19. A Long List of Movies I Haven’t Seen, and a few that I have

Though I generally try to be informed, I am hopelessly behind when it comes to movies. However, I can no longer be blissfully ignorant. After missing one too many Star Wars references in conversation, I realized that it is time to fix my movie literacy. Since my parents were not raised in the US, they never introduced me to films widely regarded as classics in America. As a result, my classic movie knowledge only extends as far as the James Bond movies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Blazing Saddles, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Wizard of Oz. The list below contains movies that I’ve been meaning to see, including classics and films from the past few years. For the past few months, I’ve added movies to the list as I continue to miss pop culture references and silently berate myself for not having caught up with the times.

Movies I Haven’t Seen

• Inception
• The Dark Knight
• The Notebook
• Mean Girls
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Star Wars
• Lord of the Rings
• The Town
• Citizen Kane
• A Clockwork Orange
• Scarface
• Casablanca
• Rebecca
• The Postman Always Rings Twice
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• No Strings Attached
• Friends With Benefits
• Black Swan
• The Godfather
• Gone With The Wind
• Jaws
• The Blind Side
• Pulp Fiction
• Transformers

Firsts this week:

• Watched The Philadelphia Story, and was thus introduced to Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and John Stewart.

In the Comments Section:

Tell me, what other classic movies should I add to the list? Do you agree with my choices? Are there any movies that you’ve particularly enjoyed? Do you have a favorite cultural reference that comes from a movie?

17. Modern Times

Spoiler alert: If you intend to watch “Modern Times” starring Charlie Chaplin, please note that this post reveals the plot of the film.

What better way to celebrate the present than by watching an old film? This week I watched “Modern Times,” a 1936 film starring the one and only Charlie Chaplin. This movie is semi-silent– most of the acting is accompanied only by music, with sporadic dialogue dispersed throughout. This particular film follows Charlie Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” character through a series of mishaps. At the start of the film, Chaplin is a factory worker who cannot keep up with the demanding speed of the machinery. Overworked, he gets caught in the machinery, suffers a mental breakdown, and is carted to an asylum for rest. Upon his release back into society, the well-meaning Little Tramp looks for work, to no avail. After an unfortunate case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Little Tramp is taken into custody. Chaplin serves jail time, but is released early after capturing escaping prisoners. The jail is a sort of sanctuary for him– he is well fed and away from the pressures of the outside world. Outside, he does whatever he can to be arrested once again. Along the way, he meets a homeless orphan girl, and the two escape from police trying to capture them. The two find work in a restaurant until police track them down. The film ends with the pair on the run from the police, walking on an empty span of road.

The beauty of silent films is in their timelessness; the lack of words ensures that the themes are simple enough that they do not require any explanation. Indeed, the earliest movie houses were gathering places for the working class, many of whom were immigrants with little knowledge of English. Chaplin’s idiosyncrasies and slapstick humor resonate equally well with audiences of the 1930s as they would now. Despite being initially wary of silent films, I found that I enjoyed “Modern Times” as much as, or even more, than I do today’s blockbusters. With elements of comedy, action, and romance, Chaplin’s film offers something for every taste. This is in keeping with the origins of film as family entertainment. Perhaps I’ll shelve my usual rom-coms for a while and partake in viewing old classics. Who knows what other gems I’ll discover?

Firsts This Week:

• Watched a semi-silent film starring Charlie Chaplin in my Pop Culture class.
• Observed how film is developed (pictures from this photo shoot to come soon!)