Recently, I was updating a list of films that I have seen via the wonderful website icheckmovies.com. Given the huge influx of films I have seen over the last 3 months, thanks to time off between my one-year role at the Federation of Students and school in September, I thought it was probably time to re-do my Top 20 list.
Which got me thinking: how do people rank films? FlickChart has a pretty good system of ranking movies by direct comparison. The concept is simple. Two movies will pop up, and you are asked which one you prefer. Eventually, a list is created based on these preferences.
But that got me asking more questions. What am I basing these preferences on? The film I think is better, the film I find more entertaining, the film that I would rather watch? Let's be honest here; Raging Bull is awesome. But would I voluntarily put it in my DVD player for movie night? It's a harrowing, uncomfortable experience, one that I would rather not repeat if I have other options available. Is it better crafted than most films out there? Probably. But are other films more watchable? Yes. So what happens when I'm presented with the choice between something that is expertly crafted but difficult to watch, and something that is flawed but accessible? It's like comparing a really dry champagne (full of depth, but sometimes harsh) and a spumanti (a bit thin, but delicious). Do I choose Persona or Finding Nemo?
Another question to ask, and one that I find really ponderous, is how much my current list is influenced by canon. I'm bordering on obsessed when it comes to film rankings. I compare lists, print them out, cover them with highlighter, and gawk in horror at the IMDb Top 250. I am fascinated with how they have evolved over time. I am ashamed when I see a complete lack of films from anywhere other than Europe and Hollywood. I understand when I see a lack of films from beyond 1980. But since I spend so much time with these lists, how are my choices influenced by them? Do I really think that The Godfather is a better film than Videodrome? Are they part of the reason why I've seen so few African films?
Perhaps.
And so, I'm going to start afresh. I'm going to reconsider some "lesser" films, not be afraid to include very recent selections, and critically look at some exalted canonical entries; but that's not to say that I haven't done that in the past. I finally saw Lawrence of Arabia in the winter, and I hated it. I would give Star Wars a mere 7/10. I consider The Red and the White one of the finest films I have ever seen, and I simply adore Children of Men. So I'm using FlickChart to start me on my path of rewriting my list. There are huge problems with the site, however --- it's missing a pathetic amount of films, especially foreign. Breathless is nowhere to be found. It's difficult to keep track of all the films you have seen, and you can't force showdowns between films. If I want to raise a film to a higher level, I must compare it to three random selections; it's taken me more than a dozen of these triple-showdowns to raise Rashomon into my Top 20.
You can see my current profile here.
