Sources for the Selection of the Greatest Films
Created in 1990, the IMDb website consists of the largest known single accumulation of data on individual films, television programs, direct-to-video product and videogames. Here, you can find detailed information about films. This information includes complete cast and crew listings, genre classifications, run times, synopsis, MPAA ratings and similar attributes, presented in a well organized manner . Over the past 10 years imdb has become the universally accepted source for film related information . As of mid 2006, the website contained articles about nearly half a million titles.
The IMDB Top 250 is intended to be a listing the top 'rated' 250 films, in order, based on ratings by the registered users of the website using the methods described. Registered user of imdb can rate any film on a scale of 1 to a of 10 stars. They can also post reviews and similar information on this website. To select the top 250, only theatrical releases running longer than sixty minutes with over 1300 ratings are considered; all other products are ineligible. The imdb top 250 is not baised towards English language motion pictures. Films made in all languages are treated equally. Also, the 'top 250' rating is based on only the ratings of "regular voters". In addition to other weightings, the top 250 films are also based on a weighted rating formula referred to in actuarial science as a credibility formula.
American Film Institute’s (AFI) 100 YEARS...100 MOVIES
www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx
The American Film Institue (AFI) is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through AFI's New Media Ventures.
In June 1998, The American Film Institute commemorated the extraordinary first 100 years of American movies by making a "definitive selection of the 100 greatest American movies of all time, as determined by more than 1,500 leaders from the American film community." The 400 Nominated Films were feature-length fictional movies produced between 1912 and 1996 "with the goal of amassing a capsule of the first 100 years of American cinema, across decades and across genres."
Films were judged by the following criteria.
1. Feature-length: Narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length.
2. American film: English language, with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. The inclusion of some films on these criteria has been controversial, and the "American" content sometimes minimal; as in Lawrence of Arabia, directed by a Briton and first premiered in London, but considered to qualify as an American film because it was produced by an American, or The Third Man, included because its executive producer was an American.
3. Critical Recognition: Formal commendation in print.
4. Major Award Winner: Recognition from competitive events including awards from organizations in the film community and major film festivals.
5. Popularity Over Time: Including figures for box office adjusted for inflation, television broadcasts and syndication, and home video sales and rentals.
6. Historical Significance: A film's mark on the history of the moving image through technical innovation, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreaking achievements.
7. Cultural Impact: A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.
All the 400 films that were nominated for the 100 Years… 100 Movies series, are great movies in their own respect.
Winners of Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. These awards have been presented annually by the Academy, since 1927.
With the exception of a few, nearly all the films that won an academy award for best picture, are great films.
Winners of Academy Award for Best Picture
The result of a 1999 survey of 1000 people from the world of UK film and television, carried out by the British Film Institute to produce the BFI 100 list of the greatest British films of the 20th century. Participants were asked to consider (and vote for up to 100) 'culturally British' feature films, released in cinemas during the 20th century, which they felt had made a strong and lasting impression on the art form and the culture. Altogether, more than 25,700 votes were cast, covering 820 different films.
The final selection makes compulsive reading. It spans seven decades, from 1935 to 1998, accommodates the work of 70 film directors and much international talent. Collectively, it presents a diverse palette of experiences, memories, imaginations and emotions.
Filmsite is a web site operated by Tim Dirks since 1996. It contains nearly 300 in-depth reviews of what Dirks judges to be the "greatest films" of all time. In many cases, the review is scene-by-scene. The article on Lawrence of Arabia (1962), alone, contains nearly 11,500 words. Each of the 300 films in the greatest films were handpicked by Mr. Dirks himself. The list contains full length feature films, virtuall all of which are in the English language with emphasis on classics, particularly those made during the so called ‘Golden Era of Hollywood’. The greatest films selected do not include foreign films or non-English language films for the purposes of specialization and focus. The selections cover films made upto the year 1996 and encompasses all established film genres.
