Wet and Anticipating

Anyone who hails from the same small patch of land as I do will understand when I say that the weather today has been atrocious. With gale force winds of up to 100 mph and rain falling faster than a footballer can say superinjunction, the travel conditions were pretty tough to say the least. After battling my way through the wind and rain to the train station, you can imagine my displeasure to find that all of the trains out of Glasgow were cancelled indefinitely.

So there I found myself, standing in the rain with no place to go and I couldn’t stop my mind from drifting onto my Top 250 challenge which should be starting any day now (just as soon as those little treats from HMV drop onto my doormat). I realised that there are so many new film experiences to come which I am looking forward to, that there is scope to dedicate a whole blog post to my Top 5 experiences to come. Therefore, In no particular order, the top five things I am anticipating are:

The Films of Hayao Miyazaki

Often described as a Japanese Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki has been at the forefront of Japanese animation for many years. To date, I have never seen any of Miyazaki’s work but with five films in the IMDB top 250 (only Hitchcock, Pixar, Kubrick, Scorsese and Wilder have more), it looks like I will be pretty familiar with his work by the end of the challenge. One of the reasons I wanted to embark on the Top 250 challenge was to expand my film knowledge and this is one such expansion which I am very much looking forward to.

Silent Cinema

On a similar note, I have never seen any of the classic films of the silent cinema era. Silent cinema is represented in the IMDB list by two true legends; Charlie Chaplin (5 films) and Buster Keaton (2 films). I believe that anyone who wants to truly attempt to understand cinema must do so with a full awareness as to how cinema has changed over the decades in line with the technological advancements that we as a society have made. Silent cinema is the very origin of contemporary cinema as we know it and I am really looking forward to experiencing a form of cinema which relies on expression and movement to tell a story, as opposed to the verbal dialogue which is overused in contemporary cinema. 

The Films of Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa is commonly listed as one of the greatest directors of all time. His work has inspired many other films, from The Usual Suspects to The Magnificent Seven, and referenced in many facets of popular culture, such as the mention of Rashomon on The Simpsons. Kurosawa clearly has been an inspirational force in contemporary cinema and I find it a travesty that I have only ever managed to watch one of his films (the superb Rashomon), despite owning several others in my DVD collection. This is one deficiency of knowledge which I look forward to remedying with great anticipation.

European Cinema and Directors

I have read quite a few books on film history and each one touches quite heavily on the influence of the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism, two movements in film which I have never studied in detail. I am glad that some of the film’s in the IMDB Top 250 are related to both of these movements (The 400 Blows by Truffaut and three films by Fellini) although perhaps slightly surprised that there are not more films on the list which originate from these movements (there are a few other movements which are criminally missing lacking representation, such as the Romanian New Wave, but perhaps that is for the subject of a separate blog post).

Despite this, I am more than looking forward to experiencing the films that are in the Top 250 list from this era, as well as the films of other great European director’s such as Bergman, Clouzot and Leone.

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

The man who is represented most on the IMDB Top 250 List, and justifiably so in my opinion is Alfred Hitchcock with 9 separate entries. Admittedly, I have seen many of Hitchcock’s finest films many times before, however, with each viewing the films appear to become richer and richer. From Vertigo and Rear Window through to the classic horror of Psycho, Hitchcock created some of the finest films ever made, and all this from a man who I think was underrated in his time. He was the true master of suspense and I look forward to revisiting some of my favourite films (despite The 39 Steps being inexplicably missing from the list).

Rating System

I have often pondered whether it is right to give films a grade, for example a mark out of 10 or a ‘star’ rating system.  In my opinion, giving films a grade is a very crude way of saying whether a film is good or bad and does not always sufficiently differentiate between the quality of two different films. For example, two films which are both given a four star rating are unlikely to be equally as good – one film may just be scraping a four star rating, whilst the other may be just below what is considered a five star film. 

The criteria upon which an individual rates films will also have a big impact the rating which a film is eventually given. The biggest paradigm, in my opinion, is whether to rate a film based on its artistic merits or its entertainment value. For example, I really enjoyed the film Unstoppable and thought it was fantastic entertainment. On the other hand, there was not much in the film that was particularly intelligent or artistic. On that basis, I would rate it as five stars for entertainment value but maybe only two stars for its artistic value. But how do you get this across in a single rating? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

These are all criticisms of rating systems and many film magazines (for example Sight and Sound magazine) do not adopt a rating system for, I assume, some of these reasons.

