Amazing Grace

       

The Plan

When I was two-years-old, my mother sat down with me and we watched Annie. Now, seeing that I was diagnosis with ADHD a mere five years later it is somewhat remarkable that I was able to sit through the entire thing. And at the end, eyes wide with excitement, I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be Miss Hannigan!

As years past I realized that, no, I don't actually want to be a child-hating lush. My actual interest was in Carol Burnett. When I was four my aunt took me to see The Sound of Music on Broadway. Once again, my little hyper active brain stopped moving and focused only on this spectacular miracle on the stage in front of me. A year or so later I watched the movie and fell head-over-heels in love with Julie Andrews. Now, a good twenty-odd years later here I am, with an unbridled passion for film. The only problem? I'm seen almost no "classic" films. Sure, I've seen the modern classics. But old Hollywood and I have barely been introduced. 

            I guess the real reason I’m doing this is that a few months ago I realized I have no expertise in any area. I know a little about a lot of things but I don’t know a lot about anything. Except Harry Potter. And the TV show Friends. But that doesn’t really do me any good. And while this might not do me any good either it has more potential than being able to tell you the middle name of each “Friend.” Which is fairly useless and, depending on when you volunteer this information, it can be kind of annoying.

So I decided to take my love of film and educate myself.  I looked up lists of classic films (I trusted AFI and Time Magazine), lists of Oscar winning movies, I asked friends and family for suggestions, and I even threw in a few on my own that I just know I need to see.  Now, after a few tweaks here and there, I have a list of sixty-five movies that I have never seen. The plan is to watch them and blog about them.

            Don’t misunderstand; this is not a movie review blog. I am by no means qualified to review these movies at a profession level. No, the plan is just to present my interpretation and opinion of the movie along with funny quotes and interesting trivia about the film. I know what you’re thinking. “That sounds exactly like a review!” Well, you would be correct.  However, beyond that I am also going to include anecdotes from my life in relation to the film at hand and my studies at school. Each post will be remarkably more accessible and entertaining than your average movie review.

I have done a piss-poor job of explaining but I promise, keep reading and you’ll see what I have in mind. And, in case you’re interested, here is The List –

The List

1. Philadelphia Story

2. Casablanca

3. The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer

4. His Girl Friday

5. My Man Godfrey

6. The Labyrinth

7. North by Northwest

8. Meet Me in St. Louis

9. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

10. Inherit the Wind

11. Splendor in the Grass

12. Roman Holiday

13. The Shop Around the Corner

14. To Catch a Thief

15. Rear Window

16. Maltese Falcon

17. The Godfather

18. Citizen Kane

19. On The Waterfront

20. Blue Velvet

21. Schindler’s List

22. Bridge on the River Kwai

23. King Kong (1933)

24. An Affair to Remember

25. A Streetcar Named Desire

26. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

27. All Quiet on the Western Front

28. An American in Paris

29. The Big Sleep

30. Bringing Up Baby

31. The Grapes of Wrath

32. A Thousand Clowns

33. Harvey

34. Kramer vs. Kramer

35. Bridges of Madison County

36. The Manchurian Candidate

37. Around the World in 80 Days

38. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

39. Top Hat

40. Gigi

41. The Birds

42. On Golden Pond

43. Die Hard

44. It Happened One Night

45. Saving Private Ryan

46. The Usual Suspects

47. The Blob

48. Pulp Fiction

49. Driving Miss Daisy

50. The Big Chill

51. Funny Face

52. Sabrina

53. Brian’s Song

54. Out of Africa

55. Rebel Without a Cause

56. Mutiny on the Bounty

57. Amazing Grace

58. I'm No Angel

59. All About Eve

60. From Here to Eternity

61. Ben-Hur

62. Westside Story

63. Lawrence of Arabia

64. The French Connection (1971)

65. Terms of Endearment

If there is a movie you think should be on this list feel free to let me know but keep in mind that I am going to classic, iconic movies. 

Oh, I almost forgot! The rules. The rules are simple. One  - If a movie is on the list I MUST watch it. And two – I must watch each film in one sitting. This is purely for continuity’s sake. 

            I don’t expect this to make me a better person. I don’t expect any self-discovery to spring out of this. It purely is to increase my cinematic knowledge. I mean, after all, one day I plan to be a movie star.