Will there ever be a better film than the best movie out now + what's your fave?

[SaberFan22]

Whether you think it's The Godfather, Citizen Kane or the Empire Strikes Back, everyone has an opinion on what the best movie of all time is.

What I've noticed is not a single film to come out since 2008 (The Dark Knight), almost a decade ago now, has even come close to being one of the best of all time, and before that you have to go as far back as 2003 (LOTR: ROTK), another half a decade to get anywhere close. Of course this is all opinion, and to some that may not seem like too long a wait, but I just wonder if the days of great 'original' movies are over, and the days of franchise movies are replacing them.

Where do you think the next GREAT movie will come from? And by great I'm talking like, one of the best of all time.

This year we have the sequels to John Wick, Kingsman, GOTG, Transformers, Pitch Perfect, Annabelle, Despicable Me, 50 Shades, Xandar, Apes, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fast and Furious, Thor, The Wolverine, Star Wars, reboots of King Kong, Murder on the Orient Express, Baywatch, The Mummy, Rings, Ghost In The Shell, Power Rangers, Spider-Man, Alien, Blade Runner, Trainspotting, and spin offs of The Lego Movie.

While sequels, reboots and spin-offs come out all the time, and while a good amount of these will no doubt be good, if not great, this is frankly insane and leaves me to believe the days of original works may be over, as this trend is set to continue for at least the next few years.

Dunkirk and The Dark Tower are the only movies I can see breaking the barrier from being good to great (Christopher Nolan, need I say more? And Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile proved that Stephen King novels can be amazing movies), and that's only if they reach and even exceed their expectations and potential. With that said, I am super looking forward to a number of the the above movies. Looking at the movies coming out in the next few years it's just hard to see where any outstanding pieces of cinema might come from.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see much potential for any groundbreaking movies coming out any time soon, but then again I guess that's why the best are the best: because they're few and far between, and wouldn't be so great if a new one replaced it every year.

With that said, what do you think is the greatest (not 'favourite', but technically the best) movie of all time? I hope that makes sense. For example, one of my favourite movies is There's Something About Mary, it makes me feel good, it's an easy watch, it has rewatchability, it makes me laugh. But it's nowhere near the epicness of something like Lord of the Rings which has such a powerful story and purely brilliant directing, acting and special effects.

[LivingBrain]

This topic makes me super excited because I've been thinking about it so much lately.

I've been thinking that it's going to come from the indie scene, but the issue there is in if it will even be seen. I've seen so many great indie movies over the past few years, some of which I would consider as greatest of all time, but they haven't had as wide of an audience as they should have to get the recognition they deserve. If anything, they'll live on through critic's circles and continue being put on "best of decade" lists until they eventually build up a reputation. That is, if people even decide to listen to critics in the future.

A decade in film history I keep coming back to is the 50's. Television was just introduced, and it brought theater attendance down because people preferred to stay at home. American studios tried to appeal to current teenagers with sci-fi/horror and rock movies, but were relatively unsuccessful. At this time, Europe went through various "new waves" in filmmaking (the French New Wave being the most well-known) that was popular in film circles, with a few of them reaching popular levels (Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA, for instance), but they don't get recognized at the popular level today.

However, these new waves went on to influence the "film school generation," which consisted of Coppola, Scorsese, De Palma, Cimino, and (even though he dropped out of film school) Spielberg. When the studios eventually got tired of staying behind and realized they couldn't catch up, they decided to recruit from film schools to get younger talents into the system, which is how these guys got in. As a result, we got the "New Hollywood" phase from the late 60's to the early 80's, and film interest was reinvigorated, along with many of our GOAT films being made.

If we're going to get anything, it'll either have to be from new, younger voices (which is why I'm paying close attention to indie filmmaking; cheaper and more available film technology + rising school costs means the younger voices will be there), or something completely unexpected. We'll see what happens!

As far was what I think the best movie (not my favorite) is, I'm putting my hat in the ring for TOKYO STORY.

[Taegin Roan]

I won't go into as much detail as LivingBrain, not even close.

I do think that there might be a movie sometime that becomes the best. Maybe not for a while, but eventually I think there will be.

As much as I love the LOTR trilogy, they just weren't the books. They were good, but they could've been better. Star Wars is quite possibly the greatest universe that has ever been created specifically for a movie, and as much as I love them all, even ESB isn't the greatest movie. I don't think there will ever be a superhero movie that will rule the movie world, even though they are good. I really think that the best movie is one of these three.

The Sound Of Music. A great musical, a great historical movie, a classic, and one that will never be forgotten.

Singin' In the Rain. Another great musical, great actors, great story, and one that will just remain in the hearts of all forever.

And last, well maybe not the best acting, still great.

The Princess Bride. Who doesn't love a good love story? There are so few out there. Funny, believable characters. Beautifully crafted story with love, hate, revenge, swordplay, rhyme, and sadness. The mix of historical fiction, and current (relatively) time, satirical comedy, and everything else, makes this an undeniable lovable classic.

