On Becoming Movie Literate

Jim Emerson says you don’t know movies unless you’ve seen the following 102.

Here’s how I rank.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  Multiple times. Though Kubrick still put me asleep
• The 400 Blows
• 8 1/2
  Tried. I think
• Aguirre, the Wrath of God
• Alien
• All About Eve
• Annie Hall
• Apocalypse Now
• Bambi
  Probably.
• The Battleship Potemkin
• The Best Years of Our Lives
• The Big Red One
• The Bicycle Thief
• The Big Sleep
• Blade Runner
  Multiple times. Fantastic.
• Blowup
  In college. Awful, bad, aimless film.
• Blue Velvet
• Bonnie and Clyde
  Multiple times
• Breathless
• Bringing Up Baby
• Carrie
• Casablanca
• Un Chien Andalou
• Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
• Chinatown
• Citizen Kane
  In college. Pretty good.
• A Clockwork Orange
  Multiple times, fell asleep multiple times
• The Crying Game
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
  Fell asleep.
• Days of Heaven
• Dirty Harry
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
• Do the Right Thing
• La Dolce Vita
• Double Indemnity
• Dr. Strangelove
  Multiple attempts. Not sure if I ever made it through without falling asleep.
• Duck Soup
• E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
  Yes.
• Easy Rider
  Multiple times. Fantastic.
• The Empire Strikes Back
  Yes.
• The Exorcist
• Fargo
  Multiple times.
• Fight Club
  Yes.
• Frankenstein
• The General
• The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
  Yes.
• Gone With the Wind
• GoodFellas
• The Graduate
  Yes.
• Halloween
• A Hard Day’s Night
• Intolerance
• It’s a Gift
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Jaws
• The Lady Eve
• Lawrence of Arabia
• M
  Tried. Couldn’t get into it.
• Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
• The Maltese Falcon
• The Manchurian Candidate
• Metropolis
  Multiple attempts. Fell asleep.
• Modern Times
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  Multiple times – of course.
• Nashville
• The Night of the Hunter
• Night of the Living Dead
• North by Northwest
• Nosferatu
• On the Waterfront
• Once Upon a Time in the West
• Out of the Past
• Persona
• Pink Flamingos
• Psycho
• Pulp Fiction
  Yes.
• Rashomon
• Rear Window
  Yes.
• Rebel Without a Cause
• Red River
• Repulsion
• The Rules of the Game
• Scarface
• The Scarlet Empress
• Schindler’s List
• The Searchers
• The Seven Samurai
  Yes. Loved it.
• Singin’ in the Rain
• Some Like It Hot
• A Star Is Born
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Sunset Boulevard
• Taxi Driver
  Yes. Eh.
• The Third Man
• Tokyo Story
• Touch of Evil
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• Trouble in Paradise
• Vertigo
  Yes.
• West Side Story
• The Wild Bunch
• The Wizard of Oz
  Yes.