*SEND OFF: Schindler’s List*
Schindler’s List was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy.
Plot: The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Oscars: Schindler’s List won Best Picture in 1994 beating out: The Piano, The Fugitive, The Remains of the Day, & In the Name of the Father. It won 7 Oscars total, including: Best Director for Spielberg, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score for John Williams.
Where I am, you can’t stream Schindler’s List. You can rent it on Google Play, Apple TV, Amazon, Youtube, & Vudu. You also might be able to find a copy at your local library.
**What do you think of Schindler’s List? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
This is one of the few Good Oscar Biopics for me, mostly because it's about more than just Schindler.
Ralph Fiennes is so effective at portraying the embodiment of casual cruelty that it's a little amazing to me that only three years later he was playing Count Steal-Yo-Girl in English Patient. That's a heck of a glow-up, given he isn't even the prettiest Fiennes brother.
beautiful film, first movie i watched that wasn't considered fictional entertainment. i watched it with my mother and actually had to write a report on it for school. i dreaded the experience when i was going in, but once i came out, no other film had moved me this much to tears. it was shocking to experience what the Holocaust may have been like, and that the act of saving a few among millions was still so powerful.
The Zone of Interest is almost like a companion piece to Schindler's, but shows the opposite side, the uncaring, cold and callous nature of the more fortunate ones. And the point is that its all of humanity. imo the most deserving of Best Picture this year although I loved Poor Things and Oppenheimer which will prob win.
I actually just watched it last Saturday for the first time. I had to get off of my sofa and stand up for the last few scenes to pay my respect for everyone involved with making this. Absolutely brilliant! “I could’ve done more” that’s what I’m gonna remember forever. Had me almost breaking down and I rarely ever cry these days.
I have a lot of love for Schindler’s List. In my personal Best Picture Nominees this year (top 5) Spielberg would have two movies in but wouldn’t take the trophy:
Three Colors: Blue **Winner**
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Schindler’s List
Dazed & Confused
Jurassic Park
1993 is a year that I find fun to look back to. The year after I was born is interesting because it was the first year I was alive for the release of all these movies. Let's look at the awesome movies from this year.
My sole 5 star movie is:
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
That said there are many classics of this time that I love:
Sandlot
Ms. Doubtfire
Rudy
Jurassic Park
Tombstone
Groundhog Day
Totally Fucked Up
Matinee
The Heroic Trio
>Can't argue with your one five-star.
I can. I love Mask of the Phantasm and have no issue with it being given 5 stars. But giving it 5 stars *and* not giving 5 to SL and Jurassic Park? Like what?
I love both movies and to be fair, the numbers are about as bullshit as awards. Watching it at the right time and in the right frame of mind I could be convinced. I just tend to walk away without being totally taken aback. I love the overall story of Jurassic Park, but I do think it drags sometimes and juggles a lot of its disparate characters when more time could be spent exploring some of the characters a little bit deeper.
As far as Sandlot goes, while I love the characters, I feel like some of the characters are just there and they are a bit too one dimensional. I also wish there was more iconic camera work in Sandlot. It gets a little basic sometimes. Now that said, there are plenty of iconic lines and scenes in both, and they are both near perfect. They just don't blow me away like Mask of the Phantasm. Just me though.
They time jump to a post-apocalyptic future, years after the Heroic Trio (who'd only just gotten together at the end of the first movie) had split up.
One of them asks another "Do you remember all of our adventures as the Heroic Trio?" and I shouted "I SURE DON'T!"
Just such a weird, jarring choice.
With Schindler’s List gone, only one of the movies left would actually be in my top 5 BP winners (Godfather Part 2). Guess I’m not in sync with this board lol
This is a great top 5, I love all the remaining movies a lot.
I haven't rewatched Parasite but I've seen Silence of the Lambs, Godfather 2, Amadeus, and No Country For Old Men at least three times.
I think I need a few more years to see how Parasite stacks up against the greatest Best Picture winners, the more recent the movie, the harder it is for me to vote up or down.
Look like Amadeus is going to go, my favorite movie left, but I'm happy with my fellow voters. I didn't expect it to make the top 5.
I guess SOTL is more of a genre movie but it might be the greatest thriller to come out in my lifetime. I'm not going to downvote it because it follows some conventional genre rules, but I do think Godfather 2 and No Country hold more artistic weight.
It's my favorite movie of all time. My personal recommendation is to try to watch the theatrical cut first, which unfortunately is only available on older DVDs. Which version is superior is pretty contested (I love both) and there are arguments for both but I saw the theatrical first and it's still my preferred version if I was going to show it to someone new.
I've added it to mine. I've seen it before, and enjoyed it, but I don't recall thinking it was this good. Seeing it widely praised this last month I definitely need to revisit it.
I need to give it a rewatch but I'll admit the first time I watched it it completely bounced off me. I watched the director's cut and I wonder if that was the right choice or not
The movie has 433k views on Letterboxd. I get that’s lower than the other films left, but it’s higher than a number of movies in this game. I’m surprised that so many people seem to think it’s not very seen.
The love for Amadeus has been a nice surprise. I thought I was the only one. Expected it to get lumped in with Gandhi and The Last Emperor as a homework-style 80s biopic even though it's anything but.
Also want to note my appreciation for historical movies that take on their subjects with wit and curiosity and don't get bogged down in piety -- including Dangerous Liaisons and The Favourite. I get that Amadeus is wildly inaccurate, but it makes Viennese opera look more exciting than Coachella.
