I am really just in shock that I have finished, so I apologize if this isn't particularly well articulated. I know it seems a bit silly getting emotional just because I finished a movie list, but it really feels like a huge deal. Obviously I love films, but honestly, right now that feels like a very small part of it. I have probably mentioned this before, but I make my extremely tiny salary through writing and editing. Looking at my earlier entries, there is a definitive jump in quality, which I owe to this blog, as writing over a thousand posts certainly counts as progress. I am still no Virginia Woolf but hey, at least I'm improving (and, you know, haven't drowned myself yet). I also have connected with some great people and have been lucky enough to keep up a correspondence with a few of you. I want to take this time to thank my frequent commentator Ray (can I call you a friend at this point or is that too forward?). I hope to one day speak about films with the same level of intelligence and humor that you do. I hope you feel better soon.
I also want to thank all of my readers, even if you are just a creepy lurker who never leaves a comment (no offense). I'm flattered that you would take time out of your days to read my blog. I will stop there before I give you all horrifying Sally Field flashbacks.
Currently I think the combined lists from all the editions contain 1157 movies. As my next project, I will be reviewing the remaining titles, in no particular order. It won't be at the alarming frequency that we have all become accustomed to, but I do promise to keep up with this blog fairly regularly. After that, who knows? I will probably find another list to tackle and I hope you will join me again. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments!
And now, my Oscar picks! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
BEST PICTURE: Little Miss Sunshine
Nominees: The Lord of the Rings
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
Once
Moulin Rouge!
Sideways
Pan's Labyrinth
Kill Bill
Downfall
WORST PICTURE: Irreversible
Nominees: Meet the Parents
Passion of the Christ
Borat
Uzak
BEST ACTRESS: Nicole Kidman
Nominees: Uma Thurman
Abigail Breslin
Toni Collette
Ivana Baquero
BEST ACTOR: Javier Bardem
Nominees: James McAvoy
Daniel Day Lewis
Steve Carell
Javier Camara
BEST DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
Nominees: Alexander Payne
Quentin Tarantino
Martin Scorsese
Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris
BEST LINE: "Okay, everybody just pretend to be normal, okay?"
Nominees: "When you decide to be something, you can be it. That's what they don't tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I'm saying to you is this: when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"
"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
"Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, and like a forest it's easy to lose your way...to get lost...to forget where you came in."
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."
BEST SONG: "Come What May"
Nominees: "Falling Slowly"
"Elephant Love Medley"
"Your Song"
Awwwww, thank you. Yes, please, would be honoured to be classed as a friend.., That is a great compliment.
ReplyDeleteSo I will take the opportunity to say .. again .. Please please almost immediately pick another list and continue this blog.
Thanks Ray! I promise I will! I was just looking over the updated list this morning and now I'll have to watch Gravity and War Horse. What a bummer.
DeleteI've managed to avoid War horse, but sadly had to sitthrough Gravity
ReplyDeleteOh my God, I'm so sorry it took me so long, but CONGRATULATIONS!!! It is emotional to be done, I agree. So happy that you climbed to the top of the mountain!
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew! Hey, where have you been? I miss reading your blog!
DeleteI will echo that ..
DeleteThis whole thing just really burned me out. I do however really appreciate both you and Ray for wanting me back. That really means a lot. The thought of writing anything now is very off putting, but I really hope I get the desire back someday.
DeleteI have a suggestion for your next list. I'll just is link here:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_worst
In a similar vein .. https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/badmovies.org+best+b-movies/
ReplyDeleteOn Jeffrey's list .. I've seen a distressingly large number of those. Some I'm quite happy to have seen as they are genuine 'so bad it's good' films, but far to many are simply.. bad films.
I can't make myself watch anything with Adam Sandler. I'm too fond of myself for that.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was sudden. Finished allready? I think I reviewed like thirty movies in the time you did the seventies to the present. Congratulations, Amanda, it is quite an achievement. I will spend the next five years reading through all your posts, I promise.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to do 10 reviews a day !
ReplyDeleteThanks TSorensen! And Andrew if you did write ten reviews a day I'm sure no one would make fun of you for it!;)
ReplyDeleteAmanda, you rock! Well done! I am emotional about this too--as a writer, I know what time and energy went into your work. Bravo! I teared up with the listing of your favorite lines...those are some of my favorite lines too! Again, well done! 👏
ReplyDeleteAh the relief of reaching the end, I know it well. Congrats, you've joined the tiny club of people silly enough to complete the entire book.
ReplyDeleteI asked this to Andrew when he finished, what was your single favourite film out of the 1001? Or what was your favourite previously unseen discovery?
As for the future, I recommend having a go at The New York Times 1000 Best Movies Ever. You can get the book on Amazon, or the list is online (including on my blog). I'm just over half way through that, so far it's a much better list, unlike the 1001 book there's little in the way of wilfully obscure, experimental or difficult films. Worth a look once you finish the other editions.
Congrats again.
