Philotic Web

So, just having moved into a new place and getting bored with TV and video games, I decided to challenge myself to watch a movie beginning with each letter of the alphabet that I have never seen before. I haven't really thought in advance about what I am going to watch for each letter. I really just look at a list and I go with the first thing that pops out. I am going to use this thread to track my progress(and welcome others to do the same). I will also ask for suggestions if I don't really know what to watch.

A: Angels and Demons (Done)
B: The Book of Eli (Done)
C: Children of Men (Done)
D: District 9 (Done)
E: Empire of the Sun (Done)
F: Fracture (Done)
G: Gattaca (Done)
H: Hotel Rwanda
I: Iron Man
J: The Jacket
K: The Kite Runner
L: The Lovely Bones
M: Man on Fire
N: Notes on a Scandal
O: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
P: Philadelphia
Q: The Queen
R: The Reader
S: Slumdog Millionaire
T: True Romance
U: Up in the Air
V: Vertigo
W:Where the Wild Things Are
X: The X-Files (Next time I do this, X is definitely cut out)
Y: Yellow Submarine
Z: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Some unsolicited recommendations (assuming you haven't seen them yet):

F: The Forgotten
G: Grave of the Fireflies
J: The Journey of Natty Gann
T: Treasure Planet

Hrm... I like this idea. I think I'll make a list of my own, with a focus on classics.

Imagine a list of every move you've ever seen. How many entries would there be? 1,000? 10,000? Mine might be 5,000 or so, but pretty thin on classics.

A: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
B: The Bicycle Thief
C: Casablanca
D: Duck Soup
E: Eight and a Half
F: The French Connection
G: Gone with the Wind (Done)
H: High Noon
I: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
J: The Jazz Singer
K: (?) Kramer vs. Kramer
L: Lawrence of Arabia
M: The Maltese Falcon (1941)
N: Notorious
O: Once Upon a Time in the West
P: Psycho
Q: The Quiet Man (thanks Locke!)
R: Raging Bull
S: Singin' in the Rain
T: The Third Man
U: Unforgiven
V: Vertigo
W: White Heat (1949)
X: X: The Unheard Music
Y: Yojimbo (thanks Locke!)
Z: Z (thanks Locke!)

Man, some of those letters are hard to fill... I expected Q, X, and Z, but why are there so few classics that start with K?

Yeah, I don't watch movies all that often, so that is why I wanted to do this. I will definitely take them under advisory when I get to those letters. But I wouldn't mind a recommendation for E. Nothing really looking too appetizing right now.

E: Ender's Ga-- Oh, wait.

Enter the Dragon and The Endless Summer are both good E movies.

I: Ink

Should be on your list. *nods*

E: Equilibrium / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / Enchanted (hey, don't judge)

F: Fracture / Fight Club (if you haven't seen this already, my husband, one Mr Edward Norton, and I will be sad...and then he'll kick your ass) / Field of Dreams / Fun With Dick and Jane (I think that one was funny but it's been a while) / Fools Rush In

G: Groundhog Day / Gataca / Garden State / Good Will Hunting / Glory Road

H: Hairspray (seriously) / High Fidelity / Hitch / Hotel Rwanda

I: I Heart Huckabees / I Am Sam

J: Juno / Jersey Girl / Just Friends / John Tucker Must Die / Jarhead

K: Knight's Tale

L: Lost in Translation

M: Man in the Iron Mask / Man of the Year/ Moulin Rouge (seriously) / Mona Lisa Smile / My Cousin Vinny

N: Notes on a Scandal

O: Once / Office Space/ Ocean's 11/12/13

P: Peggy Sue Got Married / Painted Veil / Pleasantville / Pursuit of Happyness / Prestige

Q:

R: RENT

S: Stand By Me / Shopgirl / Sliding Doors

T: Thank You For Smoking / Terminator 2

U: Untouchables




And that's all I can do for now, though I doubt V-Z would have been all that spectacular.

