One New Year’s resolution that’s cropped up on my list regularly over the last few years is to watch more of the films in my collection. I have a terrible addiction to buying DVD’s and Blu-Rays, even now in this Netflix dominated world, yet I don’t watch them as quickly as I buy them, largely due to my film reviewing responsibilities forcing me to watch screeners all the time. So as my collection grows, the list of unwatched films within it is grows too. I also have a passion for watching the classics, as my choice of reviews will make clear. So Ryan McNeil and James McNally’s annual Blind Spot Series has always been something that feels designed for me to do and I’ve tried a few times, but generally fail due to the screener reasons mentioned above (here’s my previous public attempt – https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2012/08/blind-spot-series-2012/).

However, I’m feeling confident this year, despite the fact that my wife and I will be seeing a new addition to our family at the end of February. So I’m going to attempt to take part once again.

If you’re not familiar with the Blind Spot Series, basically the idea is for bloggers to list 12 films they feel they really should have seen and then over the course of a year they have to watch them all and update their readers on their progress.

I’ve had a Hall of Shame list on my laptop for a while, so it was easy to come up with 12 titles.

Ben-Hur (1959) original poster artHere’s my list:

1. Ashes and Diamonds
2. Ben Hur
3. Bugsy Malone
4. Das Boot
5. Five Easy Pieces
6. Gilda
7. La Grande Illusion
8. The Great Escape
9. The Outlaw Josie Wales
10. Short Cuts
11. The Treasure of Sierra Madre
12. Zulu

No sniggering at the back at some of the classics I’ve missed please – I’m sure you’ve all got some embarrassing omissions too.

I’ve tried to make the list nice and varied. I’m not going to necessarily watch the films in that order by the way, I just thought I’d number them to make it neater.

So keep your eyes out on the site for updates on my mission. I’ll try and do short write-ups or at least haiku reviews of each film and update this post. I don’t think I’ll keep it up if I try to write full scale reviews.

If anyone else wants to join in the fun, feel free.

* Ryan McNeil brings together his and everyone else’s entries over at The Matinee every month. Check it out here: http://www.thematinee.ca/features/features/blind-spot-series/

About The Author

Editor of films and videos as well as of this site. On top of his passion for film, he also has a great love for music and his family.

3 Responses

  1. Jay Cluitt

    Nice list. I’ve been trying to do this for the past couple of years but kind of tail off towards the end. I managed 9 months this year, but I kind of cheat by not having a set list going in, and usually end up watching some unseen classic and just using that, but next year I’m doing it properly.

    You’ve got a great year of films. I saw Ben-Hur, La Grande Illusion, The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for the first time this year, and they’re all great, plus The Great Escape is one of my all-time favourites, so I look forward to your thoughts on that. Good luck!

    Reply
  2. Rebecca

    That’s a great list! I’ve only seen Bugsy Malone (btw I love that this film was included) and The Great Escape. Funnily enough Ashes and Diamonds is somewhere around September on my list so I look forward to reading your entry if you watch it first.

    Reply
  3. David Brook

    Thanks guys. I’m likely to watch these as and when, rather than monthly. I’ll possibly watch a bunch in one fell swoop if Anna has some extra time in Finland like she did last year when she was on maternity leave with Eila.

    Hopefully I’ll manage all 12 for once. Quite a few of my entries are very long though which is always going to put me off sticking them on in the evening.

    Yeah Great Escape was the first thing I put on this list. I can’t believe a self-respecting Brit with a love of film has managed to avoid it for 33 years!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.