Gone to America

There’s this meme going around on blogs, where you take the IMDb’s top 100 movies and list the ones you’ve seen in bold.

Here’s mine…
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1 Godfather, The (1972)
2 Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
3 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
4 Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
5 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
6 Casablanca (1942)
7 Schindler’s List (1993)
8 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
9 Shichinin no samurai (1954)
10 Citizen Kane (1941)
11 Star Wars (1977)
12 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
13 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
14 Rear Window (1954)
15 Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
16 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
17 Memento (2000)
18 Usual Suspects, The (1995)
19 Pulp Fiction (1994)
20 North by Northwest (1959)
21 Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
22 Psycho (1960)
23 12 Angry Men (1957)
24 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
25 Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
26 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
27 It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
28 Goodfellas (1990)
29 American Beauty (1999)
30 Vertigo (1958)
31 Sunset Blvd. (1950)
32 Matrix, The (1999)
33 Apocalypse Now (1979)
34 Pianist, The (2002)
35 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
36 Some Like It Hot (1959)
37 Taxi Driver (1976)
38 Third Man, The (1949)
39 Paths of Glory (1957)
40 C’era una volta il West (1968)
41 Fight Club (1999)
42 Boot, Das (1981)
43 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
44 Double Indemnity (1944)
45 L.A. Confidential (1997)
46 Chinatown (1974)
47 Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
48 Requiem for a Dream (2000)
49 Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
50 M (1931)
51 All About Eve (1950)
52 Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
53 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
54 Se7en (1995)
55 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56 Raging Bull (1980)
57 Cidade de Deus (2002)
58 Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
59 Rashômon (1950)
60 Sting, The (1973)
61 Alien (1979)
62 American History X (1998)
63 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64 Léon (1994)
65 Touch of Evil (1958)
66 Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
67 Vita è bella, La (1997)
68 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
69 Wo hu cang long (2000)
70 Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
71 Great Escape, The (1963)
72 Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
73 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
74 Annie Hall (1977)
75 Amadeus (1984)
76 Jaws (1975)
77 On the Waterfront (1954)
78 Ran (1985)
79 Modern Times (1936)
80 Braveheart (1995)
81 High Noon (1952)
82 Apartment, The (1960)
83 Sixth Sense, The (1999)
84 Fargo (1996)
85 Aliens (1986)
86 Shining, The (1980)
87 Blade Runner (1982)
88 Strangers on a Train (1951)
89 Metropolis (1927)
90 Duck Soup (1933)
91 Finding Nemo (2003)
92 Donnie Darko (2001)
93 Toy Story 2 (1999)
94 Princess Bride, The (1987)
95 General, The (1927)
96 City Lights (1931)
97 Lola rennt (1998)
98 Great Dictator, The (1940)
99 Full Metal Jacket (1987)
100 Notorious (1946)

(I broke it up because it was just taking up way too much space).

I gotta say I impressed myself. Ninety three. Other people have been happy with numbers like fifty. Here are the movies on the list I haven’t seen:

42 Das Boot – Someday I will watch this. It’s really long, though, isn’t it?
61 Alien – I know, I know. This is the only omission I’m really ashamed of.
67 La Vita è bella – I never had any interest in seeing this.
70 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – OK, I probably actually have seen this on TV at some point, but I thought that since there was doubt I’d put it in the “no” pile.
92 Donnie Darko – People keep telling me this is amazing, and are surprised I haven’t seen it. One day. Soon. I promise.
97 Lola Rennt – Again, yes, one day I will see this movie.
98 The Great Dictator – This is another one I probably have seen, at least partially, but possibly not.

On a general note about the list, while it’s nice to see old favourites like Seven Samurai right up near the top, the whole thing is pretty much invalidated by the inclusion of The Shawshank Redemption. I mean, come on, number two? That’s got to be the most overrated movie of all time. It’s just not that good. It’s dull, and all the best bits were done better in the Clint Eastwood movie Escape From Alcatraz. It’s the American equivalent of the Merchant-Ivory movie – polished, stately, well acted and so overdesigned it makes you want to scream.

Anyway, enough about that. Can anybody beat me? Eh? Eh? Come on…