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Shopping list (Photo credit: Ex-Smith)

I admit it: I love to make lists. My desk and kitchen counter are strewn with lists scratched out on the backs of envelopes, in notebooks, and on little colorful sticky notes. It’s not pretty, but I can’t stop.

And a very bad thing recently happened:  I discovered the ongoing stream of film lists on IMDb.com. Uh-oh.

Some of the lists are incredibly odd and confounding, like this morning’s post of a “list” of two — yes, two — action movies. Does that even count as a list? Does it mean that the lister thinks there are only two action movies worth watching? I can only shake my head at the meaning of this.

And there are other banal lists like, “5 Films I Want to Watch.” I say, just go ahead and watch them, sir, and don’t bother me with that information.

But nestled inside these random lists you can find some lovely little gems, in categories like “Hopelessly Romantic” list and “Top Bollywood” or “Movies That Changed My Life.”

In the right-hand column of the list page, there is a helpful list of categories for the lists, which includes “Lists by IMDb Editors” (a nice resource for lists from Sight & Sounds, the awards, the critics, etc.), and films by categories, such as “Film Noir,” “Horror,” “Wesetern,” and all the rest.

And best of all, you get create and post your own lists, however wacky or insightful they may be. I must get back to them….