Dune: Part Two

#12 at the time of writing.

Rewatched Part One recently, and I think it does a fantastic job of adapting the novel and delivering a compelling, moody sci-fi epic. Part Two is even more epic. I was ready to give myself over to it, and my investment was well rewarded.

Director Denis Villeneuve is no stranger to sweeping sci fi epics, with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 under his belt - both stellar examples of cinematic sci fi - but with Dune, he has excelled himself.

It captured the multi-generational manipulations of power from the book; the dichotomy of Paul resisting - and yet compelled to embrace - his role in sparking a holy war in which he knows billions will die; the richness of the Fremen culture; etc. The two films together are a remarkably complete adaptation of the first book - which makes them very long! But immensely satisfying.

Jodorowski would be proud. (Alejandro Jodorowski was nearly the first person to adapt Dune. His vision for it, which included among others Pink Floyd, H.R. Giger and Salvador Dalí, is the stuff of legends and directly influenced Alien, Blade Runner, and even Star Wars. See this fantastic documentary for more.)

I'm going to read some of the sequels now. I wonder if anyone will ever attempt them on the silver screen?

Random trivia: Christopher Walken plays Emperor Shaddam IV. Coincidentally, Walken starred in the 2001 music video for the Fatboy Slim song "Weapon of Choice", a song which includes several references to Dune in the lyrics ("Don't be shocked by the tone of my voice", "Walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm").

The Truman Show

#138 at the time of writing.

Rewatched this recently with the family, and we all loved it. It's a high concept idea: An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show. Endearingly goofy (albeit a departure from the silliness of Jim Carrey's previous films), accessible and fun - punctuated by some emotionally involving moments of drama.

I remember watching this movie when it first came out, then shortly afterwards watching EDtv, which is similarly about a person's life being a reality TV show. But The Truman Show has so many more iconic moments, no wonder it has better weathered the test of time.

Apparently, some people have delusions that their life is a staged reality show, and this condition has been called the Truman Show delusion. After hearing about the condition, Andrew Niccol, writer of The Truman Show, said, "You know you've made it when you have a disease named after you."

According to IMDb trivia, the film is studied in Media Ethics courses - and I can see why. Truman's friends, coworkers, even his wife are actors - some muddy ethical ground that is provocative food for thought.

(My ten-year-old daughter commented after watching this movie that it was "just like Free Guy" - and she's kind of right! In Free Guy - great movie - an NPC discovers his whole life is a video game. An opportunity for a double feature?)

Oppenheimer

#73 at the time of writing.

Good and only slightly overblown biopic that turned out to be as much about political fallout (pun intended) than the construction of the bomb. The layered script emphasised to me how smart and yet how childish the scientists behind nuclear technology were - as, indeed, are we all. Glad I saw it at the cinema, not sure I’d have the patience for it otherwise. Nevertheless, it seems to be the hot Oscars pick for Best Picture this year.

But, real talk, I have been loving the Barbenheimer memes. In case you missed it, the Internet has been obsessing with the above two films released on the same day that could not be more tonally opposed. I did it - I watched them back-to-back as a double feature - which basically amounted to a six-hour existential crisis. I'm afraid there's no particular benefit to watching them together, but nevertheless I enjoyed the ride.

(Credit to JustRalphy for the Barbenheimer image.)

Poor Things

#144 at the time of writing.

I've enjoyed several of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos's films for their quirky style and daring ambiguity, but not this one. It was a thesis on the ubiquity of human cruelty that I found facile, overlong and distasteful. (The production design and costumes and music, though, are first rate - I predict that's where this movie will get Oscars.)

Drawing from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (with shades of Candide), Tony McNamara's script adapts a 1992 Scottish novel by Alasdair Gray, portraying a childlike woman - or in this case a womanlike child - going out into the world in true ingenue-trope style. But despite this film's highbrow credentials, it is Bad Santa-level crass. Which probably labels me a prude, but there it is: I found the sense of humour unappealing.

Babylon

Unranked at the time of writing.

OK, this is unlikely ever to crack IMDb's Top 250, but I just have to write about it.

I watched it at my local cinema yesterday, and - especially for the first half of the film - I kept wanting to applaud. SO MANY incredible set pieces, one after another, bang bang bang.

Going in, having seen the trailer, knowing that it was a three-hour film starring Margot Robbie, I was expecting something like The Wolf of Wall Street but about early Golden Age Hollywood. I wasn't far wrong, although it did turn a bit Casino too in the end.

It portrays the decadence and excess of peak Hollywood using the metaphor of decadent and excessive filmmaking - which, granted, means it could have been trimmed here and there, and somewhat undercuts the sentimentality of the ending, but it was just SO MUCH FUN.

Pulp Fiction

#8 at the time of writing.