The sheer volume of information available exclusively on on this website is stupendous. The site, composed of thousands of well-organized pages, has been an award-winning, unique resource for classic film buffs and all who are interested in films. You will find a myriad of articles on all things pertaining to film: biographies, results of polls, articles about film critique, to name a few. But one of the most valuable contributions is a comprehensive decade-by-decade history of cinema from the 1910s to the present day. The history pages contain references to all of the films that have made a significant contribution to cinema. I can safely say that this site is the best of its kind.
The author of filmsite categorizes his recommended movies by year as well as by genre. These lists contain titles in addition to those already considered among the top 300. The year list is an invaluable source for selection of films.
A fact that makes filmsite.org remarkable is that it is a non-commercial informatory website. The site does not contain any promos and news or gossip columns. Tim Dirks is biased only to the point that he has over emphasized classic films and films in English language. The style of the website is surprisingly simple. It seems that Tim Dirks never learned beyond basic HTML coding and yet he has produced a masterpiece of a website that is easy to use and serves the purpose it was meant for.
New York Times’: The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
(A selection of the 1000 best films of all time by the critics of the new york times.)
This list is drawn from the second edition of "The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" (Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, published in 2004). The book, written by Vincent Canby and Janet Maslin, is a comprehensive collection of reviews that have been culled from the Times’ archive. This volume compiles alphabetically the original reviews of the 1000 "best" films as selected by New York Times critics from 1927 to 1998. The selections come largely from the "Ten Best Films" chosen at the end of each year. Not all "best" films have a review in this book, though, because many films have been re-evaluated over time; other films, deemed more worthy from today's critical perspective, have been retrofitted. The book covers every conceivable genre, from comedies, dramas, and science-fiction to foreign films, musicals, and others.
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Author: Steven Jay Schneider, Publisher: Barron’s Educational Series; 2 edition (August 19, 2005)
Steven Jay Schneider is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at Harvard University and in Cinema Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
In 2002, editor Stephen Jay Schneider brought together 1001 movies ranging from art house classics to westerns, written by leading film critics and journalists. A dozen genres are covered: musicals, thrillers, westerns, science-fiction, comedy, war, horror, epics, film noir, art-house, romance, and social drama, arranged in chronological order.
The 1,000 Greatest Films selected by the website ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?’
A complete list of all the 1,193 individual top-tens and 213 miscellaneous polls used (and or referenced) for the 1,000 Greatest Films listing (March 2006). This list pretty much sums up all the lists of top 10 movies per year and similar lists published by all the major magazines which cover the entertainment industry. These publications include all of the major publications in entertainment industry – Sight & Sound and Premiere, to name a few.
This is what the operators of the website have to say about their master list.
“Narrowed down from a starting list of over 4,100 films, utilizing some rather tricky formulas, we believe that this is quite possibly the most definitive guide to the most-acclaimed movies of all-time. At the very least, it is a rather spiffy place for all budding/established film buffs to commence/enhance their cinematic experiences.”
Nearly half of all titles in this selection are foreign language films which were investigated for possible inclusion in the final list.
The complete list of films and the references used for their selection.
Films Preserved by the ‘National Film Registry’
The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. The board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988.
The National Film Registry is meant to preserve up to 25 "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films" each year; to be eligible, films must be at least 10 years old (meaning as of now,all films released in 1996 are now eligible) The films do not have to be feature-length or to have had a theatrical release. The Registry is meant to showcase the full range and diversity of American film heritage, and includes films ranging from Hollywood classics to newsreels, silent films, experimental films, films out of copyright protection, significant amateur footage, documentary film, and independent films. As of 2005, there were 425 films preserved in the National Film Registry. All the full length English language feature films preserved by the National Film Registry are worth collecting.
Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Best Movies
Time magazine is the most famous weekly newsmagazine in the world. The comments of the movie critics of Time magazine are quoted frequently by other major publications including magazines which cover the entertainment industry.
