NWClerk

The guitar is the best way to make music for yourself. Learning hurts your fingers at first. It also hurts your pride, but that’s partly because you compare your playing to music produced by BigMedia. Persevere, and one day you will see that merely listening to music without ever having made it yourself is like reading about love without…

Thanks to you others for proving me wrong.
Thanks to Roger Ebert for spreading wonder and joy to anyone who will take the time to receive.

Planning to see (36 left to go, 21 ordered on Netflix, others unavailable)
Atlantic City (2005)
The Battle of Algiers (1967)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Crumb (1994)
Dark City (2005)
The Dead (1987)
The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)
El Norte (1983)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Greed (1925)
Howards End (1992)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Late Spring (1972)
Leolo (1993)
Le Samourai (1967)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
The Music Room (1958)
Pandora’s Box (1928)
Pickpocket (1959)
Pixote (1981)
Playtime (1967)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Safety Last (1923)
Santa Sangre (1989)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Sunrise (1928)
Swing Time (1936)
A Tale of Winter (1992)
Top Hat (1935)
Ugetsu (1953)
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
A Woman’s Tale (1992)
Woodstock (1970)

224 films seen, listed with most recently seen 1st, with something that stood out from each
Nanook of the North (1922) shows how humans can live as they have through most of (pre)history – on the edge of annihilation – yet maintain humor and grace
The Band Wagon (1953) Cyd in red, dancing with Fred
The Terrorist (1999) which is more important, a political movement or a single human life?
Fitzcarraldo (1982) ship dragged over mountain
Stroszek (1977) the American Dream: a man, a frozen turkey, and a ski lift
Yojimbo (1961) best buildup for knife vs. gun
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) you’re tearing me apart! with overacting
Gates of Heaven (1978) rendering plant, Bubbling Well, R2A2
Faust (1926) uber German expressionism, devil over the town
Out of the Past (1947) she stepped out of the sunlight
Victim (1961) nature played me a dirty trick
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) triumph of an underdog film: no acting allowed, no plot, often shows only the feet, awesome
Paths of Glory (1957) WW I trench warfare was MADE for tracking shot
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) horrified opera singer
The Red Shoes (1948) enthralling ballet sequence and music
Three Women (1977) dreamlike because it was dreamed by the director
Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954) real men eat pate
Jules and Jim (1961) great montage at beginning
Last Tango in Paris (1972) don’t get the butter
Laura (1944) hardhearted detective
The Man Who Laughs (1928) finding baby in snow
Leaving Las Vegas (1995) best drunk
Blue, White, Red (1994) finish the symphony; come back to me
The Rules of the Game (1939) shot rabbit
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) what was he thinking at the end?
The Color Purple (1985) Oprah making Whoopi
The Big Heat (1953) determined detective
The Big Red One (1980) best OB stirrups
Paris, Texas (1984) desert
Raging Bull (1980) best boxing comeback and worst lounge singer (how did that treatment sound to the studio?)
Un Chien Andalou (1928) a slice of eye
My Life to Live / Vivre sa Vie (1963) dialogue of two people with backs toward the camera, yet holds your attention
Nights of Cabiria (1957) don’t forget the man with the sack
L’Atalante (1934) tracking shot showing faces standing by the river
L’Avventura (1960) ennui
La Dolce Vita (1960) ennui II
Groundhog Day (1993) Murray’s final piano solo is the cellphone ringtone when my wife calls
Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) best gospel location, Mel
Fanny and Alexander (1983) bright vs. drab
After Dark, My Sweet (1990) you can’t win, Darth
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) smoke. good.
12 Angry Men (1957) lowering camera angles (read through Sidney Lumet’s book, it’s good)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) the famous flying bone
The 400 Blows (1959) burning Balzac’s shrine
8 1/2 (1963) flying out of the car
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1939) fastest moving sword
The Age of Innocence (1993) conversation as war, food as ballet
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) the raft
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) what does he see in the lady?
Alien (1979) the ship is the real horror
All About Eve (1950) is this fiction?
Amadeus (1984) will the insane composer please…
Amarcord (1974) snow
Annie Hall (1977) Jew eat? and, thank you, WA, I wish real life was like your work
The Apartment (1960) ingestion-wise
Apocalypse Now (1979) killed by a spear during a firefight
The Apu Trilogy (1959) stand-in for insane groom
The Bank Dick (1940) you can direct films
The Battleship Potemkin (1925) baby carriage on steps
Beat the Devil (1954) scam
Beauty and the Beast (1946) handlesticks
Being There (1979) how long do we stay in this little room?
Belle de Jour (1967) trying not to watch
The Bicycle Thief (1949) what does poverty do to the soul?
The Big Sleep (1946) noir
The Birth of a Nation (1915) civil war scenes
Blowup (1966) image of the shooter a la the grassy knoll
The Blue Kite (1993) the Party is watching
Bob le Flambeur (1955) another heist
Body Heat (1981) bombed boathouse
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) impotence
Breathless (1960) worst shooting scene
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) what he died for
Broken Blossoms (1919) best portrait of domestic abuse
Casablanca (1942) too cool
Children of Paradise (1945) carnival
Chinatown (1974) Polansky rocks
A Christmas Story (1983) flagpole
Citizen Kane (1941) opera house
City Lights (1931) founder of United Artists
The Conversation (1974) ozu scene
Cries and Whispers (1972) bloody
Day for Night (1973) zoom and slap
Days of Heaven (1978) wheat field
The Decalogue (1988) drab and riveting
Detour (1945) femme fatale hitch hiker
