I am not going to publish the full list of the 3800 movies that I want to see. But to document my journey so far, here are the 22 films I have seen since the list was completed, and the list it was on.
The Mummy (1999) Need to See II
Little Women (1933) Need to See I
Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979) Need to See II
Flash Gordon (1980) Need to See III
The Music Box (1932) Need to See I
42 Up (1999) Need to See II
Rip Van Winkle (1896) Need to See I
Westinghouse Works (1904) Need to See I
The Matrix Revolutions (2003) 2003 List
Cool Hand Luke (1967) Need to See I
Superman II (Richard Donner cut)(2006) 2006 List
Logan's Run (1976) Need to See II
Rollerball (1975) Need to See III
The Thing From Another World (1951) Need to See I
Star Trek II (1982) Need to See III
City Lights (1931) Need to See I
The Seven Year Itch (1955) Need to See II
An American In Paris (1951) Need to See I
Harvey (1950) Need to See I
American Graffiti (1973) Need to See I
Sherlock Jr. (1924) Need to See I
On The Town (1949) Need to See I
Monday, May 31, 2010
The movie list
In 2006, I put together a list of the films I had not seen that I most wanted to see. Or more accurately, three lists. It was inspired mostly by the book 1001 Movie You Should See Before You Die. The number of films on that list I has seen was in the high 300s. I wanted to see more. So I started off to make lists.
My cutoff was last century. Any film from 2000 forward was not on the lists. Instead, I made a general list of 100 films missed each year since 2000, after a couple of years to reflect. At this date, the last of the yearly lists in 2007.
Also, since I already had a Disney list, no Disney film was on the list. However, since the Disney list concluded at January 1, 2000, Disney films can be on the yearly lists.
The second list, also 1000 films, included notable films from each year, primarily Oscar nominees, with a few box office hits sprinkled in.
The third list was just my curiousity factor. Films I an interest in, or was just curious, or something notable, or just what I pleased. Also 1000 films.
I am not crazy. With the yearly lists, these films number 3800. I'll never see them all. But its a fun goal.
But I haven't been heading to the goal much. From the end of 2006 to the end of 2009, I had only watched 22 films. So part of my idea behind this blog is to motivate myself to watch more of these films. So I will note these films, none of which I have seen, under the new label movie list.
My cutoff was last century. Any film from 2000 forward was not on the lists. Instead, I made a general list of 100 films missed each year since 2000, after a couple of years to reflect. At this date, the last of the yearly lists in 2007.
Also, since I already had a Disney list, no Disney film was on the list. However, since the Disney list concluded at January 1, 2000, Disney films can be on the yearly lists.
The second list, also 1000 films, included notable films from each year, primarily Oscar nominees, with a few box office hits sprinkled in.
The third list was just my curiousity factor. Films I an interest in, or was just curious, or something notable, or just what I pleased. Also 1000 films.
I am not crazy. With the yearly lists, these films number 3800. I'll never see them all. But its a fun goal.
But I haven't been heading to the goal much. From the end of 2006 to the end of 2009, I had only watched 22 films. So part of my idea behind this blog is to motivate myself to watch more of these films. So I will note these films, none of which I have seen, under the new label movie list.
Sunday 5/30/10
PIXAR'S GREATEST
I purchased Pixar's Greatest Hits album, a compilation of its greatest music through Up. A few random thoughts:
1. There are nine songs. If you listened to them, I think most people would need four or five picks before idenitfying the one that won the best song Oscar, If I Din't Have You from Monsters Inc. I think all of the other nominated songs are better (You've Got A Friend In Me, When She Loved Me, Out Town, and Down to Earth).
2. The score for a bug's life is underrated. There's some really good score cues from that movie. So is the song Our Town. It beautifully sums up the themes of the film.
3. Someone needs to explain to me again why The Incredibles was not nominated for score. That may be the best music on the album.
4. I love Slumdog Millionaire, but listening to the beauty of the arrangements in the score for Wall-E, it clearly in my ming should have beat Slumdog Millionaire for the Oscar for original score.
5. Yes, Pixar's writing is better than anyone else in animation. But listening to the care put into the music, well, there's a reason they are the best.
