Movies You've Never Seen
(Thanks to Kate P for suggesting this in the comments over at Night Fly.)
The premise is: Movies just about everyone has seen that you haven't. In any category: classics, cult hits, contemporary mega-monsters. You know, the movies you're embarrassed to say you haven't seen because generally, if you admit them into casual conversation, you're asking for a gang-shunning.
Allllll-righty: movies I have lived my whole life and not seen (ahem). Some I've not seen out of total ignorance, others because ostensibly I live under a snobby-snobberstein rock of snobbery. You be the judge.
With a little help from AFI, here goes ):
(*the ones with the stars beside them, I'll prolly get my face smeared for)
*THE SOUND OF MUSIC
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
*THE GRADUATE
ON THE WATERFRONT
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
DAS BOOT
CHINATOWN
DR. STRANGELOVE
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
*ANNIE HALL
*MIDNIGHT COWBOY
*A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
*TAXI DRIVER
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
STAGECOACH
BEN-HUR
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
*THE DEER HUNTER
*PLATOON
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
*GOODFELLAS
THE SEARCHERS
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
*BABE
BLUE VELVET
BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY
BULLITT
CAT BALLOU
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
SOPHIE'S CHOICE
SILKWOOD
THE COLOR PURPLE
DELIVERANCE
DO THE RIGHT THING
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
*THE ENGLISH PATIENT
*FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
FUNNY GIRL
GANDHI
PORKY'S
MEATBALLS
SAY ANYTHING
GIGI
GOODBYE MISTER CHIPS
GUNGA DIN
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD
*JERRY MAGUIRE
*JURASSIC PARK
KRAMER VS KRAMER
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
LAST TANGO IN PARIS
LEAVING LAS VEGAS
LETHAL WEAPON
THE LOST WEEKEND
*NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
*OKLAHOMA
ON GOLDEN POND
*OUT OF AFRICA
*PLANET OF THE APES
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
THE RIGHT STUFF
*SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE
SPLEDOR IN THE GRASS
A STAR IS BORN
THE STING
*TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
*THE UNTOUCHABLES
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
ROSEMARY'S BABY
WITNESS
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
*THE SHINING
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
*THE OMEN
*ROMAN HOLIDAY
*THE WAY WE WERE
*LOVE STORY
*THE KING AND I
MOONSTRUCK
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
*SABRINA
ROXANNE
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
BODY HEAT
HAROLD AND MAUDE
And since I can never pass up the opportuniy to harsh on someone else's buzz: Movies everyone else seems to love -- that I HAVE actually sat through (or tried to) -- but I HATE with a hate WHITE HOT because they suck worse than suck can suck:
CABARET
LEGENDS OF THE FALL
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
I'm sure there are more.
What have I actually been doing? Talking, reading, singing, song-writing, living life. I do LOVE The Godfather, Parts I & II, most anything by Akira Kurosawa and the Ferelly Brothers, but... I digress.
Shun at will.
The premise is: Movies just about everyone has seen that you haven't. In any category: classics, cult hits, contemporary mega-monsters. You know, the movies you're embarrassed to say you haven't seen because generally, if you admit them into casual conversation, you're asking for a gang-shunning.
Allllll-righty: movies I have lived my whole life and not seen (ahem). Some I've not seen out of total ignorance, others because ostensibly I live under a snobby-snobberstein rock of snobbery. You be the judge.
