Saturday, November 15, 2008

a-z


Out-1, you know how I feel about lists, especially ones that involve alphabetizing movies!

This is something called the Alphabet Meme and it goes something like this:

Here's the rules...

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter "A" and the word "The" do not count as the beginning of a film's title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don't know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under "R," not "S" as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with "S." Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under "R," not "I" as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under "L" and all films in the Chronicles of Narnia series belong under "C," as that's what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgment to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number's word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under "T."

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type "alphabet meme" into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

A- About A Boy (2002) dir. Chris Weitz
B- Bicycle Thieves (1948) dir. Vittorio De Sica
C- Chungking Express (1994) dir. Wong Kar Wai
D- Dog Day Afternoon (1975) dir. Sidney Lumet
E- Election (1999) dir. Alexander Payne
F- Faces (1968) dir. John Cassavetes
G- Gattaca (1997) dir. Andrew Niccol
H- Happiness (1998) dir. Todd Solondz
I- It Happened One Night (1934) dir. Frank Capra
J- Jules et Jim (1962) dir. Francois Truffaut
K- King Kong (2005) dir. Peter Jackson
L- La Notte (1962) dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
M- Malcolm X (1992) dir. Spike Lee
N- Notorious (1946) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
O- Out of Sight (1998) dir. Steven Soderbergh
P- Punch Drunk Love (2002) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Q- Quadrophenia (1979) dir. Franc Roddam (I cheated. I haven't seen it but I heard it's good.)
R- Repulsion (1965) dir. Roman Polanski
S- Short Cuts (1993) dir. Robert Altman
T- Talk to Her (2002) dir. Pedro Almodovar
U- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) dir. Jaques Demy
V- Vertigo (1958) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
W- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) dir. Mel Stuart
X- Xala (1975) dir. Ousmane Sembene (X and Q were really damn difficult. I haven't seen this either, but I've heard this one is good too.)
Y- Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) dir. Alfonso Cuaron
Z- Zelig (1983) dir. Woody Allen

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice list. Mine certainly has some overlap. I tried to minimize it, but some of those letters are constricting.

A – Andrei Rublev (1966) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
B – Boogie Nights (1997) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
C – City of God (2002) dir. Fernando Meirelles
D – Dr. Strangelove (1964) dir. Stanley Kubrick
E – 8 ½ (1963) dir. Federico Fellini
F – Fight Club - Fuck everyone. I still love it. – (1997) dir. David Fincher
G – The Great Dictator – (1940) dir. Charlie Chaplin
H – Harold and Maude – (1971) dir. Hal Ashby
I – In the Mood for Love – (2000) dir. Wong Kar-Wai
J – Jacob’s Ladder – (1990) dir. Adrian Lyne
K – Killer of Sheep – (1977) dir. Charles Burnett
L – Let the Right One In - Too Soon? I think not. – (2008) dir. Tomas Alfredson
M – Manhattan – (1979) dir. Woody Allen
N – Notorious – (1946) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
O – Oleanna – (1994) dir. David Mamet
P – The Philadelphia Story (1940) dir. George Cukor
Q – Quiz Show…? - (1994) dir. Robert Redford
R – The Rules of the Game - (1939) dir. Jean Renoir
S – Solyaris – (1972) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
T – Talk to Her – (2002) dir. Pedro Almodovar
U – The Umbrellas of Cherbourg – (1964) Jaques Demy
V – Vertigo – (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
W – The War - I had to give some documentary love – (2007) dir. Ken Burns
X – Xala – (1975) dir. Ousmane Sembene
Y – Young Frankenstein - This would have been Y Tu Mama Tambien, but I’ve been using English titles throughout so that would have been cheating. – (1974) dir. Mel Brooks
Z – Zelig – It’s literally the only z movie I’ve ever seen I think. – (1983) dir. Woody Allen

Brandon Colvin said...

Good list, Whitney. I haven't seen a lot of overlap between your list and many others.

w. said...

I effing love About A Boy. I think it got pretty good critical reaction upon its initial release, but it died a slow death at the box office. I think over time it will be considered one of the best and most overlooked films of the early 21st century. Dare I say it's somewhere in the Hal Ashby or Billy Wilder stratosphere?