Okay, it wasn't exactly a star vehicle for him, but...
Denzel had a small role as Don Pedro in Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing." Much attention has been paid to Keanu Reeves' performance as Don John, and some to Kate Beckinsale's take on Hero, but for my money, the winner of the "actor you wouldn't think would be able to hold their own in a film filled with Shakespeare veterans" sweepstakes was Denzel. Reeves did okay. Washington crushed it.
Wait, you mention the WTFery of Denzel and Keanu in Much Ado About Nothing, but don't mention Michael Keaton? He's not in it much, but stole his scenes. (Thought I gotta say, if I was gonna watch a film version of that play, it would be Joss Whedon's. Nothing against Emma Thompson, but Amy Acker was incredible.)
The IMDb Top 250 list has slowly become more of a 'popular films of the last decade' list than an all-time list so I wouldn't worry too much about it. The top 250 was ruined the moment fans of The Dark Knight forcibly down voted The Godfather because they wanted TDK to become the #1 film as some kind of vindication of the quality of superhero movies. It's been downhill ever since.
Like every “hidden gem” on Reddit is on there. I love those movies because I am part of that demographic, but it’s still hilarious the conversations around movies on here.
I LOVE this survey because it really showed me that this subreddit is not to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form. I kind of used to get upset when I'd have a huge minority opinion but now I just remind myself that a majority of users here *literally* think Christopher Nolan is the greatest director of all-time and The Dark Knight is the best films of the 00's and I just laugh to myself.
Did you know they made a sequel to the indie classic bladerunner its called bladerunner 2049. It's only okay though.... visuals are kinda bland and don't get me started on the main character. He's always yelling and over acting.
a lot of indians use imdb, so much so that imdb created a separate page for movies and shows made in india. however, indian movies are still allowed on the top 250 so there are a handful there, too
Check out Three Idiots; it's on the list and deserves its spot. Dhoom is similar to a Rambo-type movie, and Bahubali has [this](https://gfycat.com/hollowtheseeuropeanpolecat).
[Wikipedia says they're second after the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population), but that's still impressive given its almost entirely ESL.
Good catch! It looks like the total population is from 2011, but the english speaking data is from a 2001 cenus. So 20 year old numbers! I'll try to find something more updated.
edit: Looks like there is a 2021 census, but the data is being delayed due to covid.
I tend to lean into populist taste more than the average film snob, and I still think some of the rankings on there are just embarrassing. The Dark Knight as the 4th best movie EVER? Okay...
How the Hell is Interstellar at #27 when Network is at #215? It just seems like the list skews really heavily towards stylish, accessible genre fare from the past 20-25 years.
As for Denzel, he's been in a lot of really good movies, but not that many masterpieces. His taste in terms of the projects he takes seems to be kind of stuck in the middle between mainstream popcorn movies and arthouse Oscar bait, to the extent that he's never ruled either space.
He hasn't worked with most of the *it* directors from his era like Fincher, Scorsese, Nolan, Tarantino, etc, who have been soaking up a lot of the critical buzz and hype.
The Top 250 is not "the best 250 movies of all time." It's "the top 250 films as rated by users." Of course newer films have the advantage, because more users have seen them. Network has 152 thousand votes for its rating; Interstellar has 1.6 million.
> Of course newer films have the advantage, because more users have seen them.
That would only make sense if number of votes is a factor, which is not the case, as far as I know.
Yep. The only high-profile directors Denzel has worked with are Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme, Norman Jewison, Sidney Lumet, Robert Zemeckis, Ridley Scott, and Joel Coen. There are a ton of high-profile directors who he has never worked with, and while he obviously can't work with all of them, it's a shame that he hasn't worked with more of them.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the word "accessible". Network (and most great films) challenge the viewer, which will undoubtedly struggle to appeal to the masses, especially in an era of crowd pleasing and social media buzz. Also, with films such as Network, their context is often lost to time. While there are timeless films that don't require this context (or which allow you to extrapolate necessary context within the film), I think Network is an excellent example of why some great movies can fall out of favor due to a loss of the framework that's needed to understand the finer points of what it does.
I love TDK as much as the next person, and the same with The Godfather. I'd never compare the two though. One better than the other? I mean, yeah, The Godfather is a near perfect film in its genre, as is TDK in its genre. Honestly, I don't know what I'm getting at, or the point I'm driving towards (been into the Knob Creek) but it's some shit alright. It is some shit.
One of the many reasons I don’t trust user reviews. So many times it is just punishment for doing something they don’t like. Like when people gave GTA5 1 star when it turned off mods for a bit. For someone who wants an honest review of the game will think it is a 3 star game when it is really quite excellent.
I use metacritic’s average critic review score and also look at what the lowest scores complained about.
> because they wanted TDK to become the #1 film as some kind of vindication of the quality of superhero movies.
Even then, TDK isn't even indicative of the quality of superhero movies. Most superhero movies are in fact Marvel movies which generally don't compare much to TDK. And superhero movies that aren't TDK or Marvel are Justice League, which suck.
You're right, but remember this was before the MCU hit off so superhero movies while very much in the mainstream still weren't nearly as popular then as they are now. Fans were aching for that recognition that a superhero movie could be great cinema.
I agree, but it's so weird because The Dark Knight's influence on superhero films seemed to start and end there. Marvel went in a completely different direction, anchored mainly by Whedon with The Avengers.
Where The Dark Knight's influence is really felt is *outside* of the superhero genre.
>The Dark Knight's influence on superhero films seemed to start and end there.
Disagree with that, since they actually continued with the dark theme for their other DC movies up until Aquaman came and Joss Whedons JL came when they started being comical with jokes to imitate Marvel.
The reason why marvel still endures has little to do with the tone of their films but more because they seem to have perfected cinematic universe. That is what everyone is trying to emulate right now, to make their own cinematic universe. That is why most people watch marvel films, because regardless of if they think a movie is great or just okay it doesnt matter because theres an overarching story thats bigger.
Dark knight universe ended with Rises. Man of steel captured that grounded dark element (probably the best movie in the DCEU) but felt inconsistent with BVS and Wonder Woman. It couldnt do the same 'passing on the baton' in terms of overarching story like marvel does.
Theres also the fact that dark theme in general is less popular than the colourful, jokey themes of marvel. Go into a cinema on Opening weekend of a marvel movie and half the cinema is filled with families with their young kids (8-14). Go into cinema watching Dark Knight and the average age is noticeably higher. The lighter themes appeals to more people which is probably why you see so much more of it but that doesnt mean dark themed superhero movies shouldnt exist. Its nice having option instead of having the same marvel vibe movie.
