Bicycle Thieves: The IMDB Top-100 Watchlist

But if the film is allowed to wait long enough–until the filmmakers are dead, until neorealism is less an inspiration than a memory–“The Bicycle Thief” escapes from its critics and becomes, once again, a story. It is happiest that way.

Roger Ebert on Bicycle Thieves, 1999.

The length of time I have taken off from reviewing movies has become a bit of a meme among my friends. Things have hit hard with COVID-19, moving away from home, and generally having a writer’s block the size of the Korean DMZ. All things considered, it has been good to get some time to think about the way I approach movies, and generally look into some movies I might never see. It is for this reason that I have delved deep into the ratings of IMDB to find the top community rated films of all time (to be perfectly clear, I bought a poster of the top 100 list for me and my girlfriend, and we’re watching a movie every week from the list). Let’s have a look at the first movie from the list: Bicycle Thieves.

The Alien Franchise: Alien (An Average…Project?)

In space no one can hear you scream.

Alien promotional poster, 1979

Alright so I’ve been on a streak of mostly stinky movies, so let’s talk about one of my favorite movies ever made. It was a movie that scared my pants off as a child, and helped mold me into the science fiction nerd I am. This was a groundbreaking film that, despite creating a nearly perfect sequel, branched off into a debauchery of a franchise (and before you ask, I am not alluding to Terminator twice in two posts). I am, of course, talking about the magnificent 1979 motion picture Alien.

Doom: Annihilation (An Average Review)

I’ve seen worse movies, but this still left me wishing i could have my 1h45m back.

Zach Prevost from Google Reviews, 2020

Doom: Annihilation has to be the best comedy movie since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It was a laugh-a-minute thrill ride that had everything I love in comedy: terrible dialogue, comedic action sequences, and fireballs. There was never a dull moment in this movie, where at least 40% of the run time is walking slowly through hallways. Doom takes everything that made its source material fun and created something even better: a comedy about boring space marines.

Miami Connection (An Average Meandering)

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”                      

Aristotle

There is a problem we have to deal with as movie goers. An ongoing conundrum that is to decide what is good and what is bad. Deep down, we know when a movie is bad (the dialogue is terrible, the movie looks like crap, the editing is atrocious, etc.). But on some occasions, we break our own rules governing movie taste by seeing one of those that are “so bad that they’re good”. For those movies, the problem then arises with a simple question: why did I like this movie?

Average Introduction Time!

Hey guys! AveragePal Ian here! I like to talk about movies, television, and trends in Hollywood. When it comes to the articles I want to write, certain goals of mine include providing analysis of film and elaborating on various aspects of the film beyond just story. With some luck (and praying to the Eldritch Gods for a good schedule), I hope to enrich you with worthwhile opinions on the internet. Let me know what kinds of things you would be interested in me discussing in future articles. Be sure to check out Tone Death 2: The Four Chordsmen- summer of [insert next year]

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You can see all the latest from Ian here but be sure to head on over to his Twitter @AveragePalTime to see more of what he’s up to! We are happy to have Ian aboard and I hope you’ll look forward to his content.