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May 24, 2005

Another "Top" List to Argue Over

The movie critics for Time magazine, Richard Schickel and Richard Corliss, have compiled an unranked list of the 100 greatest films. It was posted Sunday on www.Time.com. Included are traditionally acclaimed flicks like "Lawrence of Arabia," "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane," as well as more atypical choices like "Finding Nemo," "Star Wars" and the 2002 Brazilian gang story, "City of God."

"100 lists are fun to discuss, fun to argue over," Schickel told The Associated Press. "I don't think anybody should say, `That's it, that's the final 100! No disputing this for the rest of eternity!' You know, stuff changes. Life changes. You change."

That perspective is even more difficult for contemporary movies, says the critic who has also produced many documentaries and led the acclaimed reconstruction of Samuel Fuller's 1980 war pic, "The Big Red One." Recent films on the list include Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her," the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and, of course, "Pulp Fiction."

Schickel acknowledges some regret for a few older reviews of his - like not trumpeting "Bonnie and Clyde" more or failing to immediately recognize "Chinatown" as "close to a perfect movie." Though it was before Schickel's time, the original 1942 review of "Casablanca," for example, read, "Nothing short of an invasion could add much to `Casablanca.'" "If you're involved with movies, they are a living organism in your memory," Schickel says. "It's like some creature in a sci-fi movie that keeps shape-shifting."

The most popular director turned out to be Martin Scorsese, who has three films on the list. Scorsese's frequent actor of choice, Robert De Niro, leads actors with five.

In Monday's issue of the magazine, the two critics also name the best film from each decade since Time began: "Metropolis" (1927), "Dodsworth" (1936), "Citizen Kane" (1941), "Ikiru" (1952), "Persona" (1966), "Chinatown" (1974), "Decalogue" (198 , "Pulp Fiction" (1994) and "Talk to Her" (2002).