In Lost in Translation, the two meet and develop a fond spark of friendship over the course of a few days, finding a bit of solace in the midst of their existential ennui. Meanwhile, Scarlett Johansson plays the new wife of a hotshot photographer who is stuck traipsing about the swanky hotel with nothing to do. Bill Murray gives one of his best performances (and certainly one that would define each subsequent performance of Murray's this century) as an aging star who gets a sweet deal to do a whiskey ad in Tokyo. Sofia Coppola's second feature is yet another stylish, lonesome success, taking the hazy, quietly humorous, but emotionally penetrating qualities of The Virgin Suicides and condensing them into a smaller, more successful story of two sad strangers in a giant neon town. Featuring Roy Scheider's greatest performance as the suave but damaged Fosse stand-in along with an incredible Jessica Lange as the Angel of Death, All That Jazz gets to the obsessive core of choreography and the reckless passion of an auteur. The film focuses on an avatar for the legendary choreographer and director behind Chicago, Pal Joey, and many other classics, as he struggles with his health, his addictions, and his artistry. The latter is one of the more artful, provocative, and haunting films of the '70s, and just happens to have some of the best musical numbers in cinema history.Īll That Jazz was the only film that Fosse both wrote, choreographed, and directed, and it's very purposeful - this is his damning, intimate autobiography told through hazy flashbacks, sudden jump cuts, allegorical figures, and bursts of brilliant music. While the 1950s was likely the greatest decade for the move musical (and several of them, such as The Band Wagon, Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Bothers, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, could easily be included here or in a top 100), it was Bob Fosse's pair of 1970s musicals, Cabaret and All That Jazz, which are arguably the two greatest of all time. Otherwise, the list would just represent seven or eight directors. For instance, most of the films here come from directors who have multiple masterpieces, but these directors will only be represented once. ![]() Note: To allow for more variety, this list will only include one film from any director. But, as Samuel Beckett wrote, "I can't go on. ![]() How important is the film to the culture at large? How much did it innovate and advance the medium? How influential has it been? Did it capture and reflect history in a wholly unique way? Does it express something about the human condition that practically nothing else has in the same way? Is it utterly perfect from all technical perspectives? Is it more entertaining and entrancing than any other two hours you could spend? Does it change the actual way in which you perceive the world? And still, we will miss so much, and you will not be satisfied. What makes something one of "the best" in its field, especially when there isn't hard data to qualify it, as in sports? Well, in cinema, as in most art, it depends on a variety of factors. However, there is something objective involved here. Of course, everything is subjective with art, so there are no right answers here (and most of the ludicrous comments below will complain about how these aren't "the best" films of all time). The critic's job, however, is to bridge the objective and the subjective, so that others can walk this bridge and access things they otherwise may never have. ![]() It's a collection of 'great' films that are easily enjoyable, endlessly enlightening, aesthetically exquisite, or emotionally significant. A cinematic 'Best Of' list is not very different. We are curators of taste, all of us, and we collect and remember what we enjoy. We are all creating miniature 'Best Of' lists every day, whether it's the specific selection of websites you visit or apps you use, the distinct brands you purchase, the same foods you seek out at grocery stores, or the restaurants you visit.
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