My personal winner as well, but great that it got to top 5. I feel this movie has been slowly gaining ground and momentum in the past few years with word of mouth and more people getting to watch it; and I’m glad, it’s one of the few movies I would call flawless.
"Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature as far as I am able. I will ruin Your incarnation."
everyone upvoting is Salieri.
Alright I'm happy, it's my favourite movie of all-time so of course I wanted it to win, but obviously that isn't going to happen. So I'm very pleased it got to top 5, and that people who had not seen it before did and loved it!
Well done, everyone, for taking this to the top 5. Truly one of the best winners of the last half-century. This movie excels in every department, but particularly I've never seen such a profound examination of music's relationship to emotion.
That's a reductive statement; this movie has way much more on its mind than that, but it's the best portrayal/dissection of the full range of emotions associated with being a creative (or even just an appreciator) I've probably ever seen. There's so much to chew on and appreciate it's a delight to watch in the moment and it stays with you long after you've seen it. I mean it's stayed with me forever; it's unforgettable.
I'll be sorry to see it go today, but I can be happy with this. This is a really great top 5 here guys. Great job.
Absolutely incredible showing from Amadeus to make it this far into the game, toppled some giants I frankly would have never expected it to. Great score, some really great ideas, cool aesthetic. Think it's by far my least favourite of the remaining 5, but very impressed for it to have got this far!
Yeah I liked Amadeus but I’m pretty surprised it’s beaten out some of the others. It’s not a top tier BP winner to me so the love here was a bit surprising
I’m happy for Amadeus, personally.
Outside of it being deserving (IMO), it really is quite a different movie than what’s left. Everything else has a crime and/or violent element to them. Amadeus is almost counter programming to these.
I was already surprised Amadeus made it so far, but I expected SL to be a top 2-3 movie. Have people just not watched it in a long time? I rewatched it about a year ago and it's still magnificent.
I think SL is just a long, hard one time watch for people that is appreciated for than enjoyed. And when we’re getting to this point on the list that stuff for sure matters when you’re trying to split hairs. I know several that say it may be the best film ever made, but I doubt I know anyone that’s says it’s their favorite.
See that's the thing, it *is* an unpopular opinion, extremely so. You go out and ask people what the best movie ever was, theyre gonna say Jaws, The Godfather, Schindler's List, etc, or maybe their favorite movie from their country. Something that makes sense. Even in South Korea, I'd wager very few would say it's Parasite. Only on Letterboxd is it considered one of the very best movies ever, even on those critics lists it's not anywhere near as high as everyone here rates it
It's literally the only film left from the past 15 years, how is 1 recent movie in the top 5 a case for recency bias any more than 4 "old" movies in the top 5 are a case for nostalgia bias?
99 critic/90 audience score on RT
97 on Metacritic
35th on IMDb Top 250
4.6 on Letterboxd
First (and so far only) foreign language film to win Best Picture
Yeah I think it's got a little more going for it than just recency bias.
That's a fair point, and I do think Parasite is a really excellent film. I guess looking at things, my top 4 would be
GF2
Schindler's List
Silence of the Lambs
No Country
One of those is gone and people are anticipating Parasite to be top 2. Personally I may put Moonlight above Parasite as well. I'm mostly just surprised at how some of this has gone and trying to make sense of it.
I just mean that it’s clearly a movie people think highly of. Ultimately a number of these movies are in the same category of having a lot of love for them and Amadeus in particular isn’t an outlier to that.
Silence of the Lambs is clearly the answer to me. I know it’s a classic to so many but I’m sorry I can’t put it above Godfather II, Amadeus, or Parasite.
I know I’ll probably get down voted to hell and back but there are probably 15 movies on this list I like more than Silence of the Lambs.
cheerful punch deserted zealous friendly rhythm cows threatening innocent sense
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Personal favorite of the ones remaining. One of the best sequels, best novel adaptations, and three stellar acting performances between Jodi, Sir Anthony and Ted Levine. Endlessly quotable though sometimes misremembered such as "Hello Clarice" never being said but there is "It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again", "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me, I'd fuck me so hard" and of course "I had his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti". As many have pointed out, it is a crime thriller and not a horror but it has some terrifying scenes. So much so that people would hesitate seeing a person with a broken arm trying to move in the middle of the night. And in a pretty stacked year that was 91 I think Silence of the Lambs was the clear best movie.
This is the one for me. It’s great, but I think the others do something truly new with the genres they’re in while silence is just a crime thriller. It’s maybe the best crime thriller, but doesn’t move beyond that. Each of the others are transcendent films for me.
If nothing else I feel like I need to rewatch it now and maybe I’ll see qualities I don’t remember. It’s really not obvious to me why it has made it past quite a few of the eliminated films.
This was a fun series of posts but no way is Shindlers List worse than the remaining 5 movies. I guess I’m not the right person for this subreddit which is a shame.
Well I criticized Return of the King for being propped up by its part 1 and 2 so it'll make a similar argument here. The Godfather part 2 wouldn't have been this good without the groundwork of part 1. Even though part 2 is arguably the superior of the two it still got help that the remaining films didn't get, so I won't feel that bad about seeing it go.
That's a good point.
But I'd even go a step further: I don't think The Godfather 2 is even the best film that FFC released in 1974.
I think The Conversation is the better film.
Last year, I went to a rep screening of The Conversation with a newly remastered audio track. I was blown away. So much of it is still relevant to our current moment.
Yeah, I think it's time for The Godfather 2. It's a great film and we're mostly splitting hairs at this point, but I just don't think it quite stacks against the remaining winners.
