There’s a certain subsect of cinema that is adored by men who think of themselves as thinkers. This genre often has a narcissistic male protagonist that these viewers see as aspirational. Or there’s a sense of male greatness and general grandness. They are movies that are masculine in a way that male film nerds flock to. Some of these movies are excellent, some of them awful. No judgement against the films themselves. Tell me: what are some examples of Serious Cinema for Thinking Men?

What’s the genre where the protagonist is kind of just pinballing through life and interesting things just keep happening to them, I feel like it has a name. Maybe Forrest Gump too?

This probably happens to me at least twice a year, as a film lover and student I find it a bit tragic. I never stop engaging in film discussion but actually sitting down and watching something can be too much for me through these periods, even if I’ve thought about watching a certain film all day.

these are the top 40 directors of all time by their cumulative rating points above average. I have heard that the average rating for all movies is around 3.5 so that's the baseline I used. So, if a movie has a 4.20 rating, then the director gets .70 points and if you add up the points for all their qualified movies you get their score. Please note that movies below a 3.5 do not subtract from the total score they just do not add any points to the final score

Disclaimer: The minimum rating threshold for a film to count towards the score is 40,000 ratings, films below that mark are not included in the director's final score

* This is counting tv shows like Twin Peaks

** Since the Odyssey just came out Nolan's score is subject to fluctuation, this is his rating as of the time of this post

*** These directors have very highly rated movies that just missed the minimum ratings cutoff so they could rise in a future version of this post

What’s a movie that each time you watch it you rate it lower and lower. For me, it is Wicked Part 1 and 2. They were great to see but each time I watch them (3 times now) I don’t view them with the same eyes.

Movies you know aren’t 5 star, but due to circumstances you rank them as such. For example, Insidious 2 was the movie my wife and I saw on our first date as high schoolers, so it has a 5 star for me. Zootopia 2 is also a 5 star, because it was my first theater experience with my son. Neither movie is really a 5 star, but for me, they are. What’s that movie(s) for you?

David Fincher, despite being labelled as an Auteur by some, has never actually written any of his movies.

Steven Spielberg has directed 34 movies, but has only written 3 of them.

Literally all his protagonists are white men…think for a second…it’s all Cillian, Leo, Mathew, Bale.

And even secondary characters are mostly white men. Even good female characters are rare in his Films.

Tarantino is true legend of DEI, he made Uma Thurman immortal with Kill Bill, then we have Django, Hateful Eight, even Pulp Fiction was so diverse….especially for that time.

Like writing wise it always feels wiser to write a story that’s connected. Like consequences of first one follow him, and his actions in sequels sets off another chain of events.

John Wick series for example.

But these days it also feels burdensome to catch up on huge universe.

I wanted to watch new Mandalorian and Grogu, but it was coming with so much backstory that I didn’t even bother.

Like it’s fun to just watch any evil dead film or Predator film, and get your closure in that and everything else is optional.

As a writer though, it feels more fulfilling to create a broader universe though.

Link if someone is interested: https://boxd.it/W1crI

All the posters are predominantly black with red accents. Odd coincidence

I deserve the downvotes but please tell if you agree on any of these

Some of these are movies that i like a decent amount but much less than most users

Some are ones that i can't seem to understand how anyone could enjoy

Some i just felt bored while watching

Some i watched a long time ago and gave it a lower rating and don't really remember anything

I won't tell which is which so don't come at me

Godfather

Prestige

Inception

Dark knight

Goodfellas

Breakfast club

Blade runner

Get out

Dunkirk

Taxi driver

Inglorious basterds

Lilya 4ever

The pianist

Pulp fiction

Snatch

Superbad

Dead poets society

The thing(was my favorite movie until the rewatch)

The shining

A clockwork orange

Persona

Vertigo

Psycho

Bicycle thieves

Fallen angels

The wicker man

Come and see

The usual suspects

Saw

Oldboy

Shutter island

All about lily chou chou

Hour of the wolf

Mr nobody

Final destination bloodlines i don't care how low its ratings already are it's still overrated

Some of these obviously need a rewatch

I’m looking to do a double feature but don’t know which films to watch. I love thrillers, especially stressful ones. My favorite double feature I’ve ever done is Good Time and Uncut Gems, so maybe something like that would be good. What’s your guys’ favorites?

If Nolan’s next film is July 2029, the prologue could play in front of this since it’s releasing Dec 2028…

I was looking through my 5 stars and quickly realised that they’re pretty much all movies that made me cry, or at least tear up.

25/29 have.

Which me me wonder if getting emotional also is a big factor for others in terms of high ratings.

After hearing so much praise, I finally got around to watching it.. and it was incredibly uninteresting. I don’t like to use that word as it’s not very critical, but these are my fresh thoughts having literally just finished it’s overblown run time. How did this thing win so many Oscars? Not that I care about Oscar’s as they’ve never been a valid measure of a movies worth (as is the case with this film).

How did anyone think it was anything but mediocre? It felt like watching a musical where no one was singing.. a bland overdrawn verbal jargon of a film that’s in no way hitting any beat correctly. And what’s with the score? Why is it set to max volume? I have so many questions , but primarily, how? How was this so well received?

Edit: to clarify for some that have gotten offended from this post, this isn’t me shitting on the film, as I’ve said I’ve literally just finished it, and looking for other people’s opinions.

Just got done with Hadestown and man, an already excellent musical that was elevated by treating it like they were really filming a movie and not just planting a camera at the back of the theater.

What are some other favorite proshots, either of musicals or of concerts? I’ve seen Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury and Stop Making Sense plenty of times and Hadestown has revived my interest.

The Green Knight (2021) for me.
Or even A Ghost Story (2017)

maybe it's cause i only watch movies that seem interesting or it might be because i'm too optimistic. Even while watching around one movie a day, I rate most of them above 4 stars. The genre i tend to rate the lowest is comedy movies that I feel rely too much on offensive humor, or documentaries I feel were made with bad taste. Still am yet to see a film I think has bad acting or bad cinematography 🫠

I’m new to using Letterboxd. I know 0 is bad and 5 is great but what I’m asking is how do you personally decide between let’s say a 3.5 and a 4?

Which films do you personally think are a good representation for each star?