Junto Boys

CULTURAL LITERACY

I was reading the Dynamist last week and she was talking about a game in which academics ask one another what book they are most ashamed of not having read.

Here's a game for the visual generation. What movies are you ashamed of not having seen? Netflix has given me a few years to catch up on Bergman and Kurosawa, but I still have gaps. Here are a few that I should have seen by now.

BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) - The first big event movie.

JAZZ SINGER (1927) - The first talkie may not be a great movie but it's such a part of film history that I am remiss.

Wuthering Heights (1939) - Olivier and the year of the movie. I read they tinkered with the book for a happy ending, but it's still classic Wyler.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - I know I will love this, but the stars are against me. I have seen the first 15 minutes on TMC and have gotten interrupted 3 different times in the last 15 years. I once had it on VHS but it was a victim of the move. Not on DVD. The wait continues.

Bicycle Thieves (1949)- The postwar Italian Neo-realism exemplified here and I've made time for Cinema Paradiso and not this.

An American in Paris (1951) - Best picture and considered a classic by everyone. I don't watch a lot of musicals and I have never made the time for this one.

A Man for All Seasons (1966) - The excellent actor, Paul Scofield won as Oscar. Orson plays Cardinal Woolsey. Dude and I were in a stage play with roughly the same story, but I haven't seen this.

Barry Lyndon (1975) - I understand it to be as slow as it is long (3 Hours) but brother John said that he liked it quite a bit. I've seen all the Kubrick's save this and the Shining (1979).

Brazil (1985) - I'm not a big fan of Gilliam. I find his stuff too stylish and nuts. 12 Monkeys was alright at the time, but I don't even remember it. The Fisher King didn't do much for me either. Brazil is supposed to be his masterpiece, so I will eventually get to it.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-3)- Okay, I went to the first film and fell asleep three times. I remember a preponderance of monsters would attack our heroes and they'd fight them off only to be attacked all over again with a new set of worse monsters fifteen minutes later. There was very little bloodshed from our heroes, but just enough to make you think the fighting was tough like on the A-Team. I'm told that the Director's cuts are better and the series improves with each movie and yet I'm going to have to be in the right mood to see these things. Once every few years the critics and moviegoers agree on a movie and I still hate it, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Maybe I'll like the Lord of the Rings better the second time around.

I'm sure there are others I'm ashamed of having not seen. What are yours?