100 Films -- Still on the List

Some of the titles that were on my list but I didn't get to them (in no particular order):

All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Detour (1945)
Diabolique (1955)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Eyes without a Face (1959)
Faces (1968)
Gun Crazy (1949)
High Sierra (1941)
Interview with a Vampire (1994)
Jules and Jim (1962)
Key Largo (1948)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Le Samouraï (1967)
Lolita (1962)
Mean Streets (1973)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Of Mice and Men (1939)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

100 Films -- The End...?

I discussed this with Mrs. Kaiju this weekend, and I decided that it would be best to stop the 100 Films project right now. I have plenty of other things that I should be working on right now and making time to watch movies isn't one of them. Things were different when I planned to do this months ago and I didn't expect to be where I am at the moment.

In the final tally, I saw 48 films in 63 days. The only one missing from the list I posted last Monday is the final film, Bottle Rocket (Buck Mulligan should be happy to hear that).

I can't really complain. I had the chance to see 48 classic movies that I might not have made the time to see otherwise. I'm just disappointed because I started something (again) that I was not able to finish.

I'd like to thank those people who have put in their comments on this site for their support. I hope you have found my scribblings interesting or at least amusing.

This isn't the end of the blog. I started writing these entries before this project, and I'll continue when I can. I have many other topics I would like to write about. I would also like to comment further about some of the films I watched but didn't go into depth about. Also, I am sure that I will watch the movies that I didn't get to yet, on a more relaxed schedule, and make some comments about them here.

100 Films -- Past the Half-way Point

Here's an update on what I've seen so far and where I'm at regarding the timing. The list is in order from the start until now.

Laura
Stalag 17
(These two are bonus "freebies". I restarted the following weekend)

***
The Warriors
The Killing
On the Waterfront
The Big Heat
Dog Day Afternoon
It Happened One Night
12 Angry Men
Easy Rider
D.O.A.
High Noon
The Philidelphia Story
Sunset Boulevard
Amadeus
The Bicycle Thief
Breathless
Roman Holiday
The Sweet Smell of Success
The Last Picture Show
To Be or Not to Be
Chinatown
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Shaun of the Dead
The Third Man
Sunrise
The Seventh Seal
Meet Me in St. Louis
Grand Illusion
Scarlet Street
Zorba the Greek
Blow-Up
The Bad and the Beautiful
Strangers on a Train
Anna Karenina
The Manchurian Candidate
La Strada
Adam's Rib
All About Eve
The Public Enemy
Seven Days in May
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Modern Times
A Night at the Opera
Leave Her to Heaven
La Dolce Vita
The Night of the Hunter
8 1/2
Stagecoach

47 movies in 61 days. Not bad, but I need to catch up eventually.

100 Films -- Days 57 through 61

I didn't watch a movie on Thursday night.

Friday I saw La Dolce Vita.

Saturday's film was The Night of the Hunter.

Sunday I watched 8 1/2.

Tonight's movie was Stagecoach.

More discussion later...

100 Films -- Days 48 through 56

Another Wednesday night, and another Frankenheimer political thriller, Seven Days in May with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. I enjoyed this more than The Manchurian Candidate (if you can call something so disturbing "enjoyable"). Lancaster is suitably scary, and Kirk Douglas' chin is all over the place. Seeing the way this and Candidate were shot, I think Frankenheimer was really ahead of his time.

Thursday night I watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. This is a film I've seen before, but it was a long time ago. Compare this movie to Seven Days in May. Being made right before WWII, Capra uses patriotic music and scenes to build up the emotion, and I believe it still works. You want to believe that an ordinary person like Jefferson Smith can still get into the political process and do something for the public good against the political and press machines of the world.

No movies on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Speaking of machines, on Monday I saw Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. Good movie; Chaplin's critique of Depression-era America and a last hurrah for the silent cinema that made him famous.

Tuesday night's movie was A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers. The only Marx Brothers movie I've ever seen was The Big Store and that was when it aired on WGN one Sunday afternoon when I was 9 or 10 years old. Besides that, I've seen some clips on TV, so I knew what to expect. Night started out a little slow but it eventually picked up and had some really good moments. The scenes of Harpo and Chico playing music show just how talented they really were. Groucho's one-liners got some out-loud laughs from me, especially during the "stuffing 15 people into the tiny stateroom" bit.

Tonight I'm watching Leave Her to Heaven.

Update: Leave Her to Heaven is a creepy movie, and an oddity in that it's a Technicolor noir. Pretty depressing, too.