Additional thoughts on the Elliot's Watching Top 50 Films

Have received a # of comments on the recent post, The Elliot's Watching Top 50 Films, and would like to respond to a few: Some friends have offered alternate suggestions for some of the directors on the list (as noted, I stuck to a rule of one film per director so as to suggest as many types of films as possible; almost every director represented has several other films well worth watching, so some of the decisions about which one to pick are immaterial - think of it as 50 top directors, if you'd like), but in any case: Why Psycho over Vertigo? I guess last time I saw Vertigo it felt too over-plotted. Why 7 Samurai over Ikiru? Tough choice there, but 7 is much broader and more epic, one of the few on the list. Love the scene where he selects Mifune as the 7th. And love the sword expert. Why Mean Streets over Taxi Driver? I guess I'm drawn to the black-and-white, more intimate feel of the earlier movie, though both are awesome. Dolce v 8 1/2 - another tough choice, and, hey, watch them both! But La Dolce Vita seems to be a greater part of our culture - created a type in cinema that has persisted to this day (see Don Draper, e.g.), and coined the word paparazzi, and of course so many great scenes of Rome at night. Omissions: yes, there are no silent films, as these are films that for the most part I dutifully watched back in the day but very few have stayed with me or have moved me or made me laugh aloud. Maybe Chaplin, but that's it. I can appreciate the achievement of these precursors, but I'm not drawn to see any again. Similarly for the many "art" films from the 60s and 70s that I watched back in grade school - Brakhage was a great artist and quite a character, but I'm far more drawn to the great works of narrative cinema. Some have suggested films that I haven't seen, which have now moved directly onto my Netflix Q. (And note that I have corrected #15 to read Pan's Labyrinth. ek - 4/16/14) Thanks, all!