Massie Twins’ Top 100 Greatest Films
It’s one of the most daunting lists for a film critic to compile – the 100 greatest movies of all time. It’s exceptionally subjective, to be sure, and it’s something most critics experience through a collaborative effort – with a large enough group of associates that it becomes averaged out by popularity and longstanding acclaim. Rarely does anyone think about how one film matches up against another, specifically as genres are so diverse and dissimilar, and the medium itself has flourished for more than a century. For renowned projects like the American Film Institute’s lists of greatest films, hundreds of critics, historians, moviemakers, and industry insiders were polled; to collect data worthy of such grandly publicized arrangements of significant titles, it’s undoubtedly worthwhile to survey numerous authorities.
But for this site, it’s just the two of us. Nevertheless, we’ve tackled the mind-numbing task of contemplating how a film like “Jaws” might end up just one place higher or lower on a list than “The Best Years of Our Lives” – two pictures that couldn’t be more different in subject matter, tone, actors/actresses, scripting, editing, direction, and so much more. Fortunately, we tend to agree on things more often than not.
For this particular “Top 100,” there are a couple of guidelines worth mentioning. The first is that only films that received a score of 10/10 on this site are eligible for inclusion. This means that a few undeniable classics and personal favorites, such as “The Lady Eve” (1941), missed the mark by the tiniest amount (when it was originally reviewed, it only scored a 9/10). And countless movies have scored a 9/10 due to just one of us not liking it as much as the other. The second guideline is that each film must be predominantly in the English language and, if not a strictly American production, must have permeated American cinema to the point that the general populace does not consider it a foreign film. A movie like “The Third Man” is technically British, but it’s eligible since it’s widely considered a Hollywood picture – despite its filming origins and the location of its theatrical premiere. And lastly, this list isn’t meant to represent personal “guilty pleasure” movies (otherwise, the highly entertaining yet admittedly faulty “Demolition Man” might have made it on here). Each selection was instead chosen for its merit as a work of art that can be scrutinized by fellow scholars and critics and appreciated for a contribution to the medium that surpasses merely being fun or worthy of repeat viewings. These aren’t just good movies or great movies – these are the best of the best!
No, not dead, Dr. Kenneth. Not alone. He’s with her. They’ve only just begun to live.
We run a pretty tight ship here.
She warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.
There’s nothing like a little bit of mayhem to cheer one up.
What happened today is just the beginning. We’re going to lose this war.
What is the one thing about this country that bugs you the most?
The only thing that worried me was the actual killing. How does one do that?
Did you ever have so much to say about something, you just couldn’t say it?
It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing.
I’m thirty years older than you are. I had my back broke once, and my hip twice. And on my worst day I could beat the hell out of you.
I don’t get tough with anyone, Mr. Gittes. My lawyer does.
A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.
What kind of a sick bitch takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?
We didn’t escape. We released ourselves on our own recognizance. We felt we’d reached the limits of what the institution had to offer us.
Have you ever retired a human by mistake?
Maybe back in the days of the pioneers a man could go his own way, but today you got to play ball.
His brain has not only been washed, as they say, it’s been dry-cleaned.
He’s calling his people, and I don’t know where they are. He needs to go home.
May God grant me vengeance. I pray that you live till I return.
I was curious to see how a bunch of empty-headed nitwits conducted themselves. My curiosity is satisfied.
So you lie to yourself to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all do it.
Everybody gets pinched. But you did it right. You told ’em nothing and they got nothing.
Damn fine custard … rich and creamy, just the way I like it!
Well, haven’t you heard? She’s irresistible. She told me so herself.
I’m not going to give you any money and nobody else is. Don’t you understand that?
This Wallace, he doesn’t even have a knighthood, but he fights with passion and he inspires.
We must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature – or go insane.
When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life. A slave loses his pain. Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That’s why he’s not afraid of it. That’s why we’ll win.
Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.
