"Declaration of Principles"

I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to explain what the goal of this site is, as I don't intend for it to be a catalog of my viewings (I have seen several blogs of this nature, and I'm not really interested in the "entry a day" kind where there are only a few sentences devoted to a certain film).

As with most of these types of things, I'm sure I'll be breaking some of these. What are rules if they can't be bent every now and then?

1) The purpose of this blog is to justify why I like a certain film so much and figure out what makes it great. This is a learning process, like anything else, and hopefully my writing will also improve as a result. There are spoilers, however I do not believe a spoiler can ruin a film that is truly great, because great films can be viewed again and again. Plot is the clothesline but it is certainly not the clothing.

2) The best way to approach any film is with as few expectations as possible. If you're looking for recommendations, the best I can say is that I'd recommend anything I write an entry for.

3) Reviews and trailers should be avoided for a film you haven't seen yet.

4) A certain director, actor, writer, or production logo does not make a film inherently great. Each film must be approached as a separate entity in determining its value. Films can be compared, for sure, but one film's value should not affect another's.

5) Supplemental material and commentaries should not form the basis of your understanding. I tend to avoid these until I've seen a film 4-5 times to establish my own understanding. What's the point of discussing a film if everyone looks at it the same way?

6) Rewatching is a gift in the age of home video... don't take it for granted!

7) Avoid words like "overrated," "open-minded,"good taste," etc.

Favorite Movies

I agree that lists are silly, but I enjoy making them to see how my tastes evolve. Here's my list of favorite movies. Bear in mind I did some real soul searching on this. Walked the earth and all that crap.

As sort of a little project, I'm going to try and post on each of these. I think it'll help maintain (or set free) my sanity.

Click for review:

The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951)

Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969)

Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)

Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007)

Au Revoir les Enfants (Louis Malle, 1987)

Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964)

The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953)

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer, 1970)

The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982/1991/2007)

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Brand Upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin, 2006)

Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982)

The Burmese Harp (Kon Ichikawa, 1958)

Camera Buff (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1979)

Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)

Chan is Missing (Wayne Wang, 1982)

Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963)

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)

Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)

Collateral (Michael Mann, 2005)

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

The Cranes are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)

Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)

Decalogue: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)

Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)

Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

The Double Life of Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)

Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)

Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)

F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1972)

Fires on the Plain (Kon Ichikawa, 1959)

For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)

The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934)

The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)

The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)

Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)

The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa, 1958)

I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)

If.... (Lindsay Anderson, 1969)

Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)

In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 1999)

Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson, 1945)

It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

Kanal (Andrzej Wajda, 1956)

King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005)

La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1961)

The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)

Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

Le Notti Bianche (Luchino Visconti, 1957)

Lessons of Darkness (Werner Herzog, 1992)

The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

Mafioso (Alberto Lattuada, 1962)

magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003)

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)

Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)

Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)

Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)

Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2002)

My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964)

Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg, 1991)

Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)

No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

El Norte (Gregory Nava, 1983)

Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)

Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977)

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)

Pandora’s Box (G. W. Pabst, 1929)

Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)

Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)

The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)

Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953)

Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)

Police Story (Jackie Chan, 1993)

The Pornographers (Shohei Imamura, 1966)

The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985)

Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1948)

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson. 2001)

Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa, 1962)

The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)

The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)

Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 1993)

A Short Film About Killing (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988)

The Silence (Ingmar Bergman, 1963)

The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)

Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)

Swing Time (George Stevens, 1936)

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

Three Colors: Blue, White, and Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1992, 1993, 1994)

Three Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961)

Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935)

Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1959)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)

Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)

Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)

Vengeance is Mine (Shohei Imamura, 1979)

Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)

War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)

The White Diamond (Werner Herzog, 2004)

Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman, 1962)

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961)

Others

...Around (David Spaltro, 2008)

Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)

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