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Sal[Au]pian 
"Four ever European"
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Whippersnapper. 
"A fourword thinking guy."
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 Posted - 06/30/2008 : 13:45:50
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Yeah, right, all infinitely superior to "The Third Man" or "A Matter Of Life And Death". |
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Beanmimo 
"August review site"
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Posted - 06/30/2008 : 13:56:03
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Oh god help us all. |
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 06/30/2008 : 14:09:00
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I wouldn't worry -- this trenchant Yahoo article doesn't even tell you who voted in this so-called poll or how many people or how many people over the age of 14 or how many people for whom the phrase "all time" means anything less than a month ago.
The bastards! 
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OK - here's the skinny:
quote:
Hit comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral has been named best British movie in an internet poll.
The 1994 film narrowly vanquished Monty Python's Life of Brian in the survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Virgin Media.
Sir Anthony Hopkins shared the title of Britain's favourite actor with Sir Sean Connery, while Sir Michael Caine took third place.
Dame Judi Dench was named the country's favourite actress, ahead of Dame Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Trainspotting, the latest James Bond film Casino Royale and crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are among the other movies included.
"Seeing so many fantastic films in the list is testament to British film talent," said Virgin Media's James Kydd.
The internet site conducted the poll to mark the closing date of its Virgin Media Shorts competition, which is inviting budding filmmakers to submit short films.
Vested interest, anyone?
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 06/30/2008 15:43:15 |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 06/30/2008 : 14:21:05
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Why yes... of course.
(I give up. I'm in my 50s now and have decided there's no accounting for taste anymore.)
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 06/30/2008 : 16:10:10
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I actually like "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
It's no "Bend It Like Beckham" though. |
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Whippersnapper.
"A fourword thinking guy."
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Posted - 06/30/2008 : 16:19:29
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Nor a "Notting Hill" either, it must be said.
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 07/01/2008 : 08:43:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Whippersnapper
Nor a "Notting Hill" either, it must be said.
Okay, I liked both "Notting Hill" and "Four Weddings" but both have a major flaw to them - they should have ended much earlier than they did. All that extra stuff at the end leading up to and during the closing credits - totally unnecessary. I would have ended "Notting Hill" with that Press Conference, and "Four Weddings" just at that scene with them in the rain. I don't appreciate being spoon-fed the after story, and would prefer to allow my imagination to take over once some kind of conclusion to the conflict has been shown.
Both are fun films to watch, however, and when they're on TV, if I notice, I'll watch (but I won't go out of my way to see them, nor would I ever buy them on DVD). "Bend it Like Beckham" is better and I have gone out of my way to see it on TV. But these are all terribly light-weight British movies and hardly what I'd call "Best British Film of all time".
Channel4 gave the top spot to "Trainspotting" and "Four Weddings" gets fourth place. The BFI gave it to "The Third Man" (with "Four Weddings" only reaching 23rd place). Of course, BFI's list is only for movies made during the 20th century.
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 07/01/2008 : 13:30:11
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I like those films too, but I think Four Weddings may have got the top spot because it is strongly associated with being the first very successful British film in some time.
It's Withnail and I all the way for me. |
Edited by - Sal[Au]pian on 07/01/2008 13:30:37 |
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Ali 
"Those aren't pillows."
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Posted - 07/01/2008 : 14:00:31
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As a youth, I used to weep in butcher shops.
Which is by way of saying, I agree with Salopian.
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Edited by - Ali on 07/01/2008 14:01:10 |
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Whippersnapper.
"A fourword thinking guy."
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Posted - 07/01/2008 : 14:16:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Ali
As a youth, I used to weep in butcher shops.
Don't you mean "sweep"?
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 07/02/2008 : 01:20:14
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Movies such as:-
The Third Man
Dr Strangelove
Lawrence of Arabia
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
A Clockwork Orange
The Elephant Man
are not in the same league as a popular rom-com. Lists such as in that article have a habit of annoyingly using the term "Best Movie" when what they mean is "Most Popular Movie". They're not the same thing at all.
"Best Movie" ought to mean "Most liked movie by those who've seen it" whereas it usually means something like "Most well-known liked movie" (i.e., most likely to be thought of as worthy of a mention). Popular movies are always going to beat quality movies in such surveys, so I don't pay them much attention.
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Edited by - Sean on 07/02/2008 01:26:05 |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 07/02/2008 : 01:34:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
Lists such as in that article have a habit of annoyingly using the term "Best Movie" when what they mean is "Most Popular Movie". They're not the same thing at all.
Except that, in democratic terms, they kinda are... |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 07/02/2008 : 04:41:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
Lists such as in that article have a habit of annoyingly using the term "Best Movie" when what they mean is "Most Popular Movie". They're not the same thing at all.
Except that, in democratic terms, they kinda are...
I disagree. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is more famous today than "A Clockwork Orange", so more people will pick it as best British film. Someone who has only seen one of two movies is in no position to judge which of the two is best. |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 07/02/2008 : 05:52:57
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I like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" more than "A Clockwork Orange."
The real question is, is "A Clockwork Orange" better than Ken Loach's "Poor Cow." Everyone votes for "A Clockwork Orange" because they haven't seen "Poor Cow." |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 07/02/2008 : 07:20:18
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
I like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" more than "A Clockwork Orange."
Nothing wrong with that, they're both generally regarded as good movies. I'd rank "Clockwork" a lot higher though.quote:
The real question is, is "A Clockwork Orange" better than Ken Loach's "Poor Cow." Everyone votes for "A Clockwork Orange" because they haven't seen "Poor Cow."
Correct. And that's where qualitative voting becomes relevant (and which is seldom used in media-driven "best movie" or "best actor" etc surveys). Participants vote either "Yes" or "No". They make no statement about quality other than thumbs up or thumbs down. It's all about quantity, not quality.
If the survey involved qualitative voting (participants score movies) then it would have some kind of right to talk about "best movies". |
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Best British film of all time
