Download link (you may have to right click and “Save As”)
For The Earn This Podcast, Episode 17, Dan and Grant sat down to discuss the worst of the IMDb Top 250 — the ten worst inclusions and the ten worst exclusions. They bemoan the overrated and wonder why IMDb underappreciates certain gems. (And you get hear, for perhaps the first time ever, Dan get intensely angry about a movie.)
[wp_biographia user=”dan”]
[wp_biographia user=”grant”]
Woot! My only regret is not seeing ‘Vertigo’ before recording this; that one definitely deserves to be excised from the list.
Hey guys,
I’m glad you did this. This is a great idea; I wish I could have jumped on board with the discussion. Instead, I’ll leave my thoughts as I listen to the podcast.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Really good points about the general mundaness of the ever growing superhero universes. Can’t agree more. I have a heard time getting through all the Avengers movies for Taestful Reviews because I simply do not want to re-watch them. Very predictable, especially in the third act.
Sorry, got distracted.
Interstellar: It shouldn’t be at #29, but I think it was a good film. An average film at worst. “Laden with tired themes” what themes are you specifically talking about? And I’m surprised if you guys didn’t feel much emotionally. The acting of Matthew McConaughey singlehandedly made me care about him and Murphy. And there are some beautiful moments in the film: truck driving through the corn (articulates McConaghey’s fascination with space and technology with just pure visual storytelling–marvelously shot too), tons of plot twists which have huge implications on the story; I mean, come on, Nolan showed effort when writing the screenplay, did he not? Is Interstellar really not that engaging? Is the exposition that boring? I think it’s one thing to claim there is exposition, and another to claim that it is BORING. I just felt like that crucial argument was missing from the podcast, although I’m sure could have gone on for longer and eventually came around to it haha
Thanks Kevin – I actually quite enjoyed Interstellar, though I didn’t put up much of a fight here. I think there’s a thoughtful discussion here both about specifically, Interstellar and generally, about the nature of world-building and exposition in film.
I didn’t so much mean the themes were tired, just the execution of them. (I’m sure I didn’t articulate it like I wanted on the podcast.) Nolan still has no idea how to make us connect with characters or a relationship. He tries super-blunt methods, like ‘anne hathaway randomly give a 10-minute spiel on love’ or stuff like an absurd amount of crying. (I can’t remember the last movie I saw with as much crying as this one.) Yet, at the end of the day, there’s still never anything specific or memorable about the relationships. He doesn’t develop the father-daughter relationship here…we’re just supposed to care because, well, it’s a father and daughter. But it’s all conceptual, perhaps because he has so many other things going on.
I don’t want to dissuade anyone from liking the movie, but it just feels like bad writing to me. Also, there was definitely a lot of exposition in Inception, but it wasn’t boring. He got away with it there. Not so much here, IMO. But yeah, that’s a separate discussion for another day.
Thoughts:
-I quite liked “Guardians.” It might be my favorite of the Marvel movies (well, the “MCU” ones – the first two Tobey Spider-Men are the real cream of the crop). But you’re probably right that Guardians doesn’t belong on an “all-time best films” list.
-McCandless seems to be one of the most polarizing figures out there. In principle, I’d say I’m in the “pro” camp…but then, I haven’t actually read the book or seen the movie.
-Gotta say, I’m miffed Grant nixed “Inglourious Basterds.” Totally agree with your take on Django, though.
-I’m also surprised that E.T. and Willy Wonka aren’t on the list…even though I don’t particularly like E.T.
-I haven’t seen any of the Bournes either.
-In general, all other picks I agreed with (or hadn’t seen). “Fast Times” is an egregious exclusion.
Listening back, I don’t think I stood up for Inglorious or Interstellar as much as I actually enjoyed them. I mean, neither are perfect in my opinion, but I definitely tried to stay out of Grant’s way.
Would be curious to hear your opinion on Into the Wild once you see it.
Glad you like Fast Times. Fantastic movie.
Glad to see someone else who’s not really on board with E.T.
Eh, Inglorious is fine. It’s better than Django, and light-years better than Interstellar.