Category: Film

Rating The Movies

I mentioned recently how I’d seen a bunch of movies and gave my rating out of 10 for them. Well, for those who didn’t know, the indispensable Internet Movie Database lets you vote on every film in its database, and I’ve been obsessively doing just that for at least 2 years now. I now have 255 films in my vote history, and though I’ve probably seen more films than that, this is a pretty good indication of how many films I’ve seen in the past two years or so. I find it useful to figure out any gaps in my film history knowledge, as well as just being a neat way to contribute to the collective opinion. Here are some neat pieces of trivia (neat for me, anyway!):

  • Films from the 1930s: 1
  • Films from the 1940s: 11
  • Films from the 1950s: 11
  • Films from the 1960s: 16
  • Films from the 1970s: 20
  • Films from the 1980s: 23
  • Films from the 1990s: 63
  • Films from 2000: 31
  • Films from 2001: 44
  • Films from 2002: 35

I’ve found that people tend to rate recent films much too highly, and I’m not averse to going back and changing my rating after a few months. My criteria are that something that’s well made but not particularly memorable should be no higher than a 6 (ie. most so-called summer blockbusters) and that 10 can be given to a film that’s not necessarily considered a classic by everyone, but that I find myself watching again and again. If you haven’t yet tried out this neat feature of IMDB, you should check it out. Just click “Vote Here” next to the user ratings on any film.

Adaptation=10

We finally went to see Adaptation (2002) last night. Though I’m still not feeling particularly articulate after seeing five films in four days, I will say it’s probably the best film I’ve seen this year. I just smiled and giggled my way through it, constantly amused and surprised. And Nicolas Cage, once at the top of my list of favourite actors (mostly for Raising Arizona (1987), mind you), has climbed back up the list after an astounding plummet. There will be awards given to this film, though I’m surprised so few people seem to have seen it so far. Get thee to a multiplex!

Also, exchanged Christmas gifts with my friend Brent tonight. I gave him The Simpsons – The Complete Second Season, and he gave me…the same thing. I lived with Brent so long we just think the same way. We did this last Christmas too, I think.