I watched this film when it first came out, I've watched it recently (this year), and I've watched it in between - and I have felt different ways about it at different times. Masterpiece of punk rock filmmaking? Or overblown self-indulgent tripe? Actually, that dichotomy sums up how I feel about most of Quentin Tarantino's output.

The strongest parts of this film, for me, are the off-beat dialogue, the willingness to throw the standard Hollywood screenplay structure out of the window, and the playful retro-fetishism. The weakest parts are the uneven pace and the occasionally grating turgidity. Weaknesses that, I think, were not as apparent in Tarantino's previous, more pared-down, Reservoir Dogs - but that become variously more apparent in his later films.

Worthy of being in IMDb's top 10 films of all time? Well... we're still talking about it, I suppose.

I do admire Tarantino's ability to turn himself into a brand - he tells everyone how great he is with such confidence that everybody believes him, and he builds a whole folklore around his movies, like he will only ever make 10 movies, or all his movies exist in the same world.

Incredibly, this film reportedly cost only $8 million to make, $5 million of which went on the actors' salaries. And it was successful enough to relaunch John Travolta and Bruce Willis' careers (and push Uma Karuna Thurman's into a new gear). Money well spent.

The Banshees of Inisherin

Unranked at the time of writing.

At the time of blogging, this is not ranked in IMDb's Top 250, although its score is high enough to be (presumably, it doesn't yet have enough regular American voters), and it certainly deserves to be.

2022 has been an amazing year of film for me: there has been not just one - not even two - but three contenders for new all-time faves. The third being this one, in case that wasn't clear...

I like a lot of film in my film. Many of my favourites are dense and dizzying (check out some of my top picks in the sidebar to the right). But I have a huge amount of admiration for a film that takes a simple premise and sticks to it with absolute purity. In this case, the simple premise is: in a small Irish community, 1920s, one character decides he no longer wants to be friends with his best friend. That's it. That's the whole film right there. And it's thoughtful, moving, beautiful, gentle, shocking, and - for all its darkness - surprisingly funny.

Writer-director Martin McDonagh previously paired these two leads, Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell, in his debut feature In Bruges from 2008, which stood out as a memorably quirky black comedy. In the intervening years, McDonagh - primarily a playwright - has refined his filmmaking craft, while keeping a firm hold on his darkly twisted sense of humour.

I hope this film gets the audience, and recognition, it richly deserves.

Best of the pandemic: Inside, Host, Staged

I am in rank admiration of the artists who managed to create something despite the enormously disruptive and devitalising Covid-19 lockdowns. Doubly so, those artists that created something that was a product of the lockdowns. These geniuses not only kept working, but used the dire situation to their advantage and created something that could not have existed otherwise. For me, there were three high points in this category.

First, and greatest, Bo Burnham's Inside. Bo Burnham was one of the first viral YouTubers, making cheeky musical comedy videos from his bedroom at the age of 16, way back in 2006 when YouTube was new. He parlayed his success into stand-up tours and TV specials of exceptional quality, proving his talent ran remarkably deep. This winning streak came with its pressures, and culminated in a mental breakdown - he sang about his fragile mental state in this 2016 song which makes me cry every time despite the fact that it's mostly about burritos.

He temporarily retired from the stage to make Eighth Grade, which is a masterpiece of realist teenage awks, and one of my favourite films. Then, after five years of dodging the limelight, he decided he was ready to tour again, only for the coronavirus pandemic to put the kibosh on his and everyone else's plans. But he would not be vanquished. Instead, he challenged himself to make a TV special within the constraints of lockdown, stuck in his studio and doing everything himself - filming, lighting, sound, editing, and a presumably hilarious string of unusual Amazon orders for all the comedy props.

We named our kitten Bo Burnham

The result of his efforts is one of the funniest, saddest, scariest, most cutting and most important things ever committed to the small screen. Not only does he capture the ennui of lockdown perfectly, but he satirises and dramatises our Internet-driven culture in a frighteningly prescient way. In a world where we are constantly bombarded by too much, very few artists have captured that dangerous and disorienting "funny feeling" so well.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, video calls went mainstream as the only way to keep in touch with friends and family. I often ended up spending all day on a computer screen working remotely, followed by an evening on a computer screen socialising remotely. For whatever reason the app of choice for video calls was new kid on the block, Zoom. Director Rob Savage decided that having actors forced to isolate shouldn't stop him from making a horror film, so he made one based on a Zoom call.

One of the things that makes Host so much fun to watch is the chemistry between the actors. Having been brainwashed to socialise on Zoom, it felt like I was participating in the call myself, and I loved spending time with these people. Which made it even more terrifying when an unseen supernatural force started picking them off one by one... Brilliant.

