After seeing so many people participate in these Blind Spot things I decided to give it a try for the first time last year. I’m so glad I did. It was a load of fun so naturally I’m ready to give it another go. Today I’m sharing the lineup of movies I’ll be watching throughout the coming year. These are films that are glaring omissions from my personal movie watching history and are generally held in high regard either by film critics or audiences. Some of these are films that I’ve seen bits of but have never watched them through. Others will be completely new experiences. So here they are…
JANUARY – “The Killing” [REVIEW]
FEBRUARY – “Paths of Glory” [REVIEW]
MARCH – “Ace in the Hole” [REVIEW]
APRIL – “Red River” [REVIEW]
MAY – “LA STRADA” [REVIEW]
JUNE – “A Man Escaped” [REVIEW]
JULY – “Rio Bravo” [REVIEW]
AUGUST – “Touch of Evil” [REVIEW]
SEPTEMBER – “Cléo from 5 to 7” [REVIEW]
OCTOBER – “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” [REVIEW]
NOVEMBER – “The Candidate”
DECEMBER – “The Last Picture Show”
What are you thoughts on this year’s lineup? Any particular movies catch your eye?
Keith & the Movies 
Great to see your picks…have seen quite a few of these and generally I really liked them. Some I understand why they are so loved, but didn’t do it for me….but they are interesting films to have seen anyway.
I’m interested and curious to hear which ones didn’t quit work for you?
Hannah and Her Sisters because I’m not always able to get into Allen’s movies, same with Baumbach films. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf as I thought the performances were a bit too much.
Ahhh I see. I’m completely with you on Woody Allen. He is incredibly hit or miss with me and I even consider some of his most popular works (Annie Hall) to be considerably overrated. As for Virginia Woolf, it is one of those that I have seen bits and pieces of. I found myself pretty enamored with the acidic nature of it all. How it stands up for an entire film though, I don’t know. Anxious to see.
Your first four months will be great I guarantee it. The last two will also be aces. I’ve not seen City of God, Squid and the Whale, and I don’t think I’ve heard of Cleo, good luck.
Thanks my friend! I’ll sneak this little bit of insider info to you – watched The Killing already. You are SO correct!
Well you have two films here that I count among my absolute favourites (City Of God and The Last Picture Show) and the only other one I’ve seen (The Squid And The Whale) is pretty good too. In terms of those three I think/hope you’ll have a blast. Incidentally I’ve been meaning to watch Rio Bravo for ages and was going to include that on my list, but I already had two westerns down!
Makes me want to sit down and watch The Last Picture Show again.
You have me really excited already. Oh by the way, Cleo from 5 to 7 is one of the French New Wave films I would highly recommend. Obviously I haven’t seen it in its entirety but the half or so I watched was superb. Add it to the New Wave list we talked about earlier!
OK thanks – will do!
(And I’ve never seen anything by Varda, so I’ll make that the first.)
It’s such an intriguing story and commentary. Varda was great, one of the Left Bank New-wavers (if that is a word).
Three of the movies you’ve mentioned, Paths of Glory, The Killing, and M, are among my favorite films. I’ve been meaning to see City of God as well, I’ve been recommended it dozens of times and for some reason haven’t watched it yet.
Favorite films??? Fantastic! Really excited to hear that. I’ve already watched The Killing. Wow!
Great choices! I haven’t seen any of these, either! We’re just compiling our Blind Spot list now 🙂
– Allie
Awesome! Anxious to see yours. Will it be individual lists or movies neither of you have seen?
Some great films! I look forward to it but aren’t you going to wish you’d included a few comedies?
Hmmm, you know I didn’t notice it but I am lacking the comedies! A lot of gloom but few laughs!
Ha. If your reviews are very cranky and gloomy this year we will know why 🙂
LOLOL! Hopefully these picks aren’t a reflection of my state of mind! 😉
Maybe I will join you in blindspot reviews. It’s a good idea!
Last year was the first time I tried it. I had seen people doing it for a long time but never took the time myself. Yet I enjoyed following their series. So I tried it last year and had a ton of fun with it. Plus it offered a great opportunity to finally watch movies I’ve wanted to see. You should give it a try.
Wow, nice list. While I haven’t seen The Candidate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I can definitely recommend the rest of these films. Plus, I should note that The Squid & the Whale is likely to come out on Criterion later this year as it’s one of my favorite films by Noah Baumbach.
Sounds like I made some pretty solid picks then. Great to hear! I’m really anxious to see Squid mainly because I really like Baumbach’s work. It’s always imperfect yet I’m always fascinated by it and the characters he creates.
Keith, January and May’s choices are two I’ve not seen and the stills have me curious. Looking forward to your reviews of them.
Thanks so much Cindy. Really had fun with this last year. Had a hard time settling on this year’s twelve.
I enjoy this series of yours very much.
Thanks Cindy! 🙂
I like HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, but I find M and CITY OF GOD to be a little overrated. By the way, the latter isn’t easy to watch, so make sure you’re in the right mood.
