The Big Pretentious Movie Summer

So, a little change of pace. There will still be other blogging interspersed here and there and I shall eventually publish the rest of my "best of the aughts" series, concluding with my top 25 favorite films of the past ten years (I know...only 25).

I'm embarking on a new challenge this summer. I plan to watch movies (novel, I know). But this is a specific, structured movie-watching regimen. I'm going to acquaint myself with directors I've only had a taste of, some I've never experienced at all (can you believe I've never done Kurosawa? Like...ever?) I'm giving myself until September 21st (the official Gregorian end of summer) to watch the films on this list. And I will be tracking it all here. Some of the films on this list I've seen before, a long time ago, in pieces. They are being revisited. Others are new ventures, and you may be ashamed of what I haven't seen. There are two lists, one is categorized by director, and the other is a random sampling of titles I need to experience. Happy viewing to me. I've already kick started this event by watching Terrence's Malick's lovely sophomore effort Days of Heaven (1978) last night. The images are still lingering. Oh, yes. It's going to be a wonderfully productive, pretentious summer.

*=Films I'm revisiting

Terrence Malick
1. Days of Heaven (1978) (watched on 6-2-2010)
2. The Thin Red Line (1998)*
3. The New World (2005)
(I have already seen Badlands)

Martin Scorsese
4. Mean Streets (1973)
5. Taxi Driver (1976)
6. Raging Bull (1980)
7. Goodfellas (1990)
8. The Age of Innocence (1993)*
9. Casino (1995)
101. The Aviator (2004)*

Mike Leigh
11. Life is Sweet (1990)
12. Secrets and Lies (1996)*
13. Topsy-Turvy (1999)

Wong Kar-Wai
14. Days of Being Wild (1991)
15. 2046 (2004)

Michael Haneke
16. Funny Games (1997)
17. The Piano Teacher (2001)
18. Caché (2005)

Spike Lee
19. She's Gotta Have It (1986)
20. Malcolm X (1992)
21. 25th Hour (2002)

Robert Altman
22. MASH (1970)
23. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
24. Nashville (1975)
25. The Player (1992)

Ang Lee
26. The Wedding Banquet (1993)
27. Sense and Sensibility (1995)*
28. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)*
29. Lust, Caution (2007)

Woody Allen
30. Interiors (1978)
31. Manhattan (1979)
32. Hannah and Her Sisters (1985)
33. Husbands and Wives (1992)
34. Deconstructing Harry (1997)

Ingmar Bergman
35. Wild Strawberries (1957)*
36. Persona (1966)*
37. Cries and Whispers (1973)
38. Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
39. Fanny and Alexander (1984)

Alfred Hitchcock
40. Strangers on a Train (1951)
41. Vertigo (1958)* '
42. North by Northwest (1959)*

Akira Kurosawa
43. Rashoman (1950)
44. Seven Samurai (1954)
45. Ran (1985)
(I'm just getting my feet wet to start)

Hayao Miyazaki
46. Spirited Away (2001)
47. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
48. Ponyo (2008)

Stanley Kubrick
49. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
50. Barry Lyndon (1975)
51. Full Metal Jacket (1987)*

The Coen Brothers
52. Blood Simple (1984)
53. Miller's Crossing (1990)
54. Barton Fink (1991)
55. The Big Lebowski (1998)
56. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
57. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
(Can't believe how many I've missed)

Roman Polanski
58. Repulsion (1965)
59. Rosemary's Baby (1968)*
60. Tess (1979)

David Lynch
61. Eraserhead (1977)*
62. Wild at Heart (1990)
63. The Straight Story (1999)*
64. Mulholland Drive (2001)*
65. Inland Empire (2006)
(Why, oh WHY have I not seen Inland Empire? I cannot wait.)

Oliver Stone
66. Platoon (1986)
67. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
68. JFK (1991)
69. Natural Born Killers (1994)
(I have to say, I'm less excited about Stone than any other director on this list. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I haven't been largely impressed by him)

James Ivory
70. A Room with a View (1985)
71. Howards End (1992)*
(God, I want to do both of these films on the same Brit-infused day. Cannot. Wait.)

Michaelangelo Antonioni
72. L'avventura (1960)
73. L'eclisse (1962)*

Pedro Almodóvar
74. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
75. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
76. All About My Mother (1999)*
77. Talk to Her (2002)*

Todd Haynes
78. Safe (1995)
79. Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Sidney Lumet
80. 12 Angry Men (1957)
81. Long Day's Journey into night (1962)
82. Serpico (1973)
83. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)*
84. Before the Devil Knows Your Dead (2007)*

Gus Van Sant
85. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)*
86. My Own Private Idaho (1991)*
87. To Die For (1995)*
88. Good Will Hunting (1997)
89. Paranoid Park (2007)

Phew. 89 Films. And that's just part 1 of the list. Will Post 2 in a Separate Post to give the eyes some rest.