IMDB top 250 is a fuckin' joke!
Have you ever visited IMDB? If you have, then you are aware of the IMDB top 250 films list. There are many good films in the list, yet many of them don't belong in the top 25o. This list is decided by the number of votes a certain film gets from the users, therefore because there are thousands of Star Wars geeks out there, the Star Wars films generally get a higher score then they deserve. The point is the list is biased because the users will only vote on films that they have seen; which means many great films have no representation because they are harder to see. You will notice that many of the films on the list are more contemporary, this is a fallacy because it is too early to decide whether or not these films will withstand the test of time. Here a few examples of the gross injustices that appear on the IMDB top 250.
- Shawshank Redemption is #2 on the list. How is it possible that a film so bland could be so high up on ANY list? It's hardly an original film. It's certainly not ground breaking, yet people seem to under the impression is a a masterpiece of cinema. All I can say that there are thousands of films that are far, far, far better than Shawshank Redemption, yet obviously many users on IMDB don't think so.
- Star Wars Episode III is ranked 235 on the list. Did these people actually watched Episode III? I admit I enjoyed it, but come on it was by no means a great movie. In fact, it is still under debate as to whether or not it was a good movie. A great film generally has interesting characters as well as a good storyline to boot, this has neither. It had potential to be great, but people should not mistake potential for greatness.
-Fight Club is 33 on this list, The Matrix is 34. I don't really like either of these two films, so I am biased, but I'm sure many people who do like these movies would agree they shouldn't be so high on this list. Both films have not aged too well in the past six years. The Matrix looks as dated as the Flash Gordon serials of the 40s. However, at least the Flash Gordon serials are fun too watch, where as The Matrix is a stupid summer flick trying to pose as an intelligent work of art. Fight Club is just nihilistic nonsense loved by leftist college intellects, who when they get a real job will more than likely turn into uptight conservatives.
- Sin City is #63. WHAT? I liked Sin City, it was a pretty enjoyable film, but it was also a pretty shallow film. It is essentially about ugly tough men and gorgeous, scantily clad woman who commit random acts of violence. I'm sure many people over analyzed the film, giving it a deeper meaning than it actually has. I don't think Sin City belongs in the top 1000 films, let alone the top 65.
There are many other undeserving films on the list, but if I were to write them all down, I would be on the computer for the entire week, bitching and moaning about how stupid the IMDB list is. Thank you for reading my post. I love some of you.
3 comments:
Obviously you don't understand the deep socio-political ramifications held by the film Fight Club. Actually the only thing Fight Club ever did was spawn 8 billion kids between the ages of 14-25 that now claim to be avid readers of Chuck Palahniuk. I enjoy the film and find it fun to watch, but it's not some mind-blowing extravaganza that raises brilliant social issues. Perhaps the book is better, I don't know because I've read a few of Chuck P's short stories that were sent to me and I find them to be rather boring. It was like something Larry Clark had done: totally based vivid detail solely for shock value and full of nothing else.
The Matrix was awesome for its time and it was heavily influential on the last decade's pop-cinema, so I understand why it'd rank fairly high. I still enjoy watching it but it should not be ranked that high.
The problem with looking at these statistics is that the same people rating these movies are the same people PAYING to see Kangaroo Jack or PAYING to go watch an Ashlee Simpson or Nickelback concert. The way the list is created is flawed because there's no screening process for the cinema knowledge each voter has or how many people vote for what movie. I don't know why you'd even choose that list to gripe about.
The only problem I see with it is that if someone turns to it for a recommendation they've got a good chance that out of those 250 films they won't see anything brilliantly done or influential and worthwhile. It mostly just gives them a 2 hour burst of entertainment which is what the majority of Americans want in a movie.
You'd get a horrendous list if you had a site like IMDb for music, you'd get people like Aaron Carter ranked higher than the Talking Heads.
My gripes is that there shouldn't be a top 250 list on IMDB period. There's just no rationale behind, except a group of people overhyping half assed movies that have been done to death.
I admit, I am biased, because I never liked The Matrix. It may have influenced cinema, but it certainly wasn't for the better. Not to mention, it's just fun to rip about any list.
While I do like some of the shit movies on that list, it is true that at least 200 of the 250 that comprise the list should be sent straight up the voting public's poopshoot. And by the way Faber, Aaron Carter rocks!
Post a Comment