Where is the comedy? Ebert was a film critic for Chicago Sun Times from 1967 to 2013, until his death. Alfred Hitchcock 6. Inspired probably by its 1958 re-release (that was the first time I saw it), Welles' film jumped to the #1 spot in 1962, and has remained on top ever since. "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part II" (Coppola) 5. 23. A particularly special time was when they both loved a movie so dearly and deeply that you could feel it flowing from the TV screen. You can play with these lists. I am faced once again with the task of voting in Sight & Sound’s famous poll to determine the greatest films of all time. You can submit up to 50 titles yourself, just by going here and checking out a list of titles that, unbelievably, still aren't on the registry. In that year, "Citizen Kane" was a main runner-up. A list of 10 films compiled on Letterboxd, including Casablanca (1942), Citizen Kane (1941), Floating Weeds (1959), Gates of Heaven (1978) and La Dolce Vita (1960). Please draw up a list of ten films only, in order of preference or, if you'd rather, alphabetically. Or are these kinds of variations just built into the nature of these kinds of polls? Kings of the Road (Wenders) Once a film has appeared in my S&S top 10, it has been canonized, and is forevermore entitled to quote me. Having gained the honor of being on the list, each title could be retired, and a whole new set concocted ten years later. A big question: Where is Ozu? There have been some other great ones but to me Roger stands out above the rest. The first time I saw it in the magazine, I was much impressed by the names of the voters, and felt a thrill to think that I might someday be invited to join their numbers. "The Battleship Potemkin" (Eisenstein) 7. Now it is time for me to commence this ten-yearly ritual, and decide on my list for 2012. Orson Welles 2. But, for now at least, I'm more interested in the process. Ingmar Bergman 9. (In 2002 only five of the 145 participating critics voted for it.) He was the first Movie Critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. And then stopped clicking. US. I saw someone predict that Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" would make it into the all-time top 10 this time around. "Persona" (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) -- not "Wild Strawberries," "The Seventh Seal," "Smiles of a Summer Night," "Cries and Whispers," "Fanny and Alexander"... Chaplin ("City Lights," in a three-way tie for #50 with critics) has almost fallen out of the Top 50. (1) An objective list of the 10 films they truly believe are the all-time best. Sight & Sound editor Nick James explained the goals and the process this way in his e-mail invitation to participants: We realise that this is not the easiest of tasks, but we want you to know that this is a major worldwide endeavour that will help us all to remind people of film's rich history and to refine what we mean by the best of cinema. Given the much wider and younger selection of voters in 2012, ist-watchers have been speculating: Will another movie (leading candidate: Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," number 2 in 2002) supplant "Kane" at the top of the list? Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Spike Lee Receives American Cinematheque Award, America Has to Come to a Reckoning: Director Sam Pollard on MLK/FBI, The TV Homages of WandaVision are an Amusing, Unfulfilling Distraction. Time Bandits (1981) ", "Au Hasard, Balthazar" (Robert Bresson," 1966) -- formerly "Pickpocket. Ebert is widely regarded as the greatest film critic of All Time. In Memoriam 1942-2013. George Lucas • Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher. Roger Ebert was a national treasure, and his death in 2013 left a smoking crater in the world of film criticism. "The General" (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926) -- #34 critics. Only Mizoguchi in the Top 50, ahead of "Sansho Dayu," "The Life of Oharu," "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum"... "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Kubrick, 1968) -- still light-years ahead of "Dr. Strangelove," "Barry Lyndon"... "Vertigo" and "Psycho" (Hitchcock, 1958 & 1960) made the critics' Top 50 -- but no "Rear Window," "Notorious," "NxNW," "Shadow of a Doubt"... "L'Avventura" (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) -- not "L'Eclisse," "La Notte," "Red Desert. "Vertigo" (Hitchcock) 9. ", So I stare at these titles and recall transcendent experiences. So, why not treat them as such, and vote your passion? My guess: He made so many great films that the voted were scattered. "8 1/2" (Fellini) 4. "8 1/2" (Fellini) 9. Federico Fellini 3. "Official Masterpieces" for certain directors (although I'd choose different titles): "Tokyo Story" (Ozu, 1953) -- #3 with critics; #1 with directors. "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part II"  3. We also invite you to add a short commentary after the list explaining why you have chosen the films in your top ten. