100 Movies I’ve Never Seen
Some of you may remember this ambitious post 10 months ago, inspired by Shannon at Movie Moxie, and her own list of movies she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen. I had great intentions on actually completing the list, but I have failed. Miserably. At least now I know that this is not possible to do in the three months I tried to do it in before. I’ve decided to rededicate myself, but on a much more realistic pace. Here’s a sad update. Blue indicates what I managed to watch thus far.
1. The Birth of a Nation (Griffith; 1915)
2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Weine; 1920)
3. Nosferatu (Murnau; 1922)
4. Nanook of the North (Flaherty; 1922)
5. The Gold Rush (Chaplin; 1925)
6. Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein; 1925)
7. The Freshman (Lloyd; 1925)
8. Metropolis (Lang; 1925)
9. The General (Keaton; 1927)
10. Sunrise (Murnau; 1927)
11. All Quiet on the Western Front (Milestone; 1929)
12. L’Age d’Or (Buñuel; 1930)
13. The Blue Angel (von Sternberg; 1930)
14. Freaks (Browning; 1932)
15. 42nd Street (Bacon; 1933)
16. L’Atalante (Vigo; 1934)
17. It Happened One Night (Capra; 1934)
18. Top Hat (Sandrich; 1935)
19. The 39 Steps (Hitchcock; 1935)
20. Camille (Cukor; 1936)
21. The Rules of the Game (Renoir; 1939)
22. Stagecoach (Ford; 1939)
23. Bringing Up Baby (Hawks; 1939)
24. Olympia (Riefenstahl; 1940)
25. The Shop on Main Street (Lubitsch; 1940)
26. The Maltese Falcon (Huston; 1941)
27. Citizen Kane (Welles; 1941)
28. Casablanca (Curtiz; 1943)
29. Meet Me in St. Louis (Minnelli; 1944)
30. Open City (Rossellini; 1945)
31. Laura (Preminger; 1945)
32. Children of Paradise (Carné; 1945)
33. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (Huston; 1948)
34. The Heiress (Wyler; 1949)
35. Adam’s Rib (Cukor; 1949)
36. All About Eve (Mankiewicz; 1950)
37. Sunset Boulevard (Wilder; 1950)
38. A Place in the Sun (Stevens; 1951)
39. Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock; 1951)
40. A Streetcar Named Desire (Kazan; 1951)
41. Singin’ in the Rain (Donen; 1952)
42. Pick-up on South Street (Fuller; 1952)
43. High Noon (Zinnemann; 1952)
44. On the Waterfront (Kazan; 1954)
45. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa; 1954)
46. Rear Window (Hitchcock; 1954)
47. Rebel Without a Cause (Ray; 1955)
48. Pather Panchali (Ray; 1955)*
49. The Searchers (Ford; 1956)
50. The Nights of Cabiria (Fellini; 1957)
51. Vertigo (Hitchcock; 1958)
52. Ben-Hur (Wyler; 1959)
53. The Seventh Seal (Bergman; 1959)
54. Breathless (Godard; 1960)
55. Psycho (Hitchcock; 1960)
56. The Hustler (Rossen; 1961)
57. Jules and Jim (Truffaut; 1962)
58. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean; 1962)
59. To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan; 1962)
60. This Sporting Life (Anderson; 1963)
61. 8-1/2 (Fellini; 1963)
62. Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick; 1964)
63. Darling (Schlesinger; 1965)
64. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nichols; 1966)
65. Bonnie and Clyde (Penn; 1967)
66. The Graduate (Nichols; 1967)
67. In the Heat of the Night (Jewison; 1967)
68. Persona (Bergman; 1967)
69. Weekend (Godard; 1967)
70. Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski; 1968)
71. Faces (Cassavetes; 1968)
72. Night of the Living Dead (Romero; 1968)
73. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick; 1968)
74. The Producers (Brooks; 1968)
75. Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger; 1969)
76. Easy Rider (Hopper; 1969)
77. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah; 1969)
78. My Night at Maud’s (Rohmer; 1969)
79. M*A*S*H (Altman; 1970)
80. Five Easy Pieces (Rafelson; 1970)
81. Woodstock (Wadleigh; 1970)
82. The French Connection (Friedkin; 1971)
83. The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich; 1971)
84. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Altman; 1971)
85. Shaft (Parks; 1971)
86. Cabaret (Fosse; 1972)
87. The Godfather (Coppola; 1972)†
88. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Buñuel; 1972)
89. Cries and Whispers (Bergman; 1973)
90. Mean Streets (Scorsese; 1973)
91. The Exorcist (Friedkin; 1974)
92. The Conversation (Coppola; 1974)
93. Chinatown (Polanski; 1974)
94. Nashville (Altman; 1975)
95. Shampoo (Ashby; 1975)
96. Taxi Driver (Scorsese; 1976)
97. All the President’s Men (Pakula; 1976)
98. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg; 1977)
99. Annie Hall (Allen; 1977)
100. The Deer Hunter (Cimino; 1978)
The problem comes when I watch one I really like, then I become very distracted with that director and lose all my momentum with the list (this is good when it comes to learning about film, bad when it comes to the goal of finishing the list). However, with 30 down, and 70 seventy left, and a conservative estimate of 2 of these films a week, I should be able to finish by mid 2010. That seems like a long time away.
