Just at of curiosity I wondered how many movies you guys have seen from the 250 imdb list: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
If that's a help I copy pasted the list in excel and deleted the one I had seen, than substracted from 250 ;)
As for me I have seen 199 which I consider not bad but I guess I'm missing some great films there !! That's where your helped is asked !
If you should advice me on one film so I at least get to 200 and don't die as an idiot as we say in french ;) What film should I watch next (I do have some of them on DVD and didn't eveny open them yet :\ ), knowing I'm not a big Horror film fan, so don't say the Exorcist :P ?
Here is the list of films I still havn't seen ! (don't scream, I know those are great films !) (500) Days of Summer (2009), American History X (1998), Amores perros (2000), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Blood Diamond (2006), Brief Encounter (1945), Children of Men (2006), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Crash (2004/I), Det sjunde inseglet (1957), District 9 (2009), Donnie Darko (2001), El laberinto del fauno (2006), Harvey (1950), Hotaru no haka (1988), Hotel Rwanda (2004), It Happened One Night (1934), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), La battaglia di Algeri (1966), Låt den rätte komma in (2008), Le notti di Cabiria (1957), Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Memento (2000), Oldboy (2003), Patton (1970), Planet of the Apes (1968), Ran (1985), Rashômon (1950), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Sin City (2005), Sleuth (1972), Smultronstället (1957), Star Trek (2009), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Deer Hunter (1978), The Exorcist (1973), The Green Mile (1999), The Hustler (1961), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Pianist (2002), The Prestige (2006), The Thing (1982), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Wrestler (2008), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Yojimbo (1961), Zombieland (2009)
Wow some great movies in that list. Great kurosawa movies there, yojimbo, ran or rashomon would be a great start.
Amores Perros is probably a must-see, I enjoyed the first and 3rd acts very much (not so much the 2nd).
I know you don't like horror but the Thing (82) is one of my personal favourites. There is a "blood test" scene which is one of the most tense, paranoia-ridden films in modern sci-fi horror.
After hearing you talk about some other movies you have liked, I think you would LOVE, "Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007)", a very intelligent, emotional film.
Patton has arguably George C Scott's best performance ever (I think its one of asmodai's favourite movies)
Let the right one in is a great modern twist on a vampire story and definitely worth seeing (would not be considered a horror I dont think, but I don't want to give anything away)
Pan's Labyrinth, is a modern fairytale that many consider a classic movie already, definitely Del Toro's finest yet imo.
The wrestler is a very sensitive, delicately handled movie, possibly aronofsky's finest, most mature work, but this is debatable. Mickey Rourke is incredible, honestly incredible.
In fact, I can find a lot of positive things to say about almost every film in that list (Dont watch district 9 I beg of you!), so the short answer is watch them all :)
It really depends on your taste of course, but i would suggest you watch Memento, Requiem for a Dream and Amores perros asap, these are three of my favorites. After that i would start watching Donnie Darko, Oldboy, Sin City, American History X and Rosemary's Baby before finishing the rest of the list ;)
Wow thanks you three for this fast feedback... American History X seems to be on the last too coments Kurosawa, of cours M00ch, I know I should whatch him too...Guess I could start with Memento since I have it here on DVD... Something I find weird is that my favourite film is not in that list "Children of the Paradise" and in Imdb it has an 8.0 and some films of this 250 list are rated lower so I guess I don't understand there list, if someone can help me understand that...
Thanks again for your selection and don't hesitate to do the same :P
Personal favorites: American History X (1998) - shocking but brilliant story. District 9 (2009) - Bit overrated, but nice twist on the alien invasion theme. Donnie Darko (2001) - If anything is cult this one is! El laberinto del fauno (2006) - Just wow, story and visuals are amazing. Låt den rätte komma in (2008) - Nice twist on vampires as m00ch already said. Memento (2000) - This one keeps you guessing to the end. Excellent movie! Oldboy (2003) - Hollywood could never make a movie about revenge like this one. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - Drugs related with some memorable scenes :) Star Trek (2009) - Nice popcorn movie, story is predictable. But the acting is good and the action is great! The Green Mile (1999) - I almost shed a tear near the end of this movie, and I never do that! Great story! The Wrestler (2008) - Rourke is amazing in this on! It also features a nice look into the lives of american wrestlers.
