Michael5000 at the imdb Top 250, part 2

Michael5000 at the imdb Top 250, part 2

The permanent, updated version of this list is here.

I've been watching a lot of movies lately.  For a Christmas present, I got Mrs.5000 and me a membership at a non-profit cinema here in the City of Roses, the Hollywood Theater.  With the membership, we can just waltz right in whenever we want to, and so we have been.  Waltzing right in, that is.  And we've been watching movies at home, too.  Watching movies has a way of making you interested in watching more movies.

Like a lot of people, I enjoy writing about movies.  It is by its nature a futile exercise.  To analyze a movie is to make helpful suggestions about a project that wrapped up long ago, and whose participants have all long since moved on to something new.  Too, movie-making is an enterprise on a vast scale comparable with war, opera, or space flight, requiring the cooperation and shared expertise of a huge company of specialists, artisans, technicians, showbiz types, and people with great big heaps of money.  I have only the vaguest sense of how the process even works.  Who am I to criticize?

But, I enjoy writing about movies.  What with that, and our membership at the Hollywood, and my recent fixation on the imdb Top 250, I think that the cinema, as we cinéastes like to say - when we're not saying mise-en-scène - will be returning to the same sort of level of prominence in this online journal that it had back in 2007-2010!

See also Michael5000 at the imdb Top 250, part 1

I'm a sucker for requests.  Also, I have also started a brand new imdb account (as Michael5000, of course), in the event that you would like to socially network.

Imdb rankings and ratings as of March 1, 2015. 

51. Alien (1979), imdb rating: 8.5 

• I've seen it: on video, a couple of times.

52. The Prestige (2006): 8.5

• I haven't seen it.  I've read the book, but didn't know there was a movie adaptation.  I've got it on reserve from the library.

53. The Great Dictator (1940): 8.4

• I haven't seen it.

54. The Lion King (1994): 8.4

• I haven't seen it.

55. The Lives of Others (2006): 8.4

• I've seen it: The one about the Stassi officer.  It was good! 

56. Django Unchained (2012) 8.4

• I've seen it: Quentin Tarantino is all about camp and violence, and often I like what he does.  This time, not so much. 

57. Cinema Paradiso (1988): 8.4

• I've seen it: I thought it was treacle.

58. The Shining (1980): 8.4

• I think I've seen it, but I'm not 100% sure I haven't just seen clips and parodies..

59. The Dark Knight Rises (2012): 8.4

• I haven't seen it.

60. Paths of Glory (1957): 8.4

• I haven't seen it.

61. American Beauty (1999): 8.4

• I've seen it: in its original release.  I think I might have liked it, but mostly remember flaws.

62. WALL•E (2008): 8.4

• I've seen it: on the big screen.  Charming.

63. North by Northwest (1959): 8.4

• I've seen it: it's kind of a proto-James Bond movie.  Its presence this high on the imdb kind of highlights that this list privileges movies that nobody dislikes over movies that some people think are really amazing.

64. Aliens (1986): 8.4

• I've seen it: at least three times.
• I've reviewed it: "..it still pretty much owns the science fiction action thriller category....  ...puppeteering raised to apocalyptic art of the first order."
• Michael5000's imdb rating: 9.

65. Citizen Kane (1941): 8.4

• I've seen it: a couple of times, most recently in 2009.
• I've reviewed it: "It is perhaps the single most important step on the History of Film Grand Tour.... Plus, it's a good story well told."

66. Vertigo (1958): 8.4

• I've seen it: most recently in 2010.
• I've reviewed it: "Certainly not a Great Movie, but a fun entertainment with a strong first half."

67. Amélie (2001): 8.4

• I've seen it: In its original release.  I remember it as charming, but I also remember somebody scolding me for thinking it was charming. 

68. Grave of the Fireflies (1988): 8.4

• Never heard of it.

69. M (1931): 8.4

• I've seen it: in 2008.
• I've reviewed it: "It's a well-made movie, but it feels a few years older than its 1931 date of release. People who are interested in film history will likely find it interesting and reasonably entertaining. For a more general modern audience, though, its entertainment value alone won't quite cut it."

