Monday, December 15, 2008

A Little Monday Movie Meme


I was challenged by Phil and Aurel to list my favorite films, one for
each letter of the alphabet. So, without further ado, here's my list. And
it was a lot harder than you think! This was loads of fun, so please feel
free to play along, if you're so inclined.

Annie Hall
Brief Encounter
Cinema Paradiso
The Duelists
The End of the Affair
Frida
Gone With the Wind
Howard's End
I Know Where I'm Going
The Joy Luck Club
Kundun
Lawrence of Arabia
Man on a Train
North by Northwest
Onegin
The Pumpkin Eater
Quiz Show
Rope
Sunset Boulevard
Titus
Under the Tuscan Sun
Vertigo
The Widow of Saint-Pierre
Excalibur (is this a cheat?)
You've Got Mail
Zulu

57 comments:

  1. Well, I've seen 15 of these and am looking forward to exploring some of the others. "Man On A Train" is great, isn't it?

    Kevin and I are just getting into watching some of the old black and whites again - some HE has never seen. We just watched "All About Eve" (I had seen it, but remembered little.) What a fantastic film!

    I'll be doing this meme too - I can't resist!

    Kat

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  2. Impressive list.

    I don't think I could even finish half the alphabet...

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  3. I guess you didn't watch X-Men!

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  4. I'm impressed... I won't even attempt this myself! Howard's End -- love that one!

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  5. Well, well done you. I don't think I could have done it!

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  6. Fun assignment. We did something like this once with songs with girl's names.

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  7. How inventive you are!
    Will have to have a go at this when I have finished adding glue to Xmas cards...........!

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  8. this is the child of 'Nuovo cinema Paradiso' by Tornatore...ciao from Italy!

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  9. I have listed below my favourite ones from your list. I am glad that we have similar tastes. I've added mine at the bottom.

    Annie Hall
    Brief Encounter
    Cinema Paradiso
    The Duelists
    The End of the Affair
    Frida
    Howard's End
    Lawrence of Arabia
    Man on a Train
    North by Northwest
    Quiz Show
    Rope
    Sunset Boulevard
    Vertigo
    The Widow of Saint-Pierre
    Excalibur (is this a cheat?)
    You've Got Mail
    Zulu

    Dangerous Liaisons
    Glengarry Glen Ross
    In the Line of Fire
    After Hours
    Rear Window
    Thelma and Louise
    The Client
    Casablanca
    All About Eve

    There are more, many more...

    Thanks for this post.

    Greetings from London.

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  10. Great list-some ideas for my next Netflix order. Thanks!

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  11. Wow! I'm impressed! So glad you listed the Hitchcock classic as your "N" choice rather than .... Napolean Dynamite!

    It would be interesting to see an alphabetic compliation of the worst movies by letter! Heh!

    Take care and good choices.

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  12. Oh, these are great--a lot of mine were in here, too. I may have to give it a go one day...so many movies to choose from...decisions, decisions...I was thinking "Mediterraneo" for "M" but I've never seen "Man on a Train." guess I'll have to now!

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  13. The favorite of mine is Howard's End...I don't say I "love" many "things" but I thought this film is one of the best I've ever seen. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant in it, as he is in most films he's in. I'll have to watch it again sometime.

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  14. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.....Sigh....movies...one of my favorite things!

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  15. Truly wonderful list! I will be doing some watching over the holiday. Thank you....Beth

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  16. Fantastic! I will have to add Double Indemnity :-)

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  17. That must have taken ages. I do agree with you on so many though, especially Annie Hall and The Duellists.

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  18. Bravo, I counted 15 seen movies as well but I'm sure not the same. The Pumpkin Eater is a fascinating title...never heard of it? I also like the additional ones posted by A Cuban in London...After Hours was so amazing!

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  19. Good work, I would never have been able to list movies alphabetically. Have a great holiday season!

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  20. Loved your list! I'm going to play along and prepost it for Saturday.

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  21. That's a great list, and I have to say I've seen most of them...except Onegin (which you mentioned before and it looks beautiful) and The Pumpkin Eater.

    I finally saw I Know Where I am Going a few months ago. The Boy loves that movie, it's one of his favorites. Very sweet story.

    I'll have to think about my list.

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  22. Sounds like a lot of fun, I will have to try it!

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  23. I don't think EXcalibur is a cheat at all! In fact, I'm mightily impressed that you could cover them all. I've only seen 14 of yours; I've definitely fallen behind on movie-watching since I developed this blog-obsession.

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  24. You inspired me...
    http://afreeminute.blogspot.com/2008/12/so-here-i-go-again.html

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  25. A great list Willow !
    i loved Howard's end and the Widow of St Pierre (ah...Juliette Binoche!)

    for Z, i loved Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn.

    i liked Cuban's list as well.
    All about Eve...oh yes !

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  26. Brief Encounter is a fabulous film! I remember the first time I saw it, I was at home and flipping channels around midnight and came across it. It is at once a beautiful, brooding, poetic, romantic film and beats The Bridges of Madison County any day!

    I've enjoyed your blog, your writing is just lovely.

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  27. Great list. I've seen 14 of them. Among my fav's are 'Howards End" and "Annie Hall." I look forward to checking out some of the not yet seens.