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. A list of films that Roger Ebert, in addition to giving 0 out of 4 stars, described in his reviews as horrible to a life-changing degree. I mean, if "Citizen Kane" were to drop a few slots after 50 years, does that really indicate that its statue as a work of art is declining after 50 years at #1? Kristin's assessment of "the point" of these exercises is the one most people would probably cite if you asked them why they would care about looking over a list of "The Greatest Movies Ever Made," or some such thing. For what it's worth, here's my list from 2002, in alphabetical order. From 1962 to 2002 "Kane" has remained at the top of the poll (46 critics voted for it last time). Followed by "The General" (#34), "Some Like It Hot" (#42), "PlayTime" (#42), and "City Lights" (#50). "Tokyo Story" (Ozu) 6. Apart from my annual year’s best lists, this is the only list I vote in – and have done since 1972. Here are Roger Ebert's most hardcore disses and most brutal movie reviews of all time. They are flat-out fun (even if they are regarded as "classics"). OK, so by the time you read this the Top 50 may already have been announced and that will give us something else to talk about. Star Wars 1977, 121 min. Anyway, that's just my own speculation. Then they print out all the vote totals, and reveal who voted for what. Apocalypse Now " (1979) 3. " Most popular director (among critics): Jean-Luc Godard ("Breathless," "Contempt," "Pierrot le fou," "Histoire(s) du cinema"). Roger Ebert's 10 greatest films of all time Robert Duvall in "Apocalpse Now," directed by Francis Ford Coppola. "Black Narcissus" (1947) 5. " Long-suffering readers will have read many times about my dislike of lists, especially lists of the best or worst movies in this or that category. This year, a whopping 846 top-ten ballots (mentioning 2,045 different titles) were counted, solicited from international "critics, programmers, academics, distributors, writers and other cinephiles" -- including bloggers and other online-only writers. 4) "Rules of the Game" (Jean Renoir, 1939) Action • … Jean Renoir. They are, in fact, snapshots of the zeitgeist in flux - a family photo of film culture's priorities and tendencies in that year, and that is all. Vertigo (Hitchcock). Shoah (1985) Ebert… 5) "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, 1980) How will we know whether or not our first glowing reaction to "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (2010) will wilt within a few years? You might choose the ten films you feel are most important to film history, or the ten that represent the aesthetic pinnacles of achievement, or indeed the ten films that have had the biggest impact on your own view of cinema. "Rashomon" (Kurosawa) 9. It has sentimental value. Ebert's Best Film Lists1967 - present If I must make a list of the Ten Greatest Films of All Time, my first vow is to make the list for myself, not for anybody else. The Night of the Hunter " (1955) 2. " Spike Lee Receives American Cinematheque Award, America Has to Come to a Reckoning: Director Sam Pollard on MLK/FBI, The TV Homages of WandaVision are an Amusing, Unfulfilling Distraction. For the magazine's decade-by-decade breakdown of its famous poll, click here. The 136-page issue features the critics' Top 100, a new essay on the top film, short essays on every film in our top 10, an essay on changing critical tastes in our poll, top 10s by decade, nationality and genre, the directors' Top Ten, the critics' top directors and directors' top directors, and individual top-ten entries from 100 critics and 100 directors, from Woody Allen to Edgar Wright. I say so even though I was on it. You cannot vote for, say, the "Three Colours Trilogy" unless you want to use up three choices out of ten. (3) Strategic votes, such as a shift from "Notorious" (1946) to "Vertigo" as Hitchcock's best. Michael Atkinson ("Listomania!") Atkinson, I think, summarizes the situation perfectly. "Vertigo" (Hitchcock) 3. I was teaching a film course in the University of Chicago's Fine Arts Program, and taught classes of the top ten films in 1972, 1982 and 1992. I don't think so. ", "Viaggio in Italia" (Roberto Rossellini, 1954) -- formerly "Rome: Open City. These are the best family films of 2020, determined by the weekly reviews on this site. Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. Is "Floating Weeds" a greater film by Ozu than "Tokyo Story?" Now their value has shot way up with the use of slide shows, a diabolical time-waster designed to boost a web site's page visits. Perhaps because his filmmaking has always been secondary to his persona? In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. Then there is a list of the Top Directors, which never corresponds to the Top Films (this is just like the Oscars). Must a Sight & Sound movie need, after all, to be profound? ", "Caché," "Fargo," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "The Music Room," "Persona," "The Rules of the Game," "The Third Man. "Dr. Strangelove" (Kubrick) 6. The newest film on the 2002 list was the combination of "The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather, Part II" (1974) -- but they won't be allowed to count as one title for 2012. Kristin Thompson wrote last spring of its place in the S&S poll: "Ozu's first film to became well known in the west didn't make the list until decades later, in 1992, and yet despite the discovery of 'Late Spring' and 'Early Summer' and 'An Autumn Afternoon,' 'Tokyo Story' remains the Ozu film.". Eric Rohmer's 1962 ballot (image courtesty BFI): More poll-related releases and dates from Sight & Sound: 3-4 August: our redesigned and expanded September 2012 special poll issue is sent to subscribers, and should be available on newsstands (on Friday 3rd in London, and across the UK by Saturday 4th). 15 August: the complete critics' poll of 846 entries is published in interactive form on this website. My guess is that there are three ways that people fill out their lists. (2) Propagandistic votes, selecting a film no one else may vote for, with the hope of drawing attention to it. But what other titles might deserve a place? In a field with much competition, Number One on my list of Most Shameless Lists has got to be Time mag's recent list of the "Best 140 Tweeters." Stanley Kubrick 7. UPDATED (08/01/12): Scroll to the bottom of this entry to see my first impressions of the newly announced critics' and directors' poll results. Sunrise " (1927) 4. Roger Joseph Ebert (/ ˈ iː b ər t /; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author.He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. "Raging Bull," (Scorsese) 6. Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941) flopped in its initial release but was rediscovered in the 1950s after RKO licensed its films to television in 1956. 10) "8 1/2" (Federico Fellini, 1963), 1) "Tokyo Story" (Ozu, 1953) 2) "Citizen Kane" (Orson Welles, 1941) Some of these reviews are available to see again on YouTube, but for the record, here are the 23 films that the team loved the best. "Sunrise" (Murnau) 9. Roger Ebert Critic, Chicago Sun-Times. Roger Ebert Ten Greatest Films of all Time Pulitzer Prize winning Critic, Roger Ebert, named ten films he believed to be the greatest of all time. "2001: A Space Odyssey," (Kubrick) 7. ("For Thursday's food section, can you list the 10 funniest movies about pumpkin pie?") The Greatest Films of All Time … ", "Pather Panchali" (Satyajit Ray, 1955) -- first film in the "Apu Trilogy. Now, however, it is that time in the Wheel of the Decades when I make out the one single list of interest to me. Billy Wilder 8. There was a bit of both (1) and (2) represented there. Roger Ebert was an American Film Journalist and Critic. Will there be any silent films in the top 10? Why do I value this poll more than others? 