The theme is simple: They're movies I've always wanted to see, but for some reason haven't yet. In some cases, they're films you won't BELIEVE I haven't seen yet. Some are film history classics, some are cult films. Some have been heralded as among the best ever made, others are just guilty pleasures I promised myself despite their lack of objective quality. Some I've had on my list for decades, while some are films that have piqued my interest just in the last few weeks. Many are films I keep hearing or reading about, that have influenced other works I love, or that friends keep going on about, always with that surprised tone when they are reminded I haven't seen it. There are even films in there I HAVE seen, but of which I have such a vague recollection, it's possible I never saw the entire thing all those years ago. They might be of any genre, from any era or country. The one thing they have in common is my pledge to track them down and finally watch them, within the year. So here's the list, in no particular order:
Forbidden Planet
Babe
Rudy
Raise the Red Lantern
The Third Man
Escape from New York
Big Trouble in Little China
Y Tu Mama Tambièn
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Do the Right Thing
Lady Snowblood
The Producers
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Blue Velvet
Bonnie & Clyde
Darkman
The Phantom
Kumiko the Treasure Hunter
Road House
Great Expectations (1998)
Slacker
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Shaft
West Side Story
The Maltese Falcon
Roman Holiday
The School of Rock
Rebel Without a Cause
Jerry Maguire
The Hudsucker Proxy
Election
Stoker
Frequency
The Jerk
My Dinner with Andre
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
The Outsiders
American Graffiti
Good Bye Lenin!
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Day of the Jackal
Captain Blood
Slap Shot
Tango & Cash
The Fly (1958)
The Thin Man
Rollerball
Shin Godzilla
The Love Witch
Les parapluies de Cherbourg
If, for some reason, I'm unable to track down any of these, acceptable replacements include:
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
A Better Tomorrow (1989)
For a Fistful of Dollars
Dazed and Confused
Twisted Nerve
Crybaby
You'll be able to track the project through every Sunday's This Week in Geek column. Obviously, this isn't how I'll reach 3000 checks because I'm watching lots of other things all the time. That was never the point. The point, really, is to come out of this with my movie culture enriched. One might question if it really needed the help.
What do YOU have to watch sooner than later?
Comments
Also, yes, I absolutely can not believe you haven't seen these. Glad to know you're open to new experiences.
Hell, I've never seen Schindler's List or Avatar, so I guess everyone has their own "I can't believe you haven't seen ______!" list.
Mike W.
We do all have our own gaps. Classic Hollywood is one of mine.
I'm still working through as much of the IMDb Top 1000 as I can, though I've hit an impasse with the Top 250 - about a dozen left, most of which I can't find anywhere in any of the library catalogues I have access to. For the top 1000, a bit over 200 left, a few of which I have on hand and just haven't got around to. Casino in particular, which was a blind buy from before I developed my distaste for most of Scorsese's crime movies.
I'm also in the habit of keeping track of movies that are on the verge of making it into the Top lists, with a minimum of 25000 votes.