If you’ve kept reading to the end of this post, I have a few questions. Are there any essentials I’ve left off the list? Keep in mind, the list only goes through 1978. So is there anything before that time I should definitely catch? And of those I have left, which should I watch sooner rather than later?
Definitely an awesome list.. I’ll be back to check on the status as well as use this list for myself as well if you don’t mind… Thanx!
As I look down this list, I have to admit that I just died a little.
.-= Mad Hatter´s last blog ..When You Were Young =-.
Alright, you’ve made some pretty impressive headway as far as I’m concerned. This is really a difficult task to take on. Aside from new releases, reader commendations, and any kind of theme or anything you’re working with it’s actually difficult to squeeze in the time for regular movie watching anymore.
In any case, I have some embarrassing ones that I still haven’t seen, Casablanca and Citizen Kane being at the top of my list. I’m going to steal this brilliant idea and make a list of my own.
Thank you for sharing!
@ALHDZ Thanks! I wish I could take credit for compiling it, but a film guru I know was kind enough to extrapolate from a book he’s about to have published. Feel free to use it and I’ll be checking your progress as well.
@Mad Hatter – Wait. You died a little in a good way? Or a bad way?
@Heather – Casablanca and Citizen Kane are definitely embarrassments for me when it come to filmdom. I only just recently finally what The Godfather trilogy for the first time. But I guess that’s what the list is meant to do, finally motivate me to see all the stuff I’ve been putting off.
Well, I’m right there with you. Totally inspired to get some necessary viewings on!
Citizen Kane is bad though. People always give me the evil eye when I say I haven’t seen it. But then I think that’s what I do when someone claims to not have seen Star Wars. FILM BLASPHEMY! Ha.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Christmas With The Kranks (2004) =-.
I think you’ve made amazing headway and seen a lot of great film. Planning to get it all done by mid 2010 would be phenomenal in my opinion (I have til 2011 on my current list and have 60 to go).
Being distracted by directors whose work you enjoy is a good thing! I think you are doing great and always look forward to updates!
.-= Shannon the Movie Moxie´s last blog ..DIY Club: Tracking back to November =-.
@ Heather – Oh dear, I will ad Star Wars to my list ASAP.
@ Shannon – Thanks! This is the best idea I’ve ever stole from anyone. Thanks for pioneering it.
For whatever they’re worth, here are my top twenty fives of the last three decades, compiled for a group list done by a forum I post on:
1980s
1. Raging Bull
2. Fanny and Alexander
3. The Decalogue (with a sub-vote for “A Short Film About Killing” depending on where things get ranked by other voters; count my vote for whatever helps Kieslowski most on the list)