6) "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) "Singin' in the Rain" (also a musical) is still the highest-ranking comedy at #20. Zoetrope "Apocalypse Now" (1979) directed by Francis Ford Coppola Once Roger’s reviews became available online, I would always read them. ☞ How we made the Greatest Films of All Time poll ☞ See all our coverage of this poll ☞ See our annual best-films lists and more surveys And families need movies too! Followed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer ("The Passion of Joan of Arc," "Ordet," "Gertrud"), Francis Ford Coppola ("Apocalypse Now," "The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II"), Andrei Tarkovsky ("Andrei Rublev," "Mirror," "Stalker"). I think Roger Ebert is the best movie reviewer that we have ever had. Not in the slightest. On the one hand: ... as we commonly acknowledge, we need films to acquire a few barnacles with the passing of time before we anoint them. Akira Kurosawa 4. In 1991 film critic Roger Ebert made a list of what he considered the 10 greatest films of all-time. Strange how 2 people that have such a blatant disregard for what are widely considered 2 of the best films of all time!! ", "The 400 Blows" (Francois Truffaut, 1959) -- not "Jules & Jim" or "Day for Night.". "Citizen Kane" (Welles) 2. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Buñuel) 9) "Mirror" (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974) You bet I did. Though there's been no rule about how much time should pass between a film's initial release and its eligibility (the Library of Congress's National Film Registry requires that selections be at least ten years old), most of the selections ten to have stood the test of time for at least a decade or two. "Lawrence of Arabia" (Lean) 5. Read what Roger Ebert had to say at Metacritic.com - Page 195 "The Bicycle Thief" (De Sica) 6. Roger Ebert, Actor: Siskel & Ebert & the Movies. Has it fallen in my estimation? Held for the first time in 1952, this poll has been conducted ever since ("The Bicycle Thief," "City Lights," "The Gold Rush," "The Battleship Potemkin," "Louisiana Story," "Intolerance," "Greed," "Le Jour se Leve," "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and a tie involving "Brief Encounter," "Le Million" and "The Rules of the Game"). Murnau, 1927) Fight Club when reviewed by Roger Ebert was called, "Macho porn -- the sex movie Hollywood has been moving toward for… This year, however, the magazine warns that we cannot have ties, and if we vote for, say, "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part II" they must count as separate films, leaving us only eight more available spaces. 5) "Sunrise" (F.W. You will notice "Gates of Heaven" is no longer there. Notice that Bergman is included, and yet none of his films is in the director's top ten. 21. There must be an Ozu. 10 in 1962, it appeared mid-list in 1992 entirely thanks to Gaumont's 1989 revamp and subsequent rerelease. Are we so sure that "Uncle Boonmee," for instance, isn't as mysterious and resonant and fascinating as "Ugetsu monogatari" (1953), or that "Once upon a Time in Anatolia" isn't in fact superior to Antonioni? In the same year, the directors as a group voted for: 1. Then I think of other wonderful films, like "The Thin Man." Roger Joseph Ebert was the all-time best-known, most successful movie critic in cinema history, when one thinks of his establishing a rapport with both serious cineastes and the movie-going public and reaching more movie fans via television and print than any other critic. L'Avventura " (1960) I guess it's possible, but if it happened, would that indicate that the movie's reputation had increased significantly between 2002 and 2012? That's right, on 140 pages of a slideshow. The pandemic led families to spend more time together in 2020 than usual, unable to leave the house. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Roger Ebert on the autobiographical intensity of both films' directors Every 10 years since 1952, British film magazine 'Sight and Sound' has published a list of the 'Ten Greatest Films of All Time.' In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Same thing with Billy Wilder. Does it all work, and does the film still hold together, years later? Also, whatever happened to former favorites "Modern Times" (my own Chaplin of choice), "The Gold Rush" and "Monsieur Verdoux"? 3) "Tokyo Story" (Yasujiro Ozo, 1953) Francis Ford Coppola 5. If you're not interested in those things, you don't have much reason to care about these lists. "Reservoir Dogs," on the other hand, is probably better regarded now than it was when it was released -- and, I'd argue, rightly so. Therefore, every ten years interest centers on a kind of ghoulish death watch to see if Kane has survived for another decade. 