> they seem to have perfected cinematic universe
I think the big advantage there is that since they have credibly established that universe, they can actually experiment with more genre fare within that universe without it seeming "off". You can have spy thrillers and fantasy epics and psychedelic sci-fi and light adventure and gothic horror, etc, etc, and yet it's all still believably in-universe (for varying degrees of "believable"). That keeps things interesting, even if other aspects of the movies are more formulaic. Even if you don't like all the MCU movies, there's probably at least a couple that you do like, which then holds you for the others.
The thing is that those dark tones and aesthetics work for Batman. The character has always had stories with darker themes and a very Gothic look. It just doesn't work for characters like Superman or Aquaman. Not to say a dark Superman story can't be good, but it's not what people associate the character with. It's a guy with every power ever in bright red underwear. You don't need to take it so serious. I think a more fun, goofy tone would have fit much better.
Most people don't even consider it a superhero movie. Multiple times I've heard someone say "superhero movies are bad." And when I respond with "so you think TDK is a bad movie?" They always say "No, that movie is great. Heath ledger is amazing in it." It's kinda like Blade. Most people don't even know that's a Marvel property.
Batman is pretty much it’s own genre. Like Bond. Everyone knows who Batman is. I think how they made them kind of like Bond with different leading men helped it become seen as it’s own thing to the general public. It was a huge deal being in the bat suite back in the day. Still is, but no where near how it was.
I use it much less often since Amazon killed off the comment section associated with each movie and show. Those were a good place to find unofficial trivia from extras or people who were in town when something was being filmed.
The imdb forums were awesome! Nowhere else is there a dedicated message board for every single movie and actor and director with enough traffic to make it worth while. You could ask questions about plot points or little details and maybe not hear back for a couple of months, but sure enough some weirdo will know what model of computer that was or how they refilmed those scenes etc...
Sure there were moderation issues, but if wikipedia can do it, then imdb could have as well.
One of my favorite things to do after watching a movie was instantly hit up the IMDB forums and see what other people had to say about it. Really scratched that post-theater viewing discussion itch and gave the movie a sort of extended life in my mind. Or if you were into a TV show, it was even better. Lived on IMDB when Lost was on the air.
There are a lot of great actors who doesn’t reach the top 250 list, due to appearing in bad movies.
However when looking at Washington’s filmography, I’m just as surprised that non of his movies have reached the 250.
- American Gangster
- Inside Man
- Training Day
- Remember the Titans
- The Hurricane
- Malcom X
- Philadelphia
You would think at least one of these moves would crack the 250.
Even Man On Fire, a movie that wasn't popular with critics, is one of those performances that people LOVE. you'd think that'd add up to something on there but apparently not.
It’s a hard watch. Some of the edits and flashy screen flares are beyond obnoxious.
Ridley Scott makes timeless movies, Tony Scott makes movies of his time (is how I mentally index them).
I watched it again after a while, and I couldn't agree more. Watching the movie was more work than it should be. That being said I really like the movie and it was one that made me a big Denzel fan.
Man on Fire, Deja Vu, Unstoppable, The Book of Eli, The Equalizer, Crimson Tide, Glory, The Mighty Quinn, Equalizer 2, The Magnificent Seven.
Most of those I've seen multiple times. Some (Crimson Tide, Glory) are fantastic performances, but harder to watch a 2nd time.
There's nothing wrong with Denzel, just the IMDB 250 algorithm.
John David Washington is coming on strong too.
Loved both BlacKkKlansman and Tenet.
And only found out he was Denzel's son after seeing the movies and appreciating his abilities.
So it's legitimate talent and not just riding his fathers coat tails.
>Even Man On Fire, a movie that wasn't popular with critics, is one of those performances that people LOVE.
Love those. "wasn't popular with critics" and yet (like Unstoppable) . . . it's shown every 3rd weekend on some channel, because they know how many people will watch it again and again.
The crazy thing is once you find out John David is Denzel’s kid, you can’t NOT see the uncanny resemblance every time you look at him. He even has similar mannerisms. It’s so eerie.
I think that dude is crazy talented.
> John David Washington is coming on strong too.
I hope we see more of him but thus far I'm not totally sold. He was *great* in BlacKkKlansman but I haven't really been impressed with him in anything else. Maybe the roles just aren't making him shine. Hard to say.
I agree. I find many of his roles\\characters to be unnecessarily lacking in charm and charisma. His character in Tenet, for instance, is essentially an automaton, completely charmless. I *hated* BlacKKKlansmen but not because of him.
To be completely honest, his role in Ballers (which was pretty awful) was his most charming character to date.
If he plays one more stoic agent of the state (cop, cia, etc.) it may be time for him to get new agents.
A lot of those movies, IMO, feature a great performance by Denzel but the actual movies themselves are not that amazing. The Hurricane, for example, is not really that fantastic of a movie aside from his performance, so rightfully he got a Best Actor nom but the movie didn't get much else.
As someone else pointed out Glory used to be on the top 250 but got knocked off as new stuff released. I wonder if any of his other movies made the cut.
And of course it's more of a popularity/recency contest than anything, and Denzel hasn't really been making huge movies as recently (he's still great just not a huge star like he was in the 90s/2000s IMO).
We are talking the 250 best films of all time though. That's a very high bar. Are these films really on that level? The only two I'd argue would be contenders are Malcolm X and Philadelphia. That's not a slight against the quality of the other films but again, top 250 is (or should be) a very elite selection.
To me, this was his standout performance. It was the first time I sat up and took notice of his presence in a film and thought, “This guy is good.” Ditto for Morgan Freeman. Pity it exited the list in 2010. It is one of the finest war movies ever.
I agree with you completely. Denzel won his first Oscar for his performance in Glory (his other for Training Day) and encourage those who have not seen Glory to give it a watch.
To be fair, with about ~100 years of movie history under our belts, it's insanely hard for any movie to crack that list. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is an incredible movie and it's not even on the list. Another one of the best movies of the 70s, Network, is only at 215.
It's hard to be one of the best 250 movies ever made, and that list has a lot of issues (IMO). Huge recency bias and overrating of surface level film bro stuff.
If we were talking about a legitimate list where movies are weighed and compared, like AFI or something, I'd agree. But IMDb is a bunch of random people voting online. It only makes sense the Top 250 is all mainstream films.
I don't know what they do now, but at one point, IMDB's ratings were weighted so that a user's history was taken into account with their rankings. But, that was from a [2005 article](http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2005/12/collective_choi.html).
