Filmsite - also known as Greatest Films (http://www.filmsite.org/ and http://www.greatestfilms.org/) is a unique website containing interpretive, descriptive review commentary and background history on many of the best Hollywood and American classic films in the last century. The site initiated the recent trend to select 100 Landmark Movies in the history of American/Hollywood cinema, that serve as signposts to map the milestones of our cinematic past. The site includes rich reference material including Academy Awards history, film genres, film terms, film history by decade, trivia, and lots of lists of 'best' films, stars, scenes, quotes, resources, posters, etc. Films, also known as movies, motion pictures, flicks, the pictures, and the cinema, are undoubtedly the most influential art form of the 20th century. From the early days of Hollywood to the high-tech cinema of today, the silver screen has projected our dreams and fantasies, presented both glamour and works of social conscience, and served as our collective memory.

This site was created in May 1996 by Tim Dirks. As of September 2008, it came under the umbrella of American Movie Classics (AMC) LLC, owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. As of July 1, 2011, Cablevision spun off its Rainbow Networks unit, creating a new company called AMC Networks, Inc. The new AMC Networks entity owns and operates the channels AMC, WE tv, IFC, Sundance Channel and AMC/Sundance Global, plus IFC Entertainment, an independent film business. Tim Dirks authors, edits, and manages Filmsite.

Some of the site's most popular pages include:

• 100 Greatest Films - thoroughly described with Criteria for Selection
• Other Compiled Greatest Films Lists - from multiple sources
• The Best Of... - Tearjerkers, Best Film Kisses, Deaths, Scariest, Film Spoilers, Entrances, Funniest, Musical Moments, Disasters, Chases (all illustrated)
• Academy Awards Winners (Oscars History, Facts & Trivia) - by year (with Best Pictures posters for each year)
• Greatest Film Star Roles and Legends - with filmographies
• Memorable Film Quotes - with fun quizzes
• Complete Study of Film Genres - westerns, musicals, etc., with recommended films to view by genre
• Sexual or Erotic Films (Film Genres)
• Chick Flicks
• Comprehensive Film History with Milestones - by decade (illustrated)
• All-Time Box-Office 100 Hits - domestic (adjusted and unadjusted for inflation), and worldwide
• Most Famous Movie Moments and Scenes - extensively described and illustrated
• Greatest Directors of All-Time - with filmographies
• Greatest Film Posters
• The Most Controversial Films of All-Time (illustrated)
• The Greatest Box-Office Bombs, Disasters, and Flops
• The History of Sex in Cinema (illustrated)

'Greatest Films' Lists - The Best:

The English-language films chosen here repeatedly appear on all-time best film lists - arguably, there is reasonable consensus by most film historians, critics and reviewers that they are among cinema's most critically-acclaimed, significant "must-see" films (of predominantly Hollywood-American output, although there are other English-language films included). Access this site's "Greatest Films" Lists, that first highlights 100 films (in unranked, alphabetical order) which have left an indelible mark on our century's culture and have been part of our lives for over a century. You may be interested in Tips on Viewing Films Critically provided by the site's author.

"Greatest Films" Lists
100 Greatest Films, (identified throughout the site by a yellow star ) - are film selections that have undoubtedly left an indelible mark upon our lives and reflect the defining moments of the last 100 years - films that give us pieces of time we can never forget. Detailed analysis and synopses for each of the Greatest Films include memorable movie quotes and lines of dialogue, and great moments or scenes.
Another 100 Greatest Films supplements the original list because it was almost impossible to be limited to only 100 Greatest Films.
Third 100 Greatest Films adds an additional selection of 100 more films, to make a total of 300 Greatest Films for consideration.
200 and 300 Greatest Films combines all lists of predominantly American-Hollywood films (and other English-language films), and presents them in chronological (and) alphabetical order.
Other "Greatest" Lists provide a basis of comparison

Highly Recommended Site:

Filmsite.org is prominently displayed as one of the main reviewers/critics and sources of film material for hundreds of films in the Internet Movie Database (under "External Reviews" for specific titles), the Movie Review Query Engine, and Rotten Tomatoes.