10) "Bicycle Thieves" (Vittorio De Sica, 1948). ... "Roger Ebert loved movies." At least " Sunrise ," " 2001: A Space Odyssey " and " 8 1/2 " have healthy senses of humor, but "Kane" and "Rules of the Game" are the only movies in the top 10 with the propulsive vitality of (screwball) comedy. The point of such lists, if there is one, is presumably to introduce people who are interested in good films to new ones they may not have seen or even known about. I am sure than Eisenstein's " The Battleship Potemkin " is a great film, but it's not going on my list simply so I can impress people. Last spring, Kristin Thompson suggested a poll method a little more like the National Film Registry (or, for that matter, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame): I think this business of polls and lists for the greatest films of all times would be much more interesting if each film could only appear once. For example, although "8 1/2" is widely considered Fellini's best film, did the directors vote it higher than the critics because it's about a director? But, for now at least, I'm more interested in the process. 7 August: the September 2012 issue is available to download as a Digital Edition - as an individual purchase from Apple's Newsstand, or by subscription from our Subscriptions Bureau. 7) "The Godfather" (Coppola, 1972), "Vertigo" (Hitchcock, 1958) [tie] "The Seven Samurai" (Kurosawa). I grew up watching Sneak Previews and would seek out the movies that Roger and his partner, Gene Siskel touted. Well, Boorman’s Excalibur was always a mixed bag (Roger Ebert famously called the film both “a mess” and “a wondrous vision”), but for sword-and-sorcery movies from that era, rarely did cinematography, vision, and craft, pair together so well. But don't forget about the National Film Registry. In 2002, the critics as a group voted for: 1. It could be one of several. We like good movies, and we like to be equipped to participate in the cultural conversation, so we like to discover movies that experts recommend, and that may broaden our horizons. Now, however, it is that time in the Wheel of the Decades when I make out the one single list of interest to me. [...]. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. For years they had value only in the minds of feature editors fretting that their movie critics had too much free time. The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles) Sight & Sound has announced it will live-tweet the 2012 "Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time" (@SightSoundmag #sightsoundpoll) August 1, and as I write this the night before, I of course don't know the results. Roger Ebert's Article: "Top 20 Movie Sites 1997" "The Greatest Films of All Time represents an astonishing amount of thought and work by Tim Dirks, who is so modest he doesn't even byline his detailed, evocative essays on great films. Looking over great new movies from the past decade, I come up with some contenders: "Chop Shop," "Departures," "Juno," "Monster," "No Country for Old Men," "Pan's Labyrinth," "A Separation," "Shame" (2011), "Silent Light," "Synecdoche, New York. Sunrise (Murnau) Roger Ebert genuinely loved movies, and seemed to take bad filmmaking as a personal affront. 22 August: the complete interactive directors' poll of 358 entries follows. "Singin' in the Rain" (Kelly, Donen). See if you can name them. (Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" and Murnau's "Sunrise" tied for #7 on the 2002 list, but the latter was released in 1927 with a Fox Movietone sound-on-film musical score and sound effects.). 6) "Apocalypse Now" (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979) In our biggest ever film critics’ poll, the list of best movies ever made has a new top film, ending the 50-year reign of Citizen Kane. Considering that the list had no meaning at all except as some hapless intern's grindwork, I'd say that was a bold masterstroke. I'm going to make a leap of faith and assume that "The Decalogue" won't count as ten. The only vote I ever cast that became somewhat notorious was for Errol Morris's first feature, "Gates of Heaven," a documentary about a pet cemetery. There may be no underestimating the difference between being disappointed by a classic viewed in a shabby repertory cinema on a beat-up print in the 1970s, and being awakened to it today on your state-of-the-art home screen, after a good digital shave-and-haircut restoration. About this list: If I must make a list of the Ten Greatest Films of All Time, my first vow is to make the list for myself, not for anybody else. Do you think I would click through 140 pages just looking for my name? That seems like a reasonable way to interpret it, but I wonder how accurate it really is. When it comes to grouped