Would you agree with Ebert on any or all of the films in his list of great movies?

Link?

This list stops in the year 2009:
“Here are more than 300 reconsiderations and appreciations of movies from the distant past to the recent past, all of movies that I consider worthy of being called ‘great.’” – Roger Ebert

But 360 is too many for me so here’s another.
Ten Greatest Films of All Time by Roger Ebert – April 1, 1991

@janbb The heck! Forgot to post the link, sorry! Here it is. And thanks Call_Me_Jay.

https://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies

No.
He hated Carpenter’s “The Thing”, and he never recanted his heresy.

Three hundred sixty films is a pretty comprehensive list. There are many I recognize and liked and many I haven’t heard of. it’s hard to argue with such a long list.

The SO and I have been culling through lists of “must watch” films for the past several years, tracking them down, and watching them. A majority are on Ebert’s list. I would agree with many of them.

One of the nice things about the list is that it isn’t American-centralized. Another is it spans a large time-frame, meaning old to modern.

While there are some on his list that I might disagree with, and a few that I haven’t seen yet, I’d be willing to give his recommendations a try.

Ebert agreed with me more often than any other critic. Since his passing, the New Yorker’s Anthony Lane most often reflects my views. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle most often opposes my views.
Scanning the list partially, (download issues) I wouldn’t disagree very much.
Ebert wasn’t without fault. He famously said the Simon and Garfunkle music from The Graduate wasn’t very good.

@filmfann I agree with you about Ebert. I often found I agreed with his opinions about films more than many other critics.

@Pied_Pfeffer Good point about the list being very international.

the New Yorker’s Anthony Lane most often reflects my views

He is also funny and clever. I don’t care much about film criticism but I always read his reviews for the chuckles.

^^Time to check out Lane. My go to critic’s mostly Ebert. Also read Hornaday and had read Hunter (?) when he was at the Washington Post.

Anyone here saw Departures? Got the record for making me cry seven times during the movie. Lol

@mazingerz88, yes. I thought it was wonderful. There are a lot of excellent oldies and foreign films and old foreign films on this list. (Has anyone here besides me tried to watch The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser? Or actually did watch—and love—Andrei Rublev? Oh, wait—that one’s not on the list. Ozu’s Floating Weeds, though—thumbs up.)

But The Red Shoes. I hated The Red Shoes. I hated it so much that I would rather watch Adam Sandler. I hated it so much that I would rather read Henry James. I hated it so much that I would rather listen to Dona— Wait. Nope. I didn’t hate it as much as that.

@Jeruba

I also feel that Donatella Versace is a major nerve grater! ;-o

Roger Ebert’s views were always hit or miss for me. I often disagreed with him, and felt like he was choosing witty-sounding opinions that I could understand what he was saying but frequently didn’t really think the same way about the films. When he used to do a joint show with Gene Siskel . I was much more likely to agree with Siskel.

Of Ebert’s top ten list that @Call_Me_Jay posted above, I am surprised that I have only seen six of them. I like and I think appreciate all six of them, but only two make my own current list of 86 vaguely-sorted favorite films. I have Casablanca at #41 and The Third Man at #43.

Of course, we also differ not just in film tastes but in reasons for making top film lists. I’m listing my favorites while Ebert is trying to be more academic about saying which ones he thinks are “best”, for purposes of writing an article.

And I’m sure he found something to consider “great” about each film on his list of 300. But that doesn’t mean I have interest or taste for them myself.

But actually, looking through that list of 300, I thought they all either looked interesting, or had seen and agreed were great or at least respected and thought were good in their own ways. I didn’t see any films that I knew about but didn’t respect, and I think his top 300 does overlap with my 86 pretty heavily.

Oh, well maybe I wouldn’t put Say Anything, nor Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on a top 300 list.

@Jeruba Got it. No “The Red Shoes.” : )

Departures is a perfect example of why I can’t do without “cinema.” Brings me to unexpected levels of understanding only philosophers could potentially deliver.

Have you seen Ozu’s Tokyo Story? Could be my top favorite dramatic film of all time.

Rublev, what can I say…dripping with raw film texture. I’m glad I didn’t see Tarkovsky shoot in digital.

Film critics are fucking stealing a living & should be ignored completely.
Any fool could come up with such a definitive & expansive list which would include the vast majority of movies he no doubt chose, which i’m not bothering to look at for that very reason.
If anyone seriously needs an endorsement of a movie from these idiots then more fool you.
Go your own way, make your own decisions/choices…plain & simple.

@Jeruba I hate The Red Shoes too.

@ucme Uh no not really. Critics are writers and a few of them are excellent ones like Ebert. They could inform me of things I didn’t get in watching a film and validate what I already think in a more insightful and creative way.

They have biases and the trick is knowing that ahead of time. Not every fool could write with great insights on movies they choose to review or criticize.

@mazingerz88 You have your opinion & I have mine, which is correct for me because i’m not gullible or lacking in imagination, we all must go our own way though so hey ho.

^^It’s your opinion that critics are useless. They’re not. Not all.

I feel the main purpose of critics (of all types) is not to hand down opinions for others to agree with, but to describe their views/ideas/feelings about things (films, in this case) in a consistent, clear and intelligent way that lets others get a feel for what those things(films) are like, so that they can (hopefully use their imagination and critical thinking skills to) find things(films) that will appeal to them, and appreciate/understand what is out there better.

Hahaha & that @mazingerz88 is your opinion, which is wrong but as I say…hey-ho.