Lastly, British comedy institutions Michael Sheen and David Tennant found the West End play they had been rehearsing for cancelled by Covid - at least, that's how the story goes - so instead they filmed a lightly fictionalised version of themselves bickering about what creative endeavour they should undertake instead, aiming to rise above all the other suddenly-out-of-work actors who had allowed themselves to be defeated by the pandemic.

The result, Staged, is hilarious. The two of them clearly have great affection for each other, and once again the Zoom call format makes you feel part of the banter. Granted, the second series was not as good, but the first six episodes are comedy gold. It's also fun to get a glimpse inside the homes of these familiar and beloved actors (kudos to David's wife and Michael's girlfriend for getting involved too). Perfect lockdown telly, that will still be a joy to watch long after the pandemic is but a distant memory.

Snapshot V - IMDb's Top 250 Films Jul 2022

Yeah, I kind of forgot about this blog for... four years. And no doubt I'll forget about it again. But meanwhile, I'm posting, so let's see how the mission's going (16 years after it started!).

I've blogged about 94 of the current Top 250 films, so my mission is 38% complete.

I first did a mission status snapshot in February 2009. The Top 250 has changed a lot since then. 36% of the films that were on the Top 250 in 2009 have now dropped off. Nearly half of that is because 49 (20%) of the films that are now in the Top 250 were made after 2009 (the two highest being a duo of Chris Nolans: Inception in the #13 spot and Interstellar at #27). Apart from those, some of the highest climbers since 2009 have been:

26. The Green Mile (1999) +90 places

36. The Lion King (1994) +138 places

47. Harakiri (1962) new to the Top 250

48. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) +152 places

75. Toy Story (1995) +104 places

82. Good Will Hunting (1997) new to the Top 250

92. High and Low (1963) new to the Top 250

101. Come and See (1985) new to the Top 250

107. Ikiru (1952) new to the Top 250

123. Like Stars on Earth (2007) new to the Top 250

142. A Beautiful Mind (2001) new to the Top 250

143. The Truman Show (1998) new to the Top 250

Of the films I've heard about on that list, I thoroughly approve of their elevation, but it's baffling to me as to why they've gained so much cachet in the last 13 years. Perhaps it's at least partly to do with improved availability in the age of streaming? (And the four films on that list I'd never heard of are going onto the to-watch list for sure.)

RISEN: Since I blogged about them, 24 films have gone up in the ranking:

The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) (up 2 places)

The Sixth Sense (1999) (+2)

The Dark Knight (2008) (+2)

Gone with the Wind (1939) (+3)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) (+5)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) (+5)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (+7)

The Departed (2006) (+9)

Forrest Gump (1994) (+17)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988) (+19)

Fight Club (1999) (+20)

Princess Mononoke (1997) (+20)

V for Vendetta (2006) (+21)

Oldboy (2003) (+22)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) (+24)

Toy Story (1995) (+37)

The Lion King (1994) (+43)

Back to the Future (1985) (+44)

A Beautiful Mind (2001) (+48)

Howl's Moving Castle (2004) (+54)

Inception (2010) (+70)

Dial M for Murder (1954) (+80)

The Prestige (2006) (+146)

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (previously unranked)

STATIC: 7 films have stayed the same:

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) (#45)

Paths of Glory (1957) (#61)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) (#65)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) (#69)

Hamilton (2020) (#119)

The Father (2020) (#132)

Million Dollar Baby (2004) (#174)

FALLEN: And the rest have gone down. Of the 23 films I blogged about that had dropped out of the ranking as of my 2013 snapshot, only one has resurfaced (and deservedly so) - The Incredibles at #228. Apart from those, the biggest losers, including 22 more which have dropped out of the ranking altogether, are:

The Third Man (1949) (down 104 places)

Inside Out (2015) (-110)

Chinatown (1974) (-112)

The Wizard of Oz (1939) (-128)

The Incredibles (2004) (-148)

Hotel Rwanda (2004) (-151)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) (-172)

Life of Pi (2012) (was #227)

The Artist (2011) (was #224)

Roman Holiday (1953) (was #220)

The King's Speech (2010) (was #185)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) (was #184)

Arrival (2016) (was #174)

The Lego Movie (2014) (was #172)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) (was #155)

Her (2013) (was #125)

Birdman (2014) (was #125)

Avengers Assemble (2012) (was #124)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) (was #119)

Drive (2011) (was #98)

Star Trek (2009) (was #82)

Sin City (2005) (was #68)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) (was #58)

The Wrestler (2008) (was #57)

Dunkirk (2017) (was #51)

Gravity (2013) (was #50)

Black Swan (2010) (was #49)

District 9 (2009) (was #44)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (was #34)

(Some big losers at the end there!)

See previous snapshots: Feb 2017, Feb 2013, Sep 2010, Feb 2009.

