Monday 21 May 2012

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

As this will be my 200th post I thought that I would do something a little different and talk about a new project. At the end of March my contract came to an end on my current job; 4.5 years working as a Microbiologist for the University of Aberdeen. As a leaving present I got some wine, some beer, a framed photo and this rather enormous book:


So when I say "new project" I mean in a sort of life-project kind of way! I am under no illusion that I would ever manage such a feat; still it would be nice to make quite a dint in the list. At a quick count I've seen 160 on the list. So just 841 to go then! Organised  in chronological order the book ranges from Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) from 1902 directed by Georges Méliès, all the way to the Coen Brothers True Grit in 2010. There are all the classics that you would expect to find, as well as (to me) surprise entries such as Groundhog Day, This is Spinal Tap, or Young Frankenstein.

There is a nice checklist at the beginning of the book which I shall keep on top of, but I will also now label all films I watch with 1001 Movies (and probably retrospectively label others) to keep track of them. So here's to watching lots of great films, and many thanks to everyone in my lab who contributed to the gift.

10 comments:

  1. I owe 4 books similar to this one...

    1. 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die
    2. 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die
    3. Horror Cinema
    4. Best Movies of the 90s

    ...but I've never intended to watch all the films those books 'contain'. It's not physically possible, at least to me, plus there's are hundreds current and upcoming releases to be checked out.

    I admire your enthusiasm though, and I hope you can make it. :)

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  2. I seriously doubt I'll watch them all, but it'll be fun to keep track of them. If I came across something that I might otherwise ignore, if it's in the book, I may be more likely to give it a go.

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  3. True Grit is great if you've not seen it

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    1. I have seen it and you're right it is great. I haven't seen the John Wayne version though, and interestingly that isn't in the book!

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  4. Hot damn, that's quite the epic endeavor! Good luck chiseling into it! After all, who really needs a reason to watch 1001 great movies?

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    1. Cheers M. Maybe I should set myself some smaller targets (Joe Simpson steps) like initially trying to get to 200 by the end of this year. So that would be 40 in 7 months; so if I watched 6 a month I would be fine. That sounds like a do-able challenge, maybe!

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  5. Hi! Guy from Sweden reading your blog a little bit now and then and think that u deserve a nice comment! Interesting reading.
    Keep on writing!
    :)

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    1. Thank you very much Anonymous, that is very kind of you. I certainly will keep writing, and I hope that you keep reading.

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  6. I'll need to take a photo of the book I've got, think I've got an older version. Doesn't have Inception on the front!

    Good luck with your project. I really should think about attempting to do the same with my version of the book. Be interesting to see how different they are.

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    1. Mine does say "Updated version" on the front! Surely every year since the first edition came out would be an updated version no? Can you remember what the most recent film is in your version?

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