Cinematic Essentials: Why Movie Lists Are Essential

by Dave Umbricht

I love lists.  Lists are the lifeblood of movie fans.  We love to compile them, digest them, debate them.  We create lists because we cannot honestly answer the question, “what is your favorite movie?”  There are too many answers to that question.  Just like life, there are always new experiences around the corner.  I love making my way through lists.  I finished the AFI Top 100 list a few years ago.  Now, I’m working my way through Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies”.   I have set a goal to finish by my 40^th birthday (twenty more months), but it does not matter.  The beauty of a list of great movies is it gives you options, introduces you to new experiences, all of which have been deemed worthwhile.

When I started writing “Cinematic Essentials” the idea was to highlight great films that either had a cultural or personal impact.  It has been fun, but enough of my thoughts.  I want to hear your thoughts too.  What makes Forgotten Flix a great destination on the web is the interaction.  There are many places on the internet to get ideas of great movies to watch (check out Ebert’s website for a list and reviews of 350+).  It is the community that matters here.  So in the coming weeks I will invite all of you to become a much deeper part of the discussion of great films.

But for today, I will be incredibly self-indulgent and offer five random lists, because I refuse to answer the favorite movie question.

THREE MOVIES THAT WOWED ME IN THE THEATER

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Top Gun
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

THREE DIRECTORS WHO’S WORK I NEVER VIEWED UNTIL STARTING EBERT’S LIST

1. Ozu
2. Kurosawa
3. Bergman

THREE BERGMAN MOVIES THAT STUCK WITH ME AFTER I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS FILMS

1. Winter’s Light
2. Persona
3. Wild Strawberries

THREE GREAT MOVIES THAT START WITH THE LETTER “A”

1. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
2. Atlantic City
3. Airplane

TWO MOVIES I WISH I LOVED BUT REALLY DON’T, NO MATTER WHAT I THINK

1. Superman: The Movie
2. The Song Remains the Same

Feel free to post your random lists in the comment section.  We want to know.

Dave Umbricht loves his family, movies and the NBA (in that order). His unexplainable, genetic attraction to movies flourished in the early ’80s thanks to Siskel and Ebert. It’s also believed Dave was the only 8-year-old to know of My Dinner with Andre, even though he didn’t see it until he was 28. In the ’90s he wrote three awful screenplays, including next summer’s Cowboys and Aliens (or at least a script with the same title). He still can’t dunk a basketball.

Check out his blog here.

Or follow him on Twitter here (@dumbricht).

 

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