PROJECT!

[Sleepless]

Agreed. Vivre Sa Vie is a must, as is Bande A Part. Although I would suggest you include Weekend at the end of the month as a teaser which could lead her back to Godard's later stuff in the future. There are definitely some later Godard's I would recommend (One Plus One, Tout Va Bien, King Lear) if you wanted to give her a fuller idea of the spectrum of his career.

Since she is already a Hitchcock fan a nice transition into Powell & Pressburger would be Peeping Tom. After that: I Know Where I'm Going, A Matter of Life And Death, The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp, Red Shoes, Black Narcissus.

[RegularKarate]

This started!
Thanks again, everyone.  I've got a spreadsheet with all your suggestions.

Things I'm considering:
- Using one month to cover the Big Swinging Dicks of the 70s.
- Intentionally throwing in the slower stuff early in the year to prepare her for the less polished feel of movies from then compared to now.

So we started with A Clockwork Orange.  She is glad she saw it and liked parts, but felt that it seemed forced and a little too violent and sexual.  I'm okay with her not loving it... it's his Fight Club anyway.  I think we might watch The Killing tonight.

[modage]

I'm doing a mini-version with my gf too!  We just watched 3 Wilders: The Apartment, Sunset Blvd and Sabrina.  She liked Sunset Blvd best and Sabrina least but liked all of them. 

[Pubrick]

holy fuck samsong's list is awesome but UNUSABLE as are a lot of these other lists. they are too niche!

if this chick is from the late 80s (RK you filthy old soomka!) and has only seen modern films she will have no idea what to do with bunuel and she won't have even heard of so many of these random filmmakers who all seem the same to her. i know that's what you're trying to influence but it's no good to go straight into fellini or even silent films.

stick to english films first. stick to classic english films from the DECADE PRIOR that everyone should have seen. for this reason it pains me to say that powell/pressburger etc are probably not the best films because they take a certain amount of context to really appreciate. what i mean is that they are awesome awesome awesome entertainment but where will she put them in her mental cinematic chronology? everything before 1987 is a VOID.. these silly old english ppl are just all too uptight and "trying too hard".

i think you need to stop thinking arty and just hit her with amazing 70s films FIRST (is this what you meant by big swinging dicks of the 70s?). so for that you gotta make sure she sees:

Scorsese EARLY 70s TO EARLY COKED
-taxi driver and Raging Bull if she hasn't seen it.
- after hours.
- alice doesn't live here anymore cos it's nothing like his others.

COPPPOLA
- has she seen the first two godfathers?
- if not a perfect month of movies with The Conversation
- Apocalypse Now

Ashby is a very good choice
-all the girls i know from that age group (DAMN RK YOU REALLY LIVING THE DREAM) love Harold and Maude
-i don't think H&M it's that great but Being There is just amazing
- but you already got that listed as well as woody allen and lumet so that's all good.

that's the idea tho. don't freak her out with movies from all over the world in all these stupid languages that don't even make any sense from years she has no concept of. get the great classic american films out of the way and then lead into foreign territory. anyway that's how i'd do it if i was dating a noob.

[RegularKarate]

Ha... thanks P.

When I said "Big Swinging Dicks of the 70s" I was specifically thinking Scorcese and Coppola (with some Polanski too).

More specifically, I was thinking Taxi Driver and (probably) Raging Bull as well as cheating with GoodFellas since she's never seen it.
You named EXACTLY what movies I was thinking for Coppola.  We started the first Godfather, but she fell asleep (not because she was bored, but because it was late and that movie is fucking long). 

She has seen Harold and Maude, but not Being There (that's in the plan) and I'm thinking Chinatown is a good one.

I think you're right about doing these sooner than later, P.  I think you've convinced me that BSDs of the 70s should be in February (even though it's the shortest month).

Also, she really like The Killing and fell asleep during FMJ, but we're trying FMJ again tonight I think.

[polkablues]

Once she's seen all those brilliant classic Coppolas, make her watch "Jack" so she knows never to take anything for granted.