Have Your Say: About that number 1 on IMDB's top 250...
Sometimes I get asked what I consider the best film ever made, especially after people find out that I write reviews, and I am always at a loss for words with this question. Watching films for me is no competition to start with, and even though I know plenty of personal favorites I am also the first to point out the glaring flaws in each of those.
Best film of all time? Even a Top-10 gives me quite a headache...
Of course here at ScreenAnarchy we had that ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter last summer where we celebrated its 128th iteration (it's a nerd joke...) and listed a lot of "Best Film" lists, but nobody claimed to name a true "Best Film of All Time".
However, over at IMDB (without a doubt currently the biggest movie-reference site on the Internet) there is a Top-250 based on ratings of individual films, and that is a funny thing to follow over time. On occasion a recent release spikes the list and temporarily takes the top position as happened with each of the "Lord of the Rings" films, or more recently with "The Dark Knight", but when those titles start being exposed to the non-fans in the rental and television circuits they tumble down again. Long-term favorites however persist in the list, and in general it has always been either "The Godfather" or "The Shawshank Redemption" on the summit.
The last couple of years I note that "The Shawshank Redemption" is building a distance between itself and its mobster brethren. I also note that with a mean score derived from nearly half a million votes it will become more and more difficult to dislodge it from the top spot (except for temporarily by another film's rabid fanbase). Yet I cannot see that title in the top spot without being somewhat surprised by it. I mean, I love the movie but... best ever? Truth is, I've never heard someone say that they disliked the movie, so maybe that is its strength.
So Have Your Say!
Is "The Shawshank Redemption" deserving of the title? Why do you think this film is so popular? Is there another specific movie which ought to take its place?