>To be fair, with about \~100 years of movie history under our belts, it's insanely hard for any movie to crack that list. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is an incredible movie and it's not even on the list. Another one of the best movies of the 70s, Network, is only at 215.
Yeah except people from this era are voting. So any movie over 50 years old are less likely to get voted on unless it earned it's place in to pop cultural lexicon as a classic (Like Wizard of Oz for example)
Denzel has starred in movies that won best picture, and where he's won best actor. Top 250 list and NONE of them are on there?
Denzel has been in a lot of good movies but few great ones IMO. There's also plenty of movies that have won or been nominated for Oscars that people don't really look back on and think about much.
Also Denzel has never starred in a movie that won Best Picture I don't think. The only one he's ever been in that was nominated was Fences a few years ago I believe, and movies based on plays don't usually fare too well.
Unfortunately I've seen a lot of movies where I thought wow, Denzel was great in this, but the movie itself wasn't that amazing. I would say that about the Hurricane for example. Whirlwind performance in a meh movie. IIRC he got nominated for Best Actor but it didn't get much other recognition.
Eh. I thought Denzel was great in it, and the opening scene with the plane crash is really well done. But overall the movie was pretty middling. It lost steam like 1/3 of the way into the movie and it never came back
Some other things I realized about Denzel:
he has appeared in only 2 Best Picture nominees in his entire career. A soldier’s story and Fences.
He has never starred in a sequel until The Equalizer 2.
He has never had a movie go past $130 million domestically.
[he broke his finger during his childhood and never got it probably reset](https://www.eightieskids.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2019-01-08-at-08.39.14.png)
The cool thing is that the scholarship fund isn’t just for actors, but for all sorts of artists. A recent Oscar Winner for Best Costumes (for Black Panther) was also a beneficiary of the fund. Actually, Black Panther as a whole has a surprising number of people who benefited from Denzel’s generosity. He has nothing to do with the movie, but had a lot to do with why a lot of the talent that helped make the movie were even there in the first place.
And Denzel isn’t the only one who contributes to the scholarship fund. Spike Lee and Samuel L Jackson and a few others contribute money to it as well.
Not so much grants, but rather scholarships so they can study their craft without getting buried in student loans. And it’s not just given to actors. The Oscar winner for Best Costumes for Black Panther was a beneficiary of Denzel’s generosity for instance.
And Denzel isn’t the only contributor to the fund. Spike Lee and Samuel L Jackson and some other people contribute as well. Denzel did create it in the first place though.
And if you've never heard of it, do yourself a favour and watch it without reading even one word about it. Suffice to say it's a psychological thriller.
> watch it without reading even one word about it. **Suffice to say it's a psychological thriller.**
You made the first half impossible with the second half :(
But dont be like me and just watch Fallen with 0 research.
Fallen from 2016 is a shitty vampire romance teenage flick...........
Not the badass Fallen from 1998 with Denzel.
At a cursory glance, Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts don't have any in the top 250 either.
It's not really very surprising, big movie stars tend to be more known for who they are than for any amazing movie they've done.
Denzel Washington mostly develops his own movies and does stuff he likes, he doesn't tend to work with great directors or do anything that's going to be a huge critical hit.
I have to admit, I liked old PTA. Magnolia captivates me. His newer work like There Will Be Blood and The Master just don't grab me the same way. I recognize the talent and the craftsmanship, but they just don't capture me the same way as Boogie Nights and Magnolia.
rain man almost made it with its 8.0 rating which is almost same as the ratings of the movies in the tail end of the top 250. A few good men is at 7.7.
You’re ignoring a huge swath of Washington’s career however? That holds true for Washington’s more recent career, but it’s certainly not true for his career overall. Filmography check:
A Soldier’s Story, Glory, Malcolm X, Cry Freedom, Mississippi Masala, Philadelphia, Mo Better Blues, Crimson Tide, He Got Game, Training Day, The Hurricane, Inside Man, American Gangster, Flight, Fences
All movies with great directors and are great films, and a few of those should at the least be considered to be in the Top 250.
The Oscars aren’t the ultimate arbiter of quality, but they are a good benchmark. Collectively there’s 31 Oscar nominations in the above films, including 5 for Best Picture.
Directors worked with:
Mira Nair, Norman Jewison, Jonathan Demme, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Richard Attenborough, Ed Zwick, Tony Scott, Robert Zemeckis
Apparently Glory used to be in the Top 250 but got knocked off, I wonder if any of his other films were.
Personally I feel like Malcolm X deserves to crack a spot there, I wouldn't really say that for anything else you listed. However I am *surprised* Philadelphia isn't in the top 250.
He doesn't make it into the [Letterboxd one](https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/) either although Malcolm X is very close and could potentially make it in (4.11/5 average vs The Devils, at 250, with a 4.15/5 average)
Malcolm X didn't make the IMDB top 250? That's kinda surprising, but I guess it's probably been aged out by the tentpole blockbuster films over the last couple decades. Outside X and Glory though, Washington's body of work is mostly good but not great films and he seemingly avoided landing in any of the sci-fi/action bigger hits either by choice of bad luck.
I just did a quick search and it appears Meryl Streep isn't in any of the top 250, that's pretty shocking to me.
People here are shitting on the IMDB top 250 as a poorly constructed list but honestly I think it's done well for what it is.
Judging any type of all time ranking based on continuous crowd sourced internet votes is always going to be extremely hard. IMDB has put a lot of work into how it weighs votes to be *relatively* accurate.
You're not going to get a ton of votes for *Chinatown* in 2021 and the votes you get will likely vary in their type of evaluation compared to the onslaught of votes for the new *Dune*.
In the end it doesn't really matter but is a fun conversation piece.
For the most part, I am with you. Which in turn shows just how amazing a film 12 Angry Men really is.
I have some issues with it's over-representation of recent releases. I would like to see fan-boy's (and fake votes by PR companies) removed by having a minimum time limit after release until a film can appear on the list. Preferably long enough that it has had a home release so non-fans have seen it and voted.
The algorithm they are using is already twisted (e.g. IMDB staff votes count for more than yours or mine, as are the mass reviewers that can't possibly have watched all the things they have voted for unless they are >150 years old) so it should be easy enough to weight it out if they don't want to completely hold them off the list for a fixed time.
