IMDB Top 250 films

[yovargas]

And, yov, "Once upon time in America" is my favorite movie, or was it before LOTR...

That's okay, I still like you.

[yovargas]

I've been on quite a bad movie streak of late with nothing but sub-C rating movies for weeks. Thankfully, within this batch of mostly duds is one shining masterpiece, only the 4th movie so far I've rated an A+. I had never heard of The Battle of Algiers and from what I gather it is little known but it's an astonishing movie. It's a highly realistic (almost documentary-like) telling of some of the events in the Algerian War of Independence of the 50s but its subject matter is, tragically, profoundly relevant in today's times. I pretty much want to post the whole movie as a response to the "Terrorist or Freedom Fighter" in Lammen right now. I would particularly love to hear Túrin's thoughts on the movie as it is very much up his alley as far as subject matter goes.



The Battle of Algiers A+
Cinema Paradiso B+
Fight Club B
Witness for the Prosecution C+
Chungking Express C
Diabolique C-
The 400 Blows C-
The Royal Tenenbaums C-
American History X D+
Cool Hand Luke D+
M D+
Once Upon a Time in the West D

[Jude]

Spoilers for Witness for the Prosecution follow - don't read if you haven't seen it

Hidden text.

Why such a low rating for Witness for the Prosecution? Had you already figured out who was the villain was before she told everything? I was completely taken aback by that.

And just to clarify, you're talking about the classic version with Marlene Dietrich, not the recent remake?

[yovargas]

Yes, the Marlene Dietrich version.

Hidden text.

I did really like the finale but asides from that I found it pretty ordinary. Could've been an episode of a solid courtroom drama TV show. (In fact, I'd say I've seen much better episodes of courtroom drama TV shows.) Once I knew the big twist, it didn't leave me with much desire to see it again which is the biggest factor in my ratings.

[Túrin Turambar]

I've never heard of it. I'll have to look into it.

[yovargas]

Posting the next batch (only two more batches to go till I'm done so you better appreciate 'em while you have 'em ) without much to say. Most noteworthy thing is that after the delight that was Raiders, Last Crusade was a huge disappointment.


Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? B+
Before Sunrise B
Memento B
Paths of Glory B
Grave of the Fireflies B-
Stalker B-
The Best Years of Our Lives C+
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade C
Hotel Rwanda D+
The Big Sleep D+
The Gold Rush D-

[Lalaith]

I do enjoy your ratings.

[Frelga]

The Charlie Chaplin Gold Rush, really?

[yovargas]

Thanks, Lali.

The Charlie Chaplin Gold Rush, really?

Is the directed at my rating, or it's presence on the list?

[Frelga]

Your rating.

[Primula Baggins]

Chaplin was more appreciated in the USSR than in the USA when I was a kid (he was politically suspect, y'know), so I never saw the movie until I was an adult. Which means it probably doesn't get scheduled on TV much, either.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm curious what you did not like about Hotel Rwanda.

And why Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is even on the list.

[yovargas]

Your rating.

I think this is the 5th or 6th Chaplin I've reviewed for this list and I've disliked-to-hate all of them. His constant presence on the list is utterly baffling to me. There is nothing about them that doesn't feel extraordinarily dated. I absolutely do not get the love.
(The other silent movies on this list - Metropolis, Sunrise, The General, are all vastly superior to anything Chaplin managed. IMO!)

I'm curious what you did not like about Hotel Rwanda.

Oh man, that's one of those that is obviously dealing with a very important and serious subject but yeesh, I thought just about everything was poorly done - bad directing, bad script, bad dialogue, bad acting. I get that due to the extremely tragic subject it manages to be very powerful for many but I found the film-making too crappy to be at all effective.

[Frelga]

Is Hotel Rwanda the one with Robert Redford? I'm too lazy to look it up.

[yovargas]

No, Don Cheadle. It's about the Rwandan genocide.

[Frelga]

Oh. Wrong movie entirely.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm curious what you did not like about Hotel Rwanda.

Oh man, that's one of those that is obviously dealing with a very important and serious subject but yeesh, I thought just about everything was poorly done - bad directing, bad script, bad dialogue, bad acting. I get that due to the extremely tragic subject it manages to be very powerful for many but I found the film-making too crappy to be at all effective.

I like you, yov, and you undoubtedly know more about film than I do, but I'll just say that I thoroughly disagree.

[yovargas]

I feel like I'm giving less A grades as I go along. I haven't given any A's in the last two batches. Maybe that's just a coincidence or maybe the more movies I watch, the harder I am to impress?

The latest:
La Haine B+
The Departed B
The Pianist B
Lost in Translation B-
Roman Holiday B-
Stand by Me B-
The Shawshank Redemption B-
In the Name of the Father C+
Solaris C
Modern Times D+


Only 11 more movies to go to finish up this project!

[Primula Baggins]

Which Solaris?

[yovargas]

The one by a dour and artsy Russian director. I found its vagueness more frustrating than intriguing.