Title	IMDb rating	Blogged?
1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	9.2
2. The Godfather (1972)	9.2
3. The Dark Knight (2008)	9	Yes
4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)	9
5. 12 Angry Men (1957)	8.9
6. Schindler's List (1993)	8.9
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)	8.9
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)	8.9
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	8.8
10. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)	8.8
11. Forrest Gump (1994)	8.8	Yes
12. Fight Club (1999)	8.7	Yes
13. Inception (2010)	8.7	Yes
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)	8.7
15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)	8.7	Yes
16. The Matrix (1999)	8.7
17. Goodfellas (1990)	8.7
18. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)	8.6
19. Seven (1995)	8.6
20. Seven Samurai (1954)	8.6	Yes
21. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	8.6
22. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	8.6
23. City of God (2002)	8.6	Yes
24. Saving Private Ryan (1998)	8.6
25. Life Is Beautiful (1997)	8.6
26. The Green Mile (1999)	8.6
27. Interstellar (2014)	8.6	Yes
28. Star Wars (1977)	8.6	Yes
29. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)	8.5	Yes
30. Back to the Future (1985)	8.5	Yes
31. Spirited Away (2001)	8.5	Yes
32. Psycho (1960)	8.5
33. The Pianist (2002)	8.5
34. Leon (1994)	8.5
35. Parasite (2019)	8.5
36. The Lion King (1994)	8.5	Yes
37. Gladiator (2000)	8.5
38. American History X (1998)	8.5
39. The Usual Suspects (1995)	8.5
40. The Departed (2006)	8.5	Yes
41. The Prestige (2006)	8.5	Yes
42. Casablanca (1942)	8.5	Yes
43. Whiplash (2014)	8.5	Yes
44. Untouchable (2011)	8.5
45. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)	8.5	Yes
46. Modern Times (1936)	8.5
47. Harakiri (1962)	8.4
48. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)	8.4	Yes
49. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)	8.4	Yes
50. Rear Window (1954)	8.4	Yes
51. Alien (1979)	8.4	Yes
52. City Lights (1931)	8.4	Yes
53. Cinema Paradiso (1988)	8.4
54. Memento (2000)	8.4	Yes
55. Apocalypse Now (1979)	8.4
56. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)	8.4	Yes
57. Django Unchained (2012)	8.4	Yes
58. WALL·E (2008)	8.4	Yes
59. The Lives of Others (2006)	8.4	Yes
60. Sunset Blvd. (1950)	8.4
61. Paths of Glory (1957)	8.4	Yes
62. The Shining (1980)	8.4
63. The Great Dictator (1940)	8.4
64. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)	8.4
65. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)	8.4	Yes
66. Aliens (1986)	8.3
67. American Beauty (1999)	8.3
68. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)	8.3
69. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)	8.3	Yes
70. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)	8.3	Yes
71. Oldboy (2003)	8.3	Yes
72. Joker (2019)	8.3
73. Amadeus (1984)	8.3
74. Braveheart (1995)	8.3
75. Toy Story (1995)	8.3	Yes
76. Coco (2017)	8.3	Yes
77. Das Boot (1981)	8.3	Yes
78. Inglourious Basterds (2009)	8.3
79. Princess Mononoke (1997)	8.3	Yes
80. Avengers: Endgame (2019)	8.3
81. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)	8.3
82. Good Will Hunting (1997)	8.3
83. Toy Story 3 (2010)	8.3	Yes
84. Requiem for a Dream (2000)	8.3	Yes
85. Your Name. (2016)	8.3
86. Singin' in the Rain (1952)	8.3
87. 3 Idiots (2009)	8.3
88. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)	8.3	Yes
89. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)	8.3
90. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)	8.3	Yes
91. Reservoir Dogs (1992)	8.3
92. High and Low (1963)	8.3
93. Capernaum (2018)	8.3
94. Citizen Kane (1941)	8.3
95. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)	8.3	Yes
96. The Hunt (2012)	8.3
97. M (1931)	8.3
98. North by Northwest (1959)	8.3
99. Vertigo (1958)	8.2
100. Amélie (2001)	8.2
101. Come and See (1985)	8.2
102. A Clockwork Orange (1971)	8.2
103. Full Metal Jacket (1987)	8.2	Yes
104. Double Indemnity (1944)	8.2
105. The Apartment (1960)	8.2
106. Scarface (1983)	8.2
107. Ikiru (1952)	8.2
108. The Sting (1973)	8.2
109. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)	8.2
110. Taxi Driver (1976)	8.2	Yes
111. Up (2009)	8.2	Yes
112. L.A. Confidential (1997)	8.2
113. Heat (1995)	8.2
114. Metropolis (1927)	8.2	Yes
115. A Separation (2011)	8.2
116. Die Hard (1988)	8.2
117. Incendies (2010)	8.2
118. Snatch (2000)	8.2
119. Hamilton (2020)	8.2	Yes
120. Bicycle Thieves (1948)	8.2
121. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)	8.2
122. 1917 (2019)	8.2
123. Like Stars on Earth (2007)	8.2
124. Downfall (2004)	8.2	Yes
125. For a Few Dollars More (1965)	8.2
