watch all the 157 greatest movies of all time

Wow, I’d totally forgotten this site existed!

This goal is still going strong, and I’m crossing more films off the list. However.. there’s been a bit of a reshuffle..

The list is now no longer 157 films.. it’s grown to around 200. I know when I started this that a big problem was everyone wanting to see their own personal favourites on the list, and I would blankly refuse to add it. But then I met my husband-to-be, who conveniently has a degree in Film Studies, and we sat together and added a few more flims onto the list which have a deserving place upon it (as well as films which we were both convinced must be on the list but in fact weren’t).

So, added to the list are as follows:

158. Gattaca

159. Dead Poets Society

160. Chariots of Fire

161. Leon

162 – 164. Lethal Weapon (trilogy)

165 – 168. Die Hard (series)

169. Bowling for Columbine

170. Spirited Away

171. Ali

172. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

173. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

174. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

175. Amelie

176. Blues Brothers

177. American Beauty

178 – 180. Indiana Jones original trilogy

This takes the total up to 180 films.. which sounds a lot more daunting. However, in the 2 years since my last post I have seen a great deal of these films, as follows:

8. Gladiatior – Romans. Fighting. Not too bad, probably won’t watch again.

16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Jack Nicholson.. Crazy or not? Strangely enjoyed it.

18. Casablanca – Really enjoyed this one. Finally understood the ‘Camille’ episode of Red Dwarf.

41. The Great Escape – Finally got around to seeing it, bloody good fun.

67. Metropolis – Came free with the Sunday Paper.. Can see why it must have been groundbreaking at the time.

119. Heavenly Creatures – Words just cannot describe how you feel after watching it. Just.. yeah.

158. Gattaca – Bloody brilliant. Sci-fi, but not quite, very very good.

159. Dead Poets Society – Coming of age film with Robin Williams. Fantastic.

169. Bowling for Columbine – First time with Michael Moore. Not impressed in the slightest. One of the few films on the list so far I can say I really didn’t like.

172 – 174 – Lord of the Rings – Absolutely fantastic, regardless of how well they keep to the books. Huge, epic films. Awesome.

175. Amelie – Cute french chick, photo booths, strange old men painters. What more do you need?

177. American Beauty – Utter brilliance.

So there we go.

43 films, all told.. which is rather fitting given the website.. which leaves only 137 left to go.. :-D

Wish me luck!

Can see why it’s popular with students. Definately a studenty type film, and very quotable.

Personally.. I think I’ll give it another go before I make a final judgement. According to many, it takes a second or even third time of watching the film to ‘get it’, so I might indulge myself sometime.

Point is, I’ve seen it and it’s now off the list :-)

BHB
xxx

Interesting film, it has to be said. I enjoyed it in a sense, but in another sense.. meh. Didn’t impress me quite as much as it probably should have done.

And just for the record, I watched this a few weeks ago, I just hadn’t got around to posting on here :-)

BHB
xxx

Last minute one this, just managed to catch it on Filmfour +1. Pretty pleased I did too. Not a bad film. Two guys on the run from the mafia, they dress up as women. Ingenius. Until the mob turn up at their Florida Hotel. Oops. Still.. it had it’s laughs. Especially the last lines. I’d quote them if I could be bothered lol.

So yeah. Next up will either be Pink Flamingos, or My Beautiful Laundrette..

BHB
xxx

Let’s get the ball rolling again shall we? I know this is another film on the film studies list, but if I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, why shouldn’t I? Tonight I sat and and watched Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. British New Wave film – affectionately called kitchen sink dramas. And there’s a reason for that. It’s not an unusual story. It’s a story which will have happened hundreds of times, all over the country, at the time the film was made.

Every street in every town would have been similar. Kids playing in the road. Blokes going out to work in the factories. Women too, for that matter. 9-5 at the factory, mon-sat. Get paid saturday, then out to the pub for a good time. Back to work on Monday. It happens. That’s life. And that’s what this film was. Just life. Just the way it went. I enjoyed it, it has to be said. I’m a bit of a lover of British cinema anyway, but this one I really did enjoy. Normal people. Normal lives.

BHB
xxx

OK, this has kinda stopped for a while. I know, it’s terrible. Still, there should be another few coming up soon enough. I’ve joined an online DVD rental thing, mainly for film studies tbh but even so. Getting Pink Flamingos from there, and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Possibly another one too, I can’t remember. But yeah, they’re coming up :-)

I shall return to completing this. I have to. I’m determined damnit!!!

