Since school is ending and I've got a lot of free time on my hands, thanks to the damn virus, I thought I'd start at the top of the They Shoot Pictures Don't They list, and work my way down and watch any films I haven't seen in their top 100.

I've chosen TSPDT because that list is, by far, the most comprehensive of all the "best films" lists - even more so than the Sight and Sound list.

Here is their top 10:

Citizen Kane
Vertigo
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Rules of the Game
Tokyo Story
8 1/2
The Godfather
Sunrise
The Searchers
Seven Samurai

Surprisingly, I've never seen Tokyo Story or 8 1/2, so I will start with them. I may re-watch other films I haven't seen in many decades, though, like Sunrise and Seven Samurai, as well.

My goal is to get through ten films every week, depending on how many of them I haven't actually seen, so I will start with 4 films this week - the ones I mentioned above.

Anyone want to join me and watch the films you haven't seen before of the top ten this week? You can post your reactions, like I will, in this thread.

Dom,

Sure. I've seen most of the top 100, but there's a few I've only seen once.

It's a terrific list.

I still have a few days more of work to correct and get grades in, but I'm done teaching until September.

I'm going to give this a try. I hate watching movies at home, but what else am I going to do? I'll only select movies that look like they may be fun to watch.

And just so no one gets upset later, my first two picks will probably be Alphaville and Comrades: A Love Story, but may just skip them and start with Seven Samurai.

Yeah, with a refrigerator and my bong collection. I'll weigh 400 pounds after 2 weeks and be dead in a month. But I guess there are worse ways to go.

I'm watching Tokyo Story first.

Me too

Alphaville is a blast

Tokyo Story

I know the place in film history this movie has, and yes the framing is exquisite and the waist-high camera height amazing, but this film was, unfortunately, not very engaging. I actually started feeling something after the funeral, when the whole family is together mourning the mother. But it was too late for me. Even as I was understanding the themes of modernization and parent/child relationships.

I did like the character of the widow, she held my interest and was actually pretty great at the end in her "selfish" monologue.

I don't know, I love quite a few deliberately-paced films, so it's not that.

Tokyo Story was just....meh.

It's funny, I think I have unconsciously avoided seeing this over the decades, because I knew I would feel like this about it. Oh well.

I hadn't seen Tokyo Story in nearly 40 years, so I watched it last night, too. I find it a moving film, but I also wish I had a better understanding of post-war culture in Japan. Perhaps because I'm a father alone, I see it differently than I did in my 20s.

It caused me to think about my own relationship with my parents and my children. Life goes on, and you do the best you can, but you wonder what it all amounts to near the end. Some days it's the commonplace that gives us pause. Ozu gets that.

I also think Tokyo Story will get better with repeated viewings. I know when I saw Rules of the Game for a second time, I loved it--and I didn't the first time.

This is true for me as well. The first time I saw Tokyo Story it made me uncomfortable, but on subsequent viewings I became more and more absorbed by it. I'd recommend waiting a couple of years and then watching it again if it called to me.

I do admit I liked the ending 20 minutes...after the mother's death. Up to then, it just seemed so very odd and stilted. I've been to Japan a few times, and while the culture can be quite formal at times, they are also pretty emotional with their families.

I will admit, it's stayed with me overnight, and I'm thinking about it still. It's quite a "what does it all mean" kind of film.

It's actually got me rethinking how to frame shots, too....I did love the low angle composition that allows whole persons to be in the frame, instead of cutting them off at the waist. Interesting film making.

I tried to watch Vertigo, since I haven't seen it in at least 30 years, but I'm not paying for it, dammit. I might pay for one I haven't seen, though, so we shall see.

In the next day or two, I will watch 8 1/2.

I'm starting with the top ten on the list...so I should probably rewatch Sunrise, if there's a good print out there. And, I am ashamed to admit, I don't think I've ever actually seen Seven Samurai, either! It may be one of the films I saw as a child on Channel 9 in the NYC area, but I really don't remember if I've seen it, so might as well knock that one off, too.

Nice, Shuffle. Noriko silently crying as she lay down for sleep next to her mother-in-law, and after her MIL has said she feels bad for Noriko being all alone, really got me. And she kept insisting that she was happy.

So have you all seen the top ten, or did you have gaps like I do?

I've seen most of the top 100, but I've never seen Once Upon A Time in America, Nashville (really??!), or A Woman Under the Influence. I've only seen parts of Greed.

It's been years for a few though.

Dom, 8 1/2 has one of the greatest endings in movie history. I think I've seen it three times in theaters. Right now I have L'Atalante in the DVD player; a movie for cat lovers.

John, I'm also watching that multi-part series, The Story Of Film: An Odyssey, narrated by some Irish dude. It's incredible. I'm pretty sure I watched it before, but when I watch it now, it's not familiar. Oh, the joys of getting old.

Have you seen it? It's on Hulu.

Edit: I did a search and I mentioned it in 2013 lol. Apparently, I loved it. <shrug>

I haven't watched it all, Dom. It's by Mark Cousins who also does

I like the ending of The Third Man a bit better but that's a personal prejudice. I think that movie makes the top 100 list posted by Dom, but we may all be dead before you yahoos get to it.

Anyway, Spoiler:

I'll probably watch 8 1/2 the next time I get in a Fellini mood.

lol I like that he's wearing a t-shirt that just says, "Isabelle Huppert" on it

I'd wear an Isabelle Huppert t-shirt too. Or a Juliette Binoche one.

Ugetsu is one of my favorite films that I bought as soon as it was available on DVD. I had seen it in my 20s and had to wait another 30 years to see it again.

I cheated and watched no. 12 instead....wasn't in the mood for Fellini.

Singin' In the Rain

Somehow, I had never seen this - probably because in the first 30 years of my film fandom, I really didn't "get" old-timey musicals and rarely watched them. I haven't seen An American In Paris, either! I look forward to that one soon.

But this was fun....I really enjoyed all the musical numbers, and the 4 main leads were charming. Also loved the bright colors and cinematography. The narrative was clever, too.

8 1/2

I enjoyed this. Fellini is such a nutcase, with his fidelity/Catholicism/sex triumvirate always in the front and center. This film is about as technically brilliant as any I've ever seen. The frame and composition, the gorgeous black and white cinematography, the freckles of Anouk Aimee and the eyes of Claudia Cardinale.

It's weird thinking that Marcello Mastroiani was 16 years younger than I am now when he made 8 1/2.

I probably most loved the fantasy sequence when Guido is with all the women of his life, and he literally has to whip them into shape as they chide him for throwing away women when they get too old...

Great film.

Next up is Sunrise - I really don't remember this, as I saw it back in college.