126. Batman Begins (2005)	8.2	Yes
127. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)	8.2
128. Dangal (2016)	8.2
129. The Kid (1921)	8.2
130. Some Like It Hot (1959)	8.2	Yes
131. All About Eve (1950)	8.2
132. The Father (2020)	8.2	Yes
133. Green Book (2018)	8.2
134. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)	8.2	Yes
135. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)	8.2
136. Ran (1985)	8.2
137. Unforgiven (1992)	8.2
138. Casino (1995)	8.2
139. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)	8.2
140. There Will Be Blood (2007)	8.2	Yes
141. The Sixth Sense (1999)	8.2	Yes
142. A Beautiful Mind (2001)	8.2	Yes
143. The Truman Show (1998)	8.2
144. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)	8.2
145. Yojimbo (1961)	8.2
146. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)	8.1
147. Shutter Island (2010)	8.1
148. Rashomon (1950)	8.1	Yes
149. Jurassic Park (1993)	8.1
150. The Great Escape (1963)	8.1	Yes
151. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)	8.1	Yes
152. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)	8.1	Yes
153. No Country for Old Men (2007)	8.1	Yes
154. Finding Nemo (2003)	8.1	Yes
155. The Elephant Man (1980)	8.1	Yes
156. Chinatown (1974)	8.1	Yes
157. Raging Bull (1980)	8.1
158. Gone with the Wind (1939)	8.1	Yes
159. V for Vendetta (2006)	8.1	Yes
160. The Thing (1982)	8.1	Yes
161. Inside Out (2015)	8.1	Yes
162. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)	8.1
163. Dial M for Murder (1954)	8.1	Yes
164. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)	8.1	Yes
165. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)	8.1
166. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)	8.1	Yes
167. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)	8.1	Yes
168. Trainspotting (1996)	8.1
169. Warrior (2011)	8.1
170. Gran Torino (2008)	8.1	Yes
171. Fargo (1996)	8.1
172. Prisoners (2013)	8.1
173. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)	8.1	Yes
174. Million Dollar Baby (2004)	8.1	Yes
175. The Gold Rush (1925)	8.1
176. Catch Me If You Can (2002)	8.1
177. Blade Runner (1982)	8.1	Yes
178. On the Waterfront (1954)	8.1
179. The Third Man (1949)	8.1	Yes
180. Children of Heaven (1997)	8.1
181. Ben-Hur (1959)	8.1
182. The General (1926)	8.1
183. Wild Strawberries (1957)	8.1
184. 12 Years a Slave (2013)	8.1	Yes
185. Before Sunrise (1995)	8.1
186. Gone Girl (2014)	8.1
187. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)	8.	Yes
188. The Deer Hunter (1978)	8.1
189. In the Name of the Father (1993)	8.1
190. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)	8.1	Yes
191. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)	8.1
192. The Wages of Fear (1953)	8.1
193. Barry Lyndon (1975)	8.1
194. Sherlock Jr. (1924)	8.1
195. Memories of Murder (2003)	8.1
196. Klaus (2019)	8.1
197. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)	8.1
198. The Seventh Seal (1957)	8.1	Yes
199. Room (2015)	8.1	Yes
200. Wild Tales (2014)	8.1
201. The Big Lebowski (1998)	8.1	Yes
202. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)	8.1	Yes
203. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)	8.1	Yes
204. Mary and Max (2009)	8.1
205. Monsters, Inc. (2001)	8.1
206. Jaws (1975)	8.1
207. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)	8.1
208. Tokyo Story (1953)	8.1
209. Dead Poets Society (1989)	8.1
210. Hotel Rwanda (2004)	8.1	Yes
211. Rocky (1976)	8	Yes
212. Pather Panchali (1955)	8
213. Platoon (1986)	8
214. Le Mans '66 (2019)	8
215. Stand by Me (1986)	8
216. The Terminator (1984)	8
217. Spotlight (2015)	8
218. Rush (2013)	8
219. Network (1976)	8
220. Into the Wild (2007)	8	Yes
221. Logan (2017)	8	Yes
222. The Wizard of Oz (1939)	8	Yes
223. Ratatouille (2007)	8
224. Groundhog Day (1993)	8
225. Before Sunset (2004)	8
226. The Exorcist (1973)	8
227. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)	8
228. The Incredibles (2004)	8	Yes
229. To Be or Not to Be (1942)	8
230. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)	8
231. Rebecca (1940)	8
232. The Battle of Algiers (1966)	8
233. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)	8
234. Cool Hand Luke (1967)	8
235. Amores perros (2000)	8	Yes
236. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)	8	Yes
237. La Haine (1995)	8
238. The 400 Blows (1959)	8
239. Persona (1966)	8
240. My Father and My Son (2005)	8
241. It Happened One Night (1934)	8
242. Life of Brian (1979)	8	Yes
243. The Sound of Music (1965)	8
244. Dersu Uzala (1975)	8
245. The Handmaiden (2016)	8
246. Aladdin (1992)	8
247. Gandhi (1982)	8	Yes
248. Jai Bhim (2021)	8
249. The Help (2011)	8
250. Beauty and the Beast (1991)	8

