Since starting our own IMDB 250 challenge, Andrew and I have in total crossed 83 movies off of our list! If you missed it, we challenged ourselves to watch all of the movies from IMDB’s Top 250 list. Some have been pretty boring, but I wanted to share some of my favorites! I’m only going to write about movies that we hadn’t already seen since I am trying to broaden my movie horizon, haha.
I also included what number each movie is on the list. (This is according to our list from August, so the movie may/may not have changed its position on the list since that time). And, for fun I’ve provided my own twenty-words-or-less synopsis. If you want to view the movie’s IMDB page and consequently a more detailed summary of the movie, just click the number next to the movie. 
Casablanca (1942) – #33
Synopsis: they fall in love in Paris during WWII, and meet again in Casablanca.
I adored this movie. I’m a sucker for old movies, so the romantic and history buff in me soaked all of this movie in. I just can’t believe I haven’t seen it until now! It just has the feel of a classic movie, which makes it hard to describe why you like it so much. The acting, plot, and characters were all perfect. Plus, it’s one of the most quoted movies. It was fun to hear all the lines throughout the movie and then go, “Oh! That’s what that line is from!” So far, Casablanca is my favorite movie from the new movies we’ve watched.
Here’s lookin’ at you, kid. 
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – #25
Synopsis: Weird angel shows a desperate and pennyless man what life would be like if he’d never been born.
Another old timey classic, this one makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We watched this with Andrew’s family over Christmas. It’s always interesting to me to see how people end up where they are in life, and this movie showcases that really well. It also shows just how much of an impact people can have on others – even though you might not think so.
Infernal Affairs (2002) – #208
Synopsis: One’s an undercover cop in a gang, the other’s a mole in the police. Who’s who?
This is a Chinese movie that we watched with subtitles. Another movie on the list, The Departed (#44), is the American version, with the exact same plot just different actors. We didn’t realize they were the same movie until after we finished T he Departed. but we both agreed though The Departed had some really big name actors (Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Whalberg, and more), we both liked the original much better.
I actually liked the cast of Infernal Affairs a lot better, and I think part of it was because I didn’t know them. Damon and co. did a wonderful job in The Departed, but a lot of the times big actors can be really distracting from a movie. And even though we had to watch it with English subtitles, it was just overall a more enjoyable movie and seemed to flow better. It really kept you at the edge of your seat because it was so action packed! The end really surprised me, though it did leave me feeling a bit deflated afterwards. I would really recommend if you like suspense and action! I think this should be a lot higher on the list, but I’m assuming it’s a lot lower since it’s a foreign film.
Jaws (1975) – #214
Synopsis: There’s a large shark.
This movie was exactly what I thought it was going to be – but that’s not necessarily bad. Despite being forty years old, this movie holds up really well — just don’t focus too much on the shark! 
There were a few moments that made me jump, but it was an enjoyable, straight forward story. You have to at least watch it for the “I think we need a bigger boat” line! And for its infamous music!
We’ve watched a lot of movies on our list, but these are just a few that stood out to me. Have you seen any of these movies? If so, what did you think about them? We are currently working on The Man with No Name trilogy with Clint Eastwood. I’ve not watched very many westerns before but I’m really enjoying them!
The only movie that I despise from this list is “It’s a wonderful life.” Don’t get me wrong, it has a very good lesson to value life, but since my step-mom at the time played it every single year on Christmas (not just once, but multiple times), it kind of got annoying and I regretted having to go to her house. Other than that, the other movies are awesome. I especially like Jaws. One of my favorite childhood movies.
I love Casablanca and It’s a Wonderful Life — one of the few classic I like
If you like those, I also recommend To Kill a Mockingbird, 12 Angry Men (the old one, not the modern remake), Roman Holiday, and To Have and To Have Not. East of Eden is also pretty good, but it’s a long film like Gone with the Wind, so that’s something to consider. Talking about these old films are making me want to re-watch some of them now! Maybe I’ll do that this weekend 
to kill a mockingbird and 12 angry men are splendid. roman holiday is a fun movie! <3
The only one you’ve listed that I haven’t seen is East of Eden. We just recently watched Roman Holiday, but To Kill a Mockingbird and 12 Angry Men are some of my favorites that I’ve seen several times! Andrew hasn’t seen 12 Angry Men before so we still have to watch it to cross it off our list. I love old films – I’m always in the mood to watch them!
Jaws and Its a Wonderful Life are amazing! I’m taking this Film History class and we watched Casablanca the first day in class. It was so good, I’ve never seen it before. All we do in that class is watch old movies and she gives us typed notes to study. Best class ever.
That sounds awesome! I’ve always wanted to take a film class. It sounds like so much fun to watch movies and then write about them!
I haven’t seen any of them. But I’m also not a huge movie person. Yay for getting many crossed off your list though!
Wow, that is so awesome that you have been able to cross 83 movies off the list.