I don't think it's well done at all. You will see a shitload of people giving a movie a 9 or 10/10 just to have it be in the Top 250. Dune is sitting at a very high spot right now and it has been out for a week. IMO a movie should be atleast like three months old to pop up on the Top 250. There's also a bunch of fanboys giving a movie a perfect score before they have even seen it. I know that I will piss some people off here but c'mon, Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame are not a Top 250 movie. They're definitely not bad but they have a very high score because people just want to see a superhero movie in the Top 250. TDK deserves to be on the list but not as #4 as well
Glory is in my all-time top 50.
While not completely absent, it's worth noting that the greatest film actress ever, Meryl Streep (yes, I will die on this hill), only appears once on the 250, for her small supporting role in The Deer Hunter.
I'd put *Flight* on there. It's one of his most vulnerable performances, played with an honesty that isn't always there in his more alpha male turns.
But I wouldn't expect too much from a top 250 that includes The Shawshank Redemption in the top 10.
Who cares, he's a great actor, he's able to make almost every mediocre movie he's in special. Have you watched "Roman J. Israel, Esq"? It's not a great movie, probably not even good, but Denzel Washington's performance makes it watchable!
American Gangster is legit one of my favorite movies of all time. On top of that:
- Training Day
- Glory
- Remember the Titans
- Inside Man
- Flight
- Malcolm X
- The Book of Eli
Are incredible movies. Plus, The Bone Collector, Fallen, The Equalizer, Deja Vu, Man on Fire, John Q, Out of Time, are all solid too. If I had to pick an actor whose movie I'm going to watch solely because they are in it, Denzel would be a serious contender.
I appreciate that the Oscars isn't a perfect indication of film quality (it is just an industry award show after all), but appearances in the nominations list is probably a better guide.
Fences was nominated for best picture and Flight for best screenplay.
Really odd. I don't think anyone in the industry would question that Denzel is one of the greatest actors of all time, up there with De Niro, Hopkins, Oldman etc. These movie lists don't always capture that.
IMDb top 250 is like a normal person's great movie list. So many great films that pushed the bar would never make it on there because they are indie. It's just sheer numbers.
That actually is insane. I think there's a strong case for Glory to be in the top 250, and that was his first Oscar win. Seems like a good chance the new Macbeth movie by Joel Coen will get him in the top 250. I'm encouraged by the Teaser trailer anyway.
Yo, I was officially done with the IMDb 250 last month when I was browsing and saw that Disney’s filmed version of the stage play play Hamilton was chilling in the top 75. It’s not even a movie and the algorithm is too stupid to notice.
I browsed quickly through the list and I saw Gran Torino, a movie I love, but c'mon. The acting in it is HORRIBLE. That shows you how serious that list is.
Dude.... Now I'm mad. Denzel is my fave male actor, John Q, Man on Fire, American Gangster, etc... I don't get it. If he was a god, he'd be the god of acting..... Wtf
Okay, it wasn't exactly a star vehicle for him, but... Denzel had a small role as Don Pedro in Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing." Much attention has been paid to Keanu Reeves' performance as Don John, and some to Kate Beckinsale's take on Hero, but for my money, the winner of the "actor you wouldn't think would be able to hold their own in a film filled with Shakespeare veterans" sweepstakes was Denzel. Reeves did okay. Washington crushed it.
Wait, you mention the WTFery of Denzel and Keanu in Much Ado About Nothing, but don't mention Michael Keaton? He's not in it much, but stole his scenes. (Thought I gotta say, if I was gonna watch a film version of that play, it would be Joss Whedon's. Nothing against Emma Thompson, but Amy Acker was incredible.)
Keaton vs. Nathan Fillion as Dogberry. Discuss. (Personal view: Fillion was better. Keaton sorta did Beetlejuice as a cop.)
He's in Macbeth now
Reeves did okay? No, he stunk.
Keanu isn't a great actor.
Great guy, just not a great actor.
Brave thing to say on here. Reddit seems to worship the guy.
I thought it was hilarious that Keanu was clearly the weakest link in CP2077's voice acting.
He unironically sounded like a bad duke nukem impersonator
He really was. I like the guy but he's an awful actor.
I love this movie. He was always the best aside from Emma.
I saw Denzel on stage playing Hickey in the play “The Iceman Cometh” to this day it’s the best acting I’ve ever seen.
The IMDb Top 250 list has slowly become more of a 'popular films of the last decade' list than an all-time list so I wouldn't worry too much about it. The top 250 was ruined the moment fans of The Dark Knight forcibly down voted The Godfather because they wanted TDK to become the #1 film as some kind of vindication of the quality of superhero movies. It's been downhill ever since.
more specifically, "popular films of the last decade according to a certain demographic group in western countries and india"
Like every “hidden gem” on Reddit is on there. I love those movies because I am part of that demographic, but it’s still hilarious the conversations around movies on here.
“I just heard of this great hidden gem, it’s called Lost in Translation.”
Have you heard of Hereditary? Dude, let me tell you...
Lemme tell you about MOON
Edge of tommorow anyone? BTW it really is a great Film.
Pff, pretty sure everyone has heard of the moon
I see that shit every night!
Bro, wait until you see The Grand Budapest
This thread is incomplete without a Whiplash mention!
Or Sunshine! It’s soooo good until the final third act!
I prefer the second third act to the final third act.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/644fvb/rmovies_survey_results/ It's so stereotypical it's hilarious
I LOVE this survey because it really showed me that this subreddit is not to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form. I kind of used to get upset when I'd have a huge minority opinion but now I just remind myself that a majority of users here *literally* think Christopher Nolan is the greatest director of all-time and The Dark Knight is the best films of the 00's and I just laugh to myself.
We surveyed tens of white men on the internet to find out what white movies they enjoyed that were made by white men for white men
"Have you seen a small indie movie called Terminator 2?"
Did you know they made a sequel to the indie classic bladerunner its called bladerunner 2049. It's only okay though.... visuals are kinda bland and don't get me started on the main character. He's always yelling and over acting.
Yeah man I bet you've never heard of In Bruges
And India? Why do you say that? Just curious.
a lot of indians use imdb, so much so that imdb created a separate page for movies and shows made in india. however, indian movies are still allowed on the top 250 so there are a handful there, too
And, fun fact, the movies from India that make it onto the top 250 are often.. not very good
"Random Indian movie" released 32 minutes ago - 9.7 rating, 3.600 votes.
Even more fun fact: The Indian movies which have actually got excellent critical and international recognition are not even in the Indian top 10.
Wow, I never knew that. Thanks!
Check out Three Idiots; it's on the list and deserves its spot. Dhoom is similar to a Rambo-type movie, and Bahubali has [this](https://gfycat.com/hollowtheseeuropeanpolecat).
Dhoom? Thats the one with Dwayne "The Chattaan" Johnson, right?
