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100 Films on a Cover August 30, 2008

Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, Animation, Comedy, Action, James Bond, Drama, Thriller, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Disney, Fantasy, Sci-fi, War, Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson, Christopher Nolan, Crime, David Fincher, 2000s, adaptations, 1990s, 1980s, 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, Adventure, British films, Mystery, world cinema, extended/director's cut, Historical, superhero films , 1 comment so far

Empire, not content with conducting a ludicrously huge reader poll to find the 500 greatest films ever made, have also roped in 150 (as yet unnamed) “key directors and producers” and “the world’s most influential film critics” to have their say.

And Empire, not content with conducting a ludicrously huge reader poll and gathering the opinion of key directors, producers and critics to find the 500 greatest films ever made, have gone and created a “magazine milestone” — 100 different covers for the issue featuring the list! In fact, it’s 101, with the 101st being a subscriber-only cover that’s currently secret. I’m currently quite glad that Empire’s the only magazine I’ve bothered to keep up my subscription to.

I’m a bit of a collector and hoarder, but even I’m not made enough to fork out £150 to get all 100 covers. That said, at just £1.50 an issue it’s a pretty reasonable deal, all things considered, and certainly better than the one Total Film offered when they did their 21 different Bond covers a short while back. Nonetheless, I’ll surely try to get my hands on a few different ones, and here’s my current pick of the bunch — mainly, films I love that have especially cool covers, but also some that just look good.


Click to enlarge.

#74: The Departed (2006) August 6, 2007

Posted by badblokebob in : Thriller, Martin Scorsese, Crime, 2000s, 4 stars, 2007, remakes , add a comment

2006 | Martin Scorsese | 145 mins | DVD | 18 / R

An all-star cast lead Scorsese’s Oscar-winning remake of Hong Kong action thriller Infernal Affairs. It’s an unusual yet striking mix of elements: cops vs. robbers thriller, gangster drama, relationships of those who protect/threaten us drama, and several more. It winds up with an unusual feel for structure and pace, though is never less than stylish. Having not seen many of Scorsese’s earlier films it’s hard for me to say if this is up to standard, as many say it is; but I still believe Greengrass’ United 93 was more deserving of the Best Director nods. As I did earlier this year with The Prestige, my rating errs on the side of caution.

4 out of 5

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