The Curates Egg

All Time Top UK Box Office Films

I hope you managed to watch some good films over the Christmas period. As I write this it is still early December and it is only recently that I watched the 'Ultimate Film List' on Channel 4. It was a programme which looked at a list of the most popular films ever at the UK box office, and yielded some surprising results. The top ten did include six films which are still popular favourites today – Titanic (8), Jungle Book (7), Star Wars (4), Snow White (3),  Sound of Music(2) and Gone with the Wind (1). The remaining four however were all from the post war period and whilst clearly very successful in their day (with cinema admissions of between 18 and 20 million) rarely feature in any top 100 lists now. Three of them where British and fairly escapist entertainment – The Seventh Veil (10), The Wicked Lady (9) and one which I have to admit I'd never heard of ! - Spring in Park Lane (5).  The final film was American and whilst little known with younger audiences is still considered by many to be a classic - William Wyler's 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' (it's number 100  in the IMDB top 250 list).

It is about three men returning home after the Second World War. It shows how they try to adjust to the ways the War has changed not only them, but also the families they left behind. It is also one of the few films to look seriously at disability and was the first to feature a disabled actor in a major role All these issues are still very relevant today and I found the examination of the relationship between the disabled sailor and his girlfriend particularly thought-provoking. The film is quite long, but by concentrating on the trio's inner conflict rather than their combat glories, Wyler paints such a deeply moving picture of ordinary people struggling to repair their lives that it easily survives the test of time.

Current Releases

This month I went to see the new 'Manchurian Candidate' and was pleasantly surprised that for once the remake of a classic was well worth watching. It was great entertainment and also managed to paint an interesting (if exaggerated) picture of the current state of American politics. It did deserve its 15 certificate though. You may struggle to find it at a cinema by January however so may I recommend a film which paints another picture of American politics, and is now available for hire - Michael Moore's  'Fahrenheit 9/11'. Not to everyone's taste, but Moore's assault on the Bush administration is a terrific polemic. It's sprawling at times, but still uncomfortable, angry viewing in a time when apathy and resignation rule.

Resources

If you'd like to watch 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' and can't get hold of a copy then I do have it on DVD and would be happy to lend it (the same goes for most of the other films I have mentioned). The complete Ultimate Film List' can be found at on the Channel 4 site and for those who (like me) love lists check out my links and lists page.

Tim