ETA: Those were suggestions, not my list. My list for just this year:


2012
The Back-up Plan
The Blind Side
Book of Eli
Brothers
Clash of the Titans
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Daybreakers
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Disfigured
District 9
Down in the Valley
Fame
Four Christmases
Gamer
Grave of the Fireflies
Hurt Locker
I Hate Valentine's Day
I Shot Andy Warhol
Invention of Lying
Iron Man 2
Julie & Julia
Leap Year
Legion
Letters to Juliet
The Losers
Love Happens
The Machinist
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Precious
Pollock
Revolutionary Road
The Road
St. Elmo's Fire
Say Anything
She's Out of My League
Slumdog Millionaire
Some Kind of Wonderful
Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure
Valentine's Day
Whip It

Wow, a lot can change while I'm wasting time researching.

I second the recommendations for Enter The Dragon, Fight Club, Gataca, I Am Sam, A Knight's Tale, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Prestige, and Terminator 2. Throw Speed in there for good measure.

I will second/third the recs for:

G: Gattaca
P: The Prestige
S: Sliding Doors

And add:
L: Lars and the Real Girl
M: Millions

I was compiling my list as I was watching them, but since I'm getting such a response on recommendations, I am thinking that I might do some research and come out with a preliminary list. Still struggling with E though. I have seen Enter the Dragon and Enternal Sunshine(one of my favorites). I was thinking of watching El Cid, has anyone seen this? Also, this might be cheating because it could very well be put under C. (I need a ruling).

Also, Alea, I have seen most of yours (including Fight Club). Some of the others would be flat out "nos", but I had been meaning to watch Hotel Rwanda. That very well could be my H.

Thanks to everyone that commented, I will definitely look into every movie mentioned (especially those seconded, although I have seen most of the ones seconded so far).

El Cid is really long, decent movie, but really should be under C

Elephant Man is an amazing movie, that'd be my recommendation.

Psudo, for Q classics The Quiet Man, for a great contemporary film Quiet City or The Queen

El Cid is really long, decent movie, but really should be under C

And the ruling is in!

I was hoping for your input Adam. I don't know if I will watch one tonight, so I might have some time on my E.

If you like animation, I have a list of about 90 movies to recommend. (It's basically a list of every Disney "Masterpiece", every anime they distribute in the USA, every Pixar film, and about two dozen other animated movies.) The only one that starts with E is Emperor's New Groove, though; funny, but not a real classic.

Thanks for the recommendation, Locke. I've updated the post.

My Cousin Vinny

Taught me the rules of evidence.

G: Grave of the Fireflies

One of the greatest films ever made. A triumph of cinema. In any genre - animated or not - it ranks among the most potent (anti)-war movies in history.

If you like animation, I have a list of about 90 movies to recommend. (It's basically a list of every Disney "Masterpiece", every anime they distribute in the USA, every Pixar film, and about two dozen other animated movies.) The only one that starts with E is Emperor's New Groove, though; funny, but not a real classic.

Thanks for the recommendation, Locke. I've updated the post.

iirc, Yours Mine Ours is a sequel to something, and is not that good anyway. go with Young Frankenstein or Yojimbo.

X you're on your own. try Xanadu if you want, or just watch an XMen movie. :-p how about cheating and doing Malcolm X?

Z there's a movie called, simply, Z one of the greatest movies of the sixties/seventies and there's a woody allen film, Zelig which I've not seen, but popped into my head.

G: Grave of the Fireflies

One of the greatest films ever made. A triumph of cinema. In any genre - animated or not - it ranks among the most potent (anti)-war movies in history.

I liked the story, a lot, but the style was distracting for me and pulled me out of the moment more times than I can count.

It was based on a novel; I would have enjoyed it more in that medium, I think.

GD, I can see where you're coming from, but honestly, animation was the only style it could be done in. Live action.. just wouldn't have worked. If you read Roger Ebert's review, he encapsulates perfectly why:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 90301/1023

"Grave of the Fireflies" is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Since the earliest days, most animated films have been "cartoons" for children and families. Recent animated features such as "The Lion King," "Princess Mononoke" and "The Iron Giant" have touched on more serious themes, and the "Toy Story" movies and classics like "Bambi" have had moments that moved some audience members to tears. But these films exist within safe confines; they inspire tears, but not grief. "Grave of the Fireflies" is a powerful dramatic film that happens to be animated, and I know what the critic Ernest Rister means when he compares it to "Schindler's List" and says, "It is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen."