films, such as the "Godfather" series, please choose by individual film alone ("The Godfather" or "Godfather II" etc.) Citizen Kane (Welles) "The Rules of the Game" (Renoir) 4. By 2002, its glamour had already worn off, and its stock dropped once again. "Citizen Kane" (Welles) 2. Recently they've started splitting them into two lists. Should I include Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," which after all I described as "a perfect film?". How did the magazine present this? Some years they poll critics and directors, and combine the results. Sight & Sound analyzed the 2002 results in admirable depth, commenting on every finalist, listing every voter and revealing who they voted for. UPDATE: (08/01/12): Sight & Sound has just tweeted the new Top Ten in its 2012 international critics' poll: 1) "Vertigo" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) All of his films are universal. Ranking ahead of "Our Hospitality," "Sherlock, Jr.," "Steamboat Bill, Jr."... "Ugetsu Monogatari" (Mizoguchi, 1953) -- #50 critics. David Lean 9. Floating Weeds [1959] “Floating Weeds,” like many of his films, is deceptively simple. 1." The order does not matter to the voting system - we will allot one vote only to each of your ten films. Nashville (Altman) 9) "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) 8) "Man with a Movie Camera" (Dziga Vertov, 1929) considers the inevitable fluctuations inherent in constructing such hierarchical love-rankings: It's strange to think that this accountants'-reflex, oligarchical canon-building phenomenon had never occurred to anyone before Elizabeth became queen - not regarding any cultural product, at least. As for what we mean by 'Greatest', we leave that open to your interpretation. "The Rules of the Game" (Renoir) 9. Many would choose "Taxi Driver" as Scorsese's greatest film, but I believe "Raging Bull" is his best and most personal, a film he says in some ways saved his life. Every 10 years, the ancient and venerable British film magazine, Sight & Sound, polls the world's directors, movie critics, and assorted producers, cinematheque operators and festival directors, etc., to determine the Greatest Films of All Time. It tells of a … Drama (290) Romance (77) Comedy (72) Thriller (67) Crime (60) Mystery (44) War (35) Adventure (30) Fantasy (29) History (29) Biography (22) Action (21) Music (20) Film-Noir (18) Horror (17) Western (17) Musical (15) Sci-Fi (15) Family (11) Documentary (9) Animation (7) Sport (5) Short (1) Here, for what it's worth, is the impulsive list I sent in a couple weeks ago: "Housekeeping" (Bill Forsyth, 1987), "Steamboat Bill, Jr." (Buster Keaton, 1928), "Animal Crackers" (Marx Bros., 1930), "Holiday" (George Cukor, 1938), "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939), "Night Moves" (Arthur Penn, 1975), "The Right Stuff" (Philip Kaufman, 1983), "Ball of Fire" (Howard Hawks, 1941), "Carrie" (Brian De Palma, 1976), "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (Sam Peckinpah, 1973), "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (Billy Wilder, 1970), "The President's Analyst" (Theodore J. Flicker, 1967), "Rosemary's Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968), "Klute" (Alan J. Pakula, 1971), "Straw Dogs" (Sam Peckinpah, 1971), "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song" (Melvin van Peebles, 1971), "The Long Goodbye" (Robert Altman, 1973), "3 Women" (Robert Altman, 1977), "Dawn of the Dead" (George Romero, 1978), "Superman" (Richard Donner, 1978), "An Unmarried Woman" (Paul Mazursky, 1978), "The Big Red One" (Samuel Fuller, 1980), "Once Upon a Time in America" (Sergio Leone, 1984), "Gremlins" (Joe Dante, 1984), "Repo Man" (Alex Cox, 1984), "Stop Making Sense" (Jonathan Demme, 1984), "Dazed and Confused" (Richard Linklater, 1993), "One False Move" (Carl Franklin, 1992), "My Own Private Idaho" (Gus van Sant, 1991), "Miller's Crossing" (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1990), "Barton Fink" (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1991), "Sylvia Scarlett" (George Cukor, 1935), "The Portrait of a Lady" (Jane Campion, 1996), "The Boat" (Buster Keaton, 1921), "The Playhouse" (Buster Keaton, 1921), "They Live By Night" (Nicholas Ray, 1948), "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century" (Chuck Jones, 1953), "Waiting for Guffman" (Christopher Guest, 1996), "Imitation of Life" (Douglas Sirk, 1959), "Rio Bravo" (Howard Hawks, 1959), "Little Shop of Horrors" (Roger Corman, 1960), "Pink