Every day we’re cutting ten movies from our original list of 45 of the Greatest Movies Ever Made until we’re down to ten. Brian and Matt will each chop five from the list.
Here are the movies that didn’t make the grade.
Brian’s vetoes
Life is Beautiful — A comedy about the Holocaust where a father tries to convince his son that he’s having a game with the Nazis? Wayyyy too overly sentimental to even be considered.
The Kid — Brilliant but dated and Chaplin has better films, namely “City Lights” and “The Gold Rush.”
Gone With The Wind — A classic film that really comes down to being a 3 1/2 hour soap opera. She loves him but he doesn’t love her and he loves her but she doesn’t love him until later when he decides he doesn’t love her but then she decides she really loves him….boring!!
Duck Soup — Funny but forgettable. Yes, the Marx brothers were great but hardly enough to be considered a top 10 film ever.
Rear Window — A great, classic suspense film that I love but it’s not even Hitchcock’s best.
Matt’s Vetoes
Braveheart – Too sentimental, the directing wasn’t that great, and the dialogue isn’t as strong as the movies that did make the cut.
Star Wars – It’s one of my favorite movie series of all time. I love it, and hold it close to my heart. But let’s be honest, these movies have wooden dialogue, stiff acting and the series was killed by the prequels (namely Jar Jar).
Inception – Great movie. The second best of 2011. It’s original, brilliantly directed, and I love it. However, the character development was held up by too much explanation of the complex story.
Schindler’s List – It’s the kind of movie you watch once, say, “It’s great.” Then don’t go back to it again. To be in the ten best ever, it has to be a movie I can watch over and over.
Clockwork Orange – LOVE LOVE LOVE Stanley Kubrick. Favorite director ever. However, this was not his best and there are movies I hold closer to my heart on this list. Tough choice to veto.
Movies remaining on our list:
Forest Gump
Seven Samurai
Wizard of Oz
Paths of Glory
Jaws
Pulp Fiction
M
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
Goodfellas
Casablanca
The Exorcist
Unforgiven
The Shawnshank Redemption
The Wrestler
Born Into Brothels
Up
Spirited Away
On the Waterfront
8 1/2
Boogie Nights
Passion of the Christ
Singin’ in the Rain
Black Swan
Citizen Kane
Rashoman
It’s a Wonderful Life
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Psycho
Dumbo
Saving Private Ryan
Blade Runner
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Apocalypse Now
The Movie Brothers 
I think it’s funny that of my 3 favorite movies, the 2 I thought would be on the list aren’t, and the one I didn’t think would make the cut, and still may not, is on here.
So far so good, I hope 2001 makes it.
And where is Lawrence of Arabia?
I was kind of curious about the lack of LoA, well. I thought for sure that it would be on the list considering that they remembered Bridge on the River Kwai.
I agree 2001 needs to make it through. 😉
‘Watching it changed my perspective on the world’ LOL and Hal is so so scary…
The Movie Bros. worship at the altar of Kubrick. 🙂
Shawn is right. I think Kubrick is the greatest director who ever lived.
I agree on Gone with the Wind. The movie would have been much better if it ended at intermission and somehow worked in, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” in the first half, as that was the only good part in the second half. While I agree Inception may not make it on a list of Ten Greatest Films Ever Made, I’m wondering what you consider to be the best film of 2010? If it’s Black Swan, I cannot comment since I have not seen it yet, but I think Inception is my favorite of 2010 so far (I’ll know about Black Swan once it’s released on DVD and I can see it for free).
Black Swan was my favorite film of 2010. I think it’s the better film between the two. The performances and directing, and the script. Everything. Just a fantastic film. This was a strong year for movies.
Joe, you gotta keep reading. We’ll cut down 10 every day!
Inception was my pick for the best film of 2010.
Lawrence of Arabia was considered but we both felt that Bridge on the River Kwai was the superior David Lean film so that one made the final cut to 45.
That was my guess. Ok. No more complaining from me……for now.
Well, that’s what I get for not scrolling down. Interesting. I love BotRK but I’ve never thought it was as good as LoA.
I’ll keep reading, you can be sure of that. I’ve made my own list from your original list of 45, NCAA tourney style. Be interesting to see how close I get.
Seriously, you would veto a movie about freedom from tyrannical government (Braveheart) but leave a drug addicts memoirs (Pulp Fiction) on your list that could come down to the top ten? Sheesh shows what entertainment is coming to these days. Sad.
Darkness is just as much a part of the human experience and goodness. And there are lots of good-hearted movies on this list.
Subject matter being positive or negative is an emotional decision. Braveheart is one of my all time favorites but isn’t the groundbreaking piece of work that Pulp Fiction was. Citizen Kane, Goodfellas,
Raging Bull, and the Godfather are routinely rated as the best films ever despite their unlikeable main characters or crime ridden subject matter.
Agreed. Regardless of subject matter, a quality film is a quality film and I would have to agree that Pulp Fiction is overall a better film than Braveheart, as good as Braveheart is. You also notice that the epic struggle against the unwarranted attack by the Japanese as depicted in Pearl Harbor was omitted as well, Karin, however, Saving Private Ryan was included.
BTW, SPR is my pick for greatest film of all time.
As much as I loved Braveheart, it really isn’t historically accurate and shouldn’t be on the top 10 list..SPR is such a good movie! A Clockwork Orange hmmm….a little overrated in my opinion
Saving Private Ryan is an amazing film and it includes perhaps the most amazing 45 minutes of war action in movie history. Will it make the top 10? You know I’m not giving that away 😉
I got the Blu-Ray last week and I hadn’t watched it in a while. When I watched it on Friday, it was the first time I really understood the film and why it really is as good as it is.
Saving Private Ryan is fantastic. Amazingly good. Hey, it’s on the Top 45 of all time and still on the list.
Howard the Duck or Robocop hands down!
I haven’t seen Robocop in a long time, but I remember liking it. I know I’ve seen Howard the Duck. I was just a kid, but I remember knowing that it was bad.
Robocop is actually a very good film and was well-received at the time of its release. Easily, in the Top 50 of Sci-Fi flicks (perhaps Top 20). The sequels were awful but the original is a good flick.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Howard The Duck, although awful, gets an honorable mention in any discussion for this and this alone:
Robocop is very good but Howard the Duck is a piece of shit.
Yes, but … that shot of Leah Thompson’s ass when she was 25 counts for nothing in the annals of cinema?
It’s still not worth it. That movie sucked.
Well, then I guess I’ll keep Lea Thompson’s ass all to myself.
There are better asses is better movies. How about Jessica Alba dancing in Sin City?
Glad to see Braveheart get eliminated.
Sorry to see Schindler’s List get upset.
I hope Forrest Gump get’s the ax in the next round.
Nope, not as good. It’ expected that Jessica Alba should be shaking her ass like a whore. Takes the fun out of it.
Great information, nice page layout, stick to the good work
I love GWTW but I can understand it can feel tedious for most people. And yeah, Schindler’s List is one of those movies I can watch only once also. It’s just too sad. Speaking of great films I can watch even once a year, where is Ben-Hur? Even for just the chariots scene alone, that masterpiece deserves to be on this list.
Ben-Hur is good and I would rate it very high. I just don’t see it in the top 45 ever 🙂
I am really impressed with your creating skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great weblog like this one nowadays