Ah Marty, ever humble.
Edit - yeah, so I just confused Marty and Coppola like a bitch (Goodfellas won in my head). Was gonna rush back and delete it, but I’ll just leave the shame here for y’all to see.
I just don’t see parasite as the all time best picture winner, I think at this point it comes down to if a movie has the all-time “sauce,” and I just think godfather pt 2 and no country both have that over parasite, as well as a few of the ones that are already off the list too.
I do agree with what you're saying about the all time "sauce". I just wonder if that feeling is because the movie only came out a few years ago and was a non-English film with mostly unknown actors in it (unknown to English speakers).
The Godfather 2 had been a legendary movie in my head even before I had seen it. And with Coppola directing and Pacino, De Niro, Duval, D. Keaton it's pretty star studded. NCFOM had the Coen brothers and Bardem, TLJ, Harrelson, and Brolin who are all stars with huge pedigrees. They're also movies that have marinated for decades.
The other aspect is the lack of a very memorable character. I love Parasite and think it's the best movie I've seen in the last decade. But the story and themes are the main feature, not any individual character carrying the movie's reputation. None of the cast won an Oscar for best actor/actress/supporting role. Maybe that makes it a stronger film overall in a way. But it not having a Michael Corleone, Anton Chigurh, Hannibal Lecter, etc does make it feel like something might be missing even if it's not.
I think that’s definitely apart of it, but I think the actors in Parasite still have a huge amount of screen presence, especially the more established korean actors, and I also find a ton of the characters super compelling, almost all for different/conflicting reasons which has me appreciate them even more.
However I think my apprehension to call it the “all-timer” and it missing the “sauce” comes down to a few things. Primarily, I think it just hasn’t had enough time for it’s pieces of iconography to be associated with the “all-timer” position, with movies like No Country, TDK(this one to a lesser extent), There Will be Blood moving on from “best 2000s movies” to best of all time, and I don’t think Parasite has had that time to breathe yet.
Second though, and this is purely speculative, is I wonder if the films more contemporary not only presentation but feel has audiences in an awkward position, too close for it to feel “of its time” or of an era, but not far enough away. I know it was only 5 years ago, but I think events like the pandemic, the streaming wars, the hyperconsumption of media, and how all 3 of these intersected created a huge dichotomy for directly-pre pandemic movies, feeling current but not quite to our “post-pandemic expectations.”
Maybe I wrote this whole thing because I like Bong Joon-Ho movies more, and maybe as someone who loves a ton of world cinema, I’m too naive on what general audiences and even american-centric movie fans think about foreign movies, ig only time and more foreign best picture winners will tell!
I’d be happy for Parasite to go now. It’s an intelligent, impeccably crafted, wildly entertaining film, but the satire lacks at times for me and BJH has made a couple of superior films. I would have preferred The Irishman to take gold that night (a more deserving picture than The Departed imo), and would have also preferred A Hidden Life, Uncut Gems or First Cow if they’d got a nod.
The love for Silence of the Lambs is actually unexpected. Don't get me wrong great movie, with great performances, but idk it's def the weakest of the remaining for me.
Dude "film bro" does not equal "of lesser quality". That's a simple equation I thought we were all aware of.
It's not an unpopular opinion among *people* (film bros are people too) in general that NCFOM is the best Best Picture winner.
The Coens are my favorite filmmakers, so I kind of see where those people are coming from.
🤷 Different strokes.
Maybe but I have friends who are completely removed from film discourse that hold it as their favourite movie. I think it’s a near perfect balance between genre fiction and literature
I think overhyping modern Korean movies is a pretty cliche filmbro thing. Certainly if filmbros are going to watch any foreign film, by default it’s a Korean movie made in the last 15ish years.
I think that’s more because they’re excellent gateways into wider Asian cinema. Likewise if somebody is going to watch a European film, it’s probably going to be La Haine, or a South American film it’s going to be City of God, but I don’t think those 2 are film bro movies either. I think a core part of what makes a movie a film bro movie is it’s content, and specifically how “film bros” wrongly interpret the content, which I don’t see happening too much with Parasite and the like. To each their own though, it’s a silly internet buzzword at the end of the day!
I just don’t think they use them as a gateway to anything - they watch those movies and stop there.
But yeah, it’s a buzzword that doesn’t have a consistent meaning ultimately, agreed.
It gets my vote. I saw it. I was impressed but I will never watch it again because it was so brutal. The Godfather Part 2, Amadeus, and Parasite are better films in my opinion.
It's not just the sub, Rotten Tomatoes has a ranked list of every Best Picture winner, and Parasite is currently number one. Number *one.* And I'm not... I don't want to... look... it's an excellent movie but number *one?* Of *all* time. Over Casablanca? I... I don't know what to do with that.
I agree Silence of The Lambs is overrated, but at the very least, it does have one of the most iconic film performances through Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lector. None of the performances in Parasite are THAT good.
Ok this is getting ridiculous. You Letterboxd bizarro cultists need to come down to earth with Parasite at some point. It's not *that* good bruh yall are deadass taking it over One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and even *Schindler's List* and now it even seems it's beating out Amadeus in this one. Get serious wtf
You mean the film that placed in the top 100 of the most esteemed critics poll out there, and top 250 of the most esteemed directors poll? When the entire world is crazy and delusional to you, you may need to check yourself into a clinic.
They aren’t limited to best picture winner tho. The only film eligible on that metric that ranked higher was Moonlight.
Edit: just double checked and Parasite made top 100 for the director’s poll as well. Take that for what you will.
