Lost in the Movies: Introducing "The Big Ones": 32 classic films reviewed over 7 weeks

Introducing "The Big Ones": 32 classic films reviewed over 7 weeks


Though of course they need no introduction!

Originally I had a fairly long piece here, with many disclaimers and explanations. I've nixed it. The focus instead should be to briefly announce what I'm doing, and then let the forthcoming pieces speak for themselves.

I've chosen thirty films that I think may be the most notable in their absence, so far, from this site. If you're curious about my criterion for selecting these titles and my thought process in initiating this series, you can email me and I'll send you the original intro. Suffice to say for now that these are not necessarily personal favorites, but films that have achieved either a widespread critical consensus or a near-universal popularity among audiences (or both) over time. Classics that I look forward to engaging with in public prose for the first time.

I first conceived this project in August 2008, only a month into blogging, when I noticed that a lot of great movies were getting lost in the shuffle as I focused on reviewing films I was seeing for the first time. It took three years and five hundred posts, but this is a step towards rectifying that. Incidentally, the only reason The Wizard of Oz is not on here is because I'm reserving it for a special essay sometime next year.

The scheduled lineup follows the jump. This post will also serve as a directory from now on, with titles linked to the pieces once they go up.


"The Big Ones"
The Battleship Potemkin - Monday, Nov. 14
Bicycle Thieves - Tuesday, Nov. 15
Breathless - Wednesday, Nov. 16
Casablanca - Thursday, Nov. 17
Citizen Kane - Friday, Nov. 18
City Lights - Monday, Nov. 21
The Decalogue - Tuesday, Nov. 22
La Dolce Vita - Wednesday, Nov. 23
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - Thursday, Nov. 24
Fantasia - Friday, Nov. 25
The General - Monday, Nov. 28
Grand Illusion - Wednesday, Nov. 30
It's a Wonderful Life - Thursday, Dec. 1
Jules and Jim - Friday, Dec. 2
• 
Metropolis - Tuesday morning, Dec. 20
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 20
Persona - Wednesday morning, Dec. 21
Playtime - Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 21
Raging Bull - Thursday morning, Dec. 22
Rashomon - Thursday afternoon, Dec. 22
Rear Window - Friday morning, Dec. 23
The Rules of the Game - Friday afternoon, Dec. 23
Schindler's List - Saturday morning, Dec. 24
The Searchers -  Saturday afternoon, Dec. 24
Seven Samurai - Monday morning, Dec. 26
The Seventh Seal - Monday afternoon, Dec. 26
Taxi Driver - Tuesday morning, Dec. 27
The Third Man - Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 27
Tokyo Story - Wednesday morning, Dec. 28
Ugetsu - Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 28
Vertigo - Thursday morning, Dec. 29



The films would have been included if I hadn't already written about them (links are to previous reviews): Apocalypse NowThe Birth of a Nation8 ½Gone With the Wind, IntoleranceLawrence of ArabiaPsychoSingin' in the RainSnow White and the Seven DwarfsStar Wars2001: A Space Odyssey.


I look forward to rewatching and writing about these films (at press time, I've already gotten to the first two), and to hearing my readers' perspectives in the comment threads. See you Monday.


3 comments:

Jon said...

Wow Joel this will be fun. I especially look forward to you tackling Persona! That's always a Rorschach Test kind of film.

Joel Bocko said...

Thanks, Jon I look forward to hopefully hearing your thoughts on some of these as well.

I hear you on Persona, though the funny thing is I've written 3 of these now (and will probably write a 4th tonight) and I'm realizing to a certain extent they're all Rorschach Tests - it's interesting to see where one goes with a great film that has so much to discuss in it.

Jon said...

Good point. Yes this is going to be fun. I'll try to keep up with it all!

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