It was cool to reads your thoughts on these ones. I haven’t seen a number of them.
becca! cheers to you for seeing those movies. it’s a shame that, being a big movie fan that i am, i haven’t actually seen jaws! i keep seeing it on many must-see movie lists but i couldn’t get my hands on it for some reason. i’m definitely gonna see that along with internal affairs.
also, i was hooked on the departed from start to finish, it was a good movie but not exactly director martin scorsese’s best.
it’s a wonderful life is one of those movies that i couldn’t seem to get enough of. it’s a feel good movie that i’m not even sorry for claiming it as a fave. jimmy stewart was so good! and yes please, lasso the moon for me, mr. bailey.XD
i can’t wait for more updates like this.;)
I couldn’t believe I had never seen it either. We bought it over Christmas for like $4 off of Amazon. I was like, there is no excuse for me not to buy this haha! If you liked The Departed then you will like Infernal Affairs! There are a few minor plot changes, but I like Infernal Affairs better. It was on Netflix a couple months ago, but I’m not sure if it’s still on there or not.
Yay, glad you liked the post! I’m sure there will be more in the future!
ohmygosh. becca, all this time i read that as “internal affairs” instead of “infernal”! my bad.
I thought it was “Internal” at first, too! I was talking about it after it was over and then when I looked at the cover realized it was “Infernal.” Easy mistake to make!
I never seen any of those films, but I’m afraid of Jaws, because of the shark, even though I know real life sharks don’t attack like that, but still, I’m happy you are doing that challenge.
Not going to lie, I haven’t seen any of those movies that you mentioned. I’m not a big movie person though and haven’t seen a lot of the classics. (I saw Titanic for the first time 2 years ago. That’s how not up to date I am with movies lol.) I think it’s awesome that the two of you are getting to spend time together to watch all of these movies. Good luck!
I think I would enjoy Casablanca and It’s a Wonderful Life. Jaws, not so much. I’m also the type of person that has to read the book first before I watch the movie.
That’s awesome that you’ve seen 83 on the list! I need to see Casablanca and It’s a Wonderful Life some time. I feel like I’m missing a lot of references by not seeing Casablanca. Around Christmas time, a theater chain here will play It’s a Wonderful Life. I should be taking advantage of that! Good to know that you liked both of those
Oh man, I love love love Infernal Affairs. It’s one of my favorite Hong Kong movies, and all of the main characters are actually big name Hong Kong actors. They’re like the Matt Damon and DiCaprio equivalents, haha. Andy Lau is one of my favorite actors! I actually didn’t like The Departed because I felt like it missed the point of Infernal Affairs =/ I think Infernal Affairs depicted how the two moles are living in their own version of hell better, especially as one of them begins to take control of his life.
(Fun fact, they had to make an alternative ending for mainland China because China doesn’t like seeing bad guys get away with things. Also, Infernal Affairs is part of a trilogy! The first is the best one, but the second one is not bad if you’re able to get it.)
That’s great that you’re making good progress through the list!
Oh that’s really interesting! I didn’t know that they had to change the ending for mainland China! I think that I knew it was part of a trilogy, we will have to watch the other two.
Good luck with your IMDB 250 challenge! Hope you’ll find time to check off all of the movies on the list! I’ve heard lots of good feedback about Casablanca and It’s a Wonderful Life! I haven’t seen any of these before, but maybe one day.. ;). Chinese movies always catch my attention for some reason- not just the kung fu movies XD. Jaws sounds interesting, especially when it’s shark week! Hope you enjoyed all of the movies!~
I’ve never seen any of these – but then i haven’t seen a lot of well known films. Whenever Andy asks if I’ve seen something it’s usually a no, haha. But we’re slowly making our way through some of his favourites. It’s a Wonderful Life sounds really good, by the way. I’d definitely watch that!
Xxx
I’ve not seen any of those. Casablanca is Erin’s favourite film though. I’ve always wanted to see Jaws, it’s one of those movies that everyone seems to have seen except me.
This challenge sounds so cool! It sounds like something that my boyfriend and I would enjoy, so I’d definitely ask him to do this with me!
Another reason why I’d like to try this is that I haven’t seen any of these movies before :'( I know the movies on this list are considered classics, but I guess I’m just not exposed to lots of Western movies. Well, now it’s time to change that!
If you want to be exposed to more Western movies, this would be a great list to go from! It has a ton of variety and most of them have been pretty good (though I could tell you a few to stay away from, haha). It also helps with the whole “what do you want to watch tonight?” “I don’t know.” debacle.
This is something I’ve been wanting to do myself because I love watching movies. I just feel like I keep watching the same things over and over and I’m not open to change!
Jaws has been one of those movies that I feel would be too traumatic for me. Lol
This is making me realise how few films I’ve actually seen haha. I love this idea for a project, but I might do the top 25 or something!!
I’ve only seen bits and parts of It’s A Wonder Life and Jaws, but otherwise I haven’t seen any of those movies either. Now I feel like I need too.