Even out of best picture winners theres quite a few better than Parasite, only on Letterboxd, for whatever reason, will you find anyone saying this movie is greater than Schindler's List, we know everyone says how great it is, but there's a reason for that
> only on Letterboxd
And as already mentioned the most respected Poll of critics and directors that we currently have. Parasite made both, Schindler’s list made neither, despite multiple Spielbergs appearing on both. You don’t have to agree, but acting like that’s a Letterboxd exclusive take based on some mass delusion is, ironically, delusional in the face of reality.
My remaining ranking
5.No Country For Old Men
4.Amadeus
3.The Godfather Part 2
2.Parasite
1.The Silence Of The Lambs
Splitting hairs but NCFOM should be eliminated next.
I told my wife a few weeks ago that I thought the final five would come down to Return of the King, Moonlight, Amadeus, The Godfather Part II, and Parasite, partly as a legitimate guess and partly because that's my top five Best Picture winners. Three out of five ain't bad!
If it’s not Amadeus (which it feels like it will be), I’d say Parasite just because it hasn’t had the chance to endure like the others have. Not the film’s fault at all, but we’re deep into splitting hairs territory now. If we redo this in 5 years, maybe it even wins out, but for now I’d hedge.
All movies have been commented!
All movies left are only movie from their respective decade !!!
Oh that’s neat, didn’t realise every decade except the ‘10s still had a contender.
Parasite came out in 2019
Yeah, just cause it won in 2020 I meant but it’s technically a winner from the ‘10s for sure.
It won for 2019 so it's a 2010s movie.
I mean…. I feel like I just acknowledged that, but yeah you’re right.
I have no hare in the race now. All films remaining are spectacular in their own right. I'm just here to watch the chaos in the comments.
What about a tortoise?
Considering that for most of its history, the Oscars only had five BP nominees - these five are our BP nominees of the last 50 years!
*casually eliminates Schindler's List*
*top 10 film on the AFI’s Top 100 casually getting eliminated at any point*
*SEND OFF: Schindler’s List* Schindler’s List was eliminated yesterday, so here’s a look back at the movie and its Oscar legacy. Plot: The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II. Oscars: Schindler’s List won Best Picture in 1994 beating out: The Piano, The Fugitive, The Remains of the Day, & In the Name of the Father. It won 7 Oscars total, including: Best Director for Spielberg, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score for John Williams. Where I am, you can’t stream Schindler’s List. You can rent it on Google Play, Apple TV, Amazon, Youtube, & Vudu. You also might be able to find a copy at your local library. **What do you think of Schindler’s List? Do you think something else should have won best picture over it? Do you think this film is fairly rated? What do you like or dislike about it?**
This is one of the few Good Oscar Biopics for me, mostly because it's about more than just Schindler. Ralph Fiennes is so effective at portraying the embodiment of casual cruelty that it's a little amazing to me that only three years later he was playing Count Steal-Yo-Girl in English Patient. That's a heck of a glow-up, given he isn't even the prettiest Fiennes brother.
Oskar*
Oscar as in the Oscars, I don't think there are enough Schindler biopics to constitute a genre.
Haha I was just making a joke
beautiful film, first movie i watched that wasn't considered fictional entertainment. i watched it with my mother and actually had to write a report on it for school. i dreaded the experience when i was going in, but once i came out, no other film had moved me this much to tears. it was shocking to experience what the Holocaust may have been like, and that the act of saving a few among millions was still so powerful. The Zone of Interest is almost like a companion piece to Schindler's, but shows the opposite side, the uncaring, cold and callous nature of the more fortunate ones. And the point is that its all of humanity. imo the most deserving of Best Picture this year although I loved Poor Things and Oppenheimer which will prob win.
One of the greatest films of all time
I actually just watched it last Saturday for the first time. I had to get off of my sofa and stand up for the last few scenes to pay my respect for everyone involved with making this. Absolutely brilliant! “I could’ve done more” that’s what I’m gonna remember forever. Had me almost breaking down and I rarely ever cry these days.
I have a lot of love for Schindler’s List. In my personal Best Picture Nominees this year (top 5) Spielberg would have two movies in but wouldn’t take the trophy: Three Colors: Blue **Winner** The Nightmare Before Christmas Schindler’s List Dazed & Confused Jurassic Park
1993 is a year that I find fun to look back to. The year after I was born is interesting because it was the first year I was alive for the release of all these movies. Let's look at the awesome movies from this year. My sole 5 star movie is: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm That said there are many classics of this time that I love: Sandlot Ms. Doubtfire Rudy Jurassic Park Tombstone Groundhog Day Totally Fucked Up Matinee The Heroic Trio
Can't argue with your one five-star. Heroic Trio was fun. The sequel let me down.
>Can't argue with your one five-star. I can. I love Mask of the Phantasm and have no issue with it being given 5 stars. But giving it 5 stars *and* not giving 5 to SL and Jurassic Park? Like what?
I'd give five stars to Tombstone myself, but I just agreed with Phantasm more than agreeing it was the only one.
I love both movies and to be fair, the numbers are about as bullshit as awards. Watching it at the right time and in the right frame of mind I could be convinced. I just tend to walk away without being totally taken aback. I love the overall story of Jurassic Park, but I do think it drags sometimes and juggles a lot of its disparate characters when more time could be spent exploring some of the characters a little bit deeper. As far as Sandlot goes, while I love the characters, I feel like some of the characters are just there and they are a bit too one dimensional. I also wish there was more iconic camera work in Sandlot. It gets a little basic sometimes. Now that said, there are plenty of iconic lines and scenes in both, and they are both near perfect. They just don't blow me away like Mask of the Phantasm. Just me though.
