You've probably never heard of Gwilym Hughes, but he held one of the coolest, most enviable records of all time. The Welshman, who recently died at age 65, had watched over 28,000 movies (a world record, according to Guinness) during the course of his life.
The BBC hosts a buzzy article on the world's ultimate movie buff. The first film he ever watched was "King Solomon's Mines" in 1953, but his all-time number-one flick was "Lawrence of Arabia," starring Peter O'Toole.
Despite averaging well over a movie per day during his 65 years, Hughes was careful to point out that he wasn't obsessed with movies. "I watch films from about 9pm until about 12. Sometimes I could set up one on the televisions in the study. It works out about 10 to 14 films a week," he said. He never gets bored though. "I still watch every film with great keenness," he said.
So, what did Hughes think of modern movies? An article from The Free Library quotes the cinephile as saying, "My taste is a bit old-fashioned and I wouldn't cross the road to see some of today's movies." Amen to that. His fascination with films started when he was a young boy with an illness that left him in a hospital for over two years.
A blog from Dorkosphere.com explains that Hughes documented every movie he watched, keeping notebooks with his thoughts. According to Dorkosphere, Hughes' other favorite movies (besides "Lawrence of Arabia") were "The Third Man," "Zulu," "The Dam Busters," and "The Searchers."
If you haven't seen those movies, you may want to check them out. After all, there's no bigger authority on the greatest movies than the person who watched more than 28,000 of them.
The BBC hosts a buzzy article on the world's ultimate movie buff. The first film he ever watched was "King Solomon's Mines" in 1953, but his all-time number-one flick was "Lawrence of Arabia," starring Peter O'Toole.
Despite averaging well over a movie per day during his 65 years, Hughes was careful to point out that he wasn't obsessed with movies. "I watch films from about 9pm until about 12. Sometimes I could set up one on the televisions in the study. It works out about 10 to 14 films a week," he said. He never gets bored though. "I still watch every film with great keenness," he said.
So, what did Hughes think of modern movies? An article from The Free Library quotes the cinephile as saying, "My taste is a bit old-fashioned and I wouldn't cross the road to see some of today's movies." Amen to that. His fascination with films started when he was a young boy with an illness that left him in a hospital for over two years.
A blog from Dorkosphere.com explains that Hughes documented every movie he watched, keeping notebooks with his thoughts. According to Dorkosphere, Hughes' other favorite movies (besides "Lawrence of Arabia") were "The Third Man," "Zulu," "The Dam Busters," and "The Searchers."
If you haven't seen those movies, you may want to check them out. After all, there's no bigger authority on the greatest movies than the person who watched more than 28,000 of them.
