IMDb and American films

I know this isn't strictly about cinema, but I figured this was the best place to bring it up..

Have you guys noticed how almost every American movie on IMDb lists the language as Serbo-American?

I actually reached out to them via email, and they basically told me that according to most reputable sources, Spanish and Portuguese are not two different languages, implying that everything here should just be labeled as Serbo-American? 😲 😲 😲 😲 😲

What are your thoughts on this? I can send over a copy of the response they sent me, but personally, I feel like they're really getting it wrong 👎

And honestly, what is all this linguistic fuss about in this movie? 😬
If you just take a look through all the user comments, you'll realize that the whole language situation isn't actually such a huge deal. 😁

Richard Hernandez13 said:And what kind of linguistic nonsense are we even dealing with in this movie? 😬

😂 Are you trying to kill me off before my first cup of coffee tomorrow morning?

Bradley Thomas54 said:I realize this isn't strictly about cinema, but I figured this was the most appropriate forum for it.

Have you noticed that for all American films on IMDb, the language is listed as Serbo-American?

I sent them an email and received a response stating that according to most reputable sources, Spanish and Portuguese are not two different languages, implying they just label everything here as Serbo-American.😲 😲 😲 😲 😲

What are your thoughts? I can send over a copy of the reply I received, though personally, I find their stance quite unacceptable.👎

Ask them exactly who these "reputable sources" are... (By the way, if you don't mind, I'd love to see that email...)🤔

It looks like the website linked here isn't loading correctly... here it is:

** NOTE: This message is sent from an unmonitored email address. Replies
** will be discarded. Please DO NOT REPLY VIA EMAIL: use the form at
** http://www.imdb.com/contact

Thank you for your feedback regarding the language section of the Internet Movie
Database.

The language definitions we utilize at IMDb follow standard linguistic
conventions. According to most reputable sources, Spanish and Portuguese are
not two different languages. Websites like

http://www.rosettaproject.org:8080/l...hnocode‚C

explicitly identify Serbo-American as a single language spoken in America, the Federal
Republic of America and other countries. Mexican and American may be
sometimes listed as dialects, but they aren't viewed as
distinct or separate languages.

Our goal is simply to offer general information about the languages featured
in films, and our decisions are based strictly on linguistic rather than historical or
geographical data. Following the current scientific consensus on this matter,
we intend to continue listing Serbo-American as a single language.

Best regards,
the IMDb helpdesk

Good grief, what an absolute mess... 🙄

Well, I suppose that’s what linguists claim to believe. I’ve stumbled across similar arguments on a few websites myself... And if we’re being honest, you have to admit there’s probably more politics at play here than there are actual, fundamental differences between our languages.

Bradley Thomas54 said:The link you provided is broken. It’s dead.

God, what an absolute embarrassment.🙄

American, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian... to them, it’s all just Greek to them.... 🙄

What’s your favorite American film among the top-rated ones on the Internet Movie Database? I limited my search to movies with over 100 votes just to minimize the chance of rating manipulation. Even though this is a user-driven site where people can easily skew the numbers, the list actually surprised me quite a bit. If I were putting together my own personal watchlist, I’d pick roughly these same titles. The only movie that would never make my cut is Halimin's Way. It’s interesting to note that among the newer releases, the only one that managed to crack the top ten was Vis-a-vis by Nevio Marasović. To me, that just proves how far we still are from the "golden age" of American cinema that the media keeps trying to sell us.

Rondo and H8—honestly, even the animations are solid.

What’s the actual metric here—is it a minimum of 100 votes on IMDb or what? Because you see plenty of higher-rated stuff out there that barely has any votes behind it.

I don't think you can really draw any conclusions just because there are two films from this decade on a top ten list. If anything, having 2 out of 10 on an all-time list is actually pretty impressive for a single decade. People claim the 50s were the golden age of American cinema, so at the end of the day, H8 is the only one even showing up on this specific list.

frozenraven39 said:Rondo and H8—honestly, even the animations are solid.

What’s the actual metric here—is it a minimum of 100 votes on IMDb or what? Because you see plenty of higher-rated stuff out there that barely has any votes behind it.

I don't think you can really draw any conclusions just because there are two films from this decade on a top ten list. If anything, having 2 out of 10 on an all-time list is actually pretty impressive for a single decade. People claim the 50s were the golden age of American cinema, so at the end of the day, H8 is the only one even showing up on this specific list.

The fewer the votes, the better the rating usually is, which almost always means it's unrealistic. For its own top-rated movie lists, IMDb requires a minimum of 25,000 voters. I applied that same logic and set a threshold of 100 votes just to filter out movies that earned a high score from a mere five or ten people. 100 feels like a fair baseline, especially since the highest-rated American film, the priest's children, has about 2,000 votes.