SEASON ENDERS
All of my fiction TV shows finished the season this week. I enjoyed two of them as normal (Parenthood and The Big Bang Theory) but it was Chuck that packed a wallop. They really know how to finish a season.
ANOTHER SEASON ENDER
The Springfield Thunder U-11 boys season concluded its season 7-1 with a 6-4 vistory over SC Alliance, winning its division this year. As assistant coach, it has been fun to see the players improve this year, and I look forward to the fall season. I also note the one game we lost was the one game I missed this season, so obviously I was the key to the season. Right?
I purchased Pixar's Greatest Hits album, a compilation of its greatest music through Up. A few random thoughts:
1. There are nine songs. If you listened to them, I think most people would need four or five picks before idenitfying the one that won the best song Oscar, If I Din't Have You from Monsters Inc. I think all of the other nominated songs are better (You've Got A Friend In Me, When She Loved Me, Out Town, and Down to Earth).
2. The score for a bug's life is underrated. There's some really good score cues from that movie. So is the song Our Town. It beautifully sums up the themes of the film.
3. Someone needs to explain to me again why The Incredibles was not nominated for score. That may be the best music on the album.
4. I love Slumdog Millionaire, but listening to the beauty of the arrangements in the score for Wall-E, it clearly in my ming should have beat Slumdog Millionaire for the Oscar for original score.
5. Yes, Pixar's writing is better than anyone else in animation. But listening to the care put into the music, well, there's a reason they are the best.
SEASON ENDERS
All of my fiction TV shows finished the season this week. I enjoyed two of them as normal (Parenthood and The Big Bang Theory) but it was Chuck that packed a wallop. They really know how to finish a season.
ANOTHER SEASON ENDER
The Springfield Thunder U-11 boys season concluded its season 7-1 with a 6-4 vistory over SC Alliance, winning its division this year. As assistant coach, it has been fun to see the players improve this year, and I look forward to the fall season. I also note the one game we lost was the one game I missed this season, so obviously I was the key to the season. Right?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
With some of the hype around the classics, it can be hard to watch them without prejudging. It's a princess movie, it's a classic story, it's beautiful.
It IS beautiful. The backgrounds may the most detailed work Disney's ever done. It's like fine art, really. You can spend most of the running time of the film just admiring the backgrounds.
That's a good thing, because in the foreground is not one of Disney's best works. Let's start with the main character. What is Princess Aurora known for? She has a lovely singing voice. And she sleeps for a long time. And that's about it. She doesn't do anything. She is completely unmemorable.
Which is more than I can say for Prince Whathisname. He is even less memorable. The king is so overdone as comic relief that he's unwatchable. Short of the fairies, who aren't bad, and of course the glorious Maleficent, the characters are too one dimensional.
The other major flaw is the story. Princess falls asleep. Is kissed. Wakes up. This is not exactly a feature length idea. And the attempt to make it a love story by adding some secret romance just doesn't work.
So despite some incredible animation, and a stunning music, this all adds up to rare Disney animated film I can't quite recommend. Grade: C
It IS beautiful. The backgrounds may the most detailed work Disney's ever done. It's like fine art, really. You can spend most of the running time of the film just admiring the backgrounds.
That's a good thing, because in the foreground is not one of Disney's best works. Let's start with the main character. What is Princess Aurora known for? She has a lovely singing voice. And she sleeps for a long time. And that's about it. She doesn't do anything. She is completely unmemorable.
Which is more than I can say for Prince Whathisname. He is even less memorable. The king is so overdone as comic relief that he's unwatchable. Short of the fairies, who aren't bad, and of course the glorious Maleficent, the characters are too one dimensional.
The other major flaw is the story. Princess falls asleep. Is kissed. Wakes up. This is not exactly a feature length idea. And the attempt to make it a love story by adding some secret romance just doesn't work.
So despite some incredible animation, and a stunning music, this all adds up to rare Disney animated film I can't quite recommend. Grade: C
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The two that don't belong
Long, long ago I posted that I was going to write on each of the ten nominees for best picture at the Oscars. Then I didn't post. I also haven't ever posted a ten best list for 2009.
