Ryan McNeil
In a few moments, I will begin watching my final Blind Spot film of the year (TOKYO STORY, in case you were curious).
While I never made any official resolution or anything of the sort, it seems as though I watched a lot of new-to-me films in 2013. According to Letterboxd, I tallied up 287 first-timers through the course of the year. Now first of all, that number seems higher than it is since it includes anything that was released within the year itself. So lets subtract about 100 titles to account for new releases, along with TIFF and Hot DOcs screenings. That still leaves me with 187 on the year. Not too shabby, though I’m somewhat grumpy that I couldn’t rack up an extra 13 to get to an even 200.
Still 187 – or even 287 – is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering it’s up from 248 the year before.
My inspiration to throw on many of these films have been wide and varied. While that can sometimes turn watching into homework, I’m quite happy where that’s taken me in my film literacy over the last twelve months.
While it didn’t chalk up all that many titles numerically, The Blind Spot Series was obviously a big influence on what I reached for . Of the eleven films I watched for that project so far, every one of them have endeared themselves to me – so much so that I just received blu-rays of two of them for Christmas (I was even quietly hoping to get two or three more!). The amazing thing about this year’s dozen selections – as you may or may not recall – is that they were selected for me by my readers. That could have backfired on me immensely. It could have turned what I want to watch into what others think I should watch, but that little bit of trust brought me great amounts of joy. I could look back on the last twelve months of watching and consider it a complete success if only for the fact that it brought me to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THE BIRDS, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, and BROADCAST NEWS.
Then of course, there’s PERSONA, which might have enraptured me more than any film I watched this year. It was the film I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen by now, and at the same time it was the film I thought I wouldn’t have appreciated fully before now.
It’s been a strange few weeks for The Blind Spot Series. On the one hand, I seem to have more people interested in participating than ever before. On the other hand, I have people questioning its very validity. No matter which side you fall into, I for one am proud that I’ve started augmenting my viewing habits through it, and look forward to what it will bring me in 2014.
My completest tendencies also pulled me towards some of my favorite first-timers in 2013. My desire to see films starring Marilyn Monroe pulled me towards gems like MONKEY BUSINESS and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE. My push to attack the filmographies of Robert Altman and Billy Wilder took me to McCABE & MRS. MILLER, THE LONG GOODBYE, THE LOST WEEKEND, and LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON. My Wilder obsession took me a few steps further, since I started digging into his writing too. That endeared me to a selection my wife pulled up – the Wilder-written/Liesen-directed MIDNIGHT. Wilder’s writing also took me to my favorite first-watch of the whole year, 1939’s NINOTCHKA directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
2013 was also the year I tried to finally see all of the Best Picture winners, and that too proved rewarding. THAT SAID, it also proved tedious thanks to THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, TOM JONES, and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. If you ever attempt to polish off such a mission, be forewarned. However, several times over Oscar has managed to laud some pretty damned good movies, so if nothing else, I’m happy that the mission took me towards GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT, YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, MRS. MINIVER, and the aforementioned LOST WEEKEND.
Then of course, there was my strangest first-watch of all. When The Lightbox launched a Coen Brothers retrospective, I thought it would be a great chance to catch screenings of what films of theirs I’d only ever seen on my TV. With that I ponied up for tickets to FARGO, MILLER’S CROSSING, and BLOOD SIMPLE. But a funny thing happened during that final selection! Ten minutes into it, I realized that I hadn’t actually seen it before! I knew how it started and I knew how it ended, but everything in between its opening five minutes and its final ten were a complete mystery to me. So it was that I was able to delight in the most unexpected first-watch of the year. A first-watch that I loved, of course.
As much as I’d love to pat myself on the back for pulling all of these first-timers from the shelf of my own free will, we all know that many of the best titles we all watch for the first time come at the recommendation of others. For me, the “others” in my life brought me to wonderful heights these last twelve months. My brother Shane brought me to JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY, and along with my wife urged me to watch STARBUCK. Titania Plant pointed me towards BIGGER THAN LIFE. Kurt Halfyard has been talking about TABLOID for years. Marya Gates’ effusion for AFTER HOURS finally got me to tackle that unseen Scorsese selection. Hearing David Ehrlich wax on about GIRL WALK // ALL DAY pointed me towards that delightful cinematic experience. Edit: How forgetful of me. Andrew Robinson literally handed me REDBELT.
And those are just what spring to mind immediately!
The very best part of being a member of a larger community is the films it has brought to my attention because one of them – one of you – has said “Hey, watch this”. It always reminds me of being back in school and being handed a pair of headphones by a friend and hearing a great band or great song for the first time.
Watching something that hasn’t been seen before takes effort – I realize that. It cannot be watched as passively as an old favorite, and it requires more effort (and often money). Still, whoever it was who spurred in me the importance of balancing rewatching with new material is a person I owe a debt of gratitude. That person (or those people) have brought me to dizzying highs at times and enriched my cinematic passion and perspective in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.
If you’re curious, I’ve cobbled together a list of my 25 favorite first-watches from 2013 on Letterboxd. If you’re really curious (and/or bored), you can get the full spectrum of my 2013 first-watches here.
I wonder what’s in store for me in 2014? Think I can eclipse 300?
All I can say is that you have to listen to Across the Universe Podcast’s New Year’s episode 🙂
Persona was one of my favourite first watches of last year.
Well now I’m certainly intrigued – as if I wasn’t already, knowing who your guest is.
Personally I don’t go in for the Blind Spot lists because I just sort of like to let myself organically drift through old classic movies each year that I haven’t seen, which is how I can form unexpectedly significant attachments to performers (a la Jean Harlow this year). But I also totally understand that it’s different for different people, and so I totally understand the necessity of the Blind Spot list for those who want something to keep themselves rooted to the desire to see new things they want to see. Whatever works.
Two first time viewings that stood out to me this year were “Libeled Lady” & “Jezebel.” Oh, and “Red Dust.” Which I just saw for the first time on Monday. WHAT a film.
I hear you – if you’re already putting an onus on watching the standards, then hoisting up one per month is a bit redundant. As you said, “whatever works”
Hey, id it just me, or is Jezebel a more succinct and to-the-point version of Gone With The Wind?
I just saw your lists of the best first-timers that you saw for 2013 as I saw over 300 first-timers this year. I’m going to make a list of the 50 best first-timers I saw to cap off the end of the year. What a great year for films. I hope 2014 will be just as good.
Drop me a link when you post it!
So glad to know that you enjoyed NINOTCHKA so much. That’s been one of my all-time favorite movies for years. I hope that you’ll explore more Lubitsch films in the new year, especially now that you’ve gotten better acquainted with Wilder, since Lubitsch was a direct influence on Wilder.
As you know, I saw GONE WITH THE WIND for the first time this year – I submitted my post on that to your Blind Spot series. I came into that with many preconceptions, and many of them were met, unfortunately, but the movie also surprised me in a few pleasant ways too. So while my opinion on the movie hasn’t changed, at least now I can say I’ve seen it.
I definitely foresee myself watching a lot more Lubitsch in 2014. Heck, Shop Around the Corner is already waiting on my PVR!
I have had a film or two like GONE WITH THE WIND, where I pretty much get what I expected. You pretty much have to just shrug those of and move forward. Happily though, most of my first timers came with a great deal of joy.