An Education

Because of boredom, madness, pretention, and a lack of purpose now that college and TV programming has ended, I’ve decided to systematically buff up my film history.  In my usual dorky Ivy fashion, I’ve created a list of 100-ish movies that I think I really need to see. Some of these movies have entered into canon, some of them are of genres I admire and are good though not great, some of them are often talked of and I feel dumb saying nothing; most of them seem like they would give me a good two hours and beef up my brain.

            I’ve curated the list from a few sources, mostly from the web. What initially inspired the list, and has provided the most titles for it, is the series of “Top Five” lists from Filmspotting’s podcast (which is really the Top Ten, as the two hosts each provide five films).  Sample “Top Five” lists include:

Filmspotting #20: Sci-Fi Movies

5. Dark City & Back to the Future

4. Escape from New York & Close Encounters of the Third Kind

3. Brother from Another Planet  & Blade Runner

2. The Final Countdown & Starman

1. Blade Runner & 12 Monkeys

Filmspotting #114: Mindbenders

5. Donnie Darko & THX-1138

4. THX-1138 & Primer

3. Brick & La Jetee

2. The Conversation & Adaptation

1. Mulholland Drive  

I haven't added every single movie in the Filmspotting Top 5s, just the ones that I felt I really had to watch after hearing the hosts talk about the movies.


Other extensive sources are the AFI Top 100, the 1,000 Best Films according to "They Shoot Films, Don't They?", and the friends I've told about my crazy spreadsheet, which I may post.

           In addition to watching a shitload of movies, and perhaps to add a shade of justification to the crazy endeavor, I want to write my reflections about most, if not all, of the films I watch.  As Matty Ballgame of Filmspotting fame says, "I watch movies to learn about life, to learn about myself; even bad movies make me think."  Also, watching movies is fun.

I can't be sure what I'll gain from this, except for the joy of watching and thinking about movies, and the joy of avoiding real human contact in lieu of people, even if they're damaged people, that will never, ever leave me.

Since the beginning of this project, I've seen a few movies that I hope I'll be writing about soon: Elephant, Prometheus, Casablanca, Magic Mike, Southland Tales, Raising Arizona, Notes on a Scandal, The Skin I Live in, Meek's Crossing, The Beaver, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, Marie Antoinette, and Lars and the Real Girl. I've also re-watched Drop Dead Fred, Tie me Up! Tie me Down!, and TiMER.  I also re-watched the end of Toy Story 3, which convinced me that not only is it a crime-noir, a heist movie, and a surrealist dystopia, it's also by far the best of the trilogy.

So!  On to a life of time-wasting. I might upload the spreadsheet in order to receive recommendations on the egregious omissions I've made.