[quote=“Stork Vulture, post:2220, topic:190”]Is there a suggestion of how many films I should watch before submitting a top 20?
I’ve seen 15 of the current top 20, 25 of the top 50, and of course others that aren’t in the top 50.
Can my list be revised later after I watch more?
I feel like movies I haven’t seen yet such as FACCIA A FACCIA and IL MERCENARIO have a good chance to crack my top 20 based on their pedigree, but won’t be able to get a hand on copies of them for probably a couple of months or so.[/quote]
You can revise your list every time you want. Only you should then post a new one instead of altering the list 10 pages ago, cause I will notice this change then only by coincidence.
There are no rules how much Spags one should have seen, we leave this to everyone’s sanity and reason (or horse sense for us western fans).
I assume when people start watching Spagies with the usual classics most will have seen the greater part of their later top 20 after around 50 or 60 films.
So, if you think you have watched enough great Spags for a reasonable top 20, post it …
(… but of course FACCIA A FACCIA and IL MERCENARIO have indeed good cracking chances)
Stork Vulture - personally, I waited until I’d seen almost all of the movies (of which I could acquire copies) on the top 50, the alternative top 20 and the Tarantino top 20. I either bought them (one or two cheapo box sets proved to be very useful), downloaded them from torrent sites or found them on YouTube. In one instance, one of the fine moderators on this very forum volunteered to furnish me with a copy of a Sartana movie that was proving to be awkward to acquire. That’s left me with maybe 15 or 16 still to watch from those lists, most of which are simply movies I can’t get a hold of. Thanks to the cheapo box sets I bought (and in smaller part to YouTube as well) I also had a lot of lesser-regarded Spags to sit through too, and I made sure I mixed those into my viewing opportunities so I didn’t top-load all of the quality and leave myself with tons of dross to endure.
At that point I decided I was comfortable submitting my big 20, but it’s different for everyone. Go with your 20 when YOU’RE happy. Don’t worry about the near-certainty of as-yet-unseen spags crashing your list, it’s bound to happen. And you’ll regularly find yourself revising and altering the movies that are already on your list anyway, if you’re anything like me in that regard.
I can’t add much to the fine reasoning of Stanton and last.caress, other than also advise you to go forth with a Top 20 when you feel comfortable with it. For me that meant being able to list 20 great films, not thinking about if they are the greatest or not. When there are like 500+ Spags around, I’m sure every list will change a lot over time, so none of the lists here are definite (and also: tastes can change - I came to love my current No.1 only when I saw it for the fourth time in 15 years! Before that, it wouldn’t have made my Top 20…).
So if you feel fine with your 20 chosen films, being able to defend them as great films for you, even if it’s the only 20 you’ve seen, well hats off to you for being so lucky in choosing the right films for yourself to watch.
Anyways, I’m surprised that you ask, usually people just post whatever they feel like (after all, this is a film forum where anyone can start an account) Personally, I hate it when people post lists just for the sake of posting them (e.g. filling the ranks with films that maybe didn’t do much for them), but hey, that’s just my opinion. And how can you know that anyway?
Oh, and btw, and in general, this is about the films one likes the most, not one thinks which have to be the greatest in some kind of objective point of view. Subjectivity rules …
There is no rule to have a Leone in it, but I (we) don’t want lists either which omit Leone for the only sake of appearing original. We want the truth, nothing but the truth (and maybe your soul if it has any worth) …
I’ve knocked off two more from the top 20 since my lasts post, and won’t be watching MY NAME IS NOBODY (I can’t stand sped up footage comedy stuff, ruins everything), so of the top 20 that I’ll be watching I only have IL MERCENARIO and FACCIA A FACCIA left.
And I’ve seen more of the top 50. I’ll be able to knock out 4-5 more this week including a re-watch of NAVAJO JOE, and first viewings of REQUIESCANT, THE SPECIALISTS, AND GOD SAID TO CAIN, and 10,000 BLOOD MONEY and then I’ll be posting a top 20.
In another couple of months or so after checking out my missing top 20 movies and a few more I’ll post a new 20.
[quote=“Stork Vulture, post:2227, topic:190”]Thanks for the responses.
I’ve knocked off two more from the top 20 since my lasts post, and won’t be watching MY NAME IS NOBODY (I can’t stand sped up footage comedy stuff, ruins everything),[/quote]
Maybe a mistake if you like Leone. There is some problematic comedy stuff, but the film has a lot more to offer.
That would be a great shame, right there. I’m not a great fan of the Spag-Com either, all the ones I’ve seen simply confirm that I find them utterly bereft of any humour whatsoever, although the better-made ones are in truth harmless enough. But whilst My Name is Nobody DOES contain one or two daft “comedy” moments/mis-steps (whichever way you want to look at it), it’s actually a bloody decent film. Instead of dismissing it out of hand and possibly missing out, why not just give it a look at some stage, if for no other reason than to say, “Pfft, I thought it was going to be shit and I was right.” ? If you prefer a bit of grit in your westerns - as I do, as most do, tbh - it probably won’t blow you away, but I reckon you’ll be surprised. I don’t even consider it a comedy spag; it’s really more of a regular spag with a couple of comedic touches. And it’s an expertly crafted one at that, one of the very best in fact from a technical standpoint.
I havnt put together a top 20 yet. I still have to see some major films such as Day of Anger and Cemetary without Crosses, but i can say that Kill & Pray will definitely be ranked much higher on my list than it is on the official top 50.
All of you have convinced me, so I’ve decided to watch My Name is Nobody and include that for the next time I post a top 20, probably around May or so. At that time I will hopefully have seen IL MERCENARIO and FACCIA A FACCIA so I’m sure my list could change. As of right now I’ve more or less seen 60 films. Hopefully in May that number will be up around 75-100.
BUT FOR NOW, MY FIRST TOP 20
1. Keoma
2. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
3. The Return of Ringo
4. The Great Silence
5. A Fistful of Dollars
6. Django
7. Cemetery Without Crosses
8. For a Few Dollars More
9. Run Man Run
10. The Big Gundown
11. Massacre Time
12. Death Rides a Horse
13. A Bullet for the General
14. Companeros
15. Once Upon a Time in the West
16. Day of Anger
17. Arizona Colt
18. And God Said to Cain
19. Django il Bastardo
20. Duck, You Sucker
Yes - Run, Man, Run as the top Sollima, solid 10-20 regulars Keoma and Return of Ringo right up at the top, AFoD up in front of FaFDM; I mean, they’re not complete jumps off of the deep end of reality, it DOES happen, but it’s definitely not the usual way around.
Personally, I hate it when people post lists just for the sake of posting them (e.g. filling the ranks with films that maybe didn’t do much for them), but hey, that’s just my opinion. And how can you know that anyway?