When I do ten best lists, the eligibibility is based around where I live, not New York and LA. To make my list, it has to play in the Dayton area for the first time during the calendar year. Amazingly, all ten of the nominees did that this year. And when I write about the best of 2009, I will do it in the format I have always done: the top ten, ranked, and the second ten, alphabetized.
Eight of the ten nominees will be on my list of the 20 best of 2009, so will get mentioned then. Those eight deserved their nominations, in my humble opinion. This post is to address the other two films.
The only nominee that I've watched only once is The Blind Side. It's a nice movie, a good movie even. I'll stop short of great. To get to great the film needs to give me some insight. While an entertaining portayal of Leigh Anne Twohy, the film never never seems to understand what makes Michael Oher tick. And I still don't know why the daughter seemed to disappear from the film at times.
Bullock is good, but she would not have gotten my vote for the best actress vote. For the record I would have voted best actress to Carey Mulligan, and also prefer Meryl Streep and Gabourney Sidibe. But Bullock is a fine actress, and there have been far worse wins.
But I understand the love for The Blind Side. It is a feel good film. It is well made. But I think it start a bit short of great.
Starting well short of great is Inglourious Basterds. Seeing it a second time, the flaws were more apparent. Let's start with the good. Both Melanie Laurent and Chritoph Waltz give fantastic performances. Waltz deserved his Oscar and Laurent should have been nominated. Unfortunately, they are not the leads.
The title characters are poorly drawn, to say the least. Who are they? Well, there's the leader, who's most famous trait is that he is played by Brad Pitt. Then there's that guy with a baseball bat, the guy who can't speak Italian, the guy they busted out of prison. Anyone know the names of these characters? Yeah, me neither.
I'm sorry, their scenes don't work. And it is frustrating, because the stuff with Walt and Laurent is so well done, and so compelling, that I just wanted the Baterds off my screen and to get back to the heroine whose story intrigued me, and the villain I despised, but was entertaining at the same time.
That stuff is worth the price of admission, But the Basterds' torturing of Germans or struggling with accents is frustrating the first time and grating the second. That's a huge whopping big flaw in a film being nominated as one of the year's best. Too big for me to nominate it. Hell, I can barely recommend it.
When I do ten best lists, the eligibibility is based around where I live, not New York and LA. To make my list, it has to play in the Dayton area for the first time during the calendar year. Amazingly, all ten of the nominees did that this year. And when I write about the best of 2009, I will do it in the format I have always done: the top ten, ranked, and the second ten, alphabetized.
Eight of the ten nominees will be on my list of the 20 best of 2009, so will get mentioned then. Those eight deserved their nominations, in my humble opinion. This post is to address the other two films.
The only nominee that I've watched only once is The Blind Side. It's a nice movie, a good movie even. I'll stop short of great. To get to great the film needs to give me some insight. While an entertaining portayal of Leigh Anne Twohy, the film never never seems to understand what makes Michael Oher tick. And I still don't know why the daughter seemed to disappear from the film at times.
Bullock is good, but she would not have gotten my vote for the best actress vote. For the record I would have voted best actress to Carey Mulligan, and also prefer Meryl Streep and Gabourney Sidibe. But Bullock is a fine actress, and there have been far worse wins.
But I understand the love for The Blind Side. It is a feel good film. It is well made. But I think it start a bit short of great.
Starting well short of great is Inglourious Basterds. Seeing it a second time, the flaws were more apparent. Let's start with the good. Both Melanie Laurent and Chritoph Waltz give fantastic performances. Waltz deserved his Oscar and Laurent should have been nominated. Unfortunately, they are not the leads.
The title characters are poorly drawn, to say the least. Who are they? Well, there's the leader, who's most famous trait is that he is played by Brad Pitt. Then there's that guy with a baseball bat, the guy who can't speak Italian, the guy they busted out of prison. Anyone know the names of these characters? Yeah, me neither.
I'm sorry, their scenes don't work. And it is frustrating, because the stuff with Walt and Laurent is so well done, and so compelling, that I just wanted the Baterds off my screen and to get back to the heroine whose story intrigued me, and the villain I despised, but was entertaining at the same time.
