Anybody who watches movies has heard it. Inevitably you will be talking movies with a friend when they bring up a movie that you haven’t seen. A sudden look of disbelief crosses their face and then they exclaim “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT?! YOU LOVE MOVIES, HOW IS IT YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THAT ONE! IT’S A CLASSIC!!!” You’re almost afraid to answer when you shyly reply that you just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I’ve had this conversation more times than I care to admit. All my friends know what a movie buff I am and I cringe when I have to admit that there are just some movies I’ve missed. After spending 10 years working in a music / video store you would think that I’ve seen all of the “classics” but alas, I have not. I went through phases where I would peruse the shelves of the rental department looking for those movies that seems to really define one as not only a fan of films, but a fan of film making. I went through that phase exactly 2 times.
Both times I watched a movie that I can honestly say I probably won’t watch again. Not because they were bad, but because they were disturbing. Neither one of them is for light Sunday movie viewing, that is for sure. The first was Apocalypse Now and the second was Deliverance. Brutal movies”¦both of them. I don’t really know why I picked those. Perhaps it was the constant oh-my-god-you-haven’t-seen-this tirades I got when I had to admit to not seeing them. Or it could have been the fact that these films always end up on some list and I kept thinking to myself, “wow, I should really watch those”. I’m not sorry I watched them, but I really wish I had picked something that I absolutely loved and could watch over and over again. But on the flip side of that, at least I know and can now say that I’ve seen them both.
Having been born in the “˜70’s and grasping my love for film in the “˜80’s, most of the movies people refer to as classics, are movies I’ve seen countless times and can recite the dialogue almost word for word. It’s a normal day if I throw out some lines from Weird Science. And when someone comes along that hasn’t seen it, I do the exact same thing “OH MY GOD, YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THAT?! IT’S CLASSIC!”
Everyone has their list of films that they should have seen, but haven’t yet. Mine is somewhat extensive I’ll admit. There is one in particular that, for some reason, I recite the main line from, but I haven’t seen…yet. Why I say this line is beyond me but my roommate looks at me funny when I yell “SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!” I will watch it someday just so I can say “Oh sure, I’ve totally seen that!” I knocked one off my list a while back I’m happy to say. I finally watched “Citizen Kane”. It’s a great movie, worthy of its praise even though it’s a bit of a downer. But my status as a self proclaimed movie buff remains intact because I have now seen what has been called the greatest movie of all time. Slowly I’ll work through my list, knocking them off one movie at a time. Perhaps I’ll start with the “The Shawshank Redemption”. Yes I know, you can’t believe I haven’t seen that.
So my question is this, dear readers”¦..what movies SHOULD you have seen, but haven’t seen yet?