70. Das Boot (1981): 8.4

• I've seen it: a couple of times.  Gripping!

71. Oldboy (2003): 8.4

• Never heard of it.

72. Princess Mononoke (1997): 8.4

• I think I've seen it: but Japanese animated features, though generally good if we're watching them in the United States, tend to blur together a bit for me.

73. Toy Story 3 (2010): 8.4

•  I don't know if I've seen it: I've seen some such, but not all of them.

74. Return of the Jedi (1983): 8.4

• I've seen it: in its original release, and perhaps once or twice since.  It's the one with ewoks.  A disappointment.

75. Once Upon a Time in America (1984): 8.4

• I don't think I've seen it.

76. Reservoir Dogs (1992): 8.4

• I've seen it: Rather disturbing.

77. A Clockwork Orange (1971): 8.4

• I've seen it: in college.  I thought it was great.

78. Taxi Driver (1976): 8.3

• I've seen it: On the small screen, in 2009.
• I've reviewed it: "...a tour de force of filmmaking craftsmanship. Not recommended to those who are troubled by explicit violence, or who are trying to hang onto a good mood."

79. Braveheart (1995): 8.3

• I've seen it: It was all right.

80. Double Indemnity (1944): 8.3

• I've seen it: in 2008.
• I've reviewed it: "a well-made and absorbing entertainment."

81. Requiem for a Dream (2000): 8.3

• I haven't seen it.

82. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): 8.3

• I'm not sure whether I've ever seen it

83. Witness for the Prosecution (1957): 8.3

• I'm not sure whether I've ever seen it

84. Lawrence of Arabia (1962): 8.3

• I've seen it: twice, on the small screen
• I've reviewed it: "Lawrence of Arabia is a pretty amazing film. The interminable shots of the desert, for starters, are quite lovely..."

85. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): 8.3

• I've seen it: in its original release, and again in early 2015.  It didn't hold up as well as I'd expected.

86. Full Metal Jacket (1987) 8.3

• I've seen it: In its original release.  Thought it was pretty great.

87. Singin' in the Rain (1952) 8.3

• I've seen it: in 2009.
• I've reviewed it: "It is a spoof of the song-and-dance spectaculars of the early talkies that manages to have its cake and eat it too, effectively skewering the nonsensicality and cheesiness of the genre while wallowing in the same sort of stuff in a highly entertaining fashion. It's ironic, so it's cool."

88. The Sting (1973): 8.3

• I'm not sure whether I've ever seen it.  I think I have.

89. The Bicycle Thief (1948): 8.3

• I've seen it: in 2008.
• I've reviewed it: "Ultimately... this is a movie about a guy looking for his bike."

90. Amadeus (1984): 8.3

• I've seen it: I liked it!

91. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): 8.3

• I've seen it: Any number of times.  Good bits, and bad bits that are so bad they're good.

92. Snatch (2000): 8.3

• I've seen it: I think I thought it was very entertaining.

93. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): 8.3

• I've seen it: most recently in 2007.
• I've reviewed it: "Whether you find it moving, or tedious, or heavy, man, will depend on what you bring to it."

94. For a Few Dollars More (1965): 8.3

• I haven't seen it.

95. Rashomon (1950): 8.3

• I think I've seen it, but I'm not 100% sure

96. The Kid (1921): 8.3

• I haven't seen it.

97. L.A. Confidential (1997): 8.3

• I've seen it: I think I liked it.

98. All About Eve (1950): 8.3

• I've seen it: in 2007.
• I've reviewed it: "I have seen it described as 'the smartest movie ever made.' This raises a question of terrifying implications: What if I missed the best jokes? What if this movie is too smart for a lumux like me to fully appreciate?"

99. The Apartment (1960): 8.3

• I've seen it: in 2008.
• I've reviewed it: "The Apartment is such a fantastic movie."

100. Inglourious Basterds (2009): 8.3

• I've seen it: I liked it.

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I've seen 32 of this set and written reviews for 11.  There are 11 I haven't seen, and 7 I'm not sure of.

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