangered and damn near close to forgotten. Sad, sad commentary.

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE MOVIE BUFF POLL 6/23/07 - TOP 100

1. Brokeback Mountain - 121
2. The Godfather - 76
3. Gone with the Wind - 44
4. Star Wars - 43.
5. Casablanca - 42
6. The Shawshank Redemption - 42
7. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - 34 [note: Return of the King - 11]
8. Titanic - 34
9. To Kill a Mockingbird - 21
10. Citizen Kane - 20
11. The Sound of Music - 20
12. The Empire Strikes Back - 20
13. It’s a Wonderful Life - 19
14. Lawrence of Arabia - 17
15. American Beauty - 17
16. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 16
17. Schindler’s List - 16
18. The Godfather II - 15
19. Raiders of the Lost Ark - 15
20. Pulp Fiction - 15
21. Doctor Zhivago - 15
22. Goodfellas - 13
23. Vertigo - 12
24. The Third Man - 11
25. The Best Years of Our Lives - 10
25. On the Waterfront - 10
25. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - 10
25. Fight Club - 10
25. Jaws - 10
30. The Graduate - 9
30. Singin’ in the Rain - 9
30. The Quiet Man - 9
30. Memento - 9
30. The Color Purple - 9
35. Sunset Boulevard - 8
35. All About Eve - 8
35. Breakfast at Tiffany’s - 8
35. Rocky - 8
35. The Princess Bride - 8
35. Gladiator - 8
35. Braveheart - 8
35. Back to the Future - 8
43. Chinatown - 7
43. Raging Bull - 7
43. A Clockwork Orange - 7
43. Fargo - 7
43. Blade Runner - 7
43. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 7
43. Moulin Rouge - 7
43. Forrest Gump - 7

51 - 59 [6 votes each]
Almost Famous, Amadeus, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Deer Hunter, Patton, Psycho, Some Like It Hot, Taxi Driver, The Wild Bunch

60-66 [5 votes each]
Annie Hall, E.T., The Green Mile, Out of Africa, Rear Window, The Searchers, The Sting

67-90 [4 votes each]
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Aliens, Ben-Hur, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Crash, Dances with Wolves, The Exorcist, A Few Good Men, Field of Dreams, Good Will Hunting, Heat, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, King Kong, LA Confidential, Magnolia, The Matrix, Requiem for a Dream, The Right Stuff, Roman Holiday, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Ten Commandments, The Usual Suspects

91-122 [3 votes each]
First 10: “Official” Selections for Top 100:
American Graffiti, City Lights, The General, The Grapes of Wrath, Network,
North By Northwest, Notorious, Shane, Silence of the Lambs,
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Next 22: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Airplane, Apollo 13, Becket, The Big Lebowski, The Breakfast Club, The English Patient, Full Metal Jacket,Funny Farm, Ghostbusters, Gunga Din, Inherit the Wind, Local Hero, Mary Poppins, Million Dollar Baby, Mulholland Drive, Philadelphia, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Shining, Splendor in the Grass, Superman

INELIGIBLE [2006]
The Departed - 18
V for Vendetta - 7

High Vote-getters among non American (or British) Films
Spirited Away - 7
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 5
4: Once Upon a Time in the West, Passion of the Christ, Pan’s Labyrinth
2 votes: City of God, Ikiru, Life is Beautiful, The Motorcycle Diaries,
The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Pianist

tHE FESH APPROACH TO SCIENCE FICTION. IT HELD UP PRETTY WELL WITH KEEPING UP WITH ORIGINAL STORY. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY WAS MARVELOUS, AND THE MUSIC WAS SUPERB.

The most beautiful film on the list. A work of art.

THIS IS TOP 10 MOVIE EVER MADE AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSIC OR W.A.MOZART.SUCH DIRECTORY AND DIRECTORY IS 50% OF MOVIE YOU WILL FIND TODAY IN TRACES,AT LEAST NOT IN HOLYWOOD.IT WAS ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLYWOOD MILOS FORMAN AND THANKS GOD HE MADE ANOTHER TOP TEN MOVIE ONE FLEW OVER…STILL ON 100 LIST.THANK YOU MR.FORMAN FOR YOUR MASTERPIECE WORK.

Year’s ago when I first saw the movie, I was much younger and was disappointed when it won Best Picture. When I watched it again several years later, I quickly came to realize how wonderful a movie it is. I have read a great deal about Mozart and the movie did justice to possibly the greatest muscian of all time.

Great script, top notch acting, not a wasted scene in this movie. Enjoy it as much every time I see it.

The fact that 2001 still hasn’t cracked the top 10 of AFI’s list is a real travesty. Kubrick is a true genius of cinema, and 2001 is clearly his greatest film. Kubrick ranks with Kurosawa and Welles as one of the greatest directors ever. What makes 2001 so great is that it is open to many different interpretations. John Lennon once compared it to a religious experience. So much is conveyed in the film without dialogue such as the nature of consciousness, human nature, and the struggle for survival across millenia. The direction, cinematography and soundtrack are flawless. If there is a year 3001, I am confident people will still consider this one of the the true greats of cinema.