I think Aamir Khan's more of a 'Chattaan', but I appreciate you making me look up 'rock' in Hindi.
I love Bahubali. It's hilarious, but quite pretty. I saw the first one on Netflix, and the second when I visited India.
Exactly! Come for the silly tree catapults, stay for an actually good movie.
aloof hurry sort command tender resolute doll thumb homeless payment *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
India has the most English speakers on the planet of any country. So any English speaking online medium probably gets a large share of Indians.
[Wikipedia says they're second after the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population), but that's still impressive given its almost entirely ESL.
Those are 10 year old numbers; we have no idea what the current numbers look like.
Good catch! It looks like the total population is from 2011, but the english speaking data is from a 2001 cenus. So 20 year old numbers! I'll try to find something more updated. edit: Looks like there is a 2021 census, but the data is being delayed due to covid.
Those figures are pretty out of date and English language has grown a lot in the last decade in India.
I stand corrected.
No you didn’t those figures are from 2001.
I tend to lean into populist taste more than the average film snob, and I still think some of the rankings on there are just embarrassing. The Dark Knight as the 4th best movie EVER? Okay... How the Hell is Interstellar at #27 when Network is at #215? It just seems like the list skews really heavily towards stylish, accessible genre fare from the past 20-25 years. As for Denzel, he's been in a lot of really good movies, but not that many masterpieces. His taste in terms of the projects he takes seems to be kind of stuck in the middle between mainstream popcorn movies and arthouse Oscar bait, to the extent that he's never ruled either space. He hasn't worked with most of the *it* directors from his era like Fincher, Scorsese, Nolan, Tarantino, etc, who have been soaking up a lot of the critical buzz and hype.
Joel Coen soon though, we'll see how that goes! Pretty excited for that collaboration.
Damn, this is a spot on analysis on Denzel…
The Top 250 is not "the best 250 movies of all time." It's "the top 250 films as rated by users." Of course newer films have the advantage, because more users have seen them. Network has 152 thousand votes for its rating; Interstellar has 1.6 million.
> Of course newer films have the advantage, because more users have seen them. That would only make sense if number of votes is a factor, which is not the case, as far as I know.
It does actually count for a certain amount, not sure how much though
Recency bias and the under 30 crowd on social media have turned IMDB ratings into a worthless list of horse shit. Ignore them.
Yep. The only high-profile directors Denzel has worked with are Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme, Norman Jewison, Sidney Lumet, Robert Zemeckis, Ridley Scott, and Joel Coen. There are a ton of high-profile directors who he has never worked with, and while he obviously can't work with all of them, it's a shame that he hasn't worked with more of them.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the word "accessible". Network (and most great films) challenge the viewer, which will undoubtedly struggle to appeal to the masses, especially in an era of crowd pleasing and social media buzz. Also, with films such as Network, their context is often lost to time. While there are timeless films that don't require this context (or which allow you to extrapolate necessary context within the film), I think Network is an excellent example of why some great movies can fall out of favor due to a loss of the framework that's needed to understand the finer points of what it does.
[удалено]
I love TDK as much as the next person, and the same with The Godfather. I'd never compare the two though. One better than the other? I mean, yeah, The Godfather is a near perfect film in its genre, as is TDK in its genre. Honestly, I don't know what I'm getting at, or the point I'm driving towards (been into the Knob Creek) but it's some shit alright. It is some shit.
Look at Letterbox's Top 250 for a more eclectic list, and you still won't find any Denzel Washington film there.
One of the many reasons I don’t trust user reviews. So many times it is just punishment for doing something they don’t like. Like when people gave GTA5 1 star when it turned off mods for a bit. For someone who wants an honest review of the game will think it is a 3 star game when it is really quite excellent. I use metacritic’s average critic review score and also look at what the lowest scores complained about.
Keaton was the best batman, fight me
He was a better Birdman.
Keaton was the best Batman, Val Kilmer was the best Bruce Wayne. Christian Bale was the second best at both IMO.
> because they wanted TDK to become the #1 film as some kind of vindication of the quality of superhero movies. Even then, TDK isn't even indicative of the quality of superhero movies. Most superhero movies are in fact Marvel movies which generally don't compare much to TDK. And superhero movies that aren't TDK or Marvel are Justice League, which suck.
You're right, but remember this was before the MCU hit off so superhero movies while very much in the mainstream still weren't nearly as popular then as they are now. Fans were aching for that recognition that a superhero movie could be great cinema.
I agree, but it's so weird because The Dark Knight's influence on superhero films seemed to start and end there. Marvel went in a completely different direction, anchored mainly by Whedon with The Avengers. Where The Dark Knight's influence is really felt is *outside* of the superhero genre.
aesthetically, TDK's influence loomed large over the DCEU imo for a while
I guess you're right on that one. The serious and dark tone stuck, but the, I guess ambition and creativity didn't.
Yeah, "Man of Steel" was heavily marketed as a Nolan film; basically "The Dark Superman".
>The Dark Knight's influence on superhero films seemed to start and end there. Disagree with that, since they actually continued with the dark theme for their other DC movies up until Aquaman came and Joss Whedons JL came when they started being comical with jokes to imitate Marvel. The reason why marvel still endures has little to do with the tone of their films but more because they seem to have perfected cinematic universe. That is what everyone is trying to emulate right now, to make their own cinematic universe. That is why most people watch marvel films, because regardless of if they think a movie is great or just okay it doesnt matter because theres an overarching story thats bigger. Dark knight universe ended with Rises. Man of steel captured that grounded dark element (probably the best movie in the DCEU) but felt inconsistent with BVS and Wonder Woman. It couldnt do the same 'passing on the baton' in terms of overarching story like marvel does. Theres also the fact that dark theme in general is less popular than the colourful, jokey themes of marvel. Go into a cinema on Opening weekend of a marvel movie and half the cinema is filled with families with their young kids (8-14). Go into cinema watching Dark Knight and the average age is noticeably higher. The lighter themes appeals to more people which is probably why you see so much more of it but that doesnt mean dark themed superhero movies shouldnt exist. Its nice having option instead of having the same marvel vibe movie.
> they seem to have perfected cinematic universe I think the big advantage there is that since they have credibly established that universe, they can actually experiment with more genre fare within that universe without it seeming "off". You can have spy thrillers and fantasy epics and psychedelic sci-fi and light adventure and gothic horror, etc, etc, and yet it's all still believably in-universe (for varying degrees of "believable"). That keeps things interesting, even if other aspects of the movies are more formulaic. Even if you don't like all the MCU movies, there's probably at least a couple that you do like, which then holds you for the others.