Film critic Roger Ebert has twice voted the site as one of the top 20 movie sites on the Web in Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine (Jan. '98 and June '99) (see all of Ebert's honors and references to filmsite.org), and Ebert has also referenced this site's reviews on Notorious and Red River and other films in his 2002 book - The Great Movies, and on his Chicago Sun-Times website on The Great Movies. Ebert has also corresponded with the site's author on questions/answers that he incorporated into his "Answer Man" column.

The site has been reviewed very favorably by a number of Web magazines, sites or books (see this site's References section), and the author has been quoted in numerous sources for DVD commentary, AP press releases, radio broadcasts, magazine articles, etc. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, this site has a "rich collection of commentary and information about masterpieces of American cinema." In mid-2003, Variety featured the site in an article titled: "Filmsite has unique spin on top pix." Filmsite.org was voted in October, 2007 by the popular movie magazine Fade In (both virtual and online) as one of the "100 Coolest Film Sites on the Net" with "every conceivable 'best of' list for film".

Comments From Visitors & Reviewers:

Everyone interested in film in some way visits Filmsite - seniors and the young, the student and the casual observer, film buffs from throughout the world - screenwriters, film reviewers, film studies students, persons looking for a particular quote or fact about a film, film poster enthusiasts, visitors looking to purchase or rent film videos, film books, or classic film posters, and those who want to experience a film again by reading the detailed, lengthy synopses of each of the films. With the amount of resources, it literally would take many repeat visits to see all areas of Filmsite.

- "An excellent overview of classic Hollywood films."

- "The Greatest Films is an encyclopedic, enthusiastic history of American film."

- "One of the better amateur sites on its topic."

- "Excellent for hunting down the perfect rental."

- "A virtual treasure trove of cinema goodies."

- "A real find for film buffs of all persuasions."

- "I really love to read your movie summaries."

- "It truly is a wonderfully in-depth and detailed place not only interesting to browse through, but, being a teacher of media/film, academically worthwhile." The links and additional information you provide is also first class. Keep up the good work and keep adding to the site."

- "I'm studying American film and this site is one of my main resources!!

- "Any site with Roger Ebert's endorsement has got to be bookmarked!"

- "Your compilation is extraordinary. Anyone who can coherently relate the plot of 'The Big Sleep' or 'Bringing Up Baby' deserves the highest esteem. I'm a New York screenwriter and actor, and find myself copying sections of dialogue and e-mailing them to my LA colleagues with the question, 'All right, film and director? What year?' Keep up the great work!"

- "The site offers many ways of looking at important films, but the centerpiece is his series of 100 long reviews of classics, including downloadable still photos, highly extensive plot summaries, and a lot of quotes... This site is useful for film students or others seeking an entry point into film history. He has essays on genres, periods and types of movies, and suggested titles in each area, and his sheer love for the movies comes across in his accuracy and energy." (Roger Ebert)

- " I taught film, as well as film and literature, courses for 40 years, and during the last ten I always referred my students to filmsite.org ahead of any other internet site dealing with movies. Young people, needless to say, have a strong bias on behalf of the contemporary, or the present tense and an equally strong antipathy toward "old" movies, black and white movies (Roger Ebert is quite strong about the superior "art" of shooting in black and white), movies "long" on dialog (however sparkling) and short on production values (hence, "The Maltese Falcon," "His Girl Friday," even most Marx Brothers films do poorly when left to the judgment of impatient teenagers and 20-21-year olds. And of course silent movies practically don't even count (I have even had to defend "Birth of a Nation" to politically correct academics who could not see beyond their own calcified ideologies). And, despite adult assumptions, I've discovered that young people don't know much if anything about Charlie Chaplin (and if they do, they've never seen a Chaplin film--and, more often than not, the same turns out to be true for a Marx Brothers, Astaire or Bogart movie). The point is that your site has always offered a "validation" I could turn to for support. I've even printed out some of the ratings as the basis for "must see" films and extra-credit projects, using it most recently when I taught a course in "cult films.""

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