Saturday, September 14, 2013

Four Years Later...

Can't believe it's been four years....yada, yada, yada
Seems like only yesterday....yada, yada, yada
728 movies later....yada, yada, yada

It's been four years, I think anyone who knows the blog can fill in the "yada, yada, yada" and I can get this show on the road. It's not that I want to undermine those sentiments, it's just that I've said all that stuff before, multiple times and to repeat myself here would be redundant. So...what to talk about....

THANK YOU

Well, I definitely want to say a few "Thank You's", as I never get tired of thanking anyone and everyone who shows support. First and foremost my lovely wife Ruth for giving me the time and being patient when I have "just twenty minutes left of Mean Streets" or "just need to type up this review real quick, babe". She's super supportive and has been onboard since day one and for that, I am forever grateful. Thank you Ruth.

Of course I am ALWAYS grateful to the wonderful people who come and leave comments. If you're willing to take the time to ponder my opinions, heed my suggestions or just read something I wrote, I think that is awesome and I am grateful. I want to especially thank Ray from the UK, not only a commenter, but also someone who took the time to mail me out a few of the harder to find titles, on his own dime. Also a big congratulations to Ray who is only steps away from completing THE BOOK himself. Thank you Ray.

Thank you to Karen Burroughs Hannsberry, who not only collaborated with me on "Seven Shadows Week" last year, but also invited me to take part in The Dark Pages Newsletter: Giant Issue that comes out this December. I'll let all of you guys know the details when it gets closer, but I spent a good week hammering out a pretty extensive biography of Burt Lancaster, which I was pretty proud of, that will appear in that issue. Thank you Karen.

Also a big thank you to Barron's Educational Series and notably Eric for making sure I got a copy of the newest edition this year. I meant what I said about the new book and despite my dislike for some of the choices, it really is a beautiful copy of the book. Thank you Eric.

Thank you to the boys of The Big Kahuna Burger Podcast for welcoming me as a guest. I was super excited to get the call to come and do the show and I look forward to going back. Thank you Thomas.

And I hope I didn't forget anyone...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I'M DONE?

By this time next year, I plan to have less than 100 films to go. I figure I'll get to 800 watched by the end of this year, 900 watched by the middle of next year and start the final 100 somewhere around next August or so, finishing up by the end of 2014. So what happens to the blog when everything is said and done? Well....I'll tell you, but it's going to take a lot of explaining....so buckle up.

STEP ONE: 1000 MOVIES YOU REALLY MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE: A PERSONAL, ONGOING CANON OF MY 1000 FAVORITE FILMS

So that's not really STEP ONE, but rather, the ultimate goal for me. You've heard me say since day one here at the blog things like "Man, this should really be in THE BOOK" or "WOW, can't believe this isn't in THE BOOK". Well now it will be my turn to take matters into my own hands and make my own BOOK. No, I'm not actually publishing or even making an actual book, but I am making a list and so far that list houses 210 movies. The 210 movies that it houses is EVERYTHING that has ever appeared on a TOP 20 list, including the "Ten Worth Mentioning" movies. I will continue to add to that list as I finish THE BOOK and when I'm done with THE BOOK, the list should have 300 titles.

To view that list in it's current form, click here

STEP TWO: SECOND CHANCES

Okay, so in this glimpse into the future, I've just finished watching every film from THE BOOK. Now what?

Ever since I made my first TOP 20 list, after I was finished picking out the twenty films and the ten honorable mentions, I would go through one more time and set aside another ten films that I would've liked to have taken one last look at or films that were REALLY good, but just didn't have enough "oomph" to make the list. Well, I'm going to give myself the opportunity to take one last look at those films. When I'm done with THE BOOK, I plan to go back through and re-watch 125 movies from THE BOOK: The 100 that I set aside (ten from each set of 100 films that I watched) and 25 wild cards or films that even after setting aside an extra ten, still needed a second look. From there, I'll make an 11th TOP 20 list from those films and those twenty (NO "Ten Worth Mentioning") will go onto the list in STEP ONE. So that's what I'll do immediately after finishing THE BOOK. I haven't worked out EVERY detail yet, but I highly doubt I'll redo any reviews, maybe just some quick thoughts and new ideas. Everybody on the same page so far?? Okay, lets continue....

