I'm bored and you guys often like lists.
SO!
My girlfriend watches a lot of movies. She likes shit just as much as she likes good movies (and, for the most part can recognize the difference between).
The thing is that through most of her life, she has only really watched movies that have come out since she was born (she's a good deal younger than me) and now she's interested in exploring older films.
Her proposal to me the other night was that starting in January, I pick a new director every month to show her movies from to expose her to stuff that she may not have seen.
January, I have already decided will be Kubrick. She's only seen the Shining and (as of a couple weeks ago) Dr. Strangelove. I'll probably try to show her Clockwork first since it's short and quicker moving then move onto most of the others.
So, help me think of directors and which films to show her. They need to have enough good movies to keep the month interesting and be older than the late eighties.
Also, try to keep in mind she can fall asleep very easily during a movie and if she does this, there will probably be little chance to get her to pick up where she fell asleep. So someone like Malick will probably be later in the year.
This project will probably die before the end of January, but it will at least be fun to plan.
Fellini!
Best Project!
Billy Wilder is old and entertaining.
Double Indemnity
Sunset Blvd.
The Apartment
Some Like It Hot
Sabrina
That's a WIN right there.
Frank Capra!
Wilder and Capra are two I hadn't thought of. Thanks! I'm almost sure that Wilder will be on the list.
Oh, and if it helps... one of the few directors whose work she's seen a good deal of is Hitchcock. She loves Hitchcock (predictable, yes, but she's trying to branch out).
Here are the ones outside of Kubs that I'm almost definitely going to do:
Woody Allen
Ingmar Bergman
Kurosawa
Just have to figure out which films.
Bela Tarr!
JK.
Robert Altman would make for an awesome month. MASH, California Split, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye...Short Cuts, Gosford Park and/or Praire Home Companion if you're feeling like something more recent.
Woody Allen
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Sleeper
Bananas
Stardust Memories (only after Fellini month) / or throw in Interiors if you want to show him getting serious
Okay, Fellini month is an absolute necessity. No excuses!
-La Dolce Vita
-8 1/2
-La Strada
-Nights of Cabiria
Sydney Pollack would make a good month:
-They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
-Three Days of the Condor
-Tootsie
-Out of Africa
-Jeremiah Johnson
So would Sidney Lumet:
-12 Angry Men
-Dog Day Afternoon
-Network
-Serpico
-The Verdict
And lighten things up with the great Hal Ashby:
-Being There
-Harold and Maude
-The Last Detail
-Shampoo
-Coming Home
John Ford, John Huston!
Jonathan Demme:
Melvin and Howard
Married to the Mob
Something Wild
Stop Making Sense
Silence of the Lambs
Brian De Palma:
Carrie
Sisters
Blow Out
Carlito's Way
Femme Fatale
Wim Wenders:
Hammett
The American Friend
Paris, Texas
Wings of Desire
Don't Come Knocking (Just read the "falling asleep very easily" provision.)
You should also do a Francis Ford Coppola month. Pick whatever benchmarks of his career you see fit, then throw Jack into the middle of it... just so she can experience the bewilderment and/or disappointment most film geeks have already forgotten about.
I also second the Altman and Wilder suggestions. They'd both provide incredibly enjoyable, surprising months.
jackie chan:
miracles
wheels on meals
project a
project a ii
armour of god
ace in the hole is a must during billy wilder month. also if you're doing bergman and kurosawa, you definitely need to round out the world cinema gateway by doing fellini, to which you should add i vitelloni (which you could introduce as having been one of kubrick's favorite movies) and amarcord. also you can't do woody allen without the purple rose of cairo. or husbands and wives. or crimes and misdemeanors. or hannah and her sisters. also, loving hitchcock is nothing to scoff at. robin wood would suggest that it's essential. (has she seen marnie?)
some other suggestions:
charlie chaplin/buster keaton
- city lights
- the general
- modern times
- sherlock jr
- the gold rush
- our hospitality
- the cameraman
powell & pressburger
- black narcissus
- i know where i'm going!
- a matter of life and death
- the red shoes
the life and death of colonel blimp is pretty long but so great.
- a canterbury tale
douglas sirk
- written on the wind
- imitation of life
- all that heaven allows
- the tarnished angels
i'd save magnificent obsession for if/when she's seen and loved all the others
preston sturges
- the miracle of morgan's creek
- the lady eve
- the palm beach story
- sullivan's travels
- unfaithfully yours
ernst lubitsch
- to be or not to be
- the shop around the corner
- trouble in paradise
- ninotchka
- heaven can wait
howard hawks
- only angels have wings
- to have and have not
- his girl friday
- gentlemen prefer blondes
- the big sleep
- red river
- rio bravo
- bringing up baby
nicholas ray
- in a lonely place
- bigger than life
- they live by night
- rebel without a cause
- on dangerous ground
johnny guitar is hard to find but essential.
luis bunuel
- that discreet object of desire
- the exterminating angel
- belle du jour
- el
- los olvidados
- the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie
- the phantom of liberty
Damn guys, I feel like a real fool, I haven't seen a lot of this stuff.
These are great lists.
People keep insisting on Fellini... I'll definitely have to add that one to the list.
THANKS EVERYONE! This is great! Keep it coming and I'll let you guys know what we get to each month.
Gotta have a Godard month (will provide a list of suggestions soon)
Quote from: Sleepless on December 17, 2010, 10:25:25 AM
Gotta have a Godard month (will provide a list of suggestions soon)
To my surprise, my girlfriend absolutely adores
Breathless, so I'd certainly recommend that one.
The other Godards.... keep it early, unless you want to give her a good reason to avoid French films:
A Woman Is A Woman,
Pierrot le fou,
Contempt. I Would recommend
Vivre sa vie; it's admittedly slow, but short. She may enjoy that, or
Masculin/Féminin.
I'd also like to suggest some Truffaut,
especially (of course)
The 400 Blows.
Stolen Kisses holds a special place in my heart, and it's a fun lighthearted movie, so she may enjoy that.
Shoot the Piano Player and
Jules & Jim are naturals, too, I'd think.
And who doesn't like some serious, heartbreaking drama every now and then?
Scenes from a Marriage is good for getting the tears out (and it shouldn't ruin your relationship.... i hope),
Hour of the Wolf is a good one for Halloween (if your project has survived that long) and you can't go wrong with
Fanny & Alexander.
Finally, introduce her to von Sternberg, please! Especially the films he made with Marlene Dietrich:
Scarlet Empress,
Morrocco,
The Devil Is a Woman, and
Blonde Venus.
This is a great idea! Good luck, and I hope she discovers a few lifelong favorites.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Once she's seen all those brilliant classic Coppolas, make her watch "Jack" so she knows never to take anything for granted.