The Father

#132 at the time of writing.

IMDB's Top 250 is brimming with big box office blockbusters that cine-nerds might be tempted to turn their noses up at, but I'm glad that it still has room for smaller films, especially when they're as artful and moving as this.

The Father feels more like a play than a film, and indeed was based on a stage play, although it's the little cinematic tricks that draw you in so completely to this tragic tale of fallen pride.

Anthony Hopkins plays an ageing man suffering from increasingly disorienting dementia, cared for by his daughter (played by Olivia Colman, whom I loved as a comic actor, and I love double since her breakout as a dramatic actor too). Throughout the film, The Father asserts his personality upon his beleaguered daughter or whomever else crosses his path, in a way that brought to mind my own grandfather. It is that universality, the inevitability of age and pride and deterioration, that makes this story so impactful.

By the end, when he finally breaks down, so did I. I sobbed inconsolably all the way home from the cinema. A poignant catharsis.

Anthony Hopkins' character in this movie is also called Anthony (and shares his birth date), which led me to suspend my disbelief so completely that I really started to worry about the mental state of the actor!

At age 83, Anthony Hopkins became the oldest recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for this role. Deservedly so. Olivia Colman was also nominated for an Oscar, having won Best Actress two years earlier playing a character with the same name (Anne).

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

#69 at the time of writing.

Animation is as old as movies, but this film proves it can still do something that feels brand new. The exaggerated comic book style transports you to a universe where a beaten-down black kid from Brooklyn can be Spider-Man. As can a confident and graceful young woman. And a cartoon pig. All at the same time.

Yes, this film introduces the idea of infinite parallel universes where strange variations of our beloved superhero characters exist, allowing Sony/Marvel executives (and imitators) to recycle old favourites and dodge continuity problems forevermore. Which sounds immensely cynical, but it is executed with irresistible style. I can hardly believe how fresh and fun this film was, even after so many tired reboots of the same old superhero.

The animation style is seriously impressive, the story is tense and funny and bonkers and all the things you didn't know you wanted, and I applaud the confident nudge towards more diverse representation in a traditionally monochromatic genre - a trend that thankfully continues.

Yet again I find myself needled that superhero films have so dominated the Hollywood box office (and the IMDB Top 250) for so long, and yet willing to forgive because the movie is so damn good.

Hamilton

#119 at the time of writing.

Wow, I did not expect to see a recording of a Broadway stage show in IMDb's list of the Top 250 films. It wasn't even released in cinemas*! It's a testament to how groundbreaking and impressive Lin-Manuel Miranda's theatrical feat is, reimagining the story of one of America's founding fathers as a hip-hop musical that's like nothing you've ever seen.

I didn't know what to expect when I first went to see this play in London's West End, and I was blown away by the density of verbal gymnastics - it's the best two-hour rap you'll ever hear. As soon as we got home, we bought the soundtrack and played in on loop for weeks, memorising several of the songs. So many great lines! From this to Moana to Encanto - Lin-Manuel sure knows how to pen a bop. (Give him an Oscar so he can be an EGOT already.)

In particular, I really appreciate the positive portrayal of immigrants - an important message in our current world where jingoistic nationalism is having such an ascendancy.

My favourite Hamilton thing? This video of Lin-Manuel performing the opening song six years before he finished the musical, for Barack and Michelle Obama at the White House. Genius at work. Inspirational.

* I have to say, I don't like the straight-to-streaming trend - I love going to the cinema, and if cinemas keeps getting bypassed they'll end up only showing big action blockbusters. I was especially cross about Turning Red going straight to streaming. Stop it, Disney!

Avengers: Infinity War

#65 at the time of writing.

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe was first spitballed in the mid-2000s, even the most ambitious studio executives didn't dare dream how successful it would become. We're now 30 films into the arc, but for me the franchise reached an incredibly satisfying crescendo right here in film #19.

With a story so epic it needed a whole extra film (Endgame) to wrap up the loose ends, and an ending so unexpected it got me excited about the superhero genre all over again despite so much overkill, this film made watching (most of) the other 18 worth it.

