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When people ask me, "What is your favorite movie?" I always answer without any hesitation, The Apartment. Billy Wilder's film from 1960 was one of the first films to be brought out in a letterbox LaserDisc by MGM/UA Home Video. Not only is it in real, honest-to-gosh Panavision, it also looks and sounds great.
Here are all the films chronologically: 1924 1925 1926
1927 1928 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 |
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For me, there is nothing so revealing about a person as their video collection. When I visit someone's house for the first time, I invariably drift to the place where they keep the copies of the films that they have decided to buy. It's an interesting reflection of that person's personality and outlook on things in a way that their library, although interesting too, cannot match. If someone has a copy of Big Trouble in Little China in their collection, that says one thing about them (although what, I'm not sure; I know lots of people who love that movie). If they also have a copy of Enter the Dragon as well, then the person has an interest in the martial arts perhaps. Outdoorspeople tend to have film collections that lean toward outdoor subjects: westerns, adventure movies, films about "common sense" and sticking it to Those Dopes in Charge. Someone who has a collection heavy in costume dramas and literary adaptations is far less likely to have an itching desire to get on eBay to find out what the current bids for LaserDiscs of The Hunt for Red October are. Now, a person might have a book in their library that they may not have cared for. But throwing a book away is just about the hardest thing to do in this world, so many people are reluctant to delete these books from their personal library. Then too, there could be books that they have bought but never read. I have a whole pile of those! A library of films is different because one almost never buys a copy of a film "sight unseen." Well, almost never. The only film in my favorites that I bought the minute it came out "sight unseen" was Claude Lelouche's film Les Miserables. I had been meaning to see it in the theatre for months but never got around to it: "Hey Hon! Let's go see this three-hour French movie. . ." the film disappeared from the theatres. Buying the LaserDisc was almost cheaper than going out to see the film. But this, I think, is a rare exception. Buying a copy of a movie, now that videos have been around for 20 years, is always reserved for those films that we really like. A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) has been trying to have me watch a tape (a VIDEO TAPE?? Really!) of Wagons East for months. I cannot imagine why she would buy a copy of it (she is also dying to have me watch her copy of A Blast from the Past; pray for me). Films you have only a casual interest in, you tape the thing (as the Supreme Court told us we may do), watch it, then go from there. Some of these films that we see become favorites: they become the ones that you feel you could watch over and over. They take you places you enjoy, share with you ideas and fantasies you agree with; that strike a chord in you somehow. When this cord is struck, a film becomes a favorite, another film is added to the collection. I love the feature-film format. Storytelling at its finest. A finite track, a sequence of events leading to a conclusion (it says here). You show up, sit and watch what it is they have to show you, it's over and you decide whether you wasted your time or not having watching it. It's a simple transaction. We all know how to judge movies. I judge them not only on the basis of how interesting are they are, but how well they inform us (the audience) of what is like to walk a mile in someone else's shoes for a minute. How it looks on the other side of the world, so to speak. This is perhaps why there aren't too many films from recent years on this list. Sorry, I feel like I know what New York cops and robbers have to say about just about any topic. I enjoy it more when a film can get me involved with some story or character that I wouldn't ordinarily trouble myself with. I think my list is shot through with examples of this principle. Below, is the master list of my favorite films. They're all in my collection, either on LaserDisc or DVD. If there is a film which is a favorite of yours that isn't here, it's probably because:
You may also notice a disproportionate number of films directed by Billy Wilder. That's because he is my favorite director. He has been for a long time. I would like to have all of his films on this list, but they aren't all out in digital form (yet). I order to be your Friendly Internet Content Architect (no, there is no Service Agreement for you to sign), I am not satisfied with posting just a long list of names of films. There are links to pages to the films on the list, which I will be posting from time to time. I love all of these films, and if I can introduce you to one you have never heard of, that is pleasure enough. That, and being your Friendly Internet Content Architect. Movies. As someone once said, "Give the public what they want, and they will show up for it." |
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