...

Live action would have been burdened by the weight of special effects, violence and action. Animation allows Takahata to concentrate on the essence of the story, and the lack of visual realism in his animated characters allows our imagination more play; freed from the literal fact of real actors, we can more easily merge the characters with our own associations.

.... This film proves, if it needs proving, that animation produces emotional effects not by reproducing reality, but by heightening and simplifying it, so that many of the sequences are about ideas, not experiences.

...it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made.

As for movies starting with "Z"

The "Zatoichi" series of samurai flicks.

Just updated my list. Stuck on V. The only one that looked remotely interesting was Village of the Damned and it didn't look that interesting. I would definitely appreciate some help on the one.

Uh, DUDE.

VAMPIRE HUNTER D.

And, um, Vertigo, classic Hitchcock.

I am trying to keep the anime out of it this run through, but good call on Vertigo. Must of missed it.

G: Grave of the Fireflies

One of the greatest films ever made. A triumph of cinema. In any genre - animated or not - it ranks among the most potent (anti)-war movies in history.

Hard to argue. Better than All Quiet on the Western Front.

Though I have to admit, I originally picked it up for the artwork rather than the story. And I'm still not a pacifist by ideology.

iirc, Yours Mine Ours is a sequel to something, and is not that good anyway. go with Young Frankenstein or Yojimbo.

I already saw Young Frankenstein (It's pronounced FRAWNK-en-steene!) I found two different lists of Y-movies and read through them all. Neither listed Yojimbo, probably because of Anglocentrism. I was kinda pushing for Anglocentrism myself, hoping to avoid dubs and subs, but the IMDB description of Yojimbo sounds pretty awesome. Maybe I'll make an exception.

X you're on your own. try Xanadu if you want, or just watch an XMen movie. :-p how about cheating and doing Malcolm X?

I've already seen the X-Men movies (I'm a drooling, pathetic fanboy for the X-Men generally, and thus I hate X3), and I have firm plans to die without ever seeing Xanadu (or Hair or Rent or Jesus Christ Superstar or Footloose or Momma Mia... there's a subtle theme here). I'll probably watch Malcolm X sometime, too, and it probably better deserves to be on a list of classics, but I'm sticking with the documentary about the punk band in my queue. It sounds interesting, even if it doesn't follow the theme. I like the occasional documentary about something I know nothing about.

In short, I'm playing the personal taste card. And plotting to make a film that starts with X that'll blow people's minds.

Z there's a movie called, simply, Z one of the greatest movies of the sixties/seventies

Politically relevant historically accurate film about one man fighting government corruption? I'm there!

good call on Vertigo. Must of missed it.

It's what's on my list for V. Hrm... V for Vendetta is probably a reasonable option, too. I am told it's a can't-miss film, which is a bit of a logical paradox.

(Pardon the numerous tangents and rampant ramblings; I'm very tired.)

I: Ink

Anti-recommending Ink, I guess. Ugh. I think I'd recommend Irreversible in it's place.

M: Man on Fire

I don't think I could possibly call this a good movie, but it has one of my favorite lines ever: "His art is death. And he's about to paint his masterpiece." Hahaha.

S: Slumdog Millionaire

Random recommendation in place of S: Secret of Kells (animated)

X: The X-Files (Next time I do this, X is definitely cut out)

eXistenZ you could maybe count for X. Not that it's that great, but with X your choices are a bit limited.

Another two down!

It's what's on my list for V. Hrm... V for Vendetta is probably a reasonable option, too. I am told it's a can't-miss film, which is a bit of a logical paradox.

I have already seen V for Vendetta, definitely a good flick.

I: Ink

Anti-recommending Ink, I guess. Ugh. I think I'd recommend Irreversible in it's place.

Didn't even really look for I's. Next time around will be Iron Man 2.

