Friday, August 10, 2012

Recently a friend of mine asked me to recommend some classic movies so that he could further his informal film education over the summer. I compiled this list in the hopes of giving a broad overview of classic Hollywood cinema and genres, with a focus on Alfred Hitchcock (my friend asked for him specifically). Some of this films are quite old (1930s) and some are much more recent (1990s). I was pretty pleased with the level of inclusion of my list, so I decided I would share it here too. Happy summer movie watching!

 Hitchcock:
1. Strangers on a Train
2. North by Northwest
3. Rear Window
4. The Birds
5. Psycho
6. The Trouble With Harry (comedy)
7. Notorious
8. The Lady Vanishes

Suspense/ Thrillers (not by Alfred Hitchcock):
9. Charade
10. Wait Until Dark
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12.The Shining

Hollywood Classic comedies/ romances:
13. Arsenic and Old Lace
14. Young Frankenstein
15. How to Steel a Million
16. The Philadelphia Story
17. Singing in the Rain
18. Some Like it Hot
19. It Happened One Night
20. To Have and to Have Not

Film Noir/ Gangster movies:
21, 22.The Godfather I and II
23. Double Indemnity
24. Touch of Evil
25. Chinatown
26. The Maltese Falcon
27. The Big Sleep

War Films/ Westerns:
28. The Deer Hunter
29. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
30. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
31. The Searchers
32. Apocalypse Now
33. Unforgiven
34. Blazing Saddles (comedy)

Classic Science Fiction:
35. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
36. Dr. Strangelove (comedy)
37. 2001: A Space Odyssey
38. A Clockwork Orange
39. Blade Runner
40. Alien
41. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Classic dramas:
42. Citizen Kane
43. The Bicycle Thieves
44. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
45. Casablanca
46. To Kill a Mockingbird
47. 12 Angry Men
48. M
49. Sophie’s Choice
50. Schindler’s List

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Films of 2012

One Youtuber (Kayley Hyde, or Owlssayhooot) is keeping a blog list of all of the films she has seen so far this year, and I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and do the same. I'm clearly a little late in getting started, so for now I'll just play catchup for the month of January. Here goes!

In Theaters

1. The Artist
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

At Home:

1. Peeping Tom
2. The Gold Rush
3. Children of Men (3rd time)
4. Murder!
5. King Kong (1933)
6. The Lodger: A Story of London Fog
7. The Searchers (2nd time)
8. The Lady Vanishes
9. Rebecca
10. Citizen Kane (3rd time)
11. Meek's Cutoff
12. Shadow of a Doubt
13. Shoeshine
14. Bye Bye Birdie
15. Notorious
16. Intruder in the Dust


As you may have noticed I haven't seen many films in theaters this year, and that is primarily because I do not have a car and there are no movie theaters within walking distance of where I live. I wish I could see more movies in theaters, but sadly it just isn't practical. I have, however, seen a lot of films at home. I'm on a HItchcock kick currently (6 of the 16 so far), but I'm mostly trying to watch a diverse group of films from many different genres, directors, and time periods.

Until next time...