Time Magazine's respected movie critics, Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel, offered their picks in 2005 for the All-Time 100 Best Movies. Their unranked list comprised the 100 most influential movies of the past 82 years (since 1923, Time's first year of publication).
Selections from films listed by Wikipedia
Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has rapidly grown into the largest reference website on the Internet. The content of Wikipedia is free, written collaboratively by people from all around the world
The website wikipedia.org contains articles about more than 13000 titles. Hyperlinks to all these articles and reviews have been placed together on one page found at:
This page lists films by genre and by year of release. The year lists contain a brief film history for that particular year and provide hyperlinks to detailed information for all major and significant films released that year. Wikipedia is a voluntary website. Any one who wishes can add or edit an article on this website. The process by which information ends up on wikipedia.org virtually rules out any possibilty of articles on incomplete, un-released, obsolete or obsecure film being posted here. Wikipedia does not contain information on educational films and newsreels either. The size of an article about a film, in words, can vary from one line to multiple pages and this size generally reflects the popularity or cult status of that film.
I carried out extensive research into each and every film title listed in the ‘List of films by year’. These lists, list almost every film listed by wikipedia.org. English language feature films produced by Hollywood dominate these lists. A few noteworthy foreign films and documentaries are also included. From the nearly 13,000 films listed in wikipedia, I selected what can safely be considered as the best English Language films ever made. Each of these film was investigated in detail for possible inclusion in the final selection.
The criteria used to select titles is discussed in the article:
Procedure for Selection of Films
The 4300 Best English Language Films of the 20th Century
This somewhat obscure list is a remarkable achievement by Mr. Brad Bourland who has attempted to sort out virtually every English language feature-length film made in the 20th century that is worth some value to the critic. It is immaculate up to the first 1000 entries. The bottom 1300 entries are somewhat ambiguous. Many will question the validity of the list, simply because it is size. In any case, it does provide a starting point in the quest for the greatest English language films ever made. I did extensive research on each title included in this selection.
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 2000
Publisher: Plume Books (October 1999), ISBN: 0452281237
Leonard Maltin is perhaps the most celebrated film historian and critic ever. After establishing himself with a series of definitive books (on topics ranging from Hollywood cameramen to the history of animated cartoons), he became known to an ever wider audience as the film critic and historian on television’s popular and syndicated program Entertainment Tonight, where he has worked since 1982.
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide has been published annually since 1969. 'The Guide' has become an indispensable tool for film fans. His ‘Movie & Video Guide 2000’ is incredibly extensive, offering summaries and ratings of nearly 20,000 movies. Alphabetized by title, each of its entries lists year of release, running time, director, principal cast, and availability on video. Other guides may offer even more information, but Maltin's is distinguished by the quality of its reviews. Rating films on a scale from "****" to "BOMB," it offers a comprehensive introduction to the American and international cinema and covers the classics with the respect they deserve.
The book does not provide any insight information into films but the summaries, cast lists and ratings did help me to screen out possible candidates for titles to be selected for my collection. Nearly all of the titles rated as 4 stars are great films. I also considered films that were rated with three and a half stars as possible candidates for selection. These films were investigated as probable candidates.
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 2000 also contains the exclusive list of the author's 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century - an excellent starting point for film viewing.
IMDB’s top 50 charts for each genre
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) maintains a field titled ‘genre’ to define the type of a film. If the film can be defined by more than one genres, all those genres are listed in order of applicability. In such a case the first genre listed can be used classification and categorization purposes.
IMDB maintains charts of the top 50 films in each genre. The process of selection for these films is similar to the procedure used for the imdb top 250. Films that have been rated by at least 1300 members are eligible for these charts. These top 50 lists are dynamically generated (according to a complex statistical formula) from the database maintained by imdb. The top 50 list for a particular genre can use any film that contains that particular genre in its genre field. All genres listed in the genre field are treated equally for this purpose. And it is for this reason that a large number of films reoccur in different top 50 lists. The IMDB top 50 charts include some of the greatest films ever made that happen to be widely popular at the same time.