I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "The Silence of the Lambs" may have ushered an era of slick movies about crazy butchers, but its secret is defying the very genre it birthed. Where similar films grasp at hardboiled cop tropes or squalid criminality, "Lambs" stands most notably on Jonathan Demme's bottomless human interest. Peel the gory, lacerated, delicious face away, and it's a delicate, well-observed movie about grief, compassion, and suffering - and, I learned from these matchups, a gruesomely underappreciated film. It bummed me out to see voters dismiss "Lambs" as a solid procedural with a good villain, when it's so much more.
Similarly, I've been a "Fargo" apostle for years, reflexively calling it one of my favorite movies - a claim which rolls off the tongue the easily enough, but which I never really interrogated. I love the Coens, but the cult that nearly propelled "Lebowski" (really?) to the finals has distorted the landscape. The "Goodfellas" takedown seals it: you've forced me into the the role of grumpy contrarian, Filmspotting Family. The brothers are masters, but they're overrated. "Fargo" is absolutely wonderful, and like "Lambs," it makes its case with heart rather than theatrics - but "Goodfellas?" It's an opus, yall. There isn't much which "Fargo" accomplishes that Scorsese doesn't crank out in "Goodfellas" with equal skill, but on a grander scale than the entire Coen catalog can muster combined.
My vote here goes to "Goodfellas," but man is this bittersweet overall.
Brett Merryman - 6 years ago
Goodfellas doesn't need consoling. You want your prize? Just go around the corner, right there, no, just go, right around the corner...
Some guy - 6 years ago
Hoof.
Joe Marshall - 6 years ago
To pair these two films up is an insult to pair-ups. I’ve been amused at best to see Silence of the Lambs so beloved among the 90s, but to imagine someone could call it a better film than Goodfellas (nothing but love, Jonathan Demme) for me is incomprehensible.
Sam Vargen - Martinez, CA - 6 years ago
If Goodfellas loses this I'm gonna stop watching movies.
Gary - 6 years ago
To do march madness based on a decade of films seems like a step down in interest given we have already done the best film of all time. Whatever.
TheHighHat - 6 years ago
Miller's Crossing > All of them.
Ben - 6 years ago
Meh
TheReal - 6 years ago
Fargo is a worthy champion, but I wonder if many of the people who voted for it even understand the ending. That Grimsrud killed Marge and that was her death dream.
Bittersweet. I'm forced to rant.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "The Silence of the Lambs" may have ushered an era of slick movies about crazy butchers, but its secret is defying the very genre it birthed. Where similar films grasp at hardboiled cop tropes or squalid criminality, "Lambs" stands most notably on Jonathan Demme's bottomless human interest. Peel the gory, lacerated, delicious face away, and it's a delicate, well-observed movie about grief, compassion, and suffering - and, I learned from these matchups, a gruesomely underappreciated film. It bummed me out to see voters dismiss "Lambs" as a solid procedural with a good villain, when it's so much more.
Similarly, I've been a "Fargo" apostle for years, reflexively calling it one of my favorite movies - a claim which rolls off the tongue the easily enough, but which I never really interrogated. I love the Coens, but the cult that nearly propelled "Lebowski" (really?) to the finals has distorted the landscape. The "Goodfellas" takedown seals it: you've forced me into the the role of grumpy contrarian, Filmspotting Family. The brothers are masters, but they're overrated. "Fargo" is absolutely wonderful, and like "Lambs," it makes its case with heart rather than theatrics - but "Goodfellas?" It's an opus, yall. There isn't much which "Fargo" accomplishes that Scorsese doesn't crank out in "Goodfellas" with equal skill, but on a grander scale than the entire Coen catalog can muster combined.
My vote here goes to "Goodfellas," but man is this bittersweet overall.
Goodfellas doesn't need consoling. You want your prize? Just go around the corner, right there, no, just go, right around the corner...
Hoof.
To pair these two films up is an insult to pair-ups. I’ve been amused at best to see Silence of the Lambs so beloved among the 90s, but to imagine someone could call it a better film than Goodfellas (nothing but love, Jonathan Demme) for me is incomprehensible.
If Goodfellas loses this I'm gonna stop watching movies.
To do march madness based on a decade of films seems like a step down in interest given we have already done the best film of all time. Whatever.
Miller's Crossing > All of them.
Meh
Fargo is a worthy champion, but I wonder if many of the people who voted for it even understand the ending. That Grimsrud killed Marge and that was her death dream.