Comments on: National characteristics as revealed in cinema

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 21:16:06 +0000

PS: I don’t know if we count as an island nation or a continental nation (I think the preferred answer is both), but if you count The Matrix as Australian, that might add to the list of island movies.

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 21:13:44 +0000

Those IMDB charts are fun to look through. Very strange thing: on their Top 50 movies voted for by female users, Number 1 by a noticeable margin is The Shawshank Redemption. I quite like that movie, but #1? Then again, it’s #2 on the male list. I know internet polls aren’t worth the electrons they’re written on, but that surprised me a lot.

By: Harry Tuttle

Harry Tuttle — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 20:35:36 +0000

Note she neglects to mention the English made films and the two entries from New Zealand that populate IMDBs top 50. Two films by Peter Jackson, four by Alfred Hitchcock, two by David Lean as well as at least three more English made films make that cut. That’s over 20% of the greatest films of all time being made on non-American islands (over 25% if you count the two Japanese films on the list… nearly 40% if you add the Sicilian-filmed Sergio Leone flicks). The question I have is what’s up with islands dominating the film industry (and organized crime, but that’s another story)? This was a time when the world’s continental nations were proud of their contribution to international cinema.

By: Camilo

Camilo — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:00:04 +0000

They forgot car chases.

By: Christian Waugh

Christian Waugh — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 14:33:18 +0000

Sounds about right to me. I’m not one of those analyzers who watches movies and then goes, “The directing was a little timid, the colors were impressive,” etc. One of them did that to James Bond “Die Another Day” indicating how amazing it was with the colors and cold motif. I was like, “Yeah, but the movie was a little subpar, you realize that, right?” I’m more a feeling and idea person. Which also means that for all the crap they can load into Matrix Reloaded, it doesn’t mean the movie is a) coherent about a philosophy or b) any good at all (though, being a loyal fan, I thought it was)… and so, this article seems to be more on my page. While in Australia last semester, I saw tons of foreign movies, including French, Eastern European, English, etc… and that all seems about right, in general. As we hope to do in Starfleet, we rejoice in our diversity. :)

By: reza

reza — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 12:10:37 +0000

Link inaccessible, Guardian site is down.