The Top 10 Films of All-Time
There have been a few requests for me to get up on the soapbox again. I have a general habit of picking apart and analysing every film I watch. Many misunderstand this. They see me as evaluating and not enjoying a film. That could not be further from the truth. Maybe it's just me, but I would find myself becoming bored if I only considered "What's happening?". It's simply a case of, guess what, I can concentrate on more than one task at a time. I don't, for one second, think that others cannot.
I look at camera angles and shots, art direction, costuming, story-line and plot (of course), character development, dialogue, soundtrack...a great many things. Perhaps that's a curse of being a graphic designer, and being extremely interested in design, broadly.
Wynand and I came up with the 21 scale. Now, I've already talked about it once or twice, in online form. Let me reiterate though, it's not about being funny at all. I genuinely believe that it's the best solution. A scale out of 10 does not lend itself to enough variation, or else you have to use halves. That's just inelegant. Why 21 and not 20? For me to give a movie 21, it has to be the best movie of all time and though it can be equalled, it can NEVER be surpassed. It is perfect in every way that matters. So far, no film has achieved that distinction. Perhaps none ever will. Two films have achieved 20. They are truly nearly everything a film should be, and remarkably entertaining. Are they perfect? No. Can any film theoretically be? I believe so.
With that in mind, I should really deliver at least some content. Two honourable mentions. There will be more, but let's get these two out of the way. If they happen to be in your personal top 10 list, I'd love to hear why in the comments.
Honourable Mention #1: The Dark Knight (2008)
I love the new Batman films. If you ever want to know how to reinvent stuff, take a look at how Christopher Nolan did it with guys like Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Off the top of my head, this contains the best acting performances by them both.
Certainly Ledger's (The Prestige, The Machinist for Bale might be better). Sadly, I believe it was also his second-last. To compete with an actor like Jack Nicholson, who previously portrayed The Joker, and not only equal, but blow him away, is an achievement he could have been immensely proud of.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the best super-hero film of all time. The dark and gritty tone works astonishingly well, and turned the franchise from being kinda uncool, into AMAZING. It scores 17/21.
Honourable Mention #2: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The most prolific director on this list, by my quick count, this is another of Tarantino's masterpieces. World War II is the darkest time in our history. In my mind, Adolf Hitler is the most insane and consequently evil man to ever walk this earth.
I suppose his mental illness is to blame rather than his personality, but then, aren't most evil men some measure of insane by conventional standards? Who would have imagined for one second that Tarantino's usual off-the-wall treatment would be pulled off this well? The dialogue is entrancing, the action violent and enjoyable, and the visuals and costumes endlessly entertaining. The fact that it's Nazis suffering death-blows makes it all the more "YES PLEASE!".
There are few films I could re-watch almost time and time again, but this is definitely one of them. In fact, Quentin Tarantino just does that to me. The only reason I don't have them on repeat, is that, as the great Karl Pilkington once said, if you have cake every day, you get tired of it. A very good 17/21.
I look at camera angles and shots, art direction, costuming, story-line and plot (of course), character development, dialogue, soundtrack...a great many things. Perhaps that's a curse of being a graphic designer, and being extremely interested in design, broadly.
Wynand and I came up with the 21 scale. Now, I've already talked about it once or twice, in online form. Let me reiterate though, it's not about being funny at all. I genuinely believe that it's the best solution. A scale out of 10 does not lend itself to enough variation, or else you have to use halves. That's just inelegant. Why 21 and not 20? For me to give a movie 21, it has to be the best movie of all time and though it can be equalled, it can NEVER be surpassed. It is perfect in every way that matters. So far, no film has achieved that distinction. Perhaps none ever will. Two films have achieved 20. They are truly nearly everything a film should be, and remarkably entertaining. Are they perfect? No. Can any film theoretically be? I believe so.
With that in mind, I should really deliver at least some content. Two honourable mentions. There will be more, but let's get these two out of the way. If they happen to be in your personal top 10 list, I'd love to hear why in the comments.
Honourable Mention #1: The Dark Knight (2008)
I love the new Batman films. If you ever want to know how to reinvent stuff, take a look at how Christopher Nolan did it with guys like Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Off the top of my head, this contains the best acting performances by them both.
Certainly Ledger's (The Prestige, The Machinist for Bale might be better). Sadly, I believe it was also his second-last. To compete with an actor like Jack Nicholson, who previously portrayed The Joker, and not only equal, but blow him away, is an achievement he could have been immensely proud of.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the best super-hero film of all time. The dark and gritty tone works astonishingly well, and turned the franchise from being kinda uncool, into AMAZING. It scores 17/21.
Honourable Mention #2: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The most prolific director on this list, by my quick count, this is another of Tarantino's masterpieces. World War II is the darkest time in our history. In my mind, Adolf Hitler is the most insane and consequently evil man to ever walk this earth.
I suppose his mental illness is to blame rather than his personality, but then, aren't most evil men some measure of insane by conventional standards? Who would have imagined for one second that Tarantino's usual off-the-wall treatment would be pulled off this well? The dialogue is entrancing, the action violent and enjoyable, and the visuals and costumes endlessly entertaining. The fact that it's Nazis suffering death-blows makes it all the more "YES PLEASE!".
There are few films I could re-watch almost time and time again, but this is definitely one of them. In fact, Quentin Tarantino just does that to me. The only reason I don't have them on repeat, is that, as the great Karl Pilkington once said, if you have cake every day, you get tired of it. A very good 17/21.
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