M: Man on Fire

I don't think I could possibly call this a good movie, but it has one of my favorite lines ever: "His art is death. And he's about to paint his masterpiece." Hahaha.

Sometimes I just want a movie where I know exactly what I'm going to get, this is one of those.

S: Slumdog Millionaire

Random recommendation in place of S: Secret of Kells (animated)

Slumdog was a no brainer. I wanted to see it for a while. Maybe next time.

X: The X-Files (Next time I do this, X is definitely cut out)

eXistenZ you could maybe count for X. Not that it's that great, but with X your choices are a bit limited.

X is definitely out next time. I have zero interest in the X-files movie, but I told myself I would do every letter. So, there it is.

I: Ink

Anti-recommending Ink, I guess. Ugh. I think I'd recommend Irreversible in it's place.

Since it keeps coming up, I gotta ask: which Ink? You probably mean the independent film distributed mostly by torrent and piracy about the war of good and evil fought in our dreams. But IMDB lists 7 other films (mostly shorts) and a TV show about the newspaper business. One could have a fairly diverse movie night consisting entirely of videos entitled "Ink."

X is definitely out next time

Maybe you should include titles that start with numbers under X. You can rationalize it based on X being a roman numeral if you'd like. Or, as Locke recommended, you can watch Malcolm X (also called X). Or The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963, also called X). Or the anime X (1996). Or an Norwegian artsy film about love and the cold entitled X (1986). Or the movie coming out later this year entitled X.

It seems to be a popular name for self-indulgent movies.

Random recommendation in place of S: Secret of Kells (animated)

SECRET OF KELLS! So amazingly good. The animation on that movie is so beautiful. It's one of the most visually beautiful movies I've ever seen.

Does it have anything to do with the Book of Kells?

Yes, Rei. It tells the story of it's writing, more or less.

Alea, we watched Blues Brothers the other night and I thought of you, what with so much of it taking place in Chicago.

Also, it's a pretty awesome film for the B-slot, as it is B^2.

Yes, Rei. It tells the story of it's writing, more or less.

That sounds awesome

Alea, we watched Blues Brothers the other night and I thought of you, what with so much of it taking place in Chicago.

awww, that's a happy thought if I ever heard one.


Is now an okay time to admit that when my brothers watched that one growing up, I'd leave the room and thus have not seen more than a minute here and there? How about that Syphon told me 6 years ago I should watch it and mentioned it had Chicago scenes and I still didn't watch it?


I have to watch Where the Wild Things Are tonight or tomorrow, since that's a loaner from the library, but Netflix has it on streaming, so I can watch it whenever I want, assuming the little brother isn't using the account. I think it's time.

Did he tell you it has Chicago AND Carrie Fisher?

Also, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Cab Calloway?

which Ink? You probably mean the independent film distributed mostly by torrent and piracy about the war of good and evil fought in our dreams. But IMDB lists 7 other films (mostly shorts) and a TV show about the newspaper business. One could have a fairly diverse movie night consisting entirely of videos entitled "Ink."

Considering the one that is awful is the only one that is a released feature-length film... a rather short movie night.

Considering the one that is awful is the only one that is a released feature-length film... a rather short movie night.

What about the TV show and the upcoming movie of unknown length? The latter could come out before you get a date set and guests invited.

Speaking of shows about the news business, has anyone else seen Shattered Glass? What did you think?

As for movie awfulness, I've had some enjoyable bad movie nights. They Live, Omega Doom, Johnny Mnemonic. All the spectators talking over the actors, laughing at failed attempts at drama, and eating munchies. Great fun. About halfway through D-Wars we realized that every scene was virtually identical to some other action scene from some other movie or TV show, and we started naming them.

Just watched Gattaca. Thanks for the rec guys! I really enjoyed it. Probably the movie I liked the most so far. Though I have enjoyed all of them so far.

Probably the movie I liked the most so far.

I'd be very hard-pressed to put Children of Men, District 9, and Gattaca into any sort of order of most liked and if forced, I'm not sure which would come out on top. I haven't seen your A or E and while I did like F, that wouldn't compare to the three above.