Thanks Donald! Hmmm my favorite discovery was probably Le Trou or Wages of Fear, as I know I wouldn't have seen those without the Book. Single favorite....wow that's incredibly hard. I guess I should go with the movies I watch most often out of the Book, which would be like When Harry Met Sally, Little Miss Sunshine, or LOTR. But I don't know if I would call those films the greatest of all time. What about you?
DeleteI actually also had Le Trou as probably my 2nd favourite discovery, and I know it was Andrew's favourite from the book as well. Really surprising that such a little known film keeps coming out on top amongst all of us. At the time I picked Nashville just ahead of that, though I'd probably go for Fargo as my overall favourite now.
DeleteOoo Fargo's a good one. I never really liked Nashville. I probably forgetting a lot of the ones I had seen pre-Book that don't stand out to me as Book movies. But I might have to change my answer to High Society.
DeleteI'm sort of halh heartedly having a go at the NYT 1000. It has the nice 'old time' charm of having an actual book. I also like that it's rather skewed to older films.. The book is intriguing in that it is reprints of old, at the time, NYT reviews. So they are seen as they did at the time .. no historic in retrospective over view . So Casablanca, and Citizen Kane are seen as ... well, just films, without the haze of 'Hey you cannot criticize this, it's the best film ever, and has been seen as for 70 years.. The down side is it is very heavily skewed to American, Hollywood, and mainstream stuff. From your view point .. next to no 'experimental' stuff .. so no Brackage, Auger, Warhol... to worry you.
ReplyDeleteI quite like 'They shoot pictures don't they'.. also a 1000, but Amanda, be warned, it has Warhol's 'Empire', probably one of the most pointless and boring films ever. (I've yet to see it ..)
Oh wow, I don't know if I can sit through Empire. Are you even meant to sit through that or is it supposed to be like an art installation at a museum that is just always playing?
DeleteWell, quite.It raises all sorts of questions about just how much attention you are required to spend on a film. OK, 'Empire' is an extream example .. but , if you are 'list ticking'.. are you REALLY supposed to sit in your chair, closely watching? Or are you allowed to not hit the pause button to go to the toilet, put the kettle on, make a pot of tea. .. Well, I'm sure that is OK .. but .. the phone goes, and you chat to some one.. the door bell goes and you get rid of a double glazing salesman.. or you pop next door to borrow some milk for your aforementioned cup of tea.
DeleteOK, acceptable. But next door hasn't milk either, so go to the shop to get some.
And why not call in at the library whilst you are out. Where you meet a friend who suggests going for a coffee.
You remember your half made pot of tea at home, and that 'Empire' is still running on the video, but right now, a coffee with your friend, (who wants to know how your date went last week) sounds like a really good thing right now. And she wants ALL the details.. and quite some later you realise it's almost time for your evening class...
And by the time that's over...You realise you've not eaten yet, and the class suggests going for a drink and a curry together... I mean, come on, that pot of tea will be undrinkable by now, so why not?
You stumble back home, in the early hours forget the video is still playing and fall into bed, and fall asleep at once.
Next day, you have over slept, so it's a man dash to work, and damn, you forgot to put the milk in the fridge.
You return that evening and .. oh hell, 'Empire' is still playing. What the heck, I've sort of seen it ..
What a thoroughly British description of a day. I love it.
DeleteHi Amanda...I stumbled across your blog a couple of days ago and have really been enjoying it. I've had the Book for ages but I haven't made a go of it as I've been doing some smaller lists...
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the top 100 AFI, top 100 BFI (I'm in the UK), all of the best picture Oscar winners and this top 100 musicals list that was just a poll done for a UK TV channel a few years ago but I really love musicals so I decided to have a go at it. So I'm about half way through all of these lists so want to finish them before I start on a bigger project.
Anyway I just thought I'd leave a comment since you have entertained me the last couple of days on my really long commute. I don't know anyone into films so it was great to find this blog although I'm sure we couldn't have more different tastes if we tried. I adore Al Pacino he's my favourite actor of all time, my favourite decade has got to be the 70s, I love the Sound of Music and Cabaret and refuse to watch horrors because they freak me out too much. Haha!
Congratulations on finishing the list anyway and thanks for writing it- I can't wait to get started as soon as I've finished the ones I'm doing now.
Thank you so much! That really made my day. Hmm...maybe we'll be able to figure out something we agree on.
DeleteThere's definitely been some but I can't remember what they were...now all I can think about is how much I love Stictly Ballroom- it was my childhood favourite! :D
ReplyDeleteWow we really are different. Glad you are not taking the opportunity to insult me then haha. Did you like Moulin Rouge?
ReplyDeleteI did- I really like it a lot. Has Ewan McGregor ever been more adorable...Haha oh no I could never...lots of people really hate it. Honestly I think I love it so much because I love ballroom dancing!! Anything with a bit of dancing in it usually gets a thumbs up...
ReplyDelete(Sorry it's still me by the way it was hard work commenting without being logged in)
Okay so at least we agree on Ewan McGregor's insane adorableness.
Delete