This film sees a slew of comic book heroes, introduced to us in the decade since Robert Downey Jr's addictively charismatic star turn in 2008's Iron Man, come up against their biggest threat yet. But despite the ensuing battle being on the grandest scale, each character gets enough time to shine on-screen - an impressive feat given the diversity of the motley ensemble (ranging from ninjas to gods; from a blue-skinned cyber-alien to a talking raccoon).

The ultimate popcorn blockbuster - but I wonder how well the story, and the emotional beats, would stand up for someone without the context of the preceding 18 films?

This is the highest ranked Marvel Cinematic Universe film in IMDb's Top 250, but my personal MCU favourite is Thor: Ragnarok, mainly because I can't get enough of director Taika Waititi's irreverent sense of humour. I'm spellbound that despite being a MASSIVE Hollywood behemoth, Marvel Studios' creative process allows for such gratifying idiosyncracy (see also: WandaVision).

Top Gun: Maverick

#45 at the time of writing.

I recently had the best week in cinema I've had in 20 years, having seen two mind-blowing smash hits back to back: Everything Everywhere All At Once, and this action masterpiece.

I haven't re-watched the original Top Gun for many years, and I don't think you need to have watched it at all to enjoy this sequel. (I suspect the original has aged - I seriously doubt it could be as exhilarating as this new incarnation.) I mean, sure, it's military propaganda, and it stars Tom Cruise whose dodgy Scientology connections have apparently included the perk of having been preserved in aspic for the last 35 years, but it's the most thrilling action film since Mad Max: Fury Road - or, perhaps, since ever.

You definitely want to see this on as big as screen as possible. It is incredible how face-meltingly well the G-forces have been captured as we go along for the ride in those fighter jets, preparing for a wonderfully improbable Death Star trench run.

And the emotional beats are well pitched, both in-story and meta - from the nostalgic nods to the original film's homoerotic brand of machismo, to seeing Val Kilmer on screen despite his acting career having been ended by throat cancer (he cannot talk at all, and his few lines in this film are emulated by an AI).

Took my breath away.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

#142 at the time of writing.

More than a third of my top 30 films of all time are from the years 1999-2001 - check out my list in the sidebar - and I think that's testament to the age I was when I first watched them (19-21). I was young and impressionable, and the mark those films left on me will stay with me for life.

But that means new-to-me films start at a monumental disadvantage; how can anything new possibly hope to change my life now that I've seen it all before? After thousands of films and increasingly entrenched tastes, how can anything blow my mind anymore?

This is how.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is the most bonkers and ambitious film I have ever seen - and it's about laundry and taxes. That mismatch is part of its genius; it tells an impossibly grand story while remaining grounded throughout. The Daniels went for a maximalist style that conveys how overwhelming our modern world is - but ultimately this is the story of a struggling Chinese immigrant family just trying to get along.

This cerebral sci-fi kung fu thriller does so much exactly right, and manages to be like nothing else I've ever seen. I love that the characters switch between Chinese and English throughout. I love the bagel and the googly eye symbolising nihilism and existentialism. I love the myriad of references to some of my favourite films, especially The Matrix, Ratatouille, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I love that this was Ke Huy Quan's first major on-screen role since Indiana Jones and The Goonies. I love that Michelle Yeoh cried when she talked about how validated she felt by being asked to play such a versatile character (and, wow, she knocked it out of the park). I loved it so much, that I went back to watch it a second time at the cinema... and then a third time... and then once more at home with my daughter, all within the space of a couple of weeks.

It was released at the same time as another multiverse movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which had eight times the budget and wasn't even half as good.

Everything Everywhere All At Once rockets into my favourite films of all time - not just into the top 30, not even the top 10, but the top 3. I'm thrilled that my mind can still be blown.

Coco

#39 at the time of writing.

This is middling Pixar, so it's merely... brilliant. (IMDb currently has it ranked as the best Pixar, and the 39th best film of all time, which is somewhat overselling it.)

One of Pixar's strengths is that it doesn't shy away from adult themes - in this case, death. The story world is inspired by the Mexican Día de los Muertos, and whilst it touches only lightly on death it was sufficient to scare my film-hardy 6-year-old. But this movie is infused with colour and music and family values, and it's a delight to spend time with.

It's about a boy who defies his family to pursue his dream of becoming a musician, but in the process falls foul of a curse that sends him to the land of the dead - where he must untangle some family secrets to be able to return.

There's another recent animated kids' film that's also very colourful, very musical, and very much inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, The Book of Life, which I also enjoyed. I wonder why it didn't get the same hype as this one. Even the two stories are a little similar - here's the IMDb tagline from The Book of Life, adjusted so it describes Coco instead:

ManoloMiguel, a young manboy who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, embarks on an adventure that spans threetwo fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

Logan

#195 at the time of writing.