BHB
xxx

Another one from the list :-D

This time courtesy of Paul, my film studies tutor. We watched it in class on Monday morning, and although I can’t say I was massively impressed with it, I could appreciate it.

It’s basically about these 2 bikers who have loads of money thanks to selling drugs and they put it in a tube in the fuel tank of the bikes. And they visit a hippy commune. And meet Jack Nicholson. And there’s a 10minute long acid trip. The soundtrack is fantastic ‘Born to be Wild’.. just wonderful. But.. meh. Not what I’d call a major classic.

Speaking of classics.. Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Considered by many to be an iconic, classic film, and I automatically assumed it would be on my list. So when I saw it on sale for a fiver, I thought ‘great, I’ll buy it.’.

It’s not on the list. At all. Anywhere. Not once. I was astounded. I couldn’t quite believe it. But hey. It IS a classic film, and I shall watch it regardless.

Pink Flamingoes is likely to be next off the list, if I’m honest. I missed it in film last week, but I’m borrowing the DVD from Paul, so that could be an interesting one to watch whilst doing the ironing tomorrow night. And if I don’t get it there’s always Blade Runner I’ve got. And Saturday Night Fever. So it’s all good :-)

That’s it for now. More updates when I see the next film. Hey, this list is getting shorter every week lol. Couple of years and I’ll have completed the task :-D

BHB
xxx

Wow. I am utterly gobsmacked. What an amazing movie. Seriously.. I am in awe of the film I have just seen. It was truly wonderful

Sure, I cried. It’s not something I do too often, especially with movies. Books are different matter, but movies don’t tend to get me going too much. But Shawshank.. wow.

Just the way Andy kept going despite the fact he was locked up for a crime he didn’t even commit. Jeez. I’d have gone frigging insane.

So that’s another one down.. I think when I get to 25 movies crossed off the list (tonight was the 23rd) I’m gonna have a little celebration. And then for every 25 movies after that. After the last one I should have only 7 movies to go.. I think I’ll do them in one whole week, a film per night and then go out and get absolutely rat-arsed. Hell, it’s something worth celebrating, right? I can officially call myself a movie buff after watching all these films?

OK, that’s not technically true, and the world of film is constantly updating and reinventing itself and there’ll be a lot to keep up with. That much I know. But.. I hope I can do that. Finishing this list.. it won’t be the end of a project. It’ll be the start of a lifestyle.

BHB
xxx

Just happened to stumble across Taxi Driver on Film Four this evening, and I’m pretty glad I did. It was a decent film, with the infamous ‘You talkin’ to me?’ scene.. brilliance. God bless Scorcese, eh?

Saying that, a young Jodie Foster as a teenage prostitute.. wonderfully done. She was fantastic in this film.

So yeah, another one down, a lot more to go! And once I’ve done this list, there’s the 1001 movies to see before you die book.. We all know what I’m getting for Christmas lol!

Next up I think will be Shawshank, seeing as I have it on DVD. Bourne Identity too, and Saturday Night Fever, both on VHS I need to get round to watching.. it’s a hard life, this movie buff lark..

BHB
xxx

Psycho – I bought this for a fiver in HMV recently and got around to watching it tonight. And what can I say.. it’s certainly different. I enjoyed it, I must admit. The pacing is just spectacular, can definately understand why this film is on the list. The only thing I found with it was the fact that the oh-so-iconic murder-in-the-shower scene almost seemed like a parody of itself, the scene (and music) having been parodied to death by popular culture.. everyone knows that music and that idea, of being stabbed in the shower but you don’t actually see the knife penetrating the skin.. it’s been done death. And seeing the original scene.. it just seemed to be another parody. Victim of it’s own success, I guess.

But other than that, it was a good film and I enjoyed it muchly :-)

The Gold Rush – Only really watched it because I need to start watching a few Chaplin movies for my film studies coursework, and seeing as this one was on the list, I figured why not start with this one? And I’m glad I did. Even though it’s a silent movie, filmed in 1925, its ancient and all that crap.. it was funny as hell. When they’re eating the boot because there’s no food left and ‘the little fellow’ wraps the lace up like spaghetti? Pure genius. And when the cabin is tilting on the edge of the cliff.. who needs The Italian Job, Chaplin did it 40 years earlier! It was just a great, funny movie, and incredibly charming. It was a very endearing movie, and Chaplin himself as a silent actor.. just astounding. You just have to get over the Hitler-stylee moustache first..

BHB
xxx