IMDB Top 250: How many have you seen?

[Hakan]

Careful. That's blue-squareable, let me tell you.

[Hakan]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

I think you lose something in the subtitles, or at least I lose something. It's another level of focus that has to be applied. For someone who doesn't speak anything but English (I know, I'm just a stupid American) I find it difficult to concentrate on the other aspects of the movie when I'm reading subtitles.

It's not some racist or nationalist stand. Sheesh.

I'm not saying you're racist or nationalist.

I would bet that you just haven't watched alot of subtitled films. The more you watch the more reading subtitles becomes second nature. You're missing out on alot of good movies and even worse, you're watching dubbed movies which are the incarnate of crappy.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Hakan

I'm not saying you're racist or nationalist.

I would bet that you just haven't watched alot of subtitled films. The more you watch the more reading subtitles becomes second nature. You're missing out on alot of good movies and even worse, you're watching dubbed movies which are the incarnate of crappy.

This is the major problem I have with watching a subtitled film.

You are looking at the text while the actor is giving a performance. Mehrabian's studies on human communication and his 7-38-55% rule states that a huge portion of communication is tone and body language. He found that only 7 percent of communication comes from spoken words, 38 percent is from the tone of the voice, and 55 percent comes from body language. How can you focus on the body language when you are reading the text? How can you understand the tone when you don't understand the words they are placed on? I find it extremely detrimental to the performance.

[drew24]

A solid 25. But i bet i would something like Cloverfield more than i would any in the top 10. (except for Shawshank)

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

This is the major problem I have with watching a subtitled film.

You are looking at the text while the actor is giving a performance. Mehrabian's studies on human communication and his 7-38-55% rule states that a huge portion of communication is tone and body language. He found that only 7 percent of communication comes from spoken words, 38 percent is from the tone of the voice, and 55 percent comes from body language. How can you focus on the body language when you are reading the text? How can you understand the tone when you don't understand the words they are placed on? I find it extremely detrimental to the performance.

I suppose this would apply if you are a very, very slow reader. I don't think you lose much at all reading subtitles; some of the best films I've seen in the last 5 years or so have been subtitled.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by drew24

A solid 25. But i bet i would something like Cloverfield more than i would any in the top 10. (except for Shawshank)

Better than The Godfather? Pulp Fiction?

I know we all have our own opinions

But come on now

[Boblobla]

90/250

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

I suppose this would apply if you are a very, very slow reader. I don't think you lose much at all reading subtitles; some of the best films I've seen in the last 5 years or so have been subtitled.

I'm going to have to disagree completely. This has nothing to do with the speed of reading. Like I said if you can't understand the language being spoken you can't understand the emphasis or tone placed on certain points or sentences. You are also being distracted (even if slightly) from the actors performance. In these cases you are subconsciously applying tone and meaning to the words in the subtitles. I think of it like reading a very good book with nice pictures.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

I'm going to have to disagree completely. This has nothing to do with the speed of reading. Like I said if you can't understand the language being spoken you can't understand the emphasis or tone placed on certain points or sentences. You are also being distracted (even if slightly) from the actors performance. In these cases you are subconsciously applying tone and meaning to the words in the subtitles. I think of it like reading a very good book with nice pictures.

Of course, if you can't understand the language, what are the chances that you are going to be familiar with the non-verbal cues either. Non-verbal cues are highly culture-dependent as well. The difference between how a Chinese person vs. a Japanese person deals with personal space, as compared with say and Iraqi or a North American. At least if you read the subtitles, you know what they are saying...

BTW... 97 (although I excluded 15-20 that I think I may have seen as a child but don't remember well enough to say for sure)

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I've seen 123 of those, though I had to go on IMDB to figure some of them out.... like the ones with foreign titles that were released in NA under a different one.

It is a bit of a weird list--it has some classic stuff (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Bicycle Thief) but other classic films are oddly missing (Battleship Potemkin, The Magnificent Ambersons). Then there's a lot of contemporary stuff thrown in that you have to think will eventually fall off the list as it ages more.

I did pretty well on the older stuff, but the newer movies I'm sketchy on, even the ones I really want to see. I haven't been to the movies in a very long time, so unless it's on NetFlix I don't usually get a chance to see it.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Hakan

I'm not saying you're racist or nationalist.

I would bet that you just haven't watched alot of subtitled films. The more you watch the more reading subtitles becomes second nature. You're missing out on alot of good movies and even worse, you're watching dubbed movies which are the incarnate of crappy.

You're probably right...and I probably will watch some in the future. It's difficult when you're a married guy with kids though. Trust me.

BTW,...I don't watch dubbed movies. Leone's films were in English, mostly...and then dubbed over in Italian. I would prefer subtitles to dubs for sure. For instance, there have been a lot of movies about Native Americans or with Native American conversation in them and I prefer those to be authentic, even if the language is almost dead. One of the best things about The Passion was that it was totally performed in a dead language. I like that authenticity. So to see Infernal Affairs, dubbed over in English, wouldn't be my bag at all.

[Ro]

157. Might put me 1st in the CPuck movie nerd rankings.

For all the flack that list takes, I don't know if there's a better all-around representation of the top 250 movies (blockbusters, foreign flicks, Oscar winners, classics, cult faves, basically every genre) on the net. When I first started getting into reading/studying film (on a very amateur-ish level), it was an invaluable tool. I might never have seen films like Old Boy, The Bicycle Thief, Ikiru, Vertigo, and Paths Of Glory, or at least I wouldn't have discovered them this early into my life.

[Kipru]

27. I do not watch any other types of movie than comedies and war movies (except those war movies where there might be romance or bragging about their non-existent war success by americans) , so that explains it.

[Caged Great]

54 for me...

[edn88]

101/250

[driveway]

114/250, pretty good, I think. Obviously there are issues with the list, but these lists will always have issues because 'best' is so subjective.

Hard to argue with Godfather as #1, though.

[simonsays]

117. I really started to taper off at the end with some of the foreign stuff that I've never gotten around to. Parts of the list were a little odd, and I don't remember seeing Dr. Strangelove in there. I'm sure it was, but I seem to have missed it. Meh, I guess I've seen a lot of movies.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by simonsays

117. I really started to taper off at the end with some of the foreign stuff that I've never gotten around to. Parts of the list were a little odd, and I don't remember seeing Dr. Strangelove in there. I'm sure it was, but I seem to have missed it. Meh, I guess I've seen a lot of movies.

Yes it was in there.