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  28. Great List! That image of "Toto" always brings a huge smile to my face!

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  29. How brilliant..you've jogged my memory, and I'm about to become obsessed(again).
    "B"- "Brideshead Revisited", the great TV series, and the haunting and hilarious "Being There".
    "E"- "The End of the Affair","The English Patient". So Ralph Fiennes just happens to be in both...hmmmmm. He ages well.
    Lyn

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  30. Wow ! I think I'd have a hard time with this one. You are a wee film buff I would say.

    Have you seen The Diving Bell & the Butterfly? my latest library movie request. Apparently it's fantastic !

    a few favs of mine

    Babel
    21 Grams
    The Ice Storm
    American Beauty
    Paris, Texas

    xo S & les Gang

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  31. Susan, I'm putting The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on my Netflix list right now! Thanks! :^)

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  32. I love your list of movies, especially Sunset Boulevard. "I'm ready for my close-up DeMille."

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  33. Now I'm lost - my favourite movie is a number. Can I do "T" for 2001?

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  34. WOW I am impressed, I can imagine how hard that was to do!

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  35. I can call IT - "My List" ;).
    But , let me add some more:
    "La Double Vie de Veronique"-
    by K.Kieślowski
    "Blue Velvet" by D.Lynch
    "Amarcord" by F.Fellini
    "The Maids of Wilko" by A.Wajda
    "Brokeback Mountain" by A.Lee
    "Apocalypse Now-Redux" by F.F.Coppola
    "Malena" by G.Tornatore
    "The Last Picture Show" by P.Bogdanovich
    "Requiem For A Dream" by D.Aronofsky
    "Goldrush" by Ch.Chaplin
    and many , many more...
    ;)
    All the best :)

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  36. Willow
    Cinema Paradiso! What a touching movie.
    The Bach

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  37. will have to add a few of these to my netflix list!

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  38. Brilliant idea! Brilliant movies too!

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  39. Lovely Willow, you always have the fun posts! My favorite movie is Casablanca.

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  40. Hi Willow. I loved two movies I saw several years ago. The first is Jean D'Florette and the sequel is Manon of Spring. Gerard Depardeau starred in the first and I could not stop thinking about it. Also, I am just mesmerized by D.H. Lawrence's story and also by the film Lawrence of Arabia. I also tend to like the British early version of Brideshead Revisited; generally foreign film with or without subtitles. Loved reading others lists too.

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  41. I've seen several of these and especially liked "The Joy Luck Club." One of my favorite films is the Children of Paradise.

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  42. Love your blog... and your taste in films.

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  43. Willow,
    Only six for me. The ABC's of it is too daunting for me today.
    rel

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  44. Hello Willow,

    I read your post yesterday when you had only two comments - and now just look!

    I found the task daunting and realised that whereas Poetikat had SEEN 15 of them, I had NOT HEARD of a similar number!

    In a previous life, we lived two minutes from a cinema but saw only three movies in 8 years, so you see the scale of the task! I'll just have to wait for them to be screened on TV.

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  45. it does look like fun but also difficult! how many movies are there that even start with the letter x?? i'm so glad to see that you've got mail made your list; i was sure it would!

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  46. Back again to the "list" thing, can't shake it. My list, which I'm getting to immediately will be post 2000, most likely 2004/2008. All viewed on DVD. I do remember "going to the movies". Too expensive. NYC? Fahgedaboutit!
    All are priceless, one of a kind, at http://www.ellerochelle.blogspot.com
    Love this stuff...
    Lyn

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  47. Congratulations. While I've seen most of those on your list, I'm sure I couldn't have begun to compile them.

    Sometimes it's not a good idea to go back and watch a favourite. My favourite of all time is They Came To Condura with Rita Hayworth and Gary Cooper.

    Likely you've never heard of it, and for good reason. Sadly I couldn't believe how bad it was when I watched it recently, about 25 years after my first viewing.

    Same with The High And The Mighty. It lived in my memory as one of the most suspenseful films of all time until I caught it recently on PBS.

    Sigh.

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  48. Whew! As much as I love movies, I am not sure I could do that one!

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  49. Oh wow. Good list!

    I'll take up your challenge in a day or two!

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  50. I would have to consider "Excalibur" a cheat. Especially with many great "X" films out there.

    Have you never seen Xanadu?!?
    Not only a great film, a great soundtrack.

    ;-)

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  51. How on earth did you get your description text in the middle and on the bottom of your picture?

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  52. I keep meaning to come over and thank you. You mentioned Onegin a while ago and I watched it. What a perfectly beautiful movie. At times it looked just like the film crew had snuck into The National Gallery and filmed the paintings of the masters. What an incredible movie. So, thank you.

    Thanks, also for recommending The Black Book. That was you, wasn't it? It is no exaggeration to say that the movie held me in it's spell. I was enthralled. At one point I had to go to the restroom so badly, but I couldn't stand to hit pause.

    I am especially pleased that you did this meme. So far, for me, you're batting 1000.

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  53. You've got mail!! is my favorite....

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  54. Oh the beautifully poignant Cinema Paradiso is my absolute favourite! Willow, the memories of this little cinematic gem along with the image of Toto has warmed my heart today.
    Millie ^_^

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)