But if only have to choose one I would go for Memento!
Among those I have seen in this list, without hesitation I choose "Det sjunde inseglet".
Then my short list could be :
Anatomy of a Murder It Happened One Night ("New York Miami" en Français...) Le notti di Cabiria Le scaphandre et le papillon Memento Rosemary's Baby Smultronstället (Les fraises sauvages) The Deer Hunter The Hustler The Pianist
bottom bottom line : District 9 ! How can such a ridiculous movie stand among all these beautiful films? To be honest, the first 15 minutes are interesting, then come 2 hours of boredom.
I will recommend Cool Hand Luke, that movie is so great :)! And yes a lot of those film from top250 you havent seen Cotp is very great I have not seen 9 movies on that list: Double Indemnity (2x have it), Witness for the Prosecution(have it), Judgment at Nuremberg(have it) Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (500) Days of Summer Zombieland The Hangover Changeling Star Trek
So it's pretty much all the new movies on that list I need to buy xD
@theoffice911: Mulholland drive is atm in top 250 :D (#235)
@calslaan26: "Oldboy (2003) - Hollywood could never make a movie about revenge like this one."
You know they are remaking this for hollywood right? shocking :( I think it even has Will Smith in the lead role :x awwww helll naww..... I wonder how they will handle the ending (no spoilers)
"guess I don't understand there list, if someone can help me understand that..."
If you check the imdb site, it says: "For this top 250, only votes from regular voters are considered." and: The formula for calculating the Top Rated 250 Titles gives a true Bayesian estimate: weighted rating (WR) = (v ÷ (v+m)) × R + (m ÷ (v+m)) × C where: * R = average for the movie (mean) = (Rating) * v = number of votes for the movie = (votes) * m = minimum votes required to be listed in the Top 250 (currently 1500) * C = the mean vote across the whole report (currently 6.9)
So there is also a minimum number of votes required to reach the top 250, and not all votes are used to calculate the top 250 rating.
@them00ch: You know they are remaking this for hollywood right? shocking :( I think it even has Will Smith in the lead role :x awwww helll naww..... I wonder how they will handle the ending (no spoilers) edit : for proof: ->link<- Will Smith and Spielberg!
I thought it only was a rumor :S................................... Is there no limit to the remake-frenzy of hollywood?
On-topic: And I also can recommend Sin City visualy, it was refreshing at the time.
@theoffice911, tell us the movies you have not seen ! @ Razzomega, I recommend The Hangover it's a great comedy, sounds like another Las Vegas Casino movie type of thing, but very different and great acting performance...
Ok so I just saw Memento !!! Wow, I knew there was something about the narrative but that was an awesome idea. I wonder if other films have done the same... Have found this intersting link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_narrative but it seems Memento's structure is quite unique. On the Dvd I have they even give you the film in normal order but don't know if I want to watch it that way.
I thought it would continue .... and the the movie ended !
Not sure of the conclusions to get to this story, to bad there isn't a spoiler function in here or a MP system, since I would really appreciate someone tell me what they understand of the movie. I know it's not that hard like a David Lynch movie, but I'm not sure I got everything, maybe I'll watch it again ahah...
Thanks Calslaan26... will try and let you know when I will have seen it...
