"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Friday, April 1, 2011

Alphabetical Cinema

I saw some others (Citizenrobot, Rupert Pupkin Speaks) had done this and it sounded like fun. Here's my films, A to Z:

Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972)
Bullet in the Head (1990)
Cul-de-Sac (1966)
Duck, You Sucker! (1972)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1977)
High School Confidential! (1958)
The Icicle Thief (1990)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Knife in the Water (1962)
L'Age d'Or (1930) [and yes, I know that should be listed under "A"]
M (1931)
The Naked Kiss (1965)
Ossessione (1942)
The Phantom Empire (1935)
Quatermass and the Pit (1968)
Rififi (1951)
Shogun Assassin (1980)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
The Unknown (1927)
The Vampires (1915)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
X-The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963)
You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman's Vengeance (1966)
......................
I started by filling in some of my favorite films, but not a single one made the final list! As I started filling in the more difficult letters, a theme started to appear, and I went with it. With the exception of a few comedies, these are action packed edge-of-your-seat thrillers, with deft touches of black humor to ease up on the throttle. These are all films I'd watch again and films I'd recommend (with the caveat of: read a description first, to see if this kind of film appeals to you, as some of these... well, there's a reason they only have a cult following).

7 comments:

shannon said...

I saw the remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123" with Denzel Washington and John Travolta (2009).

Was the original 1974 film in color?

Just kidding!

SteveQ said...

Shannon, the remake was not good. At least you didn't think I saw the film from 1915 in the theater!

Biki said...

I would have put this one :
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(film)
and ended with that one :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(film)
(what else ?)

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Cul-de-Sac is such a pretentious title. Face it: In French "cul" = butthole and "sac" = n*ts@ck and so "Cul-de-Sac" just means "From Butthole to N*ts@ck", or, in other words, the taint.

So that movie should just be called "Taint".

Sorry. I just proved you didn't list a movie that starts with "C" in your alphabetical list.

SteveQ FAIL!

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM RULES!1!

sea legs girl said...

Hmm. Cool list. I've only seen one and that's M. Could they possibly all be that good?

A song that has really grown on me and a cool video: Why don't you believe me by Small Sins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-v-UjJE2ss

SteveQ said...

@Biki: I thought about Larry Cohen's "Q" and Costa-Gravas' "Z"...briefly.

@SLG: Not all the films are as good as "M!" You'd be offended by "Faster Pussycat" and think "Great Texas..." was just stupid.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Re: Your E. Bishop fail:

I myself confused Stumpers-l (Wombats) with LIBREF-L, so we'll call it even.

(I think there was just a lot of overlap between the two listservs, is all.)