The New "Best" Movie of All Time

During my unintentional hiatus last week, I read an article that said Citizen Kane has been replaced as the greatest film of all time, by Vertigo.

What the what.

I disagree. Get ready, there will be spoilers.

I wish my memories could be captured in snow globes.

Citizen Kane, while old and black and white, is the film that changed film culture! It's the story (loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst) of a man who says, "Rosebud" on his deathbed. We get flashbacks that sweep over his life to see him become quite successful, achieving the American dream even! However, Rosebud is a mystery to those around him and they wonder, could it be a lost love...who could it be? In the end we learn that Rosebud was the name of his sled when he was a child. A memory of the only truly happy time in his life. The movie represents an internal awareness that films had not really addressed at that point. Rather than a focus on the materialism and external nature of what's important, Citizen Kane got to the heart of the matter. Aside from being narratively smart, there were cinematic moves that created mystery, drama, and built story in a groundbreaking way. It's been the best film for decades.

Until last week. When the poll was taken, the critics decided that Vertigo trumped Citizen Kane this year.

Um. Really? Vertigo?

Maybe it's not such a wonderful life.

First of all, everyone knows that Rear Window is the best Hitchcock movie ever made! And IF I had to pick a second, it would be The Birds or even Psycho before Vertigo! These clueless critics claim that their decision was based on some kind of meta "this is a critic's film cause of something dreamlike and something else reconstructing and something else ideal...." (that's not an exact quote) oh and also something about how cruel love can be and how it can turn us into something we are not...

Are you kidding me?

The shift in this new choice is meant to reveal the shift in film culture. Supposedly we are reaching a place where people choose movies based on their own personal leanings, based on what the movie means to that person. It sounds emotional rather than educated or even experimental. I've been choosing movies based on emotions for YEARS! But I am not a film critic. My job is not to take an objective view to see what rises to the top.

If I were to choose the BEST movie of all time based on emotion, these would be my top 5.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Inception
Shawshank Redemption
Sense and Sensibility
Saved

These 5 (among a TON of others) move me, personally. Even so, this does NOT mean I think they are the best movies ever made! Maybe they are too long or too predictable, or too antagonistic, or too "indie." And so if I were going to have to choose a BEST of all time, I would try to look at more than just what made my heart stir or what I could relate to.

I really don't have anything against Vertigo. And maybe some of you can leave some comments defending it or helping me to come to a place of peace with this decision. I think what really bothers me  about this new choice is that Citizen Kane is a movie about inner happiness. The entire message is that you can have it all, but that won't make you happy! I mean what more culturally RELEVANT message can you deliver after a year of having it all conversations! Vertigo is about debilitating fear, lies and obsession, deceit, manipulation, becoming someone/pretending to be someone you are not, and the consequences of all of that. What does this new choice say about where we are in society? Can we just go back?

Rosebud...