My Cinematic Hall of Shame by @hollye_h

So here they are — the movies I really should have seen by now, or at least I feel I should have seen. There are still gaps. Really, there should be at least one Tarantino film on here, and some Fellini. Should I have added Tod Browning’s Freaks? The original Halloween? And if it stars Tom Cruise, should it bother me that I can’t feel much shame over not having seen it?

Note: These are not necessarily listed in order of Maximum Shame.

1. Network

Probably not a lot of people are walking around saying “I can’t believe you haven’t seen Network!” But I’ve come across enough references I feel like I should have seen it a long time ago. William Holden tells people to yell out the window, right?

2. Dracula (1931)

As a classic horror fan, I should’ve seen this by now.

3. Psycho

Probably the one I’m most embarrassed about. I sat through Torn Curtain. I own Shadow of a Doubt on DVD. But I haven’t seen Psycho?

4. Taxi Driver

Almost as embarrassing as Psycho.

5. Aliens

With an “s”. I’ve seen the first, but everyone keep referencing the second. Plus, I like Bill Paxton.

6. Godfather & Godfather Part II

I don’t know how it happened either.

7. Breathless

All the cool kids have already seen it.

8. Fight Club

Ah, references!

9. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Like Network, it was in the air when I was growing up. And if I don’t watch it now, I probably never will.

10. Repulsion

Rosemary’s Baby has been in my personal top five since I was in my teens. And I loved Knife in the Water when I finally saw it.  So why haven’t I seen Repulsion?

11. The 400 Blows

See #7

12. The Rules of the Game

See #7 & #11

Optional 13th: Last Year at Marienbad. So I can finally justify referencing it on Twitter.

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A (Late!) CinemaShame List by @TapwaterAlice

Only twelve? Because you know, I could easily double or triple the list… okay, I’ll stop now.

There are a handful of films that I’m proud to say I’ve seen (8½, El Topo, Citizen Kane and nearly all the David Lynch movies), but countless more that I’ve yet to. Like fellow Shamer @007hertzrumble, this could be a by-product of my preoccupation with the James Bond franchise; I’ve revisited films like GoldenEye numerous times and can nearly quote it word-for-word. Highly acclaimed classics like Seven Samurai or Lawrence of Arabia don’t give me quite the same level of gratification that I get from watching Roger Moore raise his eyebrows, but it’s the classics that ultimately teach us more about the craft of visual storytelling. And I am very guilty of skipping a few.

On to the list:

January: Oldboy (dir. Park Chan-wook)

February: 2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick)

March: Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

April: Fargo (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)

May: Annie Hall (dir. Woody Allen)

June: Fight Club (dir. David Fincher)

July: Taxi Driver (dir. Martin Scorsese)

August: Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)

September: Repulsion (dir. Roman Polanski)

October: Wait Until Dark (dir. Terence Young)

November: The French Connection (dir. William Friedkin)

December: La Dolce Vita (dir. Frederico Fellini)

Aside from a few criteria, i.e. choosing twelve films that interest me, as well as choosing one film per director, there isn’t much of a unifying theme here. Films I’ve enjoyed the most tend to deal with notions of masculinity, or a subversion of masculinity, so there may be a few of those here. Overall this was a tough list to make and I’m sure I forgot to include a few essentials.

Let the penitence commence!

Shhh… Don’t tell anyone about @Andrew_Cybulska’s List of Shame

“Oh yeah… yeah that movie was great.”

LIAR. I am a BIG. FAT. LIAR. I don’t know that the movie is great, because I’ve never seen it. But how could I admit that to you? How could I possibly admit that to myself? Well enough lies. Enough with the ambiguous talking points based on what I’ve read from other critics. It’s time to make myself more knowledgable on the films that define modern and classic cinema, and it’s time to step out from the darkness into the light.

This is my list of shame…

January – Dr. Strangelove

February – Sabrina

March – Enter the Dragon (to celebrate The Raid 2 coming out)

April – The Godfather

May – The Godfather II

June – The Godfather III

July – Anchorman

August – Taxi Driver

September – Arsenic and Old Lace

October – Psycho

November – Miller’s Crossing

December – It’s a Wonderful Life

It begins this weekend with Dr. Strangelove.