That stuff is worth the price of admission, But the Basterds' torturing of Germans or struggling with accents is frustrating the first time and grating the second. That's a huge whopping big flaw in a film being nominated as one of the year's best. Too big for me to nominate it. Hell, I can barely recommend it.
Sunday 5/23/10
I'm back and posting after awhile off. One day I'll look back at all these stops and starts in the past year and laugh. I hope.
A SHREK FAILURE
Did anyone want to see Shrek 4? Really? Because I thought the first was OK but overrated, the second was mediocre at best. and the third watchable only for the body switch antics between Donkey and Puss in Boots.
It amazes me that Hollywood so frequently forgets the rule of sequels, that the film generally performs in relation to the goodwill toward the last installment. Did Dreamworks not realize no one liked the third Shrek? With all the hype, and the tie-ins, they won't lose their shirts, but I am completely amused by the revelation that Shrek 4 will almost certainly not earn as much as How to Train Your Dragon (at least domestically). And that amuses me.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF FAILURES...
Did anyone see McGruber failing as miserably as it did? I guess everyone else is as sick of Saturday Night Live spin-offs as I am. There's Blues Brothers, Wayne's World, and after that, don't bother me.
THE BEST PART OF SURVIVOR
If you watch Survivor and haven't been to the CBS website, you haven't seen the best part of the season. The Ponderosa clips, showing the jury out of the game, has been a lot of fun this season. Coach actually comes across like a nice guy, not the pompous fool he's been in the game. Courtney, Coach, and JT started a band, and the first video is also on the site. It's much more entertaining than the actual show, especially since Russell hasn't been there. If you are a fan of the show, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
SOCCER SEASON CONCLUDING
My son's soccer team, the Springfield Thunder U11 team, which I also assistant coach, concludes its season today. We are 6-1, and have clinched a tie for first place. We play the second place team, Shelby County Alliance, today at their place, and a win or a tie gives us first alone.
Both teams were 5-1 going into last week's game at our place, but we saved our best effort of the year for the biggest game. We were up 4-0 at half, and coasted to an 8-2 victory. To put that score into perspective. It is the biggest margin of victory of any game in the division this year. To do that against the second place team, a good team, is impressive.
Maybe part of it was we were motivated after a disappointing result at the Marietta tournament last week. And speaking of that...
I WILL NEVER USE HOTWIRE AGAIN
I used Hotwire to book my room in Marietta, Ohio. Never again. I booked a room for two adults, and ended up with a single double bed. Ever tried sleeping with your father in a double bed? I ended up on the floor. I also ended up walking around the streets of Marietta at 4 am.
My anger at Hotwire is that they reported when I booked (and paid) that I had a $95 roon. I did my homework. The $95 room is a double. Singles are $80. I was told I had a $95 room. I did not get one. When I attempted to point this to Hotwire, they defended themselves by saying two adults could sleep comfortably (yes, they actually said comfortably) in a double bed. Well, not these two adults.
The kicker is, all Hotwire needed to do was say, "Why yes, that is a $15 difference. Let us make that up to you by offering you a coupon for $15 off your next purchase." Would have kept me as a customer. But they obviously don't understand customer service.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Hotwire won't get that chance.
POST #50
According to the counter on my blog, this is my 50th post. While not quite what I was hoping for, I guess the best thing I can say is that that is 50 more posts than the eight years before it. If you don't count all my comments on my friend Eric's blogs.
A SHREK FAILURE
Did anyone want to see Shrek 4? Really? Because I thought the first was OK but overrated, the second was mediocre at best. and the third watchable only for the body switch antics between Donkey and Puss in Boots.
It amazes me that Hollywood so frequently forgets the rule of sequels, that the film generally performs in relation to the goodwill toward the last installment. Did Dreamworks not realize no one liked the third Shrek? With all the hype, and the tie-ins, they won't lose their shirts, but I am completely amused by the revelation that Shrek 4 will almost certainly not earn as much as How to Train Your Dragon (at least domestically). And that amuses me.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF FAILURES...
Did anyone see McGruber failing as miserably as it did? I guess everyone else is as sick of Saturday Night Live spin-offs as I am. There's Blues Brothers, Wayne's World, and after that, don't bother me.