I'm pretty burned out on superhero movies. Whenever I watch one I'm usually perfectly well enough entertained, but the prospect of going to the cinema for yet another terribly witty/violent comic book extravaganza is kind of exhausting. I think I only saw the first two X-Men films (and Deadpool).

But in fact there were nine X-Men films before this one. Nine. For die-hard fans, that's a huge amount of emotional investment in the characters. So when I say that this film got me emotionally engaged, I can only imagine the magnified impact it must have had on the legions of true Wolverine-worshippers out there.

You can imagine the pub conversation that sparked this film. So, says the writer, we've got these two characters - the most powerful brain in the world, and a rapid-healing fighter with anger issues. What can we do that's new, that hasn't been done before? I know! Super-brain has dementia and invincible wants to kill himself. Pretty dark, huh?

Yes, it's dark. The story doesn't shy away from the darkness, and is all the better for it. But it also succeeds in delivering a treatment of the (prolifically overdone) superhero genre that feels genuinely new. And for that, kudos.

Trivia: Upon opening at 4,071 theatres in the United States, this film became the widest opening R-rated release in cinema history. But only for a few weeks. It was surpassed by It, which opened in 4,103 theatres.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

#119 at the time of writing.

This is the story of one woman's fight for justice and redemption in small-town Missouri, where cops still beat people up just because they're black, and where townsfolk are trapped in cycles of poverty and abuse. In other words, a place where there is no justice, and no redemption.

With the exception of whiter-than-white Chief Willoughby, sensitively played by Woody Harrelson, no-one and nothing in this town is morally black and white, least of all Frances McDormand's bolshy protagonist - the characters exist in a grey zone, often outside of the law, and with their own peculiar definitions (or tolerances) of right and wrong.

It's a bleak story, but compelling, and with occasional touches of dark humour. By the end I feared it was dragging on too long - which I think is because once the story has played it course the ending still had to be set up, but it was probably worth it because the ending is just as it should be.

I was surprised to learn that the theatrical pitch-black comedy In Bruges was written and directed by the same person, Martin McDonagh, not least because this feels like such a deeply American film and he's not remotely American. I overheard someone say they thought this was a Coen Brothers film. Nope. A British-Irish dude made this. (Although it does star Joel Coen's wife, of course...)

Look out for this one at the Oscars...

The Elephant Man

#149 at the time of writing.

One of the worst film experiences of my life was sitting through David Lynch's interminably boring Inland Empire at the cinema. Neither am I a fan of Mulholland Drive. Nevertheless, I've long been curious about his earlier works.

This 1980 biopic of deformed Victorian gentleman Joseph Merrick is clunky in parts, but on the whole thought-provoking and sometimes genuinely moving. Even the Lynchian indulgences feel avant grade rather than annoying.

The story is apparently faithful to the source material, except for one major difference: the film depicts Merrick as weak, exploited and abused by his cruel carnival master, until he is rescued by the surgeon Treves; when in fact the real-life Merrick was an enterprising soul who voluntarily entered into an equal partnership with a showman and made very good money in the process. Perhaps the filmmakers thought Merrick would be more sympathetic if portrayed as a helpless victim, but I would have liked to see a truer portrayal of the man - his gumption makes him all the more remarkable.

Dunkirk

#51 at the time of writing.

Just watched this, and my initial impressions are twofold. First, I'm incredibly grateful to be living in relatively peaceful times; we must never take that for granted. I don't know how I'd react if I was forced into such horrendous circumstances, but I'll be thankful if that's never tested.

Second, this film suffers a little from director Christopher Nolan's trademark flaw. His movies are awe-inspiringly ambitious spectacles, with intelligent and compelling plots, but populated by under-developed characters. The people in this story feel like ciphers.

Still, the film showed me perspectives I hadn't considered - and taught me things I didn't know - about the Dunkirk evacuation, and made me want to read more.

The practical effects deserve praise, and Hans Zimmer's musical score added to the tension beautifully (if unsubtly).

According to IMDb trivia, roughly 30 veteran Dunkirk survivors, who were in their mid nineties, attended the premiere in London. When asked about the film, they felt that it accurately captured the event but that the soundtrack was louder than the actual bombardment, a comment that greatly amused director Christopher Nolan.

The Mark Rylance character, Dawson, is closely based on Lightoller, Second Officer of the Titanic, who took his yacht Sundowner to Dunkirk at the age of 66. Like Lightoller he refuses to let the navy crew his boat - "if anyone takes her it will be me", and takes one of his sons with him. Like Lightoller, Dawson has lost a son in the RAF (Brian, shot down in a Wellington bomber on the second day of the war) who taught him how to evade air attack. Also like Lightoller he packs the boat so full (four stood in the bathtub), the disembarkation officer couldn't believe over 55 men were aboard Sundowner.