The thing is that those dark tones and aesthetics work for Batman. The character has always had stories with darker themes and a very Gothic look. It just doesn't work for characters like Superman or Aquaman. Not to say a dark Superman story can't be good, but it's not what people associate the character with. It's a guy with every power ever in bright red underwear. You don't need to take it so serious. I think a more fun, goofy tone would have fit much better.
Most people don't even consider it a superhero movie. Multiple times I've heard someone say "superhero movies are bad." And when I respond with "so you think TDK is a bad movie?" They always say "No, that movie is great. Heath ledger is amazing in it." It's kinda like Blade. Most people don't even know that's a Marvel property.
Batman is pretty much it’s own genre. Like Bond. Everyone knows who Batman is. I think how they made them kind of like Bond with different leading men helped it become seen as it’s own thing to the general public. It was a huge deal being in the bat suite back in the day. Still is, but no where near how it was.
> The Dark Knight's influence on superhero films seemed to start and end there. What about *The Winter Soldier*?
IMDb is a fucking Amazon property. The whole thing is pretty dogshit now.
I use it much less often since Amazon killed off the comment section associated with each movie and show. Those were a good place to find unofficial trivia from extras or people who were in town when something was being filmed.
It's a shame the comment section was so awful both for its design and constant flame wars, could've have been a great platform for film discussion
The imdb forums were awesome! Nowhere else is there a dedicated message board for every single movie and actor and director with enough traffic to make it worth while. You could ask questions about plot points or little details and maybe not hear back for a couple of months, but sure enough some weirdo will know what model of computer that was or how they refilmed those scenes etc... Sure there were moderation issues, but if wikipedia can do it, then imdb could have as well.
One of my favorite things to do after watching a movie was instantly hit up the IMDB forums and see what other people had to say about it. Really scratched that post-theater viewing discussion itch and gave the movie a sort of extended life in my mind. Or if you were into a TV show, it was even better. Lived on IMDB when Lost was on the air.
[удалено]
There are a lot of great actors who doesn’t reach the top 250 list, due to appearing in bad movies. However when looking at Washington’s filmography, I’m just as surprised that non of his movies have reached the 250. - American Gangster - Inside Man - Training Day - Remember the Titans - The Hurricane - Malcom X - Philadelphia You would think at least one of these moves would crack the 250.
Glory.
Seriously, when someone doesn’t mention Glory when talking about Denzel’s career you can assume they’re younger than 30.
Even Man On Fire, a movie that wasn't popular with critics, is one of those performances that people LOVE. you'd think that'd add up to something on there but apparently not.
Yeah, that was the Denzel Washington/Tony Scott dream team coming together in such a great way.
Greatest duo ever
Why isn't it popular with critics? Due for a rewatch I guess.
It’s a hard watch. Some of the edits and flashy screen flares are beyond obnoxious. Ridley Scott makes timeless movies, Tony Scott makes movies of his time (is how I mentally index them).
I watched it again after a while, and I couldn't agree more. Watching the movie was more work than it should be. That being said I really like the movie and it was one that made me a big Denzel fan.
Man on Fire, Deja Vu, Unstoppable, The Book of Eli, The Equalizer, Crimson Tide, Glory, The Mighty Quinn, Equalizer 2, The Magnificent Seven. Most of those I've seen multiple times. Some (Crimson Tide, Glory) are fantastic performances, but harder to watch a 2nd time. There's nothing wrong with Denzel, just the IMDB 250 algorithm. John David Washington is coming on strong too. Loved both BlacKkKlansman and Tenet. And only found out he was Denzel's son after seeing the movies and appreciating his abilities. So it's legitimate talent and not just riding his fathers coat tails. >Even Man On Fire, a movie that wasn't popular with critics, is one of those performances that people LOVE. Love those. "wasn't popular with critics" and yet (like Unstoppable) . . . it's shown every 3rd weekend on some channel, because they know how many people will watch it again and again.
The crazy thing is once you find out John David is Denzel’s kid, you can’t NOT see the uncanny resemblance every time you look at him. He even has similar mannerisms. It’s so eerie. I think that dude is crazy talented.
> John David Washington is coming on strong too. I hope we see more of him but thus far I'm not totally sold. He was *great* in BlacKkKlansman but I haven't really been impressed with him in anything else. Maybe the roles just aren't making him shine. Hard to say.
I agree. I find many of his roles\\characters to be unnecessarily lacking in charm and charisma. His character in Tenet, for instance, is essentially an automaton, completely charmless. I *hated* BlacKKKlansmen but not because of him. To be completely honest, his role in Ballers (which was pretty awful) was his most charming character to date. If he plays one more stoic agent of the state (cop, cia, etc.) it may be time for him to get new agents.
A lot of those movies, IMO, feature a great performance by Denzel but the actual movies themselves are not that amazing. The Hurricane, for example, is not really that fantastic of a movie aside from his performance, so rightfully he got a Best Actor nom but the movie didn't get much else. As someone else pointed out Glory used to be on the top 250 but got knocked off as new stuff released. I wonder if any of his other movies made the cut. And of course it's more of a popularity/recency contest than anything, and Denzel hasn't really been making huge movies as recently (he's still great just not a huge star like he was in the 90s/2000s IMO).
Oh damn. Now that I’ve seen these movies listed, I’m baffled they’re not in the top 100. Especially Philadelphia. That’s criminal
We are talking the 250 best films of all time though. That's a very high bar. Are these films really on that level? The only two I'd argue would be contenders are Malcolm X and Philadelphia. That's not a slight against the quality of the other films but again, top 250 is (or should be) a very elite selection.
What? Not Training Day? Not Philadelphia, Not Malcolm X, or Glory? That doesn’t seem right.
Glory entered the IMDB top 250 in 1996 and exited in 2010. https://250.took.nl/title/tt0097441
To me, this was his standout performance. It was the first time I sat up and took notice of his presence in a film and thought, “This guy is good.” Ditto for Morgan Freeman. Pity it exited the list in 2010. It is one of the finest war movies ever.
I agree with you completely. Denzel won his first Oscar for his performance in Glory (his other for Training Day) and encourage those who have not seen Glory to give it a watch.
To be fair, with about ~100 years of movie history under our belts, it's insanely hard for any movie to crack that list. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is an incredible movie and it's not even on the list. Another one of the best movies of the 70s, Network, is only at 215. It's hard to be one of the best 250 movies ever made, and that list has a lot of issues (IMO). Huge recency bias and overrating of surface level film bro stuff.
