The Dark Knight blasts into the IMDB number 1 position
The IMDB Top 250 is an interesting beast to say the least. It tracks the preferences of film goers who are interested enough in the medium to be seeking out directors/actors etc. and be voting regularly, but also has a large enough audience to not become a snobbish AFI-esque list. Citizen Kane's position at 28 reaffirms the idea that the voters are clued in to film art and history, but are also ''normal''; they like an entertaining flick as much as anyone else. There's noway to agree with the list completely, and i don't think anyone serious about film would say Pulp Fiction was the 6th greatest film ever made, but the mix between art/entertainment makes the list a powerful and interesting read.
For the last two years the top four has been entirely consistent:
1. Godfather
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Godfather II
4. The Good The Bad and The Ugly.
However The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan's new Batman movie has slammed it's way to the number one position, only 3 days after its release. To place a film on the level of The Godfather in the eyes of the general public shows that perhaps we have something special on our hands. It's been 14 years since a director has even come close to breaking up the big 4, and in my opinion Christopher Nolan is a worthy contender, one of the most exciting young directors around today.
Memento is an instant classic; in fact much like with Brian Singer and Superman, I was annoyed when Nolan took the Batman job as it's confines were sure to stifle his more unique and interesting qualities. With Memento, Insomnia and The Prestige, Nolan made 3 excellent films which all pushed the boundaries of film. Making an awesome comic book movie is cool, but i would say it smacks a bit of wasted talent.
What I'm really getting at I think is 1. Go see The Dark Knight asap, then probably go see it again as it has all the makings of something special, something we haven't had for some time (There Will Be Blood came close though).
More interestingly, and perhaps more worryingly I'm starting to wonder what having a comic book adaptation franchise (Dark Knight), a short story adaptation (Shawshank) and a sequel (Godfather II) in the so called ''top 4 movies'' says about cinema.
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And Godfather 1 is based on a book as well. One that's usually regarded as pulp trash, but having read it before I saw the movie, I must say I liked it better. And I haven't seen the second movie, because it seems that a huge part of it is just the stuff from the book that they left out in the first movie (i.e., the Vito Corleone's background growing up and before he became the Don). So ranking the Dark Knight - which I loved, it was significantly better than Batman Begins, which I also enjoyed - ahead of the Godfather is nothing big to me.