With a little help from AFI, here goes ):
(*the ones with the stars beside them, I'll prolly get my face smeared for)
*THE SOUND OF MUSIC
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
*THE GRADUATE
ON THE WATERFRONT
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
DAS BOOT
CHINATOWN
DR. STRANGELOVE
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
*ANNIE HALL
*MIDNIGHT COWBOY
*A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
*TAXI DRIVER
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
STAGECOACH
BEN-HUR
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
*THE DEER HUNTER
*PLATOON
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
*GOODFELLAS
THE SEARCHERS
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
*BABE
BLUE VELVET
BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY
BULLITT
CAT BALLOU
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
SOPHIE'S CHOICE
SILKWOOD
THE COLOR PURPLE
DELIVERANCE
DO THE RIGHT THING
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
*THE ENGLISH PATIENT
*FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
FUNNY GIRL
GANDHI
PORKY'S
MEATBALLS
SAY ANYTHING
GIGI
GOODBYE MISTER CHIPS
GUNGA DIN
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD
*JERRY MAGUIRE
*JURASSIC PARK
KRAMER VS KRAMER
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
LAST TANGO IN PARIS
LEAVING LAS VEGAS
LETHAL WEAPON
THE LOST WEEKEND
*NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
*OKLAHOMA
ON GOLDEN POND
*OUT OF AFRICA
*PLANET OF THE APES
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
THE RIGHT STUFF
*SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE
SPLEDOR IN THE GRASS
A STAR IS BORN
THE STING
*TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
*THE UNTOUCHABLES
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
ROSEMARY'S BABY
WITNESS
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
*THE SHINING
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
*THE OMEN
*ROMAN HOLIDAY
*THE WAY WE WERE
*LOVE STORY
*THE KING AND I
MOONSTRUCK
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
*SABRINA
ROXANNE
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
BODY HEAT
HAROLD AND MAUDE
And since I can never pass up the opportuniy to harsh on someone else's buzz: Movies everyone else seems to love -- that I HAVE actually sat through (or tried to) -- but I HATE with a hate WHITE HOT because they suck worse than suck can suck:
CABARET
LEGENDS OF THE FALL
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
I'm sure there are more.
What have I actually been doing? Talking, reading, singing, song-writing, living life. I do LOVE The Godfather, Parts I & II, most anything by Akira Kurosawa and the Ferelly Brothers, but... I digress.
Shun at will.
posted by WordGirl at 1:29 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
My list of not-seens probably matches up more with your husband's. Except I love "Moonstruck" (mostly Italian, raised Catholic). "Dirty Dancing" and "Titanic"--not interested. Surprising from a person who LOVES "Roman Holiday"?
I agree "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is overrated, and I want back the time I wasted on "Jerry Maguire". The parodies of it were more enjoyable. Speaking of which, I figured just about everything I needed to know about "Pulp Fiction" from all the parodies and quotes from friends. I have a hard time watching violence. My film teacher in college noticed it pretty quickly when he started showing clips of "The Godfather" and I was watching it through my fingers. When he started showing the major part where the baptism is juxtaposed with the, I don't know, massive hit with the elevators and toll booths(?), he walked over to me and quietly said, "You can put your head down for this part." That was kind.
I can watch violence... sometimes. "Braveheart" and "The Godfather" are a little hard to stomach but at least integral to the plot. Violence for the sake of violence is just pandering. "Pulp Fiction", for example did not need the gratuitous rape scene.
I forgot to mention the Cohen Brothers. They have done some great, great work ("Fargo", Barton Fink", etc.), though their work tends towards violence.
Funny, I would much rather watch a battle scene from "Braveheart" than a sex scene from "Body Heat" given the choice. I'm much more squeamish when it comes to sex on film.
Yes -- many, many hours have been spent in film classes watching Kurosawa, French New Wave and the forerunners of great film. Alas, "The Sound of Music" never made the syllabus. And I can't say I'm sorry about that. I just have no interest in schmaltz. I'm snobby that way.
But "When Harry Met Sally" is still a great guilty pleasure.
;-)
One thing I didn't mention that I agreed with on was that movies take time to watch. When I was dating we instituted "Stupid Movie Night" which was basically Friday night after work (the company I worked for was going under slowwwwly and I was fried). Popcorn, sometimes a little wine, and usually a movie from the '80s I hadn't seen before. So that's how I got to see "Rocky," "Beverly Hills Cop," "Trading Places," "The Karate Kid," stuff like that. My ex had a huge video vault. I kind of miss that ritual. Except now on Friday nights I'm doing grad school stuff. But maybe Stupid Movie Night will happen again sometime in the future.
I've seen all but 11 of those. Oh, well.
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