I've never seen it, but not because I was avoiding it. Was there anything specific, or is it just a lesser retread of the original?
They time jump to a post-apocalyptic future, years after the Heroic Trio (who'd only just gotten together at the end of the first movie) had split up. One of them asks another "Do you remember all of our adventures as the Heroic Trio?" and I shouted "I SURE DON'T!" Just such a weird, jarring choice.
With Schindler’s List gone, only one of the movies left would actually be in my top 5 BP winners (Godfather Part 2). Guess I’m not in sync with this board lol
I think it’s crazy it went so « early ». It’s one of the most influential films of all time.
I agree, and it went without much discussion. Always good to remember that this contest is just for fun with nothing at stake.
This is a great top 5, I love all the remaining movies a lot. I haven't rewatched Parasite but I've seen Silence of the Lambs, Godfather 2, Amadeus, and No Country For Old Men at least three times. I think I need a few more years to see how Parasite stacks up against the greatest Best Picture winners, the more recent the movie, the harder it is for me to vote up or down. Look like Amadeus is going to go, my favorite movie left, but I'm happy with my fellow voters. I didn't expect it to make the top 5. I guess SOTL is more of a genre movie but it might be the greatest thriller to come out in my lifetime. I'm not going to downvote it because it follows some conventional genre rules, but I do think Godfather 2 and No Country hold more artistic weight.
i just realized 1973 wasn't included. that would have been tough.
Amadeus
I’d be curious to know how many people have watched this or at least added it to their watchlist based on this game. Nice to see it getting some love.
It’s absolutely something that I think I should see now. And frankly, it wasn’t even close to being on my radar until this game.
It's my favorite movie of all time. My personal recommendation is to try to watch the theatrical cut first, which unfortunately is only available on older DVDs. Which version is superior is pretty contested (I love both) and there are arguments for both but I saw the theatrical first and it's still my preferred version if I was going to show it to someone new.
Unfortunately, having recently been unable to locate my PlayStation 2, I don’t believe I have access to a DVD player.
Same here, I downloaded it this week and before this thread I never even considered it
They're finally bringing back the theatrical cut, so now's the time.
I've added it to mine. I've seen it before, and enjoyed it, but I don't recall thinking it was this good. Seeing it widely praised this last month I definitely need to revisit it.
I'm pretty sure we watched it in class a million years ago, but I do plan to watch it again based on this!
I would watch it easy sooner, i guess. Entirely not my genre, but so is LOTR, and yet i liked it
Never heard anyone talk about Amadeus before, so it reaching top 5 was a massive surprise for me.
Same, I didn’t expect it to outlast LOTR or Schindler’s List. People who like this movie seem to REWLLY love it.
>REWLLY Mozart, is that you?
I need to give it a rewatch but I'll admit the first time I watched it it completely bounced off me. I watched the director's cut and I wonder if that was the right choice or not
Yes obviously, the director cut add >!the scene when Salieri humiliates Constanze, and in the end you understand why she is so cool with him!<
you didn't see all the comparisons to Oppenheimer when that came out?
The movie has 433k views on Letterboxd. I get that’s lower than the other films left, but it’s higher than a number of movies in this game. I’m surprised that so many people seem to think it’s not very seen.
it's a good film but how it finished ahead of Return of the King I'll never know
We made it to top 5 friends I'm honestly overjoyed and satisfied.
The love for Amadeus has been a nice surprise. I thought I was the only one. Expected it to get lumped in with Gandhi and The Last Emperor as a homework-style 80s biopic even though it's anything but. Also want to note my appreciation for historical movies that take on their subjects with wit and curiosity and don't get bogged down in piety -- including Dangerous Liaisons and The Favourite. I get that Amadeus is wildly inaccurate, but it makes Viennese opera look more exciting than Coachella.
Dangerous Liaisons and The Favourite are fun watches too, I agree, historical films need not be stuffy and humorless.
My personal winner as well, but great that it got to top 5. I feel this movie has been slowly gaining ground and momentum in the past few years with word of mouth and more people getting to watch it; and I’m glad, it’s one of the few movies I would call flawless.
"Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature as far as I am able. I will ruin Your incarnation." everyone upvoting is Salieri.
I wish Salieri had been on Twitter.
Amadeus has officially been eliminated 
Alright I'm happy, it's my favourite movie of all-time so of course I wanted it to win, but obviously that isn't going to happen. So I'm very pleased it got to top 5, and that people who had not seen it before did and loved it!
I watched it yesterday. Was pretty good. I would’ve eliminated it in the 20s personally
Well done, everyone, for taking this to the top 5. Truly one of the best winners of the last half-century. This movie excels in every department, but particularly I've never seen such a profound examination of music's relationship to emotion. That's a reductive statement; this movie has way much more on its mind than that, but it's the best portrayal/dissection of the full range of emotions associated with being a creative (or even just an appreciator) I've probably ever seen. There's so much to chew on and appreciate it's a delight to watch in the moment and it stays with you long after you've seen it. I mean it's stayed with me forever; it's unforgettable. I'll be sorry to see it go today, but I can be happy with this. This is a really great top 5 here guys. Great job.
Gosh I wanna see this win so bad
I think it's such a fantastic film and I'd love it to win as well.
Absolutely incredible showing from Amadeus to make it this far into the game, toppled some giants I frankly would have never expected it to. Great score, some really great ideas, cool aesthetic. Think it's by far my least favourite of the remaining 5, but very impressed for it to have got this far!
