I just have a hard time beliving 30% of the "best" example of the medium was made in 1920-1930.

I'd think that some of that is that these are the ones that have endured the best, and that's easier to see as time goes on. Thousands of movies were made during that period. Only a tiny portion still remain relevant because they're not dependent on the immediate culture around them to make sense of them. They endure because they're singular.

Mostly what I see when I look at a movie from several decades back are the tropes and historical assumptions of that era. When those get stripped away by time's passage the films that still work create their own aesthetic. Something accessible to any era as long as you can relinquish the tropes of your time to see it on its own terms.

Did they change the name of The Bicycle Thief to Bicycle Thieves? Or am I remembering wrong?

Yeah, I was wondering about that. Maybe it was the sequel (rejected title: 2 Thief 2 Bicycle ).

I am so happy that Citizen Kane is no longer number one. I hate Citizen Kane. I saw it as a teenager, and I can't even tell you why I hated it, except I thought it was boring. And I loved old movies when I was a kid.

I have Citizen Kane in the house right now, awaiting viewing! Along with His Girl Friday, which I watched last night, and found frequently hilarious.

I LOVE His Girl Friday. She's smart and a bit goofy but also passionate and brave. And he's bossy and manipulative but also understands and appreciates her and together, they fight crime (literally. Plus they are very sexy together.

I also LOVE His Girl Friday! Much more enjoyable than boring old Citizen Kane

I love BOTH those movies.

Did they change the name of The Bicycle Thief to Bicycle Thieves? Or am I remembering wrong?

The Italian title (Ladri di biciclette) was always plural. Only fairly recently have more people been insisting on the proper English translation. You still see it both ways all over the place.

Did they change the name of The Bicycle Thief to Bicycle Thieves? Or am I remembering wrong?

The Italian title (Ladri di biciclette) was always plural.

The plural title is nicely ambiguous, so I'm glad they're trying to change it back.

I'm going to have to rewatch Vertigo, aren't I? It is probably my least favourite Hitchcock from that period, but I think I was about 18 when I saw it, and I can imagine it is one of those movies which improves as you age.

I hate Citizen Kane. I saw it as a teenager, and I can't even tell you why I hated it, except I thought it was boring.

I have always found Citizen Kane emotionally rather cold. But - and it's a big but - as a piece of filmmaking it really is out of this world. It's the sort of film where there's something new to notice every time you watch it. But a lot of its innovations have become standard since it was made, so it helps to have a bit of a sense of film history to be able to appreciate them fully, I think.

(Citizen Kane is the only individual film I take the time to look at at length in my classes. When we start, most of the students can't understand why it was long counted as the best. When we finish, all of them can).

I remember feeling very skeptical about Citizen Kane because it's impossible to watch it without the sense that you are watching THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE BY ANYONE EVER AND YOU WILL APPRECIATE THIS GREAT PIECE OF ART OF ELSE, but I was blown away in spite of myself. It really is that good.