“The Greatest Film of All Time” is as ostentatious a moniker as one might imagine in the realm of cinema, but that doesn’t stop the British Film Institute from publicizing their deca-annual list denoting one film exactly that and another 249 close runners up. The top 10 list this year is a mixture of the usual suspects:
1) Vertigo
2) Citizen Kane
3) Tokyo Story
4) The Rules of the Game
5) Sunrise
6) 2001: A Space Odyessy
7) The Searchers
8) Man With A Movie Camera
9) Passion of Joan of Arc
10) 8 1/2
But are these really the “greatest” films of all time, and what does “greatest” mean anyway? Furthermore, the list is heavily weighted in favor of older movies. What newer movies might deserve a place on the list, even if they will likely have to wait forty years or so before they can be deemed worthy?
On this episode of the Reel Spirituality Podcast, we’ll discuss all these questions and more. Listen in, and please leave your responses to any of the films discussed as well as what movies you’d like to see included on a list like these in the comments.
On the next episode of the podcast, we’ll be comparing the Bruce Willis wise-cracking, genre-defining action flick Die Hard and straight-faced Buster Keaton’s silent masterpiece The General. We invite you to watch both films ahead of time and join with us as we consider stunts, special effects, and other measurements of truest devotion.
The theme music for our podcast is provided by Matt Lumpkin, aka Bendblock, whose music can be found here. If you are interested in subscribing to the Reel Spirituality podcast, follow this link.
