An Education: Part 1

As I mentioned on the first post in my series on the Alien films, next year 24FPS will be playing host to a new series called An Education.

As a film fan for some 21 years, and a critic of varying degrees of semi-professionalism for the last 12 of those years, I've seen a lot of movies - more, I imagine, than most people will ever see - and yet there are still a lot of acknowledged classics that I have never got around to. In my defence, I've spent a lot of the time I haven't been watching these films watching many, many more obscure titles and expanding my film education in all sorts of weird directions, but there are cornerstones missing from my film education, and I've often heard gasps when I say I haven't seen... any of the films on this list.

So, next year, I'm going to watch 104 films - two a week - that I feel are part of the canon of generally acknowledged 'classics' and review them and comment on whether I think they deserve their classic status. The only rule I've imposed is that the films should have been made before 1990. You'll also notice that there aren't any horror films on this list, which is because I'll be doing a 52 film feature; A Horror Education, addressing the genre canon, over at horrormovies.ca

So. Here's the list, in alphabetical order, and before anyone says anything, trash classics count. Your thoughts on the titles would be welcomed.

8 1/2
The 400 Blows
1900

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
All Quiet on the Western Front ['30]
Arsenic and Old Lace
Au Revoir Les Enfants
The Awful Truth

Babette's Feast
Bande a Part
Battle of Algiers
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Blue Angel
Das Boot
Brazil
Brighton Rock ['47]
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Camille
A Canterbury Tale
Cape Fear ['62]
Cinema Paradiso
Claire's Knee
The Conformist
The Conversation
Le Corbeau
A Cottage on Dartmoor
Cries and Whispers

Les Enfants Du Paradis
Elevator to the Gallows

The French Connection
From Here to Eternity

The General ['26]
Godzilla ['54]
The Gold Rush
Gone With the Wind
Grave of the Fireflies
Greed

Harold and Maude
Heaven's Gate
High Noon

Inherit the Wind
Intolerance
The Italian Job ['69]

The Jazz Singer ['27]
La Jetee
Judex
Jules et Jim

Kes
Killer of Sheep
Kiss of Death ['47]
Knife in the Water

The Last Temptation of Christ
Lawrence of Arabia
The Leopard
Little Caesar

M. Hulot's Holiday
Man With a Movie Camera
Marathon Man
Marketa Lazarova
Mash
Le Mepris
My Neighbour Totoro

Nashville
The Night Porter
Notorious

Out of the Past

Paris, Texas
Performance
The Postman Always Rings Twice ['46]
The Public Enemy

Rashomon
Rebel Without a Cause
La Regle de Jeu
Rififi

The Searchers
The Seven Year Itch
The Seventh Seal
Shaft
Shane
She Done Him Wrong
Silent Running
Singin' in the Rain
Solaris ['72]
Sophie's Choice
Sous le Soleil de Satan
Spartacus
The Sweet Smell of Success

The Taking of Pelham 123 ['74]
Tampopo
Tarzan and His Mate
The Third Man
The Tingler
Tokyo Story
Top Hat
Touch of Evil
A Touch of Zen
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Triumph of the Will

Way Down East
The Wild Bunch
Wild River
The Wind
Wings of Desire

Z