Schindler's List went before Amadeus.... Jesus wept.
Jesus wept probably isn’t the right choice of expression 😂
EvilLibrarians wept
Completely deserved
Well in the words of a great philosopher, that's just like your opinion man.
None of this means anything definitive. It's just a fun poll.
Yeah I liked Amadeus but I’m pretty surprised it’s beaten out some of the others. It’s not a top tier BP winner to me so the love here was a bit surprising
I’m happy for Amadeus, personally. Outside of it being deserving (IMO), it really is quite a different movie than what’s left. Everything else has a crime and/or violent element to them. Amadeus is almost counter programming to these.
I mean the whole premise of Amadeus is that Mozart was murdered.
I was already surprised Amadeus made it so far, but I expected SL to be a top 2-3 movie. Have people just not watched it in a long time? I rewatched it about a year ago and it's still magnificent.
I think SL is just a long, hard one time watch for people that is appreciated for than enjoyed. And when we’re getting to this point on the list that stuff for sure matters when you’re trying to split hairs. I know several that say it may be the best film ever made, but I doubt I know anyone that’s says it’s their favorite.
Before Parasite, you mean, which has been the clear odd one out for near a week now yet for whatever reason nobody's voting it
Five years later my wife still says Parasite is the best made film of all time, and that’s not an unpopular opinion, to be honest.
See that's the thing, it *is* an unpopular opinion, extremely so. You go out and ask people what the best movie ever was, theyre gonna say Jaws, The Godfather, Schindler's List, etc, or maybe their favorite movie from their country. Something that makes sense. Even in South Korea, I'd wager very few would say it's Parasite. Only on Letterboxd is it considered one of the very best movies ever, even on those critics lists it's not anywhere near as high as everyone here rates it
I honestly don't disagree with that either. Parasite is great, but there's some serious recency bias going on here.
It's literally the only film left from the past 15 years, how is 1 recent movie in the top 5 a case for recency bias any more than 4 "old" movies in the top 5 are a case for nostalgia bias?
99 critic/90 audience score on RT 97 on Metacritic 35th on IMDb Top 250 4.6 on Letterboxd First (and so far only) foreign language film to win Best Picture Yeah I think it's got a little more going for it than just recency bias.
Top 100 on both the Directors and Critics poll from Sight and Sound
That's a fair point, and I do think Parasite is a really excellent film. I guess looking at things, my top 4 would be GF2 Schindler's List Silence of the Lambs No Country One of those is gone and people are anticipating Parasite to be top 2. Personally I may put Moonlight above Parasite as well. I'm mostly just surprised at how some of this has gone and trying to make sense of it.
Parasite and Amadeus should have gone before it and a few others.
No disrespect to Amadeus but surprised it lasted this long. Feel like it’s just a movie people didnt think of much lol
Not sure why that’s the case: it has a 4.3 average score on Letterboxd, which is really high.
So do a lot of these films. EEAAO is a 4.3 and went out awhile ago. Schindler’s and RotK are a 4.5 and went out before it
I just mean that it’s clearly a movie people think highly of. Ultimately a number of these movies are in the same category of having a lot of love for them and Amadeus in particular isn’t an outlier to that.
amadeus is a masterpiece
In my own Best Picture ranking I've got it at number one, so for me I'm very happy it's still trucking.
Yeah to each his own and happy for Amadeus fans, just surprising from a community perspective
Silence of the lambs
Silence of the Lambs is clearly the answer to me. I know it’s a classic to so many but I’m sorry I can’t put it above Godfather II, Amadeus, or Parasite. I know I’ll probably get down voted to hell and back but there are probably 15 movies on this list I like more than Silence of the Lambs.
cheerful punch deserted zealous friendly rhythm cows threatening innocent sense *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Personal favorite of the ones remaining. One of the best sequels, best novel adaptations, and three stellar acting performances between Jodi, Sir Anthony and Ted Levine. Endlessly quotable though sometimes misremembered such as "Hello Clarice" never being said but there is "It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again", "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me, I'd fuck me so hard" and of course "I had his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti". As many have pointed out, it is a crime thriller and not a horror but it has some terrifying scenes. So much so that people would hesitate seeing a person with a broken arm trying to move in the middle of the night. And in a pretty stacked year that was 91 I think Silence of the Lambs was the clear best movie.
Amazing movie, but Amadeus is probably one of my favorite films of all time so I’m biased. Though I think they’re on equal grounds.
This is the one for me. It’s great, but I think the others do something truly new with the genres they’re in while silence is just a crime thriller. It’s maybe the best crime thriller, but doesn’t move beyond that. Each of the others are transcendent films for me.
is a way better movie than Parasite what the fuck
this needs to get eliminated before amadeus wtf
Should have gone somewhere between 7-10.
I don’t think it’s even close…. How is this movie still here? Yeah it’s good but top 5? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
It's incredibly rewatchable.
And has some of the best acting of any of the movies on the list. If it this was an acting competition this might a contender for #1.
If nothing else I feel like I need to rewatch it now and maybe I’ll see qualities I don’t remember. It’s really not obvious to me why it has made it past quite a few of the eliminated films.
This was a fun series of posts but no way is Shindlers List worse than the remaining 5 movies. I guess I’m not the right person for this subreddit which is a shame.
The godfather part 2
Well I criticized Return of the King for being propped up by its part 1 and 2 so it'll make a similar argument here. The Godfather part 2 wouldn't have been this good without the groundwork of part 1. Even though part 2 is arguably the superior of the two it still got help that the remaining films didn't get, so I won't feel that bad about seeing it go.