Now don’t take this the wrong way, but you are a Terminator, right?
Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast! What kind of hamburgers?
We do not follow maps to buried treasures and ‘X’ never, ever marks the spot.
I just had the unpleasant sensation of hearing you referred to as my husband.
Walter, Walter – I don’t see any connection to Vietnam, man.
You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up.
I’m smarter than you, and I’m going to find out what I want to know, and I’m going to get it from you whether you like it or not.
We have a reasonable doubt, and that’s something that’s very valuable in our system.
The City of San Francisco does not pay criminals not to commit crimes. Instead, we pay a police department.
What we were after now was the old surprise visit. That was a real kick, and good for laughs and lashings of the old ultra-violence.
Smithy, do I always have to take the initiative? You’re supposed to kiss me.
The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.
What would you do if some miracle happened and we could walk out of here tomorrow morning and start all over again clean?
How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?
The strangeness of this life cannot be measured; in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.
I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I’ve even loved you before I saw you.
It’s not gonna happen to me again, ever. I’m tired of getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
No one leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.
No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.
This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.
The next time you better plan your massacre more carefully or I’ll start with you!
There are two kinds of women, and you – as we well know – are not the first kind.
This so-called Dr. Brown is dangerous. He’s a real nutcase. You hang around with him, you’re gonna end up in big trouble.
After some consideration, I’ve decided not to endorse your park.
I don’t want you to speak to me again until you are in uniform.
I’m not a depressive character, you know. I was a reasonably happy kid, I guess.
Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply.
Today is history. Today will be remembered. Years from now the young will ask with wonder about this day.
Don’t try to be a hero. You don’t have to be a hero, not for me.
If you lose a son, it’s possible to get another. There’s only one Maltese falcon.
I had to execute him with my pistol. There was something about it I didn’t like.
I’m not going to waste my time arguing with a man who’s lining up to be a hot lunch.
Well, I ain’t sorry no more, you crazy, psalm-singing, skinny old maid!
My husband will be back quite late. He should be gone for several hours.
C’mon now – it’s gonna be a nice day.
Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?
What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes, sir. How’s that for a bit of home-spun philosophy?
I don’t feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies.
‘Apollo Creed Meets the Italian Stallion.’ Sounds like a damn monster movie.
You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that, but you have no right to judge me.
That is your receipt for your husband … and this is my receipt for your receipt.
I know I’m human. And if you were all these things, then you’d just attack me right now, so some of you are still human.
With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.
The day you try to put anything over on me will be a costly one for both of you.
I believe everything and I believe nothing. I suspect everyone and I suspect no one.
One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it.
Wait a minute. We let it in, the ship could be infected. You know the quarantine procedures: 24 hours for decontamination.
You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
Buck up – never say die. We’ll get along!
Go on. You can hold my hand. I won’t blackmail you for it afterwards.
Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman.
If you miss, you had better miss very well. Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive, he understands nothing about Tuco. Nothing!
Jesus, I must be crazy to be in a loony-bin like this.
Now, Momma said there’s only so much fortune a man really needs, and the rest is just for showing off.
Did I remember to tell you today that I adore you?
It’s not, not bad, huh? There’s no heat here, but you know, by the time winter comes, I’ll be in Florida.
All right. We take off. Nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
His pulse never got above 85 … even when he ate her tongue.
Only one is a wanderer. Two together are always going somewhere.
Again, we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away.
You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time.
You know, Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca. But somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.
Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
You don’t have to worry, kid. I ain’t gonna kill you. You’re the only friend I got.
Now it isn’t that I don’t like you, Susan. Because, after all, in moments of quiet, I’m strangely drawn toward you. But, well, there haven’t been any quiet moments.
Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.
Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening.
Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?
I wonder how long it takes to get someone you’re stuck on out of your system. They should invent a pump for that.
Some day, this country’s gonna be a fine good place to be. Maybe it needs our bones in the ground before that time can come.
Yes, I can see now.