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IMDb Top 250 - The Quest!

Started by Buttonman, 05 December, 2007, 05:31:07 PM

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Buttonman

A Wednesday DVD IMDb No. 159/250. Indian thriller that sees a cyber criminal try to get some baddies released. Pretty lo-tech tech but fast paced and a brutal but pragmatic ending.

Persona DVD - IMDb No. 192/250 Black and white Bergman which I'm sure the great man would call 'Weirdo freak out stuff'. Quite erotic and some interesting ideas although I did need Wikipedia to explain the finer points for me.

Gangs of Wasseypur DVD - IMDb No. 219/250 - This film was orginally 6 hours but in 'Kill Bill' style they cut it into two films. Number one was plenty for me. Not bad though, with plenty of sex and bad language which is unusual for Bollywood. Quite sprawling too as the rivalry of two gangs over the decades is explored.

Buttonman

Just 7 to go but only 'Kingsman :The Secret Service' really appeals - and that's not out on Blu-Ray yet. Of the rest they are all 3 hour jobs and in foreign. That said the few Bollywoods I've watched have been enjoyable but it's just such a commitment! Anyone got any pointers on this lot?



Dark Jimbo

Only seen Lagaan of those, but it's a blinder. I know nowt about cricket but I was on the edge of my seat throughout the fateful match. Set during the British Raj, too, so there's plenty of English dialogue as well as Hindi which makes the subtitles a bit less painful, if they're really not your thing.

When they showed it on channel 4 years ago they split it in two and screened them on a Saturday and Sunday one weekend - maybe try the same, to help with the endurance factor?
@jamesfeistdraws

I, Cosh

I preferred the remake of Solaris with Gorgeous George C, although there is something vaguely amusing about chubby, middle-aged Russian dudes in space.
We never really die.

Buttonman

That's me up to 249/250 with only Kingsman to go and that's not out on DVD until May - not finishing the list with a dodgy bootleg!

Lagaan was good but too long at 3 hrs 44 mins for a pretty straightforward David v Goliath sports story. Not clear why it turned into limited overs near the end [spoiler]but hey ho one up for the good guys![/spoiler]. Took the advice and watched it in chunks.

I liked 'Solaris' way better than the George Clooney one and the ending reminded me of [spoiler]the old Star Trek TNG episode 'The Royale'.[/spoiler]

This recent run hasn't converted me to Bollywood as the plots are repetitive with the cranky officious character always getting his cumuppence but they are more entertaining than I anticipated. Why they all run over 3 hours I've no idea.

Since I posted the list 'Three Colours Red' and 'Underground' both popped up so I caught them too. 'Three Colours' was good but a bit unlikely that a super model would befriend a local perv never mind the ending and I liked 'Underground' although it was a bit thick with metaphor and analogy about the Balkan states.  I like my social commentary even if I don't understand it!

Anyone else updated their list?

Buttonman

#155
Checked back in here for the first time in a year - down to 238 seen! I think they changed their voting criteria meaning that more and more Bollywoood stuff is getting in. No problems with that but after watching several I'm not inclined to watch the new arrivals either! One of the American ones doesn't even open until next year - what's that all about?!


WhizzBang

I have seen 41 of the current top 250 which is more than expected as I am not much a film fan. The only one on the list that is onw of my top 5 favourites is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I mainly like comedy and Bedazzled (1967), Airplane!, and Withnail and I don't get a mention in that list since there is almost no comedy there. Two M Python films make the list though and they are pretty good.

I think I have seen Shawshank Redemption because I recognise the white actor being in it and I know it is set in a prison but I can't remember anything else about it. I am sure it is not a patch on Airplane! (not my exclamation  mark - that is in the title of the film),

AlexF

Button Man, I've long admired your various quests, not least the 100 films beginning with 'w' onw. I too have tried to keep on top of the IMDB Top 250 but find it harder and harder to keep up with all the new releaes and rouge Bollywood / Turkish numbers that crop up from time to time.

I've seen three and a half of the films from your recent list:

Passion of Joan of Arc is pretty amazing, but it's very much a film school film fan's type of film. If you're a faithful Chrsitian or admirer of people with strong faith (I'm both, personally) there's a lot to engage with emotionally.

See also Tokyo Story, which is slow and steady and ultimately very moving, but if you're not int he mood it's a slog.

Chakde! India is a sports film with all the attendant cliches. At least Shah rukh Khan is blindingly charismatic, and the film is 'secretly' all about the massive ethnic diversity within India, which is after all a continent-sized country. And since I have next to no exposure to that here in the UK it was edutaining on that level, too.

I managed to watch half of the Message on Amazon Prime but then it went off Prime. It's a pretty straight retelling of the story of Islam/Muhammad, comes aceross a lot like those Charlton Heston Bible epics with holy heroes and eeevil villains. I hope to finish it one day, ideally without paying... (well, paying beyond my Amazon Prime / Netflix sub fees, anyway)

Bollywood is surely an acquired taste for someone like me who didn't grow up with it, but I have to say that all the INdian films I've seen as a resuklt of quests like these have been more good than bad. I wonder if the decision to make ALL films 'family friendly' has actualy been a good one in the long run - I don't think cinemas in india are hit nearly as hard as in the US/UK?

Buttonman

Thanks for your kind words Alex!

I entered Bollywood with some trepidation but there is a lot to like - the energy, optimism and almost childlike humour in a lot of them are refreshing - even the sudden song and dance numbers add to the fun. They are however often a bit samey and I don't fancy another 10 3 hour epics just to get my IMDb count back to a respectable level. That 3 hours Islam one and the Joan of Arc both look like like trudges but I have been pleasantly surprised before.

AlexF

The phrase you're looking for is 'virtuous torture'. You know, like the opposite of the so-called 'guilty pleasure'.

Which categorising means I sometimes find myself slogging through a 'guilty torture', i.e. a film that is generally thought to be pretty bad but enough people like it that it's sort of a cult favourite, and they talk it up like it'll be a laff-riot, but ends up boring and painful to watch.

Death Proof, I'm looking at you.

Hawkmumbler

Was not aware Tokyo Story had such a pedigree. I was only ever aware of it as one of those titles sold off in for 50p a copy in CEX.

AlexF

If you like Tokyo Story, there's a whole world of Ozu Yasujiro goodness to fill your viewing time for days.