Have you see the AFI Top 100?

[attatt]

I have watched a lot more movies than most people, even those who like movies, but I have not seen everything on the AFI Top 100 list. I am probably at about 85.

I know there are things to be learned from all those movies, but there are some movies on there I have absolutely no interest in ever watching. I also get sucked into watching movies like "Law Abiding Citizen" because I want to have fun instead of watching another masterpiece that moves at a snail's pace.

I am curious to know if any of you have made it all the way through, or even plan to.

[violet]

Nope. I've seen fifteen. And I don't really plan on watching most of them, at least until the time comes when they actually interest me. I like to watch films that I'm interested in thematically, or that have an actor I love in them. I became acquainted with some of my favorite films because Marlon Brando, Gael Garcia Bernal, Christian Bale and Benicio del Toro were in them: The Men, On the Waterfront, Y Tu Mama Tambien, La Mala Educacion, American Psycho, Traffic, 21 Grams. I can only enjoy movies when I'm genuinely excited to see them... I spaced out through most of Citizen Kane and Casablanca because I had to watch them for classes and I did not care a single little bit.
On the other hand, I love walking into films with no idea what they're about, having heard no hype. I walked into Slumdog Millionaire with a friend one day after class having never heard the title, and walked out thinking "whoa".
I never read reviews before I've stepped into a theater. And occasionally films I think are apt to suck, like The Hangover, surprise me pleasantly when I finally take the plunge to see them.

[attatt]

You are right about there being a certain benefit to walking in cold. When I saw Citizen Kane as a child I gave it 2 seconds and left the room. When I saw it again as an adult I watched it with no knowledge of the story or cast and no expectations. It blew me away as a result.

[songswithoutwords]

Ah. Citizen Kane. Love that movie. Don't care that it's slow. The first time I saw the dinner conversation scene, which spans 20 years in a couple of minutes, I knew I was looking at the kind of story-telling innovation I will never see in my own lifetime. It may all be old now, but it was daring when he did it. And nobody ever put a ceiling on a set before. He was the first to use those extreme camera angles. The deep focus he used, was newer and more exciting than anything James Cameron is doing today. I don't think Cameron would be offended by that statement. He probably agrees.

Well done and thank you, Orson Welles.