While finalizing my list for next year, it dawned on me that the films I chose were reflective on what made my list last year. I've been meaning to see these works, but get pushed due to other circumstances. Some of my picks this year were also influenced by previous blind spots choices, whether of my own or others. Here are the films that compose this year's list:
The African Queen (John Huston, 1951)
Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
Leon: The Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)
Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
Nice list of movies. I've seen them all except The African Queen, sadly. I think you're in for a treat.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I get to enjoy all of them!
DeleteThat's quite the selection, out of which I've seen four. Citizen Kane is very much a love it or hate it type deal. I personally liked it, though I wouldn't call it the greatest film ever made like some people do (that title is reserved for 2001: A Space Odyssey). The Shining is one you'll like if you enjoy Kubrick's work. It's weird, surreal psychological horror and it can indeed be very disturbing. Y Tu Mama Tambien is certainly an interesting experience. It's a bit of an odd movie with some interesting bits of humor and a strange relationship between the leads plus an unexpected twist at the end that puts the story in a new perspective.
ReplyDeleteLeon: The Professional is okay. The ending took me out a bit though it may have also been my feminist side kicking in (seriously, 200 cops and not a single woman among them? I find it hard to believe. That whole "No women, no children" rule is a bit flawed as well and I felt like they didn't use that quite as effectively as they could have since they never addressed any of the problems with it or did anything to test how far Leon would go in sticking to it. I mean, I'd probably ask Leon what he'd do if a female assassin wanted to kill him, but apparently this movie thinks female cops and assassins don't exist (never mind the fact that he's training a teenage girl to be an effective assassin should prove otherwise). That, and Natalie Portman never really got a chance to use her skills effectively.
Perhaps you'd like to take a look at my 2015 Blindspot list and let me know what you think:
http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/11/2015-blindspot-challenge-final-list.html
I heard Citizen Kane can be divisive in terms of whether it's the greatest film ever made, or not. I've only seen one other Kubrick work (Dr. Strangelove) and it was good; there's so much praise for this one and I've been putting it off since it's in the horror genre (and I am terrible at horror movies). I've also heard good things about Y Tu Mama Tambien, though I haven't gotten it off my watch list, thought it'll be a good addition; same goes for Leon: The Professional.
DeleteYou know, I'm going to put Boogie Nights and Requiem for A Dream in my (first-time) list, too! What a coincidence! I was gonna put And Your Mama Too from Alfonso Cuaron, but, I just couldn't help but watched it yesterday! Nice list, anyway. Gonna follow your progress.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
P
Looking forward for your blind list!
DeleteThat is a list of classic, great flicks. Have fun! Really like your blog. - Kevin
ReplyDeleteHi, and thank you! :)
DeleteI failed so hard with my 2014 Blindspot list. Congratulations on surviving the 2014 challenge and good luck for 2015! :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen eight off your list and from what I remember about them, you really can't go wrong. I'd start with Boogie Nights! It is a Hell of a ride.
ReplyDelete(by the way, you've never seen Good Will Hunting? - whoa.)
Thank you for the recommendation; I haven't figured out where to start! I only caught bits of Good Will Hunting, and I've seen a feature of it in relation to Matt Damon's career; I have yet to see the entire movie.
DeleteI was a complete loser with the 2014 series so I'm not going to even attempt doing this again. And since it was difficult for me, the biggest congrats on finishing with 2014 and taking up another year! Wooo! So very proud and by the way, Good Will Hunting is amazing!
ReplyDeleteNice selections, I've seen some of them and most of them were pleasant. Except Annie Hall, I only loved Keaton's wardrobe. I am not fond of Woody Allen's lots of talk in the movie. Hope it will be a great one for you next year.
ReplyDelete