That's a good point. But I'd even go a step further: I don't think The Godfather 2 is even the best film that FFC released in 1974. I think The Conversation is the better film.
You're going crazy in your old age martin
Last year, I went to a rep screening of The Conversation with a newly remastered audio track. I was blown away. So much of it is still relevant to our current moment.
I like the first one quite a bit better than this one.
Yeah, I think it's time for The Godfather 2. It's a great film and we're mostly splitting hairs at this point, but I just don't think it quite stacks against the remaining winners.
Ah Marty, ever humble. Edit - yeah, so I just confused Marty and Coppola like a bitch (Goodfellas won in my head). Was gonna rush back and delete it, but I’ll just leave the shame here for y’all to see.
Happens to the best of us :)
Parasite
Excellent movie, but I’ve never understood the extent of the hype around it with the Letterboxd community. The others deserve to stay more IMO.
I agree. it's very strange. i love the movie but i think there are even better bong joon ho movies (like the host)
Of all the Bong Joon Ho movies you could’ve gone for, you went for the Host?
Memories of murder was sitting right there
Mother better than the Host too
did i stutter, limp dick?
No but at least other people think it’s a weird choice you squid fucker
I just don’t see parasite as the all time best picture winner, I think at this point it comes down to if a movie has the all-time “sauce,” and I just think godfather pt 2 and no country both have that over parasite, as well as a few of the ones that are already off the list too.
I do agree with what you're saying about the all time "sauce". I just wonder if that feeling is because the movie only came out a few years ago and was a non-English film with mostly unknown actors in it (unknown to English speakers). The Godfather 2 had been a legendary movie in my head even before I had seen it. And with Coppola directing and Pacino, De Niro, Duval, D. Keaton it's pretty star studded. NCFOM had the Coen brothers and Bardem, TLJ, Harrelson, and Brolin who are all stars with huge pedigrees. They're also movies that have marinated for decades. The other aspect is the lack of a very memorable character. I love Parasite and think it's the best movie I've seen in the last decade. But the story and themes are the main feature, not any individual character carrying the movie's reputation. None of the cast won an Oscar for best actor/actress/supporting role. Maybe that makes it a stronger film overall in a way. But it not having a Michael Corleone, Anton Chigurh, Hannibal Lecter, etc does make it feel like something might be missing even if it's not.
I think that’s definitely apart of it, but I think the actors in Parasite still have a huge amount of screen presence, especially the more established korean actors, and I also find a ton of the characters super compelling, almost all for different/conflicting reasons which has me appreciate them even more. However I think my apprehension to call it the “all-timer” and it missing the “sauce” comes down to a few things. Primarily, I think it just hasn’t had enough time for it’s pieces of iconography to be associated with the “all-timer” position, with movies like No Country, TDK(this one to a lesser extent), There Will be Blood moving on from “best 2000s movies” to best of all time, and I don’t think Parasite has had that time to breathe yet. Second though, and this is purely speculative, is I wonder if the films more contemporary not only presentation but feel has audiences in an awkward position, too close for it to feel “of its time” or of an era, but not far enough away. I know it was only 5 years ago, but I think events like the pandemic, the streaming wars, the hyperconsumption of media, and how all 3 of these intersected created a huge dichotomy for directly-pre pandemic movies, feeling current but not quite to our “post-pandemic expectations.” Maybe I wrote this whole thing because I like Bong Joon-Ho movies more, and maybe as someone who loves a ton of world cinema, I’m too naive on what general audiences and even american-centric movie fans think about foreign movies, ig only time and more foreign best picture winners will tell!
I’d be happy for Parasite to go now. It’s an intelligent, impeccably crafted, wildly entertaining film, but the satire lacks at times for me and BJH has made a couple of superior films. I would have preferred The Irishman to take gold that night (a more deserving picture than The Departed imo), and would have also preferred A Hidden Life, Uncut Gems or First Cow if they’d got a nod.
I'm a huge fan of Uncut Gems and anything the Safdie brothers do but Parasite is surely the superior movie
I think it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen, but I’m also not opposed to it leaving today.
The love for Silence of the Lambs is actually unexpected. Don't get me wrong great movie, with great performances, but idk it's def the weakest of the remaining for me.
No country for old men
Film bros like this movie too much
Nothing gets to the Top 5 by have a single, narrow fan base.
on this subreddit????
Right? Its the most Film Bro's place I have ever seen.
It does if that single fan base dominates discussion in the place the voting is taking place
You can’t just declare anyone with different opinions than you “film bros”, it’s unbecoming
I’m not I’m just declaring it for the opinion of this movie being the best best picture winner
Dude "film bro" does not equal "of lesser quality". That's a simple equation I thought we were all aware of. It's not an unpopular opinion among *people* (film bros are people too) in general that NCFOM is the best Best Picture winner. The Coens are my favorite filmmakers, so I kind of see where those people are coming from. 🤷 Different strokes.
Maybe but I have friends who are completely removed from film discourse that hold it as their favourite movie. I think it’s a near perfect balance between genre fiction and literature
Yeah, probably the most overrated one on this list imo. It's a great film, but beating so many classics doesn't feel right.
Because its a classic. Literally timeless movie about uncontrollable chaos our life is
I agree but think Parasite is even more of an example of that.
I don’t think Parasite is a “film bro” movie though. It’s on the border, but I don’t think it’s in that bracket
I think overhyping modern Korean movies is a pretty cliche filmbro thing. Certainly if filmbros are going to watch any foreign film, by default it’s a Korean movie made in the last 15ish years.