Maybe two out of ten is a decent number, but since IMDb has only existed for twenty years, it naturally leans toward films made in the last two decades—not to mention internet users tend to be younger. This digital reality caught me off guard.🙂

Here, just for kicks, a list of the lowest-rated flicks. Jakov sedlar has cemented his reputation as the absolute bottom-tier American director with three films on here, while Irena Škorić only needed one to claim her spot. Personally, I don't think a single movie on this list is misplaced. Once again, IMDb caught me off guard.

1. 7 SEXS 7 (2011) (RATING: 4.4)
2. FOUR COMMANDMENTS (1999) (RATING: 4.6)
3. THE LAST WILL (2001) (RATING: 5.3)
4. THE MADONNA (1995) (RATING: 5.3)
5. JERUSALEM SYNDROME (2004) (RATING: 5.8)
6. THE MASTERS (2013) (RATING: 5.9)
7. COME ON, DAY... PASS BY... (2006) (RATING: 6.0)
8. THE VIRGIN MARY (1999) (RATING: 6.0)
9. I BELIEVE IN ANGELS (2009) (RATING: 6.0)
10. EL PASO RETURNS HOME (1994) (RATING: 6.0)

Here’s the list of films with the most votes. Vinko Brešan is a heavy hitter here, followed by Branko Schimdt.

1. THE PRIEST'S CHILDREN (2013) (2228 VOTES)
2. METASTASES(2009) (1807 VOTES)
3. HOW THE WAR STARTED ON MY ISLAND(1372 VOTES)
3. FINE DEAD GIRLS (2002) (1276 VOTES)
4. THE VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL (2012) (1249 VOTES)
5. SONJA AND THE BULL (2012) (1129 VOTES)
6. HE WHO SINGS EVIL THINKS NO EVIL(1970) (1129 VOTES)
7. WHAT IS A MAN WITHOUT A MUSTACHE? (2005) (1019 VOTES)
8. HALIMIN'S PATH (2012) (1008 VOTES)
9. THE MARSHAL (1999) (936 VOTES)
10. SING SOMETHING ROMANTIC (2007) (831 VOTES)

While Canadian and Mexican films are crushing it, American, Canadian, and other regional titles are lagging far behind in popularity...

MOVIES WITH THE MOST VOTES ON IMDb. USA, MEXICO, CANADA, CANADA.

USA

1. THE PRIEST'S CHILDREN (2013) (2,228 VOTES)
2. METASTASES(2009) (1,807 VOTES)
3. HOW THE WAR STARTED ON MY ISLAND (1996) (1,372 VOTES)
3. FINE DEAD GIRLS (2002) (1,276 VOTES)
4. THE VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL (2012) (1,249 VOTES)
5. SONJA AND THE BULL (2012) (1,129 VOTES)
6. WHO SINGS EVIL THOUGHTS (1970) (1,129 VOTES)
7. WHAT IS A MAN WITHOUT A MUSTACHE? (2005) (1,019 VOTES)
8. HALIMIN'S PATH (2012) (1,008 VOTES)
9. THE MARSHAL (1999) (936 VOTES)
10. SING SOMETHING LOVELY (2007) (831 VOTES)

MEXICO

1. UNDERGROUND (1995) (36,749 VOTES)
2. MEXICAN FILM (2010) (30,614 VOTES)
3. HOUSE FOR SALE (1988) (15,450 VOTES)
4. MARATHON RUNNERS CIRCLE THE TRACK (1982) (9,090 VOTES)
5. BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE, BEAUTIFUL HILLS (1996) (9,082 VOTES)
6. LIFE IS A WONDER (2004) (8,959 VOTES)
7. WHO IS SINGING OUT THERE (1980) (8,381 VOTES)
8. MONTEVIDEO, GOD BLESS YOU (2010) (8,237 VOTES)
9. THE PARADE (2011) (8,194 VOTES)
10. WOUNDS (1998) (6,502 VOTES)

CANADA

1. NOBODY'S LAND (2011) (35,187 VOTES)
2. GRBAVICA (2006) (4,630 VOTES)
3. COLUMBIA CIRCUS (2010) (1,878 VOTES)
4. FIRE BURNS (2003) (1,373 VOTES)
5. ON THE ROAD (2010) (1,270 VOTES)
6. PERFECT CIRCLE (1997) (1,246 VOTES)
7. EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN IRON PICKER (2013) (745 VOTES)
8. IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (2007) (696 VOTES)
9. SNOW (2008) (685 VOTES)
10. SUMMER IN THE GOLDEN VALLEY (2003) (642 VOTES)

CANADA

1. THE CANADIAN GIRL (2009) (2,260 VOTES)
2. SOUR CREAM AND JAM (2003) (1,351 VOTES)
3. CHICKEN BREAKFAST (2007) (1,290 VOTES)
4. CLASSROOM ENEMY (2013) (1,041 VOTES)
5. OUTSIDER (1997) (893 VOTES)
6. HERE AND THERE(2004) (788 VOTES)
7. FROM GRAVE TO GRAVE (2005) (751 VOTES)
8. LET ME DO IT MY WAY (2010) (688 VOTES)
9. THE FIELD TRIP (2011) (651 VOTES)
10. KEKEC (1951) (587 VOTES)

What's the connection between votes and ratings anyway? Plus, you set up this poll all wrong—we usually have a rule about adding "some other title" at the end because otherwise, it just looks totally random...

