Wow, I’m impressed with the quick response to my martini question. Thanks for the help.
Now I have a different question.
After looking over the AFI’s list of the 100 greatest films I was wondering: How many movies have been released, in the U.S. and worldwide, since they were “invented”? I’m only looking at theatrical releases also, not including direct-to-video, porn, or made-for-TV.
Anyone have any idea?
Kevin
Howl your innocence! - Matt Groening
Have you checked the IMDB? There’s probably no definitive answer, there have been many movies, I have heard, made years and years ago that have been lost and/or forgotten.
IMDb last year had over 180,000 movies and TV shows listed in its database. These included foreign (non-US) films as well.
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
Someone care to explain what IMDB is and where it can be found?
Everyone should have the IMDB in their list of bookmards.
The initials stand for Internet Movie Database. It’s at (surprise!) www.imdb.com . It contains all available information about movies past, present and future, cast and crew, plots, quotes, trivia, goofs, etc. They have a tremendous search engine attached (which actually works).
I’ve been amazed time and time again at being able to find who some minor character was in a movie I only saw five minutes of.
This is a website that all other websites should emulate!
“The labors…are aided by…innumerable lecturers, who diffuse such a various profundity in all subjects of human or celestial science, that any man may acquire an omnigenous erudition without the trouble of ever learning to read.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Celestial Railroad
Why Nickrz, I’d be delighted to!
The Internet Movie Data Base is at http://www.imdb.com/
I hate to prick Pluto’s balloon, but IMdB is not all it could be—I haver found lots of omissions and a number of errors therein.
Still, it is one of the best movie databases online—which is NOT much of a compliment. I have been trying to convince companies like E! and Microsoft for the past two years that someone needs to start a really good searchable movie-fact database, but no one wants to work on a start-up that wouldn’t bring in the cash-dough right away.
“Information superhighway,” my eye!
*Eve: I hate to prick Pluto’s balloon, but IMdB is not all it could be—I haver found lots of omissions and a number of errors therein. *
Granted it has holes, but it also lets you send in updates, corrections. They get reviewed, and if valid, posted in a couple of weeks.
I have a friend who worked as a grip on one movie called Cataclysm. I entered his info, and they posted it. AFAICS, he’s the only grip credited in IMDb. 
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
“I entered his info, and they posted it.”
—That’s one of the problems, they have no fact-checking. You wouldn’t have made up your friend’s credit, certainly, but one of the problems with the internet is, it’s only as good as its sources. And IMdB’s sources are often questionable.
Still, it’s not awful by any means—it’s just a shame that no one wants to start up a real definitive movie database.
I think that makes your question almost impossible to answer, given the huge number of independent films which are shown only in a small number of venues, the number of films which are released in only a limited geographicla area, etc.
For example, the Indian film industry produces about 800 films per year. Only about 10 or 20 of these get general release in the UK and a larger number (but still fewer that 100) get released in a few specialist cinemas in areas with a large population from the Sub-continent. A larger number still get video release in this country.
Now I would be prepared to bet that only the classic Indian films make their way into the IMDB, or any other standard reference work like Halliwell’s.
Likewise, some Hollywood films might go straight to video in the US but get general release elsewhere.
I, too, would be interested to know the answer to the question, but sadly I don’t think there is an answer there to be had.
I second Eve’s assertion that the lack of fact checking at the IMDB can be annoying. As I mentioned before, one of my biggest pet peeves is for someone to misquote a movie and the site is absloutely full of quotes that no one bothered to check against the actual movie quote. It is very frustrating when you are looking for a specific quote only to find that it is slightly off the original!
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they’re going to be when you kill them.
The 180,000-odd movies in the IMDb do not comprise a complete list of all theatrical releases. The actual number is closer to 220,000. (I base this on an off-the-cuff comment made during the last Academy Awards[TM] ceremony.)
Although I like the IMDB and refer to it often, I can attest to the fact that they don’t check their sources before posting information.
My great uncle was Leo Forbstein. He was the musical director for Warner Brothers Studios for 22 years (from 1926 to 1948), conducting the music for such films as The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. I did a great deal of research, have quite a few newspaper clippings and often speak with his daughter, Harriett. I submitted the “mini biography” (although they changed it slightly from the way I had written it), and the date of birth, marriage and death information. They just took me for my word for every detail, including his oscar nominations and win.
On top of that, he is credited as having been the composer of 49 film scores, and his daughter swears he never wrote a note in his life! It’s been years since I’ve seen any of the movies he supposedly composed, but I’d be curious to see if he was actually listed as the composer in the credits, and perhaps that’s where they got their information.
As to the OP, I don’t have an answer, but I imagine that the number is extremely large and would be very difficult (if not impossible) to pin down. If someone does know, I hope they post it here because I’d also be very curious to see the answer.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
Thanks for the info, people. I only asked because I’ve seen the acronym thrown around a million times without explanation. People surely are passionate about their movies, and I’ve never discovered a better way to generate vociferous scorn than to say “I did not see the movie, but I read the book.”
I would have to disagree with this, Tom. I know it isn’t the easiest answer to get but I’m sure that everyone has tracked what they have released.
With all of the stuff our society keeps information on, I think the odds are good that someone has an idea of how many movies have been made.
Kevin
Howl your innocence! - Matt Groening
Kind of OT, but interesting. Roger Ebert recently got tripped up by the IMDB. In a recent movie (“The Insider”, or “The Cradle Will Rock” IIRC), a John Carpenter was listed in the credits. The IMDB incorrectly listed him as a moonlighting Director John Carpenter, when it was a different actor. Ebert put the incorrect information in his review.
So Ebert considers the IMDB pretty authoritative!
215,122 as of today.
>< DARWIN >
__L___L
The Internet Movie Database is cool, and here’s why.
-PIGEONMAN-
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Shadow of the Pigeon
Weirdo of the Night
Kevin, Maybe “almost impossible” was putting it a bit strongly. What I probably should have said was “extremely difficult”.
You’re right that every studio should probably have records of everything they ever released, but what about the ones which are now defunct? What about the independent films which have a limited cinema release? And so on …