2025 Blind Spot Series

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So you failed miserably at your 2024 Blind Spots....

It's me. I'm "you." But, I'm still determined to watch classic films, so I'm going to continue on with my Blind Spot series in 2025. I'm not committing to a set timeline, because it will just stress me out when I miss it, but I am going to try my best to watch as many classic films as I can in 2025.

Here is my tentative list. As always, the streaming landscape always changes, and people at my local library love to hoard discs, so these could change. I'd also love any recommendations I can add from you! Women are my main focus. So anything with a strong female performance, send it my way!

2025 Blind Spot List
The Last Picture Show
La Dolce Vita
Valley of the Dolls
The Silence
Rebecca (1940)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
I'm Not There (2007)
Rope
Stage Door (1937)
Kitty Foyle
Funny Girl
Flesh and the Devil (1927)


Wish me luck...

Comments

  1. SJHoneywellDecember 27, 2024 at 8:25 AM

    Have you seen Suddenly Last Summer? It's one to consider if you've missed it. Great female performances, ticks a lot of boxes for you, and the ending is a wild ride.

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    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 27, 2024 at 11:30 AM

      Ohh no! That was one I tried to watch a few years in a row but it never came on streaming and whoever checked it out at my local library never returned it. I'm adding that back. In the age of Tubi, it will probably be easier to find.

      Delete
  2. joel65913December 27, 2024 at 10:23 AM

    Hi Brittani!

    I used to travel for work too. Not flying, driving but it does eat up a great deal of time so I understand how it would make it tougher to keep up with the Blind Spots.

    Good list but I ‘m guessing you didn’t realize that Notorious is on there and you did manage to watch that one this year. 😊

    I have seen all of these except for “I’m Not There” which I suppose I’ll get around to some day but have no burning desire to see.

    I absolutely LOVE a few, really like some others and was left underwhelmed by a few but didn’t hate any of them.

    Of course, you’ll have to judge for yourself but the ones I’m most looking forward to hearing your take on are: “Stage Door” (if you are looking for something women centered you’d be hard pressed to find anything more so than this!), “Funny Girl” (a star making vehicle if ever there was one-Babs is amazing!) and “The Manchurian Candidate” (everyone in it is exemplary but Angela Lansbury is next level brilliant-avoid the Denzel Washington remake, it’s substandard in every way).

    Nice to see a couple of Hitchcocks on here, though sadly not my personal favorite “Saboteur,” however both “Rebecca” and “Rope” are interesting films. If you do catch up with “Rebecca” I’d suggest checking out the various screen tests of the actresses who were considered for “I.” There is a compilation of them on YouTube and it is an interesting look at the different approaches taken.

    Glad to see a couple foreign language films as well as a silent! I enjoyed “The Silence” though it being Ingmar Bergman it’s on the dark side. “Flesh and the Devil” is perhaps the best example of Garbo’s powerful alchemy with the camera if hardly her best film.

    Valley of the Dolls is a fascinating train wreck that must be approached in the proper spirit of camp! The film is a mess, but Susan Hayward and Sharon Tate manage to make something of their characters, and it is something that should be seen at least once.

    As for the others, “The Last Picture Show” is full of great acting but downbeat. “Kitty Foyle” is very much of its time and though I know people who adore “La Dolce Vita” I thought it only passable.

    As far as suggestions are concerned, the one that comes to mind that I think you will love, especially since I know of your fondness for Shirley Temple is 1947’s “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer”. It’s her best movie in her teen period costarring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. A delightful comedy with all three, as well as the supporting cast firing on all engines.

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    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 27, 2024 at 11:35 AM

      OMG SEE! I'm losing it lol. Thank you for reminding me to remove Notorious. I will be adding Bobby-Soxer and Sabetour to my list! I'll just roll over the ones I didn't get to like I did this year. Valley of the Dolls I want to see for its camp, but that's another that has been a bit difficult to find. I wanted to specifically watch Garbo Flesh and the Devil came up a lot as one of her best films, so I figured that would be a good place to start. I worked at the movie theater when the Manchurian remake was out, and that never sounded interesting to me at the time. Now that the story does, I want to start with the original.

      Delete
  3. thevoid99December 27, 2024 at 7:01 PM

    I've only seen half of the list in your Blind Spot series. 2 of which are from MASSIVE box sets from Criterion in La Dolce Vita and The Silence from the Essential Fellini and Ingmar Bergman's Cinema sets. Rebecca and Rope are essential Hitchcock as I have Notorious for next year's Blind Spot. The Last Picture Show is classic New Hollywood while I'm Not There is the absolute definition of the anti-bio pic. Six people as variations of Bob Dylan during different periods in his life and career is a very unconventional film but it feels right considering the subject matter as Dylan is someone that could never work as a conventional bio-pic unless it's on a certain period in his career. The rest I haven't seen though I am interested to see these films.

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    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2024 at 11:24 AM

      The funny thing about I'm Not There is I actually own a copy of it, and have still never watched it. Not sure how I managed to flop so badly with that one lol

      Delete
  4. AnonymousDecember 28, 2024 at 10:29 AM

    You have a great list but I agree with Joel on much of what he said. I’d add the 1922 version of Nosferatu. For Garbo, Camille and Ninotchka. I’d add the 1939 film, The Women which I love. For Hitchcock, I would suggest, Shadow of a Doubt and Strangers on a Train. There are others but my brain is not functioning…lol

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    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2024 at 1:02 PM

      After seeing 2024's Nosferatu, I should go back and watch the 1922 one in its entirety. I know I've seen a good chunk of it already.

      Delete

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