Grab Bag Draft Sign up/Interest

Almost 3 weeks later and we've had 1 partial reveal. Pretty damn weak imo.

I would have finished my rankings much sooner, but it took a long time to watch every film made in the years that were selected. Without further ado, here we go.

Top year that went undrafted: 1986
Ferris Bueller, Aliens, Big Trouble in Little China, Stand By Me, Hoosiers, Top Gun, Platoon, The Color of Money, Crocodile Dundee, and Highlander all stand out.

On to the years that were drafted. I'm doing this from 1st to 10th and not bothering with spoilers.

1st place: 1980 (filthy)
Empire Strikes Back is the best movie of the best film series ever made. Airplane! Caddyshack, and the Blues Brothers are 3 all-time great comedies that didn't just come out in the same year, but were all released within weeks of each other. The Shining and Friday the 13th are both all-time hororr films, and The Gods Must be Crazy is an underrated classic that made me laugh so hard it hurt when I first saw it in the theater. Flash Gordon was awesome and Ordinary People also came out that year. And throw in a few more classic comedies with 9 to 5 and Private Benjamin. This was an easy #1 pick.

2nd place: 1994 (Zeus)

Forest Gump won the Oscar and it doesn't really hold up, but it's still a fun film. On the other hand, both Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption are all-time heavyweight great films. Clerks doesn't hold up these days but it's still a fun watch. Leon is another great film that I loved. Star Trek Generations was pretty good. Clear and Present Danger doesn't get the credit it deserves. Maverick was a fun romp. The Ref was a great dark comedy. Ace Ventura was a great ridiculous comedy.

3rd place: 1975 (Nich)

This year was a little bit thin on volume, but the top films are elite. Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail are all amazing. '75 also had some great clut hits like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Death Race 2000, and Rollerball.

4th place: 1968 (Aaron)

Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Odd Couple all hold up after 50+ years. Bullitt is a classic.

5th place: 1957 (Xander)

12 Angry Men and Bridge on the River Kwai are 2 of the finest films ever made. An Affair to Remember is fantastic. I'll admit I liked the 3:10 to Yuma remake better than the original. Old Yeller made me cry.

6th place: 1998 (Zurvan

Saving Private Ryan is probably the best war film ever made. Truman Show was ahead of its time. Rounders is a classic, especially in the 2P2 forum. Armageddon is a classic film about an earth killing meteor. The other meteor film... not so much. The Thin Red Line was a favorite of mine.

7th place: 1975 (Ferenc)

This was a hard year to judge. Ferenc suggested Carrie (a campy horror film that's far from Stephen King's best), Obsession (which I admittedly haven't seen), and Taxi Driver, which isn't very rewatchable. On the other hand, 1975 also has Rocky, Network, All the President's Men, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and The Bad News Bears, all of which I love.

8th place: 1999 (Rick)

Matrix was a huge film, but I don't really love it as much 25 years later. Fight Club is an epic, amazing film, and stands out as the best of the year and one of the best of the decade. Office Space is a favorite and is one of the most quotable films ever made. The Green Mile is a poor man's Shawshank. The Phantom Menace is unwatchable. American Beauty... meh.

9th place: 1995 (D1)

Plenty of good films. No great films. Se7en isn't Fincher's best film. Casino isn't Scorcese's best film. Braveheart doesn't hold up. Mallrats isn't Kevin Smith's best film. Usual Suspects has one of the best twist endings of all time but the rest of the film is so-so. '95 is a good year, but nothing stands out.

10th place: 2015 (eb)

I liked The Martian. The Big Short is good. Mad Max: Fury Road is not so good. Spotlight was okay. Nothing else from that year jumps out at me.

These are the current standings.

I'm really not surprised I finished last after reading that sentence.

😆

Best Fantasy Movies SLOW REVEAL

OK I'm going to start with the movies that I'd listed as my favourites that weren't picked. I listed 5....and only one got picked which will be revealed as number 1!

In no particular order.....

1) The Fellowship of the ring
The best Lord Of The Rings movie it balances whimsy with action incredibly well and IMO demands the most of the acting performances. The deaths hit home the most (GANDAAAALF) and as an introduction to a series that has dominated my life since (I did my English dissertation on the Gods of the lord of the rings....) it holds an extremely special place in my heart

2) The two towers
The second best LOTR movie. I think the battle sequence at Helms Deep is the best long form battle in cinema- it contains more epic moments and jump out your seat elements that any other battle scene I've watched (although it doesn't include the single greatest battle sequence....)
additionally, whilst its not as tight as fellowship there is a concreteness and flow of storyline that still keeps you glued the whole way through

Also how ****ing cool was this scene:

Whenever I see double doors now I try and copy it

3) Edward Scissorhands

IMO the best Tim Burton movie thats not Big Fish.
Really cool movie and a great acting performance too from JD

4) Labryinth

This one is tough for you guys to get, and, the reason mostly is that my dad and I watched it a few times together so it's got a very close space in my heart. I dunno how well I'd have ranked it if you guys picked it but I think that personal bias overcomes and questions I have on quality

5) TO BE REVEALED

I ran out of popcorn. Going to get another tub.

There were nine submissions:

- Return Of The Kind, Filthy Vermin
- The princess bride, Aaron
- Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, Bolt
- Green mile, Zurvan
- Zardoz, French
- Pans Labyrinth- d1
- Monthy python and the holy grail- nich
- Spirited Away - eyebooger
- Donnie Darko - rick
- Swiss army man- Xander

Of this list...there were three I actively just don't like.