Continuing on Memento, if you are as confused as I am or think you know the truth about the movie, this Imdb link is very intersting to read... a lot of stuff in there http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/faq
Just a quote: "Is there an answer? I don't know. Christopher Nolan claims there is one. In an article in New Times Los Angeles on March 15, [2001, when the movie was released in the US] Scott Timberg writes: 'Nolan, for his part, won't tell. When asked about the film's outcome, he goes on about ambiguity and subjectivity, but insists he knows the movie's Truth -- who's good, who's bad, who can be trusted and who can't -- and insists that close viewing will reveal all.' "
The formula given by asmodai explains clearly the big flaw of the ranking system of imdb: it gives a huge advantage to movies having a large number of voters: for the same rating, a movie having more voters will have a higher weighted rating. It makes sense if every one has the same chance, for example to compare two episodes of LOTR released recently. But it is not fair to compare LOTR and "City lights" with this formula.
You can clearly partition this list into 2 lists: the real masterpieces with less than 100000 voter for most of them, and many recent movies with a large number of voters that I cannot rank at the same level. Most of them are good movies, not more than that. Some of them are just mainstream blockbusters (District 9, Léon, V for vendetta, the 6th sense...). Of course there are also a few recent masterpieces with many voters.
If this weighted rating is maintained a couple of years, all the old movies will probably disappear from the list.
BTW, the fact that "The Shawshank Redemption" is number one is a mystery to me. amha, any movie of the top 50 except a 2 or 3 could make a better number one.
I have seen none of the films of the bottom 100. Shame on me. But I suspect that this list is over representing the american cinema. I know some french movies that deserve entering this list.
Ok so here is my recommendations from the movies I've seen on first I would have to say The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, if you like Westerns but it is also a beautiful movie cinematographically speaking !! You will not be desapointed I assure you... Then The Adventures of Robin Hood because it is one of my favourite movies from my childhood, great colors, great acting... would love to see it again :P King Kong 1933, a must see for what have inspired other generations and special effects... you know the story :) Daas Boot : Really a great movie, you have to like submarine movies though, but there are amazing shots in this movies which till that day I can't really explain !!
@theoffice911 from your list I warmly recommend Philadelphia story: probably one of the best screwball comedy ever. C.Grant+J.Stewart+K.Hepburn, you cannot imagine better casting. His girl friday: also a fantastic comedy. And C.Grant again. Laura: because anybody could die for G.Tierney in this movie.
I watched Zombieland in the cinema today, it is really funny and refreshing but not good enough to a top 250 :S! Now I only need to watch 8 movies on the Imdb.com top 250 list and I will be watching Changeling this weekend :D!
@Asmodai, wow you miss some great movies there common and see Singing in the Rain one of my favourite movies, and some Chaplin, the Great Dictator ! Let's go !! And like ZomBeeBob you both havn't seen It's a Wonderful Life by Franck Capra, it's a classic ! Hope you'll like it... And to pspan to change a little, I'll recommend a 2006 movie, Little Miss Sunshine, great road movie with what a familiy...
Cotp, you really have no idea how much films I still have left to see, even DVD's that I own... literally hundreds :P All the top 250 things are on my list, so just wait a while, till after my tests are over.. Then I can watch more stuff again. I did see Singin in the Rain one day, but I was like 8 and hardly remember it, so that's the reason I didn't tick it.
Cotp, I haven't seen most of the 250 movies listed so it's not worth to list them. I strongly recommend you Rosemary's baby. There are other great movies on your non-seen list, but I wanted to pick only one.
Sorry theoffice for the bad advices. Of course if you don't like films noir it was not a good idea. Myself I am not fan of western, but I admit "Liberty Valance" is a great movie. I also like a couple of "spaghetti western" (I don't know if this term is used outside of France), but that's all. John Ford is usually boring me but I have not seem many of his films.
BTW, thank you for the statistics. They confirm that the decade 2000-2009 is over-represented, and it should be worse with time if the ranking formula is not changed. The director'd list is ok, even if many of my favourites are forgotten: W.Allen, K.Loach, S.Frears, P.Almodovar, F.Lang, K.Kieslowski, B.de Palma, O.Welles, F.Truffaut, E.Rohmer, J.Renoir...