I’ve gathered that from everything I’ve read about City of God. Even that shot I used was pretty intense. Hannah and Her Sisters was a favorite of Gene Siskel (a favorite critic of mine) yet I never have taken time to see it.
The first three are amazing films. I await with interest your thoughts.
Can’t wait to dive into these. Actually already started on them! 😉
🙂
I would love to be in your shoes for January and February. Kubrick is one of my 2 favorite directors and those are indeed 2 top films on his resume. Paths of Glory is my 2nd fave of his work behind 2001.
I can’t wait man! I’m a little more mixed on Kubrick but I’m REALLY into seeing these. In fact I bought the Criterion Collection of them both.
I’m curious, you said Kubrick is one of your two favorite directors. Whom is the other?
Hitchcock the master of suspense himself.
NICE! No one can argue with that choice!
Man, I really should do this Blind Spot thing too. I keep putting it off. That said, I’ve surprisingly seen most of these of films on your list this year. You’re in for some treats bro! The killing, Paths of Glory and City of God are just sublime. The Last Picture Show and The Squid and the Whale are none too shabby either. Enjoy!!
Thanks bro! Before the series I had seen bits of The Killing, Squid, and a couple of others. Just never sit down and watch them through. I’m pretty excited about this year’s lineup though. You should give it a shot. Lots of fun plus you set yourself a schedule for seeing movies you feel you should’ve already seen.
Glad to see you participating again. I have seen four of these. All are excellent. City of God and M are among my top films of all-time.
So many people with great things to say about those two films. Now I’m wishing I had scheduled them for earlier in the year.
I commend your discipline in assigning the month to each film Keith! You’ve inspired me to do the Blind Spot series again though I dropped it midway through last year. I think I’ll just do 10 this year instead of 12 and hopefully I have better chance at completing them 🙂
Thanks Ruth. Last year was the first time I did it and honestly I had a blast. What made it so worthwhile is that it introduced me to a couple of movies that are now true favorites of mine. Hopefully this year will do the same.
I would love to see what movies you pick!
I’m actually thinking about which films I want to put on my blindspot this year 🙂 Hey, since you recommended PHOENIX, we saw it this weekend and LOVED it. What’s a good classic noir to put on my list? I’ve got The Big Sleep already, preferably something that’s not overly long.
Oh you saw Phoenix??? Fantastic. It’s brilliant wouldn’t you say? How about that ending?
The Big Sleep is soooo good. Anxious to hear your thoughts on it. Have you seen The Third Man? One of my all-time favorites. Sweet Smell of Success was on my list from last year. Reviewed it last week. LOVED it. A very non-traditional noir.
Yes, LOVED Phoenix. Haven’t seen either films you recommended but I’m gonna put ‘Sweet Smell of Success’ on my list, I like the sound of that. Thanks! 🙂
Sure thing. It has some of the sharpest and most pointed dialogue you will ever hear. Lancaster and Curtis are fabulous.
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Good list! I recently watched and reviewed three of these, so here are some thoughts to whet your appetite:
Paths Of Glory – terrific anti-war film, with some brilliant cinematography in the WWI trenches.
Rio Bravo – apparently this great Western was the response from director Howard Hawks and star John Wayne to the High Noon (1952) narrative.
The Last Picture Show – one word: wistful. A film with a long-lasting impact. Once seen, the atmosphere and characters cannot be forgotten.
You add to the intrigue of all three! I’m pretty excited about this year’s lineup. Probably could have been a little more diverse but there are some featured that I’m really ready to see.
This is an amazing list! M is so awesome. Can’t wait to read your write-ups!
Thanks! I’ve seen about 30 or 40 minutes of M but never the entire thing. I really liked it and I have no good excuse for not seeing the whole thing. I will get to remedy that in a few months.
Great Blind Spot choices! I’ve actually seen several of these in the past couple of years since starting my IMDB Top 250 thing & forcing myself to watch them. 🙂 Paths Of Glory, Virginia Woolf, City Of God, and M (M is so good! My favorite of these). Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. 🙂
Really anxious to jump in! I actually just finished February’s choice! Don’t know if that’s against the rules or not! 😉
Lol. I won’t tell. 😉 I’m not really following the rules anyway – I don’t know if I’ll actually manage one a month so I’ll probably just do them randomly through the year. 🙂
I’ve seen 3 of these and out of them City of God was my favourite.
Lots of people have spoke highly of City of God over the years. Really anxious to check it out. What other two have you seen?
Hannah and Her Sisters and The Last Picture Show.
Ooooh ok. Anxious to see both (obviously). I think Woody Allen is so hit-and-miss but Gene Siskel (one of my favorite critics) really championed Hannah.
I quite liked Hannah and Her Sisters but I completely agree on Woody Allen. He’s either brilliant or total crap.
There is almost no middle ground with him. Midnight in Paris is still his best IMO.