Top 25 Favorite Movies

[Jason Voorhees]

1. Fight Club (I hated it two years ago, LOVE it now!)
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Dark Knight Rises
5. Pacific Rim
6. Iron Man 3
7. Terminator 2
8. Batman Returns
9. Taxi Driver
10. The Searchers
11. Goodfellas
12. Click
13. Happy Gilmore
14. The Green Mile
15. Return of The Jedi
16. Bad Boys II
17. Billy Madison
18. Are We There Yet
19. Dark Knight
20. Batman Begins
21. Despicable Me 2
22. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
23. Cars
24. Monsters University
25. Gone With The Wind

 

[Hobbes]

4. Dark Knight Rises
19. Dark Knight
20. Batman Begins

I'm no movie critic, but did you really like Dark Knight Rises that much more than the other two? I thought Dark Knight was much better.

 

[Edward M]

4. Dark Knight Rises
19. Dark Knight
20. Batman Begins

I'm no movie critic, but did you really like Dark Knight Rises that much more than the other two? I thought Dark Knight was much better.

I would have pointed out that he liked 3 Adam Sandler Movies more than Dark Knight and Batman Begins.

 

[Hobbes]

^In all honesty, I've never been much of a movie person, so I didn't even know some of those were Sandler movies. I enjoy movies of course, but I definitely don't go out of my way to watch them. I go to the theater once every couple years, and if I watch a movie on DVD it's because someone else is already watching. Because of this, I have seen very few movies. I might be able to make a top ten, but I could never pull off a top 25.

Also Jason, Return of the Jedi was your favorite Star Wars?

 

[Jason Voorhees]

^^Yes I ranked the 3 good Adam Sandler movies over 2 decent Batman movies. Dark Knight is overrated. Return of The Jedi is the only Star Wars film I really like.

 

[Edward M]

^^Yes I ranked the 3 good Adam Sandler movies over 2 decent Batman movies.

 

[Hobbes]

^Ha

Dark Knight is overrated.

That's a fair opinion, but what makes Dark Knight Rises better for you?

Return of The Jedi is the only Star Wars film I really like.

You don't like New Hope or Empire? Interesting, seeing as those are usually considered the two best Star Wars films.

 

[furie]

I agree with him to be honest (though none of the Nolan Batman films would make my top 25).

Dark Knight goes on too long and has at least one long scene which is extraneous to the plot (I'd actually argue it has a lot of extraneous scenes). What could have been a succinct, thrilling action film ends up being too drawn out and protracted with no benefit to the actual plot at all. It needed a huge chunk editing out.

DKR is equally too long really and has a much slower pace, but everything there is relevant. I think that if you were taking scores, they'd both end up with about the same number, just one is better in one area where one is worse in another.

Neither are that great though and Nolan is seriously over-rated.

ROTJ however is clearly the weakest of the original Star Wars trilogy, though I always watch the Tatooine section as it's awesome. The latter part of the film suffers from "New Trilogy Syndrome". Too much going on, too much convoluted plot and too many switches between action scenes. It's badly directed and badly written. Like the later films, there's not enough focus on one action sequence, so tension never builds.

Star Wars is the blueprint for making a blockbuster action film; Empire Strikes Back a master class in taking a blockbuster and making it into a real story; Return of the Jedi is all about selling merchandise.

 

[Hobbes]

Neither are that great though and Nolan is seriously over-rated.

I haven't seen any of Nolan's movies besides the Batman trilogy, so I really don't have much to say about Nolan's complete works. However, I think the trilogy gets so much love because it combines good (but not necessarily amazing) movies with a well-liked character. So yeah, they're great fun to watch, but probably overrated from a critical standpoint.

Like I said before, I'm not much of a movie person. But I figured I'd throw together a quick list just for fun, so you guys can see how bad a list can really be

1. Bourne Identity- Don't ask me why I love this so much, I just do
2. Dark Knight
3. LOTR: Return of the King
4. The Matrix
5. LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring
6. Empire Strikes Back
7. A New Hope
8. Bourne Supremacy
9. LOTR: Two Towers
10. Batman Begins
11. The Avengers
12. Hobbit: Unexpected Journey
13. Return of the Jedi
14. Despicable Me
15. Star Trek (2009)

So yeah, the extent of the movies I watch are superheroes, Star Wars, LOTR, and a few odds and ends

I'll be watching Bourne Ultimatum sometime this weekend, so it might jump into the list as well.

 

[rtotheizzo17]

Anyone who has a Batman film in their top 25 either hasn't seen enough movies or has a very, very, simple taste.

DKR is almost as bad as Batman Forever. Seriously think about some of those plot lines.
DK was made entirely by Ledger's performance. Other than the scenes he was in the movie was meh
BB is a good superhero movie. But orgin stories are so played out at this point.

As far as Adam Sandler comedies, in 1996 I would say they were funny, those movies do not stand the test of time.

 

[Edward M]

Anyone who has a Batman film in their top 25 either hasn't seen enough movies or has a very, very, simple taste.

DKR is almost as bad as Batman Forever. Seriously think about some of those plot lines.
DK was made entirely by Ledger's performance. Other than the scenes he was in the movie was meh
BB is a good superhero movie. But orgin stories are so played out at this point.

If you look back, plenty of people with great taste in movies have Batman Returns in their list.

I love The Dark Knight for Ledger's performance and just how it changed everything about Superhero movies.

I also love Batman Returns though, maybe even better than Dark Knight.

