1963's Best Movies: 60 Years Later

Picks:

The Leopard
The Silence
High and Low
The Big City
Mothlight
The Nutty Professor
Muriel

Top 5:
THE BIRDS (Alfred Hitchcock; USA) [#180]
FLAMING CREATURES (Jack Smith; USA) [#720]
THE HOUSE IS BLACK (Forugh Farrokhzad; Iran) [#241]
MURIEL (Alain Resnais; France) [#342]
SCORPIO RISING (Kenneth Anger; USA) [#596]

(Much as I love Lewis, Professor ranks maybe 3rd or 4th among the six-film run between 1960 and 1965.)

I've seen surprisingly few of these. Going with The Birds.

Would've been really fun if Christmas on Earth had gotten into the top 2,000

'Christmas on Earth' has an astonishing classical beauty, it's one of my favorite films. Pity i can't vote for it.

Hope you both were able to see the Barbara Rubin documentary from four or five years ago--loved it.

Going with The Silence even though I was literally watching Scorpio Rising when I opened this thread. Seems like kind of a weird year for films.

Just noticed this:

2714 4427 Zapruder Film of Kennedy Assassination Zapruder, Abraham 1963 USA 1

That is extremely interesting.

lol

i haven't seen the doc, was involved in a couple of Christmas on Earth things, had my ear talked off by Rosebud Pettit, caught the text exhibit at Boo Hooray in 2012, all Barbara Rubined out.

still love the actual film tho.

An Actor's Revenge - Good. Japan's international reputation is of such reserve and sophistication that I always get a kick out of art focusing on its earthy, working class aspects - like this is an ode to Tokyo that portrays its inhabitants as being as feisty as any I'm Walkin' Heah Ben Grimm types.

The Big City - Probably voting for this? Saw it on the big screen last year. It's a bit difficult to write about its greatness because there's nothing showy about it, it's just a truly great traditional film, has that same effortlessly entertaining vibe of classic Hollywood. First and so far only time I've seen an Anglo-Indian character portrayed in Indian cinema.

Charade - It's fine, great cast of course.

8 1/2- Have mentioned on other threads I think there's more self-awareness to Fellini's indulgence than he's given credit for. Enjoyed the Uncle Scrooge comic shout out, love to imagine Cardinale sinking her teeth into some Carl Barks. Def most of the films inspired by it are dire tho.

The Great Escape - Not my fav Sturges.

Hands Over The City - Pretty great, fun OTT Steiger perf.

The Haunting - Lesbian content from the novel surprisingly intact in the film I thought.

Jason & The Argonauts - Skellingtons.

Judex - This is a lot of fun, kind of a throwback to the age of French pulp serials. Watched it with a friend who laughed out of delight at many moments and got angry stares from an old guy, felt like we were going to be remembered as the annoying hipsters who laugh at old movies :(

I watched Scorpio Rising for the first in forever after a buncha Tina Turner videos. It belongs on my list. So does Charade, which I missed yesterday.

Throw that dreary Charade away, it bores me

Slow curtain. The end.

I voted for An Actor's Revenge straight away but shdve considered Scorpio Rising maybe

Shock Corridor, The Leopard, or Insect Woman ...

honorary mention: Blow Job

I may have posted this elsewhere but my favorite part of the birds is suzanne pleshette being cast as an undesireable spinster schoolmarm

top bird

I don't doubt that, to Hitchcock, Pleshette was basically undesirable

I know she's less than cool these days, but has anyone read Paglia's monograph on The Birds?

It's one of the very best in that series (or worst, definitely the most)

I love Flaming Creatures, Mothlight and Scorpio Rising, but my heart is really pulling me to vote for The Haunting, gahhh.

Really love Le Doulos, High and Low, and the Great Escape. The latter is the best kind of Hollywood big budget '60s all star cast film.

Still got love for Camille P

Still got love The Birds

Still got love for the streets

This Sporting Life is on my top ten films of all time. Really turns kitchen sink machismo on its head. Richard Harris & Rachel Roberts both incredible in it.

I feel like 1963 is the year that international film really started to loosen up, a lot of conventions were now being regarded as optional (and, sure, a lot of pretensions were now able to be indulged). I think you can see this, for example, even in the distance between the beginning of the Bergman trilogy and its culmination here. It's a cusp year, like 1966 in rock.
This list contains my favourites by Malle, Kurosawa, Imamura, Resnais, and Demy on the secondary list. Machorka-Muff by Straub/Huillet didn't make the top 5000 but is a very interesting debut short film. Wish I could remember anything about Barren Lives or The Organizer.
I couldn't not vote for Le Mépris here, but I would hope that Les Carabiniers receives more than the zero votes I expect.

It's a cusp year, like 1966 in rock

Lot of that same mojo in A-G cinema in '63, especially glancing over the runners-up list above

Based on what I’ve seen: Contempt. (Which is screening locally this summer!)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

A strong year everywhere but in Hollywood. The Birds an exception.

And Hud!

I’ll accept that (am due for a rewatch though)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Not a fan

At least half-a-dozen great films with no votes!

Not enough voters in these polls

I voted for The Leopard.

1993's Best Movies: 30 Years Later

Forgot to vote, but would have chosen Contempt or The Leopard. Of the ones with no votes - I thought The Insect Woman was great, and still haven't seen Muriel or Flaming Creatures