THE BEST PART OF SURVIVOR
If you watch Survivor and haven't been to the CBS website, you haven't seen the best part of the season. The Ponderosa clips, showing the jury out of the game, has been a lot of fun this season. Coach actually comes across like a nice guy, not the pompous fool he's been in the game. Courtney, Coach, and JT started a band, and the first video is also on the site. It's much more entertaining than the actual show, especially since Russell hasn't been there. If you are a fan of the show, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
SOCCER SEASON CONCLUDING
My son's soccer team, the Springfield Thunder U11 team, which I also assistant coach, concludes its season today. We are 6-1, and have clinched a tie for first place. We play the second place team, Shelby County Alliance, today at their place, and a win or a tie gives us first alone.
Both teams were 5-1 going into last week's game at our place, but we saved our best effort of the year for the biggest game. We were up 4-0 at half, and coasted to an 8-2 victory. To put that score into perspective. It is the biggest margin of victory of any game in the division this year. To do that against the second place team, a good team, is impressive.
Maybe part of it was we were motivated after a disappointing result at the Marietta tournament last week. And speaking of that...
I WILL NEVER USE HOTWIRE AGAIN
I used Hotwire to book my room in Marietta, Ohio. Never again. I booked a room for two adults, and ended up with a single double bed. Ever tried sleeping with your father in a double bed? I ended up on the floor. I also ended up walking around the streets of Marietta at 4 am.
My anger at Hotwire is that they reported when I booked (and paid) that I had a $95 roon. I did my homework. The $95 room is a double. Singles are $80. I was told I had a $95 room. I did not get one. When I attempted to point this to Hotwire, they defended themselves by saying two adults could sleep comfortably (yes, they actually said comfortably) in a double bed. Well, not these two adults.
The kicker is, all Hotwire needed to do was say, "Why yes, that is a $15 difference. Let us make that up to you by offering you a coupon for $15 off your next purchase." Would have kept me as a customer. But they obviously don't understand customer service.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Hotwire won't get that chance.
POST #50
According to the counter on my blog, this is my 50th post. While not quite what I was hoping for, I guess the best thing I can say is that that is 50 more posts than the eight years before it. If you don't count all my comments on my friend Eric's blogs.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Several people have noted with many superhero movies the second movie is the best. The obvious examples are Spiderman 2 and The Dark Knight. The theory goes that the first movie has to provide all the back story of how the superhero became the superhero. The second movie can just let loose with the conflict from the beginning.
Except Marvel is not interested in letting Iron Man just be Iron Man. We're still getting more backstory. And while the backstory for Iron Man was well done in the first film. I am less interested in the back story for Thor, Nick Fury, and the other characters which are coming. It bogs down the movie.
Which ultimately makes Iron Man 2 a bit of a frustrating experience. Because the elements for a great movie are there. Robert Downey Jr and Gwynneth Paltrow are as good as before, not surprisingly given their talents. Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johanssen and Sam Rockwell are all interesting actors. There are some very good action sequences, especially when Rourke's villain disrupts a car race in Monaco.
But there should have been more of that. For example, the movie opens with Senate testimony, in which Downey declares he has privatized world peace. Instead, we should have seen him creating world peace. Show us, not tell us.
There is enough here to recommend the film. It is well made, as was the first. But the flaws make it a good film, not a great one. Grade: B-
Except Marvel is not interested in letting Iron Man just be Iron Man. We're still getting more backstory. And while the backstory for Iron Man was well done in the first film. I am less interested in the back story for Thor, Nick Fury, and the other characters which are coming. It bogs down the movie.
Which ultimately makes Iron Man 2 a bit of a frustrating experience. Because the elements for a great movie are there. Robert Downey Jr and Gwynneth Paltrow are as good as before, not surprisingly given their talents. Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johanssen and Sam Rockwell are all interesting actors. There are some very good action sequences, especially when Rourke's villain disrupts a car race in Monaco.
But there should have been more of that. For example, the movie opens with Senate testimony, in which Downey declares he has privatized world peace. Instead, we should have seen him creating world peace. Show us, not tell us.
There is enough here to recommend the film. It is well made, as was the first. But the flaws make it a good film, not a great one. Grade: B-
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