However, it would be naïve of me to think that every person who comes across my blog would be interested in reading every review which I write in order to establish my views on film. A rating would, in these circumstances, provide a crude guide as to whether I thought a film was good, bad or just mediocre. It is for that reason that I have decided to adopt a ‘mark out of ten’ rating system when reviewing the films in the IMDB Top 250.

The ratings may be flawed and may not accurately represent the true quality of a film but they will at least provide a quick point of reference for my opinion of a film.

Prologue

This blog was inspired by two things; my love of film and the film ‘Julie and Julia’. Anyone who has seen Julie and Julia will likely agree that whilst it is enjoyable enough fare with some decent performances, overall it is a quite unremarkable film, the memory of which shouldn’t linger long after the credits roll. That was my immediate reaction after spending a pleasant enough afternoon with my wife in front of the TV.

However, here I am several months later writing about how that very film has inspired me. What has stayed with me after all of this time is the central premise of the film; the creation of a blog to document the progress towards achieving an individual goal. In the film, the goal was to cook every recipe in a particular cookbook within one year. I liked the idea that this challenge gave a sense of purpose to someone’s life by doing something that they enjoyed – a hobby with an end goal if you like. I therefore pondered (for several months) whether there was some challenge which I would like to embark upon from which I would obtain a sense of personal gratification.

The result of my ponderings is the challenge which I will document on this blog; to watch and review every film in the IMDB Top 250 films of all time. Why did I choose this challenge? Well firstly, I can’t be arsed learning how to cook so replicating the film was a no go. Secondly, the reason I was watching Julie and Julia in the first place is that I have a burning passion for film and a (very unrealistic) longing to watch every film which is released (unless it stars Adam Sandler). I therefore wanted to set myself a goal which would enable me to expand my knowledge of film by exploring a variety of different genres. Finally, I would someday like to earn a living (likely a meagre one) by being a writer; either a screenwriter or a film journalist. This challenge therefore gives me the opportunity to hone my writing skills whilst simultaneously building up knowledge in my chosen subject.

Some may also ask why I have chosen to use the IMDB Top 250 list as opposed to some other list (for example the Empire 500 list or the Guardian list) and, to be honest, there is no reasoned answer to that question. The only benefit to be derived from the IMDB list is that it is constantly updated and will therefore include the most recent films. Apart from that it is also one of the most recognisable ‘best of’ lists and therefore will likely be familiar to most people.

The IMDB Top 250 list does have its flaws and I feel it is necessary to document these in advance of commencing my challenge. As the list is based on user generated reviews, it has been claimed that it is more of a popularity contest for film rather than a critical compilation. In addition, many films when they are first released debut quite high up the list, for example The Dark Knight was once up at number 2 or 3) before subsequently falling down the list (The Dark Knight is now at number 10). This constant changing does present a problem as some films which I have watched may have dropped off the list before I complete my goal. On that basis, I have decided to fix the list as at today and have published the 250 movies I aim to watch below. Upon completion of my task, I will publish a comparison of the IMDB Top 250 list at the completion date and compare it to the list as at today. This may provide an interesting insight into how public opinion changes over a period of time.

I do not intend to set a time constraint for my challenge but I will aim to watch at least two films per week on average. I feel that committing to more than two films per week would be foolish as it could result in ‘film fatigue’ and may adversely impact in the quality and depth of my writing. Good films should be savoured and enjoyed; not everyone takes time to savour a film after it has been enjoyed.

My aim is to go through the IMDB Top 250 list in reverse order. It may not be possible to stick rigidly to that order given that some of the films on the IMDB list are relatively rare to come across on DVD, Blu-ray or on TV. As a result I may have to look for alternative viewing formats to complete my challenge, which may result in an inevitable delay to viewing certain films. Instead of letting any such delay hold up my progress, I feel it would be more beneficial to move on and fill in any gaps at a later date.

Finally, there is one important question which I feel I need to address; who am I doing this for? In the past I have sought to write various blogs on film but have never managed to get past a few weeks. This is partly because I did not make the time to write blog entries but also because I was writing the blog with the aim of establishing an online following. As I am not the most patient of people, my interest quickly waned when I realised that you cannot establish an internet following overnight. As a result, I am writing this blog solely for my own benefit. It is a personal journal of my voyage through some of the best films of all time which I write solely for my own satisfaction. My only hope is that maybe one day my children may find it of interest.  That is not to discourage readership of this blog. If there is anyone else out there who is interested in joining me on this journey – you are more than welcome.

On that note, let the challenge commence!

P.S. Sadly Julie and Julia does not feature in the IMDB Top 250 list…