To view the "Second Chance" list in it's current form, click here (Please note that the wild card films have yet to be selected and WILL NOT be selected until I am completely finished with THE BOOK.)

STEP THREE: 1000 MORE MOVIES

I think this one's pretty self explanatory. I have a list of 1000 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT films lined up and ready for my eyes and when the Second Chance movies are gone through, my journey will restart, TOP 20 lists will continue to be made & added to my personal list and full reviews will be written, just like I've been doing. What is this list you ask....

*Every movie on The New York Times' Best 1000 Movies Ever Made list, that didn't appear in THE BOOK.
*Every movie on the They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? Greatest 1000 Films: 2013 Edition list, that didn't appear in THE BOOK.
*Every movie that has appeared in other incarnations of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, that weren't in the 5th edition that I've been working out of.
*Every movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, that wasn't in THE BOOK. (Just needed this one to round out the list).

With those lists, including everything that wasn't in THE BOOK, that brings the total to 991 (It says 998, but there's one on there in eight parts that counts as one). I'll probably finish off the last nine spots with everything that is nominated for Best Picture this year, just to get some 2013 stuff on the there.

To view that list, click here.

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So that's about as far ahead as I've thought and that's the plan moving forward. Of course, I'm not finished by a long shot, so I don't want to get ahead of myself and you probably won't hear me referencing this stuff too much, as I want to focus on the task at hand, which is finishing those last 273 movies from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book. I just thought that the fourth anniversary would be a nice time to unveil these plans and let you guys in on what I'm thinking and where this blog will go in the future. I'll probably create some new links, either at the top of the page or on the side, so that all of these lists are readily available. Thanks for reading, as always and I hope I continue to have everyone's support.

September 14, 2013  11:26am

10 comments:

  1. Hey Andrew, It Thomas Wishloff again. just had some Ideas for what you should do considering the future of the blog:

    1.) 20 films that aren't on any of the forms listed in part 3 that you'd include as a must see movie. Just felt that there should be a more personal aspect to the step one official list.
    2.) Also I don't know if you noticed, but in the book the reviews are all written by different writers, each with different backgrounds. It might be an interesting idea to get people other people to write 2-4 paragraph mini-reviews kinda like the book does. So for example you could get Karen Hannsberry to write on Strangers on a Train, or I could corral Sunny into writing about the Sting, or Ray could write on something he loves and so on and so forth. That was you could have your own "mini book."

    Anyways Congratulations on The Four Years! I look forward to the continuation of this blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There will definitely be a personal aspect, but that will probably come much later. Definitely some things to think about Thomas and thanks for the congrats!

      Delete
  2. I'm not sure i followed all the maths and reasoning in all those stages.. but so what.
    You will continue, that's good.
    I've had a quick look at list one, and I think I've seen all of those.. and hey, not one i would seriously disagree with. Well, perhaps except Apocolypto.
    OK, personally, I'd like to pass on Passion of the Christ and hoop dreams.. but that's minor stuff.
    It goes without saying I'm going to say 'Hey.. What, no Cat people or Walk with a Zombie.. but let me try and behave for once...
    Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it is a bit confusing isn't it?

      Well, it all makes sense in my head and I promise as time goes, I'll make it much clearer. For now, I have to finish THE BOOK and that's all that counts at the moment.

      LIST ONE = Every movie from my TOP 20 lists.

      LIST THREE = The new list that you had asked about it another comment, the other day.

      Delete
  3. Happy 4 year! I'm glad you're going to continue writing, even after you've reached your goal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've at last had chance to browse that 3rd list..
    Wow, thats some list.
    At a rough guess, I'd say I've done .. 60%??.
    There is astonishingly next to no rubbish in it... by which I mean multiplex and/or drunk teen fodder.. I didn't see transformers, Twilight,American pie etc etc or stuff THE BOOK felt obliged to put in to be able to say 'Hey, we are not all intellectual snobs'. Yes Top Gun, I am talking about you.
    Several in there I'd be interested in seeing...
    I'm NOT going to try and print that out.. and i rather seen a 'hard copy' of a list..
    But I am going straight away to Google 'New York times best 1000', as that seems to have provided the backbone of list 3...
    Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually Ray, it's about half and half between the New York times list and the "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They" list, which can be found at this link:

      http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

      Delete
  5. Congrats! :) I'm also glad that your blog is going to continue. -Sandra

    ReplyDelete

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