The obsessive compulsive in me can’t help but organize things in pointless lists. Ever make a mental note of things that share some obscure relational similarity? I do. I can’t quit. Here’s an example: movies with numerical film titles. 1

In the interest of keeping this list reasonable, I’m not counting foreign films or sequels. As a general rule, most sequels suck anyway, with few exceptions (the Godfather, Indiana Jones, and original Star Wars trilogies come to mind). Bonus points for titles with two distinct numbers (example: “Nine to Five”). Partial credit for titles with non-whole numbers (example: “Nine and 1/2 Weeks).

For proof of some of these films’ existence, I’ve provided extensive hyperlinked evidence to the great online database of film, Internet Movie Database. This is a fact that only further proves my obsessive compulsiveness, don’t you think?

See the bottom of the page for some final analysis of all this mess.

x < 0

x = 0

(0 < x < 1)

x = 1

x = 2

x = 3

(3 < x < 4)

x = 4

x = 5

x = 6

x = 7

x = 8

x = 9

x = 10

x = 11

x = 12

x = 13

x = 14

x = 15

x = 16

x = 17

(20 < x < 50)

(50 < x < 100)

(100 < x < 500)

(500 < x < 5000)

 (5000 < x < ∞)

Analysis

Curiously, all of this data roughly fits a normal curve (otherwise known as the “bell curve”):

…where the x-axis represents the number in the movie title, and the y-axis represents the number of instances each number occurs in different movie titles.

Footnotes

  1. Post thumbnail is taken from the opening credits of Errol Morris’s documentary The Fog of War
  2. Partial credit! Fractional or irrational numbers
  3. ref: 2
  4. Bonus! Two numbers in a single title.
  5. ref: 2
  6. ref: 2
  7. ref: 4
  8. ref: 4
  9. ref: 4
  10. ref: 4
  11. ref: 2
  12. ref: 4
  13. ref: 2

Join the Conversation

6 Comments

  1. i know this may necessitate a new graph, but the spanish teacher in me cannot help but suggest a title for the x=15 category (seeing as it is currently blank). it is not a foreign film, but it is about a foreign culture. it is called Sweet 15 and is about a Hispanic-American family and their daughter’s Quinceañera.

    Also, have you considered adding the movie Pie into the x=3.14 category (it is a movie that might be worth its own category), or generating a new category for 3< x < 4 (did I state that little math ditty correctly? it's been a long time since this spanish teacher did anything remotely resembling an algebraic equation...)

    1. What a great idea about Pi! How in the world did I miss that one? I’m supposed to be the math nerd. And what a great film, too! Yep, you got the nomenclature right. 🙂

      I’ll add both, Patty. Thanks!

  2. too hilarious.

    the formulaic graphing is enough to make me laugh out loud.

    maybe you can get a theorem named after you. The Lund Theorem. Kind of has a nice ring to it. Movie-goers everywhere would finally have a practical application for math.

    😉

  3. I am aware this is over a decade later, thought I would throw out ‘Five Easy Pieces’ (1970) featuring Jack Nicholson.

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