We'll start with them:

9th place: Zardoz- Ferencl
Maybe I'm just too wired up on modern movies and have had my focus destroyed by a combination of ADHD and TikTok, but jfc, I (a) had no idea what was going on in this movie, and, (b) no ability to pay attention
It's just so indulgent and clearly a passion project or a movie where the creators were given way too much freedom.

not for me

8th place- Pan’s Labyrinth - D1
I saw this in the cinema when it came out, and, I was a bit younger, so watched a recap instead of the full movie (sorry.)

But I didn't like it at the time, and, nothing in the recap made me change my mind.

I think I might be "empirically" wrong on this one based on the critics reviews, but, I just don't "get" it.

7th place- Harry Potter & the prisoner of Azkaban - bolt
Eh look, I think the Harry Potter movies are mostly trash.

The main three child actors are asked to do too much (including in this film) and they just aren't good enough at acting to keep me within the zone.

Also, it think the plots of Harry Potter have too many threads to easily transfer in to film- and- I don't think its successful here. Where Peter Jackson succeeds, in exchange for incredibly long movies, Cuaron just doesn't do it for me. Its too long winded, and, like Zardoz, I just found myself picking up my phone frequently through my rewatch

OK now for the placing movies....

These were all admittedly very good, but, the top 5 were "fantastic" and escalated to a level that unfortunately number 6 just couldn't match:

7th place - Swiss Army Man - Xander

Pretty weird, but, very enjoyable.
Rough around the edges though, and, not a classic by any stretch of the imagination

It's a fart movie after all

6th place- Green Mile

A truly lovely movie that I've adored my whole life. I don't think it hits the heights of the rest of the top 5, which, are all elite movies, but, it's an excellently well made adaptation that has some top tier acting performances and hard hitting scenes

5th place- Donnie Darko- Rick

When I was 15 I'd imagine this would rank first place as it definitely has an element of edge-lord to it.

I think it's a great movie, with some really smart bits & funny moments. The Gylennhalls are great, and, there are numerous iconic moments that you can see referenced across other media.

Its the definition of a classic, and, I think it delivers it (sorry Pan's Labryinth)

4th place - Spirited Away - Eyebooger

P.cool movie, and, choosing animation was imo an inspired choice as it was different enough to the others to make me extra motivated/focused (some bias in this obv.)

I hadn't actually seen it before, and, my wife didn't care for it (she doesn't care for any of these lol, but, this is the only one she watched with me). The music was banging, and, the sense of magic stayed throughout.

Love it. Highly recommended

The next 3 I've seen a bunch, and, are all super top tier.

3rd place- Monty Python and the holy grail - Nich

I will only use meme's for my review:

lol.

2nd place- Return Of the king- Filthy Vermin

Sad for Filthy to chose the least excellent of the three unbelievable Lord of the rings movies.

This is potentially one of the greatest scenes in all movie:

I think I've watched it like 500 times. Super awesome.

The movie suffers from an extended ending, which does tug at the focus a bit.

It's still a 9/10 in total, and, I just love it. Fantastic choice

1st place- the princess bride - Aaronk

a) WIFOM being a werewolf phrase that comes from this movie/book is hilarious
b) this movie just bangs.

I read the book first, then watched the movie expecting it to not live up to standards, but, they are equally good imo.
The castings on point, the chemistry is great, and, even for a movie of its time, you are sucked in to the reality of the moments which is key for fantasy and where some other movies suffered.

Banging choice.

Was very happy to rewatch

Ah **** sorry I missed Green mile.

let me add it in to the post its meant to be in. knew there was something wrong

This is meant to be 10th, 9th and 8th. Sorry

I certainly wasn't expecting to get 2nd last with Pan's Labyrinth wtf.

I was following along as it was posted, and thought I finally did well in a category. I shoulda known

im in the middle of rewatching lord of the rings. im in the middle of two towers right now.

parts of this movie are more boring than i remember. now, i think lotr is arguably the greatest achievement in cinema... if it's not the greatest, it's one of the greatest.

i also think for purposes of drafts like this, it should be one movie. it was shot all at once. it's one story.

but anyway... the parts about the politics of rohan, and the romance triangle with aragorn and the two women are really boring. and longer than the extended endings of rotk

meanwhile the exciting parts of rotk are bonkers. i mean it's like 8 hours leading up to the pay off... sam takes the ring! frodo is captured by orcs! they trek through mordor and destroy the ring! and the insane battle at minas tirith, and the face off at the black gate... i mean just all objectively great stuff.

and sure the eagles at the end are a joke, and it kept ending over and over lol, but i didn't mind that personally. i can totally see how it's not for everyone though.

ROTK is still probably in my top 20 movies of all time....

It's a masterpiece but yh the ending just gets me. Its the only one of the movies I've stopped watching because the eye catching bits don't matter so much

But agreed about seeing them as a totality and the fact they are the greatest of all time

I legitmiately think it might be a blind spot with me because ive been chastised for this opinion before

I just dont get it

That's ok. There are plenty of movies I don't get that most people seem to love...like Star Wars.

more on return of the king vs two towers:

i forgot they took out the best part of two towers book(the end, when they fight shelob), and put it in the return of the king movie lol