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) how did we get into this theater
Do the Right Thing (1989) Lee rocks too
Don’t Look Now (1974) drowning on LSD
Double Indemnity (1944) Hitchcock, ditto
Dr. Strangelove (1964) contaminating our precious bodily fluids
Dracula (1931) fake bat
Duck Soup (1933) you can be king
E.T—The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) bicycle and moon
Easy Rider (1969) epileptic editing
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) mating frogs?
Fargo (1996) don’t know if i agree with ya 100% on ya police work
The Films of Buster Keaton (1923) Steamboat Bill’s falling house
The Firemen’s Ball (1968) beauty contest
Five Easy Pieces (1970) chicken salad
Floating Weeds (1959) scene painting with tombs
The General (1927) train chase
The Godfather (1972) small businessman
Goldfinger (1964) deadly hat
Gone With the Wind (1939) It’s not that Atlanta’s burning, it’s great backlighting
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968) shoot the noose
GoodFellas (1991) helicopter following me
Grand Illusion (1937) prison tunnel
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) bulldozer
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) most horrible child suffering
Great Expectations (1946) Pip on the bog
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) British trivial humor
Hoop Dreams (1994) the truth about one of the lotteries
House of Games (1987) no one can trust anyone
The Hustler (1961) pool comeback
Ikiru (1952) best repentence
In Cold Blood (1967) Robert Blake typecast
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as good as A Chrismas Carol for showing how you can change your life
Jaws (1975) notice the technique where objects that passed between camera and subject are seen again in the reverse angle shot (eg bicycles)
JFK (1991) the spell lasts as long as the film
Juliet of the Spirits (1965) beach parade, creepy child acting scene
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) help me, Alec Guiness, you’re my only actor (he played several parts)
King Kong (1933) nice dinosaur, for its time
The Lady Eve (1941) portraying the rich isn’t as hard as being poor
The Last Laugh (1924) tracking shot using a wheelchair
The Last Picture Show (1971) nothing to do in this town
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) what an oasis must feel like
Le Boucher / The Butcher (2003) alone in the school
The Leopard (1963) descending the mountain
M (1931) mother waiting on the doorstep in vain
The Maltese Falcon (1941) confusing
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Manhattan (1979) he was going to write a great novel
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) shot on the bridge
Mean Streets (1973) gang
Metropolis (1926) clock in
Mon Oncle (1958) polishing a moving car
Moonstruck (1987) sweaty nicholas cage
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953) not so funny
My Darling Clementine (1946) buildup > gunfight
My Dinner With Andre (1981) spontaneity
My Neighbor Totoro (1993) the cat bus
Nashville (1975) maybe this grows on you, but I didn’t get it
Network (1976) I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it any more!
The Night of the Hunter (1955) Mitchum – Children….?
Nosferatu (1922) rising up from the coffin
Notorious (1946) wine bottle
On the Waterfront (1954) I could ha’ been a contender
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Orpheus (1949) through the mirror
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) tears
Patton (1970) every GD day
Peeping Tom (1960) probing camera
Persona (1966) film meltdown
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) surreal and beautiful
Pinocchio (1940) whale
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
The Producers (1968) I’m hysterical, and I’m wet
Psycho (1960) creepiest small business
Pulp Fiction (1994) Royale
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) rolling stone
Ran (1985) burning castle
Rashomon (1951) different versions
Rear Window (1954) wheelchair vs. killer
Red River (1948) take em to Missouri, Matt
Rififi (1954) heist scene
The Right Stuff (1983) a monkey will make the flight
Romeo and Juliet (1968) doesn’t feel tragic to me
Saturday Night Fever (1977) the walk
Say Anything (1989) boombox
Scarface (1983) say hello to my little friend
Schindler’s List (1993) the horizon of the living
The Searchers (1956) why do they want to go burning good wagons
The Seven Samurai (1954) slow motion
The Seventh Seal (1957) play chess with death
Shane (1953) store fight
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) rain crane shot
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952) best dance scene and reverse tracking shot
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) who’s the fairest
Solaris (1972) ile of illusion
Some Like It Hot (1959) nobody’s perfect
Star Wars (1977) these aren’t the droids you’re looking for
Strangers on a Train (1951) don’t try murder
A Sunday in the Country (1984) I have seen what I have loved
Sunset Boulevard (1950) I’m ready for my closeup
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) is kissing up worth it
Taxi Driver (1976) wipers and hallways
The Thin Man (1934) interferes with my drinking
The Third Man (1949) zither
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) stonehenge
Tokyo Story (1953) parents are such a pain
Touch of Evil (1958) poisined Welles
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) we don’t need no stinkin’ badges
Trouble in Paradise (1932) jewel thief
Umberto D (1952) old man alone
Unforgiven (1992) this is what we do to assassins
The Up Documentaries (1985) gonna be a jockey when I grow up
Vertigo (1958) art museum
Walkabout (1971) the wall
West Side Story (1961) jets dancing
The Wild Bunch (1969) blow a bridge
Wings of Desire (1988) there are lots of us
The Wizard of Oz (1939) and your little dog, too
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) worst script and sound
Written on the Wind (1956) oil money
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) over there
A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) so there really is someone for everyone
Yellow Submarine (1968) blue meanies