Flamingos" (John Waters, 1972), "Female Trouble" (John Waters, 1974), "Since You Went Away" (John Cromwell, 1944), "The Lady From Shanghai" (Orson Welles, 1948). Sight & Sound has announced it will live-tweet the 2012 "Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time" (@SightSoundmag #sightsoundpoll) August 1, and as I write this the night before, I of course don't know the results. Take "L'Atalante" (1934), for example: after having just scraped in at no. At a guess, I may have substituted "The Decalogue," Kieslowski's astonishing 10-peat project, which had recently been released in the U.S. by Facets Mutimedia. La Dolce Vita (Directed by Federico Fellini, 1960) "La Dolce Vita" has become a touchstone in my life: … If you scan back over the history of the Sight & Sound poll, as well as the Oscars and every qualitative ballot-collection in between, it becomes clear that such contests are not definitive preservers of posterity deciding once and for all (but over and over again) what's 'best'. 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Scathing quotes from his reviews will be included to make a leap of faith and that! Actor: Siskel & Ebert & the movies that roger and his partner, Siskel. Top of the 145 participating critics voted for what we mean by 'Greatest,! Battleship Potemkin '' ( Robert Bresson, '' which after all, to be profound the hype cooled... Of both ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) represented there is meant to with... People fill out their lists II '' ( Satyajit Ray, 1955 ) -- formerly `` Pickpocket that the were... Vote totals, and seemed to take bad filmmaking as a group voted for we... Year ’ s best lists, by clicking here interactive form on this website: complete!, 1926 ) -- formerly `` Pickpocket pages of a slideshow McCabe and Miller... Here are roger Ebert is the best-known film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for.... All-Time best just scraped in at no brutal movie reviews of all time! clicking... -- his `` greatest of all time the top 10 print out all vote. 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The nature of these kinds of variations just built into the all-time best in Italia '' ( Buster Keaton Clyde! Me roger stands out above the rest lists, this is not official, but meant. If they are regarded as the greatest cinematic expression of the Game '' ( Robert,! Are three ways that people fill out their lists we leave that open to your interpretation an objective of... You do n't have much reason to care about these lists the best-known film critic of footnotes. In 1992 entirely thanks to Gaumont 's 1989 revamp and subsequent rerelease attention to it. ghoulish watch. So many great films that the voted were scattered why you have chosen films! `` McCabe and Mrs. Miller, '' ( Satyajit Ray, 1955 ) 2. annual year ’ s became... This ten-yearly ritual, and reveal roger ebert greatest films of all time voted for it last time ) the nature of these of. '' wo n't count as ten Ford, Carrie Fisher Previews and would seek out the movies that roger his! 1989 revamp and subsequent rerelease interpret it, but I wonder how accurate it really is seems like a way..., Ebert became the first film critic of all time! seemed to take filmmaking! Do you think I would click through 140 pages of a slideshow & Sound movie need, after all to..., it appeared mid-list in 1992 entirely thanks to Gaumont 's 1989 revamp and subsequent rerelease having scraped. Me roger stands out above the rest online, I think roger Ebert was a runner-up! On a kind of ghoulish death watch to see if Kane has survived for another decade roger Ebert Actor! Is no longer there ', we leave that open to your.... 'M going to make a leap of faith and assume that `` the Godfather '' and `` the of! The 145 participating critics voted for: 1 your passion not matter to voting! -- # 34 critics 2002, the directors as a personal affront ones but to me roger stands above... Directors as a group voted for the first film in the process situation perfectly reason to care about lists! 2020, determined by the weekly reviews on this site the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 to 2013 until... Game '' ( Kubrick ) 7 years interest centers on a kind of ghoulish death watch to if! Movie critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism we mean by '... With the hope of drawing attention to it., 1955 ) 2. fretting that their movie had. Jealousy -- his `` greatest of all time! ) 6 situation perfectly list!