Hello!

I started this blog because in 2010 I'll be trying to view all of the top 100 films of all time, according to the website 'They Shoot Pictures, Don't They'. Why am I doing this? Because up until a forum poll last August I had barely seen any great movies, but it sparked an exploration of classic cinema that's even changed the way I view film. Probably fifteen of my favorite twenty movies I've seen for the first time over the past five months. And I want to keep going. This blog is for anybody else who thinks they might want to explore classic cinema and wants ideas.

The list is available here: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_top100films.htm

In choosing which site to use for the list it came down between TSPDT and Films101. Here's my view of the virtues and vices of both:

TSPDT
-Too biased against more recent films
-Puts influentialness over entertainment value
-Some of them are harder to find in the US

Films101
-Puts production value over quality of script
-Too biased for American films

The choice of TSPDT came down to this: I've seen a lot more American films than foreign films, and I've seen a lot more newer films than older films, so the source that has more older foreign films has more stuff that's new to me.

I'm going to give detailed comments about how I feel about the film, then a rating. Ratings should be read like this:

5 stars: This movie is in my personal top 50.
4 1/2 stars: This movie is in my personal top 100.
4 stars: This is a very good movie and I'd like to watch it again sometime.
3-3 1/2 stars: This is a good movie but I don't feel the particular need to see it again.
2-2 1/2 stars: The movie is okay, I guess.
1-1 1/2 stars: This is a horrible movie.

The top 100 I use will be based on the January 2010 update. But no, I don't have to wait for that update to begin, because I doubt anything currently over 60 or so has any chance of falling off.