When
you start thinking about it, it's incredibly difficult to rate
your all time favorite 100 films. There are some movies we
can watch over and over again. These will always
remain our
core movies, but may not be in our top 100 for various reasons. Hence,
we've had to append another 100 or so films to our original top 100
list, which is work in progress. For example, the latest Bond
movie has been long in the making, after suffering funding
setbacks. That aside, we guess that after the poor reviews for
Quantum of Solace, that EON will have pulled out all the stops
to recover the pizzazz they found with Casino Royale - in our
opinion one of the best Bond movies ever made - getting back to
that wonderful Sean Connery feel, with that extra something the
Daniel Craig brings to the party. Unlike Prometheus, which we
were disappointed with, Skyfall hit the mark, pulling back to
Casino Royale standards, even with 'M' parting company in a
slightly unbelievable sequence - oh well, perfection is a hard
target. M leaving the franchise did draw a tear. To our mind a
great pity. One hopes it was for the benefit of Judi Dench.
The film was nicely directed by Sam Mendes and despite Oscar anonymity,
should go on to be a classic.
We're
very fond of adventure sea tales, yet it takes a whole raft of settings
(no pun intended) to
cater for our tastes in a modern world. Some films we like because
we first saw
them when we were young and they remind us of special times, such
as The Wizard of Oz at Christmas
when a child. Inevitably, a good new film will beat
a good oldie, just because the special effects and shooting
techniques are now so clever. However, that is not always
the case and sometimes the classic style that made an oldie an
oldie, will never be repeated, such as the 39 Steps and
Psycho. We would have put King Kong in this category, but
with the Dec 05 re-make we think this Kong with Jack Black
and Naomi Watts is a masterpiece that finally tops the original -
the last one didn't come close. Mind you it cost a
staggering $207 million to produce - the most expensive
movie at that time (Dec 05). Correct us if we're wrong. But today,
$200 million dollars is not so staggering when you consider the $billion
plus dollar returns of Harry Potter, Finding Nemo, Spiderman and Star
Wars (Phantom Menace). It seems that the more you invest in
production, the better the returns in the long run - especially
if you create a classic.
We
seem to like popular films judging by the
box-office earnings. we're not that keen on horror or
gangster films, unless they are stunning and superbly made, such
as The Road to Perdition. We prefer a bit
of science fiction to stretch our imagination and ripping
thrillers. But, they have
to be done well and be believable. Then there is always a
good court room drama, or a western (a dying breed). True stories also
work for us - they are sometimes the best of all, such as
Seabiscuit and Erin Brockovich. We're also romantics, although
you'd never guess it from this list. Lastly, we really enjoy a
good comedy, the more ridiculous the better - Naked Gun and Hot
Shots never fail to make us laugh. Depending on your mood, films like this
can have you crying - Austin Powers too and Blades of Glory can
be dangerous for giving you the stitch from laughing.
Not
that we've anything against a good remake, but we'd rather see
more new stories made into films, even if this is more risky for
film companies as investments. Fortunately, there are many good
new books and film
scripts written every year and films represent superb
investments, outperforming traditional investments like shares
and property many times over. So keep writing everyone and one day
your story may make it onto celluloid. Max.
Due
to begin filming in October this year, Henry 5 is an
excellent investment opportunity with a great cast, directed
by Michael Anderson. Click on the picture above to see our
film investors A-Z and follow the link to Alternative Solutions.
So,
what makes a good film? A film is a story told in such a
way that it captures the imagination. It may also be
informative as a portrayal of a particular human characteristic
or event - love, strength, skill. Hence, you need a good
story to begin with and this is where it gets complicated.
But, before we get lost in storylines, you also need great
actors. People who can breath life into a script.
Then you need great production, and this starts with directors
and producers. Producers, recognise they have a good story
and put all the ingredients together; actors, locations, special
effects and finance. Directors, turn words on a page into
pictures, then paste them together to keep the story
moving. It is an art. It is also an expensive art
where the rewards are well worth the investment, provided you
have that something special to begin with.
There
are still so many good films to be made. New stories will
always come along to inspire a film. Equally, some good 'old' films need remaking, and that is the reason why the list
above is forever changing.
We've created this website to capture
projects of significant interest, some of which are national
treasures, summing up all the values of the countries that
contribute to make our planet such an interesting place. It is a
great shame that life on earth will one day wither and die.
Films and other artifacts if preserved in space, may enrich the
lives of other species. It is not the winning that
matters, it is the taking part - in what appears to be an
intergalactic saga spread over millenniums.
Films generate income from several revenue streams including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights and merchandising. However, theatrical box office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications (such as Variety and Box Office
Mojo) in assessing the success of a film, mostly due to the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, and also due to historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners (ranked by both the nominal and real value of their revenue), a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights and merchandise.
Traditionally, war films, musicals and historical dramas have been the most popular genres, but franchise films have been the best performers in the 21st century, with films from the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean series dominating the top end of the list. Since Superman (1978) there has been new interest in the superhero genre; Batman from DC Comics and films based on the Marvel Comics brand such as Spider-Man, X-Men and films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have all done particularly well. The only films in the top ten that do not form a franchise are the top two, Avatar and Titanic, both directed by James Cameron. Animated family films have performed consistently well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home video era. Disney enjoyed later success with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story films and Finding Nemo have been the best performers; beyond Pixar animation, the
Shrek, Ice Age and Madagascar series have met with the most success.
While inflation has eroded away the achievements of most films from the 1960s and 1970s, there are franchises originating from that period that are still active: James Bond and Star Trek films are still being released periodically, and the Star Wars saga was reprised after a lengthy hiatus; Indiana Jones also saw a successful comeback after lying dormant for nearly twenty years. All four are still among the highest-grossing franchises, despite starting over thirty years ago. Some of the older films that held the record of highest-grossing film still have respectable grosses even by today's standards, but do not really compete against today's top-earners: Gone with the Wind for instance—which was the highest-grossing film for 25 years—does not even make the top fifty in the modern market, but, adjusted for inflation, it would still be the highest-grossing film. All grosses on the list are expressed in US dollars at their nominal value, except where stated otherwise.
When
a pirate whaler kills a small humpback whale, her giant
friend sinks the pirate ship to avenge the death, but is
itself wounded. The pirates put a price on the whale's
head, but an adventurer in an advanced solar powered
boat races to beat the pirates and save the wounded
animal.
A
heartwarming action adventure: Pirate whalers V Conservationists,
with an environmental message and a $Billion dollars riding on the
winner. For release as an e-book in 2013 with hopes for a film in
2015 with
a provisional budget of £80m including risk share, TBA