 

[Hobbes]

Anyone who has a Batman film in their top 25 either hasn't seen enough movies or has a very, very, simple taste.

I think I fall into the first category...

Actually, I was bored, so I decided to do some math to determine if I indeed belong in the "not seen enough movies" category. I've seen six Batman films (as I'm yet to see Batman Returns). I counted up all the movies I've ever watched (or at least all I could think of in 20 minutes), and found out that those six Batman films account for...

8.95% of all movies I've ever watched.

Granted, I probably forgot a few movies, but I still don't think it would drop below 7%. So yeah, there's my excuse

 

[furie]

We used to have a topic "how many of the top 250 films have you seen?", but I can't find it for the life of me.

Essentially, look on IMDB at what they have listed as their top 250 films, then count how many you've seen.

What it's worth doing is whenever you see one of those top films is being broadcast on TV, make an effort to watch it. Or if you're really interested, actively hunt the films down.

There's usually a really good, broad range of films. It's amazing how surprisingly good films you thought would never interest you can be. Other times, it's hard to understand why films are even in the list.

I can recommend anyone to do it, I've seen some incredibly good films I'd have otherwise just completely ignored.

I loved Batman Begins, so much that I went to see it again at the cinema the following day (I never watch a film right away again after seeing it, Batman Begins and Sin City are the only two films I can remember wanting to watch again right away). I actually wanted to see if I was wrong in enjoying it so much, but still loved it the second time.

On subsequent watching though, it's not so good, but is still a great film.

I think the reason the Nolan Batman films are so popular is simply that they're a solid film based around a superhero. Usually, it's just a "superhero film". Nolan recognised that the source material was very dark, deep, complex and brooding and that was why the film should be made, not because it had a superhero in it - that was just a bonus.

So I understand why people love them (and why BB did it for me, especially at the cinema) and I think you'll find them in that Top 250 list too...

 

[Edward M]

It was my goal over the summer to watch the Top 250, but it wasn't completed. I did quite well though.

I still hope to do it maybe next year or the year after.

I have currently watched 89 of them.

 

[furie]

I think I managed to hit about 200, but a lot of that was just natural over the years anyway. Many I watched on release 30+ years ago, or caught when they were still popular :lol:

89 is a bloody good number to be honest as there are a lot which aren't too easy to find, and even worse, a lot you look at and think "why would I want to watch that" - so you pick the easier options like Goodfellas

 

[rtotheizzo17]

Anyone who has a Batman film in their top 25 either hasn't seen enough movies or has a very, very, simple taste.

DKR is almost as bad as Batman Forever. Seriously think about some of those plot lines.
DK was made entirely by Ledger's performance. Other than the scenes he was in the movie was meh
BB is a good superhero movie. But orgin stories are so played out at this point.

If you look back, plenty of people with great taste in movies have Batman Returns in their list.

I love The Dark Knight for Ledger's performance and just how it changed everything about Superhero movies.

I also love Batman Returns though, maybe even better than Dark Knight.

Sure, people who love Tim Burton. But they also love Frankinweenie and the Planet of the Apes remake :--D

 

[furie]

Frankenweenie is excellent!!! Shush you!

Erm, the rest is style over substance though

 

[rtotheizzo17]

I think I managed to hit about 200, but a lot of that was just natural over the years anyway. Many I watched on release 30+ years ago, or caught when they were still popular :lol:

89 is a bloody good number to be honest as there are a lot which aren't too easy to find, and even worse, a lot you look at and think "why would I want to watch that" - so you pick the easier options like Goodfellas

At quick glance I have seen 110 on the IMDB top 250. I think that list takes "newness" into account too much as it has TDK at number 6, and Jaws around 150. People see a movie in a great atmosphere have their mind blown and give it a 10.

It def points out the changing times in what makes a movie popular.

 

[furie]

I have found that over time, the system does sort itself out and the new "mind blown" films rapidly drop out down considerably. Though perhaps TDK really IS that good and I'm just wrong on that front (nah, surely not )?

I like it because it's a "commoners list" though. It's not pretentious, or made by critics who hold obscure ideals over actual enjoyment. Even the "difficult films"* on the list tend to be entertaining, which is the whole point of a film after all.


*Things like foreign films where the culture is maybe a little too alien, or much older films where things just aren't quite as normal as we expect as modern film goers (Seventh Seal is a great example of this, as is 12 angry men in a different way)

 

[Hobbes]

So I've decided to continue embarrassing myself by posing as a movie critic

Out of the current IMDB top 250 movies, I have seen the following:

The original Star Wars trilogy
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Hobbit: Unexpected Journey
Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2
Nolan's Batman trilogy
Bourne Ultimatum
Forrest Gump
Star Trek 2009
The Matrix
WALL E
The Lion King
Toy Story
Toy Story 3
Wizard of Oz
The Avengers
Finding Nemo
Monsters inc

So that's 23, which is much higher than I expected.

Also, now that I've seen Bourne Ultimatum, rewatched Star Trek and given the list a bit more thought, I've updated my miserable top 15.

1. Bourne Identity
2. LOTR: Return of the King
3. The Dark Knight
4. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Matrix
6. SW: A New Hope
7. Bourne Supremacy
8: SW: Empire Strikes Back
9. LOTR: Two Towers
10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
11. Bourne Ultimatum
12. Return of the Jedi
13. Star Trek (2009)
14. Batman Begins
15. The Avengers