A Serendipitous Discovery

While I was browsing through books at the local Powerbooks I found a great, fat tome entitled 1001 movies you must see before you die. Including a comprehensive collection of movies up to the very beginning of 2003; I heard recent editions having movies later than that. Anyway the book is a great, enjoyable read for casual readers and fans of film. What interests me is the one Filipino entry in the collection, Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Other Asian films in the list include a couple entries from India, the usual Kurosawa/Ozu/Imamura/Mizoguchi and a Korean film or two.

I tried to see how many movies in the list are movies that I've seen, even partially. I compiled a list and came up with a pathetic 164 movies. They are:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

3. Gone With the Wind (1939)

4. Pinocchio (1940)

5. Citizen Kane (1941)

6. Dumbo (1941)

7. Casablanca (1942)

8. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (part)

9. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

10. The Seven Samurai (1954)

11. The Ten Commandments (1956)

12. Ben-Hur (1959)

13. Psycho (1960)

14. Spartacus (1960)

15. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

16. The Birds (1963)

17. The Nutty Professor (1963)

18. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

19. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

20. Planet of the Apes (1968)

21. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

22. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

23. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

24. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

25. The Godfather (1972)

26. The Exorcist (1973)

27. The Godfather Part II (1974)

28. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

29. Manila in the Claws of Brightness (1975)

30. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

31. Rocky (1976)

32. Taxi Driver (1976)

33. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

34. Star Wars (1977)

35. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

36. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

37. Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

38. Alien (1979)

39. Apocalypse Now (1979)

40. The Muppet Movie (1979)

41. Mad Max (1979)

42. The Shining (1980)

43. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

44. Airplane! (1980)

45. Raging Bull (1980)

46. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

47. Chariots of Fire (1981)

48. E.T.: The Extra-Terestrial (1982)

49. The Thing (1982)

50. Poltergeist (1982)

51. Blade Runner (1982)

52. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

53. Scarface (1983)

54. The Terminator (1984)

55. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

56. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

57. Ghostbusters (1984)

58. The Killing Fields (1984)

59. Ran (1985)

60. Back to the Future (1985)

61. The Quiet Earth (1985)

62. Aliens (1986)

63. Children of a Lesser God (1986)

64. Platoon (1986)

65. Top Gun (1986)

66. Project A, Part II (1987)

67. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

68. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

69. The Untouchables (1987)

70. Akira (1988)

71. The Naked Gun (1988)

72. Big (1988)

73. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

74. Die Hard (1988)

75. A Tale of the Wind (1988)

76. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

77. Rain Man (1988)

78. Batman (1989)

79. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

80. The Killer (1989)

81. Reversal of Fortune (1990)

82. Goodfellas (1990)

83. Dances with Wolves (1990)

84. Pretty Woman (1990)

85. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

86. Total Recall (1990)

87. Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

88. Thelma & Louise (1991)

89. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

90. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

91. JFK (1991)

92. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

93. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

94. Candy Man (1992)

95. Farewell My Concubine (1993)

96. Thirty Two Films about Glenn Gould (1993)

97. Groundhog Day (1993)

98. Philadelphia (1993)

99. Jurassic Park (1993)

100. The Puppetmaster (1993)

101. Schindler's List (1993)

102. The Piano (1993)

103. Hoop Dreams (1994)

104. Forrest Gump (1994)

105. Clerks (1994)

106. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

107. The Lion King (1994)

108. Natural Born Killers (1994)

109. Pulp Fiction (1994)

110. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

111. Chungking Express (1994)

112. Babe (1995)

113. Toy Story (1995)

114. Strange Days (1995)

115. Braveheart (1995)

116. Heat (1995)

117. Seven (1995)

118. The Usual Suspects (1995)

119. The Pillow Book (1996)

120. Fargo (1996)

121. Independence Day (1996)

122. Trainspotting (1996)

123. Scream (1996)

124. L.A. Confidential (1997)

125. Happy Together (1997)

126. Princess Mononoke (1997)

127. Open Your Eyes (1997)

128. Titanic (1997)

129. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

130. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

131. Run Lola Run (1998)

132. Pi (1998)

133. The Thin Red Line (1998)

134. Ring (1998)

135. There's Something About Mary (1998)

136. Magnolia (1999)

137. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

138. Taboo (1999)

139. The Audition (1999)

140. Fight Club (1999)

141. Being John Malkovich (1999)

142. American Beauty (1999)

143. Attack the Gas Station! (1999)

144. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

145. The Sixth Sense (1999)

146. The Matrix (1999)

147. In the Mood for Love (2000)

148. Gladiator (2000)

149. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

150. Meet the Parents (2000)

151. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

152. Traffic (2000)

153. Memento (2000)

154. Dancer in the Dark (2000)

155. Amelie (2001)

156. And Your Mother Too (2001)

157. Spirited Away (2001)

158. Moulin Rouge (2001)

159. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

160. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

161. The Pianist (2002)

162. Talk to Her (2002)

163. City of God (2002)

164. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

In addition, I have a few movies that I personally want to see, or movies that I already have but are yet unseen. They are, among others:

1. M (1931)

2. Rashomon (1950)

3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

4. Lolita (1962)

5. Woman in the Dunes (1964)

6. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

7. Alphaville (1965)

8. Come Drink with Me (1966)

9. Dersu Uzala (1974)

10. Eraserhead (1977)

11. Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

12. Tampopo (1986)

13. Peking Opera Blues (1986)

14. Red Sorghum (1987)

15. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

16. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

17. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

18. Unforgiven (1992)

19. Man Bites Dog (1992)

20. Tetsuo (1998)

21. Amores Perros (2000)

22. What Time Is It There? (2001)

23. Fat Girl (2001)

24. Mulholland Dr. (2001)

That wraps it up. The only caveat is the book is 1700 pesos - quite expensive. Well, there's always Christmas...