4. The Shining
5. The Thin Blue Line
6. The Right Stuff
7. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Do The Right Thing
10. Hannah and Her Sisters
11. Crimes and Misdemeanors
12. Blade Runner
13. Fitzcarraldo/Burden of Dreams (tie)
15. Stranger Than Paradise
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark
17. My Dinner With Andre
18. After Hours
19. Paris, Texas
20. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
21. The Last Metro
22. Once Upon A Time in America
23. House of Games
24. Pauline at the Beach
25. Veronika Voss
1990s
1. Goodfellas
2. Blue
3. All About My Mother
4. Chungking Express
5. Magnolia
6. The Big Lebowski
7. Red
8. Rushmore
9. The Double Life of Veronique
10. JFK
11. Pulp Fiction
12. Breaking the Waves
13. Happy Together
14. Boogie Nights
15. Unforgiven
16. Bringing Out the Dead
17. Safe
18. The Insider
19. Groundhog Day
20. Dead Man
21. Three Kings
22. Being John Malkovich
23. Heat
24. L.A. Confidential
25. The Thin Red Line
2000s
1. There Will Be Blood
2. In the Mood for Love
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. The Royal Tenenbaums
5. Lost In Translation
6. Talk To Her
7. Sideways
8. I’m Not There
9. Zodiac
10. The Fog of War
11. No Country for Old Men
12. Half Nelson
13. WALL-E
14. Adaptation
15. Grizzly Man
16. Cache
17. Revanche
18. The Squid and the Whale
19. Synecdoche, New York
20. Ratatouille
21. Paranoid Park
22. Hunger
23. Mulholland Dr.
24. Yi yi
25. Brokeback Mountain
Crucial Omissions from the End of the 1970s:
Apocalypse Now
Days of Heaven
Thanks Mitch! I’ve actually been looking for a list like that to update the one I already have with. And I’m happy to report that I’ve seen a good amount of those.
I’ve been flirting with checking out The Decalogue again. Last time I only got to three of the ten films.
We all have big titles that we’ve never seen, so I won’t judge ya.
What I would say, for whatever its worth, is that I would start with these…
9. The General (Keaton; 1927)
17. It Happened One Night (Capra; 1934)
23. Bringing Up Baby (Hawks; 1939)
26. The Maltese Falcon (Huston; 1941)
27. Citizen Kane (Welles; 1941)
28. Casablanca (Curtiz; 1943)
41. Singin’ in the Rain (Donen; 1952)
44. On the Waterfront (Kazan; 1954)
46. Rear Window (Hitchcock; 1954)
47. Rebel Without a Cause (Ray; 1955)
49. The Searchers (Ford; 1956)
51. Vertigo (Hitchcock; 1958)
53. The Seventh Seal (Bergman; 1959)
54. Breathless (Godard; 1960)
57. Jules and Jim (Truffaut; 1962)
58. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean; 1962)
59. To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan; 1962)
65. Bonnie and Clyde (Penn; 1967)
74. The Producers (Brooks; 1968)
77. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah; 1969)
79. M*A*S*H (Altman; 1970)
82. The French Connection (Friedkin; 1971)
86. Cabaret (Fosse; 1972)
98. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg; 1977)
.-= Mad Hatter´s last blog ..I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight (DEATH AT A FUNERAL TRAILER…Again…) =-.
I think every reviewer has that list of movies he or she’s never seen. I call it my secret shame. But maybe you’ve encouraged me to make it public shame!
Of all those on your list, I’d say “Citizen Kane” and “Annie Hall” are two that will not disappoint. I waited for years to see “Citizen Kane” because I was convinced it wouldn’t live up to the hype; it surpassed it. “Annie Hall” remains one of the best romantic comedies (albeit a bittersweet one) I’ve ever seen.
.-= M. Carter @ the Movies´s last blog ..Netflix Pick: “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) =-.
so fun! sure, there are quite a few I ‘should’ have seen by now and yes, I’m a bit amazed you haven’t seen Casablanca or TKAM or Citizen Kane yet – I do hope these will blow you away with how great they are. I loved It Happened One Night and admit the backstory of how/when it was made adds to its charm. I loved All About Eve which I saw last year, if you recall. I keep saying I will read/watch Maltese Falcon – I’m hoping 2010 will finally be the year.
.-= Care´s last blog ..Holiday Swap News =-.
@ Mad Hatter – Thanks for the suggestions. I’m floundering a bit now about where to go from here and was leaving it up to a random number generator. Seriously.
@ M. Carter – I LOVED Annie Hall. It really did live up to all the hype. And I’ve been putting off Citizen Kane for the same reasons. I’ll just buckle down and finally see it.
@ Care – Yes, I’m a bit ashamed. I did finally manage to see TKAM a few days ago, and thought it was fantastic. And Jessica from thebluestockings swears by All About Eve too. I’ll move it to the top of the list. Of course I remember your Lit Flicks review! That was a lot of fun. We wanted to do it again this year, but Jess is 8 months pregnant, and I’m too lazy!
Wow I thought I was a movie addict but there’s a fair few movies there that I haven’t seen either.