Movie Watching Goals For 2012 - December Update

Since I put my hand on Andrew Sarris’ The American Cinema : Directors and Directions 1929-1968, my interest for completing a list I’ve been rambling about over and over here at the good old LMdC (short for Le Mot du Cinephiliaque), is TheyShoot Pictures Don’t They? 1000 Greatest Films of All Time is became my priority. To me and many others, Kevyn Knox for instance @The Most BeautifulFraud In The World, this is the ultimate cinephile’s reference.

To be more specific, Sarris rated directors with definitive titles, read here for a full explanation on how it works. So my goal would be to watch every Pantheon Director film that stands on the so-called list aforementioned of TSPDT GF 1000. I’ll add the label Pantheon Director in my posts when it will be the case of a review of this kind.

For the month of December I will derogate a little to catch up some Christmas films to get into the mood of the Holidays.

Films added for this month:
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So for the pleasure, here’s the list of films that are on the list:

Charles Chaplin: The Kid (1921), A Woman of Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Limelight (1952).

Robert Flaherty: Nanookof the North (1922), Moana (1925), Man of Aran (1934), Louisiana Story (1948).

John Ford with 15 titles

John Ford: The Informer (1935), Stagecoach (1939), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), They Were Expendable (1945), My Darling Clementine (1946), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), Wagon Master (1950), The Sun Shines Bright (1953), The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Seven Women (1966).

D.W. Griffith: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), Broken Blossoms (1919), True Heart Susie (1919), Way Down East (1920).

Howard Hawks: Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Red River (1948), The Thing from Another World (1951), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Rio Bravo (1959), Hatari! (1962), El Dorado (1967).

Alfred Hitchcock: The 39 Steps (1935), The Lady Vanishes (1938),  Rebecca (1940), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), The Wrong Man (1956), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964).

Buster Keaton: Our Hospitality (1923), The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Seven Chances (1925), The General (1926), The Cameraman (1928), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928).

Fritz Lang: Destiny (1921), Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922), Die Nibelungen (1924), Metropolis (1926), Spione (1928), M (1931), Fury (1936), You Only Live Once (1937), The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), The Big Heat (1953), While the City Sleeps (1956), Moonfleet (1955), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Tiger of Eschnapur (1958), The Indian Tomb (1958).

Ernst Lubitsch: Trouble in Paradise (1932), Design for Living (1933), Angel (1937), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), Heaven Can Wait (1943).

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), Sunrise (1927), Tabu (1931).

Max Ophüls: Liebelei (1932), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Reckless Moment (1949), La Ronde (1950), Le Plaisir (1951), Madame de... (1953), Lola Montès (1955).

Jean Renoir: La Chienne (1931), Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932), Toni (1935), Partie de campagne (1936), The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936), La Grande illusion (1937), La Bête humaine (1938), Rules of the Game (1939), The River (1951), The Golden Coach (1952), French Cancan (1955).

Josef von Sternberg had a nice 'stache and 8 films on the list!

Josef von Sternberg: The Docks of New York (1928), The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (1932), TheScarlet Empress (1934), The Devil is a Woman (1935), The Shanghai Gesture (1941), Anatahan (1953).

Orson Welles: Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1948), Othello (1952), Touch of Evil (1958), The Trial (1963), Chimes at Midnight (1966), F for Fake (1973).

There are 127 films from the Pantheon Directors in the list populated with a total of 1000 films. It equates 12.7% of the list. They represent some of the most important films from the most important auteurs of Cinema. Their weight is considerable and most of these titles are widely popular amongst film lovers. However, many are more obscure and this is what this new feature will try to do. Bring some light on those classics.

Here are the films I still have to watch:

Charles Chaplin: Completed.

Robert Flaherty (2): Moana (1925), Man of Aran (1934).

John Ford (5): The Informer (1935), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Wagon Master (1950), The Sun Shines Bright (1953), Seven Women (1966).

D.W. Griffith (2): True Heart Susie (1919), Way Down East (1920).

Howard Hawks: Completed.

Lots of Great Langs to watch!

Alfred Hitchcock: Completed.

Buster Keaton: Completed.

Fritz Lang (11): Destiny (1921), Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922), Die Nibelungen (1924), Spione (1928), The Woman in the Window (1944), The Big Heat (1953), While the City Sleeps (1956), Moonfleet (1955), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Tiger of Eschnapur (1958), The Indian Tomb (1958).

Ernst Lubitsch: Completed.

F.W. Murnau (1): Tabu (1931).

Max Ophüls (3): Liebelei (1932), The Reckless Moment (1949), Le Plaisir (1951).

Jean Renoir (3): La Chienne (1931), La Bête humaine (1938), The Golden Coach (1952).

Josef von Sternberg (5): The Docks of New York (1928), Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (1932), The Devil is a Woman (1935), Anatahan (1953).

Orson Welles: Completed.

Total of films to watch: 32

It means that I’ll have to catch those 32 movies, some are difficult to get while others are now available because their copyrights expired. When you get on LMdC you’ll find this icon that represents this Current Feature called Pantheon Directors: A Cinephile’s Quest.

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What do you think of my quest? How many have you seen? Any recommendations/opinions in the films I haven’t seen? If you have reviews feel free to insert your links in the comments!

 Any Christmas movie I should give a spin this year?