Col Needham's 10 Favorite Films
by dan_dassow | created - 16 Oct 2016 | updated - 17 Oct 2016 | PublicAccording to The Wrap, it’s no big secret that Col Needham, founder and CEO of IMDb, is a voracious film fan. But did you know he has now seen 10,000 films in his lifetime? The internet pioneer crammed in some 480 screenings in the last 10 months to meet the 10k goal ahead of his 50th birthday on Jan. 26. He finished just in time for IMDb’s 26th anniversary on Monday (Oct. 17).
Which of his favorites do you like the most?
After voting, please discuss here.
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1. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 427,231 | Gross: $3.20M
"I fell in love with Kim Novak's character and the 'Oh no, that's not what happened at all' aspect of the movie."
2. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,552,798 | Gross: $292.58M
"I love a twist ending or a twist middle. I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan."
3. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,345 | Gross: $13.28M
"The suave sophistication of Cary Grant's character is unmatched. It also serves as a proxy for great Alfred Hitchcock films: 'Spellbound (1945),' 'Notorious (1946)' and 'Rebecca (1940).'"
4. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,552 | Gross: $5.72M
"It’s a Billy Wilder film where he does superb film noir."
5. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy
While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett
Votes: 66,126
"In my opinion, this is the funniest movie ever made. It stars my all-time favorite actor, Cary Grant, and my all-time favorite actress, Katharine Hepburn (after whom I named one of my daughters)."
6. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 763,601 | Gross: $85.16M
"This is actually the film I've seen more than any other film — more than 60 times, including twice in French… 'Aliens' has relentless thrills and action. Once everything starts to go wrong on that planet it's non-stop."
7. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,800,420 | Gross: $100.13M
"That was one of my most tense viewing experiences. The conflict at the end is the best part: Should he dispense justice or not?"
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,222,024 | Gross: $107.93M
"It redefined cinema in the 90s… The non-linear timeline is great, as are the opening and closing scenes from two different perspectives."
9. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field, Sydney Pollack
Votes: 375,421 | Gross: $55.69M
"Hitchcock, Wilder, Stanley Kubrick is the order of directors I love… I was haunted by that film for weeks… People don’t realize it's a Christmas movie. There's a Christmas tree in virtually every scene. It's one of two movies I re-watch every Christmas Eve — that and 'It's a Wonderful Life (1946).'"
10. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,845 | Gross: $2.24M
"This is the last great film noir and I remember being blown away by the famous single take opening shot. It also has one of my favorite endings of all time."
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