There are many others that I could put, but I think these three really are the greatest.

[LivingBrain]

I do think that there might be a movie sometime that becomes the best. Maybe not for a while, but eventually I think there will be.

You're 100% right about this. The hard part is the waiting.

As much as I love the LOTR trilogy, they just weren't the books. They were good, but they could've been better.

I've seen occasional debates about this around the forum and think it'd be really cool to hear more about what you think of them. I'm a fan of both movies and books, but I really like listening to book fans because you guys have a really solid understanding of the material.

The Sound Of Music. A great musical, a great historical movie, a classic, and one that will never be forgotten.

Singin' In the Rain. Another great musical, great actors, great story, and one that will just remain in the hearts of all forever.

And last, well maybe not the best acting, still great.

The Princess Bride. Who doesn't love a good love story? There are so few out there. Funny, believable characters. Beautifully crafted story with love, hate, revenge, swordplay, rhyme, and sadness. The mix of historical fiction, and current (relatively) time, satirical comedy, and everything else, makes this an undeniable lovable classic.

I really, really love these choices. Point for excellent taste.

[SaberFan22]

I agree that Singin' in the Rain is a fantastic film, especially as I don't normally enjoy musicals (only that at La La Land have really hit me where I live).

I also agree with the indie statement, like Tarantino and Soderbergh essentially rescued Hollywood from their late 80's slump to bring back some class.

I honestly haven't seen enough movies to even comment on what the best one might be, but I've just bought around 30-40 classic movies, considered to be the best either by Academy Awards, IMDb scores or general consensus. Hopefully when I'm done with them, I might find one which I really value above the others.

As for now though, all I can say is that my absolute favourite movie is Django Unchained. So rewatchable, so over the top in a self-conscious, fun way. So stylized, brilliant performances from one of the best casts imaginable, gorgeous cinematography, a perfectly fitting soundtrack, dialogue to die for and a truly unique and original story, not to mention some of the best action set pieces seen in a long time. Everything about the movie is awesome to me, except maybe Tarantino's cameo. Still, I don't consider it to be the best as it clearly has its flaws, but damn it's one hell of an entertaining and at times touching movie.

[LivingBrain]

I also agree with the indie statement, like Tarantino and Soderbergh essentially rescued Hollywood from their late 80's slump to bring back some class.

They're 90% of the reason the 90's rocked.

I honestly haven't seen enough movies to even comment on what the best one might be, but I've just bought around 30-40 classic movies, considered to be the best either by Academy Awards, IMDb scores or general consensus. Hopefully when I'm done with them, I might find one which I really value above the others.

What are some of the ones you've gotten? Do you have any that you're particularly excited to see?

[SaberFan22]

I bought the Hitchcock collection, a few Kubrick movies and other classics. The ones I'm most excited for are 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Departed, City of God, Alien and Aliens, 12 Angry Men, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, American History X, Seven Samurai, Scarface and Apocalypse Now (among others).

I watched Psycho a couple nights ago and although elements of it are clearly dated such as the way in which violence is shown, it was a truly great piece of cinema.

[LivingBrain]

I bought the Hitchcock collection, a few Kubrick movies and other classics. The ones I'm most excited for are 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Departed, City of God, Alien and Aliens, 12 Angry Men, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, American History X, Seven Samurai, Scarface and Apocalypse Now (among others).

I watched Psycho a couple nights ago and although elements of it are clearly dated such as the way in which violence is shown, it was a truly great piece of cinema.

Holy crap... excellent choices! You're in for some really great movie watching.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and APOCALYPSE NOW are actually two other movies that I'd posit for greatest film of all time.

[Taegin Roan]

You're 100% right about this. The hard part is the waiting.

Yes it is. Maybe we will be surprised and get it this year.

I've seen occasional debates about this around the forum and think it'd be really cool to hear more about what you think of them. I'm a fan of both movies and books, but I really like listening to book fans because you guys have a really solid understanding of the material.

One of the biggest things that I didn't like about the LOTR movies is how much they left out. Big important things that have bering on the rest of the story. and the Hobbit, they just changed too much for them to be the best. Not saying I didn't enjoy them, I did. They are still good movies, but they could've been much much better.

I really, really love these choices. Point for excellent taste.

Thank you. Another I was considering was The Last of the Mohicans. I haven't gotten to read the book, but it is on my (long) list.

[LivingBrain]

One of the biggest things that I didn't like about the LOTR movies is how much they left out. Big important things that have bering on the rest of the story. and the Hobbit, they just changed too much for them to be the best. Not saying I didn't enjoy them, I did. They are still good movies, but they could've been much much better.

THE HOBBIT films are a crime to cinema. The less we talk about them the better.

What are some things cut out of LOTR that you miss?

[Taegin Roan]

THE HOBBIT films are a crime to cinema. The less we talk about them the better.

What are some things cut out of LOTR that you miss?

Two of the biggest were Tom Bomadil and the Scouring of the Shire. Both super important to the story, and would have been awesome to see in the movies.