Monday, January 2, 2017

2017 Blind Spot Series: My Selections


The same number of lives a cat has.


That's how many of my Blind Spot Selections I made it through in 2016. Sad, but I'm choosing to look on the bright side. That's one more than the number of films I made it through for the 2015 Blind Spot Series. You can read the reviews for 2016, here. Sure, I could have made it through 12...maybe...I mean...

sigh.

You want the excuses? Probably not, but...

Things just got hectic for me late in the year. My posting overall became much more erratic and, well, when real life calls, blog things get put on the back burner. Hopefully, the third time is the charm and I'll make it through all of my selections for 2017.

For this year's selections, I really am doing this on the fly...mostly. The easy part is incorporating the movies I missed from last year into this year's list. Now, I have...ahem...nine...more choices to make. As always, I'm starting with my own collection, combing the shelves to see which ones I spent on money on even though I never laid eyes on them. I found a number of them, but not many rise to the level of must-see. Still, I plucked three titles to add to one of the holdovers from last year. Next, I started going down the Imdb top 250 and plucked a couple titles from there. That made me remember a rather well-known anime I've been meaning to see that used to be on that list, Finally, I went back through the posts I did for Thursday Movie Picks and picked out a couple of titles super-reader Joel has suggested for me. In the end, here's what I came up with.


January
THX 1138


February
Cinema Paradiso


March
City Lights

April
The Doors


May
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance


June
There's Something About Mary

July
 
Black Caesar & Hell Up in Harlem


August
Rope


September
From Hell


October
Suspiria


November
Akira


December
The Harry Potter Franchise


Oh, in case you didn't know, this whole Blind Spot thing is the brainchild of an excellent blogger, Ryan of The Matinee. Please click the link for more details and just to check out his site, in general.

Wish me luck.


30 comments:

  1. I have not seen you July, October or December pics, but the rest are a greatly mixed bag of amazing and...sure, check it out. LOL! Cinema Paridiso is one of my FAVORITE MOVIES EVER MADE so you're in for a treat next month. Can't wait to read what you think.

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    1. Really looking forward to Cinema Paradiso, in particular. It's one of those I've been meaning to watch for years.

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  2. I've seen a substantial number of your blindspots, and if you stick to them, you've got some great movies in your future. Cinema Paradiso is beautiful and Rope is a true classic. Suspiria isn't much plot-wise, but the visuals are great and it has one of the best horror soundtracks ever.

    With the Harry Potter movies, be patient. They pretty consistently get better as they go on.

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    1. Relieved to hear I've made some good choices. As for HP, I hope that's true. I've actually got a headache start on that since it was supposed to be an entry this past month. I watched the first two and...meh.

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  3. I have one big YAAAAAAAS for the fact you're finally going to watch the Harry Potter series! Can't wait to read your posts on those :)

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    1. Wish me luck on getting through them all. That's a tall order for someone who didn't grow up with the franchise.

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  4. Great variety of things, seen a few of these, I want to check out those Fred Williamson ones myself. Happy New Year!

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    1. Go for it, it's Fred Williamson, after all. Happy New Year!

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  5. That is a crazy good variety. I made it through all 12 of mine in 2016 and had a lot of fun with it. Finishing up my 2017 picks. Hope I can pull it off.

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    1. Thanks. I always have fun with the ones I see. Crossing my fingers that I get through these.

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  6. A nice diverse selection. I've seen 9 and am missing 4.

    So you've decided to put faces and actions with the audio of The Doors! That should be a unique experience.

    Always meant to watch THX 1138 for years and years but not being much for sci-fi it constantly got pushed back. I'm going to have to get on it lickety split now to be ready, so thanks!

    Suspiria is perfect for October and Halloween. It's got some ragtag elements but they add to the weirdness of it.

    I've seen half of your double feature, Hell Up in Harlem but never Black Caesar. I'll have to poke around to get up to speed.

    Speaking of double features, two Jimmy Stewart films this year! Very cool.

    Both good films, Rope is an interesting experiment being shot in sequence even if it is by necessity somewhat stagy.

    I LOVE The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance! If I recall correctly you said you're a fan of The Searchers and Valance pulls together many of the same cast and crew...Ford, Vera Miles, John Qualen, The Duke with the added bonus of Stewart. It's the one I'm looking forward to the most to hear you opinion on.

    I'm very pleased that you're going to see some of my recommendations :-) I try and pick more obscure films to shed some light on them and hope they at least some get watched. So YAY!

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    1. It's been long enough that I have forgotten the audio of The Doors, at least as it pertains to the narrative.

      THX has literally sat on a shelf in my house for years. It's about time I watch it.

      Just heard so much about Suspiria, gotta see it.

      Initially, I was only going to watch Hell Up in Harlem, but found out its the sequel to Black Caesar. Why not see both?

      I can stand to beef up my viewership of J Stewart movies, so it's cool.

      I do love The Searchers and Liberty Valance has been in my watchlist for some time.

      Love all the suggestions I get from you. The least I can do is watch some of them.

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    2. Oh I meant to say that the Harry Potter's do get progressively better as they go along. They're still variable from film to film but the first one was the worst and kept me from watching any of the others for quite some time.

      That's speaking as someone who's only a casual Potter fan though, meaning I liked the books when I got around to them but wasn't one of those who flocked to the stores in rabid anticipation of each. Still had to deal with them though since I worked in a book store throughout their publishing releases.

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  7. I have Akira as one of my Blind Spots this year. That is awesome. Of the ones in the list I haven't seen, THX-1138, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem, and Rope are excellent choices as I hope to see one of them this year as I want to do more Hitchcock. Hope you have fun with yours although there's one film in that list I'm sure we're going to disagree on.

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    1. You've got me curious about which one we'll disagree on. Cool that we have a match.

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  8. Oh, we both have Cinema Paradiso! And you have more than one James Stewart entry to your list and this is very pleasing considering he's my favourite ever actor...

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    1. Cool! We can compare notes on Cinema Paradiso. Looking forward to spending time with ol' Jimmy.

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  9. I've got Cinema Paradiso on my list too! Dammnnn this is ambitious. Have you read the Harry Potter books?

    Of all the films on here, Suspiria is my favorite. I love that movie so much. I don't even care that it doesn't really age that well.

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    1. I've not read the Potter books. I've got a headache start on them, but I have a feeling that one will come down to the wire.

      Really looking forward to Suspiria.

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  10. Well, There's Something About Mary is one of my favorite movies to quote, which I will do at length in your comments section when you drop your post on that one. The Doors is actually pretty badass. And From Hell is definitely badass. Used to watch both of those a lot in college. Best wishes, man!

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    1. I have seen a few clips and I did laugh, so I'm looking forward to it. And to your comments.

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  11. Good luck with the Harry Potter franchise! Watching all of them in one go (or at least close to each other) is kind of hard to stomach in.

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  12. Really curious what you'll think of Rope and The Harry Potter franchise. Haven't seen About Mary since it was released. I wondered how it has dated.

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    1. Hopefully, they'll all live up to the hype.

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  13. Some great choices here. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is still my favorite Ford film. Be interested to hear your thoughts on that one.

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    1. I'm pretty excited about seeing that one. Need more Ford in my life.

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  14. I watched six of the eight Harry Potter films in the last month, all blind spots. For me, 1, 3 and 4 are the best. Mixed feelings about 2, 5 and 6. I have high hopes for 7 and 8 though based on what I've read. Look forward to comparing notes when you have completed the series. I'll probably do a whole blog post devoted to the eight films when I'm done.

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    1. Reading that, I'm not too encouraged. So far I've watched the first two and...meh. The plan is to do a post on the entire series in December.

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