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As I neared the end of the entries on the Top 100 Songs of My Lifetime, the subject came up as to what I was going to do next. Would my blog become postings of whatever came to mind? Would I stop altogether? Another Top 100 list of some sort? What's next?
I thought about it a great deal and my brother, Scott came up with the idea that stuck. He was enjoying the format and the level of detail I did for the Top 100 songs, so he thought it would work really well if I did the same thing for the Top 100 movies, too. It didn't take me long to realize that I agreed. That conversation happened a few months ago, and I've been working behind the scenes on putting that list together. It was a fun (and frustrating) process that took me a long time.
The rules I had were similar to the ones I had for my music list. I would only choose movies that were released during my lifetime. I also tried to not choose too many movies from the last year or two, because they might seem better than they were just because they were newer*. On choosing my music list, I didn't want a ton of songs by a single artist, so I generally chose just one song from a band to be its representative on my list. I could've done the same thing with directors or maybe actors on my movie list, but movies are so much more collaborative that it seemed a bit more arbitrary (then again, my whole process is probably a bit arbitrary).
Just like the songs, it started out as a much larger list (this one began as 206 movies). Slowly the list shrunk, as favorites (and great movies) fell by the wayside, unable to withstand the argument that it was better than the movie above it on the list. Finally, after about a month, I had the list done. I can promise that it will probably be in a constant state of flux, just like my music list was, with one entry rising or falling based on further reflection. I'm sure there will be movies that will have you nodding in agreement, others that will make you scratch your head, or even others where you shake your head in disappointment. I do hope, however, that even if you don't particularly like a movie on my list, that you will give it a fair shake when you're reading my essay on it.
I'm really looking forward to another project. Stay tuned....
But before I get to the first in another list that will take me probably another year and a half, I wanted to do a post on something that I found fascinating. So in a couple of days, I'll post my essay entitled, "Walt Disney Wants to Kill Your Parents (not really, but kinda...)," in which I look at the propensity in Disney movies to have parents die. I did a lot of research and what started out as a simple look into something I found curious, ended up being just short of a master's thesis on the subject. Curiosity turned into a little bit of obsession, as I tried to find an answer to "why?"
I hope you enjoy reading it, because again, I enjoyed writing it. And check back in a couple of weeks for the first entry in the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime.
* I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 and saying it was the best movie ever! Then I saw ET the next summer, and that became the best movie ever! The next summer, Return of the Jedi was undoubtedly the best movie ever! Of course, 1984 was the year of Ghostbusters, so of course.............
I thought about it a great deal and my brother, Scott came up with the idea that stuck. He was enjoying the format and the level of detail I did for the Top 100 songs, so he thought it would work really well if I did the same thing for the Top 100 movies, too. It didn't take me long to realize that I agreed. That conversation happened a few months ago, and I've been working behind the scenes on putting that list together. It was a fun (and frustrating) process that took me a long time.
The rules I had were similar to the ones I had for my music list. I would only choose movies that were released during my lifetime. I also tried to not choose too many movies from the last year or two, because they might seem better than they were just because they were newer*. On choosing my music list, I didn't want a ton of songs by a single artist, so I generally chose just one song from a band to be its representative on my list. I could've done the same thing with directors or maybe actors on my movie list, but movies are so much more collaborative that it seemed a bit more arbitrary (then again, my whole process is probably a bit arbitrary).
Just like the songs, it started out as a much larger list (this one began as 206 movies). Slowly the list shrunk, as favorites (and great movies) fell by the wayside, unable to withstand the argument that it was better than the movie above it on the list. Finally, after about a month, I had the list done. I can promise that it will probably be in a constant state of flux, just like my music list was, with one entry rising or falling based on further reflection. I'm sure there will be movies that will have you nodding in agreement, others that will make you scratch your head, or even others where you shake your head in disappointment. I do hope, however, that even if you don't particularly like a movie on my list, that you will give it a fair shake when you're reading my essay on it.
I'm really looking forward to another project. Stay tuned....
But before I get to the first in another list that will take me probably another year and a half, I wanted to do a post on something that I found fascinating. So in a couple of days, I'll post my essay entitled, "Walt Disney Wants to Kill Your Parents (not really, but kinda...)," in which I look at the propensity in Disney movies to have parents die. I did a lot of research and what started out as a simple look into something I found curious, ended up being just short of a master's thesis on the subject. Curiosity turned into a little bit of obsession, as I tried to find an answer to "why?"
I hope you enjoy reading it, because again, I enjoyed writing it. And check back in a couple of weeks for the first entry in the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime.
* I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 and saying it was the best movie ever! Then I saw ET the next summer, and that became the best movie ever! The next summer, Return of the Jedi was undoubtedly the best movie ever! Of course, 1984 was the year of Ghostbusters, so of course.............
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