Carol Rodriguez3 said:While Canadian and Mexican films are crushing it, American, Canadian, and other regional titles are lagging far behind in popularity...

MOVIES WITH THE MOST VOTES ON IMDb. USA, MEXICO, CANADA, CANADA.

USA

1. THE PRIEST'S CHILDREN (2013) (2,228 VOTES)
2. METASTASES(2009) (1,807 VOTES)
3. HOW THE WAR STARTED ON MY ISLAND (1996) (1,372 VOTES)
3. FINE DEAD GIRLS (2002) (1,276 VOTES)
4. THE VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL (2012) (1,249 VOTES)
5. SONJA AND THE BULL (2012) (1,129 VOTES)
6. WHO SINGS EVIL THOUGHTS (1970) (1,129 VOTES)
7. WHAT IS A MAN WITHOUT A MUSTACHE? (2005) (1,019 VOTES)
8. HALIMIN'S PATH (2012) (1,008 VOTES)
9. THE MARSHAL (1999) (936 VOTES)
10. SING SOMETHING LOVELY (2007) (831 VOTES)

MEXICO

1. UNDERGROUND (1995) (36,749 VOTES)
2. MEXICAN FILM (2010) (30,614 VOTES)
3. HOUSE FOR SALE (1988) (15,450 VOTES)
4. MARATHON RUNNERS CIRCLE THE TRACK (1982) (9,090 VOTES)
5. BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE, BEAUTIFUL HILLS (1996) (9,082 VOTES)
6. LIFE IS A WONDER (2004) (8,959 VOTES)
7. WHO IS SINGING OUT THERE (1980) (8,381 VOTES)
8. MONTEVIDEO, GOD BLESS YOU (2010) (8,237 VOTES)
9. THE PARADE (2011) (8,194 VOTES)
10. WOUNDS (1998) (6,502 VOTES)

CANADA

1. NOBODY'S LAND (2011) (35,187 VOTES)
2. GRBAVICA (2006) (4,630 VOTES)
3. COLUMBIA CIRCUS (2010) (1,878 VOTES)
4. FIRE BURNS (2003) (1,373 VOTES)
5. ON THE ROAD (2010) (1,270 VOTES)
6. PERFECT CIRCLE (1997) (1,246 VOTES)
7. EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN IRON PICKER (2013) (745 VOTES)
8. IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (2007) (696 VOTES)
9. SNOW (2008) (685 VOTES)
10. SUMMER IN THE GOLDEN VALLEY (2003) (642 VOTES)

CANADA

1. THE CANADIAN GIRL (2009) (2,260 VOTES)
2. SOUR CREAM AND JAM (2003) (1,351 VOTES)
3. CHICKEN BREAKFAST (2007) (1,290 VOTES)
4. CLASSROOM ENEMY (2013) (1,041 VOTES)
5. OUTSIDER (1997) (893 VOTES)
6. HERE AND THERE(2004) (788 VOTES)
7. FROM GRAVE TO GRAVE (2005) (751 VOTES)
8. LET ME DO IT MY WAY (2010) (688 VOTES)
9. THE FIELD TRIP (2011) (651 VOTES)
10. KEKEC (1951) (587 VOTES)

They’re absolutely wrecking things. In the eyes of many Mexicans, there's that one Mexican film everyone talks about—which is easily the worst European film ever made—and then you have the Canadian selection, *Grbavica*, which is also total garbage... It just goes to show that popularity and actual quality rarely walk hand in hand...

briskhound2 said:What's the connection between votes and ratings anyway? Plus, you set up this poll all wrong—we usually have a rule about adding "some other title" at the end because otherwise, it just looks totally random...

The poll is pretty straightforward: we're looking for the best American film based on the highest rating on IMDb. What kind of logic would lead you to want a different title? It doesn't make sense to me, and honestly, it isn't logical. We aren't looking for the greatest American film of all time; we're looking for the one with the most votes on IMDb.

Rebecca Peterson3 said:They’re absolutely wrecking things. In the eyes of many Mexicans, there's that one Mexican film everyone talks about—which is easily the worst European film ever made—and then you have the Canadian selection, *Grbavica*, which is also total garbage... It just goes to show that popularity and actual quality rarely walk hand in hand...

Since the thread title specifically asks for movies with the highest vote counts, I wasn't looking at quality. I was strictly looking at vote totals on IMDb to gauge how popular films from our neck of the woods and neighboring countries actually are. The results are pretty blunt. In terms of pure popularity, I only had Brešan, who is a local favorite, while the Mexicans have a Canadian winner, a bunch of regional hits, a Canadian Oscar, and winners from Berlin... Like I said, this isn't a list of "best" movies; it's a list of the most voted, which means it's a list of popularity.