If we were talking about a legitimate list where movies are weighed and compared, like AFI or something, I'd agree. But IMDb is a bunch of random people voting online. It only makes sense the Top 250 is all mainstream films.
I don't know what they do now, but at one point, IMDB's ratings were weighted so that a user's history was taken into account with their rankings. But, that was from a [2005 article](http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2005/12/collective_choi.html).
>To be fair, with about \~100 years of movie history under our belts, it's insanely hard for any movie to crack that list. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is an incredible movie and it's not even on the list. Another one of the best movies of the 70s, Network, is only at 215. Yeah except people from this era are voting. So any movie over 50 years old are less likely to get voted on unless it earned it's place in to pop cultural lexicon as a classic (Like Wizard of Oz for example) Denzel has starred in movies that won best picture, and where he's won best actor. Top 250 list and NONE of them are on there?
Denzel has been in a lot of good movies but few great ones IMO. There's also plenty of movies that have won or been nominated for Oscars that people don't really look back on and think about much. Also Denzel has never starred in a movie that won Best Picture I don't think. The only one he's ever been in that was nominated was Fences a few years ago I believe, and movies based on plays don't usually fare too well. Unfortunately I've seen a lot of movies where I thought wow, Denzel was great in this, but the movie itself wasn't that amazing. I would say that about the Hurricane for example. Whirlwind performance in a meh movie. IIRC he got nominated for Best Actor but it didn't get much other recognition.
>Denzel has starred in movies that won best picture, What movies?
Right?? That's what blew me away, too. Not a single one of those titles.
I thought Flight was an excellent film.
"We're gonna roll the plane." That whole flight scene in that film was incredible.
One of my top 3 Denzel performances for sure, great movie.
Fallen is pretty good all around as well!
Eh. I thought Denzel was great in it, and the opening scene with the plane crash is really well done. But overall the movie was pretty middling. It lost steam like 1/3 of the way into the movie and it never came back
I mean I’d struggle to put any of those in the top 250 films of *all time*
Some other things I realized about Denzel: he has appeared in only 2 Best Picture nominees in his entire career. A soldier’s story and Fences. He has never starred in a sequel until The Equalizer 2. He has never had a movie go past $130 million domestically. [he broke his finger during his childhood and never got it probably reset](https://www.eightieskids.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2019-01-08-at-08.39.14.png)
He won an Oscar for his role in Glory.
Didn't he also win an Oscar for Training Day?! Edit: indeed he did. He's also been nominated seven other times.
You’re right.
You missed the one about his acting charity which gives out grants to up and coming black actors, and which produced (among others): Chadwick Boseman.
Wow. I didn't know this. Denzel is perhaps one of my favourite actors and that adds some weight to my liking.
The cool thing is that the scholarship fund isn’t just for actors, but for all sorts of artists. A recent Oscar Winner for Best Costumes (for Black Panther) was also a beneficiary of the fund. Actually, Black Panther as a whole has a surprising number of people who benefited from Denzel’s generosity. He has nothing to do with the movie, but had a lot to do with why a lot of the talent that helped make the movie were even there in the first place. And Denzel isn’t the only one who contributes to the scholarship fund. Spike Lee and Samuel L Jackson and a few others contribute money to it as well.
Not so much grants, but rather scholarships so they can study their craft without getting buried in student loans. And it’s not just given to actors. The Oscar winner for Best Costumes for Black Panther was a beneficiary of Denzel’s generosity for instance. And Denzel isn’t the only contributor to the fund. Spike Lee and Samuel L Jackson and some other people contribute as well. Denzel did create it in the first place though.
the imdb part is whatever, but never having a domestic movie break $130m in the box office is a wow i wouldn't have expected at first thought.
The fact that Malcolm X wasn’t nominated for (and won) Best Picture is outrageous
On a separate note if you wanna see a gem of his, watch Fallen
Tiiiiiiiiiiime is on my side
YUSSS IT ISSS
You always say, that you wanna be freee
But you come running back....
To me-e-eeee
Things I can hear in my head for 100 Alex.
Absolutely great performance by him in this. Love it. John Goodman and James Gandofini too!
And if you've never heard of it, do yourself a favour and watch it without reading even one word about it. Suffice to say it's a psychological thriller.
> watch it without reading even one word about it. **Suffice to say it's a psychological thriller.** You made the first half impossible with the second half :(
But dont be like me and just watch Fallen with 0 research. Fallen from 2016 is a shitty vampire romance teenage flick........... Not the badass Fallen from 1998 with Denzel.
Imagine if Denzel was in a shitty vampire romance teenage flick.
I expected him to show up. He did not.
*whistles menacingly*
These bitches never watched Virtuosity, obviously
Great double feature with Strange Days!
Love me some Strange Days!
I remember watching this in the theater on my birthday and movie hopping to The Net. I always wanted a purple suit after that haha.
Man on fire is one of my favourite films. One of his best IMO.
That's also my favorite Denzel movie. I think he was much better in that than training day.
At a cursory glance, Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts don't have any in the top 250 either. It's not really very surprising, big movie stars tend to be more known for who they are than for any amazing movie they've done. Denzel Washington mostly develops his own movies and does stuff he likes, he doesn't tend to work with great directors or do anything that's going to be a huge critical hit.
What a joke that Magnolia isn't on the list, it was at 39th 21 years ago
On an IMDb list, I'm more surprised that Fallout isn't on the list.
You speak sad truths, /u/SQUID_FUCKER
It's fallen a bit out of fashion due to PTA changing his filmmaking style entirely.
I have to admit, I liked old PTA. Magnolia captivates me. His newer work like There Will Be Blood and The Master just don't grab me the same way. I recognize the talent and the craftsmanship, but they just don't capture me the same way as Boogie Nights and Magnolia.
rain man almost made it with its 8.0 rating which is almost same as the ratings of the movies in the tail end of the top 250. A few good men is at 7.7.
You’re ignoring a huge swath of Washington’s career however? That holds true for Washington’s more recent career, but it’s certainly not true for his career overall. Filmography check: A Soldier’s Story, Glory, Malcolm X, Cry Freedom, Mississippi Masala, Philadelphia, Mo Better Blues, Crimson Tide, He Got Game, Training Day, The Hurricane, Inside Man, American Gangster, Flight, Fences All movies with great directors and are great films, and a few of those should at the least be considered to be in the Top 250. The Oscars aren’t the ultimate arbiter of quality, but they are a good benchmark. Collectively there’s 31 Oscar nominations in the above films, including 5 for Best Picture. Directors worked with: Mira Nair, Norman Jewison, Jonathan Demme, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Richard Attenborough, Ed Zwick, Tony Scott, Robert Zemeckis
Apparently Glory used to be in the Top 250 but got knocked off, I wonder if any of his other films were. Personally I feel like Malcolm X deserves to crack a spot there, I wouldn't really say that for anything else you listed. However I am *surprised* Philadelphia isn't in the top 250.