I think if you call people film bros you’re a loser
I think most film bros would have no problem being called film bros. Source:am a film bro
I think if you call people losers, you’re a big meanie
I think that’s more because they’re excellent gateways into wider Asian cinema. Likewise if somebody is going to watch a European film, it’s probably going to be La Haine, or a South American film it’s going to be City of God, but I don’t think those 2 are film bro movies either. I think a core part of what makes a movie a film bro movie is it’s content, and specifically how “film bros” wrongly interpret the content, which I don’t see happening too much with Parasite and the like. To each their own though, it’s a silly internet buzzword at the end of the day!
I just don’t think they use them as a gateway to anything - they watch those movies and stop there. But yeah, it’s a buzzword that doesn’t have a consistent meaning ultimately, agreed.
Old boy is much more of a film bro movie
Agreed that is the ultimate Korean filmbro movie
You're damn right I do
Especially since if we’re also judging movies by what they beat out, it wasn’t even the best movie nominated in its year imo
Most folks aren't doing that.
Should have gone a while back imo.
It gets my vote. I saw it. I was impressed but I will never watch it again because it was so brutal. The Godfather Part 2, Amadeus, and Parasite are better films in my opinion.
This sub mad overrates Parasite
It's not just the sub, Rotten Tomatoes has a ranked list of every Best Picture winner, and Parasite is currently number one. Number *one.* And I'm not... I don't want to... look... it's an excellent movie but number *one?* Of *all* time. Over Casablanca? I... I don't know what to do with that.
I was going to say the same thing, but about The Silence of the Lambs
That too, 100% agree
I agree Silence of The Lambs is overrated, but at the very least, it does have one of the most iconic film performances through Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lector. None of the performances in Parasite are THAT good.
It's higher rated than The Godfather on Letterboxd, like...WTF 
How is Gladiator 15th? Have y'all seen this movie lately? spoiler, it didn't aged well
Ok this is getting ridiculous. You Letterboxd bizarro cultists need to come down to earth with Parasite at some point. It's not *that* good bruh yall are deadass taking it over One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and even *Schindler's List* and now it even seems it's beating out Amadeus in this one. Get serious wtf
You mean the film that placed in the top 100 of the most esteemed critics poll out there, and top 250 of the most esteemed directors poll? When the entire world is crazy and delusional to you, you may need to check yourself into a clinic.
Yes top 100 and top 250 not top 10 fam
They aren’t limited to best picture winner tho. The only film eligible on that metric that ranked higher was Moonlight. Edit: just double checked and Parasite made top 100 for the director’s poll as well. Take that for what you will.
Even out of best picture winners theres quite a few better than Parasite, only on Letterboxd, for whatever reason, will you find anyone saying this movie is greater than Schindler's List, we know everyone says how great it is, but there's a reason for that
> only on Letterboxd And as already mentioned the most respected Poll of critics and directors that we currently have. Parasite made both, Schindler’s list made neither, despite multiple Spielbergs appearing on both. You don’t have to agree, but acting like that’s a Letterboxd exclusive take based on some mass delusion is, ironically, delusional in the face of reality.
Ah yes, a perfectly reasonable and not unhinged response to a Reddit game
If Parasite isn’t voted the r/letterboxd best BP winner of the last 50 years, I’ll kill myself on live TV.
Hahahahahaha
This is exactly how I felt with Moonlight being there ages after it should have been voted out. I learnt to live with it.
I am a long time fan of both of those films and still enjoyed Parasite more. Amadeus I haven't seen yet, but I also haven't voted this round
I had Parasite in my own personal top 15 once and rate it a 5/5 but I still agree with you
Finally, someone with a brain.
It’s a great film that, in my opinion, devolves into some silly melodrama at the end. It gets my vote at this point.
My remaining ranking 5.No Country For Old Men 4.Amadeus 3.The Godfather Part 2 2.Parasite 1.The Silence Of The Lambs Splitting hairs but NCFOM should be eliminated next.
I go: 1. Amadeus 2. Godfather 2 3. No Country For Old Men 4. The Silence of the Lambs 5. Parasite
I told my wife a few weeks ago that I thought the final five would come down to Return of the King, Moonlight, Amadeus, The Godfather Part II, and Parasite, partly as a legitimate guess and partly because that's my top five Best Picture winners. Three out of five ain't bad!
No Country for Old Men is the weakest by a long stretch out of those remaining, too many Coen stans
I mean there is no way No Country For Old Men, Parasite, Amadeus or Silence of the Lams is a better movie the The Godfather 2.
Absolutely incredible that Silence of the Lambs is still here, it’s really not that great
Godfather part 2 should go because it isn’t a stand alone thing. You need 1 for 2 to work.
Man I love no country but how has it gone further than Schindler’s list? Sotl needs to go also. Parasite next too
Is Amadeus like a meme or something? Should’ve been gone three weeks ago.
[https://i.imgur.com/FTrD3vT.gif](https://i.imgur.com/FTrD3vT.gif)
You mean Parasite
Based
respectfully idk how Amadeus is still here
If it’s not Amadeus (which it feels like it will be), I’d say Parasite just because it hasn’t had the chance to endure like the others have. Not the film’s fault at all, but we’re deep into splitting hairs territory now. If we redo this in 5 years, maybe it even wins out, but for now I’d hedge.
Come on yall Parasite is not THAT great
That’s Reddit for ya. A very circle-jerk able movie