Gone, but haven't forgotten

Hey guys. I just wanted to swing in here and slap up a quick post to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about the blog. I still have every intention of moving forward on the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". A couple of things I want to address real quick:

1) Right off the bat, I want to say that the themes idea has been scrapped by me and when I do get back to the pages of the "1001" book, I will be picking up right where I left off, smack dab at the beginning of the 1940s. I think that the themes idea was a good one, but I also feel that it would be kind of like taking a shortcut and watching things that I really want to see up front. I want to continue to glide through the book in chronological order and experience the evolution of film.

2) When I started this project back in September, I was unemployed and have been unemployed through the entire time that I've been writing this blog. However, yesterday I was able to land a new job and thus, when I do return to the pages of the book, the reviews probably won't be coming in as fast and furious as they once were. I want to give myself some time to adapt to my new schedule and see where watching movies would fit in the best. That being said, I'm probably going to be gone from the blog for a little while longer, just so that I can see what happens with my new job and like I said, adapt to my new schedule.

With those things being said, I hope that when I return I still have the same followers and commenters that I did when I left and it shouldn't be too much longer now and I'll be back, knocking out movies...but not just any movies...the 1001 Movies That I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die!

May 12, 2010 7:05am

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Revision to the Themes Idea

Just wanted to slap up a quick post and inform anyone who's reading (and myself, when I read this down the road sometime) of the slight changes I've made to the "themes" idea, that I came up with the other day.

Instead of doing random themes, I've decided to make every theme go by director's. There are now six different categories for me to choose from, they are:

CATEGORY #1: This category contains ten films and are all films from director's who directed only one movie from the book or have one movie left, not counting what I've watched thus far.

CATEGORY #2: This category contains ten films and they are comprised of five different director's, each who have directed two films from the book or have two movies left, not counting what I've watched thus far.

CATEGORY #3: This category contains nine films and they are comprised of three different director's, each who have directed three films from the book or have three movies left, not counting what I've watched thus far.

CATEGORY #4: This category contains eight films and they are comprised of two different director's, each who have directed four films from the book or have four movies left, not counting what I've watched thus far.

CATEGORY #5: This category contains ten films and they are comprised of two different director's, each who have directed five films from the book or have five movies left, not counting what I've watched thus far.

STANDALONE CATEGORY: These categories are reserved for director's who have directed six or more films. Names include: Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, Billy Wilder, Woody Allen and Alfred Hitchcock. **NOTE** Alfred Hitchcock was given a special category containing fifteen films, the number of movies he has remaining in the "1001" book.

So that's the list of categories. My wife took her day off to help me categorize all of the films, and every category is now set in stone. I can pick whichever category I choose, but when a category is chosen, I must watch all films from that category, unless of course, they're unfound.

I know I said this the last time and didn't come through, but I WILL be starting on this new method, probably tomorrow and we're still going to kick things off with Ingmar Bergman films and thus knock off our first standalone category.

EDIT: On second thought guys, I think the break that I was taking from the "1001" book, was a much needed one and I've decided to carry it out for a little while longer. I'll certainly return to this blog and the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book at some point, but right now I just need a break from the pages of that book. I really pushed myself in January and February to watch as many thing as I could from the book and I think I'm just "booked" out at the moment.

March 17, 2010 3:47am
REVISED: March 19, 2010 1:01am

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#1: Ginger Rogers

TOP TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL ACTRESSES OF THE 1930s: #1

1001 MOVIES FEATURING GINGER ROGERS:
*42nd Street
*Gold Diggers of 1933
*Top Hat
*Swing Time

March 16, 2010 10:30pm

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Themes It Shall Be!

So I've listened to the few people that have stopped by to give their opinions (thank you, by the way) and I've taken into account my own feelings and what I want to do, and I think we're going to go ahead and do the themes idea. I actually think this will be a lot of fun, trying to break down the remaining eight hundred and some movies into categories of ten films or so. Anyway, here are the ground rules, they're pretty simple:

A) Each theme must consist of at least five films, and may not contain more then ten films. I'd like to keep them all at ten, but there are some themes too good to pass up (Kubrick films, for instance) that don't have ten.

B) Themes can range anywhere from movies by the same director, actor, actress, writer, genre, certain like award winners (ie. Best Picture winners), basically anything that ties 5-10 movies together, can be used as a category.

I'm cutting my hiatus a little bit short and we're going to go ahead and get going on this, more than likely tomorrow. The first theme will be...

...INGMAR BERGMAN FILMS!

Here are the Bergman films that are on the list:
*Smiles of a Summer Night
*The Seventh Seal
*Wild Strawberries
*Hour of the Wolf
*Persona
*Fanny and Alexander
*Winter Light
*Cries and Whispers
*Through a Glass Darkly

That makes our first category nine films. "Shame" would be included, but I can't find it anywhere, so we'll just go with these. These are the only ten Bergman films in the "1001" book.

Here is a list of some more themes, that will be coming up in the weeks and months to come, in no particular order:
*Robert De Niro Movies
*French Films
*Horror Films
*Film Noir
*Best Picture Winners
*Stanley Kubrick Films
*Newman & Redford
*Box Office Blockbusters

March 15, 2010 12:51am

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#2: Jean Arthur

TOP TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL ACTRESSES OF THE 1930s: #2

1001 MOVIES FEATURING JEAN ARTHUR:
*Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
*Only Angels Have Wings
*Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

March 15, 2010 12:24am

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If anyone is reading...I need your opinions

Ok guys, so here's the deal. While I've been on my hiatus from the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" project, I've been thinking of switching things up a bit, as far as the order in which I watch the movies in goes. I've had two ideas and I'm leaning more toward one at this point, but I just can't decide which one to go with, or if I should just stick to the way I've been doing things. Here are the two ideas:

IDEA #1: Instead of continuing to go through the book chronologically, and thus continue on through the 1940s, I've been thinking of going in reverse, starting with the last entry in the book. The book ends with Atonement (2007), meaning I would start there and work my way backwards for a little while. Then whenever I felt like it, maybe after I finished the 2000s and the 1990s, I'd jump back to the 1940s and start going forward again, until I met in the middle.

IDEA #2: Instead of continuing to forwards or beginning to go backwards, I had the idea to go in a themed order. The idea is basically this: I would pick a theme, for example; Alfred Hitchcock movies. From there I'd pick ten random Hitchcock movies from the book and watch them. Then I'd pick another theme, say German films, then I'd watch ten German films. I'd keep doing that, never watching more than ten films from each category.

Why do I want to switch things up? Well I'm tired of restricting myself as far as what I can watch. If I continue to move chronologically through the book, then I DO NOT want to watch anything that comes up later on in the book. For example: I bought the movie "Run Lola Run" the other day on Blu-Ray. I was all set and ready to watch it and then I realized that it's in the "1001" book. Basically I'm a very anal retentive person when it comes to things like this and if I go in order, then I don't want to break from that order. So I figure, if I decide to go in a themed or backwards order, then that will give me a little lead way as far as what I can watch.

Anyway, if anyone out there cares enough to voice their opinions, please do so, as I just can't seem to make up my mind.

March 14, 2010 8:42am

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#3: Joan Blondell

TOP TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL ACTRESSES OF THE 1930s: #3

1001 MOVIES FEATURING JOAN BLONDELL:
*The Public Enemy
*Gold Diggers of 1933
*Footlight Parade

March 14, 2010 5:24am

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