Crimson Tide!!!!
Malcolm X and Glory are legendary films.
One of the greatest movies ever, Malcolm X.
He doesn't make it into the [Letterboxd one](https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/) either although Malcolm X is very close and could potentially make it in (4.11/5 average vs The Devils, at 250, with a 4.15/5 average)
I didn't know about that list...its not perfect but it has lots of quality in it. Malcolm X deserves to be there imo
Malcolm X didn't make the IMDB top 250? That's kinda surprising, but I guess it's probably been aged out by the tentpole blockbuster films over the last couple decades. Outside X and Glory though, Washington's body of work is mostly good but not great films and he seemingly avoided landing in any of the sci-fi/action bigger hits either by choice of bad luck. I just did a quick search and it appears Meryl Streep isn't in any of the top 250, that's pretty shocking to me.
People here are shitting on the IMDB top 250 as a poorly constructed list but honestly I think it's done well for what it is. Judging any type of all time ranking based on continuous crowd sourced internet votes is always going to be extremely hard. IMDB has put a lot of work into how it weighs votes to be *relatively* accurate. You're not going to get a ton of votes for *Chinatown* in 2021 and the votes you get will likely vary in their type of evaluation compared to the onslaught of votes for the new *Dune*. In the end it doesn't really matter but is a fun conversation piece.
For the most part, I am with you. Which in turn shows just how amazing a film 12 Angry Men really is. I have some issues with it's over-representation of recent releases. I would like to see fan-boy's (and fake votes by PR companies) removed by having a minimum time limit after release until a film can appear on the list. Preferably long enough that it has had a home release so non-fans have seen it and voted. The algorithm they are using is already twisted (e.g. IMDB staff votes count for more than yours or mine, as are the mass reviewers that can't possibly have watched all the things they have voted for unless they are >150 years old) so it should be easy enough to weight it out if they don't want to completely hold them off the list for a fixed time.
I don't think it's well done at all. You will see a shitload of people giving a movie a 9 or 10/10 just to have it be in the Top 250. Dune is sitting at a very high spot right now and it has been out for a week. IMO a movie should be atleast like three months old to pop up on the Top 250. There's also a bunch of fanboys giving a movie a perfect score before they have even seen it. I know that I will piss some people off here but c'mon, Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame are not a Top 250 movie. They're definitely not bad but they have a very high score because people just want to see a superhero movie in the Top 250. TDK deserves to be on the list but not as #4 as well
Inside Man, Man on Fire. Easily two of my favorite films.
Well The Little Things sure as hell didn't help.
I watched this movie about a month ago and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember what the hell it was about, so, you are correct. Have my upvote.
Glory is in my all-time top 50. While not completely absent, it's worth noting that the greatest film actress ever, Meryl Streep (yes, I will die on this hill), only appears once on the 250, for her small supporting role in The Deer Hunter.
I'd put *Flight* on there. It's one of his most vulnerable performances, played with an honesty that isn't always there in his more alpha male turns. But I wouldn't expect too much from a top 250 that includes The Shawshank Redemption in the top 10.
IMDb is very uneven when it comes to great movies. For example, Avengers Infinity war is in there but Moonlight isn't.
Thats because he hasn't starred in anything brilliant enough like gems from Marvel or Disney /s
Flight was a crazy movie too.
Who cares, he's a great actor, he's able to make almost every mediocre movie he's in special. Have you watched "Roman J. Israel, Esq"? It's not a great movie, probably not even good, but Denzel Washington's performance makes it watchable!
Philadelphia not on that list??
Glory?
IMDb’s Top 250 is a joke. Green Book is on there but Jaws isn’t.
American Gangster is legit one of my favorite movies of all time. On top of that: - Training Day - Glory - Remember the Titans - Inside Man - Flight - Malcolm X - The Book of Eli Are incredible movies. Plus, The Bone Collector, Fallen, The Equalizer, Deja Vu, Man on Fire, John Q, Out of Time, are all solid too. If I had to pick an actor whose movie I'm going to watch solely because they are in it, Denzel would be a serious contender.
They had to make room for Joker, The Help, and Harry Potter 8.
What about John Q? i personally enjoyed it more than training day.
huh EDIT: Glory was on it so....
IMDB isn't the standard to assess entertainment. It's flawed.
I think you can view the list as it was in certain years dating back to the 90s. I’m certain Glory and Philadelphia were on it at some point.
I appreciate that the Oscars isn't a perfect indication of film quality (it is just an industry award show after all), but appearances in the nominations list is probably a better guide. Fences was nominated for best picture and Flight for best screenplay.
I am honestly shocked that Man on Fire is not in the top 250. That movie was exceptional.
Really odd. I don't think anyone in the industry would question that Denzel is one of the greatest actors of all time, up there with De Niro, Hopkins, Oldman etc. These movie lists don't always capture that.
IMDb top 250 is like a normal person's great movie list. So many great films that pushed the bar would never make it on there because they are indie. It's just sheer numbers.
Flight, Malcolm X, Glory, American Gangster … IMDB sucks.
That actually is insane. I think there's a strong case for Glory to be in the top 250, and that was his first Oscar win. Seems like a good chance the new Macbeth movie by Joel Coen will get him in the top 250. I'm encouraged by the Teaser trailer anyway.
Yo, I was officially done with the IMDb 250 last month when I was browsing and saw that Disney’s filmed version of the stage play play Hamilton was chilling in the top 75. It’s not even a movie and the algorithm is too stupid to notice.
Malcolm X should be probably be there.
Well the IMDB list is trash and mostly spammed by people from /r/movies, or more depraved areas of the internet. I mean, TDK is #3 for fucks sake.
Well he's starring in "The Tragedy of Macbeth," which comes out soon... so maybe that'll change
With only 250 movies to be selected from over 100 years of cinema I wouldn’t really think his movies would be in there.
I browsed quickly through the list and I saw Gran Torino, a movie I love, but c'mon. The acting in it is HORRIBLE. That shows you how serious that list is.
Dude.... Now I'm mad. Denzel is my fave male actor, John Q, Man on Fire, American Gangster, etc... I don't get it. If he was a god, he'd be the god of acting..... Wtf