The Top 250 movies, according to IMDb

The other night, a discussion between myself and my two friends somehow landed us at IMDB’s list of the 250 best movies of all-time, according to voters.  One of us had the brilliant idea of suggesting that we watch all of them, since we were upset at how low some of our favorite movies were ranked, and how high some of our least favorites were ranked (I’m looking at you, Gone With the Wind!).

After some math, we determined that at a rate of 10 movies per week, which is certainly not sustainable for three college students with varying schedules, we could finish in roughly half a year.  This was a terrible idea.  So naturally, we decided to go for it.

With a little over a year left before we graduate and a summer during which we’ll all be in Waco together for summer class and internships, we figure we’ll be able to finish the list before we graduate.

Marc quickly wrote a Java program to randomize a list of 250 numbers and that’s how we decided our watching order.  After all, watching the movies in ascending or descending order could paint our opinion of the movies unfairly.

Just before the first movie, it occurred to me that we should come up with a somewhat scientific method of ranking the movies, so I created and Excel document to track our judgments of the films.  The scores will be based upon Script, Acting, Cinematography, Directing, Soundtrack, and Special Effects.

I intend for this blog to track our quest to watch all of these movies and provide my friends, family, and fellow cinemaphiles with a quality review of each film on the list so you can decide which films you’d like to see and which ones aren’t really up your alley.

Please weigh in with your own opinions on the film after a review, or ask any questions you might have.  Half the fun of this project is the discussion.

I’ll make the majority of the posts, but my two friends — Marc and Medlock — have requested that they write something when we have dissenting opinions or they feel strongly.  So, expect to see their work from time to time as well.

I shall make all our scores public for each movie as we watch them, and a review when time allows.

I hope you enjoy!

-Ben