Monday, June 13, 2011

IMDB 250 Changes Since 2009

We last recorded the IMDB 250 for our Top Ranked 1000 films in late 2009.. I just started updating the list, starting with the latest IMDB all-time top 250. These are the changes in the poll since that time.. it's obvious that we're losing classic films off the list annually, while newer films, of course, will move in, but in this case so did a lot of animation and anime films..

These are the major changes in the IMDB over the last year, from mid 2010 to now..

Inception is the highest addition to the list, now
at No. 9, so it'll fall over time but will likely
remain on the list for good

New On the List
400 Blows (59)
Avatar (09)
Barry Lyndon (75)
Beauty and the Beast (91)*
Black Swan (10)
Castle in the Sky (1986)*
Celebration (1998)
District 9 (2009) 
Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)*
Ikiru (1952)
Inception (2010)
Infernal Affairs (2002)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
King's Speech (2010) [AA]
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)*
Mary and Max (2009)
Monsters, Inc. (2001) *
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 
Persona (1966) 19,513
Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl (2003)*
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Rain Man (1988)*
Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)*
Shutter Island (2010)*
Social Network (2010)
Spirited Away (2001)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)*
Three Colors: Red (1994)*
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Truman Show (1998)
X-Men: First Class (2011)

* = low on list, unlikely to remain

It's encouraging that some older classics are moving back up, notably 400 Blows, Truffaut's first film. Passion of Joan of Arc, a silent film, finally got enough votes to get listed. What the heck is up with all the animation? Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, How to Train Your Dragon, Monsters Inc. - these are not all that good. Spring, Summer.. is a great film, too bad it's so low that it won't likely remain. It's a Korean zen drama, we need more of those.

Harold Lloyd's Safety Last is now off the list
Now off the list:
Adventures of Robin Hood (38)
African Queen (51) [AA]
Bonnie and Clyde (67)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Changeling (2008)
Crash (2004/I) [AA]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Dolce Vita, La (1960)
Frankenstein (1931)
Glory (1989)
Great Expectations (1946)
Hangover (2009)
Harold and Maude (1971)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
King Kong (1933)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Laura (1944)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Red Shoes (1956)
Safety Last! (1923)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Spartacus (1960)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Umberto D. (1952)

Sad to lose so many real classics: My Man Godfrey, Lloyd's Safety Last! (ironic they added Sherlock Jr of Keaton's), Umberto D (the worst loss to me, this is a top 20 film), The Philadelphia Story, The Lady Vanishes, Great Expectations, The Ox-Box Incident, La Dolca Vita, The Sweet Smell of Success, Laura, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Red Shoes. Not really sad to see Bonnie and Clyde or Benjamin Button or Crash go however (this is the wrong Crash anyway)

Moving Up
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Green Mile (1999)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
The Kid (1921)
La Strada (1954)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Mystic River (2003)
Network (1976)
Rocky (1976)
Scarface (1983)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)


I don't get some of these going up, like Green Mile, Rocky, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Kid, Life Is Beautiful, Scarface (this is a terrible film). Glad to see Network and Virginia Woolf moving up, both classics. Ironic that La Strada is moving up, while La Dolce Vita and Umberto D both fell off the list.

Falling:
8½ (1963)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)*
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)*
The Big Sleep (1946)
Children of Men (2006)
Harvey (1950)*
His Girl Friday (1940)*
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Killing (1956)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Let the Right One In (2008)*
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)*
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)*
Notorious (1946)
Patton (1970)
Ratatouille (2007)
Sleuth (1972)*
Star Trek (2009)*
Strangers on a Train (1951)*
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Up (2009)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wrestler (2008)

* = won't likely last long
Some of these are falling and are getting low as well, so they'll likely be gone next year.
[Newer films are falling faster: Up, The Wrestler, Star Trek fell the most positions]

2 comments:

Craig French said...

This was an interesting post. I have recently started watching all of the IMDB Top 250 and it is ineteresting to see just how volatile the list is.

Maybe once I have finished this challenge I will watch the ones that have fallen off - will probably be 2014 tho!!

José Sinclair said...

There's a "recency factor" - fans vote on a film first (and studio employees), so the avg is higher at first.. then the general public begins to weigh in, the rating falls.. some films are overlooked and steadily climb: City of God, Taxi Driver, 12 Angry Men, The Live of Others - are a few I've noticed that seem to be rising over time.. (and Chinatown, though I can't see why, not a top 100 for me, maybe 250th.. way overrated, actually quite dull)