Merry Christmas!

Just a quick check-in to wish all of my followers, or anyone happening to stumble upon my blog a very, very Merry Christmas. In my neck of the woods, my family and I did most of our festivities tonight, on Christmas Eve and I can sincerely say that we had a very memorable Christmas. Hopefully Santa brings all of you movie fanatics what you asked for, be it special edition DVDs, the newest offerings from the Criterion Collection or what have you....

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UPDATE - December 2012

I hope everyone who took the time to read over it, enjoyed my latest and greatest TOP 20 list. I realize the impossibility of our agreeing on all my choices, but hopefully we agreed on a few. I'm proud of the TOP 20 list I made and am excited that thirty more movies have joined the official ranks of my favorite films. Now, when I'm flipping through the channels and see that, for example, "The Silence of the Lambs" is on television, it's no longer...

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TOP 20: #502 - #601

I think, by now, we all know the basic drill for these TOP 20 lists. I present to you a list of the twenty best films I saw from the last 100 movies I watched (plus ten honorable mentions). This last one hundred films was, perhaps, the worst set of one hundred yet, but that won't stop me from presenting a pretty kick-ass TOP 20 list to you today. Before I get into it, I just want to give a little detail about my process, when making a TOP 20 list.When...

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745. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Running Time: 102 minutesDirected By: John HughesWritten By: John HughesMain Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer GreyClick here to view the trailer"BUELLER...BUELLER...BUELLER?"Before taking my time off from the blog, I had one film left to watch, one film left before I could make my sixth TOP 20 list and how fitting that the film be the taking off of someone else - Ferris Bueller. That sounded kind of stupid, but...

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174. The Battle of San Pietro (1945)

Running Time: 37 minutesDirected By: John HustonWritten By: John HustonMain Cast: (narrator): John Huston600!I really should've put forth a greater effort to watch something a little more poignant and, well, longer from THE BOOK, for my 600th movie. However, for some reason, I'm just really ready to wrap this season and get a look at my next TOP 20 - a TOP 20 of which I'm not sure how will play out.In 1945 John Huston was commissioned by the U.S....

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A Look at Things to Come...

Well despite all the "not so must see" movies today, I am excited about today. Not only do I get to sit down later with a list of this season's movies in hand and make a TOP 20 list, but I also get to present to you a sneak peek at next season. It's become tradition here on the blog for me to put together a little three-minute video at the end of each season, highlighting some of the more popular movies that I'll be watching in the upcoming season. Without further ado, I present the Road to 7...

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288. Les maitres fous/The Mad Masters (1955)

Running Time: 36 minutesDirected By: Jean RouchMain Cast: (narrator): Jean RouchETHNOGRAPHIC CINEMAThis is replacing "Mediterranee" from the FINAL 15 list, because that movie, while on YouTube, has subtitles that are severely out of sync. Therefore, in order to replace something short with something short, I've chosen Rouch's "The Mad Masters".Rouch's film chronicles a day in the Hauka movement - a movement that consisted of African laborers and...

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395. Heaven and Earth Magic (1962)

Running Time: 66 minutesDirected By: Harry SmithMAY YOU CHOKE ON AN UMBRELLARealizing that I was quickly approaching the end of my journey, this season I took an interest in some of the movies that, after watching half of them, I still wasn't able to find. I scoured YouTube and other video hosting sites, hoping to find intact versions of some of the more rare films from THE BOOK and watch them before they were removed. Certain titles that fall under...

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2013 Is Going to Be Wilder!

"Wilder Week" will be the kickoff to my next 100 films and will begin in early 20...

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698. Sans Soleil/Sunless (1983)

Running Time: 100 minutesDirected By: Chris MarkerWritten By: Chris MarkerMain Cast: Florence Delay, Arielle Dombasle, Riyoko Ikeda, Charlotte Kerr, Alexandra StewartIMPATIENCEHopefully today will be the final day of the sixth season, as I put in double overtime to try and reach my short term goal of 601 movies watched (400 to go). This morning, I rose early and popped in "Sans Soleil", the other Chris Marker film in THE BOOK (the first being "La...

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671. Gallipoli (1981)

Running Time: 110 minutesDirected By: Peter WeirWritten By: David Williamson, Peter WeirMain Cast: Mark Lee, Mel Gibson, Robert Grubb, Tim McKenzie, David ArgueClick here to view the trailerWAR DOWN UNDERDespite being up since 6:30 this morning (technically yesterday morning, now) and spending four hours Christmas shopping earlier this evening, I'm staying up late tonight to bring you the first post of December 2012 - "Gallipoli"."Gallipoli" is a...

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Wilder Week - COMING SOON

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159. The Man in Grey (1943)

Running Time: 111 minutesDirected By: Leslie ArlissWritten By: Leslie Arliss, Margaret KennedyMain Cast: Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger, Harry ScottClick here to view the trailerIT CAME FROM YOUTUBEExpect an onslaught of reviews to be rapidly fired your way between tonight, tomorrow and Sunday morning, as I wrap up the sixth season of my "1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die" project and move one step...

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594. Deewaar/The Wall (1975)

Running Time: 172 minutesDirected By: Yash ChopraWritten By: Javed Akhtar, Salim KhanMain Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Neetu Singh, Parveen BabiB-B-B-BOLLYWOOD!With only one Bollywood film under my belt, I went into "Deewaar" with very low expectations. Actually, I was dreading the damn thing, because I knew I wouldn't like it and it was nearly three hours. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the film turned out to be really...

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810. The Unbelievable Truth (1989)

Running Time: 90 minutesDirected By: Hal HartleyWritten By: Hal HartleyMain Cast: Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Christopher Cooke, Julia McNeal, Gary SauerClick here to view the trailerANOTHER SLIGHTLY TWISTED COMEDYI first became acquainted with Hal Hartley in July 2011, when I watched "Trust" for THE BOOK. It was a film that I had a hard time really getting a grasp on, noting that the characters seemed out of this world and that the plot never...

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