IMDb Top 250 - The Quest!

[Buttonman]

With all the American TV shows stopped due to the writers' strike I thought I'd have a look to the classics for my afternoon entetainment.

As a movie fan who sees at least 100 films a year at the cinema I was surprised to learn that I'd only seen 116 of the Internet Movie Database's top 250 films.

Some shameful admissions included 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', 'Raging Bull' and 'Apocalypse Now'.

A lot of others such as 'Ben-Hur' and 'Spartacus' I'd seen bits of but never the full thing. So in a bid to retard the spoilage of my brain I'm going to give up on seeing shit like 'Good Luck Chuck' and 'Hot Rod' and catch up on a few goodies that have passed the test of time. (Well, 'No country for old men' isn't out here until January and it's on the list (No 19) but you get the idea)

So far I've watched 'Cuckoo's Nest' which was great and made several Simpsons episodes seem a lot clearer and 'Grave of the Fireflies'(Hotaru no haka - no 226) which I'd never heard of but really enjoyed. Conversely 'The Seven Samurai' was a nightmare 3.5 hours and 'Wings of Desire' was a bit arty and pretentious.

Presently watching 'The Bride of Frankenstein'(No 188) on Film Four although I'm sure I must have seen it as a kid.

Anyone out there with a higher claim than 120 or indeed a quest sadder than this one? Please also state your most shameful admission of an not seen classic.

Link: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top" target="_blank">Wot no Anchorman?

[Roger Godpleton]

The Godfather - On DVD but unwatched.

There's quite a few that have been on telly but I've fallen asleep, including Raging Bull, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Apocalypse Now.

Grave of the Fireflies is the only film to leave me depressed for several days after seeing it.

[Peter Wolf]

 I have only seen 87 of those films.


 I remember going to the cinema to see Ghandi and thinking that looks better and going to see the Evil Dead instead in 1983.I have yet to see Ghandi.The days of Pearl and Dean.


 bah bah ba bah ba bah ba bah ba ba ba.



 Most of the foreign films i have yet to see.


 I cannot understand how Snatch got into that list.


 Aplogies.

[Rob Spalding]

I've seen 151 of them.

I feel like I've wasted a lot of my time now.

[Roger Godpleton]

I've seen a paltry 50, and most of them were children's films. But as I mentioned, there's quite a few I've half seen.

[Albion]

Only 91 for me.

Where's Repo Man and Bad Taste?

[JamesC]

I've seen 116 aswell.
I haven't seen  Platoon, Apocalypse Now or any of the Godfather films so I think I did quite well considering.

Quite a few glaring ommisions. No Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Superman 2 or Flash Gordon?

[Jim_Campbell]

107 ... Although I should note that there are several films on there that are on my list to make a point of watching as and when the opportunity arises. I should also mention that there are several of that 107 that I wish I hadn't bothered with.

Films that everyone always says you should see that I really can't summon any enthusiasm for:

Shawshank
Raging Bull
Taxi Driver
Godfather (any of 'em)
Goodfellas
Scarface

Can you tell I don't like gangster movies? Except Miller's Crossing.

Cheers

Jim

[JamesC]

Jim, you probably should give Shawshank Redemption a go, it's enjoyable and really easy to get into although I think people sometimes go a little overboard with their praise.
As for the rest on your list, I've seen them all apart from the Godfathers and I wouldn't bother watching any of them again. I hate all that mafioso backslapping shit. They all talk like they love each other yet they're sneaking around in the background plotting against one another.
I prefer British gangster films like Get Carter or The Long Good Friday, neither of which made the list.

[I, Cosh]

Making a point of only including those I can remember sitting through, I make that 144 (and half of Grindhouse.) I knew going to see all that mopey foreign pish would come in handy some day.

The only one of the top ten I've not seen is Shawshank Redemption, although I have the DVD sitting on top of the telly after a colleague forced it on me recently.

Two that I'd recommend unreservedly if you haven't seen them are The Philadelphia Story and Aguirre. Couldn't be more different, but both fantastic in their own way.

[mogzilla]

seen about 100 of those,i lost count!
glad to see yojimbo's in there though no "sanjuro" i always mix those two up so must dig out my video of them just to annoy the wife with black and white AND subtitles!

[Jim_Campbell]

"Two that I'd recommend unreservedly if you haven't seen them are The Philadelphia Story and Aguirre."

Fuck. I've actually seen that. 108, then ...

Cheers

Jim

[Buddy]

Never seen It's a Wonderful Life..

Any good?

[Roger Godpleton]

Yup, it's one of the very few films that actually justifies the emotional payoff at the end.

[Buttonman]

I've not seen all of 'It's a wonderful life' but feel that I have as it's always on those 100 best C&C shows that fill up Channel 4.

Saw 'M' tonight and it was great, really creepy and sadly as relevant as it's ever been.

Jim seems to have a DeNiro phobia - give him a look, Goodfellas and Casino are two cracking films that span the decades and have cracking dialogue and gruesome violence. If you like that kind of thing.

I was a late viewer of 'Scarface' and couldn't see what the fuss was about. When I was in Miami I couldn't believe the number of tat shops devoted to selling crap based on the film. I was similarly surprised to see a Scarface page-a-day calendar in Glasgow's Borders along with 3 separate George Bush Countdown to out of office ones.