Infographic: The 2,000 Most Important Films Of All Time

If you live long enough, you get to appreciate culture’s patterns. You see that Menudo is really NSYNC is really One Direction. Eventually, society just craves an old flavor and it’s mixed anew. The History of Film is the latest archival infographic from HistoryShots. (Ed note: See a different take, Martin Scorsese’s top 85 films, here.) Before he could build the graphic, though, designer Larry Gormley had to narrow down thousands of candidates, collected over two years, to a more manageable figure. With the list in hand, Gormley began plotting. “The original feature-length movies were dramas, then came adventure/action films, then Westerns, etc. It’s a surprisingly effective visual. If you’d like a print of the graphic for your own, 43”x22” posters start at $34. Buy it here.

The Best Movies From A-Z To say this list was difficult to compile would be a vast understatement. We set out to decide the best movie for each letter of the alphabet, and to do that, we had to make some very tough decisions. Star Wars didn’t make the cut. A: Apocalypse Now An insanely talented cast and one of the greatest war movies ever. B: Back to the Future A time-travelling DeLorean? C: City of God The fact that City of God is based on a true story, makes this film of gang warfare in Rio de Janeiro even more insane. D: The Dark Knight The best superhero movie ever made. E: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Yeah it’s a love story, but it’s one of the most original and smartest love stories ever concocted. F: Forrest Gump Only an epic movie like Forrest Gump could knock off the likes of Fight Club and Fargo. G: The Godfather: Part II The Corleone story somehow got even better in the second Godfather film. H: The Hangover Exactly why we both love and hate Las Vegas. See I-P » Pages: 1 2 3

Ancient World INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS - HOME World History for Us All Infographic: The Freak Anatomy of Surfing’s Thor “The guy is a beast, he has no fat on his body--he’s like Dolph Lundgren from Rocky IV! His presence is totally unlike any other surfer. It was like meeting a professional basketball or football player. Because of this, we decided to compare him to other world class athletes and animals, etc.” That’s Matt Titone from ITAL/C. And when he had a chance to photograph professional surfer Owen Wright, he didn’t want to go the traditional “surf porn” route. “We kept referring to it as an anatomy lesson from a high school or college science teacher. And they nailed it. If you’d like to see more projects/torsos like this one, you can support a related Kickstarter campaign here. Anatomy of Owen Wright

The 14 Best Martial Arts Movies Every Guy Should See Few things are as delectably enjoyable as martial arts films. You can turn most on half way through and still get glued to your couch. You coast along with the plot (as awful as it can be at times) eagerly anticipating the next fight scene. Great martial arts flicks, however, combine awesome combat with a story that actually makes it worth the down time between roundhouse kicks. Ip Man The fight scenes in Ip Man are so devastatingly awesome, you’ll want to start training in Wing Chun as soon as the credits roll. Hero For as awesome as Jet Li is, a lot of his films fall short for us. Enter the Dragon Not including any Bruce Lee movies on this list would be ridiculous. Ong-Bak Some of the kicks in Ong-Bak will leave you checking your own jaw to see if it got shattered to pieces from some sort of weird osmosis. Brotherhood of the Wolf When you think French movies, you think passionate romances, artsy flicks that go over your head, and plenty of baguettes. 13 Assassins The Man From Nowhere

Trailblazing The story of the Royal Society is the story of modern science. Our origins lie in a 1660 ‘invisible college’ of natural philosophers and physicians. Today we are the UK’s national science academy and a Fellowship of some 1,600 of the world’s most eminent scientists. Nullius in verba The very first ‘learned society’ meeting on 28 November 1660 followed a lecture at Gresham College by Christopher Wren. Joined by other leading polymaths including Robert Boyle and John Wilkins, the group soon received royal approval, and from 1663 it would be known as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Royal Society's motto 'Nullius in verba' is taken to mean 'take nobody's word for it'. Advancements and adventure The early years of the Society saw revolutionary advancements in the conduct and communication of science. We published Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, and Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment demonstrating the electrical nature of lightning. Independence

FilmmakerIQ.com Interactive Album of Mediaeval Palaeography Introduction Mediaeval Palaeography is a science in its own right, and a long learning process is necessary to master it. It is not only the art of reading writings of the past, but it also encompasses the history of writing, the analysis of forms and contexts of writing (material culture, social History, etc.). The purpose of this interactive album, consisting in a collection of transcription exercises, is not to be a substitute for a proper learning of this science, but simply to allow students or amateurs (genealogists, History enthusiasts, etc.) to train themselves in the practical aspect of palaeography, that is reading manuscript texts. To learn how to use the exercises, you can read the help page. Notice: this website is available in English for the most part. 15th c.The famous "cat paws" on commercial correspondence in the Dubrovnik State Archive: discover the text underneath the paws! 13th c.Excerpt of the Secretum secretorum