thomas4cinema

For a while (from age 14 to 34, I think), I kept saying that before I die, I want to have accomplished some feats in the world of arts:

1 read and understand Ulysses in the original English version and live to talk about it at least for one dinner party
2 read "Buddenbrooks"
3 quit smoking, because it intolerably decreases my chances of achieving 1.

As I have accomplished 3 and 2, life is somehow on the edge. But The Movie Ness (http://www.themovieness.com/2009/03/25/100-films-to-see-before-you-die/) has pointed to another challenge that is sitting between me and the grave now, the 100 movies that "one" needs to see before dying. I suppose the idea behind this is that when you run out of great movies to watch, life has nothing to offer anymore, implying if you reach Nr 100 you are about to drop dead on the spot. So save one! I will save "Blazing Saddles", because if it is what I seem to remember what it is, then there is no loss in stopping at Nr 99.

So I mark below those films I have seen in bold, and comment that such a list without (after just 10 seconds of consideration, there should be some hundreds more) "Once Upon the Time in the West / in America" or "Local Hero" should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

Where I cannot for the life (or death) of me remember whether I have seen them, I mark a "???", and where seeing the name on the list made me shout "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!", I marked "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!"

12 Angry Men
2001: A Space Odyssey
400 Blows
8 1/2
The African Queen
Alien
All About Eve ???
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
The Battle of Algiers ???
The Bicycle Thief
Blade Runner
Blazing Saddles
Blow Up
Blue Velvet "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!"
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless ???
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Bringing Up Baby
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Casablanca
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Die Hard
Do the Right Thing ???
Double Indemnity ???
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Godfather, Part II
Goldfinger
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Goodfellas
The Graduate
Grand Illusion ???
Groundhog Day

A Hard Day’s Night
In the Mood For Love
It Happened One Night
It’s a Wonderful Life??? Yes, well, probably 111 times, but cannot remember

Jaws

King Kong (1933)
The Lady Eve
Lawrence of Arabia
The Lord of the Rings
M
M*A*S*H
The Maltese Falcon
The Matrix
Modern Times
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
National Lampoon’s Animal House
Network??? I think I did, but "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!"
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Paths of Glory ???
Princess Mononoke
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raise the Red Lantern
Rashomon ???
Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
Rocky
Roman Holiday
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler’s List
The Searchers "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!"
Seven Samurai
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
Singin’ in the Rain
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Some Like It Hot
The Sound of Music
Star Wars
Sunset Blvd ???
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The Third Man
This is Spinal Tap
Titanic
To Kill a Mockingbird ??? "OH, NEED TO WATCH (AGAIN)!"
Toy Story
The Usual Suspects
Vertigo
When Harry Met Sally…
Wild Strawberries
Wings of Desire
The Wizard of Oz
Women On the Verge of Nervous Breakdown
The World of Apu